MARCH XX. THE CHANGE OF SEASONS. IN the warmest climates, as well as in the coldest, there are but two seasons of the year really different. The coldest countries have summer about four months; during which the heat is very great, occasioned by the length of the days. Their winter lasts eight months. Spring and autumn are scarce perceptible there; because, in a very few days, an extreme heat succeeds an extreme cold; and, on the contrary, the great heats are immediately followed by the most severe cold. The hottest countries have a dry and burning season for seven or eight months. Afterwards comes rain, which lasts four or five months; and this rainy season makes the difference between the summer and winter. It is only in temperate climates, that there are four seasons, really different, in the year. The summer heats gradually decrease; so that the autumnal fruits have time to ripen by degrees, without being hurt by the cold of winter. In the same manner, in spring, the plants have time to shoot, and grow insensibly, without being destroyed by late frosts, or too much hastened by early heats. In Europe, these four seasons are most perceptible; and particularly in Italy, and in the south of France. By degrees, as we advance towards the north, or towards the south, the spring and autumn are less marked: From the middle of May to St John's day, it rains less frequently; after which, the violent rains return, and continue to the end of January. The months of February and April are generally very uncertain weather. If the melted snow and rains remained on the ground, without falling away or evaporating, evaporating, the water would annually rise to the height of a foot and three quarters in most countries. This change of seasons deserves our admiration. It cannot be attributed to chance; for in fortuitous events there can neither be order nor constancy. Now, in every country throughout the world, the seasons succeed each other with the same regularity as the nights and days, and change the appearance of the earth precisely at the appointed time. We see it successively adorned, sometimes with herbs and leaves, sometimes with flowers, sometimes with fruit. Afterwards it is stripped of all its ornaments, till spring returns, and, in some degree, revives it. Spring, summer, and autumn, provide food for men and animals, in giving them abundance of fruits. And though nature appears dead in winter, that season is not without its blessings; for it moistens and fertilizes the earth, and, by that preparation, makes it fit to produce its plants and fruits in due season. Awake, O my soul! to praise and bless thy God and Benefactor. It is now that begins again that charming season, which opens such an agreeable prospect before us, and makes amends for the sad winter days that are past. The spring approaches every day, and with it a thousand pleasures and innumerable blessings. How many have wished to live to see the renewal of nature, and to recover, in the fine days of spring, from all they had suffered during winter. But they have not had the consolation to see this day, and their lives were ended before the winter was over. More favoured than many millions of my fellow-creatures, who have been carried off by death, I still live, and may indulge the joy with which spring inspires me. But how often have I seen this season, without without thinking of the goodness of my Creator, without opening my heart to gratitude and love! And perhaps this is the last spring I shall see upon earth. Perhaps, before the equinox returns, I shall be in my grave. Let this thought lead me to feel, so much the more sensibly, the happiness granted me; to be the more touched with the goodness of my Creator; to enjoy, with more circumspection, the pleasures of spring; and to redeem, with more care, every moment of this transitory life. There is another reflection which the change of the seasons may give rise to. As the seasons succeed in nature, so do they in the course of our lives, but with this difference, that those which. are past never return. No longer is it that spring of my youth, which beauty, sprightliness, and the graces, attend. The summer and autumn of life, seasons in which I ought to shew fruits of maturity to the world, every day approach. It is very uncertain whether I shall attain the winter of old age. Perhaps I may die in the vigour of life. Thy will be done, O Lord! Provided I persist to the end in faith, virtue, and piety, my life (however short it may be) will always be long and happy enough. MARCH XXI. SEVERAL THINGS WHICH APPEAR TO BE OF IF there is a wise Providence which governs the world, it seems as if it should extend even to the minutest things, and the most trifling events, in order that nothing should be without its mani fest fest use. But, how many useless things are there in the world? The north wind blasts and disperses the blossoms of the trees: they wither, and are useless. Seeds, which might have produced new plants, perish without yielding fruit. Innumerable multitudes of insects are not only useless, but are even hurtful to man, to beasts, and to vegetables. Many men and animals do no more than shew themselves upon the earth, and suddenly disappear. Others are born deformed and monstrous, or become impotent. How many faculties and talents are lost, for want of an opportunity to make use of them! How many good projects and useful undertakings fail, before they arrive at maturity! Could all this be, if a Being infinitely wise governed the world?-Whoever dare question God and his providence, have they, then, a sufficient knowledge of all things, and their connection with each other, to be able to say, with certainty, This answers no purpose; this is absolutely useless. Let us never forget how weak and limited our understandings are. Our duty is to keep a respectful silence; to adore, and not to criticise, the works of the Lord, who has given so many proofs of his wisdom, in an infinite number of things, the use of which are well known to us. Let us also consider, that a thing may be useful in different ways; but that, while it serves one purpose, it cannot, at the same time, serve another. The insect, which in its infancy becomes the prey of the swallow, cannot certainly produce a new generation. The efforts made by the alchemist to find the philosopher's stone, have not succeeded in the making of gold: But the insect is at least useful, in serving as food for the swallow; and the attempts of the chemist have, at least, obtained for us that fine porcelain we enjoy at present. Our tears cannot soften the severe and cruel man, who abuses his power to oppress the weak; but, though our intercessions, in favour of a miserable person, prove useless, yet our tears will not be lost: They serve to keep up the sensibility of our hearts; and there is a Being who will gather those precious tears, to fill the crown which will one day adorn the head of the merciful. Let us, therefore, never think there is any thing in the world entirely useless. There may indeed be certain things which appear not to answer quite the purpose intended : but they serve, nevertheless, the purpose proposed by God, and in the very way he determined on. There may also be cases in which God appears not to have perfectly attained the end he proposed. In order that certain things may take effect, and realize, it may perhaps be necessary that others should in some measure fail, or be defective. But if it be incontestible, that true wisdom does not merely attend to the present, but carries its views to futurity; if God is infinitely wise, and that his wisdom must be shewn to the world as in a glass; there must necessarily happen certain things, which, considered separately, appear not to fulfil their design thoroughly, because they cannot do it but in connection with others. The share that these things have in the execution of the whole plan may be so imperceptible, and so little known, that they entirely escape our observation. But it does not follow from thence, that they do not in reality contribute to it. We must, on the contrary, conclude, that God would not be infinitely wise, and that he could not act on a well-formed plan, if there did not often happen things which appear to us useless. This persuasion will contribute much to our peace and happi ness. |