The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1867-12-14
Kntornlattop.
wryTER.

the long summer months.
at SHOWS" says the giddy belle, as she stands
before her mirror, arranging her luxuriant hair
for the evening party, while visions of gay rides
with her Adslphus float before her Imagination.
at SHOWS p signs the widow, as she lays the
last stick of her scanty pile upon the fire, her
fatheress children lowering over the dying en-
bers, for it is piercing cold, and it you are lis
tening you can hear the audible words as they
issue from her blue lips pinched with cold and
hunger "God help my poor children, for we
shall freezeW
Yes, winter, with his chilling blasts and
piercing winds, is again upon US, encircling the
earth in his cold embrace of ice and snow; and
the merry brooks and riyulets OF yesterday are
now sleeping silently in their cases Of ice,
shrouded in robes of snow. The fields and
groves, where once have been the scenes of many
a festive gathering now silent and cold as
the grave. save the low, mournful wailing OF the
wind AS it sweeps through the forest trees, sing
ing a d ge IA a requiem to those "departed
days. No more DO we hear the merry laughter
and JOYOUS shouts of childhood and youth echo
ing through and disturbing the grand and sub
lime solitude of the forest: and the fields we
were won't so eager to cross are now enveloped
in their mantles of snow and swept by the cold
and relentless winds OF winter, SO gloomy and
uninviting! Yes, Dryad and Faun, whom Schil-
Ter sighed for in vain, have fed their haunts, and
silence reigns supreme around nature in her long
annual sleep silence of leaves dancing on pen.
dent sprays; silence of babbling brooks; silence
of querulous birds! Let us go out with noise
less footsteps and leave the Great Mother until
she opens her eyes in the violets next spring,
~ Winter, like passionate, impulsive man, is
ever changing. To-day he may be all sunshine
and smiles, while perhaps Tomorrow, upon the
least provocation, he frowningly shakes his hoary
locks, and, as an assuage, imprisons hill and dale,
lake and river in his freezing, iron-lke grasp of
ice, which is deaf to mercy; and ever anon LASH
ing his sides like an enraged lion, and woe be
to tho luckless one who ventures across his path
in these moments of fury To his aid he calls
Jack Frost, whose n,inble and artistic fingers
paint innmnerable figures and carieatures on
our window frames decorating the trees and
shrubbery with wreaths of pearls; and. as they
glisten in the morning sun, surpass the most ex-
quisitcy garnished silver in beauty and splendor,
while over all, like messengers of peace from
above, come the snow flakes in their spotless
robes Of white, to quiet the angry combatants
below. h
Il Although the picture we have drawn of win
ter is rather cheerless and uninvitiny, still it
possesses many attractions for enjoyment 10
those who have the time and means to avail
themselves Of its pleasures not only to the
young but also to the older members of ne
household. Thinking thus, we cannot resist tie
Temptation of taking Retrospective glance into
sthe past Who, we would ask, has forgotten
when boy the many happy hours they have
enjoyed sliding down hill" or the pleasure and
emulation you experienced when some little
four-ysar-old in pinaforc, gave you permission
in preference to some hated rival, to draw her 70
school on your hand-sledI We doubt even in
after years, when some stylish, handsome city
belle preferred "riding out" with you than With
some other fellow who sperted more fancitsl
turnout, and doubtless more brass in his face, You
j ever experienced that same exquisite indescrib-
able feeling that you did whom little Miss - !.
rode on your hand-slsd. Can yeu forget the
first time you asked her to ride down hill with
you, how'she i.stnctively shrank from the seem
ing danger that might be the result of such
ride, and tho faint blush that suffused her
cheeks ~ the improperly Of the act flashed upon
her mind; and finally, after great deal of per.
suasion and argument on your part, she gave a
reluctant consent, with the stipulation that '.you
would never tell her MAJ" But this fayorite
pastimo il, in great measure, nowadays, sink.
ing gradually into obscurity, by the side of the
more modern and fashionable recreation of
I skating. Skating parks and Kinks are being
established in nearly every town and city where
water is available, and sk.ting is, in fact, coun.
tonanced by the beaS monde in every community.
10 many winter will be a welcome guest, but
there are many, very many, to whom it's ap.
proach will be looked forward to with ANYTHING
but feelings of pleasure, for to tho poor its ad.
vent is freighted with double cares and perplsxi.
n TICS, and many is the anxious heart that will
ask; What are VIC to do when the long, cold
II dreary days and nights of winter come for H.
required all our scanty means during the sum
mer months to furnish our tablet" Words are
Z inadequate to express the anguishsd agony this
sentence portrays, as they are welled up from
that almost hopeless, Departing heart Ye who
are rich in this worlds goods think, rs you daily
squander money for the Injuries and needless
articles OF this world, Of our Savour's words