The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-11-16
is DEATH PAINFUL?

Many people, through fear of death,
are all their lives subject to bondage.
The questions, How shall we die?
When shall we die? and Where shall
we die? are continually worrying
them. Indeed, there have been sew
eral suicides caused by this haunting
terror of death. The thought of it
made their lives insupportable, and
they killed themselves in order to
know the worst. And yet it is quite
possible that in respect to the physi-
cal sensation of dying we resemble
Don Quixote when he hung by his
wrist from the stable window and
imagined that a tremendous abyss
yawned beneath his feet; Fate, in
the character of Maritornes, cuts the
thong with lightsome laughter, and
the gallant gentleman falls-four
inches.
When Louis XIV lay dying, "Why
weep your he asked those who sur
rounded his death-bed. did you
think l should live forever?' Then
after a pause, 81 thought dying had
been harder" DR.. Hunter was an
other who was agreeably surprised
by his experience of dying. His last
words were, eff I had strength to
hold pen 1 would write down how
easy and pleasant thing it is to
die" A charming actress who had
been twice almost drowned, told a
friend that dying was the incest SEN
sation that she knew. The late Arch
bishop of Canterbury, as his "agony"
befell, quietly remarked, at is really
nothing much after ALL
A man said to Socrates, "The Athe-
mans have condemned you to DEATH"
''And nature" he replied, ''has con-
demned them" By the ancient
Greeks, death was considered simply
as a destroyer. To them it was the
last and most bitter of foes. Achilles
in Hades says to Odysseus: "Nay,
speak not comfortably to me of death.
Rather would 1 live upon the earth
the hireling of another, than bear
sway over all the dead that are no
more" When death is bitter it is so.
as a general rule, far more by reason
of anxiety and remorse than from
physical causes. A man, for instance.
can scarcely die easily if he is leaving
a widow and family for whom pro-
vision has not been made. The med
ical man who attended Oliver Gold
smith in his last hour asked him if
there was anything on his mind, as
he could not account for his temper
ature being so high. The poet ad-
mitted that there was. Debt was
upon his mind. To some it is riches
and not poverty that renders death
so painful. When Garrick showed to
DR.. Johnson his paIatial residence.
the litter said: "Ah, David. these are
the things that make death terribler'
John Wesley was once asked by a
lady: Suppose you knew that you
were to die at - o'clock tomorrow
night, how would you spend the inter-
vening time?" "How, madam" he
replied; "why, just as I intend to
spend it now. 1 should preach this
night at Gloucester, and again at 5
tomorrow morning. After that l
should ride to Tewkesbury, preach in
the Afternoon, and meet the societies
in the evening. 1 should then repair
to friend Martins house, who expects
to entertain me, converse and pray
with the family as usual, retire to
my bed at 10 o'clock, commend my
celf to my heavenly Father, lie down
to rest, and wake up in glory"
This was the feeling which enabled
the American, Gen. Stonewall Jack
son. tc die as he did. When told that
he had only about two hours to I've
he answered.: every coed; it is all
right. Order A. P. Hill to prepare for
action Pass the infantry to the front
Tell Major Hawks''-pres-
entity a smile of ineffable sweetness
spread itself over his pale face, and
he said quietly and with an express
sion of relief: "Let uG cross on er the
river and rest under the shade of the
trees Sunday Magazine.