JANUARY. 271 



clad in a full armor of variegated icicles ; and when the 

 slanting rays of the sun penetrate into these recesses, 

 they illuminate them with a dazzling brilliancy; and 

 it seems as if the nymphs, that sit by these fountains, 

 had decorated them as the portals to that inner temple 

 of Nature, whence are the issues of all that is lovely 

 and beautiful on earth. 



Thus, when the delightful objects of summer have 

 perished, endless sources of amusement and delight are 

 still provided for the mind and the senses. Though the 

 singing-bird has fled from the orchard and the rustling 

 of green leaves is heard no longer in the haunts of the 

 little mountain streams, there are still many things to 

 attract attention by their beauty or their sublimity. 

 Whether we view the frosts that decorate the herbage 

 in the morning, or the widespread loveliness of the snow 

 on a moonlight evening, the sublimity of heaven seems 

 to rest upon the face of the earth and we behold with 

 rapt emotions every terrestrial scene. The universe, full 

 of these harmonies, yields never-ending themes for study 

 and meditation, to absorb and delight the mind that is 

 ever searching after knowledge, and to raise the soul 

 above the clods of the valley to that invisible Power 

 that dwells throughout all space. 



I never listen to the shrill voice of the woodpecker, 

 within the deep shelters of the forest, or to the lively 

 notes of the chickadee, which alternate with the sound 

 of winds among the dry rustling leaves, without feeling 

 a sudden and delightful transport. I cannot help in- 

 dulging the fancy, that Nature has purposely endowed 

 these active birds with a hardihood almost miraculous, to 

 endure the severity of winter, that they might always 

 remain to cheer the loneliness of these wintry solitudes. 

 For no clime or season has Nature omitted to provide 

 blessings for those who are willing to. receive them, and 



