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Winds and Tempests.

impossible. Would it not be doing injustice to the wise providence of my Creator, to doubt his care towards me, and to abandon myself to trouble and anxiety, concerning my subsistence? Certainly, that God who gives birds and insects their nourishment in due season: who provides them retreats and resting places in the holes of the earth, and in the clefts of rocks; who guides them to seek their food in distant countries; this same God will also take care of me, and will not abandon me in times of poverty and dearth. Should I not have the strongest confidence, that he will provide what is necessary for my support, even when I may see the smallest likelihood of it? and believe, that however treated or neglected by men, he will not fail to find me a place of refuge, where I may rest in safety.

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MARCH IV.

WINDS AND TEMPESTS.

WITH what violence is the air agitated! Hear, how the winds roar in the upper regions! See how the clouds gather! how rapidly they fly! What torrents of rain do they pour out on the earth! How terrible is the force of the winds! they cleave the greatest oaks; they overturn houses; they shake the foundations of the earth: and, perhaps at this moment, some vessel, alas! is plunged into the abyss by the violence of the tempest! Above it, the wind bellows; the gulf

Winds and Tempests.

yawns under it, and around it the waves of the sea rise mountain high! Oh! in what distress are those miserable people! How they wring their hands! how they shudder at every wave, which seems to arise to bury them in the deep! Before the fury of the tempest is appeased, there are, perhaps, some thousands of families ruined; and more still, who are plunged into the deepest distress, by the death of their relations and friends!

"But why does the wise and beneficent Sovereign of the world, permit the winds to spread such terror and devastation over earth and sea?" Foolish question! what rashness to presume to judge and censure the government of a Being, infinitely wise! Ought we not, on the contrary, to consider his ways with respectful silence, and rest assured, that they are always full of goodness? If tempests and whirlwinds make such terrible ravages; if they wreck vessels, or plunge them into the bottom of the sea; if they overturn buildings, and cause both man and beast to perish; have we a right, because of this, to blame the divine government? Have they, who calculate with so much care the injury which this element occasions, reckoned also the advantages which it procures to the earth?

Audacious mortals! admire and adore the Monarch of the world, who causes even the tempests to contribute to the good of his empire! It is, in reality, by a particular direction of Providence, that towards spring, storms and tempests usually arise. At the return of this beautiful season, the mild and moist air opens the

Winds and Tempests.

earth, which had been shut up during the winter. By this change of temperature, the atmosphere, which the cold had purified, becomes again loaded with noxious vapours; and epidemic disorders, and the pestilence, would speedily destroy both man and beast, if these agitations of the air, by storms and tempests, did not purify it, and restore its salubrity. By this, not only the stagnated vapours are put in motion, but also vapours of a different nature are, by this agitation, so strongly blended together, as to make a happy mixture, useful to the health of man, and to the fertilization of the earth.

Is it not also a great advantage, that, by means of the winds, vessels are supplied with a sort of wings, and that these floating houses, laden with the riches of different parts of the world, can make a passage of more than 50 leagues, in less than 24 hours? Thus, the Lord, in the midst of the winds and tempests, is the benefactor of his creatures! As often as we hear the wind roar above us, we should acknowledge his goodness, and reflect with gratitude, on the wisdom of his government. How admirable are his ways, even in storms and whirlwinds! He brings the winds out of his treasury, causing them to come from the extremity of the earth; marks out the path which they should walk in, regulates their bounds, and causes them to cease when they have fulfilled his purpose. Why then should we be troubled, or terrified, when he orders these ministers of his will to fulfil his commands?

"O my soul! though the tempest should howl

Winds and Tempests.

around thee, the earth quake, the rocks rend, and a veil of darkness be spread over nature, let nothing terrify thee; let nothing disturb thy repose! Cast thy care upon the Lord, and pour out all thy troubles into the paternal bosom of Him, who governs the world. He who points out to the stars their course, and to the winds their path, can shew thee the way in which thou mayest walk with a steady and secure step."

How stormy soever my life may be here, does it become me to lose courage, or murmur against God? No! this God, who silences the most impetuous winds, will put bounds to that tempest of tribulations which threatens to overturn thee. And, when the violence of affliction shall have shaken me sufficiently, a serene and luminous day shall take place, in which I' shall enjoy a profound calm.

Alas! in this stormy season, how many of my brethren, who traverse the seas, if not for my individual advantage, yet for the good of society, now struggle against the waves, and are in dreadful expectation of the moment, when they shall be swallowed up! I may sketch out their distresses, while in my peaceable habitation, I hear without danger, the bellowing of the tempest. Sovereign Disposer of all Events! Ruler of the winds and the seas, defend these distressed people from the fury of the waves; and condescend to hear the prayers which they offer unto thee in affliction! Have pity on them, as well as on all those whose life is in danger; and cast on them one of those merciful regards, which shall effect their deliverance!

MARCH V.

THE AURORA BOREALIS.

In winter, towards the vernal equinox, we often see a sort of luminous, transparent, and variously-co- . loured clouds in the sky. A bright light appears from the North, which gradually communicates itself to the clouds in that quarter, till at length, streams of a pale light dart from these northern clouds to the zenith.

This aerial phenomenon, which is called The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, may be classed, in certain respects, among those natural effects, the true cause of which cannot be exactly ascertained. Some naturalists suppose it to be a magnetic matter, which accumulating towards the North, diffuses a certain degree of light to a distance. Others believe, with more probability, that the Aurora Borealis is produced by nitrous and icy particles, which, being suspended in the air, and joined to vapours, and to fat and oily exhalations, which emanate from whales and other cetaceous animals, which abound in the northern seas, are illuminated and rendered brilliant, by that light, which the Laplanders almost constantly enjoy. Lastly, several philosophers imagine, that this phenomenon is an inflammation of the atmosphere, and a storm, not yet come to maturity. The uncertainty in which the wisest and most enlightened men are, respecting this phenomenon, may be very instructive to us. How many things do we see in the air, in the sky, and upon the earth, which are mysterious to the most eminent

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