NOVEMBER. 279 



ments. The impressions of a dozen authors that I have 

 collated, as to its time, place, and circumstance, are 

 quite as hazy as the brief " summer " itself certainly is. 



By most people it is claimed to be peculiar to Novem- 

 ber, and warm, hazy, dolce far niente days in October or 

 December are simply so much good luck, but not typical 

 Indian summer. This extreme view is not commonly 

 held, although the correct one ; and by people generally 

 December days of the proper sort are allowed to pass. 

 As there is no established authority on the subject, the 

 laity are happy in being allowed to think as they please 

 a very dangerous liberty, by the way, as is proved by the 

 fact that this same leaderless laity are quite at sea as to 

 what Indian summer really is; all of which matters 

 nothing to them, and they talk about it as freely as of the 

 round of the seasons. 



The term " Indian summer " was applied to the occa- 

 sional brief spell of pleasant weather in November about 

 two centuries ago the writers having New England in 

 mind, and probably to this day the " summer " of late au- 

 tumn is more regular in its occurrence there than it is or 

 has ever been in New Jersey. But why call it " Indian " 

 at all? It can scarcely be considered a happy chosen 

 name, even if the following is to be accepted as the ex- 

 planation : 



" In the early periods of our history, when the Indian 

 enemies lurked in the forests and burst out from their 

 ambuscades on the planter, the first settlers enjoyed little 

 security, except in the winter, when the severity of the 

 season prevented the incursions of the savages. The 

 coming of winter was hailed as the commencement of 

 peace by the early inhabitants of the country ; they sallied 

 out from the little forts and block-houses, in which they 

 had been hemmed up, with the joyful feelings of prisoners 

 escaping from confinement, and busily gathered in their 



