THE BEAUTIES OF APRIL AND MAY* 177 



I had intended to confine our meditations to the beauties 

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

 operations. 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 centered 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. 



i 



"Maternal Flora, with benignant hand, 



Her flowers profusely scatters o'er the land : 

 These deck the vallies with unnumber'd hues, 

 And far around their pregnant sweets diffuse ; 

 The broad CARNATIONS, gay and spotted Pinks, ,. - 

 Are shower 'd 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 

 cursory glance at the airs and habits, the attitude and linea- 

 ments, of each distinct class. See the PaBonia 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, not- 

 withstanding 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 

 Nature's paint and perfume do wonders. Some rear their 

 heads as with a majestic mien, and overlook, Jike sovereigns 

 or nobles, 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 



