250 Summer's Afterglow 



in human dissatisfaction at the change ; and this 

 picturesque superstition has received perpetuation 

 and support from a hundred images of poetry. 

 Yet we gain a far deeper pleasure from watching 

 outdoor life if, instead of attributing our own re- 

 grets at the decline of autumn to nature, which 

 does not feel them, we endeavour to realize how 

 equable and untroubled is the passage of every 

 season, and how the processes of decline are as 

 interesting and as beautiful as those of growth. 

 Deeply as we may perceive the year's decay under- 

 lying the warmth and brightness of the St. Martin's 

 sunshine, the consciousness of its ebbing forces 

 need bring no sense of sadness at the downfall of 

 another summer. The evening comes as whole- 

 somely and as naturally as the morning ; and all 

 the decay of autumn is as welcome and propitious 

 to the earth as the vigour of spring. 



