CHAPTER XVIII. 

 MOnSTTHLY CALENDAR. 



§ 1.— Aspect op the Month. 



709. The trees are still leafless, and 

 the only things really "vernal" are the 

 "evergreens" about the grounds; lout 

 there is that about a mild sunny day at 

 the close of Mai-ch which tells us that 

 vegetable nature is once more alive : there 

 is a murmuring of life in the air, which 

 was so silent while the trees and fields 

 bore their " beards of icicle and shroud of 

 tnow." The winding hcdgerowF have a sum- 

 mer look ; under the hedges, and on the " sun- 

 lit " bank, the silent progress ol spring makes 

 itself visible ; violets and primroses peep out, 

 the staiTy celandine opens its golden rays. The 

 y first bee comes blundering forth from his winter 



den : well it knows, however, where the finest primroses and sweetest violets 



