66 THE BEAUTIES OP APRIL AND MAY. 



The pious Hervey, in his admonitions to those who indulge 

 in sloth, has thrown' out the following sublime ideas : What 

 sweets are those which so agreeably salute my nostrils 1 

 They are the breath of the flowers, the incense of the gar- 

 dens. How liberally does the Jasmine dispense her odorife- 

 rous riches ! How deliciously has the Woodbine embalmed 

 this morning walk ! The air is all perfume. And is not 

 this another most engaging argument to forsake the bed of 

 sloth ] Who would be involved in senseless slumbers, while 

 so many breathing sweets invite him to a feast of fragrancy, 

 especially considering that the advancing day will exhale the 

 volatile dainties ] A fugitive treat they are, prepared only 

 for the wakeful and industrious. Whereas, when the slug- 

 gard lifts his heavy eyes, the flowers will droop, their fine 

 sweets be dissipated, and instead of this refreshing humidity, 

 the air will become a kind of liquid fire. 



With this very motive, heightened by a representation of 

 the most charming pieces of morning scenery, the parent of 

 mankind awakes his lovely consort. There is such a deli- 

 cacy in the choice, and so much life in the description of 

 these rural images, that I cannot excuse myself without 

 repeating the whole passage. * Whisper it, some friendly 

 genius, in the ear of every one, who is now sunk in sleep, 

 and lost to all these refined gratifications ! 



"Awake! the morning shines, and the fresh field 

 Calls you : ye lose the prime, to mark how spring 

 The tended plants, how blows the Citron grove ; 

 What drops the Myrrh, and what the balmy Reed , 

 How Nature paints her colours ; how the beo 

 Sits on the bloom, extracting liquid sweets." 



How delightful is this fragrance ! It is distributed in the 

 nicest proportion ; neither so strong as to oppress the organs, 

 nor so faint as to elude them. We are soon cloyed at a 

 sumptuous banquet ; but this pleasure never loses its poig- 

 nancy, never palls the appetite. Here luxury itself is inno- 

 cence j or rather, in this case, indulgence is incapable of ex 



