chrysalis, and the butterfly that comes out of it, are two animals totally different. The former was rough, hairy, and often hideous; the other is adorned with the liveliest colours. The former limited itself to a gross food; the latter goes from flower to flower, and freely enjoys all nature, of which it is itself the ornament. Will not this description reconcile every one to these insects, and put an end to all aversion to them? Perhaps some may still think they have a right to ask, To what purpose, after all, are these caterpillars? Would it not be better to be entirely free from them? No. On the contrary, it is certain, that the world would not be as perfect as it is, if there were no caterpillars in it. Take away these insects, and you deprive the birds of a considerable part of their subsistence, As the birds were to feed on caterpillars, it was just that the Creator should ordain for their food the leaves and plants, to which they have as good a right as us. It is true that the voracity of these animals makes them sometimes troublesome to mankind; but this is an evil which the Creator permits with much wisdom. For the mischief the caterpillars sometimes do us may serve to humble us, and make us recollect the uncertainty of all our earthly possessions. And even supposing we could not penetrate into God's reasons for forming such creatures, we should not therefore have a right to deny their utility. We ought, on the contrary, to take occasion from thence to acknowledge our ignorance, and trust in the wisdom of God. JUNE JUNE XXI. THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER. THIS day summer begins. Many of us have often seen the changes occasioned by this day throughout all nature: But is it known how it happens that the sun remains so long afterwards above the horizon: Why this is the longest day of the year: and why, in reckoning from this day to the end of autumn, we perceive the heat and length of the days diminish in equal proportion? All these changes are owing to the annual course of our globe round the sun. When that body enters into the sign of Cancer, the earth is so situated, that all its northern side is turned towards the sun, because the Creator has inclined the axis of our globe towards the north, and that it preserves that direction invariably. On this direction, and on the constant paralellism of the axis, depends, properly speaking, the changes of the four seasons of the year. Let us here reflect a moment on the goodness and wisdom of God, in thus inclining the axis of the earth. If it had been in a perpendicular direction, our globe would have been a very melancholy habitation, either for plants or animals. Neither growth nor diminution of days could take place, nor the several changes of the seasons. How much to be pitied should we be who live in Germany, and consequently near the north! The air we should breathe would be always as sharp as in March or September, and our soil would afford nothing but a little moss and grass. In a word, the greatest part of the two hemispheres would be but a frightful desert, inhabited only by a few insects. Iu our climate, nature has at this time almost ended her annual work. She has already lost some of her variety. Nothing can be more green than the vines, the orchards, and the forests; but the shades of colour are not so pleasing as they were. The meadows begin to whiten, and their flowers are mowed down. The corn insensibly grows yellow, and the number of flowers diminish. The variety and brightness of them, the various notes of numberless birds, had before all the charms of novelty, and afforded us the most pleasing sensations; but now, the nearer we approach to autumn, the more these enjoyments diminish. The nightingale is silent, and the great heat makes it inconvenient to walk. Do we not here see an emblem of life? Are not the pleasures we enjoy equally transient ? Even the most innocent of them, such as nature in the beauty of spring presents to us, are liable to change, and give place to other objects. What we at present observe in the summer of nature, we may observe in the summer of life. When we have attained our fortieth year, which is the beginning of a riper age, the world loses part of its charms, such as delighted us in our youth; and when we approach the autumn of life, we become a prey to cares, less calm, less serene, less lively and joyous, than we were. We observe that our strength of body insensibly wears away with age. In fine, there come days when we say, "I no longer take pleasure in them." But with what a lively sense of joy do I, at this moment, raise my soul towards thee, O Lord! who directest the seasons, who art the Father of all, and the centre of felicity! I again acknowledge thy wisdom and goodness in the regular succession of the seasons. Grant that I may never forget thee in the enjoyment joyment of the many pleasures which summer sheds over all nature; thou who disposest all things, and whose glory each season proclaims. May I be so much the more inclined to it, as this may possibly be the last summer I shall live to see. Alas! How many of my friends and acquaintance, who were last summer enjoying with me the beauty of this world, have been carried off by death, before the next summer had begun! Perhaps I shall soon be united to them. Perhaps it is for the last time that I have contemplated, in this world, the charms of nature. I will therefore enjoy this summer as if it was to be my last. I will glorify thee, O God! with as much ardour as if I was sure of never more having it in my power to acquit myself of this duty. I will live so as never to regret having so often seen the return of the seasons. Vouchsafe, O Lord! by thy grace, to confirm me in these resolutions; and as it is thou that inspirest them, give me strength also to put them in execution. JUNE XXII. THE NIGHTINGALE. THE nightingale is a musician of the first rank amongst the inhabitants of the air. When all the birds, who, during day, entertained us with their notes, cease to be heard, it is then that the voice of the nightingale is raised to animate the woods and groves. When we listen to the brilliant sounds of that voice, we are apt to conclude, that the bird must be large, that the throat must have great strength; and the inimitable charm of her melodious. F5 melodious notes makes us presume she surpasses all others in the beauty of her form. But it would be to no purpose to seek these advantages in the nightingale: It is a bird of poor appearance, whose colour, form, and the whole of its exterior, is void of any thing attractive or majestic, and has nothing in the least distinguishing. Nature has, however, compensated for its plainness, by giving it a voice irresistably charming. Listen to its fine long quivering notes: What variety, sweetness, and brilliancy in them! When she begins her song, she seems to study and compose before hand the melodious notes she wishes to be heard. She begins softly: Then the notes swell gradually till they run with the rapidity of a torrent: She goes from serious to gay, from simple notes to the wildest warblings; from the lightest turns and shakes to languishing sighs; and has, throughout the whole, the art to please the ear.. This bird may give rise to many useful and edifying reflections: For example, we learn this truth from it, that homeliness of body is sometimes united with very estimable qualities, and does not exclude beauty from the soul.. How unjust then. are those, who, only attaching themselves to the features of the face, and to exterior qualities, praise or blame nothing but what strikes their senses, and despise those who have bodily defects. Let us learn to judge with more equity. Any man, though deprived of the advantage of figure and fortune, who proves himself by his conduct to have the soul of a sage or a saint, is by much the more worthy of our esteem. It is the perfection of the soul only that gives true merit to man, or is worthy our admiration; the rest can only seduce those who do not know the value of wis dom |