Chap. 38. !ínExpofition upon the Bookof J o a. Vert, 30. 229 tunely and in feafon , cis a great benefit ; but if it comes in the fpring of the year., if it comes when the youth of the fpring,buds andbiodômss,are put forth", it proves verydetrimental,and kills chat hopeful fpring.of the Earth ,, which the warmth of a benigne Sun and wind had invited out. The Frofi of a few nights hath fpoiied the hopes of Husbandmen and Vine-dreffers, for the whole year. Froff is both a benefit and a fcourge ; whether it proves the one or the other , it is God who gendreth ir , and muff therefore be acknowledged in it. As in this 29th verfe Col declares himfeif the Author of the Froul and of the Ice , and,in opening ir, fo:newhat bath been Paid of their effe ts, fo in the next verfe one remarkable and very forcible effe& of the Froff is held forth , that we may learn (and 'cis nomire than our experience and eye -fight have often taught us) what Cold or Froff can do. Why , what can it do ? It can turn water into fiones. Such is the power of Cold,that it hardens the liquidwater like atione. Ice in its very fall appearance bath the refembl ance of a Prone , and being very thick (as in long Frotis) tris like a rock, likea mountain of florae r Thus the Text (peaks Verf. ;O: The craters are hid as with a 'foie. That is, when extream cold freezes the waters into Ice , the waters are not feen, theyare lockt up , `and (as it were) paved over with a fione ; or the waters Teem to ft ffr a firange meta- morphofis,an leaving their natural liqui i :y andfoftnefs,are con- dented or hardened into rocks ; fuch is the force of cold. Some exprefs it a&ively, not as we , Thewatersare hid , but the wa- ters hide themfelves like a florae. Thus Mr., Broughton expreffeth ir. Naturalifis tell us that infome cold Countries, where there are Ives chry- great falls of (now and rain , 'the (now and rain geow into fuch a .Thlit lii.1r3n. bardneïs, that you cannot reduce them into.water. Chryffal (fay they) isnothing but Water hardened by cold : And thus water is XP,SOh zò more than hid as with a ífone, for it becomes a (tone.. d ía + Hence Note; OAF The Lord can make wonderful changes in Nature. i. e. Aqua fri- What is more fluid thanwater , more moveable thaw azater; gore con:reta, it was of old grown into a divine Proverb ( Gen. 42.4.) Villa- kit
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