rite to them this
evening, to tell them of my condemnation; but if they wish me to live,
they will do me the favour to assemble here at five in the evening,
where they may be certain of finding all those objects of amusement,
which I shall study to discover suitable to their tastes. And you, my
old friend, with my doctor, are two on whom I most depend."

La Place was strongly affected by this appeal--neither Socrates, nor
Cato, nor Seneca looked more serenely on the approach of death.

"Familiarise yourself early with death!" said the good old man with a
smile--"It is only dreadful for those who dread it!"

During ten days after this singular conversation, the whole of
Moncriff's remaining life, his apartment was open to his friends, of
whom several were ladies; all kinds of games were played till nine
o'clock; and that the sorrows of the host might not disturb his guests,
he played the _chouette_ at his favourite game of _picquet_; a supper,
seasoned by the wit of the master, concluded at eleven. On the tenth
night, in taking leave of his friend, Moncriff whispered to him, "Adieu,
my friend! to-morrow morning I shall return your books!" He died, as he
foresaw, the following day.

I have sometimes thought that we might form a history of this _fear of
death_, by tracing the first appearances of the SKELETON which haunts
our funereal imagination. In the modern history of mankind we might
discover some very strong contrasts in the notion of death entertained
by men at various epochs. The following article will supply a sketch of
this kind.

FOOTNOTES:

[131] To these may be added Queen Anne Boleyn. Kingston, the
Lieutenant of the Tower, in a letter to Cromwell, records that she
remarked of her own execution, "'I heard say the executioner was
very good, and I have a little neck;' and she put her hands about
it, laughing heartily. Truly, this lady has much joy and pleasure in
death."

[132] _Blacks_ was the term for mourning in James the First and
Charles the First's time.

[133] It was from this picture his stone effigy was constructed for
his tomb in old St. Paul's. This mutilated figure, which withstood
the great fire of London, is still preserved in the crypt of the
present cathedral.

[134] A still more curious _fashion_ in this taste for mortuary
memorials originated at the court of Henry II. of France; whose
mistress, Diana of Poitiers, being a widow; m