THE BEAUTIES OP APRIL AND MAT. 1T5 



are turned and tinted exactly alike. What colours, what 

 colours are here ! these so nobly bold, and those so deli- 

 cately languid! 



What a glow is enkindled in some ! what a gloss shines 

 upon others! With what a masterly skill is every one of 

 the varying tints disposed ! Here they seem to be thrown 

 on with an easy dash of security and freedom ; there they 

 are adjusted by the nicest touches of art and accuracy. 

 Those colours which form the ground are always so judi- 

 ciously chosen, as to heighten the lustre of the superadded 

 figures ; while the verdure of the impalement, or shadings 

 of the foliage, impart new liveliness to the whole. Fine, 

 inimitably fine, is the texture of the web on which these 

 shining treasures are displayed. What are the labours of 

 the Persian looms ; what all the gay attire which the shuttle 

 or the needle can furnish, compared with Nature's works 1 

 One cannot forbear reflection in this place, on the too pre- 

 vailing humour of being fond and ostentatious of dress. 

 What an abject and mistaken ambition is this ! How un- 

 worthy the dignity of man, and the wisdom of rational 

 beings ! Especially since these little productions of the 

 earth have indisputably the pre-eminence in such outward 

 embellishments. 



"Bright TULIPS, we do know, 



Ye had your coming hither, 

 And fading time doth show, 



That ye must quickly wither; 



Your sisterhood may stay, 



And smile here for an hour, 



. But ye must quickly die away, 



E'en as the meanest flower. 



Come virgins, then, and see 



Your frailties, and bemoan ye ; 

 For lost like these, 'twill be 



As time had never known ye." 



But let us not forget the fragrant, the very fragrant Wall 

 and Gilli-flowers ; some of these regale us with their per- 



