THE SUM OF THE MATTER. 



159 



posed nap of a half-century, this individual had left in wake- 

 fulness a disinterested descendant or a fast-enduring friend, 

 that ram avis might either be, in the course of nature, dead, 

 or choosing, like himself, to deviate from her beaten track, 

 have repaired, like a sand-marten or a great goat caterpillar, 

 to his own dormitory, and be, therefore, out of the way when 

 his liberating services were required. On the whole, then, 

 and in sober earnest, we must needs arrive at the conclusion 

 that, with the allotted period of our lives, and their present 

 constitution, as with all other things -under the guidance of 

 Infinite Wisdom, whatever is, is best. Above all, let us re- 

 member, that, even as it is, we are permitted, in one important 

 sense, to hold in our hands the extension or curtailment of 

 our allotted span. Within a brief space, we may live much,- 

 within a long one, oh ! how little ! 



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