The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1836-07-27
MAN.
BY J. N. MATT.

Man is perishablc, and like himself are
all his works; eternity is not his gift; and
the operations of his arm, though they may
be beautiful while they last, like the summer
cloud must melt away. lie steps upon the
stage of action the proud lord of all crea-
ted matter, he erects the pillars "i brass and
marble statues, that continue for ages and
to bid defiance to the ravages of the destroy
er he rears up the towering monument to
perpetuate his greatness, and tells the tenn
pest and storm to beat it down if they be
able he sinks amid his glory, aud his sons
aud SUCCESSORS with fearful eyes view the
wasting away of all his works. In the full
tide of his zeal he builds "A church and de-
dicates it to the living God "now," says
he, " with the armies of heaven uI on my
side, my labour shall last for ever )" and
as though he had entered the dwelling place
of Deity and by his good works brlbed
him to sustain him, and he exultingly cries
out to the DESTROYER, " Thus far shall thou
come, but no father, here at this temples
base shall thy proud waves be stayed"
But time triumphant time he comes either
in the still small voice, or like an avalanche
from the eternal hills, and the proud effort,
together with the prince who planned IT,,
are buried in one unceremonious ruin. But
more than these he has erected the tenn
pie of fame, and upon his. heavcn-ward
arch he has Inscribed the burning letters OF
,nm ortnlify; lie has blown up the enduring
flame of his own renown, and after ages
have been illumined by its light; hc has
climbed the slippery steep OF literature, and
from her wide spread arena has looked abroad
unto all the world he has counted and
named the stars; scanned the orbits Of Il
thousand planets, and marked the revolu-
tlons of the great centre of The solar system
like bInzing beacon whose hamc Is gath
ering from the four quarters Of the carlh /;
his deeds are held out to the gazc Of the
universe and the admiration If celestial iu-
tclIigencc but to expire amidst the halo of
his hard earned glory is the consunmation
of his highest hopes, and the end Of his
fondest expectations hc cannot rescue from
ruin one siueIe performance, or bring back
the faintest breath of life all his DAYS have
been spent in forming and fashioning anew,
the wonderful works of nn all powerful
Greater, and The best operation he ever nc
was nothing more than the
Of tie material placed into
us hhhds one lot or one tItile has rot been
added since the Almighty spoke from chaos
his mundane fabric, perfect then in all its
parts, forming II wonderous whole; so it !
has remained, and through tle challenges of
six thousand years, aud the decomposition
over and over again, of the flowers ard (
herbs and fruits and animals, that lived and .
glowcd and died upon its surface, the roll
ling away OF tides, and the bursting of vol |
canoes, the evaporation Of fluids, and melt
ing of clouds, it has continued the same IN ,
quantity: aud the untiring efforts of man
though repeated and continued through eve
~ hour since its creation, has mutllated its
surface comparatively little deeper than his
'wn grave shall be but the conclusion of
he whole matter is, the worm shall fee up
N mans mortality, and then turn itself to
he dust from whence man was taken. :