Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 3.pdf/75



HE horse, when mentioned in Holy Scripture, is symbolic of intelligence and the understanding of truth: of the intellectual trust and confidence in self, where the subject treated of is evil; and of the intellect purified and elevated by truth, where the subject treated of is good. From its docility, when properly trained and guided, from its swiftness and activity, and from its extensive usefulness, no outward form can be more appropriate. In almost every age of the world, the horse has been used for progression; and its own will, where treated with kindness, has been lost in the will of the rider. In warfare it acts, and has always acted, a prominent part. Whether yoked to the scythe-armed chariots of ancient times, or trained, guided, and ridden by armed men in our own day, it seems to delight in the noise and tumult of war, "smelling the battle afar off," where larger and more powerful beasts are terror-stricken. For its activity, its swiftness, its strength, its warlike propensities, no symbol can be more appropriate of the strong, the active, the warlike intellect of man. That power by which man advances in his search after truth; by which he fights against and overcomes error; by which he toils and labours to acquire intelligence, which is ever active and restless; which, like the horse, smelleth the discussion or battle afar off; which mocketh at fear, and engages in the defence of