The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-12-14
THE FEAR OF DEATH.
THE GREAT MYSTERY PHILOsOPHE
Utr CALLY CONSIDERED.
Why We Fear Death In Health and b
come Indifferent I'm Sickness

come indifferent In Sickness
cOrnhill Magazine. i't
II is of course impossible to fully dis.
tinguish between the fear ofdeath and the
fear Of that which may come after death
and this is not the place for fully consider
ing the grounds OF the latter fear. But
our feeling about the great change is
assuredly composed OF many elements,
and the nature Of our expectation OF an.
other life is by no means the only thing
which makes death more or less welcome.
We do not probably at all fully realize
how wide is the range OF possible feeling
about this life, making our anticipationsof
its ending as many-tinted almost as those
with which We contemplate the hereafter.
We tacitly agree In common conversation
to avoid the subject as II concerns our
selves and our interlocutors, and in speak.
ing OF others we make 1t point oil good
manners to refer to II rs a matter OF re.
gret; while religious books and sermons
always assume that the King OF Terrors
can be encountered with calmness only
by the aid OF that faith which they preach.
But Is II really the case that, apart trein
the terrors OF religion and the oouFtssies
o: feeling, the end Of life would always be
unw6laone in its approach to ourselves
and othars9 Is there inherent in all OF
US universal craving to prolong the term
OF this sublunary existence, aud 10 pro.
vent the loosening Of any Of its tesg Z.
We may be pretty sure that there Is
some foundation In reason for any strongly
prevalent manifestation OF ieeling, II is
EASY 20 see how this particular practice hos
grown up; but It does seem to have passed
The. limit OF sincerity, and therefore whole.
someone's. Even II We may not speak
freely, II must be well 10 think truly in a
matter Of such deep and frequent concern;
and II can surely be no true part OF 70:
ligion TO deepen the natural opposition OF
feeling to the lotwhioh is appointed TO all.
One OF the great distinctions which the
voluntary assumption OF mourning tends
to obliterats is that between timely and
untimely deaths, There Is no doubt q
sense in which to the eye OF faith no death
can be uptimely, but this is as distinctly
matter OF faith as the blessedness OF pain.
Faith may discern rightness in the cut
ting short OF the young lie, as In all forms
Of suffering and atiiiction; but though
faith may be able to surmountall obstacles,
neither faith nor reason can profit BY our
ignoring the natural inequallt ties OF the
ground. Some deaths are not in any true
sense Affections; and to say so need imply
no disrespect, nay, 1t may convey the very
highest testimony, to tho departed. We
speak of survivors as mourners, till We
forget that there arc survivors who, in
place Of mourning, may Tor very love be
allied with solemn Joy In the completed
course TO which added length OF days
could scarcely have added either beauty or
dignity. When We allow ourselves to
think Of the reality rather than OF the
mere conventional description OF the
event, it seems wonderful that we should
have only one word with which TO speak
OF the completion and Of the destruction
OF a human lifetime; only one word for
the event which closes the long days toll !,
and for that which crashes like thunder
bolt into the opening blossom Of family
life; for that which makes and that which
ends widowhood; for the final iulHlment
or reversal OF all our temporal bopesi tof
bereavement and for reunion. It is true
that in one sense 1t Is lone event which
beialls in all these cases, but the feelings
belonging to It have rs wide q range oil
color as the sunset clouds. Need we wrap
them all in the same thick veil OF gloomy
language and ceremonial
At any rate the feeling with which We
contemplate the termination OF our own
earthly life must vary Indefinitely in diff
ferent individuals, and In the same indi-
yidual at different times; and It would be
n matter OF deep interest to oonpare our
respective experience II we could bring
ourselves TO do so. d-tu =.
Itissometimcs said that no one can tell
what his own feeling about death would be-
aptil he has been brought face 10 face
Win Il. This Ii no doubt true; but II Is
also true that the feelings with whIeh Ne
regard.it from q DISTANCE vary as much as
those with which We should meet It's near
approach. and that the former are more
important to our welfare than the latter
To be Through fear Of death all their life
time subject TO bondage" Is heavy bur
den, and I believe not an uncommon one
Generalizing from the spanty materials
cleaned by one ordinary observer, be
lieve that tho purely Instructive fear Il
strongest In people OF o very high DEGREES
az vitality; II Is the shadow cast by In
tense lore Of life, and seems 10 depend In
a great measure upon n certain kind Of
i physical vigor. This may DO one expla'
naiIon Of tho strange and beautiful way
I'm which the fear Of death 50 oitsn aiseR'
pears as the event itself approaches the
weakened frame docs not shrink from the
4 final touch OF that decay which has Al
ready insensibly loosencd its hold upon
Illie. Professional observers speak Of ca
80 in which the fear Of dyinglS SetlEe g
the last, as being extremely rarei !
should probably be considered
physical indication oils vitality. Fol-
| liz ssYS JcSsop, perhaTs, the teal
lof death Is ofen 'Solap4EetiYel!
slight in early youth, bsfofc the constitu
tion has reached its full vigor aud hetorl
lihe habit ni living has been very frml,,
established. At the same ting tAe Yer!
energy and buoyanrS o. . perfectly ytigor
Gus physical organization help to dispe
or neutfaliEe painful impressions; so tina
Although the idea Of death may be NOR
naturally abhorrent to the strong than =
to the weak, they may be les hehl thtall!!
Oppressed By the thoughts d u. 7 .
There also seems 10 be o deep, thougi
. obscure, connection betWeen the wish an
: the power N live. Physicians and nurse
have strange stories 10 tell Of cases i
I1sh;ch 4 strong motive for living has seem