The scene looked lively, but had not much vivacity in
it.
October 27th.--The autumn has advanced progressively, and is now fairly
established, though still there is much green foliage, in spite of many
brown trees, and an enormous quantity of withered leaves, too damp to
rustle, strewing the paths,--whence, however, they are continually swept
up and carried off in wheelbarrows, either for neatness or for the
agricultural worth, as manure, of even a withered leaf. The pastures
look just as green as ever,--a deep, bright verdure, that seems almost
sunshine in itself, however sombre the sky may be. The little plats of
grass and flowers, in front of our circle of houses, might still do
credit to an American midsummer; for I have seen beautiful roses here
within a day or two; and dahlias, asters, and such autumnal flowers, are
plentiful; and I have no doubt that the old year's flowers will bloom
till those of the new year appear. Really, the English winter is not so
terrible as ours.
October 30th.--Wednesday was one of the most beautiful of all days, and
gilded almost throughout with the precious English sunshine,--the most
delightful sunshine ever made, both for its positive fine qualities and
because we seldom get it without too great an admixture of water. We
made no use of this lovely day, except to walk to an Arboretum and
Pinetum on the outskirts of the town. U---- and Mrs. Shepard made an
excursion to Guy's Cliff.
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