The Yazoo City Whig. [volume] (Yazoo, Miss.) 1844-1851, 1844-11-15

1t is this which arms death with all It's
tcHors; else | could still mock at fear. and
smile in the face of the gloomy monarch
1t is not giving up my breath; it is not being
forever lnsensible, is the thought at which /
shrink; it is the terrible hereafter, the some
thing beyOund the grave, at which recoil.
The great realities. which in the hour Of
mirth and vanity have treated as phantoms,
as the idle dreams Of superstitious beings;
these start forth, and dare me now in their
most terrible demonstration. NV awakened
conscience feels something of mat eternal
vengeance have often defed.
To what heighths of madness is it posi-
BILE for human nature reach What extray>
agance is it, to jest with death! TO laugh at
damnatiOn! TO sport with eternal chains, and
recreate joyful fancy with the scenes of
eternal misery!
Were there no impiety in this kind of
mirth, it would be as ll>bred as to entertain
dying friend with the sight of a harlequin,
or the rehearsal of farce Every thing in
nature seems to reproach this levitv in hu-
man creatures. The whole creation, man
excepted, is serious; man, who has the
highest reason TO be so, while he has affairs
of infinite consequence depending on this
short and uncertain duration. A condemn
ed wretch may with as good grace 60 dam
cling to his execution, as the greatest part
of mankind go on with such thoughtless
gayety 10 their graves.
Oh! my friend, with what horror do re-
call those hours Of vanity we have wasted
together! Return, ye lost, neglected mo-
ments! How should prize you above the
eastern treasures! Let me dwell with her.
mils; let me rest on the cold earth ;'let me
converse in cottages; may | once more
stand candidate for an immortal crown
and have my probation for celestial happ
ness!
Ye vain gEandeurs of a court! Ye sound
ing titles and pershing riches! what do "
now signify? what consolation. what relic
| can ye give? | have splendid passage I,
the grave; die in state, and languish un
der gilded canopy; am expiring on sol
and downy pillows, and am respectfully al
| tended by my servants and physician; m
! dependents sigh, my sisters weep; my fathe
, bends beneath load of years and grief; m
= lovely wife, pale and silent, conceals her in
ward anguish; my friend, who was as m
!. tewn soul, suppresses sigh, and leaves m'
TO hide his secret grief. But oh! which {
v these will answer my summons 10 the big
= Tribunal! which Of them will hail me froI
;. the arrest o: death? who will descend int
. the dark prison Of the grave for met
e Here they all leave me, after having pal
). few idle ceremonies to the breathless ella
/ which perhaps may be repose d in state, whi
IS my soul, my only conscious part, may stan
l. trembling before my Judge.
My afflicted friends. it is very probabl
;. with great sOlemnity will lay the sensele
r. corpse in stately monument, inscribed wi
IN g Here lies the great --.''
n But could the pale carcase speak, it won
r. soon reply:
ut "False marble, where!
Irt Nothing but poor and sorGid dust lies here"
lie While some fattering panegyric is prOnOu
ed bed at my interment, may perhaps be he'
nd ing may just condemnation at superior I
lst bunal, where an unerring verdict may Sc
Ter tence me to everlasting infamy. But c.
myself on Gods absolute mercy, throu
If? the infinite merits of the Redeemer of /
lat mankind. Adieu, my dear friend, till
rat meet in the world of spirits!''
ce, ". E. Puritan.