Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-10-01
ssEhe Melancholy Gays the Sad -
deaf of The sear.,,

come SubJecG OF newspaper hOidiiA-
ing. When tue year began in March
this month Was so-cai1ed from its
being the seventh month. By the
commencement of the year two months
earlier the name has b come Knapp. O.
pirate, as have the names of October,
the eight month IF the primitive Ro-
man year, but the 'enth mouth of the
Julian year in our caiend ar Novem-
Der, the Roman ninth month, and orr
eleventh; December, the Roman
tenth, mouth, and our twelfth The
SaxoHs called Sept mber gerst monat,
or barley month, because they then
realize this crop, which was an impor-
tant crop to them on account of tie
favorite beverage which tIey brewed
from it, In Switzerland September
is still called harvest month. On the
23rd of this month the sun enters the
constellation Libra, aud passes to the
Southwark of the equator, thus pro-
ducing the autumnal equinox, period
often accompanied by storms. The
astronomical autumn begins about
September %, and lasts till about De-
cember 81, but in popular language in
this country. autumn comprises the
months of September, Octo Der and
| November.
An American poet has spoken Of the
autumn days as melancholy days. the
saddest of the year" The majority
of mankind will not agree with this
sentiment. 1t is by no means incl
ancholy" to escape the melting heats
and peculiar diseases of summer. 1t
is not the least sad to be delivered
from the plague of flies, and to be able
to pass the day without brushing them
away with one hand while at work with
the other. Nor is it at all tending to
lassitude or detection of spirits that
in the nights of autumn man can
sleep without disturbance from heat
or mosquitoes. Indeed. it ~ rather
exhilerating than otherwise to see how
those insects which have been de-
stroyer- of our peace during the sum
mer exhibit signs of debility and are
evidently passing INTO moriburd
state. To flies and MOSQUITOES, to
safps and beetles the autumn may be
the melancholy days, the saddest of
tie year." but not to the;r emancipa-
ted victim, man.
The beginning of autumn is really
the most animated aud yet peac full
season of the whole year. There are
those vino dispute weather spring or
autumn is more beautiful. Spring h $
the Advantage Of contrast with the
iuertiu aud cold Of winter. 1t IL a
kind of resuIrectIon--a striking type
of that which i, p cu"ariy known ny
that name. The gray OF winter gives
up it dead. III naked forest put ON
a green and g,Orious vrsture. III"
rivers. freed from the ice, rol! sing
ing and shining to tEr sea TIE
leHden skies become ra,iIaut, aud the
binds 10 the woods and gardens pour
forth anthem. Of JOY and hope. And
yet autumn, especially IN our Ameri-
can climate. has great attractIoas.
Its moderated temperature, even af-
ter a summer like the last, which has
not hean OF extreme neat Is especial
ly grateful. The aDunlant rams Of
this season have left the vegetation a.
most as green az in Inid~uIumer
The akles are clear and tie
atmosphere pure and Dracing.
Ia the meadows and the valleys, on
the uplands and the hilIsides, men are
at work to gather in the golden har-
vest, There is no happier sight to
look upon among human employments
than the latOrers reaping the fruits
of their peaceful toll during the sum-
mer, those fruits upon which millions
Of human beings are to be fed, while
the blue, vast heaven smiles being
nautly above, and the merry voices of
the harvestmen make music below
AS has been we'll said: What grand
subjects, mtllowed by the setting suus
! of departed centuries, do these harvest
fields bring before a picture loving
eye Abraham among his reapers;
Jacob laboring TO win Rachel; Joseph
and the great granaries of Egypt;
Ruth standing in tears among the
alien corn, and the harvest Of Pales-
tine, amid which our Saviour walked
by the side of His disciples"
The moralists have never failed to
avail themselves of autumn As lesson
| to mOrtals whose " summer of life ia
| past and whose harvest is ended" and
who have before them only the wintry
years of old age, and ''the dark river
with the sluggish tide" as Roman
poet has described death beyond. It
is suitable and perhaps we'll to remind
men by such analogies of their brief
stay upon earth. and how all things
here are transient At the same time
it ought to be right use of the op-
portunities in youth and manhood the
| autumn of existence, like that of the
year, may be made q harvest festival
Of the fruits of a good life, yielding
pleasant memories and immortal
hopes. Cicero, in his noble essay on
cold Age" has beautifully described
the serenity and calm of the closin
hours of mans mortal career, when it
follows life wisely and temporarily
employed, and i'll which the seeds Of
virtue, falling upon good ground,
have terminated and taken root, and
brought forth flowers that will shed
fragrance over even the grave, and
traits thai will endure forever.
THERE are thirty thousand people in
Fall River, Mass. One-half of those,
fifteen thousand, are mill operatives |
who have been on strike for six |
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