316 SKETCHES OP RURAL AFFAIRS. 



ensure their healthfulness. The rains that occur at par- 

 ticular seasons, and, in some countries, at distant inter- 

 vals, are not sufficient to support vegetable life, and 

 large districts would therefore become desolate if it 

 were not for the industry of the inhabitants in watering 

 the land by artificial means. 



Of the importance and value attached to supplies of 

 water in Eastern countries, there is abundant evidence 

 in Scripture, some of the richest promises being con- 

 veyed under the simile of dew, showers, and springs. 

 Thus, when great spiritual blessings are promised, it is 

 said, " Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a 

 spring of water, whose waters fail not," Isa. Iviii. 11. 

 And again, " For I will pour water upon him that is 

 thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour 

 my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine 

 offspring. And they shall spring up as among the 

 grass, as willows by the water-courses," Isa. xliv. 3, 4. 

 In the universal gladness of Christ's kingdom, one 

 cause of joy is thus typified : " For in the wilderness 

 shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And 

 the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty 

 land springs of water ; in the habitation of dragons, 

 where each lay shall be grass, with reeds and rushes," 

 Isa. xxxv. 6, 7. 



We might fill many pages with similar passages, 

 showing that water- springs, rains, and dew were the 

 most esteemed among earthly gifts, and therefore the 

 most appropriate to be the figures of spiritual blessings. 



Early in the history of the world, men had learned to 

 supply by artificial means the lack of natural moisture. 

 The art of irrigation appears to have been known to 

 the earliest husbandmen. In passages of Scripture such 

 as, " Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters ; that 

 send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass," Isa. 

 xxx. 20 ; and also the following, " Cast thy bread 

 upon the waters ; for thou shalt find it after many 

 days," allusion is doubtless made to the practice com- 



