Sole tenant of his narrow walls;
His self esteem profound;
He issues when the season calls
To join the insects round.

Impure his track, he winds his way
Among the shrubs and flowers;
The fairest his selected prey,

He taints them or devours.

Grown old, like captive moped and wan,
Forlorn at home he lies:

Thus snail-like lives the selfish man,

And like a snail he dies.

The chaffinch (fringilla cœlebs) sings; jackdaws repair to the tops of churches; and the grey and white wagtail (motacilla, boarula & alba) appear. Snipes, woodcocks, herons, wild-ducks, and other water-fowl, retire from the frozen marshes to streams that are still open; and, as the cold strengthens, sea-birds come up the river in quest of food.

The farmer exerts all his care in tending the domes. tic cattle. Cows can scarcely pick out any grass, and depend chiefly on hay for support; early lambs and calves are housed, and watched with almost paternal solicitude. Hares, impelled by hunger, find their way into our gardens, to browse on the cultivated vegetables; and rabbits enter plantations, and commit great havoc by stripping trees of their bark. The sharpeyed fox steals from the wood, and makes his incursions into the hen-roost and farmyard. The weasel and polecat also continue their depredations. The cold-blooded animals, as the frog, snake, and lizard, are quite benumbed by the cold, and so remain till the approach of warm weather. The dormouse, marmot, &c. take their winter sleep; while the squirrel and the field-mouse subsist, in their retreat, upon the provision which they have laid up during the autumn. The colt eating his winter repast is prettily delineated by Mr. Hurdis :

In thick and horrent coat, no longer sleek,

With heels unclipped, and shaggy mane promiss,

In his lone corner stands the leering colt,
At leisure relishing his scanty meal
Of thin up-shaken forage. To the cow,
That with a wishful look his feast surveys
At fearful distance fixed, from his white
Reversed, he flashes indignation strong
And peremptory menace, crouching close,
And trampling loose on his vindictive heel,
With sullen laid down ear.

eye

In this month, the flowers of the rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis) begin to open; the winter aconite, (helleborus hiemalis), and the bear's foot (h. fœtidus), are in flower about the middle of the month; the mezereon (daphne m.) breathes mild its early sweets;' and the red dead-nettle (lamium purpureum) flowers under the shelter of southern hedges. The snowdrop (galanthus nivalis) seems on the point of blowing.

Like pendant flakes of vegetating snow,
The early berald of the infant year,
Ere yet th' advent'rous crocus dares to blow
Beneath the orchard boughs, thy buds appear.
While still the cold north-east ungenial lowers,
And scarce the hazel in the leafless copse,
Or sallows show their downy powdered flowers,
The grass is spangled with thy silver drops.

C. SMITH.

The common creeping crowfoot (ranunculus repens) is now in flower; and the crocus, if the weather be mild, appears above ground. Ivy casts its leaves; the catkin, or male blossom of the hazel (corylus avellana), unfolds; the flowers of the holly (ilex aquifolium) begin to open; and the leaves of the honeysuckle (lonicera periclymenum) are quite out. Towards the end of January, the daisy (bellis perennis) is in full bloom. Of this universal favourite we have given many poetical eulogies in our former volumes; we may still say of it, with Mr. Montgomery,

'Tis Flora's Page :-in every place,

In every season fresh and fair,
It opens, with perennial grace,
And blossoms everywhere,

C

On waste and woodland, rock and plain,
Its humble buds unheeded rise;
The rose has but a summer reign;
The daisy never dies.

The china rose (rosa chinensis and rosa semperflorens), till lately unknown to us, and at first considered only as a greenhouse plant, is now seen in blow in the open air, even in the month of December, often with its red buds mossed with frost. The wallflower (cheiranthus), periwinkle (vinca, major & minor), and heart's-ease (viola tricolor), are still in blow.

The golden saxifrage, called also golden moss, and stonecrop (chrysoplenium), in the absence of other flowers, affords its little aid to give life and beauty to the garden. The bramble (rubus fruticosus) still retains its leaves, and gives a thin scattering of green in the otherwise leafless hedges; while the berries of the hawthorn, the wild rose, and the spindle-tree, afford their brilliant touches of red. The twigs of the red dogwood, too, give a richness amid the general brown of the other shrubs.

In this month, the farmer carries out manure to his fields, and repairs quickset hedges; taking advantage of the dry and hard ground, during frost. The barn resounds with the flail, barley being now threshed for malting. He lops forest-trees, and cuts. timber for winter use, About the end of the month, in dry weather, peas and beans are sown, and vetches for seed or fodder. Hogs are killed for bacon, and beef and hams are smoked.

Hunting and shooting are among the favourite amusements of this season. Skating, also, is much practised by young persons.

We shall close the present Diary with the following poetical Calendar of the Months":"

See January first appear,

Best kept at home with plenteous cheer:
In February's faint essay,

We gladly mark the lengthened day :

Bleak March's keener winds succeed,
Rough as the newly-mounted steed:
April a flattering face will wear,
Resembling a coquettish fair:
E'en May is often proved a bite,
Warms in the day, but chills at night.
Bright June, in gayest liv'ry dressed,
Of Flora's glory is the test:

July presides in Phoebus' smiles,
Whose evening human care beguiles :
Brown August sober pleasure brings,
Maturing heat upon his wings:
September offers to our reach

The clustered grape and blushing peach:
October's waning influence yields
The sportsman pleasure in the fields:
November's soaking show'rs require
The changed coat and blazing fire:
And dark December, in the end,
Commends a book and cheerful friend".

FEBRUARY.

SOME etymologists derive February from Februa, an epithet given to Juno, as the goddess of purification; while others attribute the origin of the name to Februa, a feast held by the Romans in this month, in behalf of the manes of the deceased. The Saxons named February, sprout-kele, on account of the sprouts of the cole-wort which began to appear in this month.

Remarkable Days

In FEBRUARY 1818.

1.—QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.-See SEPTUAGESIMA, P. 6.

*1. 1805.-ABERGAVENNY EAST-INDIAMAN LOST. The Abergavenny sailed from Portsmouth on this day with a cargo worth £200,000, and stood down

'See Transmigration, a Poem, &c. p. 35.

the channel with a fair wind; but the weather changing, a signal was made for the ships to steer for Portland Road. The pilot, either from ignorance or intoxication, ran this ill-fated ship on shore, about four in the afternoon, upon a well known reef, not far from Weymouth; on which she lay beating for several hours, while every effort was made, but in vain, to get her off. Till eight at night she continued making more water than all the pumps could clear, aided by every other exertion, and the united endeavours of 400 people, whose situation, as the night advanced, became every moment more dreadful and alarming. Signal guns of distress were fired for assistance, in the hope of getting boats to save the crew, passengers, King's and Company's troops. At ten, while all were anxiously looking towards the shore, it was found the water had reached the top deck, and no expectation remained of saving the ship. In this afflictive moment of horror and despair, she suddenly swung off the shoal into deep water; and the chief mate observing her going down, called aloud to the captain, a man remarkable for temper and fortitude, that it was impossible to save her. He instantly replied, It cannot be helped: God's will be done!" In a few moments she was buried in the remorseless waves, which swept into eternity 263 human beings, who had scarcely time to call for mercy. The highest part of the hull was 30 feet under water; and of 130 saved out of 402, nearly the whole got upon the topmast rigging, and were taken up by boats from the land. ~(Buck's Practical Expositor, p. 32.)

2.-PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.

This festival is of high antiquity, and the antient Christians observed it by using a great number of lights; in remembrance, as it is supposed, of our blessed Saviour's being declared by Simeon to be a light to lighten the Gentiles; hence the name of Candlemas Day. The Greeks call this festival Hy