148 "Mature Studies In Berkshire. 



thoughts of Him "who walketh upon the wings of 

 the wind," and of this wonderful messenger He sends 

 upon His errands of mercy. Of all the phenomena 

 of nature, that which is sealed the closest to most 

 men and women is the story of the winds. We 

 realise less of the wind's office and function than we 

 do of the work of any other natural agent. It is as 

 true of our day as of the day ofNicodemus, that "The 

 wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye know not 

 whence it cometh nor whither it goeth." This great 

 envelope of air is all the time pressing on us, moving 

 by us, bearing to us the very breath of life, and yet it 

 is probably the least understood, the least appreciated, 

 of any of the great natural forces or facts. The wind 

 which blows across this earth is only the air moving 

 about on its errands and performing its work. But 

 when we search out what that work is, we realise 

 how true is the word, "He maketh the winds His 

 messengers." 



Think what this atmosphere of ours is, whose 

 touch we hardly recognise save when it brushes 

 against us in the hurry of its toil. It is the breath of 

 life to man and beast and plant ; and by a curious law 

 of economy the waste gases which the man exhales are 

 the food of the plant, and vice versa. It is one of the 

 minor services of the winds that they are continually 

 mixing these in their due proportions and maintaining 

 the salubrious equilibrium of the 'atmosphere. The 

 winds moreover bear the moisture which the air 

 acquires in its wanderings over the sea to the mountain 



