The Kanzas news., 1857-11-28
From the Country Gentleman.
Autumn and its Folisge.

Autumn and its Foliage.
The seasons In their steady revolution
have again brought around the Fall. It is
tbs fall of flowers IN the garden of fruit, in
the orchard, of nuts n the woods, of leaves
everywhere. Expressive old Saxon word,
the Fall
How noiselessly and almost insensibly
the seasons glide after each other! While
the earth is yet locked in frost and covered
with snow, the lengthening days, the as
cending sun, and the soft southern winds
bring IN, almost unperceiyed, the gentle
footed Spring. And while we are rejoie-
| ing In her green leaves, and budding flow
ers, and joyous birds. Summer is at the door.
Summer begins for time. Nature seems
at rest. The earth is glad. Day rolls after
| day, bringing warm sunshine and fruitful
showers. The frosts and storms of winter
are far away; why should they ever return?
But while we have been lapped in enjoyment,
russet hue has begun to tinge the forest.
Vegetation is nearly ripe. At the axil of
every leaf summer has packed up her next
years. wardrobe, in little round cases, wa
ter proof and frost proof. Here and there
branch of the maple has turned crimson,
and from other trees few leaves are fiutter-
ing to the ground. No frost has yet been
seen, and the sun at noon has all the glow
of Summer; still, Autumn is at hand, and
these are the tokens of his approach. And
so this season elides In, and after period
of mingled sunshine and storm, it slowly
gives place to winter.
Thus steadily move On all the operations
of the divine hand. Kingdoms may rise
and fall, the passions of men may fill the
earth with tumult, yet day and night will
continue to succeed each other, the stars
will roll on in their course, the great laws
of matter viii not change, and the still grand
er affairs of the spiritual world will sweep
on undisturbed toward their final consum-
nation. ----.
1t IS not easy to say which season of the
year affords the greatest enjoyment. When
spring opens, after long and severe winter,
we exelaim: What can be more delightful
Harki the robins have come. Throw up
the window; let us go to find the snow-drops
and crocuses, to breathe the bland air, and
to look upon springing grass. Hope re-
wives again, and we feel it a better thing to
live upon the earth, now that he is robing
himself in so much beauty. So, when
spring melts into summer, and what was
imperfect before becomes fully developed, at
such time We say, What season can
compare with thisI And when autumn
comes with its hazy atmosphere, its gor-
geous woods, its ruddy fruits and bountiful
harvests, who can be insensible to its at
fractions! To some minds, even the very
tinges of sadness which this season wears,
enhances their enjoyment; it strikes chord
which the gayer scenes of summer had been
unable to reach. Nor is stern visage win
for Ttc 0,1H hEa
cling air, its miracles of beauty in frost work,
its gently falling SHOWS, its brilliant stars,
auroral corruscations, and, not least, its So
cial and domestic pleasures. give it, to ma
ny hearts, the palm of all the year. How
ever this may be decided, enjoyment is so
evenly distributed through all the seasons
that each is met, as it comes, with hearty
welcome.
The peculiar foliage of trees in autumn
attracts general notice. The transmutation
of color begins, indeed, before it is really
fall. Early in September, yellow leaves ap-
pear on the elm, and occasional branches of
the soft (or red) maple, especially in swami
py situations, exhibits flashes of crimson
or scarlet. These are auauat coariers announ-
cling the approach of brilliant pageant
Soon there comes slight frost, and then
another and sharper. Look abroad now!
the chestnut and birch have put on cloth of
gold; the sweet gum is tinged with vermil-
lion; the white ash and peperidge have chang
ed to purple in its various shades; the tulip
tree is lemon color; the bass wood, orange;
the sumach fire scarlet; the naples, gayest
of all, present nearly every color, running
through yellow, pink, scarlet, crimson, pur
pie, and sometimes all these hues commin
IL A T.
is cherry color and purplish crimson, and
contrasts finely with the sober evergreens
over which it here and there Chambers
The oaks, about the last to change, are brown,
gray, chocolate, red, and sometimes purple.
Let the eye now sweep over the landscape,
far and near, and enjoy the magnificent spec
taclel 1t is as if thousand rainbows had
been twined in garlands about the hills; or
as if autumn had borrowed from spring and
summer their richest colors-the hues of
their flowers and fruits, of the wings of in
sects, and the plumage of birds, and thrown
them with prodigal hand over all the earth.
And then, lest these colors should be too
brilliant and glaring, Autumn, like fine
painter, spreads over them delicate blue
haze which softens the whole scene, and en-
hanees its beauty.
While surveying such brilliant specta-
Gle, We wonder at the terms English poets
use in describing this season and its foliage
in that country. They speak of 'tsallow
autumn" autumn, melancholy weight"
''Shade deepening over shade, the country round
Imbrown cloudy umbrage, dusk and dun,
Of every hue from wan declining green
To sooty dark"
Surely the poetry as well as the scenery of
the mother country is, in this respect, less
interesting than our own.
As to the natural cause of the brilliant
foliage of an American autumn, scientific
men are not wholly agreed. Plainly, it is |
not altogether the work of frost; for some