Gleaning-Threshing-machine-Harvest-supper-Mad dog- Faded leaves-Hedges, hips, haws, sloes, and blackberries- Forest trees, oak, chestnut, birch, weeping birch, and maple- Field-mice, shrew-mice, spiders' webs, and dung-beetle-Birds -Wild goose-Bulbous roots-Medlars, grapes, the Hampton Court vine-Apple picking-The trees appointing a king over Old Michael's childhood-Market, wages, tithes, poor-rates, rent, taxes-Birds, flowers, and insects-November as necessary as May or Juue-Tree felling, barking, lopping, and fagot-making -Gardener's employment-The Norfolk farmer and the large turnip-Amos Atkins and his proverbs-Sun-risings-Sun- sets-High winds and fogs-Gunpowder treason-Fox chase- The sensitive plant-Turnips-Swede turnips - Oak, beech, and hornbeam; firs, pines, and evergreens-The holly-The ivy -Moles and black rats-A run in frosty weather-Fire-The farmer should be a thoughtful man-A rich farmer may be a poor man-The oak, ash, elm, beech, pine, larch, and other "THAT is what I call a mackerel sky," said old Michael the gardener, suspending his labour for a moment, and looking up to that part of the heavens to which young Maurice was pointing. "It is a beautiful sight; but we can never see the full beauty of the skies until we have learned to look beyond them. None but an Almighty hand could have spread such a glorious covering over B our heads. 'Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable,'' Psa. cxlv. 3. The sky was indeed beautiful, for thousands of small snowy clouds, disposed in irregular lines, like the streaky marks on the back and sides of the fish called the mackerel, were lit up by the allglorious sun, while the clear blue beyond only rendered them the more visible and the more lovely. Such a sky imparts pleasure, calls forth amazement, and sets the beholder at once thinking of Almighty power and goodness, and angels and heaven. Maurice had been gazing upwards for some time in silence, before he drew the attention of old Michael to the sky by exclaiming, "Beautiful! beautiful!" Never was Maurice half so happy as when he could get Michael to talk with him about skies and fields, and trees and animals, and birds and reptiles; for having been brought up in the city, he was but little acquainted with the country and country scenes. It is true that, for some years, his father had removed from the middle of the city to the suburbs, which were not far from the green fields; it is also true, that Maurice had paid a short visit, three or four times, to a village a dozen miles from home; but these things had only increased his love for country scenes. Michael was the very man to tell him all he wanted to know. The head that has grey hairs ought to have knowledge and judgment; and, to speak the truth, few men in his station of life knew more, or put what they knew to a better use, than did pious old Michael. Born in a village, and employed first at farm work, and then as gardener at the hall, he dearly loved a country life. Having been brought up in a better way than most of the labouring people around him, he employed most of his leisure hours, when a gardener at the hall, in reading good and useful books, and in musing and reflecting on the things around him. He loved the country, and to roam The flowery mead and dell; It pleased him passing well; And then he tuned his heart to raise It seemed strange to many that he should ever have left the place of his birth; but though man has his desires, God has his designs. As a gardener in the suburbs of a large city, old Michael lived, perhaps, a more useful life than he would have done in his native village. "Did you ever see such a sky?" inquired Maurice. |