The following philosophical facts lead us to presume that the winter now setting in, will prove a mild one : It has been constantly remarked, that when this season commences early, and with severity, in Newfoundland, and the more northern part of North America, it becomes extremely rigorous, and of a proportionate continuance there. When, in the above climate, the winters have been severe, they have invariably been mild with us, and vice versa. Now, the ships which sailed from Newfoundland the beginning of October last, saw the hills already covered with snow. There is still another argument in favour of a mild winter with us. Previously to the setting in of a severe one, nature, in her bounty, has been always observed to have provided an uncommon store of wild briar fruits, as a nourishment to the smaller birds, who would otherwise perish, a vast carpet of snow spreading itself over the ground, so as to prevent their coming at the worms, &c. on which they are accustomed to feed. The present season, the store of these wild fruits is extremely moderate.

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Citation: Glasgow Advertiser (Glasgow, United Kingdom), 21 December 1789, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/50.