Abstract

alone, in a reclining posture in his drawing-room. He was lean, ghastly, and quite of an earthy appearance. … He was quite different from the plump figure which he used to present … He seemed to be placid and even cheerful … He said he was just approaching to his end … I had a strong curiosity to be satisfied if he persisted in disbelieving a future state even when he had death before his eyes. I was persuaded from what he said, and from his manner of saying it, that he did persist. I asked him if it was not possible that there might be a future state. He answered it was possible that a piece of coal put upon the fire would not burn; and he added that it was a most unreasonable fancy that we should exist for ever … I asked him if the thought of annihilation never gave him any uneasiness. He said not the least; no more than the thought that he had not been, as Lucretius observes. … He said he had no pain, but was wasting away. I left him with impressions which disturbed me for some time.