The Benison of Spring. 17 



How gaudy Nature is ! Mankind would fain bedizen 

 itself with the most splendid attire, but it only manages to 

 steal a little of her magnificent raiment. With the onrush 

 of spring blossoms come the gaily-decked hats, the bees 

 even mistaking them occasionally for Nature's flowers, 

 such pains have been taken to imitate her ; but alas you 

 may sometimes see an Autumn blossom peeping forth from 

 the wealth of cowslips. I know that Cybele and Ceres do 

 now and then get sadly mixed, do bring forth willow- 

 pussies, dandelions, violets and other Spring flowers in De- 

 cember and January, and the old pear-tree occasionally 

 produces a few blossoms in October, so I suppose the 

 human sisters of Flora and her kin are amply excused for 

 jumbling the seasons. 



There is a happy languor that accompanies the days 

 of Spring, and people loll in the sun or sit lazily on the 

 piazza, and then stretch themselves like the pussy that has 

 taken her nap before the fire. This pleasant tiredness is 

 called " spring fever," and would that our ailments were 

 all so welcome. It was the only disease known in the gar- 

 den of Eden during the spring-time of our race, and with 

 our love for the beautiful in nature, is a heritage from that 

 golden age. 



The greening of Spring is certainly the nearest we 

 know to an absolute creation, so many things are new 

 about us. The old year and its countless predecessors are 

 back of it all no doubt, yet the new dress covers the old 

 so skillfully that the brown and dead leaves and decaying 

 branches that bestrew the ground do not seem to intrude 

 upon the scene. 



