ward, Persius with Medusa's head, Cassiopœia, Andromeda, Cepheus, the Swan and Lyre, the sweet Pleiades, the Bee, and Triangle.

Those who are much abroad in these cold nights, may see a little flitting object reflected on the dazzling surface of the snow. This is the common bat. Her congeners generally feed on the crepuscular moths; but as they are now scarce, she probably finds a quarry among different kinds of insects, and such gnats as frequent aged trees and walls, to which, in feeding, she adheres by the claw appended to her long leathern wing. Without this contrivance, she would be the most helpless of all animals. She could neither move rapidly on a plane surface, nor raise herself readily from the ground; but these inabilities are fully made up to her by the formation of her wing; and in placing a claw on that part, the Creator has deviated from the analogy observed in flying animals. A singular defect required a singular substitution; and hence appears that system, which gives to the different parts of the organ of locomotion corresponding uses.

He who lifts his eyes to the high heavens, who sees unnumbered constellations moving in silent majesty, and believes them to be the suns of other systems, may fear to be overlooked in the immen

sity of creation. But let him examine the particles of frost that sparkle beside his path, or turn his eyes to the little, dark flitting object that casts a shadow on the dazzling surface, and observe the expanded ear and nostril well adapted to catch the slightest impulses of sound; the warm soft fur that defends his little body from the severity of cold; the claw appended to his wing, the wonderful mechanism that diminishes his specific gravity. Let him consider all these, and then take notice how tender, and how intricate is the appropriate machinery, that gives animation to the whole "how constantly in action, how necessary to life." His fears must vanish. He will gratefully acknowledge the parental care of Him whom greatness cannot overpower, nor minuteness perplex.

And, how beautiful, when the full-orbed moon has risen over the snowy landscape, to watch the rapid motion of the clouds!"

"To view the white-robed clouds in clusters driven,

And all the glorious pageantry of heaven.
Low, on the utmost bound'ry of the sight,
The rising vapours catch the silver light;
Thence Fancy measures, as they parting fly,
Which first will throw its shadows on the eye,
Passing the source of light and thence away,
Succeeded quick by brighter still than they.
For yet above these wafted clouds are seen
(In a remoter sky, still more serene,)

Others detached, in ranges through the air,
Spotless as snow, and countless as they 're fair;
Scatter'd immensely wide from east to west,
The beauteous semblance of a flock at rest.
These, to the raptur'd mind, aloud proclaim
Their mighty Shepherd's everlasting name!"
BLOOMFIELD.

23

FEBRUARY.

"The Most High giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

'He sendeth out his word, and melteth them; he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow."

PSALM CXlvii.

How delightful is that feeling which the lover of nature now experiences, when the snows are melted from the fields, and a soft spring-like breeze is felt, for the first time after cold east winds, and a tedious confinement to the house! The sun-beams, too, that break through the driving clouds, and brighten the landscape with a rapid radiance, are welcomed perhaps with more delight than at any other season of the year; and even the mists that rest upon the hills, or, as the country people call them, the smoking of the woods, seem an earnest of much that is verdurous and joyful. But many cheerless days must elapse, before these promises are realized clouds will return surcharged with rain, and rest with a settled gloom on the horizon;

:

yet they are full of hope, for the heaviest showers answer a double purpose in the great economy of nature: they loosen the soil, and enable the roots of plants to expand; they also supply the fluid that is received through the roots to the stem, where it undergoes a chemical change, and is brought back through another set of vessels down the leaf stalks into the wood, depositing in its progress, either there, or in the bark and fruit, secretions often diametrically opposite in their effects. Thus, to the Bedford willow, a tanning principle is communicated; to the sweet-scented vernal grass its fine aromatic fragrance; and to the common willow, that virtue which has been found so beneficial in curing intermittent fevers.

"See that soft green willow springing,

Where the waters gently pass,

Every way her free arms flinging,

O'er the moist and reedy grass.
Long ere winter's blasts are fled,
See her tipt with vernal red,
And her kindly flower display'd,
Ere her leaf can cast a shade.

Though the rudest hand assail her,
Patiently she droops awhile;

But when showers and breezes hail her,
Wears again her willing smile,
Thus we learn contentment's power,
From the slighted willow bower;
Ready to give thanks and live,
On the least that Heaven may give."

CHRISTIAN YEAR.