*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 45390 ***

WINTER.

Old Age--The Winter of Life

Printed And Sold By Samuel Wood & Sons

1816.

[Illustration: 003]



|The birds, quite mute, the trees, stripped of their green livery, the
shortened days and lengthened nights, together with the piercing winds
and pinching frosts, now show us that winter is come: stern Winter,
which resembles Old Age, or the closing scene.

[Illustration: 005]

Yet, even this season is not void of its beauties and blessings. The new
fallen snow caps the mountains, and covers the valleys, with a white and
beautiful vesture, which is thrown into many curious forms, folds, and
ridges, by the rude blasts of the driving winds.

What can exceed the dazzling splendour of a rising sun, on the trees and
bushes, after a night of rain and freezing, when every branch appears
like a shining crystal? A prospect grand indeed!

The severe frosts of Winter, with the agitated atmosphere, dispel the
sickening fumes which arise from heated and stagnant pools, and decaying
vegetation.

[Illustration: 007]

This gives health and vigour to the body, and an it were, new spring to
thought. Who but has observed the lively sensations of body and mind
on a clear frosty morning in winter? What a contrast to the languor
experienced after a sultry night in summer or in autumn.

Although there are now no fields of corn to hoe or harvest to cut, yet
the winter is not a scene of inactivity. It is undoubtedly the will of
Heaven, that man should labour--The constitutions of his body and
mind are so formed, as greatly to need it. Moderate labour tends to the
health of both.

The woodman, with his axe, engages the sturdy oak, which by his repeated
strokes, bows its ancient and venerable head, and comes tumbling to the
ground. It is then cut into suitable lengths, and carted home for the
fire.

[Illustration: 009]

The grain is now threshed out from the straw, and cleared from the chaff
by the wind or a fan. The wheat, rye, and buckwheat, are then carried
to the mill, ground into flour, brought home and made into bread, pies,
cakes, &c.

Barley is used to make beer, oats to feed horses, and Indian corn for
both man and beast.

Much attention to the poor dumb animals is necessary, who look up to
man for protection. The horsed cows, and sheep are to be foddered early
and late, and provided with proper shelter.

[Illustration: 011]

The hogs are to be fed and furnished with a bed of straw. The turkeys,
geese, and ducks, with the other poultry, will flock round the little
boy or girl, who comes with a basket of corn to feed them.

The flax in the winter is broken with a crackle, and then dressed on
a swingling-board by a long wooden knife: afterwards passed through a
hatchel, and then, by the industrious country woman and her daughters,
spun into yarn, for the purpose of making linen for our shirts, &c.

In the long winter evenings, how pleasant for a family to sit by a good
fire, and hear the cold wind whistling without; when; neighbour enjoys
the company of neighbour, and treats him with a drink of palatable
cider, and some good apples; while the little children are agreeably
employed in cracking and eating the nuts which they gathered in the
fall.

[Illustration: 013]

Some amuse themselves with riding in the sleigh, while the little boys
glide swiftly, in many a curious curve, upon the ice; and, when the
weather is foul, the little folks can suitably exercise themselves
within doors at shuttlecock.=


|Behold the gray branches that

```stretch from the trees,

``Nor blossoms nor verdure they

```wear!

`They rattle and shake to the

```northerly breeze,

``And wave their long arms in the

```air.=



`The sun hides his face in a mantle

```of cloud,

```Dark vapours roll over the sky,

``The wind through the wood hol-

```lows hoarsely and loud.

``And sea birds across the land

```fly.=



`Come in, little Charles, for the

```snow patters down,

``No path in the garden remains:

`The streets and the houses are

```white in the town,

``And white are the field and the

```plain.=



`Come in, little Charles, from the

```tempest of snow;

``'Tis dark, and the shutters we'll

```close;

`We'll put a fresh fagot to make

```the fire glow,

``Secure from the storm as it

```blows;

`But how many wretches, without

```house or home,

``Are wandering naked and pale;

`Oblig'd on the snow-covered

```common to roam,

``And pierc'd by the pitiless gale!

`No house for their shelter, no vict-

```uals to eat,

No beds for their limbs to re-

pose:

[Illustration: 017]

`Or a crust dry and mouldy, the

```best of their meat,

``And their pillow, a pillow of snows.=



`Be thankful, my child, that it is

```not thy lot,

``To wander an orphan and poor,

`A father and mother, and home

```thou hast got,

``And yet thou deservest them

```no more.

`Be thankful, my child, and forget

```not to pay

``Thy thanks to the Father above,

`Who gives thee so many more

```blessings than they.

``And crowns thy whole life with

```his love. =



[Illustration: 018]







End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Winter, by Anonymous

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 45390 ***