396 DECEMBER. 



this " labour under the sun," has been in vain. 

 Literary tradesmen have been indulged in spe- 

 culation ; critics have been employed ; and au- 

 thors have enjoyed the excitement of hope, the 

 enthusiasm of composition, the glow of fancied 

 achievement. And all is not lost ; 



The following year another race supplies, 

 They fall successive, and successive rise. 



The heavens present one of the most promi- 

 nent and splendid beauties of winter. The 

 long and total absence of the sun's light, and 

 the transparent purity of a frosty atmosphere, 

 give an apparent elevation to the celestial con- 

 cave, and a rich depth and intensity of azure, 

 in which the stars burn with resplendent beau- 

 ty; the galaxy stretches its albescent glow 

 athwart the northern sky, and the moon in her 

 monthly track sails amongst the glittering con- 

 stellations with a more queenly grace ; some- 

 times without the visitation of a single cloud, 

 and, at others, seeming to catch from their 

 wind- winged speed, an accelerated motion of 

 her own. It is a spectacle, of which the con- 

 templative eye is never weary ; though it is one, 

 of all others, which fills the mind with feelings 

 of the immensity of the universe, the tremen- 



