THE DYING OF DEATH.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sm,—In connection with the above subject, so interestingly dealt with in the Spectator of August 5th, I may observe that Leo Grindon, when lecturer at the Royal School of Medicine, in Manchester, wrote : "When death is actually about to happen, the fear of it is in a great measure lost. At all events, it is not common, as is well known to those whose professions lead them to the pillows of the dying." My own experience, now extending over many years, is entirely in harmony with the above authority. To tell the truth, I have always been much puzzled at the extraordinary calm, peace, and freedom from anxiety that I have observed in the dying, even in those who have not been models of virtue. And since it is a subject which has always possessed a certain fascina- tion for me, I have again and again questioned other priests regarding their experience, which has in no case differed from my own. Well do I remember proposing this fact as a difficulty to the late Cardinal Manning. Seated one winter's evening in his room, almost roasted by the huge fire before which he was wont to toast his meagre and wasted form, and chatting upon all kinds of engrossing topics, he began to refer to his declining strength and advancing years. This turn in the conversation soon gave the opportunity I sought for. "How," I asked him, "do you account for the strange circumstance that when death really comes, people seem to fear it so little ? It seems to me that however good a man may be, the mere notion of falling into the Great Unknown, and of meeting God face to face, and of having one's fate definitely and irrevocably settled for all eternity, ought to cause any one on the brink of the grave the most indescribable appre- hension and the most acute anguish." "Well, dear fellow," replied the Cardinal, "the vast majority of persona do un- doubtedly die calmly enough, and my explanation is briefly this : so long as God intends a man to live He wisely infuses into his soul a certain natural dread and horror of death, in order that he may be induced to take ordinary care of him- self, and to guard against danger and needless risks. But when God intends a man to die there is no longer any object for such fear. It can serve no further purpose. What is the result? Well, I take it, God then simply withdraws it." This explanation of the old Cardinal pleased me well, and seemed not only to account for the singular phenomenon, but to set God in a peculiarly amiable and tender light.—I am, Sir, &c., Court .Field, Ross, Herefordshire. Prel. dom. di. S.S.
JOHN S. VAUGHAN,
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