DECEMBER. 323 



ing their way through some strange land ; the 

 solitary travellers in the savage deserts of the 

 earth ; the worn-down remnants of discomfited 

 armies ; the captive driven in fetters to the 

 distant mart, or, escaped from thraldom, flying by 

 night, and lurking by day, from the fury of his 

 pursuers, filled with fears, and faint with famine, 

 we have summoned up images of earthly woe 

 so immense, that we are constrained, with a 

 feeling of agonized energy, to cast the care of 

 them upon Heaven, and to grasp eagerly at the 

 only comfortable thought, that they are all in 

 the hand of God. 



The evergreen trees with their beautiful cones, 

 such as firs and pines, are now particularly ob- 

 served and valued; the different species of ever- 

 lasting flowers, so pleasing an ornament to our 

 parlours in winter, and indeed during the whole 

 year, also attract our attention. The oak, the 

 beech, and the hornbeam, in part retain their 

 leaves, while all other trees are entirely de- 

 nuded. The scarlet berries of the holly, and 

 the fiery bunches of Pyracantha on its dark 

 green, thorny sprays, are brightly conspicuous, 

 and the mosses are in their pride. 



December, says Verstegan, had his due ap- 

 pellation given him by our ancestors, in the 



