MAY. 



HOWEVER the festivities with which our an- 

 cestors hailed the opening of this month may 

 have sunk into neglect, Nature has not forsaken 

 her festivities. She still scatters flowers, and 

 .revels in dews; she still loves her leafy garniture, 

 and the bursts of unoppressive sunshine ; for, 

 though we moderns may abandon the customs of 

 our forefathers, and may even deny to May those 

 joyous attributes with which they delighted to 

 invest her ; though we complain of cold winds, 

 dull days, and frosty nights, cutting down 

 flower and leaf, and have them too, yet is May 

 a gladsome month withal. Vegetation has 

 made a proud progress; it has become deep, 

 lavish, and luxuriant ; and nothing can be more 

 delightful than the tender green of the young 

 hawthorn leaves. Primroses still scatter their 

 million of pale stars over shady banks, and 



