The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1901-04-17

ended all, and there was no use OF
dragging religion in ut the last hour'
"Ihat was in the morning. he theu
! felt strong and clearheaded. men
| saw him in the afternoon he was weak
( er, and referring to our earlier con
yersation he told me that he had been
/ raised in the Methodist faith and that
/ its teachings had left an impress on
! his mind. He asked Ice TO send Tor a
4 Methodist clergyman, which | dld'
/ When | saw him just before be dled ne
told me what comfort the talk WITH
! the minister had given him, ana mat
he now would face death with Drawer
heart than he could have done before
II merely cite this instance, said
DR.. Andrews, Ito show that there Is
nothing which influences man IN
later life, and in the death hour, as
the environment and teaching OF his
boyhood DAYS. Jimmy Logue, the
notorious burglar and criminal, tod
me here in my Office that night new
err went over his head that he did not
kneel down and say his prayers.
Has there ever been any demon
stration, physical or otherwise. on the
part of all the hundreds whom you
have seen on the threshold of death
which you could interpret as a positive
indication of future life?''
"Not one"
"Have YOU ever encountered in
stances in which dying persons have
told you of visions which they have
seen, of voices they have heard"
Yes, ! recall particularly one IN
stance. 1t was that of a man who APP
parently died, but revived for a little
time before he finally passed away
He told me about the lights and sounds
and chaos Of magnificent things he had
seen beyond the river. as he put It..
OF course, he really believed that he
saw them, but it was the hallucinatlon
of his dlsordered brain. Persons OF
fervid Imagination and strong relig-
ious convictions maybe dominate by
some illusion of this kind just prior to
death. 1t cannot be accepted as con-
vincine evidence of future life"
DR.. Andrews, it may be remarked, is
a churchman with strong religious
views. He explained in connection
with the above statement that be was
speaking from a scientific standpoint.
Men and women in eXtremis, aWaklng
from a semi-cOmatOse condition, cam
not be regarded as furnishing reliable
testimony of the evidence OF their
senses.
81 have found" continued DR. An
drews, THAT persons of clean life, OF
honorable, upright religious charac-
ter, not only do not display an indiifer-
ence to the approach Of death, as those
Of grosser life DO, but welcome it as a
relief from care and toll There is
something about the approach
of death that reconciles men to it..
The senses are dulled, the perceptlVe
faculties are blunted and the end
comes quietly, painIessly, like a gentle
sleep.
"Ih this condition, | mean on the
approach of death. those who retain
their faculties to any degree become
more or less philosophers. They
know that death is inevitable; that it is
only question of hours, and they ac-
cept the verdict without any demon
stration and in philosophical way.
In all my experience | have never
found a case in which dying man or
woman complained against the newt
able, attempted to tight its approach,
on even feared it, said DR.. Andrews.
II. is only in good health that we
fear death When we become ill,
when we have sustained some injury
of very serious nature, the fear OF
death seems to disappear"