JUNE. 149 



of the firmament; the other is spangling the green 

 plains and mountains with living gems of every hue, 

 and crowns the whole landscape with lilies and roses. 



The mornings and evenings have acquired a delight- 

 ful temperature, that invites us to rise prematurely from 

 our repose, to enjoy the greater luxury of the balmy , 

 breezes. The dews hang heavily upon the herbage, 

 and the white frosts have gone away to join the proces- 

 sion of the chill autumnal nights. The little modest 

 spring flowers are half hidden beneath the prouder foli- 

 age of the flowers of summer ; the violets can hardly look 

 upon you from under the broad leaves of the fern ; and 

 the anemones, like some little unpretending beauty in 

 the midst of a glittering crowd, are scarcely observed as 

 they are fast fading beneath the shade of the tall shrub- 

 bery. The voice of the early song sparrow and the 

 tender warbling of the bluebird, are but faintly audi- 

 ble amidst the chorus of louder warblers ; the myriads 

 of piping creatures are silent in the wet places, and the 

 tree-frogs, having taken up their song, make a constant 

 melodious croaking, after nightfall from the wooded 

 swamps. The summer birds have all arrived ; their 

 warbling resounds from every nook and dell ; thousands 

 of their nests are concealed in every grove and orchard, 

 among the branches of the trees, or- on the ground 

 beneath a tuft of shrubbery ; egg-shells, of various hues, 

 are cast out of their nests, and the callow young lie in 

 the open air, exposed to the tender mercies of the genial 

 month o,f June. 



The season of anticipation has passed away ; the 

 early month of fruition has come ; the hopes of our 

 vernal morning have ripened into realities ; we no 

 longer look into the future for our enjoyments, but we 

 revel at length in all those pleasures, from which we 



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