THE DYING OF DEATH.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I agree with the whole of your interesting article on "The Dying of Death." But is the fear of death, or its absence, a safe test of a man's piety and character ? Some saints have died as we should naturally expect a saint to die, —calmly and even joyfully. Others have died in awful fear of death, sometimes reaching a degree of great agony. I suppose it would be generally admitted that Cardinal Lavigerie was one of the best men of his generation, yet an Englishman who was intimate with him, and visited him repeatedly on his deathbed, related that the prospect of death filled the Cardinal with terror. On the other hand, plenty of instances are on record of men who have led in- different, or even wicked, lives, dying quite peacefully and contentedly.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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