Go, then, my little book of flowers, and speed you well ; go 
•visit those elysian spots where Flora always reigns j and tell the 
votaries of the goddess how much (like Ovid) your master sor- 
rows that he cannot go with you. Show your portraits of par- 
terre nobility -.—court the influence of their all-powerful origi- 
nals, which need no introductory praise. They find a way to 
every heart:— their beauty alone is their surest passport. It 
secures them the respect of all nations ; for the polished, and the 
barbarian, alike display the influence of its all-pervading energy. 
“There is nothing” says Addison, “ that makes its way more di- 
rectly to the soul than beauty. It immediately diffuses a secret 
satisfaction and complacence through the imagination, and gives 
a finish to any thing that is great and uncommon. The very first 
discovery of it strikes the mind with an inward joy, and spreads a 
cheerfulness and delight through all its faculties.” 
If, then, this volume has caught, what its Author has so ar- 
dently wished, somewhat of the attraction, and the beauty of 
those objects it is intended to pourtray, it needs no higher 
praise j— no preface to shew its lights : — it will find a way to 
every heart that is not inaccessible to the choicest of nature’s 
gifts. 
