A JULY VIRTUE.
Country folk have discovered one virtue in the weather that has otherwise and in general oppressed the whole community. It has been almost a rule that the more the barometer rose the more the rain fell. In consequence the valleys return to marsh, the buds are too wet to open, the hay lies mouldering in the meadows. Let all this and more be granted. Neverthe less and notwithstanding, it is a time of abounding healthiness. Seldom were garden or farm plagues less in evidence. The green fly has not blackened our beans or fouled our roses. The carrots are free from the " worm i' the bud." The harvest looks abundantly healthy, though the straw is short. And the season is long drawn out. The bushes go on flowering, the fruit goes on " plumping " and the pods swelling. These are no small compensations ; and should August recover the summer quality, what a glory England will be !
W. BEACH THOMAS.
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