DECEMBER. 
O Winter ! ruler of the inverted year, 
Thy scattered hair with sleet like ashes filled, 
Thy breath congealed upon thy lips, thy cheeks 
Fringed with a bea^d, made white with other snows 
Than those of age, thy forehead wrapped in clouds, 
A leafless branch thy sceptre, and thy throne 
A sliding car, indebted to no wheels, 
But urged by storms along its slippery way. 
From “ The Task.” — Cowper. 
*§|ARK December is here now—month of the short- 
est day and the longest night, of rain and wind, 
of snow and ice. It is the month of our great 
Christian festival, happy Christmas, the time of family 
re-unions, of joyous greetings, and of welcome presents. 
December is sometimes wet and windy ; but more 
often, particularly in the latter part of the month, it is 
frosty and snowy. What is more delightful than a 
smart walk on a frosty December day ? The spotless 
