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JANUARY XXII.

THE DUTY OF COLLECTING OUR THOUGHTS
IN WINTER,

THOSE who are solicitous to make use of every opportunity to improve their mind, will gladly be reminded of the obligation they are under, of employing even the winter days, so as to become days of comfort to their souls. It is easy to prove, how agreeable, as well as advantageous, this duty may be made. How perfect would our piety become, if each change, each new appearance of nature, led us to trace it up to God, whose glory is as manifest in winter as in any other season. When we behold the earth covered with snow, the rivers loaded with ice, the trees stripped of their leaves, all nature barren and desert, let us reflect on the Creator's views in thus ordaining it. With a little attention we shall at last discover, that every thing is planned with wisdom, and that all the laws of Providence combine for the general good. If, from the weakness and limits of our understanding, we can only take in the smallest part of God's designs, it is enough for us to know, that the ice, the snow, and all the phenomena of winter, serve, in the plan of Supreme Wisdom, to make the earth fruitful, and to prepare blessings for its inhabitants. How many objects are there for edifying reflections! We see the snow dissolve, and the ice melt in a moment; and behold how rapidly the days pass away! Ought not this to remind us of the frailty of our existence here? We inhabit a warm room, and have all the necessaries of life.. Ought not these enjoyments to make us consider our poor fellow-creatures, who have neither food, fire, nor raiment ?

raiment? The short space between day and night ought naturally to lead us to reflect on the short duration of life, and the importance of redeeming the time, and making use of every hour. We see numbers imprudently exposing themselves on the ice. Does it not remind us of the levity and thoughtlessness of those mortals who give themselves up to the pleasures of the world? How many other objects at this season may furnish us subject for reflections of this sort, which must have a good effect upon the mind! If we endeavour, not only to employ the mind, but to mend the heart, all these objects may serve for that purpose: and we shall rejoice in every good thought, pious resolution, or comfortable image, they awaken in our souls. Let us imitate the bee; follow our inclination, and choose the finest flower. To a welldisposed mind, the most barren field is still rich in sweets. We may expect the greatest advantages from thus filling our time. It enables us to conquer sensuality, and to govern our hearts, which are so disposed to go astray. We need not have recourse to turbulent pleasures, in order to banish ennui. When others seek dissipation in worldly follies, we shall find much nobler and more lasting enjoyments, in contemplating the works of God, either in solitude, or in a chosen society of virtuous friends. For nothing can inspire a sweeter, purer satisfaction, than the raising one's heart above terrestrial objects, and partaking of that which employs the angels and the elect in heaven. What rapture to find God every where: to discover in the flake of snow, as well as in the flower of the spring; in the cold of winter, as well as in the heat of summer, the goodness and wisdom of the mighty Creator! And this rapture, which far surpasses all the pleasures of the world,

we shall experience, if we learn the habit of reflecting upon it.

O Divine Spirit, may thy almighty power assist my weak heart! I wish to devote myself wholly to thee. But thou knowest that the world often draws me to it, and hinders my soul from taking its flight towards heaven. Deliver me from the bonds which still attach me to vain honours and

pleasures; and grant that my soul may more and more rise to thee. How edifying will my death be, if I employ my life in so pious a way. How happy shall I be, when transported into heavenly abodes, where I may eternally improve in the contemplation of thy wondrous works! Where I may admire thy ways so full of wisdom; and, no longer engaged in trifling pursuits, I may draw, from the meditation of sublimer things, new motives for glorifying thy holy name.

JANUARY XXIII.

THE FEAR OF SPECTRES.

THE long winter nights are the occasion of terror and uneasiness to a number of people, because they are tormented with the ridiculous apprehension of spectres. This superstitious fear was more pardonable in the time of our ancestors, as they had not such clear ideas of the nature of spirits, and as it was then favoured by religion itself. But there is reason to be surprised, that, in an age so enlightened as ours, such ideas and such fears can exist. It shews how ingenious man is to raise imaginary monsters, and to torment himself. Is it not enough that he should, from

time to time, feel real evils? He can also create to himself fancied evils, and become unhappy because he thinks himself so. How is a miser tormented with the fear of robbers! the misanthrope, from his distrust of those about him! the discontented man, from his anxiety of what may happen!Let us learn from hence to know the nature of the human heart, and to feel the necessity of watching over our imagination. If it deceives us in the night, by presenting to us frightful phantoms, it often, in the day-time, produces illusions, by painting vice to us under attractive forms. Let us be as ready to avoid all temptations to evil, as we are to fly from the appearance of a spectre; but, in the former instance, man is bold and rash, and, in the latter, timid and fearful. From whence comes it, that this chimerical fear takes such a strong possession of some people, who are not in the least affected by much more alarming circumstances! The fear of a single ghost makes us shudder, while the certainty of being one day transported into a world of incorporeal beings, makes no impression on our minds. Still more, though we know that every step draws us nearer the presence of the eternal and infinite Spirit, we feel no apprehensions about it. If death, or a dead person was to appear to us at midnight, and declare to us that we should soon join him, the most intrepid man would be filled with fright and terror; he would make se~ rious reflections upon the event, and would wait the issue with anxiety. But why are we so inattentive to the voice of God, which cries aloud, Prepare, O Israel to meet thy God! How inconsistent to rest in security, when it would be prudent to fear! and to tremble when there is nothing to dread!

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the night, but dread the Supreme Being, whose coming will fill with terror the most intrepid hero; so that he will say, in his anguish, Let the mountains fall upon me, and the little hills cover me. Let us fear, above all things, the displeasure of God. Let us dread the anger of the Holy of Holies. Then may we banish all other fear, and cry out with David, The Lord is my strength, of whom should I be afraid.

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JANUARY XXIV.

SUBTERRANEOUS FIRE S.

BY digging a little deep into the earth, a greater degree of cold is felt than on the surface: because the latter is heated by the sun. From thence it is, that the inhabitants of hot countries can preserve ice to cool their drink the whole year. But if they dig fifty or sixty feet deep, the heat increases sensibly; and, if it is a still greater depth, it becomes so close, that it stops respiration, and puts out a candle. It is not easy to determine the cause of this heat. Those who admit that there are concealed fires in every place under the earth, approach perhaps the nearest to the truth. But how this fire so closely confined, can burn; what the substance is that feeds it, or how it can be burned without consuming, is what cannot be determined with certainty. There are phenomena on our globe, which prove the existence of subterraneous fires in a very formidable manner. From time to time there are terrible eruptions of fire. The two most remarkable mountains which produce such, are Etna in Sicily, and Vesuvius in the kingdom of Naples. The accounts given

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