TO MARY HOWITT, AT HOME AND ABROAD, IN THE FIELDS OF NATURE AND OF LITERATURE, THE ONE TRUE COMPANION AND FELLOW-LABOURER, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED BY HER AFFECTIONATE HUSBAND, THE AUTHOR. By his commandment he maketh the snow to fall apace, and sendeth swiftly the lightnings of his judgement. "Through this the treasures are opened and clouds fly forth as fowls. By his great power he maketh the clouds firm and the hailstones are broken small. "At his sight the mountains are shaken, and at his will the north wind bloweth. "The noise of the thunder maketh the earth to tremble, so doth the northern storm and the whirlwind; as birds flying he scattereth the snow, and the falling down thereof is as the lighting of grasshoppers, "The eye marvelleth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the raining of it. "The hoar-frost also as salt he poureth on the earth, and being congealed it lieth on the top of sharp stakes. "When the cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into ice, it abideth upon every gathering together of water, and clotheth the water as with a breastplate. "It devoureth the mountains, and burneth the wilderness, and consumeth the grass as fire," Ecclesiasticus xliii, 13-21. |