《四季随笔》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中对隐士赖克罗夫特醉心于书籍、自然景色与回忆过去生活的描述，其实是吉辛的自述，作者以此来抒发自己的情感，因而本书是一部富有自传色彩的小品文集。

吉辛穷困的一生，对文学名著的爱好与追求，以及对大自然恬静生活的向往，在书中均有充分的反映。本书分为春、夏、秋、冬四个部分，文笔优美，行文流畅，是英国文学中小品文的珍品之一。

以下是由网友分享的《四季随笔》节选 - 秋 11的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Yet that, perhaps, will be the mind of coming man; if not the final attainment of his intellectual progress, at all events a long period of self-satisfaction, assumed as finality. We talk of the "ever aspiring soul"; we take for granted that if one religion passes away, another must arise. But what if man presently finds himself without spiritual needs? Such modification of his being cannot be deemed impossible; many signs of our life to-day seem to point towards it. If the habits of thought favoured by physical science do but sink deep enough, and no vast calamity come to check mankind in its advance to material contentment, the age of true positivism may arise. Then it will be the common privilege, "rerum cognoscere causas"; the word supernatural will have no sense; superstition will be a dimly understood trait of the early race; and where now we perceive an appalling Mystery, everything will be lucid and serene as a geometric demonstration. Such an epoch of Reason might be the happiest the world could know. Indeed, it would either be that, or it would never come about at all. For suffering and sorrow are the great Doctors of Metaphysic; and, remembering this, one cannot count very surely upon the rationalist millennium.

这，也许将是未来之人的心智，若不是智力发展的最后成就，无论如何也是人类沾沾自喜的很长的一个时期，被假定为终结。我们谈论着“永远向上的灵魂”；我们想当然地认为，一种宗教消失，另一种宗教必会兴起。但是，万一人们发现自己没有精神需求了呢？这种改变不能视为不可能，今天我们生活的许多迹象似乎都表明了这一趋势。如果自然科学青睐的思维习惯影响足够深远，又没有重大灾难发生，来遏制人类追求物质满足的步伐，那么真正的实证主义时代可能会崛起。接着“追寻事物的原因”将会是公众享受的特权，“超自然”一词将失去意义；迷信则将被懵懂地理解为早期人类的一种特征；一切我们现在视为骇人的“谜团”，都将如同几何证明一样明白清晰。这种理智的时代可能是世人所知最快乐的时代了。确实，它要么是这样，要么将永远不会发生。苦难和悲伤是“形而上学之大师”；记着这一点，人们便不能非常确信地指望理性主义新千年了。