From “Negotium Perambulans” by E. F. Benson

But they are linked together, so it has always seemed to me, by some mysterious comprehension: it is as if they had all been initiated into some ancient rite, inspired and framed by forces visible and invisible. The winter storms that batter the coast, the vernal spell of the spring, the hot, still summers, the season of rains and autumnal decay, have made a spell which, line by line, has been communicated to them, con- cerning the powers, evil and good, that rule the world, and manifest themselves in ways benignant or terrible . . .