The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1858-06-30
PHYSICAL PAIN OF DYING,

The act of dying is technically termed
"the agony" but the pain of dying must
be distinguished from the pain Of the pre-
vions disease, for when life ebbs sensibili-
ty declines As death is the final extinc-
tion of corporeal feeling. 80 numbness in
creases as death comes on. The penetra-
tion of disease, like healthful fatigue, en-
genders growing stupor-a sensation of
subsiding softly into coveted repose.-
The transition resembles what may be
seen in those lofty mountains. whose sides
exhibiting every climate in regular grada-
tion, vegetation luxuriates at their base
and dwindles in the approach to the re-
gions of snow till its feeblest manifestation
is repressed by the cold.
The so.called agony can mover be more
formidable than when the brain is the last
to 60. and the mind preserves to the end
rational cognizance of the state of the
body. Yet persons thus situated common
ly attests that there are few things In life
less painful than the. close elf had
strength enough to hold pen, said Will
liam Hunter, II would write how easy and
delightful it is to die" "If this be dying
said the niece of Newton of Olney, "it is
a pleasan: thing to die;" "the very express
sion," adds her uncle, (which another
friend OF mine made use of on her death
bed few years ago." The same words
have often been uttered under similar cir
|cumstances
A second and o common condition of
the dying is to be lost to themselves and
all around them in utter Inconsistencies.
Countenance and gesture might in many
cases suggest that however dead to the
external world, an interior sensibility still
remained. But we have the evidence of
those whom disease has left at the eleventh
hour, that while their supposed sufferings
were pitied by their friends. existence was
blank. Wherever there is sensibility,
virtual death precedes death itself, and to
die ia to awake in anothe. world.
The faculties survive. thouth b averse to
even the faintest effort, and they badly tes.
tify, 10 languid and broken phrase, that
the tori or of The body more than keeps
pace with the inertness of the mind
The same report is given by those who
have advanced to the very border of the
country from whence no traveller returns.
Montaigne, after his accident, passed for
corpse, and the first feeble indications OF
returning life resembled some of the CON-
monest symptoms Of death. But his own
feelings were those of man who is drop
ping into the sweets of slumber. and his
longing was towards blank rest, and not
for recovery, s.'Methought." he says,
"my life only hung on my lips; and ! shut
my eyes to help thrust i: ont, and took a
pleasure in languishing and letting myself
CO." Iu many of these instances, and in
the cases of stupefaction, there are ap.
pearances which we have learned to asso-
ciate with suffering, because constantly
conjoined with it. A cold perspiration
bedews the skin, the breathing is harsh
and labored; and sometimes. especially in
delicate frames, death is ushered in by
convulsive movements which look like the
wrestling with an oppressive enemy. Bu'
they are signs of debility and failing sys
|
To be shot Is the easiest mode Of ter
minating life; yet, rapid as it is. the body
has leisure to feel. and the mind to reflect
In drowning, the struggles at the outse
are prompted by terror, not by pain; il
the majority of instances. pleasing Ian
gnor succeede, without any sense Of suffo
cation. That to be frozen to death mus
be frightful torture. many would conside
certain for their own experience of the ef
feet of cold. But here we fall into the US
ual error of supposing that the suffering
will increase with I energy of the agent
which could only bs the case if sensiGilit!
remained the Same. Intense cold bring
on speedy sleep, which fascinates tn
senses, and fairly beguiles men of thei
lives.
j The pain of burning, if instantaneous
is believed to be but slight-hut a momen
ltary shock to the nervous system; but as
protracted method ofexecution, it must b.
exceedingly distressing.
| Worse than the alter, az, or wheel, "a
the FIRE which, as typical of the flames 0
hell. was employed, in the blindness o
|, Theological fury. to consume the foremos
lofthe pilgrims to Heaven. The legs o
Bishop Hooper were charred. and his bod
! scorched, before he was fully enveloped il
1.-THE fre. which q wind blew aside; nor va
il till the pile had been twice repienishs,
, that he bowed bis head and gave up tn
ghost. A similar misfortune attende
Ridley. An excess offagots hindered tn
the 6ames ascending, aud his extreme
ties were in ashes when his body wa
unsinged. Ridley yielded slightly to tn
dictates of Nature, and struggled at th
,, hight of bis protracted anguish. Hope
, remained immovable as the stake to whic
be was chained. For three quarters Of a
hour his patience was proof against th
fury of the flames, and be died at lengt
as quietly as a child in its bed. But th
pain of burning is of fearful intensity, an
the meek endurance of those heroes at th
stake was the triumph Of mind over tt
tortures of the flesh. ls
III ~ q