FEBRUARY. 13 



nature seems to tell a tale of spring. And 

 cheering it is, at such brief intervals to wel- 

 come its approach, and to persuade ourselves 

 that snow and rain and frost have left us, and 

 that the early flowers ay ill soon cluster about 

 us. But again the clouds return after the 

 rain ; the white fleeces from heaven descend, 

 as God " sendeth forth his snow like morsels," 

 and we find we have yet to wait longer before 

 the leaves shall cover the boughs, and the 

 herbs, with all their myriads of blossoms, 

 shall silently praise the hand of Him who 

 made them. 



But by the end of the month the snows are 



generally disappearing, and then we see how, 



under their covering, the young leaves and 



buds have found a shelter from the frosts. 



ISIany a green thing has been thriving beneath 



the snow. In the northern countries of Europe, 



the grass not only lives, but daUy grows under 



it ; and the Norway peasant, who longs that 



the verdant land shall yield him food for his 



cattle, scatters the ashes over the white surface, 



that the young blade may rise to the sunshme. 



And mercifully has the great Creator thus 



ordained it, for in those more rigorous climates 



the snow seldom leaves the earth till the sun of 



April has, in our warmer regions, smiled out 



upon the fields, and made them gay with many 



ccloui's. 



First and brightest of Febmary flowers we 

 must hail the crocus, standing forth in its deep 

 bright raiment of " cloth of gold." Several 



