30 SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. 



human nature's kindlier moods. John was not 

 adjudged as without faults. In some of the pursuits 

 of life he was riot a successful man, and perhaps in 

 a world in which the material measure is apt to be 

 applied, a short-coming of success is not viewed as 

 without blame. He was deficient in practical talent. 

 Industrious and second to none as a maker of shoes, he 

 never acquired the art which could carry him beyond 

 the rank of a small country tradesman. At times 

 in his career he had his foot beyond the threshold 

 of difficulties, when some business or domestic con- 

 tingency would drag him back, and he was the same 

 poor man. It spoke much to the general tone of 

 his character that even those who might have occa- 

 sion, by business transactions, to sit in judgment on 

 him, always stopped short of a harsh conclusion, and 

 finished with an expression of sympathy or kind 

 regard. The warm and respectful feeling shewn 

 towards him by every one, avouched his possession 

 of qualities of head and heart honourably combined. 

 In the village all felt his departure. The boys and 

 girls who would not disturb the bird's nest in his 

 garden, nor furtively abstract the flushing fruit of 

 his plum tree, will cherish his memory. The old 

 inhabitant who had plodded on life's journey, and 

 had often stepped in to compare notes on public and 



