246 FROM A MIDDLESEX GARDEN 



and function so as to promote the perpetuation of species 

 by seed ; and all the observations of the past century have 

 gone to confirm this view. 



In the Autumn wind one almost hears the finale to the 

 harvest anthem of joy, begun in the time so beautifully ex- 

 pressed in words by Mrs. Oliphant : " Harvest ! Cornfields 

 are bending their golden load under the reaper's busy hand. 

 Pleasant sounds are in the air harvest voices, harvest mirth ! 

 . . . Here hath our bountiful mother been rendering riches 

 out of her full breast once more ; here, under those two 

 broad, bright, smiling heavens, the rain and the sun, which 

 God sends upon the just and the unjust, have day by day 

 cherished the seed and brought it forth in blade and ear ; and 

 now there is a thanksgiving in all the air, and quickened 

 steps and cheerful labouring proclaim the unconscious senti- 

 ment which animates the whole. Bright, prosperous, wealthy 

 Autumn days, wherein the reaper has no less share than his 

 master, and the whole world is enriched with the universal 

 gain." 



