14 



JANUARY. 



amongst them several bustards, their wings 

 being glazed to their sides, and their feet to 

 the ground. But of all the phenomena of win- 

 ter, none equals in beauty 



THE HOAR FROST. A dense haze most com- 

 monly sets in over night, which has vanished 

 the next morning, and left a clear atmosphere, 

 and a lofty arch of sky of the deepest and most 

 diaphanous blue, beaming above a scene of en- 

 chanting beauty. Every tree, bush, twig, and 

 blade of grass, from the utmost nakedness has 

 put on a pure and feathery garniture, which 

 appears the work of enchantment, and has all 

 the air and romantic novelty of a fairy-land. 

 Silence and purity are thrown over the earth 

 as a mantle. The hedges are clothed in a 

 snowy foliage, thick as their summer array. 

 The woods are filled with a silent splendour ; 

 the dark boles here and there contrasting 

 .strongly with the white and sparkling drapery 

 of the boughs above, amongst which the wan- 

 dering birds fly, scattering the rime around 

 them in snowy showers. There is not a thicket 

 but has assumed a momentary aspect of strange 

 loveliness; and the mind is more affected by 

 it from its suddenness of creation, and the con- 



