Page:John Brown (1899).pdf/57

 tude made these lands the most arctic spot, of an equal area, within the proper limits of the United States. Neither maize nor wheat will thrive there. The lands are rough and sterile. No place more unfit for the colonization of the soft and unenterprising blacks could have been found. But Smith's scheme instantly attracted Brown's sympathy. Loving these hills so much, they also drew him to them of their own force. The shepherd of other days, homesick for the hills and the soil, saw in Smith's scheme a chance to do good to the negroes, while he himself returned to the life he loved best. He visited Mr. Smith, proposed to take up some of the land for himself and his children, and to guide and superintend the work of the black colony. Smith promptly accepted his services; and in 1848 and 1849, without as yet giving up his business at Springfield, Brown moved his family into a rude cabin in those great North