It is entirely a modern thought. The past, even of a few centuries ago,
never entertained it. It is doubtful if it was mentally prepared to
entertain it, or evolve the idea.
This is not to depreciate our fathers' mental powers. Different
generations have different gifts. One age works along one line, another
along another. The past had a certain revelation of truth; but the
revelation of truth did not end with the past. Our ancestors received as
much as they could take. What, it seems, they were unable to take was
anything which made death less horrible. We may say, in fact, that they
didn't want it. They liked having death made horrible. Many people like
it still. The mitigation of that horror they condemn, resent, and often
ascribe to the devil.
And yet there is a tendency to see light through this gloom, and to seek
views of death more in the line of common sense than those which have
come down to us. It is not a strong tendency, but it exists. It exists
in the face of opposition on the part of those religious conservatives
who think conservatism and orthodoxy the same thing; and it runs the
gauntlet of the sneers and jeers of the materially minded who make
common cause with the old guard of the churches; but it exists. It
exists, and goes forward, becoming a factor in the thought-life of
our time.
It is not yet two hundred years since the plea was put forth on behalf
of mankind that, in the administration of divine justice, no one suffers
less than he deserves, but also that no one suffers more.
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