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SACRED PHILOSOPHY

OF THE

SEASONS.

AUTUMN.

FIRST WEEK-MONDAY.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF AUTUMN.

ON considering the autumnal quarter in Britain, as indicated by the calendar, we shall find it more various in its character than any of the other seasons of the year. It seems, indeed, if we only regard its temperature, to form a kind of softened epitome of all the rest, in an inverted order. First, we have, in August, the warmth, and gentleness, and brilliancy of summer; in September, the "etherial mildness," the elasticity, the variety of spring; in October, many of the features of a mitigated winter, its gloom, its hoar-frosts, its chilling breath, its howling storms, alternating, however, with days, and even weeks, of the calm repose peculiarly characteristic of the season. For, let it be observed, that, although, in a general view, the analogy we have noticed holds good, yet autumn has a remarkable character of its own, which distinguishes it from all the other seasons. It has succeeded a period of intense heat, from which it has only begun to emerge. Soon after the middle of June, the sun arrives at its highest altitude

VOL. IV.

A

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