The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-09-27
Losing its Terrors.

Death as motive Is inOrl bunu.
Perhaps the most distinctive note Of
the modern spirit is the practical dis
appearance Of the thought of death as
an influence directly bearing upon
practical life. We insure our lives, it
is true, but having done so, think no
more Of the matter, except in the spir-
it Of William Micawber when he sign
ed a promissary note. There arc no
skeletons at our fcasts nowadays, or
at least, they are living ones. Death
has lost all it's tcrrors, and it is Of
ten regarded as the last and best
friend.
One Of the main causes Of this re-
lnarkable change in sentiment is the
improvement in modern sanitation and
hygiene, and the increased average
duration OF life. In the middle ages
nothing was so uncertain as life.
Duels and private wars, feuds and
bandits, plaques and postilcnces made
men uncertain Of their lives from hour
to hour. When mems position in life
depended upon the strength of their
arm they ceased to be effective when
they became stale" as athletes.
Thus old age began for men early in
forties. The average age was younger,
yet death came more frequently, so
that his visits were the more and moro
unwclcome. When any day might be
ones last it was natural to be always
thinking what came after death. Now
adays death comes later, with more
warnings Of his approach, and takes US
less by surprise. We arc moro willing
to go, less eager to stay.
That increase in the average age of
man has wider results than would ap-
pear at first sight. The fortics in q
man. life are the decade Of disillusion
and society in which the tone is
mainly given by men Of 40 and upward
is sure to be practical aud pessimistic.
Now the tendency of modern life is to
put power into mems hands mainly
after they have reached the age Of 40.
MIR. Galton has noticed, in his "Iie-
reditary Genius" that men do not get
into the biographical dictionaries un-
til after the age Of 40. 1t is only in
the present generation that the cumu-
lative effect of the increased age of the
men of influence has had time to show
itself, and the result has been what is
known as the fine de steele tone. Part
OF this tone is characterized by the
dying of death. More and more death
tends to remove the Oldest, and the
gaps it causes seem more natural and
normal. Often, too, medical science
protects life at the cost Of extra suf-
fering, so that death comes at last
more as release, and frequently caus-
cs more relief than grief to those who
remain.
Thus on all sides death is losing it's
terrors. We are dying more frequent
ly when our life'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 fin
al summum bonum. The favorite
text on tombs is getting to be: "God
Giveth His Beloved Sleep The SEN
3iment EXPRESSED ON Professor Hux-
iey's tombstone, ''it is wsii even :E
the sleep be endless" expresses 9
general feeling. Life is becoming so
complicated that any one man seems
less important and significant in this
life, so it is harder to imagine him
having any more significant function
in any other. And when the joys and
fears Of future life become dim,
death as motive disappears.
It's not as IL any marked revolution
Of feeling with regard to continued
life iu the future existed; that re-
mains the great mystery, perhaps it
always was. What people think about
it, when they do think about It, de-
peuds upon their temperament. But
the point I am making is, that they
do not think about it ct all; and tue
whole subject is ceasing to have prac-
tical effect on the life Of man.