tyt a 
iarhmfr of i\t hear. 
JANUARY. 
-Kx- 
With his ice, and snow, and rime 
Let bleak Winter sternly come ! 
There is not a sunnier clime 
Than the love-lit winter home. 
A. A. Watts. 
AN U ARY, whether bleak, rainy, and cold, or 
clear, frosty, and bracing, is one of the pleasant¬ 
est times of the year. New Year’s Day is usually 
considered, both in the old world and in the new, a 
most appropriate time for congratulations and good 
wishes, and for the giving of presents. It is, above all, 
the time for family gatherings and merry parties, as 
well as for out-door enjoyments, in the way of skating, 
curling, sliding, sleighing, or snow-balling. 
The practice of making presents on New Year’s Day 
was, no doubt, derived from the Romans. Suetonius 
