* * *
Addressed to Mr. ----.
This morning it unfolded its beauties to the eastern sun; it exhaled its
rich perfume; I beheld the beautiful flower with pleasure. A person past
my window, and, no doubt, to please me, plucked it from the stalk. He
gave it me; I placed it in my bosom. It faded--it died away--and when
evening came it was no longer charming.
Vain man! in this flower thou mayest behold an emblem of thyself. Thou
too in the morning of thy days wast amiable. But when thou hadst arrived
at mature age, then thou wast severed from conscious innocence; then
thou didst imbibe the vices of the age. As the flower lost its crimson
hue, thou wast fast losing thy hold of virtue. And as the rose had
entirely faded, so rectitude, integrity, innocence, and every amiable
virtue became strangers to thy heart; and left thee, entirely, a man of
the world.