of savage beasts, and his understanding a cage of unclean and hateful birds. All the natural affections of men are useful, inasmuch as, if legitimately exercised, they are but the manifestations of the spiritual affections. If we were to suppose the world deprived of all the inferior creatures, as sheep, cows, horses, dogs, and the rest, the comforts of human life would be materially abridged: so if the mind of man were to be deprived of the principles represented by those creatures, he would experience a similar diminution of his happiness.
Man may not improperly be called an animal tree; as a tree, on the other hand, may not improperly be called a vegetable man. The resemblance between a man and a tree is, in Scripture, very frequently alluded to. "A good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit! every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." How necessary, then, to know the quality of our spiritual trees. If we attentively consider the vegetable kingdom, we see those shrubs, or plants, or trees which are the least valuable, come to perfection the soonest. The fig is much earlier than the vine, and the vine than the olive. Those fruits, also, that are the most valuable, require a longer time, and greater heat, to bring to a state of maturity. It is the same with the plants, trees, and fruits of the mind of man. The natural man, like the fig-tree, is early covered with an abundance of leaves, typical of external religious profession. The vine itself exhibits abundant foliage, but the cluster of grapes requires the heat of the sun. So man receives readily the first
