I am now standing in the abbey of St. Denis, which is about six miles from Paris, and have been told that all the kings of France, excepting Lewis XVI. are buried here, and that the house of Bourbon lie under my feet.--Alas! said I, here is the end of those mighty monarchs, that once ruled the kingdom, commanded armies, fought battles, obtained victories, collected riches, and enjoyed the honours, the profits and the pleasures of this perishing world.--Here they lie silent! and their dominion, strength, and power, are wholly gone!--Their bodies are returned to the elements out of which they were formed, _viz._ to the earth, air, fire, and water. Alas! continued I, the present king of France, with all the mighty kings and princes on the globe, together, with the rest of the human race, must soon pass through this change! And not only the human race, but the birds, beasts and fishes, trees, plants, and herbs; even every thing that hath life must be dissolved, and return to the elements, _viz._ Earth to earth, air to air, fire to fire, and water to water; for it is the _decree_ of the _Divine Artificer_, who is the former of our bodies, and the father of our spirits, that all these things shall _once die_!--And, none of the mighty kings, or learned physicians, can hinder themselves or others, from experiencing this awful change.
Moreover, I had further contemplations upon the state of the living and the condition of the dead. I considered the mutability of our bodies; that they are continually changing; that they increase in proportion to the quantity of nutrition which they receive from meat, drink, the circumambient air, &c. or, decrease in proportion to a want of nourishment from those things.
That they are continually flying off by insensible perspiration and other evacuations, and would soon come to a dissolution, if not nourished by the vegetable and animal productions.
That the bodies we had seven years ago, are totally dissolved by those evacuations; and from hence we have new flesh, new bones, new skin, new hair, new nails, &c. formed out of the four elements.
That the time we have lived, is past and gone; and, that the time we are to live is not yet come, so that we only live at the present time.