INTRODUCTION. 



3 



ness of youth hasting to maturity. The leaves 

 are perfectly grown ; the tints are firmer and 

 darker greens ; and the whole form and stature 

 of every tree and every bush is complete. The 

 blossoms of the May-bush have sparkled^ and 

 are beginning to be replaced by the reddening 

 and scarcely less abundant berries. 



A stroll in Autumn is invited by the rich 

 glowing tints^ which everywhere burnish the 

 landscape. Call it decay^ if you please^ but 

 acknowledge^ at the same time^ that Nature is 

 yet admirable ; more beauteous and grand in 

 her declining magnificence^ than art in the 

 most costly and splendid displays, which hu- 

 man pomp and pageantry can exhibit. From 

 the dwarf nut-bush, with its brown treasures, to 

 the stately oak, dotted with clustering acorns, 

 all is fruitfulness. The crimson bunches of 

 the hawthorn, and the scarlet berries of the 



B 21 



