wish Benevolence dilate;
The social tear would rise, the social sigh,
And into clear perfection gradual bliss,
Refining still, the social passions work.

THOMSON.

* * * * *

BRITISH TROOPS IN CANADA.

[Illustration: Letter R.]

Really winter in Canada must be felt to be imagined; and when felt can
no more be described by words, than colours to a blind man or music to a
deaf one. Even under bright sun-shine, and in a most exhilirating air,
the biting effect of the cold upon the portion of our face that is
exposed to it resembles the application of a strong acid; and the
healthy grin which the countenance assumes, requires--as I often
observed on those who for many minutes had been in a warm room waiting
to see me--a considerable time to relax.

In a calm, almost any degree of cold is bearable, but the application of
successive doses of it to the face by wind, becomes, occasionally,
almost unbearable; indeed, I remember seeing the left cheek of nearly
twenty of our soldiers simultaneously frost-bitten in marching about a
hundred yards across a bleak open space, completely exposed to a strong
and bitterly cold north-west wind that was blowing upon us all.

The remedy for this intense cold, to which many Canadians and others
have occasionally recourse, is--at least to my feelings it always
appeared--infinitely worse than the disease. On entering, for instance,
the small parlour of a little inn, a number of strong, able-bodied
fellows are discovered holding their hands a few inches before their
faces, and sitting in silence immediately in front of a stove of such
excruciating power, that it really feels as if it would roast the very
eyes in their sockets; and yet, as one endures this agony, the back part
is as cold as if it belonged to what is called at home "Old Father
Christmas."

As a further instance of the climate, I may add, that several times,
while my mind was very warmly occupied in writing my despatches, I found
my pen full of a lump of stuff that appeared to be honey, but which
proved to be frozen ink; again, after washing in the morning, when I
took up some money that had lain all night on my table, I at first
fancied it had become sticky, until I discovered that the sensation was
caused by its freezing to my fingers, which, in consequence of my
ablutions, were not perfectly dry.

[Illustration: WINTER DRESS OF BRITISH TROOPS IN CANADA.]

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