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been preceded by that which was distasteful, they are resting; and though they work, their exertion fatigues them no more than it wearies a flower to expand its leaves, drink in the dew, absorb the sunshine; or a swan to float upon the crystal stream; or a fish to glide beneath the shining waters; or a bird to skim through the perfumed air; or a lamb to sport in flowery meads.
That disease of sluggish and imperfect organizations, that pleasant do nothing (save when it is the sequence of doing much, and thus needful to repair physical waste and exhaustion,) is the severest and most difficult of all labor; is positive torment to spirits whose healthful impulse bids them be
This unnatural stagnation withers their intellects as a mental simoom; it produces a conscious paralysis, and makes the struggling mind fight in impotent agony to use its sense-blunted instrument, the body. A giant chained, warring with fetters that gnaw into his flesh, is as much at rest as these rich, exuberant natures under compulsory quiescence. Their very gift of strength, their very capability for action, when unused, become burdens and entail misery.
When it is said of the "blessed" who enter that spirit world,