BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEIST. 23 



CHAP. IV. 



VEGETABLES. 







< Your contemplation further yet pursue ; 

 The wondrous world of Vegetables view ! 

 See varied Trees their various fruits produce, 

 Some for delightful taste, and some for use. 

 See Sprouting Plants enrich the plain and wood, 

 For physic some, and some design'd for food. 

 See Fragrant Flowers, with different colour's dy'd, 

 On smiling meads unfold their gaudy pride ! 



FROM the verdant colour of creation the transi- 

 tion is natural to a consideration of the objects by 

 which it is occasioned. These are the numerous 

 vegetable tribes which cover and adorn the surface 

 of our globe in all that variety of Trees, Shrubs, 

 and Herbs which we behold. 



Here Trees, like stately turrets, raise their lofty 

 heads; there, the more pliant and humble thick set 

 Shrubs unite their foliage; while the herbaceous 

 tribe in mingled profusion cling more closely to the 

 earth, and cover the fields with their verdure. Man 

 cannot contemplate the vegetable creation without 

 recalling the idea of beauty, sweetness, and a thou- 

 sand charms thai captivate the senses. The perfume 

 of the rose, the brilliancy of the lily, the sweetness 

 of the violet, and the stately magnificence of the 

 forest, successively catch his attention and delight 

 him. 



