The hearts of the human race would be subdued, fear and anxiety would prevail in every countenance,-all pleasures would be forsaken,all arts and sciences laid aside, and one thought alone occupy the general consideration—the means of procuring subsistence. The ocean, with its innumerable stores of life, would hold out the only hope of relief; and such are the wonderful resources of man in accommodating himself to circumstances, however desperate and unfavourable, that, by imitating by art the natural process of evaporation, and exercising his powers in fishing, a few scattered remnants of the human race might be supposed to earn a wretched existence; but the earth would be to them the worst of dungeons, and not the smiling scene it is, for such is the admirable connexion existing between the several functions of the elements, that the omission of a single link in the great chain is sufficient to derange the economy of the whole.

SECTION VI.

AN AUTUMN DAY.

WHAT adds a perpetual charm, and gives a constant novelty to the face of Nature, is the variety of aspects which she assumes, not only in the different periods of the day, but in the various seasons of the year. The grey dawn of morning is succeeded by the full glare of noonday sunshine, and it passes away into the beautiful tranquillity and softness of evening. Spring, with all its buds, and hopes, and blossoms, gives a tinge to nature very different from the gloomy storms of winter; and the soft voluptuousness of gaudy summer lights up a scene and imparts impressions very opposite to those of pensive autumn.

It is now one of the most calm and serene of autumn days. The sun has dispelled the dense clouds which obscured the morning, and he shines

out bright, glowing, and dazzling. Still as much of the attenuated vapour remains as to impart a soft and silky haze to the atmosphere and the natural objects around. Every rural sound is heard distinctly in the calm and still air,—the distant shot of the fowler coming at a long interval after the flash and smoke have been seen,-the soft bleatings of the sheep,-even the browsing of the cattle can be heard as they traverse the cleared pastures, and pick the sweet herbs from among the stubble; -and the plash of the stone thrown by the shepherd-boy from the height is heard distinctly as it falls into the deep pool below.

The various insects which the chill of the evening had rendered torpid, now flutter about in the warmth of the noonday şun, and the brown mould and the stubble-fields are glittering with innumerable silken threads of the gossamer,a singular provision this of nature, to give the power of flight to a wingless insect! These small spiders spin out from their bodies a silken-thread, which, being specifically lighter that the atmospheric air, buoys up the small body of the insect, and enables it to float along from stubble to stubble, from hedge to tree, and even take a flight up into the air, much in the

same manner in which a balloon mounts aloft with its intrepid aeronaut. Many hours might thus be spent delightfully in viewing the varied scenery of the plains; but let us now dive into the thickets, and enjoy the beauty of the woods, while yet their leafy honours remain. But a short time must elapse, when the winter whirlwind will strip them bare, the tempest will howl among the leafless branches, and the chill and piercing north wind sigh among the scattered leaves. Already they have lost the deep and uniform green of summer, and yellow, red, and brownish tints mingle in beautiful diversity. The oak, the hazel, and the weeping birch are now almost of the same hue as the brown rock out of the fissures of which they spring in fantastic bendings; and the leaves of the tall mountain-ash are nearly of as bright a red as are its berries. The pale primroses, which in such numbers ushered in the spring, are no longer to be seen. The wild hyacinth, and innumerable other flowers which spring up among the moss, have faded; and the foxglove, with its pyramidal stem of red and purple bells, is now almost in the last stages of decay. The slanting rays of the sun, now scarcely penetrate here; the dew still lies on

the moss, which, together with the white and curly lichens, has become rank with the moisture. A strong though not unpleasant flavour of fading leaves and exuded gums is perceptible, mingled with the aromatic smell of the berry-bearing shrubs and plants. All is silence and solitude; and the many birds which used to fill the grove with their warblings, what has become of them? The robin, feeling the approach of winter, has left its haunts among the bushes, and drawn to the warm and friendly abodes of man; many other species more delicate have taken their flight to a gentler clime, and others have penetrated deeper into the thickets to obtain shelter from the severity of winter. A few rooks, on the topmost branches, are heard pouring forth their solitary cawings, in melancholy presage of the lenten time of winter, when they will suffer the penance of sharp hunger for their many depredations and their luxurious summer revels. How still and desolate are these groves now to what they were when the first genial warmth of spring called them forth to new life and beauty! The little birds hopped about among the branches with restless activity,-every waving spray was rendered vocal with innumer

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