100 SALMONIA. [FOURTH DAY. 



love of life be lost upon every slight occasion of pain 

 or disgust ; but imagination is creative with respect 

 to both these passions, which, if they exist in animals, 

 exist independent of reason, or as instincts. Pain 

 seems intended by an all- wise Providence to prevent 

 the dissolution of organs, and cannot follow their 

 destruction. I know several instances in which the 

 process of death has been observed, even to its 

 termination, by good philosophers ; and the instances 

 are worth repeating : Dr. Cullen, when dying, is said 

 to have faintly articulated to one of his intimates, " I 

 wish I had the power of writing, or speaking, for 

 then I would describe to you how pleasant a thing it 

 is to die:" Dr. Black, worn out by age and a 

 disposition to pulmonary hemorrhage, which obliged 

 him to live very low, whilst eating his customary 

 meal of bread and milk, fell asleep, and died in so 

 tranquil a manner, that he did not even spill the con- 

 tents of the basin which rested on his knee ; and the 

 late Sir Charles Blagden, whilst at a social meal with his 

 friends, Mons. and Mad. Berthollet, and Gay-Lussac, 

 died in his chair so quietly, that not a drop of the 

 coffee in the cup, which he held in his hand, was spilt. 



P01ET. Give us no more such instances, for I do 

 not think it wise to diminish the love of life, or to 

 destroy the fear of death. 



HAL. There is no danger of this. These passions 



