66 APRIL. 



cellent laws of Providence, that our minds shall 

 be insensibly moulded to a sympathy with that 

 season which is passing, and become deprived, 

 in a certain degree, of the power of recalling 

 the images of those which are gone by ; whence 

 we reap the double advantage of not being dis- 

 gusted with the deadness of the wintry land- 

 scape, from a comparison with the hilarity of 

 spring : and when spring itself appears, it comes 

 with a freshness of beauty which charms us 

 at once with novelty, and a recognition of old 

 delights. Symptoms of spring now crowd thick- 

 ly upon us : however regular may be our walks, 

 we are daily surprised at the rapid march of ve- 

 getation, at the sudden increase of freshness, 

 greenness, and beauty ; one old friend after ano- 

 ther starts up before us in the shape of a flower. 

 The violets which came out in March in little 

 iltlicate groups, now spead in myriads along 

 the hedge-rows, and fill secluded lanes with their 

 fragrance. In some springs, however, though 

 most abundant, yet, perhaps, owing to the dry- 

 ness of the weather, they are almost scentless. 

 The pilewort, or lesser celandine, too, is now 

 truly beautiful, opening thousands and tens of 

 thousands of its splendidly gilt and starry flowers 

 along banks, and at the feet of sheltered thick- 

 ets ; so that, whoever sees them in their perfec- 

 tion, will cease to wonder at the admiration 



