172 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 nos- 

 trils ? They are the breath of the flowers, the incense of 

 the gardens. How liberally does the Jasmine dispense her 

 odoriferous 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 1 Who would be involved in senseless 

 slumbers, while so many breathing sweets invite him to a 

 feast of fragrancy especially considering that the advan- 

 cing day will exhale the volatile dainties? A fugitive treat 

 they are, prepared only for the wakeful and industrious* 

 Whereas, when the sluggard 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 bee 

 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 

 poignancy, never palls the appetite. Here luxury itself is 

 innpcence ; or rather in this case, indulgence is incapable of 

 excess. This balmy entertainment not only regales the 



