156 Meteorological Phenomena in 



reindeer, the agile inhabitant of the mossy plains of Siberia, meet 

 together. It is quite otherwise in England. In Ireland, which is 

 situated in the same latitude as Koningsberg, the myrtle flourishes 

 equally well as in Portugal ; it scarcely freezes in winter, and yet 

 its climate will not ripen grapes. On the coast of the Lake of Kil- 

 larney the arbutus grows wild ; in the island of Guernsey hortensias 

 bloom in the open air ; and laurels grow in Cornwall, in the same 

 latitude as Prague and Dresden. England is indebted to this 

 equal distribution of a warm, moist temperature, for the soft ver- 

 dure of her meadows, and the clear complexions of her population. 

 11 Oh ye blooming youthful cheeks," exclaims Moritz ; "ye green 

 meadows and ye clear streams of this happy land, how have ye en- 

 chanted my heart ! Oh Richmond ! Richmond ! never shall I forget 

 the evening, when, full of ecstasy, I rambled up and down on the 

 flowery banks of the Thames. But all these delights shall not 

 hinder me from returning again to those barren, sand-bestrewed 

 fields, where my destiny has decreed that the little sphere of my ac- 

 tive life should be situated." My readers will readily perceive, by 

 the patriotic feeling which will have found its way into their breasts 

 whilst listening to the closing words of Moritz, that he spoke of 

 Berlin. If, however, I confess that the study of meteorology offers 

 peculiar difficulties here, because, in addition to the constituent parts 

 of the atmosphere, sand enters so largely as to form an essential in- 

 gredient, and to stand a chance of becoming a meteor, I still assert, 

 that it does not appear to me difficult to take delight in the ever- 

 varying aspect of our skies, when we recal to mind the rigid coun- 

 tenance of their eastern, and the melancholy severity of their western 

 neighbours. Our atmosphere is certainly often obscured, but never 

 to such a degree as in the dense fogs of London, in whose streets 

 boys went about with flaming torches on the 24th May 1838, in 

 order, as they said, to honour the Queen's birth-day with a brilliant 

 illumination. Certainly it often rains with us, but never in such 

 a way as is described in the burden of the song in " What you 



" With heigh ho ! for the wind and the rain, 

 For the rain it raineth every day." 



Although Shakespere lays the scene of his play in Illyria, we see 

 at once by these words, that the fool who sings them is a true Eng- 

 lish fool, who had received his youthful impressions in a country 

 where, in reply to the impatient inquiry of the traveller, '* Does it 

 always rain in Bristol?" the satisfactory answer was given. "No! 

 it snows betwcen-whiles." What a continual succession of sunshine 

 and rain, on the contrary, with us ! What frequent returns of cold 

 after the warmth seems to have set in ! As our poet says : — 

 u The sunshine heguilos 



With its mild, false smiles, 



And even the swallow lies, 



For alone he hither flies." 



