JANUARY XI.

THE FERTILITY WHICH SNOW GIVES TO THE

EARTH.

FROM appearances alone, one might say, that snow cannot be useful to the earth; and one would rather believe, that the cold moisture with which it penetrates the ground must be hurtful to trees and plants. But the experience of all ages frees us from this prejudice. It informs us, that nature could not give a better covering than snow, to sccure the corn, the plants, and trees, from the bad effects of cold. Though it appears cold to us in itself, it shelters the earth from freezing winds; it maintains the warmth necessary for the preservation of seeds, and contributes even to swell them, by the moisture of the saltpetre it contains. Thus, even at this season, God prepares what is necessary for the support of the beings he has formed, and provides beforehand for our food, and that of an infinite number of animals.

Nature is always active, even when she appears to us to rest; and she is doing us real services, when she seems to refuse it. Let us admire, in this, the tender care of the divine Providence. Behold, how, in the severest season, he is attentive to our welfare, and how, without any labour of ours, he silently prepares for us all the treasures of nature. With such striking proofs of his beneficent care, who could give way to fears and anxiety? what God does every winter in nature, he does daily for the preservation of mankind. What appears to us useless or hurtful, contributes in the end to our happiness; and when we think that God does not interest himself about us, it is then that he is forming

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forming plans which are hidden from us, and which, in discovering themselves, work for our deliverance from such and such evils, and obtain for us such and such blessings as we did not dare to hope for.

In the mean time, God has not only designed that the snow should cover the earth, but that it should also make it fruitful. How much care and trouble it costs us to give the necessary manure to the fields, and how easily it is done by nature! The snow, which possesses this virtue, is much more useful than rain and other manures. When it is softened by the sun, or if a temperate air dissolves it by degrees, the saltpetre it contains enters deep into the earth, penetrates and gives life to the shoots of plants.

Who is there that will not remember, on this occasion, the emblem under which God represents to us the wholesome efficacy of his word? "As. "the rain and the snow descend from heaven, and "return there no more, but water the earth, and "cause it to grow and flourish; as it gives the seed "to the sower, and bread to him who eats; so "likewise shall the word of my mouth be. It "shall not return back to me without effect; but

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it shall do all that in which I have taken a plea"sure, and shall prosper in the things for which "I have sent it.". -We live at a time in which this prediction is accomplished in a very striking manner. Whole provinces, kingdoms, even great part of our globe, which was formerly buried in the darkest ignorance, superstition, and incredulity, are now enlightened by the gospel. We feel the happy influence, even in our days, of the word of the living God. How many hardened hearts has it triumphed over ! How many good works, what pious fruits, has it not produced. O may

the

the divine grace ever find in our hearts a sol well disposed to feel its salutary influence.

JANUARY XII.

CONTEMPLATION OF THE STARRY HEAVENS.

THE sky at night presents us a sight of won ders, which must raise the astonishment of every attentive observer of nature. But from whence comes it, that so few consider the firmament with attention? I am willing to believe, that in general it proceeds from ignorance: for it is impossible to be convinced of the greatness of the works of God, without feeling a rapture almost heavenly. O how I wish to make you share this divine pleasure !--Raise your thoughts for this purpose towards the sky. It will be enough to name to you the immense bodies which are strewed in that space, to`

fill you with astonishment at the greatness of the

Artificer. It is in the centre of our system that the throne of the sun is established. That body is more than a million of times larger than the earth. It is one hundred millions of miles distant from it, and notwithstanding this prodigious distance, it has a most sensible effect upon our sphere. Round the sun move nineteen globular bodies, seven of which are called planets, the other twelve, moons or satellites; they are opaque, and receive from the sun, light, heat, and perhaps also their interior motion. Georgium Sidus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Earth, Venus, and Mercury, are the names of the seven principal planets. Of these seven, Mercury is nearest the sun; and for that reason is mostly invisible to the astronoAs he is near nineteen times smaller than

mer.

our earth, he contributes but little to adorn the sky. Venus follows him, and is sometimes called the morning, and sometimes the evening star. It is one of the brightest of the heavenly bodies, whether it precedes the sun-rise, or succeeds the setting sun. It is near as large again as our earth, and is about sixty-eight millions of miles distant from the sun. After Venus comes our earth, round which the moon moves as a secondary planet. Mars, which is the fourth planet, is seven times smaller than our globe; and its distance from the sun, is one hundred and forty-four millions of miles. Jupiter, with his belt, is always distinguished by his splendour in the starry sky: It seems in size to surpass all the fixed stars; it is almost as bright as Venus in all her glory, except that the light of it is less brilliant than the morn ing star. How small is our earth in comparison with Jupiter! there would be no less than eight thousand globes like ours necessary to form one equal in size to that of Jupiter. Saturn, whose distance from the sun is upwards of nine hundred millions of miles, was thought the remotest planet, until the late discovery of the Georgium Sidus, whose distance is eighteen thousand millions of miles, and its magnitude eighty-nine times greater than our earth. In the mean-time, the sun, with all the planets which accompany it, is but a very small part of the immense fabric of the universe. Each star, which from hence appears to us no larger than a brilliant set in a ring, is in reality an immense body, which equals the sun both in size and splendour. Each star, then, is not only a world, but also the centre of a planetary system. It is in this light we must consider the stars, which shine over our heads in a winter night. They are distinguished from the planets

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by their brilliancy, and because they never change their place in the sky. According to their apparent size, they are divided into six classes, which comprehend altogether about three thousand stars. But though they have endeavoured to fix the exact number of them, it is certain they are innumerable. The very number of stars sowed here and there, and which the most piercing eye can with difficulty perceive, prove that it would be in vain to attempt to reckon them. Telescopes, indeed, have opened to us new points in the creation, since, by their assistance, millions of stars are discovered. But it would be a very senseless pride in man, to try to fix the limits of the universe by those of his telescope.

If we reflect on the distance between the fixed stars and our earth, we shall have new cause to admire the greatness of the creation. Our senses alone make us already know that the stars must be farther from us than the planets. Their apparent littleness only proceeds from their distance from the earth. And, in reality, this distance cannot be measured; since a cannon-ball, supposing it always to preserve the same degree of swiftness, would scarce, at the end of six hundred thousand years, reach the star nearest to our earth. What then must the stars be? Their prodigious distance and their brightness tell us,-they are suns which reflect as far as to us, not a borrowed light, but their own light; suns which the Creator has sown by millions in the immeasurable space; and each of which is accompanied by several terrestrial globes, which it is designed to illuminate.

In the mean time, all these observations, however surprising they are, lead us, at the utmost, but to the first limits of the creation. If we could transport ourselves above the moon; if we could