ALEXANDER WILSON. 37 



tiful flowers have flourished and faded under your 

 eye ! and how often has the whole profusion of 

 blossoms, the hopes of a whole year, been blasted 

 by an untimely frost ! He has gone only a little 

 before us we must soon follow; but while the 

 feelings of nature cannot be repressed, it is our duty 

 to bow with humble resignation to the decision of 

 the Father of all, rather receiving with gratitude 

 the blessings he is pleased to bestow, than repining 

 at the loss of those he thinks proper to take from 

 us. But allow me, my dear friend, to withdraw 

 your thoughts from so melancholy a subject, since 

 the best way to avoid the force of any overpower- 

 ing passion is to turn its direction in another way. 



" That lovely season is now approaching, when 

 the garden, woods, and fields, will again display 

 their foliage and flowers. Every day we may ex- 

 pect strangers, flocking from the south to fiU our 

 woods with harmony. The pencil of Nature is now 

 at work, and outlines, tints, and gradations of lights 

 and shades, that baffle all description, will soon be 

 spread before us by that great Master, our most 

 benevolent Friend and Father. Let us cheerfully 

 participate in the feast he is preparing for all our 

 senses. Let us survey those millions of green 

 strangers, just peeping into day, as so many happy 

 messengers come to proclaim the power and muni- 

 ficence of the Creator. I confess that I was always 

 an enthusiast in my admiration of the rural scenery 

 of Nature ; but, since your example and encourage- 

 ment have set me to attempt to imitate her produo- 



