Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-09-16
THE DYING OF DEATH.


THE DYING OF DEATH.
Joseph Jacobs. in Fortnightly Review.l
Death as motive is moribund. Per-
haps the most distinctive note of the
modern spirit is the practical disappear
ance of the thought of death as an in
fluence directly bearing upon practical
life. Here, more than anywhere, we find
the greatest contrast between modern
times and the middle ages. There can
be little doubt that death was king
throughout medieval Europe, and that
he not only reigned but governed. The
power of the church consisted in large
measure in the appeal 1t could make to
this motive. The institutions of the
lchantry priest. indulgences and dispen-
sations were in the most intimate con-
nection with the financial side of the
lchurchs organization. With us of the
modern world all this has changed, or is
changing. The church in all its sec
| tions is devoting its attention more and
more to this life than any other. Death
lis regarded no longer as king of ter
rors, but rather as kindly nurse who
puts us to bed when our days work is
done. The fear of death is being re-
placed by the joy of life The flames of
lhell are sinking low, and even heaven
has but poor attractions for the mod
ern man. Full life here and now is the
demand; what may come after is left
Ito take care of itself.
On all sides death is losing its terrors.
L We are dying more frequently when our
llife's work is done, and it seems more
natural to die We live so hurriedly
THAT the final ceasing to be Is getting to
be regarded as the summum bonum
The favorite text on tonbs is getting to
lbe-"God giyeth his beloved sleep" The
sentiment expressed on Professor Hulk
lley's tombstone. at is we'll even if the
sleep be endless" expresses a general
.|feeing. Life is becoming so compll-
5Icated that any one man seems less inn
.lportant and significant in this life: so
Hit is harder to imagine him having any
more significant function in any other.
II And when the joys and fears of a future
life become dim, death as a motive dis
.Iappears. 1t is not as If any marked rev
Iolution of feeling with regard to contin-
|ued life in the future existed: that re-
Imans the great Perhaps it always
Twas. What people think about 1t, wher
they do think about it. depends upon
Their temperament. But the point an
i making is. that they do not think about
lit at all; and the whole subject is ceas-
ling to have practical effect on the life
d of man.
]. There are signs of this everywhere
The increasing popularity of cremation
lis one of them. Still more significant is
: the disappearance of he'll from popular
j theology. THAT is all very WE'LL, sale
the Scotch Calvinst, when he hearc
\ Dean Stanley. but gle me my hell
; But few will be found to re-echo his cry
$ And with the disappearance of he'll tbs
D ldivergences of the various creeds lost
! much of their significance; and so WI
have liberation. which so often wear:
t the garb of Indifference. The most sig
g nificant of all, however, is the attitude
: of the church in all its branches. TIL
i old idea of the clergyman was of tn
Y man who prepared us for another life
n This is being gradually changed to
! conception of him as a social regenera
: tor. Acts of corporeal charity are tax
o ling precedence of the sacraments
f Other worldiiness is giving way t
i. worldliness of.another sort. AT the roo
s of half the socialism of the day is tn
It thought that this life is the only on
n with which men have practically to dc
I. While heaven and hell could act a
n lcompensating balances, the inequalitie
o of mems lives could be regarded wit
y something approaching equanimity:
s would all be right in another world. Blu
q now this thought fails in efficacy, an
e as consequence we are socialists nov
With this dying out of individuality, tn
}. belief in personal Immortality tends I
II fade simultaneously.
n Generally speaking, the loss of belle
e lin personal Immortality may intluenc
n the character in two opposite direction
le Either there will be clutching afte
n the goods of this world for ones sci
lie and feverish activity of enjoyment {
I, them or, With the higher and bette
II mind, there will be increased social az
le tivity and striving to make thing
"a better all round. There are signs of bot
~ tendencies in contemporary life. TT
J. spread of the decadent spirit marks or
~ form of the tendency. The wide intel
ne est in social schemes and regeneratic
- may be regarded as a move in the oth'
ie direction. How far either of these
y consciously based upon what 1 call tt
- dying of death. or may be traced
= other influences, is a question not cas-
= of decision.
1t is perhaps worth while recalling Il
fact that once before in the worlds hi
- tory. death lost his power to infiueift
The nation that gave the conception
:, righteousness to the world managed
"a lido so without bringing death into Il
e account at all. One of the most stri
at ing things about the Old Testament
no the complete absence of death as m
h ltive from its pages. Recent resear
ri has indeed shown signs of the rise