tempting morsel; whilst the familiar robin does not hesitate to perch upon the window-sill in search of the bread-crumbs which he has learned to consider his right. Clouds of wild-ducks and other water-fowl leave the now frozen marshes and lakes where they are wont to dwell, and betake themselves to some running stream where there is still a chance of food. 9. In spite of all they can do, it often happens that wild animals or birds lose their lives by cold and starvation during the severe frosts and heavy snowfalls of January; and domestic animals, being less accustomed to help themselves than wild ones, are even worse off. If the snow be deep, cattle have great difficulty in obtaining sufficient grass to keep themselves alive; and sheep, though they huddle together for warmth, are often frozen to death, or buried under huge drifts of snow. Many thousands of sheep have sometimes perished in this way in a single night, even in the south of Scotland. 10. After all, the cold which we experience in January is a mere trifle to that which many Englishmen cheerfully endure in Canada. The visitor to that great country at the time of the New Year, finds the ground covered with three or four feet of crisp powdery snow, which renders walking outside of the towns almost an impossibility; whilst the clear sunny air is so cold that the unthinking wayfarer is very likely to have his nose or his ears frozen, if he ventures out of doors without having these parts of his body properly protected. 11. We cannot grumble, therefore, at the comparatively slight cold of January in this country. Besides, it is not always the case that January is so cold. If the season be a mild one, there may be little or no frost or snow, and one may delight one's self by finding in some sheltered nook the daisy or the shepherd's purse in full blossom, whilst the moor is sometimes yellow with the golden blossom of the furze. 12. In some warm corner, sheltered by a hedge, and facing the south, we may light upon the celandine with its clear yellow star-shaped flower; and in the south of England the blue periwinkle shews its cheerful face. The rosemary is the flower worthy of most notice in this month. Sweet-scented flower! who art wont to bloom On January's front severe, And o'er the wintry desert drear QUESTIONS.-1. What did our ancestors call January? 2. Why? 3. How many days after the shortest day does January begin? 4. Repeat the old rhyme about days growing longer. 5. Of what use is a wrapping of snow to the plants? 6. How do even the warmly clad birds suffer in winter? 7. Describe the winter of 1716. 8. What animals invade the poultry-yard in a hard winter? 9. What do hares do? 10. And rabbits? 11. What birds crowd the farm-yards? 12. Where do wild-ducks go to? 13. What sometimes happens to cattle and sheep? 14. Describe the cold in Canada. 15. Tell me some of the flowers to be seen in sheltered nooks. DICTATION.-Learn to write out the verse in section 12. EXERCISES.-1. Learn to spell the following words: Christmas Comfortable Lair Vegetation Animals Twitterings Accustomed Comparatively 2. Parse all the words in the following sentence: Hares fearlessly make their way into gardens, and banquet upon the cabbages. 3. Give the principal parts of the following verbs: Leave; speak; go; ride; run; begin; forget; buy; bear. 4. Make nouns out of the following verbs and adjectives: Timid; press; think; inhabit; spend; dark; familiar; starve; difficult. 5. Explain the following phrases: (1) He is speedily set down at his destination. (2) Plants are protected by the snow against the extremity of the frost. (3) The fox, the stoat, and the polecat invade the poultry-yard. (4) Rabbits betake themselves to plantations. 6. Write a short composition on JANUARY from the following heads (1) Wolf-month. (2) Frost and snow. (3) Animals pinched by hunger. (4) The winter of 1716, (5) Sheep and cattle. (6) Flowers found in this month. PICTURE OF JANUARY. (FROM THE FARMER'S BOY.') Dismantled, stripped of their Impe'rious, commanding, and not leaves. Thun'dering to the ground, the to be gainsaid. Claim her treasures, dig up the turnips. Exhala'tions, the breath of the sheep and oxen, which looks like steam in the cold air. 1. When now, unsparing as the scourge of war, Blasts follow blasts, and groves dismantled roar, Around their home the storm-pinched cattle low, Nor grass nor grains in frozen pastures grow; Yet frozen pastures every morn resound With fair abundance thundering to the ground. 2. For though on hoary twigs no buds peep out, And e'en the hardy brambles cease to sprout, Beneath dread Winter's level sheets of snow The sweet nutritious turnip deigns to grow. Till now imperious want and wide-spread dearth 3. On driving gales sharp hail indignant flies, And sleet, more irksome still, assails his eyes; Snow clogs his feet; or if no snow is seen, The field with all its juicy store to screen, Deep goes the frost, till every root is found A rolling mass of ice upon the ground. No tender ewe can break her nightly fast, Nor heifer strong begin the cold repast, Till Giles with ponderous beetle foremost go, And scattering splinters fly at every blow: When pressing round him eager for the prize, From their mixed breath warm exhalations rise. 4. Though night approaching bids for rest prepare, Still the flail echoes through the frosty air; Nor stops till deepest shades of darkness come, Sending at length the weary labourer home. From him, with bed and nightly food supplied, Throughout the yard, housed round on every side, Deep-plunging cows their rustling feast enjoy, And snatch sweet mouthfuls from the passing boy, beneath his trailing load, Who moves unseen Fills the tall racks, and leaves a scattered road. Bloomfield. DIRECTIONS FOR READING. Line 7: Take care not to put an emphasis on though. Hasten on to no buds, which are the emphatic words.-Line 17: Avoid the emphasis on if, and place it on no. 'If no snow is seen.' |