XVI 



HOW TO DIE 



ALL living is but a preparation for dying. 

 That is the thought which the universal ex- 

 perience of mankind forces upon us, how- 

 ever unwillingly we may receive it. It is the one point 

 upon which all philosophies, whatever their ulterior 

 bearings, seem to be agreed. Whether or not it lead 

 you to follow the light-hearted injunction of the old 

 Hebrew to "eat, drink, and be merry," as least you 

 cannot escape the inexorable logic of his assertion that 

 "to-morrow you may die." The one great certainty 

 of life is the manner of its ending. Sooner or later the 

 mystery of death will crown the mystery of living. 



Doubtless this certainty which can never seem 

 other than stupendous to the individual, regardless of 

 his creed has been of greater force in determining 

 the activities and the beliefs of men than has any posi- 

 tive fact of the term of living. By some philosophies it 

 has been regarded as a curse, by others heralded as a 

 blessing. By some death has been regarded as the end 

 of life, by others as the beginning of a new life-cycle. 

 Sure though it be sooner or later to claim every mortal, 

 yet to brave its imminence and openly to challenge it in 

 the present has, in all ages, been regarded as the final 

 test of courage. Rare indeed in any generation or 

 among the votaries of any faith have been the individuals 

 who have not at some periods of their lives shrunk 

 7 [ 257 ] 



