62 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



life that is very pleasant to look upon. And if you 

 join company with the shephei'd, and get him to talk 

 about his sheep, you soon find that they are to him as 

 his own family ; that he has many a story to tell about 

 them, and that he can point out one and another, and 

 talk of their wanderings, or escapes, or diseases, j ust as 

 a parent would tell of the illnesses and recovery of his 

 children. He has also many things to say about his 

 dog. Perhaps he will speak of his parentage, and go 

 back to describe the qualities of his race ; or he will 

 give you some striking instance of the sagacity of the 

 faithful animal now at his heels ; the keen glance of the 

 dog, meanwhile, making you doxibt whether he is not 

 conscious of being the subject of your conversation. All 

 this gives you a favourable idea of the shepherd's 

 condition. 



If the shepherd's life is not a happy one, it must be 

 his own fault. Brought up to manage sheep from his 

 infancy, he is trusted as a person who understands his 

 work ; he knows what that work is ; and he is, perhaps, 

 more " his own master " than any other servant on the 

 farm. He spends the greater part of his time in the 

 open air, in healthy and delightful spots ; no one in- 

 terferes with him, or finds fault with him ; no one can 

 justly have an ill word to say of him ; for a shepherd, 

 when he performs his duty, is a diligent, sober, kind- 

 hearted man, more disposed to make peace than to raise 

 quarrels, and too much taken up with his duties as the 

 manager of a large flock, to join in the bickerings of his 

 more discontented neighbours. 



The office of a shepherd is one which in ancient times 

 was not considered unworthy the most eminent persons. 

 The people of Israel had large flocks and herds, and 

 their principal employment was to tend them. Many of 

 the early patriarchs led a shepherd's life, and David, 

 King of Israel, was taken from the sheepfolds to become 

 the ruler of a great nation. The qualities necessary fur 

 a good shepherd were necessary for a good king : he 



