Page:John Brown (1899).pdf/31

 ratic, but, barring a too free use of capitals and peculiar punctuation, he could have written a sermon or leading article that would pass muster exceedingly well at the present day. He learned the tanner's and currier's trades, and was foreman in his father's tannery. He picked up, too, the surveyor's art, and became proficient in this, so that his surveys have stood the test of later scrutiny. But the real love of his heart was for the calling of the shepherd. Early in his life, he says, he had an "enthusiastic longing" for it; and in his later life he returned to it as often as he could. His casual memoranda indicated that he thought more about sheep than he did about anything else. Joined with this love was the kindred passion, which never left him, for fine cattle and horses.

John Brown's mother died when he was eight years old. His father soon remarried, but John always mourned his