Bad Weather. the ladder of created being, mount from earth to heaven, to know and taste how good thou art! Let all that is within, all that is without us, serve to lead us unto thee the first principle of all things; and may every thing contribute to inflame our love and piety more and more! These, O heavenly Father, are the engagements we should enter into, in the face of heaven and earth; in the presence of all the creatures thou hast formed. The sun which enlightens us, the air which we breathe, the earth which feeds and sustains us, universal nature, which thou hast so wisely ordained to satisfy our wants and to give us pleasure, shall one day rise as witnesses against us, if we neglect to contemplate and admire thy works. MARCH II. BAD WEATHER. NATURE is yet deprived of her ornaments; her aspect is wild and dismal; the sky is covered with thick clouds; and the atmosphere is loaded with snow and thick vapours. The mornings are wrapped up in impenetrable fogs, which deprive us of a view of the rising sun: just as he has shewn himself, gloomy and stormy clouds arise, and prevent the earth from feeling his benign influence. How little warmth does he give! Scarcely an herb dares to shew itself above ground: all is still dead, without elegance, without charms. Bad Weather. "When shall the lovely Spring appear? When shall those fine days arrive, when the first flowers shall invite us to visit the fields and gardens!" Doubtless, many use this kind of language, and bear impatiently the gloomy days of March. But let us consider, that this very temperature of the air which afflicts us, contributes to the perfection of the whole; and enters into the plan of that government which God has marked out. Were it not for these days, which appear so disagreeable to us, all the hopes which we have of summer would vanish away. Tempests are blessings in nature; and frosts are the means which she makes use of to fertilize the earth. If the air were at present more moderate, and the days finer, millions of insects would be hatched, which would be very injurious to the seed already sown, and to the buds of flowers. To what injuries also would those buds be exposed, which mild weather brings forth, should there afterwards come any frost? But such is our ignorance and blindness, that we murmur against God, when we should bless and adore him: and we consider those things as imperfections, which should cause us to acknowledge the wisdom and goodness of our Creator. In general, we know not what we ask, nor what we wish and to punish us sufficiently for our indiscreet and unreasonable prayers, God has only to grant them. If the Spring now displayed all its charms, how many of the following days would lose all their excellence? How soon should we be weary of rain, and how speedy the transition would be from intense cold Bad Weather. to extraordinary heat! and how injurious this to our health! It is a blessing of God, a blessing, of which with many others, we are regardless, that Spring comes imperceptibly. Its delay keep us in a most pleasing expectation; and our satisfaction is the greater when it comes. The rough and stormy month of March, is the remains of the severity of winter; it prepares us for the enjoyment of fine weather: and it is the forerunner of that delightful calm, which the Spring diffuses over our fields. more, Therefore, O my God, I will exalt and bless thee in these stormy days; I will persuade myself more and that thy government is both wise and good. I rejoice, that in all times, and in all seasons; in storms and in calms; in snows, and in rains, as well as in the finest weather, thou art invariably my Father, my Preserver, and my Benefactor. The present uncomfortable days will, in a short time, be succeeded by the lovely days of Spring. After all, I cannot reasonably expect to have only fair and pleasant hours in this world: my whole life is like the present season; and what in fact is life, but a continual vicissitude of pleasant and disagreeable days! MARCH III. THE ESTATE OF CERTAIN ANIMALS DURING WINTER. 21 & Ατ present, we do not see one of those insects or birds, millions of which live during the summer, in the air, on the earth, and in the water. At the approach of winter, they retire from our climate, the temperature of which no longer agrees with them; and in which they can no longer find proper nourishment. The first stormy day is the signal which obliges them to cease from their labours, and to quit their homes. We are mistaken, if we imagine that the winter destroys these animals: even in that season they continue to live. Providence takes care that none of them shall perish. The bodies of some animals are so formed, that the same causes which deprive them of their aliment, make such changes in them, as render nourishment unnecessary. The cold benumbs them, they fall into a profound sleep, which continues till the returning warmth opens the earth, and causes the things necessary for their support to spring up: then they awake from their sleep. These animals hide themselves in the sand, in holes, in bottoms of ponds, in marshes, where they cannot be found out, nor their repose disturbed. In such places, their state is a species of death, or, rather, a kind of swoon; nor are they reanimated, till the gentle heat of spring penetrates into their retreats. Some sorts of birds, at the approach of winter, undertake long journies, to seek, in other climates, a more temperate air, and suitable State of certain Animals during Winter. food. Some fly in flocks, from one country to another; many go into Africa, crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and return to our countries in the ensuing spring. Lord, how admirable is thy wisdom! how tender and beneficent thy care towards the least of thy creatures! Thou hast impressed on the mind of certain animals, that wonderful instinct, which informs them of the day in which they should abandon their summer residence, in order to pass the winter in a more favourable clime. Thou hast pointed out to others, where they may securely pass the night of winter in deep sleep; and thou dost reanimate them, when the time for their new life is come! As often as I reflect on these revolutions, they lead me naturally to think of what will happen to myself at death; because, in fact, my state then will, in some measure, resemble that of the birds. When the time of my death arrives, I also shall abandon my abode, my pleasures, and my friends, and pass into a better world. My body also shall sleep for a time, but, in the moment of the new creation, I shall awake, and clothed with the strength and beauty of youth, I shall begin a life, which shall never end. What happens to these animals furnishes me with another edifying reflection. I see how God watches over the smallest link of the vast chain of beings, I discover, with what paternal bounty he provides for the support of the weakest and most despicable creatures, by preserving them in such circumstances, where the human imagination must think their preservation |