The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-15

Tho Great Change which Has Taken Place
in the View of Death.

From The FortniphHV R'ricw.
Death as motive is mOrbund. Perhaps tina
most distinctive note Of the modern spirit 3
the practical disappearance OF the thought y
death az an influence directly bearing upon
practical life We insure our lives it is true.
but having done So think no more Of tho
matter except in the spirit OF William
Micawber when he signed n promissary note.
There are no skeletons at our fcastS nUwa-
days, or at worst they are living ones. Death
has lost its terrors. and it is often regarded a.
/ the last and best friend.
one of the main causes OF this remarkable
change in sentiment Is the Improvement IN
modern sanitation and hygiene. and the in
creased average duration Of life, In the Midlla
Ages nothing was SO uncertain as life. Duets
and private wars. feuds and bandits. plaques
, and pestcnces. made men uncertain ot their
lives from hour TO hour When men : position
IN lie depended upon the strength Of their
right arm. they ceased to- bc effective when
they became stale" as athletes. Thus old
age began for men early in the fortes. The
average age was younger. yet death came more
frequently. SO that his visits were the more
! and more unwelcomo. When any day mipht
be ones last. it was natural to he always think
irg what came after death. Nowadays death
comes later. with more warnings Of his ap-
proach and takes us less by surprise. We are
more willing to 60. less eager to stay.
That increase In the average ag" Of men has
wider results than would appear at first sight
Tho forties In mans life are the decade OF
disiuson. and a society IN which the tone IL
mainly given by men OF forty and upwards 10
sure to be practical and pessimistic. Now tho
tendency of modern life is to put power into
men 8 hands mainly after they have rea chcd
the age OF forty Mr.. Cation has noticed in his
Hereditary hpHiUs. that men do not get into the
biographical dictionaries till after the age Of
forty. 1t is only in the present generation that
the cumulative effect Of the increased age u
the men o! influence has had time to show it.
self, and the result has been what is known
as the i'm de sicCie 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 nat
ural and normal. Often. too. medical science
protracts life at the cost Of extra suffering. so
that death comes at last more as a release, and
frequently causes more relief than grief to
those who remain.
Thus or all sides death is losing its terrors.
We are dying more frequently when our lfcs
work is done. and it seems more natural to
die. We live so hurridIy that the final ceasing
to be is getting to be regarded as the StDnn,un
bOnum, The favourite text on tomb, is getting
TO be-"God giveth his beloved sleep The
sentiment expressed on Prof. liuXiey's tomb
stone. 1t is well even il tho sleep be endless"
expresses general feeling. Life is becoming
so complicated that any one man seems less
important and significant in this life, so II 10
harder to imagine him having any more ng.
nifcant Junction in any other, And when no
death as motive disappears.
1t Il, IS not as If any marked reyoption Of feel
existed: that remains the great PerhaIs it
always was What people think about ii. When
they do think about 1t. depends on their Tom.
permanent. But the point am making il thnt
they do not think about it at all and the wh"iS
subject Is ceasing to have practical elect on
There are signs OF this everywhere The in
t tT Ropniart,y ct cremation is Of
ance Of He" from popular theology, "Thnt is
al very well. said the Scotch .CaIvinist. when
But few will he found to re:echo his Sry. And
With the disaprcarance OF He'll the diyefgcnces
eance and 50 we have toerato rs Wick sbEn So
often wears the garb Of Indifference ""''' %
o%de in it's hS% 2SScsr. is T hs
ar pr Us hf for w. Of who
gradually changed to conception Of him o es
social regenerator. Acts OF corporeaf
fhh s O
way to worldliness OF another sort At the root
q hall the socialism oithe day is the thought tho
have practeay to do Wife T Heav %h nnd Hs
could act as compromising balances. the ine-
something approaching equanimity il would
FL be maaS rgh IL another world But
quence we are socialists now
What further effect the dying Of death NAV
have upon the tone Of civilization would 10
hazardous TO predict Generally speak,
ing the loss OF belief in personal inimor-
ihlitY may influence the character in two
opposite directions Either there will lie a
clutchlng after the goods OF this world for
oneself and feyerish activity OF enjoyment OF
them; or with the higher and better mind.
there Will be increased social activity and a
striving to make things better all round Theirs
are signs Of both tendencies in contomporary
HE. The spread Of the d"cadent spirit marks
one form of the tendency Tho wide interest
IN social schemes and regeneration may bo
regarded rs move in the other direction,
How far either Of these is consciously basel
upon what call he dying If death. or may Ls
traced to other influences. is a question not
easy Of decision '''O" NV