The distinctive note of autumnal nature is comforting. To the troubled mind and heart it brings a sweet solace, and they who long for peace, "the central feeling of all happiness," do well to frequent her retreats.
While the spring is full of awakenings, of surprises and of joy, and summer brings a glad sense of abundance and of the full-tide of life, autumn alone offers the cup of ripened wine. It is superlatively restful, while stimulating and nourishing our deeper thought. There is a glory in the splendor of its emblazoned woods and sunsets which is all its own, and the softness of its haze-veiled vistas renders it the artist's halcyon day, but above all it is great in this, that it brings to those who love it quietness and strength; its paths for them are paths of peace. This is its larger ministry, for it is to the deeper need. To the struggles and worry of moneyed marts the spirit of the autumn woods brings an instant rebuke, and so gently withal that it is recognized only in its effects. Wandering along its rustling paths,
Through groves whose ministry it is
To intersperse the covert of their shades.
Even as a sleep, between the heart of man
And outward troubles, between the man himself,
Not seldom, and his own uneasy heart,
