MARCH II. BAD WEATHER. NATURE is still robbed of its ornaments. Its appearance is still gloomy and savage. The sky is covered with thick clouds, and the air is loaded with vapours and snow. The mornings are wrapped up in impenetrable fogs, that conceal the view of the rising sun from us, which scarce shews itself, before dark and stormy clouds arise to prevent the earth from feeling its benign influence. How little warmth it gives! No herb ventures to spring up. Every thing still remains dead, and stripped of its charms. When will the lovely spring return? When will those fine days come, in which the early flowers invite us to the fields and gardens? I doubt not but many hold this language, and bear with impatience the dull March days. But let us consider that even this temperature of the air, which we dislike, contributes to the good of the whole, and is part of the plan formed by God in his government. Were it not for these days, which appear to us so disagreeable, all our hopes of the advantages of summer would vanish.— Storms are blessings of nature, and frosts are means she makes use of to render the earth fruitful. If the air was at present milder, and the weather finer, we should see millions of insects hatched, which would be very hurtful to the seeds sown in the earth, and to the blossoms. What a risk also would the buds run, which the mild wea ther had brought forth, if there came a frost? But such is our blindness and ignorance, that we mur mur against God, when we ought to adore and bless him; and we take for imperfections what ought to make us acknowledge the wisdom and goodness of our Creator. We seldom know what we desire. To punish us for our imprudent and unreasonable wishes, God need only to grant them. If the spring already displayed all its charms, how many following days would lose their value! How quickly should we tire of them! And how hurtful to our health would the sudden change be from severe cold to intense heat! It is a blessing of God (a blessing which, like many others, we are insensible to), that spring draws on imperceptibly. Its delay keeps us in the most agreeable expectation, and our pleasure is but the greater when it comes. The rough stormy weather of March is a remain of the severity of winter. It prepares us for the enjoyment of fine days, and is the forerunner of that delightful calm which spring sheds upon our country. ༢.ར་“ཅ.....2 MARCH III. THE STATE OF SOME ANIMALS DURING WE do not yet see any of those millions of insects and birds, which, during summer, are in the air, in the water, and on the earth. At the approach of winter they disappear from our countries, where the climate does not agree with them, and where they can no longer find food. The first stormy day is a signal to them to rest from their labour, to put an end to their active life, and to quit their homes. We mistake if we go farther, : farther, and believe that winter destroys those animals they continue to live even in that season of the year. Providence so provides, that none of them perish. The body of some animals is formed in such a manner, that the same causes which deprive them of food, make such revolutions in them as prevent their requiring any. The cold numbs them, they fall into a sound sleep, which lasts till the return of heat opens the earth, causes their necessary food to spring up, and wakens them from their heaviness. These animals hide themselves in the sand, in pits or hollow places, in the bottom of ponds or marshes, where they cannot be found out or disturbed. Their state is a kind of death, or rather a swoon; and they do not revive till the gentle warmth of spring penetrates to their retreats. Some sort of birds, at the approach of winter, undertake long journies, to seek in other climates a more temperate air and proper food. Some fly in numbers from one country to another. Several go to Africa, crossing the Mediterranean, and return the following spring to our countries. Lord, how admirable is thy wisdom! How tender and beneficent thy mercies to the least of thy creatures! Thou hast impressed upon the mind of some beasts that wonderful instinct, which warns them of the day in which they should abandon their summer habitations, in order to pass their winter in another climate. Thou hast pointed out to others, the places where they may pass in safety their night of winter in a sound sleep. Thou revivest them again, when the season of their new life arrives. Every time I reflect on these changes, they lead me naturally to think of what will happen to myself at my death; for my state, in some measure, resembles that of these birds. At the end of my life I shall also quit my home, my pleasures, and my companions, to go into a better world. I shall also rest and sleep some time; but, at the moment of the new creation I shall awake, and, clothed with the strength and beauty of youth, I shall begin a life that will be eternal. What happens to animals affords me also another edifying reflection: I see from thence that God watches over even the very smallest link of the immense chain of beings. I discover with what fatherly goodness he provides for the preservation of the weakest and lowest of creatures, in situations wherein it would appear impossible to mere human wisdom. Would it not then be doing injustice to the wise providence of my Creator, to doubt his care of me, and to give myself up to trouble and anxiety about my subsistence? Certainly, that God who gives to insects and to birds their food in due season; that God who provides them retreats, and places of rest in pits and rocks; who directs them to find their food in different countries; that same God will take care of me in time of need and distress. I have a perfect confidence that he will provide all that is necessary for me, even when I see the least likelihood of it; he will find me a place of refuge where I may rest in peace. MARCH IV. WINDS AND TEMPESTS. WITH what violence the air is agitated! Hear how the winds roar in the upper regions! Behold, how the clouds gather! how rapidly they fly! fy what deluges of rain they pour upon the earth! How terrible the force of the winds! they tear up the largest oaks; they throw down palaces; they shake the foundation of the earth; and perhaps, alas, at this moment, some unhappy ship is dragged into the abyss, by the violence of the storm. The winds roar above it, and a gulph is underneath, and all around it, the waves of the sea rise mountain high. Alas! in what distress are those unhappy people! How they wring their hands! How they shudder at every wave that rises to bury them in the deep! Before the fury of the tempest abates, there may be some thousands of families ruined; and more still, who will be plunged into the greatest misery, by the death of their relations and friends. But, why does the wise and beneficent Sovereign of the world thus permit the winds to spread terror and destruction by sea and land? Mad question! What temerity to dare judge and censure the government of a Being infinitely wise! Ought we not rather to reflect on his ways with respectful silence, and be persuaded they are always full of goodness? If whirlwinds and tempests make terrible ravages if they shatter ships, or plunge them whole into the bottom of the sea; if they overthrow buildings, and destroy men and animals; have we a right, for that reason, to blame the government of the Lord? They who calculate with so much care, the mischief this element occasions, have they reckoned the advantages which accrue from it? Audacious mortals! Admire and adore the Sovereign of the world, who can even make storms contribute to the good of the universe. It is, in reality, by the particular direction of Providence that, towards spring, storms and tempests usually arise.. G 5 |