The Courier. (Genoa, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1902-09-12
Sorrow for the Dead Really Pity
For Self.


his ability to say the right thing neatly
than when he sits down to compose a
letter of coincidence. One can scribble
off the usual friendly letter without
much care or premeditation. A busi-
ness letter may be modelled on set
forms and requires little brain energy.
A letter of congratulation may trip
along gaily, saying nothing in partieu-
lar A letter accepting or declining
an invitation sometimes exercises the
invention, but never taxes the mind
very heavily. A love letter is usually
written with amorous spontaneity and,
like other kinds of folly, is easy to the
true lover. When it is labored it rings
false. A letter proposing marriage de-
mands more thought and courage in
the sending than in the writing. But
letter of coincidence must appeal at
once to the mind and to the emotions.
1t must not be too familiar nor yet too
formal. 1t must sound sincere and yet
it cannot be sincere, for the arguments
one makes in letter of coincidence are
the trite reasoning which is always
brought out in the time of bereave-
ment and which neither consoles nor
comforts those who are genuinely
mourning. Putting these consolatory
arguments on paper, one is aware that
they are dictated rather by custom
than by his own opinion, and that they
will have as little effect on the bereaved
family as they would have on him if he
were sorrowing over the dead body of
one he loved.
The hackneyed arguments of eonso-
lation are leveled at the wrong point.
They deal with the state of the dead
one and bid the mourners mitigate
grief with the thought that the la
mented one has gone to a world that is
fairer than this, and is in a. condition
of beautitude. But the root of grief is
not anxiety for the state of the dead.
1t is rather self-pity. Tears are shed
because one whose company gave the
mourner pleasure has departed and
will not come back. Religion and
philosophy both hold that the state of
the dead, in most cases, is better than
that of the living. The dead do not
need pity. They have no regrets at
leaving this world. If death ends all,
then the dead rest sweetly in oblivion
and are as little affected by care or sor-
row as they were ten thousand years
before they were born. If there is
heaven hereafter, as all creeds hold
there is, then the dead man, if he lived
honestly and well, is better off than he
was here below. The only logical
ground of pity for the dead, therefore,
is fear that the soul may have gone to
hell; and what sorroWing survivor will
admit that his grief is based on that
fear? Do not the friends of saints
mourn as loudly as those of sinners?
There is no shame in acknowledging
that the so-called sorrow for the dead
is only pity for the living. Love bereft
of its object will mourn it's loss and its
grief Will be commensurate with the
strength of the attachment. When the
mourner becomes used to the loss his
grief abates according to the rule of
kindly Nature. But who is bold
enough to make this argument in let
| ter of copdolence?-S. +. Bulletin.
-
There is nothing to be gained by the
tobacco habit, and there are many dol
lars to be lost.
Some women swear like men, while
others are so pious they won't even
darn socks.
| During hot weather man should
make love to the girl with the most
airs.
Most people are as bad as they look,
nd tho racf nps n crY.oot danl 1yOrSp