Passaic City record., 1892-09-17
THE RETURN OF AUTUMN.

Although there is apt 10 DC
little difference in temperature be-
tween the closing days of August
and the opening days of Sep
tember, yet the arrival of Autumn
has varied significance. 1t
markes an interesting period IN the
calender of nature and life. 1t sig-
nails the close of the regular va
cation season and heralds the re-
turn to their regular business OF
the great army of tourists. Even
the gay butterflies of pleasure feel
the influence of the changing
season. They miss the warmth of
summer sunshine and the sweets
of summer flowers. They will fly
about for some time yet in their
festive round, but it will be with
chastened spirits and dropping
wings. But to the crowd of abb
sentees from the city, the advent
of September sounds the note of
preparation for a return to their
workday cares. They have to
yield to the exigencies of existence
in our busy modern life. 1t is
only people who live in land
where, as has been POLITICALLY said.
st is always afternoon" that can
afford to loaf III Autumn. Lotus
eating in this country at least, is
incompatible with bread winning.
There is doubtlessa q compensation
for this seeming calamity. The
majority of people who have been
away on summer vacations are
glad to get back to work. They
find that the art of enjoying leisure
is not mastered in a few weeks
respite from toll. The bracing air
of Autumn is needed, therefore, by
those who have had summer va
cation. as we'll as those whe have
not. Our hot weather is SO in
tense and protracted, that con-
tinuance of it would be intolerable.
AS the heats of summer are re-
quisite to oblige or.r people to take
rest, so the coolness of Autumn is
indispensable for their renewal of
work.
1t has been suggested by a nat
uralist of some eminence that the
word "Fall" which is SO often used
in this country instead of Autumn
is an Americanism. The express
sion, however, though it has now
become provincial in England, was
employed by Raleigh, Dryden and
others as the picturesque antithesis
of Spring. Though in this sense
it has a certain appropriateness,
yet it lacks the mellow richness
which we associate with Autumn.
There is sympathetic resonance
in the longer word that is wanting
to the brief pathos of "Fall, which,
moreover, is too suggestive of a
single aspect of the season to be
thoroughly satisfactory. But
whatever name we may give the
season which September is now
ushering in, there can be no doubt
of its utility and beauty. 1t is the
period of fr,litiou, midway between
the glare and heat of summer and
the gloom and cold of winter. |
The material harvest which is gar
nered in the Autumn, is significant
of that grander harvest of ripened
thought and experience which
constitutes the glory of human pro-
gress. AS nature decks the declin-
ing year with her most gorgeous
floral pomp, so the Autumn of life
should glow with the fairest
flowers Of sentiment and fancy.
All great works of imagination
are of Autumnal growth. Macau-
lay says no masterpiece of imagin-
ative poetry was ever written un-
der forty-five. At this season,
when the last pale white lilies are
fading the golden rod still glows
in splendor by the roadside. The
barrel gentian," which Septem-
Der brings to view, has been said
to be the first signal of Autumn,
and a pretty insect of the mea-
dows-the morning MOTH as
Higginson calls it--appears at the
same time, as if to give the dark
side to the picture.
1t is we'll that the number of
persons VINO visit the woods and
hills in Autumn should be con-
stantly increasing. The season is
particularly adapted to those out
door activities which add so much
to the enjoyment of the beauties
of nature. Amid the heats OF
summer, rest becomes almost a
necessity in town and country.
The hot weather, in fact, deprives
even vacation hours of the zest
which is given to them by the
bracing atmosphere of September
and October. The eagerness of
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