BRAMBLE. 



(Blackberry.) 

 ROSACEJE. Rubus frutlcosiis. 



ASSELQUIST found the variety above mentioned among 

 ruins in the Holy Land ; and it grows freely among the 

 rocks of Petra. We frequently met with it pushing out 

 of falling walls and along the roadside. It may be 

 native in Judea, though it is found wild in many countries, 

 preserving very much the same characteristics both in size and 

 fruit which attend it in all its wanderings over the world. 



The first notice of it is in the parable by Jotham the son 

 of Gideon, probably the first parable ever uttered, when 

 all the princes save Jotham had been slain in treachery. 

 Ascending a height which overlooked the conspirators and from 

 which he could be heard, he recited to them the beautiful alle 

 gory that &quot; the trees went forth on a time to anoint a king 

 over them ;&quot; and, after various applications, finally they addressed 

 the bramble : &quot; Come thou and reign over us.&quot; And the bramble 

 said unto the trees, &quot;If in truth ye anoint me king over you, 

 then come and put your trust in my shadow ; and if not, let 

 fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Leba 

 non.&quot; The whole is a wise and impressive illustration of what 

 might be expected from the bramble-king. The plant yields a 

 fruit; but, though surrounded with thorns, it is easily crushed, 



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