DECEMBER. 



He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth ; likewise to the small 

 rain, and to the great rain of his strength. 



He scalcth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his 

 works. 



The beasts go into dens and remain in their places. 



Out of the south cometh the whirlwind ; and cold out of the north. 



By the breath of God frost is given; and the breadth of the waters 

 is straitened. 



JOB xxxvii. 610. 



GAWAIN DOUGLAS, the celebrated Bishop of Dun- 

 keld, has given the following most excellent sketch 

 of Winter ; which Warton has rendered from anti- 

 quated Scotch verse into good modern English 

 prose. " The fern withered on the miry fallows; 

 the brown moors assumed a barren mossy hue; 

 banks, sides of hills, and bottoms grew white and 

 bare; the cattle looked hoary from the dank weather; 

 the wind made the red reed waver on the dike. 

 From the crags, and the foreheads of the yellow 

 rocks, hung great icicles, in length like a spear. 

 The soil was dusky and gray, bereft of flowers, 

 herbs, and grass. In every hold and forest, the 

 woods were stripped of their array. Boreas blew 

 his bugle-horn so loud, that the solitary deer with- 

 drew to the dales; the small birds flocked to the 

 I 



