DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 



them diseases; destroyed their har- 

 vests ; haunted them in uncanny visions 

 in order to remind them of their duty 

 to bury the body and thereby secure 

 peace for himself. 



The old authors give evidence of the 

 degree to which people were vexed by 

 fear that proper ceremonies would not 

 be observed at their burial. It was a 

 constant source of grievous irritation. 

 The fear of death was less prevalent 

 than the fear of being left unburied. 

 Naturally so, for it was a question of 

 eternal happiness. It should therefore 

 not surprise us so much when we see 

 the Athenians execute generals, who, 

 after a naval victory, had neglected to 

 bury the fallen. These generals, dis- 

 ciples of the philosophers of their time, 

 did not believe that the fate of the soul 

 was dependent on that of the body. 

 They had therefore decided not to chal' 

 lenge the tempest for the empty for- 

 mality of gathering and burying the 

 fallen. But the masses, even in en- 

 lightened Athens, still clung to the old 



