cluded it to be a barren tree, unworthy to occupy the room, or to appropriate the nourishment and culture, which might be more profitably employed. The dresser of the vineyard, however, entreated that it might be spared one more year, during which space he would use other means for rendering it fruitful if they succeeded, well; if not, he then acceded to the justice of the sentence, to cut it down. The Lord of the vineyard had long borne with the unfruitfulness of the Jews under manifold advantages, but now the time of his vengeance approached: they would, however, be spared a little longer, that the apostles and preachers of the gospel might make another vigorous and zealous effort to bring them to repentance, faith, and holiness; and if this failed, they must be given up. Accordingly, in a short time afterwards, the Jews, for their rejection of Christ and his gospel, were cut off, and scattered from being any longer a church or a nation. The parable, however, is equally applicable to those individuals who continue unfruitful under the means of grace: though the long-suffering goodness of God may for a time be executed towards them, except they repent, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance, they must finally perish, Luke xiii. 5-9. The Sycamore.

The sycamore-tree is sometimes called the Egyptian fig that they were very numerous in that country, appears from the manner in which the psalmist mentions their destruction by the plague of

hail, in connexion with that of the most valuable and important productions of the earth. Thus "He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamoretrees with frost; he gave their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts," Ps. lxxviii. 47, 48. The name of this tree comes from two Greek words, Sycos, a fig-tree; and Moros, a mulberrytree-of the nature of both which it partakes, having leaves like a mulberry-tree, and fruit resembling figs. The sycamore grows about the height of a beech, and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from all other trees; neither in clusters, nor at the end of stalks, but on the trunk itself, which shoots out a number of little sprigs, in form like a grape-stalk, at the end of which grows the fruit close to one another, somewhat like bunches of grapes. In form and smell the fruit resembles the fig, but is generally considered inferior, having a too luscious sweetness: it is, however, cooling and refreshing, though, if eaten in any considerable quantity, apt to nauseate the stomach. Its colour is yellow inclining to ochre, and shaded with flesh colour; the inside is blackish with yellow spots.

A peculiarity in the culture of this tree is noticed by ancient naturalists, and is evidently alluded to by the prophet Amos, vii. 14. The fruit, it is observed, does not ripen until it is rubbed, scratched, or punctured with iron combs, after which it ripens in about four days. To increase its fertility, they also make chinks and clefts in the bark, through which a

milky liquor constantly distils, which encourages the production of fresh boughs. The prophet Amos, before he was called to sustain the prophetic character, was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, or (as it is generally understood) a dresser of sycamore-trees. Yet he was called from these humble employments to carry the messages of God to a wicked court; and he was eminently fitted for the office he sustained.

Sycamore-trees must have been pretty common in Palestine, for, as an instance of the wealth and good management of the reign of Solomon, it is said that he made cedar-trees to be as sycamore-trees for abundance, 2 Chron. i. 15.-It was a tree of this kind in which Zaccheus climbed, to gain a sight of our Lord when he passed through Jericho. Led there, it should seem, by mere curosity to see one who was much talked about, what must have been the surprise of Zaccheus, when Jesus called him down, and announced himself his self-invited guest. It is said he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. Divine grace reached his heart, salvation entered his house, and he gave a delightful evidence of his sincerity, in the integrity and liberality which from that moment marked his transactions, Luke xix. 1-10. Our Lord told his disciples, that if they had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, they might command a sycamore-tree to remove, and be planted in the midst of the sea, and it should obey them. The sycamore has very wide-spreading roots, and is with

great difficulty transplanted, even when it is a young tree, and is removed to a favourable situation; but to remove a full-grown sycamore, and plant it in the sea, -where the soil is below the surface, and where the restless billows are continually tossing from one side to the other-what a task! Yet, says our Lord, a task no less difficult may be accomplisded.

The Cedar.

The cedar is a large majestic tree, rising to the height of thirty or forty yards, and some of them from thirty to forty feet in circumference. This tree is a beautiful evergreen; its leaves somewhat resemble those of rosemary; it distils a kind of gum, to which various qualities are attributed: the leaves of the tree point upward, and its fruit hangs downward. The fruit is a cone, somewhat resembling that of a pine-tree, but is longer, harder, and fuller, and not easily separated from the stalk. It contains a seed like that of the cypress-tree. The wood of the cedar is very valuable; it possesses a strong aromatic smell; is itself incombustible; and preserves from the ravages of insects, garments deposited in it. The ark of the covenant, and many parts of Solomon's temple, were constructed of it. Cedars were not uncommon in Palestine, but grew most abundantly on Mount Lebanon, or Libanus, which was one entire forest of these noble trees, of a date as ancient as that of the mountain itself. A few of the original trees still remain; but most of that stately grove has now disappeared, and left only the traces