O Child of earth, conceived in corruption! Brought forth in pain and sorrow! sojourning In a world of mourning, mid sighs and tears, And groans, and awaiting in sadness thy home In the gloomy grave, as food for worms; Lift up thy head, cast thine eyes around thee, Behold yon countless hosts of shining orbs, Yon worlds of light and life. Then turn to earth, Survey the solid globe, its mineral wealth, Its gems, its precious stones, its gold, its springs; Its gardens, forests, fruits, and flowers; Its countless myriads of breathing life, From _Mote to Man_, through all the varied scale Of animated being. Visit the gloomy caverns of the dead, The ancient sepulchre, where e'en the worm Of death himself, has died for want of food, And bones disjointed are crumbled fine, and Mingled with the dust. Nay, deeper still, descend the fathomless Abyss of souls condemned, in darkness chained, Or thrust in gloomy dungeons of despair-- Where the very names of Mercy, of Hope, And of death's conqueror remain unknown. Observe with care the whole, indulge in tears, But hope, believe, and clothed with charity Which never fails, thine eyes enlightened, Thy person clad in light ethereal. Time fades, and opens on eternity. Again review the scene beheld before. You startle, seem surprised! confused! o'erwhelmed! Death is conquered, corruption is no more, All is _life_, and the word ETERNITY Is inscribed in characters indelible, On every particle and form of life. Socrates, Plato, Confucius, and many other philosophers and divines have written largely on the immortality of the _soul_ or spirit of man. Some of these have suffered, with joy and cheerfulness, imprisonment, torture, and even death, with only this limited view of eternal existence. Could these martyrs to a portion of truth so limited, and yet so full of hope and consolation, have handled immortal flesh and bones in the persons of Enoch or Elijah translated, or of Jesus raised from the dead; could they have learned from their sacred lips, and realized the full import of that joyful sentence-- "_Behold! I make all things new_;" could they have contemplated eternal worlds, of matter in all its elements and forms of animal life, indissoluble and everlasting; could they have beheld eternal man, moving in the majesty of a God, amid the planetary systems, grasping the knowledge of universal nature, and with an intellect enlightened by the experience and observations of thousands and even millions of years; could they have had a glimpse of all this, and heard the promise-- "_There shall be no more death_,"