I JANUARY. 



the most cheerless month of the year. In De- 

 cember the days become shorter and shorter; 

 a dense mass of vapour floats above us, wrap- 

 ping the world in a constant and depressing 

 gloom ; and 



Murky night soon follows hazy noon. 



Bloomfield. 



In January this mantle of brumal sadness some- 

 what dissipates, as if a new year had infused 

 new hope and vigour into the earth ; light is 

 not only more plentifully diffused, but we soon 

 perceive its longer daily abode with us ; yet, in 

 the words of the common adage, 



As the day lengthens, 

 The cold strengthens. 



This is the month of abundant snows and all 

 the intensity of frost. Yet winter, even in its 

 severest forms, brings so many scenes and cir- 

 cumstances with it to interest the heart of the 

 lover of Nature and of his fellow-creatures, that 

 it never ceases to be a subject of delightful 

 observation ; and monotonous as it is frequently 

 called, the very variety of the weather itself 

 presents an almost endless source of novelty 

 and beauty. There is first what is called 



A great Storm. Frost, — keen, biting frost, 

 is in the ground ; and in the air, a bitter, 

 scythe-edged, perforating wind from the north ; 



