brown-paper
wrapper!

"Hither, to my obscure corner, by wind or steam, on horse-back or
dromedary-back, in the pouch of the Indian runner, or clicking over the
magnetic wires, troop all the famous performers from the four quarters
of the globe. Looked at from a point of criticism, tiny puppets they
seem all, as the editor sets up his booth upon my desk and officiates as
showman. Now I can truly see how little and transitory is life. The
earth appears almost as a drop of vinegar, on which the solar microscope
of the imagination must be brought to bear in order to make out any
thing distinctly. That animalcule there, in the pea-jacket, is Louis
Philippe, just landed on the coast of England. That other, in the grey
surtout and cocked hat, is Napoleon Bonaparte Smith, assuring France
that she need apprehend no interference from him in the present alarming
juncture. At that spot, where you seem to see a speck of something in
motion, is an immense mass-meeting. Look sharper, and you will see a
mite brandishing his mandibles in an excited manner. That is the great
Mr. Soandso, defining his position amid tumultuous and irrepressible
cheers. That infinitesimal creature, upon whom some score of others, as
minute as he, are gazing in open-mouthed admiration, is a famous
philosopher, expounding to a select audience their capacity for the
Infinite. That scarce discernible pufflet of smoke and dust is a
revolution. That speck there is a reformer, just arranging the lever
with which he is to move the world. And lo, there creeps forward the
shadow of a skeleton that blows one breath between its grinning teeth,
and all our distinguished actors are whisked off the slippery stage into
the dark Beyond.

"Yes, the little show-box has its solemner suggestions. Now and then we
catch a glimpse of a grim old man, who lays down a scythe and
hour-glass in the corner while he shifts the scenes. There, too, in the
dim background, a weird shape is ever delving. Sometimes he leans upon
his mattock, and gazes, as a coach whirls by, bearing the newly married
on their wedding jaunt, or glances carelessly at a babe brought home
from christening. Suddenly (for the scene grows larger and larger as we
look) a bony hand snatches back a performer in the midst of his part,
and him, whom yesterday two infinities (past and future) would not
suffice, a handful of dust is enough to cover and silence for ever. Nay,
we see the same fleshless fingers opening to clu