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 sealeth up the hand of every man ; that all men may know 

 his work. 



The beasts go into dens and remain in their places. 



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



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



waters is straitened. 



Job xxxvii. 6 — 10. 



Gawain Douglas, the celebrated Bishop of 

 Dunkeld, has given the following most excel- 

 lent sketch of Winter; which Warton has ren- 

 dered from antiquated 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 dyke. From the 

 crags, and the foreheads of the yellow rocks, 

 hung great icicles, in length like a spear. The 

 soil was dusky and grey, bereft of flowers, herbs, 

 and grass. In every hold and forest, the woods 



