FEBRUARY 



He giveth snow like wool ; he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. 



He casteth forth his ice like morsels ; who can stand before his cold ? 



He sendeth out his word and melteth them ; he causeth his winds 

 to blow, and the waters flow. 



Psalm cxlvii. 16 — IS. 



As I have already observed, I regard this as 

 the most cheerless month in the year. There 

 may be pleasant varieties of it ; the latter end 

 may, and frequently is, much more agreeable 

 than the commencement ; but, as a whole, it is 

 as I have characterised it. It is at once damp 

 and foggy. Besides the earth being saturated 

 with a whole winter's moisture, there is gene- 

 rally abundance of rain during this month, so 

 much so as to have acquired for it the cogno- 

 men of "February fill-dike." The frosts and 

 snows which have been locking up and burying 

 the earth for weeks and months, are now giving 

 way, and what is so cheerless and chilly as 



A Great Thaw ? There is a lack of comfort 

 felt everywhere. In real winter weather the 



