Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-11-01
Fear ofDeath.

at the approach of death Is no doubt
/ characteristic OF the man, and gives evil
| dence of a trust in his own conclusions
which does not belong to unbelief but
/ he also talked after the manner OF his
| age, as we may see from the general
/ sympathy called forth by the history OF
| mis- last days, and the applause was re-
ceived, where the dying man imagines
/ iOcular excuses for not entering the iatal
boat ending with
"Have a little patience, good Charon
I | have been endeavoring TO open the
ewes of the public if live a few years
| longer NAV have the satisfaction OF
seeing the downfall OF some oil the pre-
vailing systems OF superstihons. Where
upon Charon calls him lettering rogue,
"and bids him get into the boot this in
slant" Now, this is as good way OF
doing as any other, il this life be all. 1t
good. naturally spares the nerves OF by
ISLANDERS, and also provides them with a
good story for social gatherings but it
is remarkable that even persons who
looked forward to a life beyond the
grave saw in this scence an ideal state of
mind.
Records OF the time not only enlarge
on the philosophers happy serenity
and composure of mind, but quote the
"pious exclamation OF reverend orthO-
dox divine" on reading the account,
"Oh, what good Christian would not
wish TO die snch death ," Hume was
a man OF genius, and could arrange his
last hours in conformity with his genial
temper and literary taste but these
same records note many death en-
countered in the same spirit, and always
with a confidence in the sympathy OF
readers.
Everything curious in deaths and fu-
nerals was matter for the annals OF
day. Thus We find notice OF the will of
a certain Mr.. John Underwood appoint
ing all the particulars Of his funeral.
Six gentlemen were to follow him to the
grave, and there TO sing the twentieth
ode of the Second Book OF Horace and
a quantity of fantastic directions fol-
lowed, all in the same spirit, except that
one hand was 20 hold a Greek Tesla
ment, while in the other was TO repOse
Bentley's Milton. (Which lone" the
will concludes, al would have them take
a cheerful glass and think no more Of
Jack Underwood"
This Cheerful glass has probably
something to do with the general ques-
ton. The age was pre-eminently So
cial one. The customs OF society were
all friendly to intercourse. Even illness
did not reduce men to their own COM
pany and that of their own family as it
tends to do now. The intellect had its
arena up to the last. And it mus. be
remembered that this social life was
lived by men with men. The social
glass, as a rule, means this. The wit
and thought OF the day, that finds its
memorial in books, was spoken outside
the family circle /; it was not tempered
by the timid feminine element.
Society, indeed, is the great check to
the fear in question perhaps We may say
it is fear scarcely to be realized with.
out occasional silence and solitude. And
no doubt social life gives greater scope
for playing part than domestic life
and the social instinct, thus largely in
dulged, seems to have etfectually inter
posed itself between the man and that
face to-face reality involved in Pascals
"Je mOurrai seul." The man who can
talk and Jest up TO the last moment
and there are people who can do this,
who can occupy their last hours in
dressing up their thought in witty me-
mortal sayings-is not Vet alone and
by this means he can ward off that sense
OF solitude, OF leaving the precincts OF
the cheerful day, which is one OF -great
sOlemnity of the prospect.
The philosophy OF the day demanded
that its deciples should "die hard this
was the woodland the temper OF the
times acQuieSCed in this obduraCy as
something fine, quite apart from the dis
tinct conditions involved in belief and
unbeief. And not only the philosophy,
the light literature Of the period all told
the same way. The point of a comic
song would lie i'm mans falling down
stairs and breaking his neck-"with a
fol-de-rol-lOll." Possibly the extreme
severity Of our legal code drove people
to make light OF the laws terrOrs; as
such multitudeS must hang, it was
thought well to reconcile the public
mind to the gallOws as fate of no great
consequence. The plays are witty upon
il.
Look zee, sir" cried one, "the gallows
or the secret take your choice" "The
upon my shoul. hate that sham gal
lows for it is a disease that is fatal TO
our family" 1t was probably to graft
~ the sense of humor Of the day that
the dance i'm the Rehearsal was put on
the stage in costume aflording Cowper
an analogy to his own state Of mind
when composing merry verses. "Per-
haps YOU remember the undertakers'
dance i'm the Rehearsal, which they per-
form in Grape hat-bands and black
cloaks to the tune of Hob or Mob one
OF the sprightliest airs in the world"
The essayists amused their readers on
the same topic. One writer finds some
thing new and diverting in Il country
bill Of mortality, and gives list of de-
tails supposed to be gathered from the
neighboring rustics. Thus, "Of six
bar gate, four; bcwitchcd, thirteen
crossed in love, seven; led into a horse
pond by a will-o-the-wiSp, one ; va
grants worried by The 'squire's dog, two;
took cold sleeping in the church, eleven;
bv the parsons bul, two; OF an evil
tongue nine; o! October, twenty-five
Thoughtful, and even poetiCal, writers
fell into the same strain in their familiar
moments. Cry makes merry on the
exit of more than one Cambridge don.
"Our friend, DIR. Chapman, is not cx-
peCted here again in hurry
Hes gone 10 his grave with five fine
maCkeral, large and full OF roe he ate
them all at one dinner. But his fate was
a turbOt on Trinity Sunday, OF which he
left little for the company besides the
bones After his sixth fish he never
held up his head any more"
Then, for example, We read, was Sir
Godfrey kneller lying in bed two days
before his death, contemplating the
plan he had made for hisown monument,
de- laring that he should not like tp lie
among the rascals at Westminster Abbey
and discussing his epitaph with Pope.
Scenes like these are not the fruit OF
disbelief, or even OF conscious doubt,
either in teacher or disciple; they mere
~ show that the mind refused To
brood upon the mystery Of death. and .
10 WELD 10 the natural fears il might eX-
cite a mystery, and consequently the
subject furnished no matter for thought
to dwell upon. This was the age that
drew the remark from Swift, III man /
will observe as he walks the streets,
believe he will find the merriest Counte .
nanCeS in mourning coaches People .
in mourning coaches NAV not feel much .
in our time, but the spirit of the age in .
tereStS itself more in the phenomenon OF .
death, and requires at least an appear
ance Of thought and grave speculation
in those are in immediate contact with .
il.
CAPER SAUCE.
WHEN sick man feels well he sits up.
When a we'll man feels sick he sits down
-N7r York Nail
II Postmaster-General Key does not
modify some of his recent orders, he will
have the Spanish title Of don prefixrd