MARCH II.

Unpleasant Weather.

NATURE is still drooping; deprived of her beauties, her aspect seems wild and dreary; the sky is obscured with clouds, and the atmosphere loaded with vapours. A thick fog conceals the morning sun from our view, and prevents our receiving his salutary influence; his warmth is feeble, and scarce a solitary herb peeps above the ground; all is dull, lifeless, and without charms. Some will be ready to exclaim, When will the lovely spring appear? When will those happy days arrive when the first flowers shall invite us forth into the fields and the gardens? But let us remember that before these pleasing effects can take place, such a state as we now experience must occur. the plan of nature, that without these days, which we think so disagreeable, all our hopes of summer must vanish. Storms and tempests are beneficial, and frosts ultimately tend to fertilise the earth. If the air was now mild and more temperate, millions of insects would be generated, to the great injury of the seed which is sown, and the plants ready to bud. And if the weather should now be mild, and blossoms be put forth, how they would suffer should a frost return to nip the tender shoots!

Such is

Yet such is our blind obstinacy, that we murmur against God when we ought to adore and to bless him; and we set down for imperfect what should make us acknowledge the wisdom and goodness of the Creator. In short, we know not what we ask, nor what we desire; and it would be a sufficient punishment if all our prayers were to be granted. It is for the wisest purposes that the approaches of spring are gradual. The frequent rough and boisterous weather of March is generally the last remains of winter, prepares us for the enjoyment of finer days, and

is the forerunner of the delightful verdure which the spring spreads over our fields. Therefore, O my God, will I continue to exalt and to bless thee. In these stormy days I will be more and more convinced that thy government is wise, and thy arrangements of nature just and beneficial; and that in all times and in all seasons, in storms and in calms, in the rain and in the snow, equally as in the finest weather, thou art still my Father, Preserver, and Benefactor.

MARCH III.

State of certain Birds and Animals during the Winter.

Ar present we do not see any of those insects and birds which, during the summer, float by millions in the air and in the water, or rest upon the earth and among the groves. Of the birds, some species at the approach of winter disappear, and retire to climes of a higher temperature, where they can find shelter and nourishment. The first stormy day is the signal for departure; when, quitting their abodes, they assemble, and prepare to wing their flight to far distant countries. Nor do those that remain behind perish; they continue through the rigours of the season. The bodies of some animals are so formed, that the same causes which deprive them of their food occasion such a change in their system, that they do not require any aliment: the cold affects them to such a degree that they become torpid, and seem as if wrapped in the profoundest sleep, which continues till returning warmth opens the earth, and it again brings forth fruits; when they awaken from their slumbers, and, as the spring advances, leave their retreats in the sands, in holes of the earth, the hollow trunks of trees, marshes, and various other places that have

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sheltered and protected them in their death-like state during the winter.

How admirable is the wisdom of God, whose tender cares extend to the least of his creatures! He has endowed each of them with an astonishing instinct, which enables them to continue and to preserve their existence; teaches them the day when they are to abandon their summer abodes, and pass the time of our winter in more genial climes; and directs them in their dangerous flight. To others it points out the places where they may pass their time of torpescence in safety; and when the warm beams of the sun descend with sufficient force, they come forth unhurt.

Each time that I reflect upon these changes, I am induced to think of what will happen to myself at the hour of death; when in that solemn moment I shall leave my habitation, my dearest friends, and all my pleasures, to pass into another state of existence. The changes that these animals undergo offer me another edifying reflection. I see how God watches over the smallest link in the vast catenation of beings; I see with what paternal care he provides for the support and preservation of the weakest and most insignificant creatures: and would it not be inconsistent with my ideas of his wisdom and bounty to imagine that he would have less regard and solicitude for my welfare and conservation, whom he had been pleased to create so much superior? Surely that God which clothes and nourishes the insects and the birds, which provides them with retreats and places of repose in the holes of the earth and in the clefts of rocks, and guides their course to distant countries, will never abandon me in the time of want and of

danger, nor forsake me in the hour of my affliction and distress.

MARCH IV.

Winds and Tempests.

How violently the air is agitated! Hark, how the wind whistles above, and now swells in a louder blast! See, how the dark clouds gather, and then whirl along with fearful swiftness! The uplifted oaks strew the ground, which shakes as they fall; and see those wretched huts borne aloft by the blast, their scattered fragments tossing in giddy eddies! The clouds open, and deluge the earth with the descending torrent. Perhaps at this moment some luckless bark is riding in the storm at the mercy of the winds: above, the loud blast roars, and all around is darkness; the waves now meet the clouds, then roll back, and discover the gulf threatening instant destruction. The fear-struck mariners have now no hopes; they think of their far-distant homes, and with wild horror view the wave, in which, as it rolls on like a vast mountain, they read their final doom. But why does the beneficent Creator thus permit the winds to track their course over the seas and the earth with desolation and destruction? Mad question! Who has the temerity and the arrogance to dare to censure and pronounce judgment upon the Almighty, or to question his proceedings? Let us rather consider his ways in silence, and feel persuaded, from what we know of him, that they are always beneficial.

Though the tempest and the whirlwind often speak in terror, and shake the earth; though they cause devastation, and make the ships on the seas to be splintered against the rocks or entombed in the deep; though houses are overthrown, and men and animals are swept away; still we have no right to arraign the deerees of Providence, which are written in wisdom and uttered in mercy. These storms and tempests are to answer great and important purposes in nature.

At the return of spring, a humid and mild air softens the earth, which, during the winter, had remained hardened. By this change of temperature the atmosphere often becomes charged with noxious vapours, and plagues and contagion might destroy men and animals, if these violent agitations of the air did not render it more pure and salubrious.

Thus we find the Almighty, whether he visits us in tempests, or smiles upon us in serenity, is alike the Father and Benefactor of the creation; and every time we hear the winds blow over our heads let us acknowledge his goodness, and reflect with gratitude on the wisdom of his government. The Lord taketh the winds from the four corners of Heaven, and bringeth them from the extremities of the earth; he marketh out the paths through which they should proceed, regulates their boundaries, and bids them to cease when they have fulfilled his purpose. Why then should we fear or be troubled when his messengers execute his commands? Though the tempest should howl around me, the earth tremble, the rocks be rent in twain, and darkness obscure the face of nature, I will not be disturbed, neither will I be terrified; but I will put my trust in the Lord, and rest my cares upon the bosom of Him who rules and governs the universe, who directeth the winds, and pointeth out to the stars their course.

MARCH V.

Aurora Borealis.

SOMETIMES in winter, and towards the vernal equinox, we observe in the heavens a sort of transparent, luminous, and diversely coloured clouds. A brilliant light appears from the north, which is gradually communicated to the other clouds, till at length rays of