19 



II. 



FEBRUARY 1st. 



Silver Thaw. — Brilliance of the Meteor — its fragility. — Youthful Pros- 

 pects. — Love of Nature. — Cause of the Phenomenon. — Virginian Deer. 

 — Rackets. — Hair of the Deer. — Black-capped Titmouse — its Food — 

 Song. — Anecdote. — Flakes of Snow — their beauty, variety, and regu- 

 larity — difficulty of viewing and delineating them. — Perfection of the 

 Divine Work. — Frosted Windows. — Uses of Snow. — Notes of the 

 Winter of 1837-8. 



Father. — A rain has fallen during the night, which has 

 touched the face of Nature with a magician's wand. Come, 

 and I will show you such a scene of splendour, as you will 

 not see every day. Observe the woods : every little twig 

 of every tree, every bush, every blade of grass, is enshrined 

 in crystal : here is a whole forest of sparkling, transparent 

 glass, even to the minute needle-like leaves of the pines and 

 firs. What are the candle-light lustres and chandeliers of 

 the ball-room, compared with this ? Now the sun shines 

 out ; see, what a glitter of light ! how the beams, broken as 

 it were, into ten thousand fragments, sparkle and dance as 

 they are reflected from the trees. 



Charles. — It is very beautiful. It reminds me of some 

 of the fairy scenes in the Arabian Nights. 



F. — Yes ; it is a scene of brilliance ; but beautiful as it 

 is, it is no less fragile : a slight touch from a rude hand is 

 sufficient to destroy it : on my striking the trunk of this 

 tree, see ! the air is filled with a descending shower of the 

 glittering fragments, and the potent spell is broken at once ; 



