_ is impossible, it follows _that_ must be unreasonable.

BUT this appears still the more clearly, when it is considered, that
all such Alterations may be shewn even from the Light of Reason to be
generally useful, notwithstanding they sometimes appear troublesome and
noxious. For Instance, such quick Streams of Air in Motion as we call
Winds, though they sometimes swell into Storms and Tempests, yet are
they of great Benefit to Mankind, by purging the Air, and many other
Conveniences. It is a Proverb at _Vienna, that if_ Austria_ be not
windy it is sickly_; and this Saying is no less true in other
Countries, for by consulting the History of the last great Plague that
raged here in 1666, it will be found that there was in a Manner a dead
Calm during the Time of the Sickness, and it is known in _Egypt_, where
they have Plagues annually, that the Change of the Wind delivers them
from that Evil. Add to this the great Use of Winds in Navigation, and
reflect on the Benefits that accrue there from, and we shall see no
Cause whatever to doubt that this Motion of the Air is a very wise
Contrivance.

THE Condensation of Vapours, which is the Cause of Rain, is another
great Benefit to the World, in as much as this is very probably
supposed to be the Source of Fountains, Rivers, Lakes, and other
Magazines of fresh Water, without which the Earth would be uninhabitable,
and to which in a very great Measure its Fertility is owing. We ought
likewise to remember that though this be in itself so clear, and at the
same Time so certain, yet there are Countries in the World where it
very seldom rains, as in _Egypt_, and others where it hardly ever
rains, as in _Peru_; so that we see there is no raising general
Doctrines upon this Subject, which ought to make us the more tender in
disputing the Will of Providence, or repining when it happens to cross
our own.

THE Uses of Snow are as great though less apparent, of which I shall
mention but three. The first is its preserving Herbs and Grass in the
Winter against the Severity of Frost; secondly, its supplying Water to
Brooks and Rivers; and lastly, its furnishing the Earth with vast
Quantities of Nitre, and thereby conducing greatly to its Fertility,
and perhaps the same thing may be said of Frost, hard Winters being
often succeeded by luxuriant Summers, and thus we find that what in
Appearance causes Scarcity, may in Reality produce Plenty.

LASTLY, even Thunder, however terrible in its