About this time, when gardens look in a dormant state, there are frequently Penny Lotteries in the north of England; and very often a whole garden is purchased for one penny. There are sometimes twenty tickets or more, as the case may be, all written on them “blank,” save “the prize.” These are put into a hat, and a boy stands on a form or chair holding the hat on his head, while those who have bought a ticket ascend the form alternately, “one by one,” and, shutting their eyes, take a ticket, which is opened by a boy who is at the bottom for that purpose. The tickets are only a penny each, and sometimes a garden (worth a few shillings) or whatever the sale may be, is bought for so trifling a sum.
W. H. H.
For the Every-Day Book.
SONNET TO WINTER.
Winter! though all thy hours are drear and chill,
Yet hast thou one that welcome is to me
Ah! ’tis when daylight fades, and noise ’gins still,
And we afar can faintly darkness see;[524]
When, as it seems too soon to shut out day
And thought, with the intrusive taper’s ray,
We trim the fire, the half-read book resign,
And in our easy chairs at ease recline,
Gaze on the deepening sky, in thoughtful fit
Clinging to light, as loath to part with it
Then, half asleep, life seems to us a dream,—
And magic, all the antic shapes, that gleam
Upon the walls, by the fire’s flickerings made;
And, oft we start, surpris’d but not dismay’d.
Ah! when life fades, and death’s dark hour draws near,
May we as timely muse, and be as void of fear!
W. T. M.
NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature 39·90.