88 WOOD SORREL. 



the fig-trCe and the mustard-tree, the herbs 

 of the field and the birds of the air, all mi- 

 nistered to the holy lessons which he taught. 

 Our Lord loved rural scenes and rural life. 

 The house of Bethany overlooked a deli- 

 cious landscape ; He wandered among corn- 

 fields ; He sat down by the wells ; He fed 

 multitudes in places where there was much 

 grass ; He meditated in a garden during his 

 life ; He was buried in one after his death. 

 What do we learn from this practice of our 

 Master ? We learn that the retirements of 

 nature are calculated to cherish or to restore 

 that sweet composure of the thoughts, which 

 is the charm, as it ought to be, the dis- 

 tinction, of the religious character. Even 

 after His resurrection, a hallowed with- 

 drawal of Himself from the tumult and stir 

 of active life, became conspicuous. It was 

 along the still path of the village of Em- 

 maus, that the declining sunset reflected the 



