breath?--this _I_, so much alive? In what element will it mix,
giving or receiving fresh energy? What will break the enchantment
of animation? For worlds I would not see a form I loved--embalmed
in my heart --thus sacrilegiously handled? Pugh! my stomach turns.
Is this all the distinction of the rich in the grave? They had
better quietly allow the scythe of equality to mow them down with
the common mass, than struggle to become a monument of the
instability of human greatness.

The teeth, nails, and skin were whole, without appearing black like
the Egyptian mummies; and some silk, in which they had been wrapped,
still preserved its colour--pink--with tolerable freshness.

I could not learn how long the bodies had been in this state, in
which they bid fair to remain till the Day of Judgment, if there is
to be such a day; and before that time, it will require some trouble
to make them fit to appear in company with angels without disgracing
humanity. God bless you! I feel a conviction that we have some
perfectible principle in our present vestment, which will not be
destroyed just as we begin to be sensible of improvement; and I care
not what habit it next puts on, sure that it will be wisely formed
to suit a higher state of existence. Thinking of death makes us
tenderly cling to our affections; with more than usual tenderness I
therefore assure you that I am yours, wishing that the temporary
death of absence may not endure longer than is absolutely necessary.



LETTER VIII.