The forces of Nature
everywhere and at all times surround us, forces capable, if loosened
from their bonds, of bringing death and destruction to man and the work
of his hands. But usually they are mild and beneficent in their action,
not agents of destruction and lords of elemental misrule. The air,
without whose presence we could not survive a minute, is usually a
pleasant companion, now resting about us in soft calm, now passing by in
mild breezes. The alternation of summer and winter is to us generally an
agreeable relief from the monotony of a uniform climate. The variation
from sunlight to cloud, from dry weather to rainfall, is equally viewed
as a pleasant escape from the weariness of too great fixity of natural
conditions. The change from day to night, from hours of activity to
hours of slumber, are other agreeable variations in the events of our
daily life. In short, a great pendulum seems to be swinging above us,
held in Nature's kindly hand, and adapting its movements to our best
good and highest enjoyment.
But has Nature,--if we are justified in personifying the laws and forces
of the universe,--has mother Nature really our pleasure and benefit in
mind, or does she merely suffer us to enjoy life like so many summer
insects, until she is in the mood to sweep us like leaves from her
path? It must seem the latter to many of the inhabitants of the earth,
especially to the dwellers in certain ill-conditioned regions. For all
the beneficent powers above named may at a moment's notice change to
destructive ones.
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