AUTUMN. 105 



one night, when in the height of their bloom, if an unex- 

 pected frost comes on. 



The jessamine, with its snowy stars and graceful 

 leaves, is another of our autumn favourites ; and one 

 cannot help regretting that its place, on wall or house, is 

 now so often usurped by more showy, but less permanent, 

 less fragrant, creepers. Most people associate this plant 

 with old-fashioned houses, and perhaps one of its charms 

 arises from this association, recalling summer evenings in 

 some well-remembered C[uaint wainscoted room, where the 

 air was perfumed with the sweet jessamine trained around 

 the small windows, and every f^iint breeze brought its 

 fragrant breath into the room. Our childhood's days, too, 

 are recalled, when, seated on the grass whitened by the 

 fallen flowers, we gathered and strung them as garlands, 

 sweet and delicate, though mayhap neither so fresh as the 

 daisy chains of spring, nor so rich as the rowan-berry neck- 

 laces that emulate the coral. 



" simple flower, 

 That sight of thee should waken to tliis hour 

 Tht)ughts more than tongue can tell ! " 



There is a disadvantage no doubt in having jessamine 

 trained on a dwelling-house, because in winter it looks 

 dead and dark, and is apt to get filled up with faded 

 leaves ; but, in spite of this, I would feel unwilling to 

 banish an old and merited favourite. A similar objection 

 applies to the sweet-scented clematis and the honeysuckle, 

 which resemble bundles of dry sticks in winter ; yet would 

 we not feel it ungrateful almost to turn against and discard 



