The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-07-16
The Ephemera-Am Emblem Of
Human Life.
A letter. written by DE. FRASELIN TO Ne zr Bril-
ISn, OF Passy, In I17s. 1851

4 leI.er written by Ds: FaAsELIs to Na,lr.s Bril-
IOH, Of Passy, In I17S. .Fa
You may remember, my dear friend, that
when we lately spent that happy day in The
delightful garden and sweet society of the
EoHlin NOly,I stopped little in one OF our
walks, land stayed sometime behind the com.
pany.orWe hhaye been shown numerless'
skeletons of ahkind,eG li&ie,siy = called an
'ephemerai whose successive generations, we
are told, rwere Bred FndieEpiue4 within tbe1
the day. II happened to see q. living compa.
ny .sf,then on a.lsaf, vino Appeared to be
engaged in- conversation. Youknew un-
ds1stund,al! the inferiori animal tongues
bzy too .greatl application ito the rstudy of
them is the hes. excuse I can give for the
! little progress have made IN your Charming
language. listened through. Curiosity toi
! the discourse OF these little creatures; but asi
they, in :heir netural.vlvacity, spoke three /
or four togsther, could make bus .litle Of
their conversation. found, hnweveT, Sy
some broken expressions that L-hescd now
= ~
and then, ,theywere dispaiing warmly on the
merit Of two musicinasys cre a eoESiR, theI
otaer asaoS;he,o; in wh;ck dispute they spent;
their Tina seemingly csrregardless of the
shcgtnsos Of life, as ifthey had been sure oil
living al mouth. Happy peoplei thought l.
you are certainly under wise, ;;ust, and mild
government, since you have no public griev.
ahoeo. TO, complain Of, nor any subject OF
contention but the projections and dimperfec.
tiecs Of foreign music. turned my head
from them to old gray headed one, who was
, single on nanother. leuf,,and talking to him
Gelf. Being amused withh:s soIiloquyI put
!: down in writing, in'hopes It wiEiiikewis Use
amuse her to whom am SO much lialebted
for the most pleasing Of ALI amusemeGts, her
delicious company and heavenly hermony.
i SIT was," said he, "the opinion of!eurned
philosophers Of OR vuceJ WAC lived and
: aourshed long before my aime ,that ibis vast
" world, the Moulin IDLY, could not itself sub-
sist more than eighteen honrs; ond"T tlTtrilI
. there was scne,, &c lndation for that opinion
since. By TIE apparent motion Of tte great
luminury tt!.at gires life to allt nature, and
= which in my time has evidently odeclnei
: consherably,towards the ocean dt the enc
y of our ,earaa, ,it',m must then itishii.s course
} be c2,tingNishel in the waters that surround
us, and Ieavs tke.world in cold ana darkness
!, necessarily"pEodae;ng universal death ami
y destruction. .,G'have lived seven Or thos,
hours, great uge,, being lno less than fou
y hundred mint:eo of'the time. Eow very few
:, ofius continue SO lcng' Ehave seen seder
tions bern, flourish and expire MY present
. friends arc the childreni and sruBdchildre;
'' ofthe friends of my youth, who are Eew
- alas, no n'oreI And must sooT follow
: them; for, by the course of nature, ehcugl
> ctill in health, I cannot expect to live a. ov
j. seven or eight minutes longer. What t,noh
% avails talE my. toll and labor, in amassin,
III honey dew on this leaf, which Iicannot lv,
10 to eRjoy!t What the political struggles
J" have been engagcdl in, for the good of m.
=" compatrio. inha bitants. Of this bush, or m,
h philosophical studies for the benefit of ou
y race IN general! for, in politics. what can law
y do without morals? Out'present race of eph
= emsra willqin course cfmirates," become
'e corrupt, fike those ofic.aer and older bushes
:. and consequentlyasWretched. rAad ihphil
" - csopSy how sy1a'l oar rrogross! hlasl ar
- is long and life ,s'ghors i My friends woul
comfort nc with the i!ea' Of name, the
soyi shall leave Sekind me; antttEey tel
- = ime have lived long enough for nature an
glcry.n' But what will fame be TO epheme
:. :, ra who no longer exists! And what will
=, becot,e Of ali history in tsse eighteenth hour
=, whom the world itself, even tie whole Mou
- lin Toly, shall ccEe te 70 end aEd'Ee .Eurie
u in universal ruin?" = =
III To me, after all my eager pursuits, no sol
id pleasures now remain, bu: the reaectio
of long life spent in meaning we'll, tn
. sensible conversation Of few good lad
~ ephemera, and now and then kind emil
and tunP from the.eyer, ,aRiable. Brilliant