180 EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
cousins, have attained to clearness and liquid¬ 
ity, they are officers, epauletted. The others 
are rank and file*. I distinguish one even by its 
flight, hovering slowly from tree-top to tree-top, 
as if ready to utter its liquid notes. Their 
whistle is very clear and sharp, while that of 
the grackle is ragged and split. 
It is a fine evening, as I stand on the bridge. 
The waters are quite smooth, very little ice to 
be seen. The red-wing and song-sparrow are 
singing, and a flock of tree-sparrows is pleas- * 
antly warbling. A new era has come. The 
red-wing’s gurgle-## is heard where smooth 
waters begin. One or two boys are out trying 
their skiffs, even like the fuzzy gnats in the 
sun, and as often as one turns his boat round 
on the smooth surface, the setting sun is re¬ 
flected from its side. 
I feeLreproach when I have spoken with lev¬ 
ity, when I have made a jest, of my own exist¬ 
ence. The makers have , thus secured serious¬ 
ness and respect for their work in our very 
organization. The most serious events have 
their ludicrous aspects, such as death, but we 
cannot excuse ourselves when we have taken 
this view of them only. It is pardonable when 
w r e spurn the proprieties, even the sanctities, 
making them the stepping-stones to something 
higher. 
