The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-11-09
The Silent Land.

or the many beautiful allegoriee and
fables which enrich German literature
none is more lovely than that In which
sleep and death are 2ersonifed as two
angels wandering about the earth full
filing their separate missions with which
they have been charged BY the Good
Spirit. With light hand the Angel of
Sleep Itrews the slumbsr seeds, which
borne by the evening wind into the dwell
lings of men, produce the desired effect,
soothing to sleep the young and the old,
the suffering and the sorrowful, who,
when morning comes, awake with bless
ings upon their lips for the rest and re-
frsshmens they have enjoyed. The dark
eyed Angel of Death complains mourn
fully that men regard him as their enc
my and destroyer, but Is reminded by
his brother that, when they awake from
the sleep of death, men will also recog-
nize In him friend and benefactor. As
ne read the pretty fable ne are forcibly
struck by the truth that underlies its
poetry, and we realize the inconsistency
of resignipg ourselves night after night to
a state of Inconsistencies 80 closely re-
sembling death that 1t Is sometimes mis-.
taken for it, and from which We may nev.
er awake without fear or shadow of re-
luctancs, and yet We shudder and grow
sick at heart when We think of reaigning
our souls into The hand of our Creator in
the sleep Of death, notwithstanding our
having His faithful promise that wsshall
rise again.
The fear Of death Ia natural instinct
that our reason cannot conquer, although
our courage may rspress every outward
sign of dread when the final hour comes.
The philosophy Of the ancisnts vas d.
rectsd towards the removal Of this fear
and the cultivation OF a feeling of calm
ness in contemplating the approach of
death, but if they we're successful in over
coming all apprshenaions With regard to
dying, whore was the merit In such
death as that of Socrates! The best they
coald do Was 70 turn the attention to
higher things, and thus ignore the body
with its safsrings and final pangs; OF
they yelled the dreadful name of death
under euphonious terms and fanciful
symbols. Religion has been more sue
cessful Than either philosophy or science
in teaching mon not 70 fear death,
because she has spoken With assurance
OF the future that Lies beyond the grave,
of blessed immortality, but still 1t Is no
uncommon thing for the most sanity Of
men and women to shudder at the
thought of dying, at least until the last
hour Gomez, when Is nearly always hap
pens that grace aud strength are given
to them and the fear mercifully removed
80 that they pass away With smile upon
their lips and uuuttsrabIe peace in their
hearts.
It is common enough for people To
speak bravely of dying, and for poets to
write sloquan,ly about It, so long as they
imagine 1t il far from them, and while
health and strength seem to promise them
long life; but very few give testimony
to the sincerity of their feelings by so
idoal dsash as vas that of Teuuyson.
In all hia exquisite poetry there is moth.
ing more ssranely beautiful than the
aceno of his own death. The quiet,
moonlit room, the watchers around the
bod where the venerable form of the poet
lay as his soul passed the portals of death
and entered the silent land ! It Is sub.
jact worthy the canvas Of one Of the great
masters, and fitting close 70 bis long and
life. What would one not give to know
the Thoughts that filled bis mind during
those hours of peaceful waiting.
The very fact that the unknown world
has 80 often boen called "The Silent
Land" because nons has returned to
toll of its wonders, denotes befesling
| with which men regard that undiacover-
ed country towards which ve are inevi-
tably travelling it, silence and mystery
fll the braves! with awe, while we vain
" wish for one to come back with It'd.
! ings of what awaits US there. In this
! connsctiou one reads With interest, If
I not With entire credulity, an article in
| late numbsr Of the "Procsediugs Of the
Society Of Psyohical Rsssarch," on the
| subject of hog We fesl when we die. 1t
profeaseG, In all seriousness, to give the
| experience Of two men, vho, to all prac.
tical purposes were dead and returned to
life, with a clear recollection of what they
| had experienced during the short period
the soul was absent from the body. The
first of these Is the statement Of DR..
Wiltse, contributed to the st. Louis
| Medical and Surgical Journal.
From the nature OF the publication In
which this remarkable story appeared We
! must believe that the writer really thinks
that he felt just sa all diuembodied spir-
| Its do when first released from tho body.
His condemned statement is as follows !:
When in full possession Of all his facul'
ties be appeared 10 come 10 The moment
Of death In the lsst stays Of typhus fever.
he wu pultslsu for long time, and for
nearly half an hour he appeared abso-
lu!sly lifsleas. During this time he
woke oct of Inconsistencies into state
of conscious existence, and discovered
that the soul was in The body and oot of
1t. "Witb sll tho interest Of physi'
ciau," he says, II beheld the wondeis of
my bodily snatomy, intimately inter-
woven with watch was I, the living aoul
| ~ that daad hody. By sOme power ap.