Wintry Aspects.

WINTRY ASPECTS .

BY Y 0 YAGEUR . IVTATURE is grand ancl charming in all its aspects ancl all its developments . ¦ * - * Whether it be on the stormy ocean or the heathery moor ; whether amid the " everlasting hills" or by the stillness of the placid lake ; whether it be when we contemplate the war of the elements or bask in sunshiny idleness ,

Nature always asserts its claim to be the friend and-instructress of man . In the freshness of spring , the pleasantness of summer , the repose of autumn , Nature , ever varying , is , nevertheless , ever the same in its marvels , its grandeur , its grace , ancl its beauty . It has been my lot to spend the opening days of 1881 in a far northern county , ancl amid the severest diplays of " wintry aspects . " The hills have been covered with snowthe lake has been

, frozen over , the snow which has fallen heavily has bent clown the waving trees , and all around bears witness of the advent ancl reign of " King Winter , " irresistible in his widespread dominions . Ancl yet in this prevailing ancl dominant regime of the hoary monarch , Nature seems to reassert its claim to onr fervent admiration ancl reverential

regard . How strange ancl sudden is the " metamorphosis . Everything around points to isolation ancl desolation . All seems hushed and silent over the snow-covered ground , and nothing is heard but the distant echo of the labours , the voices , the haunts of men . But , notwithstanding the universal prevalence of a sea ancl waste of white , blending all things and objects in happy indistinctness or monotonous uniformity , there is always something weird ancl wonderful in Nature ' s " wintry aspects" which affects deeply all

, the true admirers and students of Nature . It has been my privilege to see some of the fairest and most celebrated " spots " on earth , ancl to have the happy opportunity of noting what is noteworthy and admiring what is admirable .

I have crossed , for instance , the Atlantic in a gale of wind , and beheld with uncomfortable feelings its " mountains of waves ; " I have strayed by the shores of the classic and blue Mediterranean ; I have admired the Swiss ancl the Savoy hills ; I have seen the sparkling beaut y of the Tagus , the white walls of Cadiz , the wonderous beauty of Gibraltar Bay , tbe quaint houses of Tangiers , ancl the gleaming groves of Tetuan . But I hardly know of any scene of greater loveliness than where I have lately sojournedamid the lake

, country of Cumberland , equally graceful and affecting in the full radiance of summer skies ancl the mellowed and golden tints of autumn . And now its " wintry aspects " seem equally to move my admiration , excite my wonder , ancl impress my sympathy . If all be stillness ancl repose , no noise of crowds or man ' s busy life , if Nature is for the time supreme in its solitude ancl its sternness , it is yet sublime . I look up to those stately hills , ancl they seem more

clear and vivid in " contour " and reality when clothed in the garb of winter ' s livery . I gaze upon the white surface of the lake , one far , vast level of snow , ancl if all be the calmness and quiescence , it is also the realization of stateliness and grace . "When the moonlight is streaming , " not now over the " rippling sea , " as we once used to sing so cheeril y of old , but over one great " steppe " of silvery whiteness . The surr ' onnding trees ancl hillsancl even the

, leaden sky , appear to lend a special enchantment to the scene as the eye travels over the well-known sea of snow , ancl grasps in its vision nothing but one level wilderness , illuminated by the sun ' s feeble rays b y clay , or when nig ht conies on , by the moon ' s cold , calm , glistening light , bringing into minute reality