The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1861-07-17
The Dread Of Dying.


declines. As death IL the final extinc-
ton of corporeal feelings, so numb
ness as death comes on. The pros.
tration of disease, Ike healthfnl fail
que. engenders growing stupor--a
sensation of gubsiding softly Tito
coveted repose. The transition re-
sembles what might be seen In those
lofty mountains, whose sides, exhibiting
every climate In regular graduation,
vegetation luxuriates at their base,
aud dwindles In the approach of the
regions of snow, till its feeblest man
Hesitation ia repressed by the cold
The so-called agony can never be
more formidable than when the brain
is the last to go and the mind preser-
YES to the end a rational cognizance
OF the state ofthe body. Yet persons
thus situated commonly attest that
there are few things In life less painful
than the close. eff I had strength
enough to hold pen," said William
Hunter, ~ would write how easy and
delightful 1t is to die" "Lf this be
dying" said the niece of Newton of
Olney, ''it is pleasant thing to die )"
"the very expression, adds her uncle,
(which another friend of mine made
use of on her death-bed a few years
ago" The same words have so often
been uttered under similar circumstan-
ces that we could fill pages with in
stances which are only varied by the
name of the speaker. eff this be dy-
ing" said Lady Glenorchy, sit is the
easiest thing imaginable. II thought
that dying had been more difficult, y
said Louis XIV. l did not suppose
1t was SO sweet to die" said Francis
Saurez, the Spanish theologian. An
agreeable surprise was the prevailing
sentiment with them all. They ex-
pected the stream to terminate in the
dash of the torrent, and they found it
was losing itself in the geutlest cur
rent. The whole of the faculties seem
sometimes concentrated on the placid
enjoyment. The day Arthur Murphy
died, he kept repeating from Pope
Taught half by reason, half by mere decay,
10 welcome death, and calmly pass away
Nor does the calm partake of the
of sickness. There was
q swell in the sea the day Collingwood
breathed his last upon the element
which had been the scene of his glory.
Captain Thomas expressed fear that
he was disturbed by the tossing of the
ship. mo, Thomas" he replied, 81
am now in a tate in which nothing
IN this world can disturb me more. /
am dying and am shure it must be
consolatory to you, and all who love
me. to see how comfortably coming TO
my end"
A second and common condition of
the dying is to be lost to themselves
and all around them, in utter uncon-
seriousness. Countenances and gest-
ures might in many cases suggest that
however dead to the external world
and interior sensipility still remained.
Eut We have the evidence of those
whom disease has left at the eleventh
hour, that while their supposed suffer-
ings were pitied by their friends, exiS-
tence was blank. Montaigne, when
stunned by fall from bis horse, tore
open his doublet +; but he was entirely
senseless, and only knew afterwards
that he did it from the Information of
the attendants. The delirium of fever
is distressing to witness bat the
victim awakes from it as from heavy
sleep, totally ignorant that has passed
days and nights tossing YEARLY and
talking wildly. Perceptions which
had occupied the entire man could
hardly be obliterated in the instant
of recovery !; or. if any were inclined
to adopt the solution, there is vet a
proof that the callousBess is real, in
the undinehing manner in which bad
sores are rolled upon, that are too ten
der to bear touching when sense is
restored. Whenever there is insen-
sibility, virtual death precedes death
itself, and to die is to awake in aaoth-
er world. London Quarterly.