I4 THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. i. 



word, temple, meant originally a portion of the sky 

 marked out by the rod of the diviners or augurs, in 

 which the flight of birds was to be particularly 

 observed. All this superstition is, perhaps, only a 

 relic or survival of Noah's sending out the raven and 

 the dove for indications of the state of the flood. Let 

 us practise a higher divination. God has brought us 

 into His temple and bade us consider the Heavenly 

 Dove that has come on the auspicious errand of our 

 salvation. Let us take Him in, and may the olive 

 leaf of the gospel which He brings heal all the wounds 

 and evils which sin has inflicted upon us, and impart 

 to us the hope which maketh not ashamed of the 

 inheritance, incorruptible and undenled, and that fadeth 

 not away. 



