Wintry Aspects.

and wondrous distinctness every point , every bay , every hill , ancl even every tree ; ancl then all is still , all is tranquil , all is hushed , and as some one has said , all is " silent as the grave . " Far from the haunts of men , removed from the dwellers upon earth , we begin to realize what it is to live in solitude amid the woods or by the " waters , " ancl we learn to feel how refreshing it is for us

all , and how good to enjoy for a little this bappy exchange from the ceaseless uproar of a great city , and what we are pleased to term " civilization , " to find ourselves amid the calm ancl soothing repose of the countryside , the attractive isolation of trees , the rippling of the lake , the music of the rills , and the unchanging quiescence and beauty of those wondrous hills . " God made the countryman made the town" is as true as ever . Amid the peaceful loveliness

, , of nature all the artificial creations of civilized life fade away into nothingness ; face to face with her charms ancl her truths , we are compelled reverentially to trace ancl lovingly to admire that Supreme Wisdom and Goodness which are patent to the thoughtful mind alike in its ceaseless march , its mightiest marvels , ancl its most beautiful appearances . As to-day , I look upon the hills gleaming with the white snow , it seems to me as if everything

blends into one harmonious whole , alike magnificent ancl aftecting . I learn the great and wholesome truth , for us all alike , that Nature has countless lessons for its patient students and its loving disciples , and that even in its " wintry aspects " there is still much to interest ancl to move those whose eyes are not blind to all those realistic charms which Nature , ever kind , has -in all its moods and vagaries , its hourly outcome , its ceaseless developments for ns poor children of the dust . In the regular flow of needful seasonsamid spring

, blossoms , summer flowers , autumn foliage , and wintry aspects , Nature is ever the same before us , great , beneficent , admirable , ancl marvellous . Happy it is for us if we imbibe a taste for Nature ' s scenes , if we love its ways , if we learn its law , ancl seek to turn with reverential sympathy the pages of its ever open book . ¦ When we are worn and jaded with mental labours , or bodil y ailments , when we find civilization itself too much for uswith its normal habits or

, abnormal excrescences , how good and p leasant it is for us to renovate our moral tastes , to strengthen our moral vision , to reanimate our moral life with a glimpse of the more refreshing scenes and simpler habitudes of nature , a country life , ancl all those quiet studies and associations ancl aspirations which shed such peacefulness on many a humble lot , ancl lift the philosopher and the sage to-day above the passing troubles ancl petty variances of humanity .

Nature in winter has still a useful lesson for us all , and which , lost in the din ancl warfare of great cities , their " moiling " and their toiling , may yet be learnt by those who dwell amid lake ancl fell , and heath and hill , amid graceful flowers and stately trees , since to them Nature is ever friendly , ever welcome , ever charming , ever striking , whether in the blaze of the summer sun or in the full force of wintry aspects .

On A Drop Of Water.

ON A DROP OF WATER .

/ j O-EXISTENT with all matter from the beginning , cycles of time untold ere ^ this glorious and wondrous earth came forth from the bosom of God , its eternal Lord ancl Maker , while darkest chaos universal spread its unpenetrable mantle the wide world around , the S pirit of God mo ved upon the face of the waters .