The New Hampshire Gazette

MISCELLANEOUS.

"Let us get up early."

SOLOMON could hardly have written three thousand proverbs and a madrigal to his love, with such wisdom and wit, if he had not, by the air and scenery of the morning, corroborated his health and kindled his fancy. Whether active as a king or indolent as a lover, he perceived that early hours were auxiliaries both to business and pleasure, and therefore judiciously advises to rise with the lark.

In our climate, a midsummer morning's dream not Shakespeare himself should be permitted to tell. Blankets and pillows look so dull and warm, and the green grass and trees so cheerful and refreshing, it is wonderful the sluggard cannot, even with half shut eyes, discern such wide extremes, and prefer strolling in the fields to tumbling in bed.

But in the course of my parochial visitations, my early tap at many a door is often answered by a voice exclaiming from behind the curtain; it is the voice of the sluggard. The cock has crowed thrice, and certain robins have sung two hymns and a ballad, before half my acquaintance have "girded their loins," buckled their shoes, and combed their hair. Yet these creatures, not contented with the naps of the night, swathe themselves like so many Egyptian mummies, in a sheet, four hours after sunrise, and then have the impudence to rise and talk of business and the beauty of the day.

The princely poet, author of our excellent text, when exhorting to summer enjoyments, points not to the night season, nor to the "inner pavilion" of the palace, but informs us that his "bed is green," and his love displayed in the open air.

The gallant Solomon could invite the blushing belle of Egypt to a morning's stroll into the vineyards, and give her his love amidst the dews of dawn. Well wert thou called wise, thou gallant prince, if it were only for thy knowledge of the female heart. Well didst thou know that the buds of beauty, like the blossoms of Sharon, stealing fresh vigour from slumber, expand all their sweetness to the morning ray. In our time, the torpid admirer snores, amidst the evening fog, the praises of his mistress, while the sprightly strains of his serenade are overpowered by the clink of anvil at midnight.

In close parlours, and the long winter's eve, we may pore over rent-rolls, and engross marriage settlements. Let the city lover, in cork-soled shoes, goloshes and flannel, court the delicate maiden, in the close cap and comfortable bed gown. But he that would woo thee, buxom Health, must "Brush with hasty steps the dews away;" must not seek thee behind fire screens, or lolling on a sofa; but must erect a lodge in the village, and before the day break, and the shadows flee away, when the rose and the mandrake give a sweet smell, listen for thy jocund song mingling with the matin of the lark. In lieu of the ticket for the foetid theatre, or the card for the crowded ball-room, the American lover should bid good morning to his fair one's night-cap, and salute her with the early call of arise, my beloved and come away, for the flowers appear on the earth, and the time of the singing of the birds is come. Yet modern enamoratos, in compliment to the indolent delicacy of the day, shoe their bootees "with felt," and whisper, "I charge you, O ye daughters, by the roes and the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up nor awake my love, till he please."

But the morning air breathes not for lovers alone. If the philosopher will arise and meditate at the morning tide, though he may not rival the fame, he may attain the hale old age of Franklin.

The divine, by the light of the rising sun, may catch hints from creation, which may serve to raise the affections of his flock to him who divided the light from the darkness.

The merchant, who opens his counting-house windows to the earliest breath of morn, may perhaps find a reward in the custom of the early purchaser.

The lawyer, who has groped the preceding day in the intricacies of special pleading, when he views the peaceful face of morning, and is enlightened by the beamy sun, may perchance, from the serenity of the hour, be led to con the grateful eulogium of "blessed are the peace makers."

While the blithe husbandman, whom Providence has ordained to mingle pleasure with profit, finds amidst his lowing herds, bleating sheep and blushing fields, an excitement to the task of the coming day.

The Lay Preacher.