TIIE BEAUTIES OF ArRIL AND MAY. 61 



I had intended to confine our meditations to the beauties 

 of April and May, but Nature seems to improve in her opera- 

 tions. Her. latest strokes are the most masterly. To crown 

 the collection, she introduces the Carnation, which captivates 

 our eyes with a noble spread of graces, and charms another 

 sense with a profusion of exquisite odours. This single flower 

 has centred in itself the perfection of all the preceding. The 

 moment it appears, it so commands our attention, that we 

 scarcely regret the absence of the rest. 



" Maternal Flora, with benignant hand, 

 Her flowers profusely scatters o'er the land : 

 These deck the valleys with unnumbered hues, 

 And far around their pregnant sweets difFuse, 

 The broad Carnations, gay and spotted Pinks, 

 Are showered profuse along the rivers' brinks." 



The field we have entered is so extensive and so enchant- 

 ing, that we cannot extricate ourselves without taking a cur- 

 sory glance at the airs and habits, the attitude and lineaments, 

 of each distinct class. See the Paeonia of China, splendid and 

 beautifully grand ! View the charming Rose, delicate and 

 languishingly fair ! and while you inhale its balmy sweetness, 

 you will be constrained to admire it, notwithstanding its thorny 

 appendages. 



"Rose! thou art the sweetest flower 

 That ever drank the amber shower ; 

 Rose ! thou art the fondest child 

 Of dimpled Spring ! the wood-nymph wild ! 

 Resplendant Rose ! the flower of flowers, 

 Whose breath perfumes Olympus' bowers ; 

 Whose virgin blush, of chasten'd dye, 

 Enchants so much our mental eye." 



Behold all the pomp and glory of the parterre, where Na- 

 ture's paint and perfumes do wonders. Some rear their heads 

 as with a majestic mein, and overlook, like sovereigns or no- 

 bles, the whole parterre. Others seem more modest in their 

 aims, and advance only to the middle stations ; a genius turned 

 for heraldry might term them the gentry of the border; while 



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