Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1850-02-27
PAIN OF DYING.


The act of dying is technically termed "the ag-
ony; % but the pain Of dying must be distinguished
from the pain Of the previous disease, for when life
ebbs, sensibility declines. As death is the final ex
tinclion of corporeal feeling, so numbness ncreas
es as death comes on. The prostration of disease,
like healthful fatigue, engenders growing stupor
"a sensation of subsiding softly into coveted re-
pose The transition resembles what may be seen
in those lofty mountains whose sides exhibit every
climate in regular graduation vegetation luxurlates
at their base and dwindles in the approach to the
regions Of snow till its feeblest manifestation is re-
pressed by the cold. The so-called agony can new
er be more formidable than when the brain is the
last to 60 and the mind preserves TO the end ra-
lional cognizance of the state Of the body.
There is not any situation in which steady minds
and sweet dispositions evince greater superiority
over the hasty and sensual part OF mankind; but
selconro adapts itself to the ordinary exigencies
of life, and if surprised by evils with which it has
not been accustomed to measure its strength, the
frmest nerve and the sunniest temper are overcome
by the sudden violence of the assault. Unless the
understanding is effected, irrtability and wayward
ness constantly diminish when experience has shown
the wisdom and duty Of patience, and there soon
spring up, with wel-ordered minds, generous ri
valry between submission On the one hand land for
bearance on the other. From the hour that sin and
death entered into the wolld, it was mercy that dis
ease and decay should enter too. A sick room is
school of virtue, whether we are spectators of the
mortality Of our dearest connections or expert
encing our own.
To be shot is the easiest mode of terminating life
yet rapid as it is, the body has leisure to feel and
the mind TO reflect. In drowning, the struggles at
the outset are prompted by terror, not by pain in
The majority of instances pleasing langor succeeds
without any sense Of suffocation.
That to be frozen 10 death must be frightful tor
ture, many would consider certain from their own
experience ofthe effects Of cold But here we fall
into the usual error Of supposng that the suffering
will increase with the energy Of the agent, which
could only be the case fsensbily remains the same.
Intense cold brings on speedy sleep, which facinates
the senses and fairly beguiles men out Of their
lives.
The most curious example Of the seductive pow
of cold is to be found in the adventures of the bo-
tnnical party, who, in Cooks first voyage, were
caught in snow-storm on Terra del Fuego. DIR.
Solander, by birth Swede, and we'll acquainted
with the destructive deceits Of rigorous climate,
admonished the company, in defiance of lassitude,
to keep moving on. "Whoever," said he, "sits
down will sleep-and whoever sleeps will perish"
The doctor spoke as sage, but he felt as man.
In spite of the remonstrances of those whom he had
instructed and alarmed, he was the first to lie down.
The same was repeated thousand times in the re-
treat from Moscow.
Worse than the halter-axe, or wheel was the fire
which, as typical of the flames Of hell, was employ
ed in the blindness of theological fury 10 consume
the foremost Of the pilgrims TO heaven. The legs OF
Bishop Hooper were charred, and hisb body sc0rched
before he was fully enveloped in the fire, which
wind blew aside nor was it till the pile had been
twice replenshed that he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. A similar misfortune attended Rid
ley. An excess of fagots hindered the flames as
cending and his extremies were in ashes when his
body was unsinged. Ridley yielded slightly to the
dictates mature, and struggled at the height of
his protracted anguish. Hooper remained immov-
able as the stake to which he was chained. For
three quarters Of an hour his patience was proof a
ganst the fury Of the flames, and he died al length
as quietly as child in lis bed But the pain Of
burning is of fearful intensity and the meek endur
ance of these heroes at the stake was the triumph
of mind over the tortures Of the flesh.
The Head, the Hope, the Supporter of those who
gave their bodies TO be burnt, drank himself of a
bterer cup. Of all the devices Of cruel Imagination,
crucifxion is the masterpiece. Other pains are
sharper for tme but none at once so agonizing
ana SO ionS. Oue dSSid'dioi, Ho"otCi, wa "ah'-
ing, which owing 10 the want of knowledge in
painters is sill, we believe, commonly supposed to
have belonged to the punishment. The weight Of
the body was borne by a ledge which projected from
the middle of the upright beam and not by the hands
and feet, which were probably found unequal to the
strain. The fraily Of mans frame comes at last
to be its own defence but enough remained 10 pre-
serve the pre-eminence of torture 10 the cross. The
process of mailing was exquisite torment, and yet
worse in what ensued than in The actual infection.
The spikes ranked, the wounds infiamed, the local
injury produced general fever, the fever an ntol
erabfe thirst bat the misery Of miseries to the suf
ferer was, racked with agony, To be fastened in
position which did not permit him even to wrlthe.
Every attempt to relieve the muscles, every nstlnc-
tive movement of anguish, only served 10 drag the
acerated flesh ,and wake up new and acuier pangs
and this torture, which must have been continually
aggravated, until advancing death began tn lay it
to sleep, lasted on an average, Two three days.
London Quarterly Reuie,c.
SALLY ST. CLAIR AND SERGEANT JAspER.-The
fate of this beautiful Creole girl was lamenable.-
She loved Segeant Jasper, who once in the bloody
conflicts of the South saved her life. AT time
when she saw aseparation from him was in prospect
her feelings were intense. To sever her long jety
ringeis, (says writer Of the tales of Maron,) to
dress in male attire, to enrol herself in the corps to
which he belonged and follow his fortunes in the
wars was resolution no sooner conceived than TAX
en-. On the night before the fatal battle, she was
seen bending over his couch like good and gentle
spirit, as if listening to his dreams.
A fierce conflict ensued-the lovers fought side
by side in the thickest Of the fight; but in endeay-
orng to turn away lance aimed at the heart Of
Jasper the poor girl received it in her own and fell
bleeding at his feet. Her sex was discovered after
the battle and there was no dry eye in the corps
when Sally St. Clair was laid in the grave near the
river Santee, in green shady nook that looked as
if it had been stolen out Of Paradise. The love Of
such maiden is as sacred the angels, the greatest