SAMARIA.

In the midst of Palestine is the well where the Lord spoke so kindly to

the woman of Samaria. In the midst of a beautiful valley there is a heap

of rough stones: underneath is the well. But it is not easy to drink

water out of this well. For the stone on the top is so heavy, that it

requires many people to remove it: and then the well is deep, and a very

long rope is necessary to reach the water. The clergyman (of whom I have

spoken so often) had nothing to draw with; therefore, even if he could

have removed the stone, he could not have drunk of the water. The water

must be very cool and refreshing, because it lies so far away from the

heat. That was the reason the Samaritan woman came so far to draw it: for

there were other streams nearer the city, but there was no water like the

water of Jacob's well.

The city where that woman lived was called Sychar. It is still to be

seen, and it is still full of people. You remember that the men of that

city listened to the words of Jesus, and perhaps that is the reason it

has not been destroyed. The country around is the most fruitful in all

Canaan; there are such gardens of melons and cucumbers, and such groves

of mulberry-trees.