Smyrna times., 1865-12-06

the ashes of the kings of France. TOmbs
though their walls be forty feet in thickness,
like that of Cecilia Metella, at Rome-pyra-
mids like that of Cheops-cannot imprSon the
subtle elements which compose alike the frames
OF PharaOhS and Of beggarS. Earth, and air
and water reclaim and repossess their own. 4
Traveller falls i'll the desert, or in mountain Soli-
tudeS, or IN lonely forests The sun kisses him
and he is slIblimed The soft winds steal to
his resting place. They shrink not from his
touch; they carcss his wan brow and faded
check; they play about the parted lips, and
lit the tangled mc,heS of his hair So they
WOO him to their embraces; they bear him
away on their wings till he is buried in air
The earthly rc%iduum of this burned-out human
tOrch-the handful Of phosphate of lime. which
formed the bony framework of his earthly ten
cment-guca to mix forever with the clc-
mentS.
We have only liic-lcasc of our house of clay.
Others occupied it before us; others will use
it after us. BY the endless tran>mutations OF
Nature : great laboratory. the particles of our
frame are wrought over into grass, and grain.
and animal libre, aud again into human flesh
and SincwS
The dust We tread upon was once alive
Aye. and it will live again.
The red man sleeps with his fathers. but his
rcviyiticd limbs Shall stalk the streets of cities
built beside the hurial-placc of his tribe The
nerve that once drew the bow now wicid* tn.
pen or brandishr- the sword B!ood-drrnchc,l
Waterloo becomes a prolific whrat-hrll, and
the tide of life, which chhed slowly and sadly
away as night came down on the plain, now
courses loyou>y through the veins of another
generation. Truly has it been said. death
is the Lucina OF lie, and the incXhau>table mu-
trimcnt of existence is decay
As Saturn deyours his olf>pring 50 we eat
our ancestors. The lot Of Nau>oluS 50 loved
and lamentcd by his wife Artcmc>ia. that She
took his lnclmcratcd remains in morning pow
der>. till his body had found resting place in
a living Scpulchrc, Is by no means IA solitary
case. Could We have the history Of the atom,
which form even the less honorcd portions OF
our frame, some of them may have once obey
ed monarch will or fed maiden pride
The materials Of which our lfc-garmcnt is
woven are gathered from every cline. China
and Japan, Ceylon and Sumatra. the islands
of the sea and the sea itself. give us their
choicest productions The ;ll-cmbracing air
comes to us laden with odors and eXhalations
from distant shores, which we inspire and ussnl
ilate. If God had not originall made of the one
blood all the nations that dwell on the face Of
the earth, they would soon become 50 by the
unccasIng interchange of elementary particles.
OF lhphaS Drown says we quote rom mem
ory): " We are all what we 50 much abhor-
anthropopha@i and ulan-catcr>; for this good
y frame which surrounds our being once lay
upon our trcnchers and come in by our mouths;
in brief, we have dcvoured ourselves"
Shakspcrc, in that exquisite passage in Ham
let which discovers perhaps rs iorcibly as any
other, the rare dcliclcy Of a fancy, at the same
time 50 marve!ouSly vigorous, says of Ophelta:
Lay her i the earth;
And from her fair and unrollutcd flesh
May yiolets spring.
This is the true etransmigraton-toli live again
in tree, or flower. or bird. or insect, pursuing
that long series of changes, which, for aught
we know to the contrary may be infinite, and
which render probable, if not positive, the
lnmortality Of matter as we'll as OF spirit.