Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1825-05-05

of lime and arghaclous eaTth-a CON-
pound that absorbs the moisture which
is necessary to the acknowledgements
In all weathers the place is perfectly
free from damp. The cons quences
is, that animal matter exposed to such
an atmosphere, though it undergoes
important chemical changes, and soon
ceases to be strictly flesh, yet retains
for a length Of time its external pro
portions. had occasion to observe a
circumstance, that proves the uncom
mon dryness of the air. One of the
recesses which is fastened up, is the
burial place Of a noble family. On
looking through the creating door, we
saw two or three corone,s gliltering
from the remote extremity of the cell,
as brightly as they had been polished
up The day before. The attendant as
surcd us that it was more than a
year since any one had entered the
place.-He inserted a taper within the
grating 10 give us a fuller view, when
his statement wss corrobOrated by the
appearance ofan ample canopy ofcob
web, extending from wall to wall of
this chamber of death, and which it
must have cost the artiicers many a
weary day and night 10 weave. A
curtain of the same sepulchraI gauze
overhung The spot where the Sheares
| rest.
| had seer The catacombs of Paris.
but was more interested. and made to
feel more for others myself in the vaults
of ST. Michan's. In the catacombs.
the eye or the heart finds nothing ind
vldual to rest upon; your sympathy is
dispersed over myriads of anonymous
skulls and thigh bones, and there fan.
ta%stical!y arranged irfo melodramatic
combinations, as if the Graces have a
ny business under ground; and after
death has picked us to the bone, u
skeletons must be broken up, and shut,
fled into attitudes confor ming to the
lmmntable principles of Partisan taste.
L could never heave a sigh, while pro.
menadlug between those neatly trim
med hedge rows Of human bones. !
thought OF, and piiied the workmen
more than the materials. But at St.
Mlchan's felt really in a sepulchre,
and surrounded by the dead. The We
ry absence of neatness in their destri
button, and of respectful observance
towards them, was a source o finstruc.
tive reflection, by forewarniDg me OF
my cessation OF personal importance,
when l shall cease to breathe. Eve
ry kick The sexton gave a chance skull
or two that stopped the way, had its
moral; 1t was as good as the festive
usage in old Egyp:, sofhanding round
AN image of death from guest to guest,
to the words of
"Drink and be merry, for such YOU shall be. {"
In the absence of such a custom
now, l know Of nothing more calcu
lated to bring down the pride of any
one hat plques himself too much upon
his flesh than an occasional converse
ton in a church yard with a sexton or
grave digger, on the subject of their
trade: 1t is very well as long as a
man has a certain allowance of mind
and muscles at his disposal, and can
strut and talk, look big, and hum frag.
ments of bravuras, and be seen now
and then IN tandem, and resort to the
other methods of commanding some
difference to his personal identity; but
when once this important parsonage
becomes motionless, cold and tongue
tied, and unable to demonstrate. is
seized by the Undertaken, and as the
Irish phrase is, is put to bed with "a
shovel farewell human respect
out of sight, out.ofmind;' his epitaph,
# he has left assets to buy one, may
Tor a while, keep up a little hustle a.
bout his name, but a short dialogue
with a sexton of aftertimes, over the
scattered fragments of his existence,
Will afford a pretty accurate measure
OF the degree of real insignifcance in
TO which he has subsided. This is
Notifying, but is among the sources
OF our highest interests. Certainly it
Is naturally that we should look TO
some future compensation for our
minds, in return for the many insults
their old companions are sure to suf-
ter when they are not by to protect
them; it were an intollerable prospect
otherwise. To day to be active, hap
Ply and ambitious, concious of being
made for the contemplation of heaven,
and all the noble objects, and 10 NOR.