The coming of spring procures us a thousand new pleasures: The beauty and perfume of the flowers; the singing of the birds; and every where the cheerful prospect of mirth and pleasure. Most earthly hopes are attended with anxieties; but that of spring is as satisfactory as it is innocent and pure; for Nature seldom deceives us. On the contrary, her presents generally surpass our expectations, both in number and quantity. Let us, therefore, in these boisterous March days, give ourselves up entirely to the sweet hope of spring, and the joy it inspires. It is a great blessing of Providence, that, in all the changes of seasons, and the vicissitudes of life, we can still nourish hope in our hearts. Winter, which now draws near its end, would have been infinitely more melancholy without this comfortable prospect. Encouraged by the hope of spring, we have patiently borne the inconvenience of cold and bad weather, and are now on the point of seeing that hope abundantly realized. A few more disagreeable days, and the sky will become serene, the air milder, the sun will revive nature, and the earth will re-assume its ornaments. O most merciful God! I return thee thanks for these sources of joy and comfort which thou hast opened to us, to soften the evils of life. With what goodness throwest thou a veil over the future evils which are to happen! while, on the contrary, thou givest a distinct view of the blessings and pleasures designed us. Without hope, the earth would be a vale of misery, and our lives a series of sorrow and pain. But thou hast given us hope, as an agreeable companion through our pilgrimage. When all around us is gloomy, it opens for us a cheerful prospect of futurity, which revives, and enables us to walk with content through through the sorrowful paths of life. How often, O heavenly Father! hast thou not thus raised my dejected heart, and strengthened my courage when ready to fail me? I bless thee for every ray of hope which has animated my soul; for every blessing received, and for all those hereafter reserved for me. What words, indeed, can express. the great hopes I may indulge as a Christian ? Praised be thy mercy, O Divine Redeemer ! which has entitled me to hope a felicity, not confined within the narrow limits of this life. Praise. be to thee for the blessed hope thou hast given us of eternity. What would this life be without it! What would be the happiness of this world, if we could not enjoy the delightful hope of everlasting life, of eternal happiness! Since we have this glorious hope, ought we not to reckon as nothing the evils of this world? What matter how long and severe the winter of our lives? Let us hope for spring. Let us await the renewal and perfection of existence in the world to come. MARCH X. THE WHITE FROST. IT is very usual, at this season, for the bushes, and other things exposed to the open air, to appear as if they were covered with sugar. The hoar or white frost is only frozen vapours, which lose their fluidity from the bodies they touch. There falls a dew every day, however imperceptible it may be. It is heat only which can render it fluid, but it is very easy for a body to lose its warmth, particularly when it is thin and delicate, and happens to touch bodies much cold er er than itself. In the cold nights of spring, the bushes must lose more heat than thicker branches. It is consequently natural that the little twigs should be covered with frost when the others are free from it. When the dew fixes on bodies considerably colder than itself, it communicates its heat to them immediately; and of course, the dew, having lost the cause of its fluidity, its parts connect, draw close, and form a light coat of ice. If to those vapours ready to freeze there join others not yet so, the latter instantly lose their fluidity, and, settling irregularly on the former, or near them, altogether form what is called the hoarfrost. It is therefore easy to comprehend, how it sometimes happens that our hair, and the hair of animals is covered with frost. The perspiration and exhalation of the mouth and nose, if they settle on hair, and are exposed to the cold air, occasion this sort of congelation. It is in the same way that we can account for the shining threads often seen in winter on buildings. If the walls are cold to a certain degree, the watery vapours which are settled on them, condense and freeze. But when the cold is extreme, and it freezes hard, this effect does not follow, because the vapours are already frozen in the air; and supposing even that they light upon the wall, they cannot remain there, because they only touch it with some of their parts. However, it sometimes happens in hard frosts, that the walls become white as if covered with snow; but it is a certain proof that the severity of the cold is going to abate. Here again, let us acknowledge the wise and beneficent views of our Creator. In his hand, and under his direction, all the effects of nature, at every season, tend towards the general good and the fertility of the earth; and since every phenomenon phenomenon, in each link of the great chain of creation, contributes to the perfection of the whole, is it not reasonable to acknowledge the minutest parts, and to celebrate with grateful hearts every blessing he bestows upon us? MARCH XI. VARIETY OF MEANS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE wisdom of Providence makes use of several means to render the corporeal world fruitful. Sometimes the clouds fall in rain, in order to purify the air from hurtful vapours, to soften the earth, and give it new nourishing juices. At other times, when the earth is deprived of the blessings of rain, a soft dew moistens and renders the earth fruitful, and revives the feeble plants ready to wither. God has ordained that each season should have peculiar means of enriching the earth. The show, which in winter covered our fields and meadows, not only served to guard the earth from the severe cold, but, by means of the salts with which it is mixed, contributed also to the fertility of the land. The frequent storms that are felt in spring preserve the air from corruption, dry the earth, and disperse the rain over the whole surface of the globe. What benign influence have they also upon the earth in making it fruitful, though, during summer, they excite the terror of timid and fearful people! With every thunder shower the Creator spreads his precious blessings on the earth. One may, without extravagance, maintain, with certainty, that there is no revolution in the air, or on the earth, which does does not, directly or indirectly, contribute to the fertility of our globe. Each season brings back the phenomena peculiar to it; and each phenomenon of nature produces effects, the happy influence of which is more or less visible. Even those plagues, which cause the entire destruction of certain countries, are only particular evils, which contribute to fulfil beneficent views, as there result from them advantages to the world, when considered in the whole. In all times and places I acknowledge thy tender care, and the effects of thy mercy, O all wise and beneficent Creator! Lord of all times and seasons! Thy praise rises from the orbit of the earth up to the heaven of heavens! Our globe rolls in the starry space, sometimes sown with flowers, sometimes covered with snow; here adorned with vines, there crowned with ears of corn. It sings thy praises, and joins its notes with the harmony of the spheres. When the snow and ice change our fields into deserts; when the tempest roars in the winds; when thy lightnings make mortals tremble; when the rivers, leaving their beds, overflow countries; when all the elements seem to conspire the destruction of the world; it is then that thou preparest for the inhabitants of the earth, health, joy, peace, and plenty. Here I represent to myself the different means by which (if I may use the expression) God renders the moral world fruitful. In order to lead mankind to a sense of their destination, to a horror of sin, and to the practice of virtue, God sometimes makes use of violent, and sometimes of mild methods. Sometimes he thinks proper to punish the sinner severely, to lay heavy judgements, and of a long duration, upon him, in or der to awaken him from his slumber. He speaks VOL. I. H to. |