THE PEAR. 



293 



the soil ? that civilized man, in all other cases so 

 anxious to spare himself labour, considers this 

 particular employment his privilege and relaxa- 

 tion ? that the rude Indian, when torn from the 

 natural garden of his forests and prairies, lan- 

 guishes and dies ? 



It is partly to be accounted for by the fact, 

 that, in the operations of organized life, such as 

 the unfolding of a flower, the ripening of a fruit, 

 the v/ithering of a leaf, the image of Nature pre- 

 sents itself most vividly to the soul ; yet not 

 wholly on this ground, for the argument would 

 apply as strongly to the successive developments 

 of animal life. We must therefore seek for a yet 

 deeper reason, and that is supplied to us from the 

 pages of Inspiration. 



It was in a garden planted by the hand of God 

 that man in his state of innocence first held in- 

 tercourse with his Creator, and passed the only 

 days of perfect happiness which man has spent on 

 earth. After the fall he was sent forth to till 

 the ground from whence he was taken," and, in 

 the sweat of his face," was sentenced to eat the 

 produce of the soil. Yet, condemned to a life of 

 toil as he thus was, it by no means follows that 

 his labour was to be necessarily associated through- 

 out with pain and suflering. A certain amount of 

 anxiety and uncertainty was entailed on him, that 

 he might not lose sight of his dependence on 

 God, Who giveth the increase ; but there was a 

 reaping in joy, and a bringing home of sheaves 

 with rejoicing, as well as a sowing in tears. In 

 short, the labour of tilling the field has, by the 

 Divine appointment, been from the beginning 

 one which a faithful industry and a contented 



