I next asked him (indeed he is very patient) if it is the shooting of these spicula that causes the beautiful appearance of leaves and flowers on the windows; he said, yes. But why then are the shapes of the leaves so very various?
“On a calm night,” he replied, “only a close, even net-work is formed; but the least current of air whirls the moisture into an amusing variety of forms. That icy foliage is generally withinside the window, because our breath contains much moist vapour; and as no room that has doors, windows, and chimnies, can be without partial drafts of air, so the spicula are urged together in one place, and irregularly checked in another.”
15th, Sunday.—Frederick asked my uncle this morning, why the work of the tabernacle was so minutely described in the Bible.
“It is supposed,” he replied, “that Moses has been thus exact in relating how the tabernacle was made, in order to shew that all was done according to God’s directions, detailed in the preceding chapters; and it is therefore that Moses so frequently repeats the expression ‘as the Lord commanded.’
“In reading the account of the Jewish tabernacle, as well as of the various ceremonies of the law, we should always consider for what ends God was pleased to ordain those things. St. Paul informs us that the Jewish law was an imperfect dispensation from the first, and added, that though it was adapted to the weakness of the Jews, its several institutions were intended to typify the more perfect dispensation of the Gospel. Thus, the Jewish high priest was a manifest type of our Saviour; and the ark in the Holy of Holies, with its mercy-seat, from whence God communicated his will, was an emblem of Him from whose mouth we afterwards received the perfect law.
“The religious services ordained, were sacrifices of different kinds, and various purifications. All these apparently burdensome rites were, however, aptly significant of many things tending to preserve an inward, true religion; such as the constant acknowledgment that all the blessings we enjoy are the direct gifts of God; 2dly, the feelings of reverence due to his temple, and to all the things appropriated to his service; 3dly, the necessity of curbing our passions, and of atoning for past errors; and further, the impossibility of rooting out our evil habits without vigorous exertions. These and other moral objects, of the same nature, were well understood by the Israelites to be specifically represented in the ceremonial law.
“There were, also, certain solemn festivals ordained as commemorations of signal national mercies and deliverances. Nothing could have been better calculated to keep alive the spirit of gratitude to the bountiful Author of those mercies; and that nothing could be more consistent with the feelings of the human mind, has been exemplified by the practice of every age and nation, in the anniversary observances of religious, national and domestic events.”
16th.—The frost still continues; and instead of being miserably cold, as I expected, I almost enjoy it. There is not much wind, and the air feels dry and clear. We take long quick walks in the bright part of the day while the sun shines. The rooms are very comfortable, and I find, as my aunt told me, that I am less chilly when I stay at a moderate distance, than when I sit quite close to the fire. In the latter part of the day, if we begin to grow cold after the glow of warmth produced by walking is gone, we take some good house exercise, and that always brings it back.
Frederick asked my uncle to-day, whether it is by the loosening of the earth round the roots of plants as we saw, last Saturday, had happened to the carrots, that frost kills them?
“Perhaps,” said he, “that may have some injurious effect upon tender plants; but it is by bursting the sap vessels that frost does the most mischief.”