The Work Of Nature In The Months.

THE WORK OF NATURE IN THE MONTHS .

BY BRO . REV . W . TEBBS . III . —SEPTEMBER . " I hope to join your seaside walk , Saddened , and mostly silent , with emotion ; Not interrupting , with intrusive talk , The grand , majestic symphonies of ocean . "

GRAND and majestic indeed ! and yet how eminently soothing is their sound . How calmly we compose ourselves to rest , the hollow murmur of tho waves our lullaby . How supremely conscious are we of the protective benignity' of that Almighty

Power that " measures ocean hi His span , " and how trustfully do we lay our heads to rest confiding hi The Father , to whom "the darkness and the light are both alike . " May He grant us to enter as composedly into that other sleep , of which the

present is so close a resemblance and foreshadowing . If ocean ' s murmur be so peaceful a lullaby , how delicious is it , too , to be awakened by that clear sharp rattle of the shingleshifted by the fast-running tide

, , ¦ whose sound is like audible sunshine . Thus wakened , we sjiring from our couch , and throwing wide open the casement , gaze far and wide

over" The sea ! the sea ! the open sea ! The blue , the fresh , the ever free !" whose wavelets are sparkling bright in the slanting rays of the early sun . Can it be , we think , that this is the ocean that sometimeslashed to fury , overwhelms the

, frail craft , and buries deep in its dark bosom that most precious of all treasures a fellowcreature ' s life . But , if thus our vengeful enemy , we cannot forget the ocean's friendly lessons to us tempest-tossed , and oft-times well-nigh shipwrecked , on the

ocean of life . Nor can we forget Him who rules the waves of this , as formerly He did the other , bidding " Peace , be still , " when immediately there was a great calm . And now tho turning tide tells us of that

" Tide in the affairs of men , Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune ; Omitted , all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows , and in miseries . "

Ours be it to profit by the lesson of the hour thus bountifully given us . Stepping over the threshold , we glance up at the beetling cliff , and how insignifi cant we feel whilst contcmjilating the majestic work of Nature , and when wo have climed to the top and venture to look

over" How fearful And dizzy 'tis , to cast one's eyes so low ! The crows and choughs that wing the mid-way air , Show scarce so gross as beetles ; half-way down Hangs one that gathers samphire , dreadful trade !

MetMnks he seems no bigger than his head : The fishermen that walk upon the beach , Appear like mice ; and yond tall anchoring bark , Diminish'd to her cock ; her cock , a buoy Almost too small for sight : the murmuring surge , That on the unnumber'd pebbles chafes , Cannot be heard so high . I'll look no more ; Lest my brain turn , and the deficient sight Topple down headlong . "

Fine words of a fine mind , inspired by , because observant of , nature ; observant , too , of her littleness as well as her vastness , knowing Ml well that her magnitude is built up of these often unconsidered trifles . In this spirit , then , examining the face of the cliffwe find clusters of the

, Samphire plant of which the poet speaks ; nor is Shakesjieare alone in his notice of the plant , for Michael Drayton refers to it in his " Poly-Olbion , " and John Evelyn speaks of the high estimation in which it was held by our fatherswho used to

, mingle it with other herbs in their salads , to which whilst giving zest , it was considered to be hiyigoratiug , and a sharpener of the ajipetite . For our modern use , pickling , it it is gathered in May , when its jiroperties are most aromatic . The

Samphire , found most commonly in the Isle of Wight and Cornwall , as well as at Dover , as mentioned by Shakespeare , is scattered amongst the crevices of the rocks in tufts , which are this month crowned with clusters of yellow flowers . As true

Samphire is somewhat scarce , the Jointed Glass-wort is often sold for it , but the deception may be easily guarded against as the latter plant is readily distinguishable by its leafless jointed stem , and its small green flowers planted between the joints of its terminal branches .