The literatures as well as the philosophies of all periods have dealt with the problem of death. Edmond de Goncourt tells in his “Journal” how, in conversation with his friends, this question was always recurring. The following is an account of one of these conversations:[137] “Our old established dinner of five took place to-day. Flaubert was missing, so there were only Tourguéneff, Zola, Daudet, and me. The ethical ennui of some of us, the physical sufferings of the others, led the conversation to death, which we discussed until eleven o’clock, sometimes passing to other subjects, but always coming back to the gloomy topic. Daudet declared that in his case it was an obsession, _a poisoning of his life_, and that he never moved into a new house without looking round for the place where his coffin would come to lie. Zola told us that his mother had died at Médan, and that, as the staircase proved too narrow, the coffin had had to be lowered from a window; he declared that he never looked at that window without wondering who would be taken out that way next, he or his wife. “Yes,” he said, “ever since that day death has always been in the background of our thoughts, and very often during the night, looking at my sleepless wife, I feel that like me she is thinking of it, and we lie quietly without saying aloud what is in our minds—for shame, yes, for very shame—_Oh! it is terrible, that thought—and the terror of it becomes visible!_ There have been nights when I have leapt suddenly out of bed, and held myself for a second or two in a state of abject terror.” Jean Finot[138] was told in confidence by E. de Goncourt that if he could banish the thought of death from his mind life would be relieved of an almost intolerable burden. Jean Finot also relates that in the course of a memorable evening spent with Victor Hugo at the house of the latter, nearly all of the distinguished persons who were present, when questioned as to their ideas on the subject of death, frankly admitted that the thought of it inspired them with fear and sadness. Amongst modern authors Count Léon Tolstoi has dealt most with the problem of death. In many of his works whole pages of memorable reflections on the subject are to be found, but the most harrowing and terrible picture he ever painted is contained in his “Confessions.”[139] The reader will pardon my propensity for quoting passages relating to death. He will recall the account of the Siege of Sebastopol already quoted by me, in which every one was described as fearing death when faced by danger; but this fear, as the author was a young man of twenty-six, was not wholly absorbing.