142 66 A SUNSET IN AUTUMN. some parts of the New Forest in Hampshire," said Mrs. Stock, we might hear the herdsman's horn calling his hogs home to bed after their day's meal of acorns and beech-mast. When we return home, one of the brothers shall read, in Gilpin's Forest Scenery, the entertaining account of the way in which they manage those swinish aldermen at this season of the year." The sun had now drawn nearly to the close of his journey, and was shooting his level beams between the trunks of the trees. The party, therefore, began to bend their steps homeward, and upon reaching the outskirts of the wood, they all at once expressed their admiration and delight at the grandeur and beauty of the heavens. It was one of those gorgeous sunsets for which our climate is so remarkable during the first autumnal months. They saw above and around them nothing but the richest and most vivid colors. In the centre was the golden glory of the luminary; next to this, and mixed in streaks with gold, were dashes of pale green; at a greater distance, and circling the sun so as to form, as it were, the mouth of a vast cavern, were purple clouds deeply crimsoned towards their edges; and at the extreme edge nearest the sun they were of a bright copper-gold. Still farther removed, the clouds were mottled like tortoise-shell; their sides next the sun being rose-pink, and the opposite ones of a grave indigo tint. Above was one superb expanse of gold, green, purple, and crimson; and below, the rays of the orb were giving the surrounding trees gold for gold for there were, in succession, the plane, the hazel, the maple, the ash, and the hornbeam, all of a fine bright yellow, and made brighter. The dull brown of the sycamore was enlivened; the orange-leaf of the : PLEASURES OF AUTUMN. 143 elm, the tawny yellow of the hawthorn, and fine red of the wild cherry, all showed to advantage. Besides these pleasant delights to the eye, they were regaled with the agreeable smell of the wood, and of the dried leaves which they crushed under foot in their passage. They also, from time to time, slightly caught the odor of burning weeds, brought in a long unbroken train by the evening breeze from some of the neighboring corn fields; for the harvest was all gathered in, even to the beans, which are the last to ripen. "After the pleasures you have had this day, Adam,” said his mother, “I think you cannot much regret the coming in of autumn. It is true that it is the first show of decay in the year; the mornings and evenings are sometimes chilly, and saddened by mists and fogs, and our merriest songsters have deserted us; yet, like the age of a well-spent youth, it has its beauties: each season of the year, and of life, bringing with it appropriate blessings. We never can be very unhappy so long as we possess one cheerful friend,-good health, with an innocent heart. To-morrow you will bring your father your monthly list of flowers; we shall then see whether we have great reason to be discontented with autumn. Here we are at home; and now you may all have some fruit or a syllabub for supper; perhaps you would not object to both: well, I believe I must indulge you, for you have all been good children." On the following morning, at breakfast, Adam presented his father with the following list, which he had written out: "Among the shrubs in flower this month, papa, there are the China rose, both the pale and dark red color; the shrubby cinquefoil, and the laurustinus. Among plants and bulbous roots, are the Michaelmas 144 FLOWERS OF SEPTEMBER. daisy, the autumnal gentian, golden-rod, sunflower, meadow-saffron, autumnal crocus, European cyclamen, and five or six kinds of lily. These are all in our garden. Then, in the fields, there is the spiked speedwell, of a deep blue color; the wild English clary, violetcolored; red valerian, crocus-saffron, purple; a great many grasses; lady's-mantle, green; lobelia, lightish blue; the pansy violet, and yellow mountain violet; the common nightshade, white; the dwarf-branched centaury, a fine pink; the common honey-suckle, or woodbine, red and buff; two or three sorts of gentian, all blue; the common shepherd's-needle, or Venus'comb, white; slender hare's-ear, rather yellow; common meadow-saffron, light purple, or white; common evening primrose, a bright yellow; fine-leaved heath, crimson; biting persicaria, red, white, and green; blackbird weed, greenish white, or reddish; common strawberry tree, greenish white; yellow mountain saxifrage, yellow, or dotted with red; maiden pink, rose-color; campion, or catchfly, white, and white and red; common chick-weed, white; narrow-leaved chick-weed mouse-ear, white; Irish rose, a light blush; hautboy strawberry; pheasant's eye, or corn Adonis flower, crimson, and dotted with black; crowfoot, gold-color; common vervain, blueish; ten or eleven sorts of mint, all of different shades of purple and red; common eye-bright, white, yellow, and purple; two or three sorts of snap-dragon, either blue, violet, and yellow, or orange; toad-flax, gray, with blue stripes; sweet alysson, white; purple sea-rocket; crane's-bill, two or three sorts, crimson or purple; marsh-mallow and dwarf-mallow, pale rose or lilac; large-flowered St. John's-wort, yellow; hawk-weeds and hawkbeards, yellow; goldy-locks, bright yellow; common FLOWERS OF SEPTEMBER. 145 chamomile, white, and yellow round the edge; sweet lady's-traces, white; spurge, reddish; red-berried bryony, white; jointed pipe-wort, white, and a little colored with purple. These are all I can find and think of, papa." "And your list is a very good one," said Mr. Stock, "though a botanist would have added nearly as many more specimens; when, therefore, we consider the fine show of colors in flowers, the beautiful varieties in the foliage of the trees, the brilliancy of the sunsets, with the well-tempered heat of the weather, and the delicious fruits that are ready to drop into our mouths, who could, with justice, feel dissatisfied with the month of SEPTEMBER ?' The violet, too, like an immortal mind, Lives, yet not breathes; and every nook and bower, Which sun and poets loved, withers-grass, leaf, and flower." Lyric Leaves. "THE month of October is frequently a very fine one in our climate," said Mr. Stock to his son Adam, as they were sowing some Mazagan beans in a seed bed under a south wall, hoping that they would survive the winter frosts, and, when transplanted, ripen early in the following spring. "The weather is often warm," he added, "but not too warm for work; for the nights have become longer, and therefore the heats of the day have decreased: yet the earth still retains some of the influence of the midsummer sun, and, in consequence, the temperature of October is more agreeable, although, perhaps, not so invigorating as it is three months before the coming on of the dog-days. The autumnal fogs are now come on; and it is pleasant to watch in the early morning, as the sun gains power, the gradu |