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Ju<i>fc f**xr fa.*J£~t if /T
^ /&«*/***/ tAt****
A
OUP. FOR L ; A HAS
\ • % v • ^ 1% \ v . .r\
Five hundred copies of this Book
have been printed from type, in
the year nineteen hundred, at the
De Vinne Press.
THE
LAST WORDS OF DISTINGUISHED
MEN AND WOMEN
THE LAST WORDS
(REAL AND TRADITIONAL)
►F DISTINGUISHED MEN
AND WOMEN
COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES
BY
FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN
*
The tongues of dying men
Enforce attention like deep harmony ;
Where words are scarce they're seldom spent in vain,
For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain.
Shaksptare
TROY, N. Y.
C. A. BREWSTER & CO.
1900
•'T^Tv HEW YORK;
tfTOA. LtHOX .J» j
£,l» fOUNPATIWIS. |
€ompi©ife
$i$ 25oofe & mojrt Sotringip
Neither is there anything of which I am so
inquisitive, and delight to inform myself, as
the manner of men's deaths, their words,
looks, and bearing; nor any places in his-
tory I am so intent upon ; and it is mani-
fest enough, by my crowding in examples
of this kind, that I have a particular fancy
for that subject. If I were a writer of books,
I would compile a register, with a com-
ment, of the various deaths of men : he who
should teach men to die, would at the same
time teach them to live. — Montaigne.
Last Words of Distinguished
Men and Women.
Adam (Alexander, Dr., headmaster at the High School
in Edinburgh, and the author of " Roman Antiquities "), ^
1 741-1809. "It grows dark, boys. You may go. 11
" It grows dark, boys. You may go."
(Thus the master gently said,
Just before, in accents low,
Circling friends moaned, " He is dead.")
Unto him, a setting sun
Tells the school's dismissal hour,
Deeming not that he alone
Deals with evening's dark'ning power.
All his thought is with the boys,
Taught by him in light to grow;
Light withdrawn, and hushed the noise,
Fall the passwords, "You may go."
Go, boys, go, and take your rest ;
Weary is the book- worn brain :
Day sinks idly in the west,
Tired of glory, tired of gain.
Careless are the shades that creep
O'er the twilight, to and fro;
Dusk is lost in shadows deep :
It grows dark, boys. You may go.
Mary B. Dodge.
y
JLatt OTorM of
Adams (John, second President of the United States),
1735-1 826. " Independence forever / "
He died on the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence ; and it is thought that his
last words were suggested by the noise of the celebration.
Some say his last words were, " Jefferson survives " ; if so,
he was mistaken, for Jefferson passed away at an earlier
hour the same day.
Adams (John Quincy, sixth President of the United
States), 1 767-1 848. "// is the last of earth ! I am
content !" On the twenty-first of February, 1848, while
in his seat in the Capitol, he was struck with paralysis,
and died two days later.
Addison (Joseph, poet and essayist), 1672-1719.
J" See in what peace a Christian can die I " These words
were addressed to Lord Warwick, an accomplished but
dissolute youth, to whom Addison was nearly related.
Adrian or Hadrian (Publius iElius, the Roman
* Emperor), 76-138. "0 my poor sou/, whither art thou
going?"
Adrian wrote both in Greek and Latin. Among his
Latin poems (preserved by Spartianus, who wrote his life),
are these lines addressed to his own soul :
Animula, vagula, bland ul a,
Hospes comesque corporis,
Quae nunc abibis in loca,
Pallid ula, frigida, nudula,
Nee, ut soles, dabis jocos ?
2
Dtetmguitftjet) S0tn an& Women*
Soul of me ! floating and flitting, and fond !
Thou and this body were house-mates together ;
Wilt thou begone now, and whither ?
Pallid, and naked, and cold ;
Not to laugh, nor be glad, as of old.
Albert (Francis- Augustus- Charles-Emmanuel, Prince
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He married Queen Vic-
toria, his cousin, the tenth of February, 1840), 18 19-
186 1. " I have had wealth, rank and power \ but if these
were all I had, how wretched I should be / " A few mo-
ments later he repeated the familiar lines :
Rock of Ages cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Inscription on the " Memorial Cairn " on a high moun-
tain overlooking Balmoral Palace: "To the beloved
memory of Albert the great and good Prince Consort,
erected by his broken-hearted widow, Victoria R., 21
Aug. 1862." Upon another dressed slab, a few inches
below the above, is this quotation : " He being made
perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time : for his soul
pleased the Lord, therefore hasted he to take him away
from among the wicked."
Wisdom of Solomon, chap, iv : 13, 14.
Alexander (Jannaeus, son of John Hyrcanus, suc-
ceeded his brother Aristobulus as King of Judea in 105
B. C. The Pharisees rose in rebellion against his au-
thority; they hated him during his life, and cursed his
memory when he was dead), — B. C. 78. " Fear not true
Pharisees, but greatly fear painted Pharisees" to his wife.
3
ILatt mom of
ALFIERI (Vittorio, eminent Italian tragic poet), 1749-
1803. " Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die ! " Ad-
dressed to the Countess Stolberg, who derived the title
Countess of Albany from being the wife of Charles Ed-
ward Stuart, " the Pretender." After the death of Stuart,
the countess lived with Alfieri, to whom it is believed she
was privately married.
In the church of Santa Croce, Florence, reposes the
body of Alfieri, and over it is an imposing monument
erected by Canova for the Countess of Albany. It was
while walking amongst the tombs of the illustrious dead
in that great " Westminster Abbey of Italy " that the
poet first dreamed of fame.
ANAXAGORAS (the most illustrious philosopher of the
Ionian school, and " The Friend of Pericles"), B. C. 500-
428. " Give the boys a holiday"
After his banishment he resided in Lampsacus and
there preserved tranquillity of mind until his death. " It
is not I who have lost the Athenians ; it is the Athenians
who have lost me," was his proud reflection. He con-
tinued his studies, and was highly respected by the citi-
zens, who, wishing to pay some mark of esteem to his
memory, asked him on his death-bed in what manner
they could do so. He begged that the day of his death
might be annually kept as a holiday in all the schools of
Lampsacus. For centuries this request was fulfilled. He
died in his seventy-third year. A tomb was erected to
him in the city, with this inscription :
This tomb great Anaxagoras confines,
Whose mind explored the heavenly paths of Truth.
Lewes' Biographical History of Philosophy.
EDitftinguitftjeti qpen anil Women*
Andr6 (John, Major in the British army at the time
of the American Revolution, and executed as a spy,
October 2, 1780), 1751-1780. " // will be but a momen-
tary pang"
The order for execution was loudly and impressively
read by Adjutant- General Scammel, who at its conclusion
informed Andr£ he migl\t now speak, if he had anything
to say. Lifting the bandage for a moment from his eyes
he bowed courteously to Greene and the attending offi-
cers, and said with firmness and dignity : " All I request
of you, gentlemen, is that you will bear witness to the
world that I die like a brave man." A moment later he
said, almost in a whisper, " It will be but a momentary
pang."
The London General Evening Post for November 14,
1780, in an article abusive of Washington, gives a pre-
tended account of Andrd's " last words," in which the
unfortunate man is made to say, " Remember that I die
as becomes a British officer, while the manner of my
death must reflect disgrace on your commander." Andr£
uttered no sentiment like this. Miss Seward, his early
friend, on reading this account, wrote thus in her " Mon-
ody on Major Andr6 : "
Oh Washington ! I thought thee great and good,
Nor knew thy Nero-thirst for guiltless blood!
Severe to use the pow'r that Fortune gave,
Thou cool, determin'd murderer of the brave !
Lost to each fairer virtue, that inspires
The genuine fervor of the patriot fires I
And you, the base abettors of the doom,
That sunk his blooming honors in the tomb,
Th* opprobrious tomb your harden'd hearts decreed,
While all he asked was as the brave to bleed!
Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, Vol. I,/. 768.
JLatft WSlotbe of
ANDRONICUS (Usurper and Emperor), 112-1185.
" Lord, have mercy upon me. Wilt thou break a bruised
reed? "
So great was his cruelty and so oppressive his tyranny,
that his own subjects rose in desperation and slew him.
Archibald (eighth Earl of Argyle), 1 598-1661. "/
die not only a Protestant, but with a heart-hatred of
popery, prelacy, and all superstition whatsoever" Spoken
upon the scaffold.
ARIOSTO (Lodovico, Italian poet), 1479-15 33. " This
is not my home."
Arria (wife of Caecina Paetus, a consul under Clau-
dius), died about the year B. C, 42. When her husband
was condemned to die by his own hand, seeing that he
hesitated, she seized the dagger, and plunged it into her
own breast. Then withdrawing it, she presented it to
her husband, saying with a smile: "// is not painful,
Pectus."
When to her husband Arria gave the steel,
Which from her chaste, her bleeding breast she drew ;
She said — " My Paetus, this I do not feel,
But, oh ! the wound that must be given by you ! "
Martial.
AUGUSTUS (Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, first Em-
peror of Rome), B. c. 63-14. " Vos plaudite" after
asking how he had acted his part in life. The last words
of Augustus rest upon the authority of Cicero*
Babington (Anthony, English gentleman devoted to
the cause of Mary Stuart Executed for having con-
6
EDtetmguteljet) S0tn anD Women*
spired against the life of Queen Elizabeth), — 1586.
" The murder of the Queen had been represented to me as a
deed lawful and meritorious, I die a firm Catholic." Said
on the scaffold.
BACON (Francis, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Al-
bans), 1561-1626. " Thy creatures, O Lord, have been
my books, but Thy Holy Scriptures much more. I have
sought Thee in the fields and gardens, but I have found
Thee, O God, in Thy Sanctuary — Thy Temple."
"In March, 1626, he came to London, and one day-
near Highgate was taken with a desire to discover whether
snow would act as an antiseptic. He stopped his car-
riage, got out at a cottage, purchased a fowl, and with
his own hands assisted to stuff it with snow. He was
seized with a sudden chill and became so seriously unwell
that he had to be conveyed to Lord Arundel's house
near by. There his illness increased, and he died of bron-
chitis after a few days of suffering."
Encyclopedia Britannica.
For my burial, I desire it may be in St. Michael's
Church, St. Albans ; there was my mother buried, and it
is the parish church of my mansion-house of Gorham-
bury, and it is the only Christain Church within the walls
of Old Verulam. For my name and memory, I leave it
to men's charitable speeches, to foreign nations and the
next ages. — From the Will of Lord Bacon.
Bailli or BAILLIFF, Roche DE ( known by the name
of La Riviere, a distinguished French physician), — 1605.
" I must now hasten away since my baggage has been sent
off before me."
7
fla*t WSBiotbe of
When feeling the approaches of death, he sent for all
his servants, and distributed his money and property
among them, on condition that they immediately left the
house, which was so punctually complied with, that when
the physicians came on their next visit, they found the
doors open, and their patient by himself, with no prop-
erty left but the bed he lay upon. When the physicians
remarked this circumstance to him, he answered that he
must now go likewise, " since his baggage was sent off be-
fore him," and immediately expired. — The Book of Death.
BAILLY (Jean Sylvain, French astronomer and philos-
opher, first president of the States- General, and later a
victim of the Revolution), 1 736-1 793. " My friend, it is
only from cold" to one of the bystanders who, witnessing
the refinement of cruelty attending his execution, said,
"Bailly, you tremble. ,,
He was led on foot, amidst a drenching fall of snow
and sleet, to the banks of the river, where, to parody the
scene on Calvary, the heavy beams which support the
guillotine were placed on his shoulders. He sank under
the weight, but barbarous blows obliged him again to
lift it. He fell a second time, and swooned away ; yells
of laughter arose in the crowd, and the execution was
postponed till he revived, and could feel its bitterness.
But nothing could subdue his courage. " You tremble,
Bailly," said one of the spectators. "My friend," said
the old man, "it is only from cold."
BARRE, DE LA (Jean Francois le F&vre, Chevalier.
He was condemned to death for having mutilated a cru-
8
cifix, and was executed in 1766, at the age of nineteen),
1 747-1 766. "/ did not think that they would put a
young gentleman to death for such a trifle" 1
Poor young La Barre was tortured, strangled and
burned for not taking off his hat to a file of greasy
monks. He remained covered while the Capuchins car-
ried some mediaeval trumpery in procession.
Walter Besanf s " French Humorists."
BATTIE (William, English physician), 1 704-1 776.
" Young man, you have heard, no doubt, how great are
the terrors of death : this night will probably afford you
some experience ; but you may learn, and may you profit
by the example, that a conscientious endeavor to perform
his duties through life, will ever close a Christian's eyes
with comfort and tranquillity" said to his servant.
BAXTER (Richard, a noted English nonconformist,
author of "The Saints' Everlasting Rest," and "The
Call to the Unconverted "), 1615-1691. / have pain —
there is no arguing against sense — but I have peace, I
have peace! " A little later he said, " / am almost well"
BEARD (Dr. George Miller, an American physician
and scientist of unusual promise, who died upon the
threshold of a great career), 1 839-1 883. He said to the
doctors who endeavored to save his life, " You are good
fellows, but you can do nothing for me. My time has
come." His last words were, " I should like to record the
thoughts of a dying man for the benefit of science, but it is
impossible"
1 See Voltaire's "Account of the Death of the Chevalier de la Barre."
ila*t tWttotto of
Dr. Beard had wonderful insight. He exposed and
ruined the notorious Eddy Brothers, and comprehended,
explained, and paralleled the exploits of Brown, the
Mind Reader, showing the simple principle on which
they were produced. His defects were too rapid gen-
eralization, and too positive and comprehensive asser-
tion of results. Knowing well the uncertainty of
average human testimony where the supernatural, or
even the mysterious, is involved, he held that experts in
the supposed supernatural alone were competent wit-
nesses. Of these he thought that there were but three
or four living, nor did he shrink from claiming that he
was easily princeps among them. Of course, as there
were no experts on earth when the miracles were
wrought, he had no evidence of them. He was prone to
comprehend as much as possible under one generic
term. His work on Neurasthenia did not command gen-
eral approbation, because it made almost everything a
sign of nervous exhaustion. As a writer, he was bril-
liant and prolific. His fame would be more enduring if
he had written five books, instead of fifty. — Obituary.
Beaufort (Henry, half-brother of Henry IV. He
was made cardinal in 1426, and in 1430 he crowned
Henry IV. at Notre Dame. He presided over the trib-
unal that sent the Maid of Orleans to the stake, and is
supposed to have participated in the murder of the Duke
of Gloucester), 13 70- 1447. "I P ra y y° u a ^ P ra V f or
me" Some authorities give his last words thus : " And
must I then die ? Will not all my riches save me ? I
could purchase a kingdom, if that would save my life !
IO
EDtetmguteljet) flpen ami OTtomem
What! is there no bribing death? When my nephew,
the Duke of Bedford, died, I thought my happiness and
my authority greatly increased ; but the Duke of Glouces-
ter's death raised me in fancy to a level with kings,
and I thought of nothing but accumulating still greater
wealth, to purchase at last the triple crown. Alas ! how
are my hopes disappointed ! Wherefore, O my friends,
let me earnestly beseech you to pray for me, and recom-
mend my departing soul to God ! "
Harpsfield: Hist. Eccles. edit. Duaci, 1622, p. 643.
A few minutes before his death, his mind appeared to
be undergoing the tortures of the damned. He held up
his two hands, and cried — " Away ! away ! — why thus do
ye look at me ? " He seemed to behold some horrible
spectre by his bedside. 1
BECKET (Thomas k, first Saxon archbishop of Canter-
bury after the Norman conquest), 1 1 1 7-1 170. " For the
1 Enter the King, Salisbury, Warwick, to the Cardinal in bed.
King. How fares my lord ? speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign.
Car. If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's treasure,
Enough to purchase such another island,
So thou wilt let me live and feel no pain.
King. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,
Where death's approach is seen so terrible !
War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee.
Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will.
Died he not in his bed ? where should he die ?
Can I make men live, whether they will or no ?
O, torture me no more ! I will confess.
Alive again ? Then show me where he is :
I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him.
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.
Comb down his hair ; look, look ! it stands upright.
II
ILa*t W&otte of
name of Jesus and the defense of the church I am willing
to die"
He was assassinated by four barons, servants of Henry
II. The Roman Catholic Church regarded him as a
martyr; and in 1172 he was canonized.
Bede (surnamed " The Venerable ;" an English monk,
and the author of" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Ang-
lorum"), 673-735. " Glory be to the Father, and to the
Son and to the Holy Ghost"
It is related that on the night of his death he continued
dictating to his amanuensis a translation of some work,
probably of the gospel of St. John, into Anglo-Saxon.
He asked the scribe how many chapters remained.
" Only one," he replied ; " but you are too weak to dic-
tate." "No," said Bede, "take your pen and write
quickly." After some time the scribe said, " Master, it
Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul.
Give me some drink ; and bid the apothecary
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him.
King. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens,
• Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch !
O, beat away the busy meddling fiend
That lays strong siege, unto this wretch's soul,
And from his bosom purge this black despair !
War. See how the pangs of death do make him grin !
Sal. Disturb him not; let him pass peaceably.
King. Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be !
Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss,
Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.
He dies, and makes no sign. O God, forgive him !
War. So bad a death argues a monstrous life.
King. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.
Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close ;
And let us all to meditation.
Exeunt. — King Henry VI, Part II, Act Hi.
12
is finished ; " to which Bede replied, " Thou hast said
truly, consummatum est" and shortly after expired.
Lippincott.
BEECHER (Henry Ward, distinguished American
clergyman, for many years pastor of Plymouth Congre-
gational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.), 1 8 13-1887. "Now
comes the mystery"
Beethoven (Ludwig van), 1 770-1 827. " / shall hear
in heaven"
When about thirty-five years old, while at work upon
his opera of " Leonora," known in English as " Fidelio,"
he was attacked with deafness. The malady began grad-
ually, but after a year made more rapid progress, and
soon his hearing was entirely destroyed.
Some authorities give his last words thus : " Is it not
true, dear Hammel, that I have some talent after all ? "
Hammel was an old friend with whom he had once quar-
relled, and who, after being separated from him for a
long time, came to him when he was upon his death bed.
Beethoven received the sacraments of the Roman
church, and at about one in the afternoon of the same
day he sank into apparent unconsciousness, and a dis-
tressing conflict with death began which lasted the rest
of that day, the whole of the next day, and until a quarter
of six on the evening of the day following. As the even-
ing closed in, there came a sudden storm of hail and
snow, covering the ground and roofs of the Schwarz-
spanierplatz, and followed by a flash of lightning, and an
instant clap of thunder. So great was the crash as to
arouse even the dying man. He opened his eyes, clinched
13
iLatft Mort* of
his fist, and shook it in the air above him. This lasted a
few seconds while the hail rushed down outside, and
then the hand fell, and the great composer was no more.
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Bellarmino (Cardinal Roberto), 1 542-1 621. "It is
safest to trust in Jesus" to one who enquired whether it
is safer io trust in the Virgin Mary than in Jesus.
B^renger (de Tours), celebrated French ecclesiastic,
998 (about) -1088. " / shall not long hesitate between con-
science and the Pope, for I shall soon appear in the pres-
ence of God, to be acquitted, I hope ; to be condemned, I
fear."
No more 'twixt conscience staggering and the Pope,
Soon shall I now before my God appear :
By him to be acquitted, as I hope ;
By him to be condemned, as I fear."
Coleridge.
Berenger opposed the dogmas of Transubstantiation
and the Real- Presence. His teachings were condemned
by Pope Leo IX. in 1050.
Bergerus (councillor to the Emperor Maximilian),
" Farewell, O farewell all earthly things, and welcome
heaven."
Berkeley (George, Bishop of Cloyne, metaphysical
philosopher and author), 1684-1753.
The last words of Berkeley are not recorded, but the
peacefulness and suddenness of his death are interesting.
One evening he and his family were sitting and drinking
tea together ; he on one side of the fire, and his wife on
14
SDtettnguis^eD fytn anfi Women.
the other, and his daughter making the tea at a little
round table just behind him. She had given him one
dish which he had drunk. She had poured out another
which he left standing some time. " Sir," said she, " will
you not take your tea ? " Upon his making no kind of
an answer, she stooped forward and looked at him, and
found that he was dead. — Life of Bishop Berkeley.
Berkeley directed in his will that his body should be
kept above ground more than five days, and until it be-
came " offensive by the cadaverous smell, and that during
the said time it lye unwashed, undisturbed and covered
by the same bedclothes, in the same bed, the head
raised upon pillows."
Bernard (St., Abbot of Clairvaux and active pro-
moter of the crusade of 1 146. He is the author of many
beautiful hymns), 1091-1 153. " May God's will be done"
said when he was told that his last hour was at hand.
Berry or Berri (Caroline Ferdinande Louise, Madame
de), 1 798-1 870. "Is not this dying with courage and v
true greatness ? "
BLAKE (William, English artist and poet), 1757-1828.
Blake died singing.
" On the day of his death," writes Smith, who had his
account from the widow, " he composed and uttered
songs to his Maker, so sweetly to the ear of his Cather-
ine, that when she stood to hear him, he, looking upon
her most affectionately, said, ' My beloved ! they are not
mine. No ! they are not mine ! ' He told her they
would not be parted ; he should always be about her to
take care of her. A little before his death, Mrs. Blake
IS
JLa*t Wort* of
asked where he would be buried, and whether a dissent-
ing minister or a clergyman of the Church of England
should read the service. To which he answered, that as
far as his own feelings were concerned, she might bury
him where she pleased. But that as father, mother, aunt
and brother were buried in Bunhill Row, perhaps it would
be better to lie there. As for service, he should wish
for that of the Church of England.
" In that plain, back room, so dear to the memory of
his friends, and to them beautiful from association with
him — with his serene cheerful converse, his high personal
influence, so spiritual and rare — he lay chanting Songs to
Melodies, both the inspiration of the moment, but no
longer as of old to be noted down. To the pious songs
followed, about six in the summer evening, a calm and
painless withdrawal of breath ; the exact moment almost
unperceived by his wife, who sat by his side. A humble
female neighbour, her only other companion, said after-
wards: ' I have been at the death, not of a man, but of
a blessed angel.' " — Gilchrist's Life of William Blake.
He said he was going to that country he had all his
life wished to see, and expressed himself happy, hoping
for salvation through Jesus Christ. Just before he died
his countenance became fair, his eyes brightened, and he
burst out into singing of the things he saw in heaven.
In truth he died like a saint, as a person who was stand-
ing by him observed. 1
From a letter written at the time of Blake's death.
1 Lablache (i 794-1858), the celebrated French singer and actor, whose
wonderful voice, embracing two full octaves, has been described as firmer
and more expressive than that of any singer of his time or before it, at-
16
SDtetmguistyeD spen anfi Women*
BLOOD (Thomas, an Irish adventurer who served in
Crom well's army. He seized the Duke of Ormond in his
coach in London, and would have hanged him but for the
tempted to sing upon his death-bed. He bade his son go to the piano and
accompany him. The young man, struggling with emotion, obeyed.
Lablache sang in English the first stanza of Home, Sweet Home. At the
second stanza the muscles of the throat refused to move ; not a note could
he sound. In distress and great amazement he gazed around him for a
moment, and then, closing his eyes, fell asleep in death.
It is recorded of Captain Hamilton, whose portrait was painted by Sir
Joshua Reynolds, that he came to his death in this wise : " He imprudently
ventured in a boat from his ship to land at Plymouth, on a tempestuous
day, all in his impatience to rejoin his wife ashore. The boat turned keel
upwards, and the captain, being a good swimmer, trusted to his skill, and
would not accept of a place on the keel, but, that he might leave room there
for others, clung merely to the edge of the boat. His great coat was a
hindrance to him, and this he attempted to throw off; but, in the words of
Lord Eliot, whose too are the italics, " finding his strength fail, he told the
men he must yield to his fate, and soon afterwards sank while singing a
psalm. 9 * — Francis Jacox.
When Latour was guillotined at Foix, in 1864, for the murder of a family
of four persons, great was the throng in the streets, despite the heavy
rain that fell ; for, to ensure a good attendance, the condemned man had
announced his intention to compose for the occasion a series of verses,
which he would sing on his way (in the cart, vis-a-vis with messieurs the
headsmen) from prison to scaffold. And sing them he did, all the way
— a matter of some three hundred and fifty yards. Lightly he tripped up
the steps of the scaffold, and then, after a deliberate survey of the crowd be-
low and all around, he thundered forth, tonna, the following lines — a parody,
or rather a personal appropriation, of the Marseillaise .
" Allons, pauvre victime,
Ton jour de mort est arrive* :
Contre toi de la tyrannie
Le couteau san giant est lev* ! "
Being then tied to the plank and flung into the usual horizontal position
in order to be brought under the blade, he still went on — Allons, pauvre .
victime, Ton jour de mort ... — until a heavy sound was heard, the blade \
fell, something else fell with it, and all was over. — Jacox.
2 17
JLa*t Wort* of
resistance of his servants. In 1671 he came very near
possessing himself of the crown jewels), 1628-1680. "/
do not fear death"
Blood, that wears treason in his face,
Villain complete in parson's gown,
How much is he at court in grace,
For stealing Ormond and the crown !
Since loyalty does no man good,
Let's steal the king and outdo Blood.
Lord Rochester.
Blum (Robert, German democrat and politician,
founder of the Schiller Association and of the German
Catholic Church at Leipsic, popular leader of the Liberal
party in the Revolution of 1848. On the capture of the
city of Windischgratz he was arrested, tried by court-
martial, convicted of having instigated the uprising, and
shot), 1 807-1 848. "/ am ready — let there be no mistake
and no delay," to the soldiers who were charged with the
duty of shooting him.
He entreated as a last favour, that he might be per-
mitted to write to his wife, which was agreed to, and the
letter concluded with these words : " Let not my fate dis-
courage you ; but bring up our children so that they may
not bring disgrace on my name." " Now I am ready,"
said he, addressing the officers of justice, when the letter
was done. Arrived at the place of execution, he said to
one of the cuirassiers of his escort, " Here, then, we are
come to the last stage of my journey." He desired not to
have his eyes bandaged ; and this being refused, lest his
unsteadiness should cause the men to miss their aim, he
18
SDtettngutetieD spen anfi OTomem
blindfolded himself, and knelt down with manly courage.
He fell pierced by three balls, and died instantly.
Balleydier, it. 366, 367.
BoiLEAU (Boileau-Desprdaux, Nicolas, eminent French
poet and satirist), 1636-1711. " It is a great consolation
for a dying poet to have never^ written a word against
morality"
Boleyn or Bullen (Anne, wife of Henry VIII),
1 507-1 536. Just before she knelt to lay her head on the
block she clasped her neck with her hands, and said :
" // is small, very small indeed"
BOLINGBROKE (Henry St. John, Viscount, English au-
thor, orator, and politician), 1678-175 1. At last, though
the precise words are not preserved, he gave directions
that no clergyman should visit him, and avowed his ad-
herence to the deistical principles to which he had held
through his life.
His last words to Lord Chesterfield were : " God, who
placed me here, will do what he pleases with me hereafter,
and he knows best what to do. May he bless you"
BORGIA (Cesare), killed at the siege of the Castle of
Biano in 1507. " / die unprepared."
Cesare Borgia was one of the most crafty, cruel, and
corrupt men of that corrupt age. No crime was too foul
for him to perpetrate or be suspected of. He was charged
with the murder of his elder brother, Giovanni, duke of
19
V
iLatft OTorto of
Gandia, and of Alfonso, the husband of Lucrezia; with
plotting with his father the murder of Cardinal Corneto ;
and with incest with his sister. In his wars he had gar-
risons massacred, and carried off bands of women to
gratify his lust." — Cate.
BOSSUET (Jacques Benigne, French divine and pulpit
orator), 162 7-1 704. "/ suffer the violence of pain and
death, but I know whom I have believed''
BOZZARIS (Marcos, a Greek patriot, celebrated by
Fitz-Greene Halleck in a thrilling poem), 1 790-1 823.
" O, to die for Liberty is a pleasure and not a pain."
Bradford (Alden, Secretary of the State of Massa-
chusetts from 18 1 2 to 1824, and author of a history of
Massachusetts and other works), 1 765-1 843. "Peace/"
Bradford (Andrew, publisher of the American Weekly
Mercury, the first newspaper that appeared in Philadel-
phia. He was the only printer in Pennsylvania from 171 2
to 1723), 1 686-1 742. " O Lord, forgive the errata / "
Bradford's last words rest upon the doubtful authority
of an old letter signed by George E. Clarkson.
Bradford (John, a martyr of the Reformation), — 1555.
" Be of good comfort, brother, for we shall have a merry
supper with the Lord this night : if there be any way to
heaven on horseback or in fiery chariots, this is it" These
words were addressed to a fellow martyr.
20
g>t0tmgtti0tiet> $pen ana WBtomtn.
BRAINERD (David, Missionary to the Indians), 17 1 8-
1747. " Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace"
Bremer (Fredrika, the most celebrated of Swedish
novelists, called the "Miss Austen of Sweden"), 1802-
1865. "A A / my child, let us speak of Christ's love — the
best, the highest love /"
BROCKLESBY (Richard, distinguished English physi-
cian), 1 722-1 797. " What an idle piece of ceremony this
buttoning and unbuttoning is to me, now," to his servants
who had undressed him and prepared him for bed.
BRONT& (Rev. Patrick, father of Charlotte and Emily),
1774-1861. " While there is life there is will" He
died standing. 1
Bronte (Emily), 1 818-1848. "No, no /" to her sister
who begged her to allow them to put her to bed. She
died sitting upon the sofa.
1 Some have thought it an evidence of strength of will to die standing ;
and some have even wished to be buried in that posture. In Oliver Hey-
wood's Register is the following entry: — "Oct. 28, 1684. Captain Tay-
lor's wife, of Brighouse, buried in her garden, with head upwards, standing
upright, by her husband, daughter, and other Quakers."
Mrs. George S. Norton, of Pawling, N. Y., was buried at her own request
sitting upright in a rocking chair enclosed in a box made of seasoned chest-
nut The funeral services were held July 27, 1899. — Albany Argus.
M. Halloin of the neighbourhood of Caen, in Normandy, who died in the
early part of this century, when he felt his end approach inserted in his last
will a clause expressing his desire to be buried at night, in his bed, com-
fortably tucked in, with pillows and coverlets as he had died. As no oppo-
sition was raised against the execution of this clause, a huge pit was sunk,
and the corpse was lowered into its last resting place, without any alteration
having been made in the position in which death had overtaken him. Boards
were laid over the bed, that the falling earth might not disturb this imper-
turbable quietist — S. Baring-Gould: Curiosities of Olden Times.
2* 21
iUtft Worte of
BROOKS (Phillips, Bishop of Massachusetts), 1835-1893,
His last written words were, " There is no other life but
the eternal"
Brown (John, Scottish linguist and preacher), 1720-
1787. "My Christ."
Brown (John, hanged December 2, 1859, for his part
infamous Harper's Ferry insurrection), 1 800-1859. "/
am ready at any time — do not keep me waiting" said
to the sheriff who asked him if he should give him a pri-
vate signal before the fatal moment.
His last request was not complied with. The troops
that had formed his escort had to be put in their proper
position, and while this was going on he stood for some
ten or fifteen minutes blindfolded; the rope round his
neck and his feet on the treacherous platform, expecting
instantly the fatal act; but he stood fo;- this compara-
tively long time upright as a soldier in position and mo-
tionless. — J. T. L. Preston (an eye-witness of John Brown's
death) in the Bivouac for August, 1886.
Browning (Elizabeth Barrett, English poet), 1805-
1861. "// is beautiful"
Bruce (Robert, distinguished divine of the Scottish
Church), about 15 54-1631. "Now God be with you, my
dear children ; I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup
with my Lord Jesus Christ"
" Robert Bruce, the morning before he died, being at
breakfast, and having, as he used, eaten an egg, said to
22
SDtetmgutetyeD S0m anfi Women*
his daughter : ' I think I am yet hungry ; you may bring
me another egg.' But, having mused awhile, he said :
'Hold, daughter, hold; my Master calls me.' With
these words his sight failed him, on which he called for
the Bible, and said: 'Turn to the eighth chapter of Ro-
mans and set my finger on the words, " I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life/' etc., " shall be able to separate
me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.'" When this was done, he said: 'Now, is my
finger upon them ?' Being told it was, he added : 'Now,
God be with you, my dear children ; I have breakfasted
with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ this
night.' And then he expired."
Bruno (Giordano, philosopher of an independent and
speculative mind. He was burned at Rome in 1600 by
the Inquisition on the charges of heresy and apostasy),
1 5 50-1600. " I die a martyr and willingly — my soul
shall mount up to heaven in this chariot of smoke" x
BRUTUS (Decimus Junius, one of the murderers of
Caesar), — B. C. 33. Dion Cassius (Lib. xlvii) represents
Brutus as quoting, just before his death, the following
passage from Euripides, " O wretched virtue! thou art a
1 There is a story which comes to us from Scioppius, that Bruno rejected
" with a terrible menacing countenance " a crucifix which was held up to him,
and which may have been heated red hot, as was customary, in order to con-
vince the spectators of the sufferer's impiety, and prevent them from feeling
pity for him in his distress. The story has no very good foundation, but we
know that heated crucifixes were not uncommon among the ghostly perse-
cutors of earlier and darker days ; and we can easily see how a man asked to
kiss such a crucifix might exhibit "a terrible menacing countenance. 11
23
iLatft WKfitbg of
bare name! 1 mistook thee for a substance ; but thou thy-
self art the slave of fortune."
Bryant (William Cullen), American poet and jour-
nalist), 1 794-1 878. " Whose house is this? What street
are we in ? Why did you bring me here ? "
His death was caused by a blow on the head received
in falling upon the stone steps in front of Mr. James
Grant Wilson's house in New York City. He was carried
into Mr. Wilson's house, where he soon recovered suffi-
ciently to be removed to his own home. But his thoughts
were clouded, and he did not know where he was.
Buchanan (George, Scottish historian, scholar, and
Latin poet), 1 506-1 582. "7/ matters little to me; for if
I am but once dead they may bury me or not bury me as
they please. They may leave my corpse to rot where I die
if they wish" To his servant, whom he had directed to
distribute his property among the poor, and who there-
upon asked him, "Who will defray the expenses of your
burial ?"
BUCHANAN (James, fifteenth President of the United
States), 1791-1868. " O Lord Almighty, as thou wilt!"
BUCKLE (Henry Thomas, author of " The History of
Civilization "), 1 822-1 862. " Poor little boys! "
Buonarroti (Michael Angelo), 1474-1 564. " My soul
I resign to God, my body to the earth, and my worldly
possessions to my relations; admonishing them that through
their lives and in the hour of death they think upon the
24
g>i0tmgtit*!)et> $Deit anfi OTomen*
sufferings of Jesus Christ. And I do desire that my body
be taken to the city of Florence for its last rest. — Vasari
xii: 2dp.
It was now necessary to convey the mortal remains to
Florence. Opposition was feared from the Romans. It
was asserted that it was not Michael Angelo' s last wish to
be buried in his native city. His friends went secretly to
work. The coffin was conveyed as merchandise out ot
the gates.
On the eleventh of March it arrived at Florence. After
thirty years of voluntary exile, Michael Angelo returned,
when dead, to his native city. Only a few knew that it
was he who entered the gate in that covered coffin.
In the sacristy the coffin was opened for the first time.
The people had forced their way into the church. There
he lay ; and, in spite of three weeks having elapsed since
his death, he seemed unchanged, and bore no symptom
of decay ; the features undisfigured, as if he had just died.
Grimm; Life of Michael Angelo.
About the year 1720 the vault in Santa Croce was
opened, and the remains of Michael Angelo were found
not to have lost their original form. He was habited in
the costume of the ancient citizens of Florence, in a gown
of green velvet, and slippers of the same. — Bottari.
BURKE or Bourke (Edmund, orator and statesman),
1730-1797. " God bless you."
BURN (Andrew, Major-General in the Royal Marines),
1742-1814. "Nobody, nobody but Jesus Christ. Christ
25
ILatft Wort* of
crucified is the stay of my poor soul" to one who asked
him if he wished to see any one.
Burns (Robert, the great peasant poet of Scotland),
I 7S9~ I 796. " Oh, don't let the awkward squad fire over
met" He alluded to a body of Dumfries militia, of
which he was a member, and of which he entertained a
very poor opinion. 1
Burr (Aaron, third Vice-President of the United
States. In 1 804 he fought his famous duel with Hamil-
ton), ^756-1836. "Madame."
Burton (Sir Richard F.), 1821-1890. "Oh Puss,
chloroform — ether — or I am a dead man** said to his
wife who feared to administer an anaesthetic without the
direction of a physician. Dr. Barker in a letter to Lady
Stisled says that a moment later " suddenly the breath-
ing became laboured, there were a few moments of awful
struggle for air, then, conscious to the last, he exclaimed,
' I am a dead man/ fell back on his pillow and expired.
1 In the Appendix of Allan Cunningham's Life of Burns we read of an
examination of the poet's Tomb, made immediately after that life was pub-
lished :
" When Burns's Mausoleum was opened in March, 1834, to receive the
remains of his widow, some residents in Dumfries obtained the consent of
her nearest relative to take a cast from the cranium of the poet. This was
done during the night between the 31st of March and 1st of April. Mr.
Archibald Blacklock, surgeon, drew up the following description :
" The cranial bones were perfect in every respect, if we except a little
erosion of their external table, and firmly held together by their sutures,
&c, &c. Having completed our intention [1. e., of taking a plaster cast of
the skull, washed from every particle of sand, &c], the skull securely closed
in a leaden case, was again committed to the earth, precisely where we found
it."— Archibald Blacklock.
26
SDtetmguffltyeD fym ant Women*
Butler (Benjamin Franklin, attorney-general of the
United States, from 1831 to 1834), 1 795-* 85 8. " I have
peace, perfect peace. i Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee.* "
Butler (Joseph, English Bishop, and author of the
celebrated "Analogy of Religion"), 1692-1752. "/
have often read and thought of that scripture, but never
till this moment did I feel its full power, and now I die
happy." These words were spoken to his chaplain who
read him John vi., and called attention to the 37th verse :
•' All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
BYRON (George Gordon Noel, Lord, one of the great-
est of English poets), 1 788-1 824. "/ must sleep now."
It has been asserted, upon what authority the compiler
does not know, that the last words of Byron were, " Shall
I sue for mercy ?" After a long pause he added, it is
said, "Come, come, no weakness: let me be a man to
the last"
CiESAR (Caius Julius), B. C. 100-44. " Et tu Brute /"
to Marcus Brutus on discovering him among the assas-
sins.
Authorities differ: some have it, "What ! art thou, too,
one of them ! Thou, my son !" and others omit the
words " my son." If, however, the last two words are to
be retained, they express only the difference of age be-
tween Caesar and Brutus. There is no good reason for
regarding them as an avowal that Brutus was the fruit of
the connection between Julius and Servilia.
27
flatft Wortw of
He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was
ranked amongst the gods, not only by a formal decree,
but in the belief of the vulgar. For during the first
games which Augustus, his heir, consecrated to his mem-
ory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising al-
ways about eleven o'clock; and it was supposed to be
the soul of Caesar, now received into heaven ; for which
reason, likewise, he is represented in his statue with a star
on his brow. The senate-house in which he was slain
was ordered to be shut up, and a decree was made that
the ides of March should be called parricidal, and that
the senate should never more assemble on that day.
J. Eugene Reed: " The Twelve Ccesars"
Calderon (Don Rodrigo, adventurer, who under the
title of Marques de Siete Iglesias, rose to the first
place in Spanish influence and power, in the time of
Philip III.), — 162 1. "All my life I have carried myself
gracefully" to his confessor who reproved him for his ill-
timed regard for appearances when about to die upon the
scaffold.
CADOGAN (William Bromley, English clergyman),
175 1-1 797. " / thank you for all your faithful services ;
God bless you" to a servant who had been with him
many years.
Calhoun (John Caldwell, Vice-President of the United
States, called the "Father of State-rigths "), 1782-1850.
" The South / The South / God knows what will become
of her!"
28
SPtetingufotyrt flpen anto Women*
" He died under the firm impression that the South
was betrayed and gone."
An unpublished letter from Senator Hunter of Virginia.
Calvin (John, one of the greatest of the Protestant
Reformers, and " The Father of Presbyterianism "), 1509-
1564. " TAou, Lord, bruises t me; but I am abundantly
satisfied y since it is from thy hand"
On the day of his death, he appeared stronger, and
spoke with less difficulty ; but this was the last effort of
nature, for about eight o'clock in the evening, certain
symptoms of dissolution manifested themselves. When
one of his domestics brought one of the brethren, and
me, who had only just left him, this intelligence, I re-
turned immediately with all speed, and found he had
died in so very tranquil a manner, that without his feet
and hands being in any respect discomposed, or his
breathing increased, his senses, judgment and in some
measure his voice, remaining entire to his very last gasp,
he appeared more to resemble one in a state of sleep than
death. ... At two o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday,
his body was carried to the common burying-place, called
Plein Palais, without extraordinary pomp. His funeral,
however, was attended by the members of the senate, the
pastors, all the professors of the college, and a great por-
tion of the citizens. The abundance of tears shed on
this occasion afforded the strongest evidence of the sense
which they entertained of their loss. According to his
own directions, no hillock, no monument was erected to
his memory. — Theodore Beza: Life of John Calvin.
29
ILa*t Worto of
Campbell (Thomas, English poet), 1 777-1 844.
" When I think of the existence which shall commence when
the stone is laid over my head, how can literary fame ap-
pear to me, to any one, but as nothing? I believe, when I
am gone, justice will be done to me in this way — that I
was a pure writer. It is an inexpressible comfort, at my
time of life, to be able to look back and feel that I have not
written one line against religion or virtue"
CANO (Alonzo, " the Michael Angelo of Spain ") 1601-
1667. " Vex me not with this thing, but give me a simple
cross, that I may adore it, both as it is in itself and as I
can figure it in my mind" to a prijest who gave him an
elaborate but badly carved cross. He had previously
refused the sacraments from the hand of a priest who
iiStd administered them to converted Jews.
Carlyle (Thomas, essayist, translator, and historian),
1 795-1 88 1. His mind was wandering when Froude
went to his beside, but he recognized him and said : " /
am very ill. Is it not strange that these people should
have chosen the very oldest man in all Britain to make
suffer in this way?" Froude answered, " We do not
know exactly why those people act as they do. They
may have reasons we cannot guess at. " Yes" said
Carlyle, " it would be rash to say that they have no
reasons" When Froude saw him next, his speech was
gone.
Carnot (Marie Francis Sadi-Carnot, President of the
French Republic, assassinated by Cesare Giovanni Santo
in Lyons, June 24, 1894), 1837-1894. " I am grateful for
30
a>i0ttngut£tyrt S0tn anto Women*
your presence." These words were in response to those
of Dr. Poncet who leaned over the bed on which the
President was lying, and said, " Your friends are here,
Monsieur le President."
Cary (Alice, American poetess and magazine writer),
1 820-1 87 1. " / want to go away"
Cavour di (Camillo Benso, Count, Italian statesman),
1 8 10-186 1. "No, your Majesty, to-morrow you will not
see me here" to Victor Emmanuel, who, as he turned away
in tears, said to Cavour, " I shall come to see you again
to-morrow."
He secured liberty of the press, and favored religious
toleration and free trade. Among the important meas-
ures of his administration were his rebellion against papal
domination, and his alliance with France and England
in the war against Russia in 1855. After the close of
the war he devoted his efforts to the liberation and unity
of Italy, undismayed by the angry fulminations of the
Vatican. — Lippincott.
CHANNING (William Ellery, distinguished Unitarian
clergyman and writer of rare grace and beauty. He has
been called the " Father of American Unitarianism "),
1 780-1 842. " You need not be anxious concerning to-
night It will be very peaceful and quiet with me."
He turned his face toward that sinking orb, and he and
the sun went away together. Each, as the other, left the
smile of his departure spread on all around, — the sun on
the clouds ; he on the heart. — Theodore Parker.
His remains were brought to Boston, and committed
31
iUuie Wlotbg of
to the grave amidst the regrets of all classes and parties ;
and, as the procession moved from the church, the bell
of the Catholic Cathedral tolled his knell, — a fact never
perhaps paralleled in the history of Romanism. And so
departed one of the great men of the Republic, — one
who, amidst its servility to mammon and slavery, ceased
not to recall it to the sense of its honor and duty, — a
man whose memory his countrymen will not willingly let
die. As the visitor wanders among the shaded aisles of
the western part of Mount Auburn, he sees a massive
monument of marble, designed by Allston, the poet-
painter. Generous and brave men, from whatever clime,
resort to it, and go from it more generous and brave ; for
there reposes the great and good man whom we have
commemorated. The early beams, intercepted by neigh-
boring heights, fall not upon the spot ; but the light of
high noon and the later and benigner rays of the day
play through the foliage in dazzling gleams upon the
marble, — a fitting emblem of his fame ; for, when the
later and better light which is yet to bless our desolate
race shall come, it will fall with bright illustration on the
character of this rare man, and on the great aims of his
life. — Methodist Quarterly Review, January, 1849.
Charles I. (Charles Stuart, King of England), 1600-
1649. "Remember!" to William Juxon, Archbishop of
Canterbury. Some say his last words were, " I fear not
death ; death is not terrible to me." He was executed
January 30, 1649. 1
1 1 mention the discovery of the body of Charles I. when George IV. was
Prince Regent. It has been asserted, and is, I believe, true, that the nation
wished the body of him whom they always called " the saint and martyr "
to be removed from Windsor and buried in Westminster Abbey ; and that
a sum of no less than ^70,000 was entrusted by Parliament to Charles II.
32
a>i0tingui*fye& fytn mt Women*
Charles II. (of England, " The Merry Monarch "),
1630-1685. " Don't let poor Nelly starve / " The king
referred to Margaret Symcott, known as Eleanor Gwynne
or Nell Gwynn. She commenced life as an orange-girl
in the streets of London. Later she sang in taverns, and
after a time became a popular actress at the Theatre
Royal. She is remembered as the mistress of Charles II.
She seems to have been a very kind and good-hearted
woman. She was faithful to her royal lover, and upon
his death retired from the world and lived in seclusion. 1
to erect a tomb over the remains of his father. If the story be true, the
entire sum disappeared and was not put to the intended purpose. Tt was,
however, supposed that the " White King's " coffin, at any rate, had been
transferred to the Abbey. It was in order to settle a doubt on this point
that George IV., then Prince Regent, went down into the vaults of Windsor
with the famous physician, Sir Henry Halford. There they found the coffins
of Henry VIII. and of his wife, Lady Jane Seymour ; and between them
lay a coffin on which were rudely scratched the letters 4< C. I." In order to
be sure that this was indeed the coffin of the executed king, they opened it
— and there lay before them the handsome face, just as Vandyke depicted it;
though (as always happens in such cases) the nose fell in immediately that
the corpse was exposed to the open air. Then — I simply tell the tale as it
was told to me; for, though there must be some printed account of the
event, I have never seen them — Sir Henry Halford took up by the hair the
decapitated head, and placed it on the palm of his hand, which was covered
by his silk handkerchief. When he replaced the head in the coffin the ver-
tebra of the neck, which had been smoothly severed by the axe of the execu-
tioner, was lying on his handkerchief; and the Prince Regent remarked to
Sir Henry that this would be an interesting relic for him. He took it ; and
had it set in gold with the inscription, " Os Caroli Primi, heu intercisum."
I believe that, by the wish and right-feeling of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,
this relic of the hapless king has been replaced in the coffin. Everyone will
recall the sanguinary epigram of Lord Byron upon the incident which I
have narrated. — Farrar.
1 In his History of the Stage, Curll states that Nell first captivated the
king by her manner of delivering the epilogue to Dryden's Tyrannic Love;
or. The Royal Martyr. The tragedy was founded upon the story of the
martyrdom of St. Catherine, by way of compliment to Catherine of Bragansa.
She personated Valeria, the daughter of Maximin, tyrant of Rome.
3 33
iLa*t WlotbS of
Charles V. (of France, called " The. Wise/' He was
the son of John II. who was made prisoner by the Black
Prince at Poitiers), 1 337-1 380. " Ah, Jesus / "
Charles IX. (of France, second son of Henry II. and
Catharine de' Medici), 1550-1574. "Nurse, nurse, what
murder / what blood! Oh I I have done wrong, God par-
don me / " The king referred, no doubt, to the massacre
of St. Bartholomew, which he occasioned. Voltaire tells
us his dying remorse was so great that " blood oozed
from his pores." 1 There are recorded other examples of
bloody sweat. It is said of a man at Lyons that when
sentenced to death a bloody sweat covered his body. In
the Medical Gazette, December, 1848, is an account by
Dr. Schneider of some Norwegian sailors who, in a tre-
mendous storm, sweated blood from extreme terror. See
also the British Critic, 183 1, p. 1. When our Saviour
bore the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane,
" his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling
down to the ground." (Luke xxii., 44.)
1 The massacre of St. Bartholomew lasted seven days, during which more
than 5,000 persons were slain in Paris, and about 50,000 in the country.
During all this season of murder, the king betrayed neither pity nor remorse,
but fired with his long gun at the poor fugitives across the river ; and on
viewing the body of Coligni on a gibbet, he exulted with a fiendish malig-
nity. In early life this monster had been noted for his cruelty: nothing
gave him greater pleasure than cutting off the heads of asses or pigs with a
single blow from his couteau de chasse. After the massacre; he is said to
have contracted a singularly wild expression of feature, and to have slept
little and waked in agonies. He attributed his thirst for human blood to the
circumstance of his mother having at an early period of his life familiarized
his mind with the brutal sport of hunting bullocks, and with all kinds of
cruelty. — Winslow's Anatomy of Suicide, p. 52, note.
34
©tetingutsfyel) tym anD Wiomm.
Charles V. (Don Carlos I. of Spain, afterwards Em-
peror of Germany), 1500-1558. "Now, Lord, I go!" a
moment later, with eyes fixed upon the crucifix, he added,
" Ay, Jesus / " and expired.
Charlemagne (Charles I., King of France and Em-
peror of the West), 742-814. "Lord, into thy hands I
commend my spirit."
Charlotte (Augusta, commonly called the Princess,
daughter of George IV. and Queen Caroline), 1796-18 17.
" You make me drink. Pray leave me quiet. I find it
affects my head." She died in childbed.
CHASTELARD, de (Pierre de Boscosel, a young French
poet and musician who became enamoured of Mary
Queen of Scots, and concealing himself in her bedcham-
ber, attempted her honor. Mary pardoned his offence,
but upon his repeating it, he was executed at Edinburgh),
1 540-1 563. He died chanting a love-song, having on
the way to the scaffold prepared his mind for the work
of the executioner by reading Ronsard's hymn on death.
CHAUCER (Geoffrey, "Father of English Poetry"),
1 328-1400. Chaucer died repeating the "Balade made
by Geoffrey Chaucyer, when upon his dethe-bedde, lying
in his grete anguysse."
Ch£nier (Andrd), 1762- 1794. He was waiting for
his turn to be dragged to the guillotine, when he com-
menced this poem :
" Comme un dernier rayon, comme un dernier ziphyre
Anime la fin d'un beau jour ;
35
ILatt OTtorte of
Au pied de V ichafaud f essaie encore ma lyre,
Peut-itre est ce bientSt mon tour ;
" Peut-Stre avant que Vheure en cercle promenie
Ait posi sur Vimail brillant,
Dans les soixante pas oil sa route est bornie,
Son pied sonore et vigilant,
" Le sotntneil du tombeau pressera me paupiire — "
Here, at this pathetic line, was Andrd Chdnier summoned
to the guillotine ! Never was a more beautiful effusion
of grief interrupted by a more affecting incident. — Curi-
osities of Literature,
Chesterfield (Philip Dormer Stanhope), 1 694-1 773.
" Give Day Rolles a chair.* 9
CHRYSOSTOM (John called "Saint"), 350-407. He
died at the close of church-service, with the words,
" Glory to God for all things, Amen"
Splendor of intellect, mellowness of heart, and gor-
geousness of fancy were the characteristics of this greatest
of preachers.
CHUDLEIGH (Elizabeth, Duchess of Kingston. She
was an adventuress famous throughout England for her
wonderful beauty and for her wild and wayward life),
1 720-1 788. "/ will lie down on the couch ; I can sleep,
and after that I shall be entirely recovered"
Cleopatra (Queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy
Auletes), B. c. 69-30. " Here thou art, then ! " These
36
2Di*tingui0!)e& fytn anfi Women*
words, which are traditional, she is said to have addressed
to the asp with which she committed suicide.
When she heard that it was Caesar's intention to send
her into Syria, she asked permission to visit Antony's
tomb, over which she poured forth most bitter lamenta-
tions. " Hide me, hide me," she exclaimed, "with thee
in the grave ; for life, since thou hast left it, has been
misery to me" After crowning the tomb with flowers,
she kissed it, and ordered a bath to be prepared. She
then sat down to a magnificent supper, after which a
peasant came to the gate with a small basket of figs cov-
ered with leaves, which was admitted into the monument.
Amongst the figs and under the leaves was concealed the
asp, which Cleopatra applied to her bosom. She was
found dead, attired in one of her most gorgeous dresses,
decorated with brilliants, and lying on her golden bed.
Winslow : Anatomy of Suicide.
Coke (Sir Edward, Lord Chief Justice of England, and
author of the celebrated work, " Coke upon Littleton "),
1 5 52-1633. " Thy kingdom come, thy will be done"
Collins (Anthony, essayist and deist), 1 676-1 729.
"/ have always endeavored, to the best of my ability, to
serve God, my king and my country. I go to the place
God has designed for those who love him." Some say his
last words were, " The Catholic faith is, to love God and
to love man. This is the best faith, and to its entertain-
ment I exhort you all."
COLUMBUS (Christopher, discovered America October
1 2th, 1492), 1435-1506. " In manus tuos, Domine, com-
mendo spiritum meum."
3* 37
iLa*t tWorto of
Columbus died at Valladolid, a disappointed, broken-
hearted old man ; little comprehending what he had
done for mankind, and still less the glory and homage
that through all future generations awaited his name.
Ticknor.
CONFUCIUS (His name was Kong, but his disciples
called him Kong-Fu-tse, which is " Kong the Master,"
and this the Jesuit missionaries Latinized into Confucius),
B. c. 551-479. " I have taught men how to live"
Conradin (Konradin of Swabia, the last descendant
of the imperial House of Hohenstaufen, son of Konrad
IV.), 1 252-1 268. " O my mother! how deep will be thy
sorrow at the news of this day! "
A few minutes before his execution, Conradin, on the
scaffold, took off his glove and threw it into the midst of
the crowd as a gage of vengeance, requesting that it
might be carried to his heir, Peter of Arragon. This duty
was undertaken by the Chevalier de Walburg, who, after
many hairbreadth escapes, succeeded in fulfilling his
prince's last command. — Chambers' Encyclopedia.
Corday d'Armans, de (Marie Anne Charlotte, usu-
ally called Charlotte Corday, a young woman of noble
family and of a courageous and lofty spirit. She stabbed
Marat, one of the most bloodthirsty of all the vile mon-
sters of the French Revolution), 1768-1793. " This is
the toilette of death, arranged by somewhat rude hands,
but it leads to immortality" She must have spoken later,
perhaps many times, but the words recorded are the last
of which we can be certain.
38
atetmguteljrt fym anfi Women*
One description of Charlotte Corday says that she was
of medium height, with an oval face, fine features, blue
eyes, a good nose, beautiful mouth, chestnut hair, lovely
hands and arms; another says that she was a virago,
awkward, dirty, insolent, rubicund, and fat; and that if
she had been pretty she would have been more anxious
to live. — La Dimagogie.
We read in the Moniteur> " Charlotte Corday has been
executed, the 17th, about seven P. M., in the Place de la
Revolution, in the (red) garb of assassins, and her goods
confiscated to the Republic." The executioner . . . struck
the bleeding head, when he showed it, according to cus-
tom, to those present ; the cheeks were still crimson, and
it was said that they were so in consequence of the in-
sult thus offered to them. 1 — La Dimagogie,
COSIN or COZEN (Dr. John, English divine), 1594-
1672. "Lord/"
He raised his hand and cried, " Lord ! " After this he
expired without pain. It is thought that he wished to
repeat his frequent prayer, " Lord Jesus, come quickly ! "
He desired above all things to die suddenly and without
distress of body or mind.
COWPER (William, distinguished English poet), 1731—
1800. " What can it signify?" Said to Miss Perowne,
one of his attendants, who offered him some refreshments.
He died in the gloom of a deep melancholy from which
he had suffered during a considerable portion of his life.
1 It is a tradition in Corsica that when St. Pantaleon was beheaded, the
caput mortuum,n& it might have been thought, rose from the block and sang.
39
Haw tWttorM of
CRATES (of Thebes, Cynic philosopher), about B. C.
330 — he was living in B. C. 307. "Ah! poor hump-
back! thy many long years are at last conveying thee to
the tomb : thou shalt soon visit the place of Plato"
Crates was deformed and ugly in shape and features,
and to render himself still more hideous he sewed sheep-
skins on his coat, so that it was difficult at first sight to say
to what species of animal he belonged. He was, however,
noted for self-control, abstinence, and simplicity of life.
CROMWELL (Oliver), 1599-1658. "My desire is to
make what haste I may to be gone" Cromwell died of
grief at the loss of his favorite daughter.
Cranmer (Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury), 1489-
1556. " This unworthy right hand."
When the fagots were lighted he stretched out his right
hand, which had signed the recantation, into the flames,
and there held it firmly till it was a mere cinder. This
took place before his body was reached by the fire.
Crome (John, English landscape painter), 1766-1821.
" Hobbima, Hobbima, how I do love thee ! "
CROSBY (Howard, Presbyterian clergyman, chancellor
of the University of New York, and a man of great clas-
sical learning), 1 826-1 891 . " My heart is resting sweetly
with Jesus, and my hand is in his."
CULLEN (William, distinguished physician), 1712-1790.
" I wish I had the power of writing, for then I would de-
scribe to you how pleasant a thing it is to die."
40
2r>i0tmgui0t)e& spen anfi Women*
CUMMINS (George David, first Bishop of the Reformed
Episcopal Church), 1 822-1 876. " Jesus f precious
Saviour /"
His last message to his church was : " Tell them to go
forward and do a good work.' 1
CuviER (George Chretien Leopold Frederic Dagobert,
Baron, one of the greatest naturalists of modern times,
and founder of the science of comparative anatomy),
1 769-1 832. "// is delightful to see those whom I love
still able to swallow." To his daughter-in-law, to whom
he handed a glass of lemonade he found himself unable
to swallow.
DAMIENS, (Robert Francis, known for his attempt to
assassinate Louis XV., and called because of his crimes
Robert le Diable), 1715-1757. " death, why art thou
so long in coming ? "
The punishment inflicted upon Damiens for his attack
upon the king was horrible. The hand by which he at-
tempted the murder was burned at a slow fire ; the fleshy
parts of his body were then torn off by pincers; and
finally, he was dragged about for an hour by four strong
horses, while into his numerous wounds were poured
molten lead, resin, oil and boiling wax. Towards night,
the poor wretch expired, having by an effort of will al-
most superhuman, kept his resolution of not confessing
who were his accomplices if, indeed, he had any. His
remains were immediately burned, his house was de-
stroyed, his father, wife and daughter were banished from
41
iUtft OTtorft* of
France forever, and his brothers and sisters compelled to
change their names. — Chambers.
DANTON (Georges Jacques), 17 $9-1794. " You will
show my head to the people — // will be worth the display I "
Said to the executioner.
When the judges asked him his name, residence, etc.,
he answered, " My name is Danton ; my dwelling will
soon be in annihilation ; but my name will live in the
Pantheon of history ! " — Lamartine.
Darwin, Charles, one of the most eminent of English
naturalists), 1 809-1 882. " I am not in the least afraid to
dier
Darwin (Erasmus, English poet and physician. Au-
thor of "The Botanic Garden"), 1 731-1802. " There is
no time to be lost."
It is reported at Lichfield, that, perceiving himself
growing rapidly worse, he said to Mrs. Darwin, " My
dear, you must bleed me instantly." "Alas!" said she,
"I dare not, lest — " "Emma, will you? There is no
time to be lost." " Yes, my dear father, if you will direct
me." At this moment he sank into his chair and expired.
The Book of Death.
De Lagny (Thomas Fantet, French mathematician),
1 660-1 734. " 144," in response to a friend who asked for
the square of 12.
Delgado (Gen. E., the Honduras Revolutionist),
— 1886. " We are ready — soldiers y fire / "
42
Dtetingufatyeti $E)en and Women.
He was shot with three other revolutionists (Lieut. -Col.
Indalecio Garcia, Commander Meguel Cortez, and Lieut.
Gabriel Loyant), at Comayagua, October 18, 1886.
It was the desire of President Bogran to spare Gen.
Delgado's life if possible, and any pretext would have
been readily seized upon to give him an opportunity of
saving himself and at the same time vindicate the tribunal
which had condemned him. The President sent a mes-
senger to him to say that if he would promise to never
again take up arms against Honduras he should receive a
pardon. The soldier was too brave to accept even his
life on these terms, and he sent back word that he would
see Honduras in an even more tropical climate than she
now enjoys before he would accept his pardon on such a
pledge. When his answer was received there was nothing
left but to prepare for the execution.
On the morning of their execution the men were taken
to a point near the Church of Comayagua ; four coffins
were placed near the wall and the four condemned men
were led to them. They accepted their positions as easily
and gracefully as if they were in boxes at the opera, and
not a face was blanched, not a nerve quivered. Gen.
Delgado asked and received permission to order the guard
to fire, which he did, first requesting them not to shoot
him in the face, but in the breast. There was no rattle,
no scattering reports, but one sharp, stunning report
The four men for half a second remained in an upright
position, as if still unhurt, and then rolled over, limp and
bloody, dead. The soldiers had complied with Gen.
Delgado's request, for three balls had penetrated his
breast.
43
iLa*t Mora* of
DEMORAX (Greek philosopher), second century B. C.
" You may go home, the show is over** — Lucian.
De QuiNCEY (Thomas, "The English opium-eater"),
1785-1859. "Sister/ sister/ sister/** During his last
illness he was subject to fits of delirium, and in one of
these he died. His last words indicate that he was living
over in his mind the scenes of early days.
Mr. Mackay gives this account of the condition of De
Quincey's grave as it was in 1889 :
" The mural tablet is not weather-stained, and his grave
is not utterly neglected, but well cared for by some loving
hand or other. When in Edinburgh I almost always
visit his grave, and only on Thursday, May 23 last, I was
there, and as the birds sang about in the grounds, the
trees rustled, and the sun shone, I could hardly think of
him sleeping in a more lovely spot, save it might be along
with Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge in the church-
yard at Grasmere."
A bright, ready, and melodious talker, but in the end
inconclusive and long-winded. One of the smallest man-
figures I ever saw ; shaped like a pair of tongs, and hardly
above five feet in all. When he sate, you would have
taken him, by candle-light, for the beautifulest little child,
blue-eyed, sparkling face, had there not been a something
too which said, " Eccovi — this child has been in hell."
Carlyle.
DESMOULINS (Benedict Camille, prominent French
democrat and pamphleteer, called the " Attorney-general
of the Lamp-post/' because of his part in the death of
those who were hung by the mob in the street), 1762-
44
a>i*tmgut*!)et) spot and Wtomm.
1794. " Behold, then, the recompense reserved for the first
apostle of liberty." Said while standing before the guillo-
tine, and looking at the axe. When at the bar of Tinville
he was asked his age, name, and residence, he said : " My
age is that of the sansculotte Jesu — I am thirty- three ;
an age fatal to revolutionists."
De Soto (Hernando, Spanish explorer, discoverer of
the Mississippi River), about 1496-1542. " LuisdeMos-
coso — the name of his successor. He must have spoken
later, for he lived twenty-four hours after appointing his
successor, but what he said the compiler has been unable
to discover.
Believing his death near at hand, on the twentieth of
May he held a last interview with his followers and,
yielding to the wishes of his companions, who obeyed
him to the end, he named a successor. On the next day
he died. Thus perished Ferdinand de Soto, the governor
of Cuba, the successful associate of Pizarro. His miser-
able end was the more observed from the greatness of his
former prosperity. His soldiers pronounced his eulogy
by grieving for their loss ; the priests chanted over his
body the first requiems that were ever heard on the
waters of the Mississippi. To conceal his death, his body
was wrapped in a mantle, and in the stillness of midnight
was sunk in the middle of the stream. — Bancroft.
De Witt (Cornelius, Dutch naval officer and states-
man), 1625-1672.
One Tichelaer, a barber, a man noted for infamy, ac-
cused Cornelius de Witt of endeavoring by bribes to en-
45
iUtft Wort* of
gage him in the design of poisoning the Prince of Orange.
The accusation, though attended with the most improbable,
and even absurd circumstances, was greedily received by
the credulous multitude ; and Cornelius was cited before a
court of judicature. The judges, either blinded by the
same prejudices, or not daring to oppose the popular
torrent, condemned him to suffer the question. This
man, who had bravely served his country in war, and
who had been invested with the highest dignities, was
delivered into the hands of the executioner, and torn in
pieces by the most inhuman torments. Amidst the
severe agonies which he endured, he still made protesta-
tions of his innocence, and frequently repeated an ode of
Horace, which contained sentiments suited to his deplor-
able condition : "Justum et tenacem propositi virum" etc}
1 The man whose mind, on virtue bent,
Pursues some greatly good intent,
With undiverted aim,
Serene beholds the angry crowd ;
Nor can their clamors, fierce and loud,
His stubborn honor tame.
Not the proud tyrant's fiercest threat,
Nor storms, that from their dark retreat
The lawless surges wake ;
Not Jove's dread bolt, that shakes the pole,
The firmer purpose of his soul
With all its power can shake.
Should nature's frame in ruins fall,
And chaos o'er the sinking ball
Resume the primeval sway,
His courage chance and fate defies,
Nor feels the wreck of earth and skies
Obstruct its destined way.
Blacklocke.
4 6
BDitftingufetyet) spot and W&omm.
The judges, however, condemned him to lose his
offices, and to be banished the commonwealth. The
pensionary, who had not been terrified from performing
the part of a kind brother and faithful friend during this
prosecution, resolved not to desert him on account of the
unmerited infamy which was endeavored to be thrown
upon him. He came to his brother's prison, determined
to accompany him to the place of exile. The signal was
given to the populace. They rose in arms ; they broke
open the doors of the prison ; they pulled out the two
brothers, and a thousand hands vied who should first be
imbrued in their blood. Even their death did not sati-
ate the brutal rage of the multitude. They exercised on
the dead bodies of those virtuous citizens indignities too
shocking to be recited ; and till tired with their own fury,
they permitted not the friends of the deceased to approach
or to bestow on them the honors of a funeral, silent and
unattended. — Hume's History of England.
Dickens (Charles), 1 812-1870. " On the ground"
He was losing his balance and feared that he would fall
to the floor.
DIDEROT (Denis, French philosopher, atheist and
chief among the Encyclopedists), 171 2-1 784. On the
evening of the 30th of July, 1784, he sat down to table,
and at the end of the meal took an apricot. His wife,
with kindly solicitude, remonstrated. " Mais quel diable
de mal veux-te que cela me fosse? " he said, and ate the
apricot. Then he rested his elbow on the table, trifling
with some sweetmeats. His wife asked him a question ;
47
iLotft Mortar of
on receiving no answer, she looked up and saw that he
was dead. He had died as the Greek poet says that
men died in the golden age, "They passed away as if
mastered by sleep." — John Morley.
DILLON (Wentworth, Earl of Roscommon, English
poet and translator), about 163 3-1 684. His last words
were from his own translation of the " Dies Irae " :
" My God, my Father, and my Friend,
Do not forsake me in the end."
DODD (Rev. Dr. William, author of numerous religious
and other works. He was the founder of "The Magda-
len " for reclaiming young women fallen from virtue,
the " Poor Debtors' Society " and the " Humane So-
ciety." He was executed for forgery), 1 729-1 777. Just
before his death he said to the executioner, " Come to
me," and when the executioner obeyed, the doctor whis-
pered to him. What he said is not known, but it was ob-
served that the man had no sooner driven away than he
took the place where the cart had been, under the gib-
bet, and held the doctor's legs, as if to steady the body,
and the unhappy man appeared to die without pain.
Dominic (St., founder of the order of Dominicans and
of the order of Preaching Friars. He was one of the in-
stigators of the cruel and inhuman crusade against the
Albigenses about 12 12. Many strange stories are told
of him, and among these that he offered himself for sale
48
SPtetmgutsfyeO gpen and OTomnt*
to the highest bidder, in order to raise money for chari-
table purposes), u 70-1 221. "Under the feet of my
friars" when asked where he would like to be buried.
Donne (John, D. D., English poet and theologian),
1 573-163 1. "/ were miserable, if I might not die."
Some say his last words were : " I repent of my life ex-
cept that part of it which I spent in communion with
God, and in doing good."
Dr. Donne was formerly Dean of St. Paul's. Among
other preparations for his death, he ordered an urn to be
cut in wood, on which was to be placed a board of the
exact height of his body. He then caused himself to
be tied up in a winding-sheet. Thus shrouded, and
standing with his eyes shut, and with just so much of the
sheet put aside as might discover his death-like face,
he caused his portrait to be taken, which, when finished,
was placed near his bedside, and there remained to the
hour of his death. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathe-
dral, where a monument was erected over him, composed
of white marble, and carved from the above-mentioned
picture, by order of his dearest friend and executor, Dr,
King, Bishop of Chichester. 1
1 Charles V., of Spain, seems to have entertained the same morbid desire
for a personal acquaintance with his own post-mortem appearance and condi-
tion. In Robertson's History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. we
have this account of the monarch's attendance upon his own funeral : " He
resolved to celebrate his own obsequies before his death. He ordered his
tomb to be erected in the chapel of the monastery. His domestics marched
thither in funeral procession, with black tapers in their hands. He himself
followed in his shroud. He was laid in his coffin with much solemnity.
4 49
ILatft OTorto of
DORNEY (Henry, a man of peculiarly beautiful life and
religious experience. His " Contemplations and Letters,"
published after his death, had a large circulation), 1613-
1683. " lam almost dead ; lift me up a little higher" to
his wife.
DREW (Samuel, English preacher and author. He
commenced life as an infidel shoemaker, but after conver-
sion gave himself to constant study of the Bible and
Christian Theology. He wrote the once famous book,
"The Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul"),
1765-1833. " Thank \God t to-morrow I shall join the
glorious company above" Last recorded words.
EDWARD I. (of England, surnamed " Longshanks "),
1 239-1 307. " Carry my bones before you on your march 9
for the rebels will not be able to endure the sight of me>
The service for the dead was chanted, and Charles joined in the prayers
which were offered up for the rest of his soul, mingling his tears with those
which his attendants shed, as if they had been celebrating a real funeral.
The ceremony closed with sprinkling holy water on the coffin in the usual
form, and all the assistants retiring, the doors of the chapel were shut. Then
Charles rose out of the coffin, and withdrew to his apartment, full of those
awful sentiments which such a singular solemnity was calculated to inspire."
This story is somewhat changed in Stirling's "Cloister Life of the Emperor
Charles V."
If I must die, I'll snatch at every thing
That may but mind me of my latest breath ;
Death's-heads, Graves, Knells, Blacks, Tombs,
all these shall bring
Into my soul such useful thoughts of death,
That this sable king of fears
Shall not catch me unawares.
Quarks,
50
BD&tingufetyeti S0m and OTomeu*
tf/iw or dead** to his son Edward. 1 He died while en-
deavoring to subdue a revolt in Scotland.
Edward VI. (son of Henry VIII. and Queen Jane
Seymour), 1537-1553. " Lord take my spirit. **
Edward (Prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince
from the color of his armor), 1 330-1 376. " I give thee
thanks, O God, for all thy benefits, and with all the pains
of my soul I humbly beseech thy mercy to give me remission
of those sins I have wickedly committed against thee ; and
of all mortal men whom willingly or ignorantly I have
offended, with all my heart I desire forgiveness**
Edwards (Jonathan, president of the College of New
Jersey and one of the greatest of metaphysicians), 1703-
1757. " Trust in God and you need not fear** to one who
lamented his approaching death as a frown on the college
and a heavy stroke to the church.
1 These instructions were probably ignored; for, when his tomb was
opened by the Society of Antiquaries in 1 771, those present gazed for a
moment on the features of the great victor before they sank into dust The
gold cloth was still folded round the colossal corpse; and the cast in the
eyes was distinctly noticeable. The snow-white hair still remained. The
coffin was then filled with pitch. — Farrar.
John Zisca, general of the insurgents who took up arms in 14 19 against
the Emperor Sigismund, seems to have had a like spirit with Edward I.
He would revenge the deaths of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who had
been cruelly burned at the stake for their religious faith. He defeated the
Emperor in several pitched battles, and gave orders that, after his death,
they should make a drum out of his skin. The order was most religiously
obeyed, and those very remains of the enthusiastic Zisca proved, for many
years, fatal to the emperor, who, with difficulty, in the space of sixteen
years, recovered Bohemia, assisted by the forces of Germany. The insur-
gents were 40,000 in number, and well disciplined.
si
iUutt WSBLotba of
The most awfully tremendous of all metaphysical divines
is the American ultra Calvinist, Jonathan Edwards, whose
book on " Original Sin " I unhappily read when a very
young man. It did me an irreparable mischief.
An English Author,
Egbert (Col. Harry C), — 1899. " Good-by, Gen-
eral; I am done. I am too old" said to Gen. Wheaton,
who bending over the wounded officer, exclaimed, " Nobly
done, Egbert !" Col. Egbert was killed near Manila in
the war between the United States and the Philip-
pines.
In all his army service he was wounded four times be-
fore he received his death wound. He was accounted
one of the most competent officers in the army, and in
action it was said of him that the army had no officer
more dashing, with the possible exception of Gen. Guy
V. Henry, now in command of the United States forces
in Porto Rico. He was a little man, not above 5 feet 5
inches, and weighed only about no pounds. He had
reddish hair, streaked with gray, and wore a red mustache
and imperial. In plain clothes he was most immaculate,
and he was called the best dressed officer in the army.
N. Y. Daily Sun, March 27, 18pp.
Eldon (John Scott, Earl, Lord Chancellor of Eng-
land), 1 750-1 838. "// matters not where I am going
whether the weather be cold or hot" to one who spoke
to him about the weather.
He was a bigoted admirer of the law, of which he was
so consummate a master. Projects of law reform cut him
52
SDtetingui^rt S0m anD Women*
to the soul, and he has been represented as shedding
tears on the abolition of the punishment of death for
stealing five shillings in a dwelling-house.
Appletoris Cyclopedia of Biography.
ELIOT (Rev. John, commonly called " The Apostle to
the Indians"), 1604-1690. " O, come in glory / I have
long waited for Thy coming. Let no dark cloud rest on
the work of the Indians. Let it live when I am dead.
Welcome joy/**
Elizabeth (Queen of England, and daughter of Henry
VIIL, by Anne Boleyn), 1533-1603. " All my possessions
for one moment of time."
Some give her last words thus : " I will have no rogue's
son in my seat."
When Sir Robert Cecil declared that she must go to
bed and receive medical aid, the word roused her like a
trumpet. " Must !" she exclaimed, " is must a word to
be addressed to princes? Little man, little man! thy
father, were he alive, durst not have used that word "
Then, as her anger spent itself, she sank into the old de-
jection : " Thou art so presumptuous," she said, " because
thou knowest that I shall die." She rallied once more
when the ministers beside her named Lord Beauchamp,
the heir to the Suffolk claim, as a possible successor.
" I will have no rogue's son," she cried hoarsely, " in my
seat." But she gave no sign save a motion of the head
at the mention of the King of Scots. She was, in fact,
fast becoming insensible; and early the next morning,
4 # S3
iUtft WSSjOXM Of
on March 24, 1603, the Kf e of Elizabeth, a life so great, so
strange and lonely in its greatness, ebbed quietly away. 1
Elizabeth (Philippine Marie H&&ne, usually called
Madame Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI.), 1764- 1794.
"In the name of modesty, cover my bosom / "
When she ascended the scaffold, the executioner rudely
undid the clasp which closed the veil across her breast.
" In the name of modesty," she said to one of the by-
standers whose arms were not tied, " cover my bosom ! "
Alison, in his " History of Europe," calls attention to
the fact that " a similar instance of heroic virtue in death
occurred in a female martyr in the early Christian church.
Perpetua and Felicitas, both Christians, were sentenced,
in the year 203, to be killed by wild cattle at Carthage.
They were both attacked, accordingly, by furious bulls,
who tossed them on their horns. So violent was the
shock that Perpetua fell on the ground stunned; but,
partly recovering her senses, she was seen gathering
her torn clothes about her, so as to conceal her limbs, and
after tying her hair, she helped Felicitas to rise, who had
been severely wounded; and, standing together, they
calmly awaited another attack."
Emerson (Ralph Waldo, American essayist, poet, and
speculative philosopher), 1 803-1 882.
1 There is a dim tradition that, much more than a century ago, the tomb un-
der which the two sister-queens — Mary, the Roman Catholic, and Elizabeth,
the Protestant, regno consortes et urna — lie side by side had fallen into dis-
repair, and that a bold Westminster boy crept into the hollow vault, and,
through an aperture in the coffin, laid his hand on the heart of the mighty
Tudor queen. — Farrar.
54
BDitftmguisfyrt jjften aitti W&omtn.
For the day or two before his death he was troubled
with the thought that he was away from home, detained
by illness, at some friend's house, and that he ought to
make the effort to get away and relieve him of the incon-
venience. But to the last there was no delirium ; in gen-
eral he recognized every one and understood what was
said to him, though he was sometimes unable to pake
intelligible reply. He took affectionate leave of his fam-
ily and the friends who came to see him for the last time,
and desired to see all who came. To his wife he spoke
tenderly of their life together and her loving care of him ;
they must now part, to meet again and part no more.
Then he smiled and said, " O, that beautiful boy ! "
I was permitted to see him on the day of his death.
He knew me at once, greeted me with the familiar smile,
and tried to rise and to say something, but I could not
catch the words.
He was buried on Sunday, April 30, in Sleepy Hollow,
a beautiful grove on the edge of the village, consecrated
as a burial-place in 1855, Emerson delivering the ad-
dress. Here, at the foot of a tall pine-tree upon the top
of the ridge in the highest part of the grounds, his body
was laid, not far from the graves of Hawthorne and of
Thoreau, and surrounded by those of his kindred.
James Elliot Cabot.
Emmet (Robert, "an eloquent Irish enthusiast and
sincere patriot, and one of the chiefs of the 'United
Irishmen' "), 1780-1803. "Not—"
He said on the scaffold, at the close of a brief address :
" My friends, I die in peace, and with sentiments of uni-
55
IL&tft WBLotb* of
versal love and kindness towards all men." He then shook
hands with some persons on the platform, presented his
watch to the executioner, and removed his stock. The
immediate preparations for execution then were carried
into effect, he assisted in adjusting the rope round his
neck, and was then placed on the plank underneath the
beam, and the cap was drawn over his face ; but he con-
trived to raise his hand, partly removed it, and spoke a
few words in a low tone to the executioner. The cap
was replaced, and he stood with a handkerchief in his
hand, the fall of which was to be the signal for the last
act of the " finisher of the law." After standing on the
plank for a few seconds the executioner said : " Are you
ready, sir ? " and Emmet said, " Not yet." There was
another momentary pause; no signal was given; again
the executioner repeated the question, " Are you ready,
sir ? " And again Emmet said, " Not yet." The ques-
tion was put a third time, and Emmet pronounced the
word " Not " ; but before he had time to utter another
word the executioner tilted one end of the plank off the
ledge. — Madden' s Life of Emmet.
Let no man write my epitaph; for as no man who
knows my motives dare now vindicate them, let not
prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them and me
repose in obscurity and peace, and my tomb remain un-
inscribed until other times and other men can do justice
to my character. When my country takes her place
among the nations of the earth — then, and not till then
— let my epitaph be written. I have done.
From Emmet* s Last Speech.
See Moore's beautiful poem on Emmet's fate and on
56
SD&tmgufatyeD spen and Women*
his attachment to Miss Curran in two of the Irish
Melodies.
Emmons (Rev. Dr. Nathaniel, distinguished New Eng-
land theologian and divine), 1745-1840. " I am ready."
ENGHIEN d' (Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon, Due),
1 772-1 804. To the soldiers who had pointed their fusees
he said : " Grenadiers ! lower your arms> otherwise you
"will miss me or only wound me"
Erasmus (surnamed Roterdamensis, Dutch scholar.
He was an illegitimate son of Gerard Praet, a citizen of
Gonda), 1467-1536. " Domine ! Domine! fac finem!
fac finem I "
EVERERUARD (Charles de, Saint-Denis, Frenchcourtier,
soldier, wit and litterateur. He was a brave man, but of
flippant disposition), 16 13-1703. " With all my heart:
I would fain be reconciled to my stomachy which no longer
performs its usual functions*' said to an ecclesiastic who
asked him if he would be reconciled. During his last
days he gave no attention to religious matters, and only
regretted that he could not digest partridges and pheasants,
and must eat only boiled meats.
Farinato (Paolo, Italian painter), about 1525-1606.
" Now I am going" These words he cried out as he lay
upon his death bed. His wife who was sick in the same
room, hearing him, answered, " I will bear you company,
my dear husband ; " and she did so, for as he drew his
last breath she also expired.
57
\J
ila*e Wort* of
Flavel (John, distinguished nonconformist clergyman
and author), 1 627-1 691. "/ know that it will be well
with me"
A man of beautiful Christian character and great learn-
ing who was ejected from his charge at Dartmouth in 1662
for nonconformity. The Episcopalians were not satisfied to
persecute this servant of God during his life, but ordered
his monument removed from the Church of St. Saviour.
Fontenelle DE (Bernard le Bovier, author of " Con-
versations on a Plurality of Worlds," " Dialogues of the
Dead" and "History of the Academy of Science"),
1 65 7- 1 7 5 7. " / suffer nothing, but feel a sort of difficulty
of living longer"
Voltaire calls him, " The most universal genius of the
age of Louis XIV."
Fordyce (George, distinguished Scottish physician.
Author of " Elements of Agriculture and Vegetation "),
1 736-1 802. " Stop, go out of the room ; I am about to
die" said to his daughter who was reading to him.
FORSTER (Johann Reinhold, a Polish Prussian naturalist,
geographer and philologist), 1 729-1 798. " This is a
beautiful world"
Fox (George, founder of the Society of Friends) 1624-
1690. " All is well, all is well — the seed of God reigns
over all, and over death itself Though I am weak in
body, yet the power of God is over all, and the seed reigns
over all disorderly spirits" A little later he said, and they
were his last words, " Never heed ; the Lord's power is
over all weakness and death"
58
HDtetmguialjeD fytn anu Women*
Fox (Charles James, English orator and statesman),
1 749-1 806. " Trotter will tell you" said to Mrs. Fox,
who did not understand what he meant.
FRANCIS (Saint, of Assisi, founder of an order of men-
dicant friars called Franciscans or Cordeliers, from the
cord with which they girded their coarse tunics), 1182-
1226. " The righteous wait expectant till I receive my
recompense"
Members of his order were kneeling around his bed,
awaiting his death.
Francke (August Hermann, professor of Oriental
languages at Halle, author of " Methodus Studii Theo-
logize " and other works, and founder of the orphan asylum
and college for the poor which were known as Francke's
Institutions), 1 660-1 727. " Yes" to his wife who asked
him if his Saviour was still with him.
So long as he was able to speak he would repeat from
time to time in both Hebrew and German, " God will
continue to support me. My soul has cast itself upon
him ; Lord, I wait for thy salvation ! "
Franklin (Benjamin, moralist, statesman, and philoso-
pher), 1706-1790."^ dying man can do nothing easy"
He endured in later years a complication of diseases,
which brought the extremity of physical suffering, but
courage was strong, and he worked on almost to the last.
Worn with pain, he welcomed the end. His last look
was on the picture of Christ which had hung for many
years near his bed, and of which he often said, " That is
the picture of one who came into the world to teach men
to love one another.' ' The resolute repression of all signs
59
JLatft Wort* of
of suffering, every indication of the long conflict, passed
at once. He lay smiling in a quiet slumber, and the smile
lingered when the coffin lid shut him in. His grave is in
the heart of the city he loved, and even the careless pass-
erby pauses a moment to read the simple legend.
An epitaph, written by him in 1729, holds his chief
characteristics, his humor, his quiet assurance of better
things to come, whether for this world or the next :
THE BODY
OF
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
PRINTER,
(LIKE THE COVER OF AN OLD BOOK,
ITS CONTENTS TORN OUT,
AND STRIPT OF ITS LETTERING AND GILDING),
LIES HERE, FOOD FOR WORMS.
YET THE WORK ITSELF SHALL NOT BE LOST,
FOR IT WILL, AS HE BELIEVES, APPEAR ONCE MORE,
IN A NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EDITION,
CORRECTED AND AMENDED
BY
THE AUTHOR. 1
1 It has been suggested that Franklin was helped to his famous epitaph
upon himself by Benjamin Woodbridge's funeral elegy upon John Cotton,,
preserved in Mather's Magnalia :
" A living, breathing Bible; tables where
Best covenants at large engraven were ;
Gospel and law in his heart had each its column ;
His head an index to the sacred volume;
His very name a title-page ; and next
His life a commentary on the text.
O, what a monument of glorious worth,
When in a new edition he comes forth,
Without erratas, may we think he'll be
In leaves and covers of eternity."
60
H)t0ttngui0i)eo S0m ana Womem
Frederick William I. (Friedrich Wilhelm I., King
of Prussia, son of Frederick I.), 1688-1740. " Herr Jesu,
to thee I live ; Herr Jesu, to thee I die ; in life and in
death thou art my gain."
" Feel my pulse, Pitsch," said he, noticing the Surgeon
of his Giants : " tell me how long this will last." " Alas !
not long," answered Pitsch. " Say not, alas ; but how do
you know ?" " The pulse is gone !" " Impossible," said
he, lifting his arm: "how could I move my fingers
so, if the pulse were gone ?" Pitsch looked mourn-
fully steadfast. " Herr Jesu, to thee I live ; Herr Jesu,
to thee I die ; in life and in death thou art my gain (Du
bist mein Gewinn)." These were the last words Fried-
rich Wilhelm spoke in this world. He again fell into a
faint. Eller gave a signal to the Crown Prince to take
the Queen away. Scarcely were they out of the room,
when the faint deepened into death ; and Friedrich Wil-
helm, at rest from all his labors, slept with the primeval
sons of Thor. * — Carlyle.
FREDERICK II. (of Prussia, called Frederick the Great),
1 744- 1 786. " Throw a quilt over it." He referred to
one of his dogs that sat on a stool near him, and was
shivering from cold. These were his last conscious words,
l Mr. Carlyle may well call it a " characteristic trait/' in his favorite
Friedrich Wilhelm, as that " wild son of Nature " lay a-dying, that on a cer-
tain German hymn which he " much loved " being sung to him, or along
with him, — when they came to the words, " Naked I came into the world,
and naked shall I go out," — "No," said he, with vivacity, " not quite naked;
I shall have my uniform on." After which the singing went on again
with vivacity, akin to that with which the mother of Henri Quatre — not left
the world, but brought her son into it ; for historians, without romancing,
tell us she sung a gay Blarnais song as her brave boy was coming into
the world at Pau.
61
ILaott ttBortofof
but later, in delirium, he said, " La montagne est passie,
nous irons ntieux"
The king had always about him several small English
greyhounds; but of these only one was in favor at a
time, the others being taken merely as companions and
playmates to the fondling. As these greyhounds died
they were buried on the Terrace of Sans Souci, with the
name of each on a gravestone ; and Frederick, in his Will,
expressed his desire that his own remains might be in-
terred by their side — a parting token of his attachment
to them, and of his contempt for mankind ! On this point,
however, his wishes have not been complied with. 1
Lord Mahoris Historical Essays.
Frederick V. (of Denmark), 1723-1766. "// is a
great consolation to me, in my last hour, that I have never
wilfully offended anyone, and that there is not a drop of
blood on my hands."
Fuller (Andrew, English Baptist clergyman, first
secretary of the English Baptist Missionary Society, and
an author of great repute in his day. He has been called
the "Franklin of Theology"), 1754-1815. " I have no
religious joys ; but I have a hope, in the strength of which
I think I could plunge into eternity" said to a young min-
ister who stood by his bedside.
1 Mr. Berkley, of Knightsbridge, who died in 1805, left a pension of £2%
per annum to his four dogs. This man, when he felt his end approaching,
called for his four dogs. These were placed by his side ; and he reached
them his trembling hand, caressed them, and breathed his last between their
paws. The four dogs were sculptured, according to his last wish, upon the
corners of his tomb.
62
Ditfttngufafyet) S0m ant Womnx*
Fuseli or FUESSLI (John Henry, historical painter),
1 741-1 825. " Is Lawrence come — is Lawrence come t "
He looked anxiously round the room — said several
times, " Is Lawrence come — is Lawrence come ? " and
then appeared to listen for the sound of the chariot wheels
which brought his friend once a day from London to his
bedside. He raised himself up a little, then sank down
and died, on the 16th of April, 1825, and in the 84th year
of his age. — Life of Fuseli.
Gainsborough (Thomas, eminent portrait and land-
scape painter), 1 727-1 788. " We are all going to heaven,
and Vandyke is of the company"
Galba (Servius Sulpicius, Roman emperor), 3 B. c — 69
A. D. " Strike, if it be for the Roman's good." — Plutarch.
" Ferirent si ita e republica videretur," are the words
of Tacitus, who says, however, that there were many dif-
ferent stories of what he said ; those who killed him could
not be expected to care what it was ; " non interfuit occi-
dentium quid diceret." — Clough.
Gardiner (James, a Scottish officer distinguished for
piety and courage), 1688-1745. " You are fighting for
an earthly crown ; I am going to receive a heavenly one."
These words he is reported to have spoken to an officer
upon the opposite side after the battle against the Pre-
tender at Prestonpaus, in which he was mortally wounded,
but there is some doubt in the minds of his biographers
as to the trustworthiness of the report.
See Rev. Dr. Philip Doddridge's " Life of Col. James
63
v
Gardiner," and the account of Col. Gardiner's death in
Scott's "Waverley."
Gardiner (Stephen, Bishop of Winchester), 1483-
1555. " Erravi cum Petro, sed nonflevi cum Petto."
Gardner (Thomas, Colonel in the American army,
killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill), 1724- 1775. His
precise words are not preserved, but the last desire that
he expressed was that he might have sufficient strength
to continue the fight against the British one half hour
longer.
Col. Gardner is represented in a dramatic production
called " The Battle of Bunker Hill " which was printed
at Philadelphia in 1776, as saying immediately after re-
ceiving the wound of which he died :
" A musket ball, death-winged, hath pierced my groin,
And widely oped the swift current of my veins.
Bear me then, soldiers, to that hollow space
A little hence, just on the hill's decline.
A surgeon there may stop the gushing wound,
And gain a short respite to life, that yet
I may return and fight one half hour more.
Then shall I die in peace, and to my God
Surrender up the spirit which He gave."
Garfield (James A., twentieth President of the
United States: assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau),
1831-1881. " The people my trust."
Gassendi, or GASSEND (Pierre, philosopher, mathema-
tician, astronomer and metaphysician), 1592-1655. "You
see what is man's life"
64
H)i*tingui£tyet> fytn and Women*
GAUTAMA (" The Buddha," Siddhartha or Sakya Muni,
founder of Buddhism), B. C. 624-543. " Beloved Bickus,
the principle of existence, and mutability carries with it
the principle of destruction. Never forget this ; let your
minds be filled with this truth; to make it known to you I
have assembled you"
Bigandfs Life of Gautama, Vol. ii. f p. 68.
His life was without reproach. His constant heroism
equalled his conviction ; and if his theory was false, his
personal example was irreproachable. He was the model
of all the virtues he preached. His abnegation, his char-
ity, his unalterable gentleness did not forsake him for an
instant. He prepared his doctrine by six years of silence
and meditation, and he propagated it for half a century
by the sole power of his word. And when he died in the
arms of his disciples, it was with the serenity of a sage
who had practised good all his life, and who was assured
he had found the truth. — Barthilemy St. Hilaire.
Sir Edwin Arnold (in the Preface to his " The Light
of Asia ") calls Gautama " the highest, gentlest, holiest
and most beneficent personality, with one exception, in
the History of Thought," who " united the truest princely
qualities with the intellect of a sage and the passionate
devotion of a martyr. . . . Forests of flowers are
daily laid upon his stainless shrines, and countless mil-
lions of lips daily repeat the formula, ' I take refuge in
Buddha ! ' "
GELLERT (Christian Fiirchtegott, a German poet of
rare grace and beauty), 1715-1769. "Now, God be
praised, only one hour / " on being told that he could live
only an hour.
5 65
iLa*t OTtorM of
GEORGE IV. (of England, eldest son of George III. and
Queen Charlotte), 1 762-1 830. " Whatty, what is this?
It is death, my boy. They have deceived me," said to his
page, Sir Wathen Waller.
Gibbon (Edward, author of " The History of the De-
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire"), 1737-1794. " Mon
Dieu ! Mon Dieu I "
Some authorities give his last words thus : " Pourquoi
est ce que vous me quittez," to his valet-de-chambre.
The valet-de-chambre observed that Mr. Gibbon did
not at any time, show the least sign of alarm, or appre-
hension of death ; and it does not appear that he ever
thought himself in danger, unless his desire to speak to
Mr. Darrell may be considered in that light.
Lord Sheffield 's Memoirs.
GOAR (St., "Patron Saint of the Rhine"), u My chil-
dren, these fearful forests and these barren rocks shall be
adorned with cities and temples, where the name of Jesus
shall be openly adored. Ye shall abandon your precarious
and hard chase, and assemble together under temples lofty
as those pines, and graceful as the crown of the palm.
" Here shall my Saviour be known in all the simplicity
of his doctrines. Ah t would that I might witness it ;
but I have seen those things in a vision. But I faint ! I
am weary! My earthly journey is finished! Receive my
blessing. Go ! and be kind one to another."
Robert Blakey : " Christian Hermits."
Goethe or GOthe (Johann Wolfgang von), 1749-
183 1. "More light! more light!" He mistook the
shadow of death for evening twilight.
66
HDtetmgutetjeD 3pm and WZXomm.
He continued to express himself by signs, drawing
letters with his fore-finger in the air, while he had strength,
and finally, as life ebbed, drawing figures slowly on the
shawl which covered his legs. At half-past twelve he
composed himself in the corner of the chair. The watcher
placed a finger on her lip to intimate that he was asleep.
If sleep it was it was a sleep in which a great life glided
from this world. — Lewes' s Story of Goethe's Life.
Coudray, who was present when the poet died, left a
manuscript on " The Last Days and the Death of Goethe,"
which has been published. Goethe was seated in the
bed-room, in an arm-chair standing beside the bed.
Thinking that he saw paper lying on the floor, he said :
" Why is Schiller's correspondence permitted to lie here ? "
Immediately, thereupon, he uttered his last audible words :
" Do open the shutter in the bed-room, in order that
more light may enter.' ' (Mac At dock den Fensterladen int
Schlafgetnach auf, damit mehr Licht herein komme.)
Goldsmith (Oliver), 1728-1774. "No, it is not'* to
a physician who asked if his mind was at ease.
GOUGH (John Bartholomew, distinguished American
temperance advocate), 18 17-1886. " Young man, keep
your record — " the last word was inaudible, but was
probably " clean." *
1 A paragraph from one of Mr. Gough's public addresses, carved upon
his monument in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, shows the strength of his con-
viction and illustrates the directness and force of his style :
" I can desire nothing better for this great country than that a barrier high
as heaven be raised between the unpolluted lips of the children and the in-
toxicating cup, that everywhere men and women should raise strong and
determined hands against whatever will defile the body, pollute the mind, or
harden the heart against God and His truth."
67
ILatft WLotb* of
Grant (Ulysses Simpson, eighteenth President of the
United States, and one of the most distinguished of
American generals), 1822-1885. " Water" said to an
attendant who inquired if he wished for anything.
Gray (Thomas, author of " Elegy written in a country
churchyard "), 17 1 6-1 77 1 . " Molly, I shall die / "
Green (Joseph Henry, distinguished English sur-
geon, thinker, philosopher, and instructor), 1 791-1863.
"Stopped I"
Among all the brilliant young men who gathered at
the feet of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, eager to learn from
this " rapt one of the god-like brow," none surpassed him
in admiration, and possibly in ability. It was not strange
that Coleridge selected him to complete the development
of that " Spiritual Philosophy " which was the great un-
accomplished work of his life. Upon Coleridge's death,
Mr. Green abandoned all his London work, threw aside
the distinctions and emoluments of professional life, re-
wards that would surely increase from year to year, and
devoted his whole time to philosophy and incidental
studies to qualify himself for carrying out the commission
of Coleridge. The story of his death has been told by
one of his colleagues at St. Thomas's Hospital, one whose
fame is familiar to the profession, Mr. Simon. " Not even
the last agony of death," said Mr. Simon, " ruffled his
serenity of mind, or rendered him unthoughtful of others.
No terrors, no selfish regrets, no reproachful memories
were there. The few tender parting words which he had
yet to speak, he spoke. And to the servants who were
68
I>t*tmgut£tyet> flj&m and Women.
gathered grieving round him, he said, 'While I have
breath, let me thank you for all your kindness and atten-
tion to me.' Next to his doctor, who quickly entered, —
his neighbor and old pupil, Mr. Carter, — he significantly,
and pointing to the region of his heart, said, ' Congestion/
after which he in silence set his finger to his wrist, and
visibly noted to himself the successive feeble pulses which
were just between him and death. Presently he said
' Stopped,' and this was the very end. It was as if even
to die were an act of his own self-government; for at
once, with the warning word still scarce beyond his lips,
suddenly the stately head drooped aside, passive and de-
funct, forever.' ' — Dr. Theophilus Parvin.
GREGORY VII. (the Great, Pope Hildebrand), about
1020-1085. " I have loved justice and hated iniquity ;
therefore, I die an exile" He died at Salerno, May 25,
1085.
His dying words are deeply affecting, but yet a stern
and unbending profession of the faith of his whole life,
and of the profound convictions under which even his
enemies acknowledge him to have acted.
Chambers' Encyclopcedia.
GREY (Lady Jane), 1537-1554. "Lord, into Thy
hands I commend my spirit"
Then the hangman kneeled down and asked her for-
giveness, whom she forgave most willingly. Then he
willed her to stand upon the straw ; which doing, she saw
the block. Then she said, " I pray you despatch me
quickly." Then she kneeled down, saying, "Will you
5* 69
ila*t Wort* of
take it off before I lay me down ? " And the hangman
said, " No, Madam." Then she tied the handkerchief
about her eyes, and, feeling for the block, she said, " What
shall I do ? Where is it ? Where is it ? " One of the
standers-by guided her thereunto; she laid her head
down upon the block and then stretched forth her body,
and said " Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit,"
and so finished her life in the year of our Lord 1554.
Fox's Book of Martyrs.
Lady Jane was only in her seventeenth year, and was
remarkable for her skill in the classical, oriental, and
modern languages, and for the sweetness of her disposi-
tion.
GROTIUS or De Groot (Hugo, jurist, divine, histo-
rian, and scholar), 1 583-1645. " I heard your voice ; but
did not understand what you said" to Quistorpius, a
clergyman who repeated in German a prayer suitable for
a dying person. Some say his last words were, "Be
serious."
GuiTEAU (Charles Julius, hanged June 30, 1882, in the
United States jail, Washington, D. C, for the assassination
of President Garfield), 1841-1882. " Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy / I come ! Ready t Go I "
Guiteau published, while in jail, his autobiography,
through the medium of a metropolitan newspaper. It is
full of repetitions and minute details, and its reading is a
severe tax upon patience. It establishes the fact that, in
spite of his assertions to the contrary, his motive was not
political, but was the gratification of an inordinate vanity.
70
l>t*ttngttt£tyet> flpen and Women*
In one place Guiteau says: "During the week preceding
the President's removal, I read the papers carefully. I
thought it all over in detail. I thought just what people
would talk, and thought what a tremendous excitement
it would create, and I kept thinking about it all the week.
I then prepared myself. I sent to Boston for a copy of
my book, * The Truth/ and I spent a week in preparing
that, and I greatly improved it. I knew that it would
probably have a large sale on account of the notoriety
that the act of removing the President would give me,
and I wished the book to go out to the public in proper
shape." It is now generally believed that Guiteau was
insane.
Gustavus ADOLPHUS (Gustavus II., King of Sweden,
one of the greatest of soldiers and one of the best of men),
1 594-1632. " I have enough, brother; try to save your own
life" to the Duke of Lauenburg.
A subaltern of the imperial army, observing the respect
with which the unknown officer was treated by his few
followers, naturally concluded that he was a person of im-
portance, and called out to a musketeer: "Shoot that
man, for I am sure he is an officer of high rank." The
soldier immediately fired, and the King's left arm fell
powerless by his side. At this moment a wild cry was
raised, " The king bleeds ! the king is wounded ! " " It
is nothing !" shouted Gustavus; "follow me." But the
pain soon brought on faintness, and he desired the Duke
of Lauenburg in French to lead him out of the throng.
Whilst the duke was endeavoring to withdraw him with-
out being noticed by the troops, a second shot struck
71
J
ila*t Wort* of
Gustavus and deprived him of his little remaining strength.
" I have enough, brother," he said in a feeble voice to the
duke ; " try to save your own life." At the same moment
he fell from his horse, and in a short time breathed his
last. — Markhatris Germany.
HALE (Nathan, captain in Continental Army, executed
by the British as a spy), 1755-1776. " I only regret that
I have but one life to give to my country! "
He was confined in the green-house of the garden dur-
ing the night of September 21, and the next morning,
without even the form of a regular trial, was delivered to
Cunningham, the brutal provost marshal, to be executed
as a spy. He was treated with great inhumanity by that
monster. The services of a clergyman and the use of a
Bible were denied him, and even the letters which he had
been permitted by Howe to write to his mother and sis-
ters during the night were destroyed. He was hanged
upon an apple-tree in Rutger's orchard, near the present
intersection of East Broadway and Market street.
Lossing's Field- Book of the Revolution , Vol. 2, p. 609.
I Haller (Dr. Albert, eminent Swiss anatomist and
physiologist. He is chiefly known by his " Disputationes
Anatomicae Selectae." George II. obtained for him a
brevet as a noble of the English Empire, and he is some-
times spoken of as Baron Haller), 1 708-1 777. Feeling
his own pulse, he exclaimed, " The artery ceases to beat"
and instantly expired.
HALYBURTON (Thomas, professor of divinity in the
new college at St. Andrews), 1 674-1 7 12. " Pray, pray I "
72
SDttftmgtu^eD $0m and W&omm.
He cried out several times, " Fall grace, free grace ; not
unto me." He spoke little the last six hours before his
death, only some broken sentences, which with difficulty
were understood. Now and then he would lift up his
hands and clap them as a sign that he was encouraging
himself in the Lord. At last he cried, " Pray, pray ! "
which was done by five or six ministers, and so he fell
asleep in our Lord.
Hampden (John, English patriot and statesman), 1594-
1643. " O Lord, save my country t O Lord, be merciful
to ."
HARRISON (William Henry, ninth President of the
United States), 1 773-1 841. "/ wish you to understand
the true principles of government. I wish them carried
out. I ask nothing more."
HAUSER (Kaspar, the "Nuremberg Foundling "),
— 1833. " Tired — very tired — a long journey — to take"
after these words he turned his face to the wall and never
spoke again.
He was growing more feeble every moment, and re-
peated several times, " Tired — very tired — all my limbs
— too heavy — for me."
The good Pastor Fuhrmann comforted and encouraged
him with the words of Scripture, ending with, " Father,
not my will," and Kaspar responded, " but thine be
done." To test his consciousness, the Pastor asked,
"Who prayed thus?" and again he was ready with his
answer, " Our Saviour." — " And when ? " — " Before he
73
ila*t Wort* of
died." A few minutes after this followed his last words,
"Tired — very tired — a long journey — to take." — The
Duchess of Cleveland: " The True Story of Kaspar
Hauser"
The strange and mysterious history and sad death of
Kaspar Hauser called forth the deepest interest and sym-
pathy throughout Europe. He was discovered in the
streets of Nuremberg in 1828, a lad of about sixteen,
knowing almost nothing of the world, and able to speak
but two or three words of any language, and of the
meaning of these he had but a dim understanding. He
had with him a letter purporting to be written by a Ba-
varian peasant, declaring that Hauser had been left at
his door, and had been cared for by him. It was gradu-
ally ascertained that the youth had been confined from
infancy in a dark vault, so small that one could not
stand, and could move only slightly in its enclosure. He
had never tasted any food but bread and water, which
had been brought to him by an unknown man while he
was sleeping. Hauser was cared for by a number of
generous and sympathetic patrons, among whom was
Lord Stanhope ; and his mental and physical condition
was studied by the scientific men of the time. In 1833
he was invited to a meeting with a stranger who promised
to reveal to him the secret of his strange condition, and
to tell him who he was, but when Hauser was reading a
document given him, this stranger suddenly wounded
him with a dagger, causing his death within three days.
See interesting history of the "Nuremberg Foundling"
in Merker's " Kaspar Hauser" and Feuerbach's "Account
of an Individual Kept in a Dungeon"
74
3>t0tingutatye& Spm and Women*
HAVERGAL Frances Ridley), 1 836-1 879. "He" It
is thought she wished to say, " He died for me."
HAVELOCK (Sir Henry), 1795-1857. "Come, my son,
and see how a Christian can die."
HAYDN (Joseph), 1 732-1 809. " God preserve the em-
peror." He referred to the Emperor Francis.
In 1809 Vienna was bombarded by the French. A
round-shot fell into his garden. He seemed to be in no
alarm, but on May 25 he requested to be led to his
piano, and three times over he played the " Hymn to the
Emperor," with an emotion that fairly overcame both
himself and those who heard him. He was to play no
more ; and, being helped back to his couch, he lay down
in extreme exhaustion to wait for the end. Six days
afterward, May 31, 1809, died Francis Joseph Haydn,
aged seventy-seven. — Haweis's " Music and Morals."
HAZLITT (William, essayist and critic), 1 778-1 830.
" / have led a happy life."
HEINE (Heinrich, German poet and author), 1800-
1856. " Set your mind at rest, Dieu me pardonnera } c'est
son metrer."
Some hours before he died a friend came into his room
to see him once more. Soon after his entry he asked
Heine if he was on good terms with God. " Set your
mind at rest," said Heine, " Dieu me pardonnera, c'est
son metrer.' '
Stigand: Life, Work and Opinions of Heine.
75
fUuit OToitw of
Catherine Bourlois, Heine's nurse, says in a letter to
Mrs. Charlotte Embden, that Heine's last words often re-
peated were, "I am done for." She endeavored to com-
fort him with such kind and religious words as came to
her mind, but all that she said had little effect.
HELOISE or ELOISE (a beautiful and accomplished
French woman ; the niece of Fulbert, qanon of Notre-
Dame. She became successively the pupHj^nistress and
wife of Abelard. After her marriage she became prioress
of Argenteuil, and acquired a high reputation forNgiety.
Her letters, written in elegant Latin, and printed with
those of Abelard, are the expressions of a noble and fer-
vent spirit), about I ioo-i 164. " In death at last let me
rest with Abelard" '
Heloise, when she felt the approach of death, directed
the sisterhood to place her body by the side of that of
Abelard, in the same coffin. It was commonly reported
and believed, such was the credulity of the age, that at
the moment when the coffin of Abelard was opened to
lay her within it, the arm of the skeleton stretched itself
out, opened, and appeared to be reanimated* to receive
the beloved one. They reposed for 500 years in one of
the aisles of the Paraclete, and after various changes, came
to rest at last in the beautiful cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise
at Paris.
Hemans (Felicia Dorothea), 1794-1835. " I feel as
if I were sitting with Mary at the feet of my Redeemer,
hearing the music of his voice, and learning of Him to be
meek and lowly"
76
SDitftrnguistyet) fym and Women.
Hendricks (Thomas A., Vice-President of the United
States), 1819-1885. "At rest at last Now I am free
from pain"
Henry IV. (of France), 1553-1610. " I am wounded"
said when struck by the assassin Ravaillac.
While the coach stopped, the attendants, with the ex-
ception of two, went on before ; one of these two advanced
to clear the way, the other stopped to fasten his garter.
At that instant a wild-faced, red-haired man in a cloak,
who had followed the coach from the Louvre, approached
the side where the king sat, as if endeavoring to push
his way, like other passengers, between the coach and
the shops. Suddenly putting one foot on a spoke of the
wheel, he drew a knife, and struck the king, who was
reading a letter, between the second and third rib, a
little above the heart. " I am wounded," cried the king,
as the assassin, perceiving that the stroke had not been
effectual, repeated it. The second blow went directly to
the heart ; the blood gushed from the wound and from
his mouth, and death was almost instantaneous. A third
blow which the assassin aimed at his victim was received
by the Duke of Eperon in the sleeve.
The assassin's name was Francis Ravaillac, a native of
Angoumois, who had been a solicitor in the courts of
law. Whether the crime was prompted solely by his
own imagination, or whether he was the instrument of
any deep-laid conspiracy, was never clearly ascertained,
though the latter was the general supposition.
Chambers' Miscellany.
77
fUuit OTorM of
Henry VIII. (second son of Henry VII. and Eliza-
beth of York. The death of his elder brother Arthur, in
1502, made him heir apparent to the throne. He mar-
ried his brother's widow, Catharine of Aragon, and, upon
his father's death in 1 509, was crowned king of England.
The great event in his reign was his divorcement of
Catharine and his marriage with Anne Boleyn, which led
to the repudiation of Romanism in England, and the or-
ganization of the English or Episcopal Church), 1491-
1 547. " Monks I Monks / Monks / " He was in all prob-
ability thinking of the time when he abolished the mon-
asteries and turned the monks out of doors.
Henry (Patrick, American statesman and orator), 1736-
1799. "/ trust in the mercy of God, it is not now too
later
Henry (Philip, English dissenting clergyman. He
was the father of Matthew Henry, the eminent English
divine and commentator), 1631-1696. " O death, where
is thy — " Here his speech failed, and in a few moments
he breathed his last.
Henry (Matthew, commentator on the Bible), 1662—
1 7 14. "A life spent in the service of God, and com-
munion with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant
life that any one can live in this present world."
He was twenty-five years pastor of a church at Chester,
and during that time went through the Bible three times
in the course of expository lectures. " At the commence-
ment of his ministry he began with the first chapter of
78
EDfetmguwfyrt spm and Women*
Genesis in the forenoon, and the first chapter of Matthew
in the afternoon. Thus gradually and steadily grew his
' Exposition ' of the Bible. A large portion of it consists
of his public lectures, while many of the quaint sayings
and pithy remarks with which it abounds, and which
give so great a charm of raciness to its pages, were the
familiar extempore observations of his father at family
worship, and noted down by Matthew in his boyhood."
Herbert (George, author of some of the finest sacred
lyrics in the English language), 1 593-1632. " I am now
ready to die. Lord, forsake me not, now my strength
faileth me; but grant me mercy for the merits of my Jesus.
And now Lord — Lord } now receive my soul"
With these words he breathed forth his divine soul,
without any apparent disturbance, Mr. Woodnot and Mr.
Bostock attending his last breath, and closing his eyes.
Thus he lived, and thus he died like a saint, unspotted
of the world, full of alms-deeds, full of humility, and all
the examples of a virtuous life ; which I cannot conclude
better, than with this borrowed observation :
All must to their cold graves ;
But the religious actions of the just
Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust.
Izaak Walton.
HERDER (Johann Gottfried von, court-preacher at
Weimar, and one of the most brilliant and delightful of
German authors), 1744-1803. He died writing an "Ode
to the Deity " ; his pen had just reached the last line.
His last spoken words were : " Refresh me with a great
thought."
79
fUuit Wort* of
Hervey (James, English divine, author of the once
popular book, "Meditations Among the Tombs"), 1713—
1758. " Precious salvation / "
Leaning his head against the side of the easy-chair,
without a sigh, or groan, or struggle, he shut his eyes and
died.
Hill (Rev. Rowland, a popular, pious, but eccentric
preacher), 1745-1833. "Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us
unto God"
HOBBES (Thomas, philosopher and translator), 1588—
1679. " Now am I about to take my last voyage — a great
leap in the dark."
Some say Hobbes's last words were : " I shall be glad
to find a hole to creep out of the world at."
HOFER (Andreas, Tyrolese patriot), 1767-18 10. "/
stand in the presence of my Creator, and standing I will
render back my spirit to God who gave it. Fire / " to
the officer who directed him to place himself on his
knees.
The first six shots wounded him but slightly. Dropping
on his knees he received the remaining six, and was still
struggling convulsively when a corporal, discharging a
pistol close to his head, put an end to his sufferings.
Markham.
HOGG (James, "the Ettrick Shepherd"), 1772-1835.
" // is likely you may never need to do it again" to his
wife, whom he had asked to watch by his bedside during
the night.
8q
EDtetmgutfityeD $0m and Women*
Hood (Thomas), 1798-1845. "Dying, Dying. 1 ' Like
poor Yorick, he was " a fellow of infinite jest ; of most
excellent fancy." In his genius were united the intensely
pathetic and the exquisitely humorous. His life was one
of toil and suffering, and yet he was always joking and
making those around him laugh. His wit did not forsake
him on his death-bed ; it is recorded that when a mustard
plaster was applied to his attenuated feet, he was heard
feebly to remark that there was " very little meat for the
mustard."
He died on the 3d of May, 1845, an( i on a July day
nine years later Monckton Milnes unveiled the monu-
ment which stands above his grave in Kensai Green Cem-
etery. Beneath the bust there runs the legend, "He
sang the Song of the Shirt," and on either side of the
pedestal are bas-relief medallions of " Eugene Aram's
Dream " and " The Bridge of Sighs " — all pertinent re-
minders of the fact that there was a serious as well as a
humorous side to the genius of Hood. He himself, there
can be no doubt, would have elected to live by his serious
verse.
HOOKER (Richard, eminent English clergyman), 1553-
1600. " Good Doctor, God has heard my daily petitions,
for I am at peace with all men, and he is at peace with
me ; and from which blessed assurance I feel that inward
joy which this world can neither give nor take away"
Hooper (John, Bishop of Gloucester and later Bishop
of Worcester in commendam), about 1 495-1 555. "If
you love my soul, away with it / "
6 81
iUuie Wort* of
In January, 1 555, he was condemned on three charges :
for maintaining the lawfulness of clerical marriage, for
defending divorce and for denying transubstantiation.
He called the mass " the iniquity of the devil." He was
sentenced to die at the stake in Gloucester, whither he
was conveyed. He met his death firmly and cheerfully.
To a friend bewailing his lot, the martyr replied in the
oft-quoted words, " Death is bitter, and life is sweet, but
alas ! consider that death to come is more bitter, and life
to come is more sweet. ,, In another conversation he
said, "I am well, thank God; and death to me for
Christ's sake is welcome." His martyrdom was witnessed
by a large throng of people. The martyr was forbidden
to address the crowd. A real or pretended pardon being
promised if he would recant, he spurned it away, saying,
" If you love my soul, away with it." His agony was
greatly prolonged and increased by the slow progress oi
the fire on account of the green faggots, which had to be
rekindled three times before they did their work.
Rev, D. S. Schaff in the Religious Encyclopedia.
Some authorities say Bishop Hooper's last words were,
" Good people, give me more fire." Other authorities
have it, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
HOPKINS (Rev. Samuel, D. D., distinguished theolog-
ian and controversialist : founder of the so-called " Hop-
kinsian Theology"), 1 721-1803. "My anchor is well
cast, and my ship, though weather-beaten, will outride the
stormy
HOTMAN (William, Revolutionary soldier and patriot,
the record of whose noble and courageous spirit is pre-
82
£Di*tmgtti*tie& S0m and Women.
served upon a grave-stone at Groton, Connecticut). " We
will endeavor to crawl to this line ; we will completely wet
the powder with our blood : thus will we, with the life that
remains in us, save the fort and the magazine, and per-
haps a few of our comrades who are only wounded 7 "
The entire inscription upon the stone reads thus :
" On the 20th of October, 1781, four thousand English
fell upon this town with fire and sword — seven hundred
Americans defended the fort for a whole day, but in the
evening about four o'clock, it was taken. The comman-
der declined delivering up his sword to an Englishman,
who immediately stabbed him ! All his comrades were
put to the sword. A line of powder was laid from the
magazine of the fort to be lighted to blow the fort up
into the air. William Hotman, who lay not far distant,
wounded by three stabs of a bayonet in his body, beheld
it, and said to one of his wounded friends, who was still
alive, 'We will endeavor to crawl to this line; we will
completely wet the powder with our blood: thus will we,
with the life that remains in us, save the fort and the mag-
azine, and perhaps a few of our comrades who are only
wounded ! ' He alone had strength to accomplish this
noble design. In his thirtieth year he died on the powder
which he overflowed with his blood. His friend, and
seven of his wounded companions, by that means had
their lives preserved. Here rests William Hotman."
HOUSTON (Samuel, known as " Sam," commander-in-
chief of the Texan army and " Hero of San Jacinto,"
President of Texas, and, after annexation, United States
Senator), 1793-1862. " Texas ! Texas! " — after a pause,
83
ila*t Mora* of
he faintly breathed the name of his wife, " Margaret" and
passed away.
Howard (William, Viscount Stafford. Having been
accused by Titus Oates of complicity in the Popish Plot,
he was convicted of treason and executed December 29th,
1680. It is believed that he was innocent), 1612-1680.
" / do forgive you."
Having embraced and taken leave of his friends, he
knelt down and placed his head on the block : the execu-
tioner raised the axe high in the air, but then checking
himself suddenly lowered it. Stafford raised his head
and asked the reason for the delay. The executioner said
he waited the signal. " I shall make no sign," he answered ;
"take your own time." The executioner asked his for-
giveness. " I do forgive you," replied Stafford, and plac-
ing his head again in position, at one blow it was severed
from his body. — BelVs " Chapel and Tower"
Howard (John, distinguished philanthropist), 1726-
1790. "Suffer no pomp at my funeral, nor monumental
inscription where I am laid. Lay me quietly in the earth
and put a sun -dial over my grave, and let me be forgotten} "
A rude obelisk is erected over his grave, bearing the
brief Latin inscription, " Vixet propter alios " — he lived
for the good of others.
He may have lived for others but it is recorded of him
that he was a tyrant in his own house; that his cruel
1 Tacitus said, "At my funeral let no tokens of sorrow be seen, no pomp-
ous mockery of woe. Crown me with chaplets, strew flowers on my grave,
and let my friends erect no vain memorial to tell where my remains are
lodged."
84
&>i*tingtti*t)rt fytn and Women.
treatment caused the death of his wife ; and that he was
in the habit of punishing his only son with the greatest
severity. Dr. Forbes Winslow thinks Howard was insane,
and there is much to justify that opinion.
Hull (Isaac, commodore), 1775-1843. "/ strike my
HUMBOLDT (Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von,
author of the " Cosmos "), 1769-1859. " How grand the
sunlight I It seems to beckon earth to heaven."
Hunter (William, a young man of nineteen, burned
at the stake for his faith, in the time of Mary L, of Eng-
land), 1 536-1 555. " Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit /"
"William said to his mother: — 'For my little pain
which I shall suffer, which is but a short braid, Christ
hath promised me, mother (said he), a crown of joy ; may
you not be glad of that, mother ? ' With that his mother
kneeled down on her knees, saying, ' I pray God strengthen
thee, my son, to the end; yea, I think thee as well-
bestowed as any child that ever I bare.'
"Then William Hunter plucked up his gown and
stepped over the parlor groundsel and went forward
cheerfully ; the sheriff's servants taking him by one arm
and his brother by another. And thus going in the way,
he met with his father according to his dream, and he
spake to his son saying, c God be with thee, son William ; '
and William said, • God be with you, good father, and be
of good comfort ; for I hope we shall meet again when
we shall be merry.' His father said, ' I hope so, William/
6* 85
iLatft OTorM of
and so departed. So William went to the place where
the stake stood, even according to his dream, where all
things were very unready. Then William took a wet
broom faggot, and kneeled down thereon, and read the
fifty-first Psalm till he came to these words, 'The sacrifice
of God is a contrite spirit ; a contrite and a broken heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise ! '
"Then said the sheriff, 'There is a letter from the
Queen. If thou wilt recant thou shalt live ; if not, thou
shalt be burned.' ' No,' quoth William, ' I will not recant,
God willing.' Then William rose and went to the stake,
and stood upright to it. Then came one Richard Ponde,
a bailiff, and made fast the chain about William.
" Then said master Brown, ' There is not wood enough
to burn a leg of him.' Then said William, ' Good peo-
ple ! pray for me, and make speed and despatch quickly ;
and pray for me while you see me alive, good people !
and I will pray for you likewise.' ' Now ? ' quoth master
Brown, ' pray for thee ! I will pray no more for thee
than I will pray for a dog."
"Then was there a gentleman which said, ' I pray God
have mercy upon his soul ! ' The people said, ' Amen,
amen.'
" Immediately fire was made. Then William cast his
psalter right into his brother's hand, who said, ' William !
think of the holy passion of Christ, and be not afraid of
death.' And William answered, ' I am not afraid.' Then
lift he up his hands to heaven and said, ' Lord, Lord, Lord,
receive my spirit,' and, casting down his head again into
the shiothering smoke, he yielded up his life for the truth,
sealing it with his blood to the praise of God." — Fox's
Book of Martyrs.
86
SDitftingutatyet) apen and Wornm*
Hunter (Dr. William, distinguished anatomist and
physiologist. He is chiefly remembered by his " Anatomy
of the Human Gravid Uterus," consisting of thirty-four
plates engraved by the most eminent artists of the day,
with explanations in English and Latin), 17 17-1783.
" If I had strength to hold a pen I would write down how
easy and pleasant a thing it is to die. 1 *
Huntington (Selina, Countess of, an English lady,
eminent for her piety and munificence), 1707-1791. "My
work is done ; I have nothing to do but to go to my Father, "
HUSS (John, burnt at the stake July 6, 1415), 1370-
141 5. When the chain was placed around the neck of
John Huss he exclaimed with a smile, "Welcome this
chain, for Christ's sake ! " The faggots having been piled
up to his neck, the Duke of Bavaria, in a brutal manner,
called on him to recant. "No/* cried the martyr, " 1 take
God to witness I preached none but his own pure doctrines,
and what I taught I am ready to seal with my blood"
ILITCHEWSKI (Alexander Demainowitch, the Russian
poet). " / have found at last the object of my love'' a
line written by the poet just before his death, and fodnd
on a table near his bed. The poet was haunted all his
life by an ideal of womanly beauty which he sought in
vain among the living, and the above line would seem to
indicate that he had at last found the object of his dreams.
It is supposed that he died from excess of joy at the dis-
covery.
Ingersoll (Robert Green, an American lawyer and
orator, distinguished as an opponent of Christianity),
87
iLast OTforto of
1 833-1 899. " O, better" in response to his wife's ques-
tion, " How do you feel now ? "
After the war he became an ardent Republican, and
gained fame as a lawyer, serving as attorney-general of
Illinois for several years. He was a delegate to the Na-
tional Republican convention of 1876, when he became
famous as an orator by proposing the name of James G.
Blaine for President in his celebrated " Plumed Knight "
speech. He was offered the post of minister to Ger-
many, but refused it. About the year 1877 he removed
to New York, and was soon in great demand as a lec-
turer and orator. Among his most celebrated cases was
his defense of the "Star route conspirators" in 1883.
Some of the most beautiful of Col. IngersolPs orations
were those that he delivered over the bodies of his
friends. Among his best known books are " The Gods,"
1878, "Ghosts," 1879, "Some Mistakes of Moses," 1879,
"Prose, Poems, and Selections," 1879, and several vol-
umes of lectures.
IRVING (Rev. Edward, an able and eccentric preacher,
and the founder of the sect of Irvingites), 1 792-1 834.
" If 1 die, 1 die unto the Lord. Amen." Some say his
last words were : " In life and in death, I am the Lord's."
Jackson (Thomas Jonathan, " Stonewall Jackson,"
distinguished Confederate general), 1824-1863. "Let us
go over the river, and sit under the refreshing shadow of
the trees."
He was accidentally shot and mortally wounded by his
own soldiers, in the darkness of night. His last words
were spoken in delirium.
88
sntftmgtuetyeo S0tn and Women*
JAMES II. (of England), 1633-1701. "Grateful — in
peace / " Louis XIV. visited James II. when the latter
was upon his death-bed, and moved, no doubt, by pity,
said to him in the presence of courtiers who ill concealed
their surprise : " I come to tell Your Majesty, that when-
ever it shall please God to take you from us, I will be to
your son what I have been to you, and will acknowledge
him as King of England, Scotland and Ireland." James
was so near death that he was hardly sensible of what
was said to him, but it was thought he murmured with
much that was irrelevant the words, " Grateful — in
peace ! "
The final disposition of the remains of James II. is in-
volved in some uncertainty. Stanley in Historical Mem-
orials of Westminster Abbey says: "The body had been
placed in the Chapel of the English Benedictines at Paris,
and deposited there in the vain hope that, at some future
time, they would be laid with kingly pomp at Westmin-
ster among the graves of the Plantagenets and Tudors."
Clarke, in his Life of James II., says that at his burial the
rites of the Church of England were not used, but this is
contradicted by the account preserved in Herald's Col-
lege. The King's brains, it is said, were deposited in an
urn of bronze-gilt standing upon the monument raised to
him in the Chapel of the Scotch College in the Rue des
Fosses Saint Victor. This, according to a correspondent
of the Notes and Queries, Vol. ii, p. 281, was "smashed,
and the contents scattered about during the French Rev-
olution." Pettigrew, in his Chronicles of the Tombs,
says : " It is conjectured that portions of the King's body
were collected together, and entombed at St. Germain en
89
iUut Worto of
Laye, soon after the termination of the war in 1814; but
it being necessary to rebuild the church, the remains
were exhumed and re-interred in 1824."
The following curious account was given in 1840 by
Mr. Fitzsimmons, an Irish gentleman upward of eighty
years of age, who taught French and English at Toulouse
and claimed to be a runaway monk :
" I was a prisoner in Paris, in the convent of the Eng
lish Benedictines in the Rue St. Jaques, during part of the
Revolution. In the year 1793 or 1794, the body of King
James II. of England (died 1701) was in one of the chap-
els there, where it had been deposited some time, under
the expectation that it would one day be sent to England
for interment in Westminster Abbey. It had never been
buried. The body was in a wooden coffin, inclosed in a
leaden one ; and that again inclosed in a second wooden
one, covered with black velvet. While I was a prisoner
the sans-culottes broke open the coffins to get at the lead
to cast into bullets. The body lay exposed nearly a
whole day. It was swaddled like a mummy, bound
tight with garters. The sans-culottes took out the body,
which had been embalmed. There was a strong smell
of vinegar and camphor. The corpse was beautiful and
perfect. The hands and nails were very fine. I moved
and bent every finger. I never saw so fine a set of
teeth in my life. A young lady, a fellow prisoner,
wished much to have a tooth ; I tried to get one out for
her, but could not, they were so firmly fixed. The feet
also were very beautiful. The face and cheeks were
just as if he were alive. I rolled his eyes ; the eye-balls
were perfectly firm under my finger. The French and
90
I>t0tmgut0t)el> spot and Wtomm.
English prisoners gave money to the sans-culottes for
showing the body. The trouserless crowd said he was
a good sans-culotte, and they were going to put him into
a hole in the public churchyard like other sans-culottes ;
and he was carried away, but where the body was thrown
I never heard. King George IV. tried all in his power to
get tidings of the body, but could not. Around the chapel
were several wax moulds of the face hung up, made prob-
ably at the time of the king's death, and the face of the
corpse was very like them. The body had been origi-
nally kept at the palace of St. Germain, from whence it
was brought to the convent of the Benedictines. ,,
JAMES V. (of Scotland), 1 5 12-1 542. " It came with a
lass, and it will go with a lass." He referred to the
Scotch crown.
Jefferson (Thomas, third President of the United
States), 1 743-1 826. "/ resign my spirit to God, my
daughter to my country"
His death was very remarkable : it occurred on July
4, 1826, while the nation was celebrating the fiftieth an-
niversary of the Declaration of Independence, which he
had written. On the same day, and almost at the same
hour, John Adams, the second President, who had signed
with him the Declaration, died in New England.
Jerome (of Prague), the companion of John Huss, was
born at Prague in the latter half of the fourteenth cen-
tury, and suffered at the stake, May 30, 1416. "Bring
thy torch hither ; do thine office before my face ; had I
9i
iLast WBLotbe of
feared death I might have avoided it.' 9 These brave
words were addressed to the executioner who was about
to kindle the fire behind him. Some give his last words
thus : " This soul in flames I offer, Christ, to thee."
JOAN of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, surnamed l( the Maid of
Orleans," burned at the stake May 31, 143 1, in the
twenty-first year of her age. " The Virgin-Martyr of
French Liberty"), 1410-1431. "Jesus/ Jesus/' 9
She died declaring that her voices had not deceived
her, and with the name of Jesus on her lips.
JOHNSON (Dr. Samuel, "Colossus of English litera-
1 ture"), 1 709-1 784. " God bless you, my dear/ 99 to Miss
Morris.
JOSEPH II. (of Germany), 1741-1790. "Let my epi-
taph be, " Here lies Joseph, who was unsuccessful in all
his undertakings 99
JUDSON (Adoniram, missionary to Burmah and trans-
lator of the Bible into the language of that country),
1 788-1 850. "Brother Ranney, will you bury me? bury
me ? — quick / quick / " These words were prompted per-
haps by the thought of burial at sea. A moment later
he said to his servant, " Take care of poor mistress 99
meaning Mrs. Judson.
JUDSON (Mrs. Ann Hasseltine, wife of Adoniram Jud-
son, and with him a missionary in Burmah), 1789- 1 826.
" I feel quite well, only very weak 99
92
SDtetinguietyeO S0m and Women*
JULIAN (Julianus Flavius Claudius, surnamed " The
Apostate," on account of his renunciation of Christianity.
He was Roman emperor from 361 to- 363), 331-363.
" Thou hast conquered, Galilean J thou hast conquered! " V
Some authorities give his last words thus : " Sun, thou
hast betrayed me ! " Julian was a worshipper of the
sun.
And Julian being carried to his tent, he took a handful
of the blood which flowed from his wound, and flung it
into the air, exclaiming with his last breath, " Thou hast
conquered, O Galilean ! thou hast conquered ! " Then
the demons received his parting spirit. — Mrs. Jameson.
The historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, who was in the
army of Julian, states that when he was wounded his ad-
mirers compared the scene that followed in his tent to
that which Plato has drawn in the prison of Socrates; not
without the confession that it was an affected imitation.
This testimony is preferable to the imaginary pictures of
Christian orators of the apostate clutching the sand and
crying, " O Galilean, thou hast conquered ! " The real
triumph of Christianity needs no such melodramatic in-
ventions conceived in the spirit of an age of ornate rhet-
oric. — Smith's Universal History, Hi, 717.
Keats (John), 1 796-1 821. "I feel the flowers grow-
ing over me" Some say his last words were : " I die of
a broken heart."
The severity of an article written by Gifford in review
of " Endymion " in the Quarterly Review affected the
young poet very deeply, and is even said to have occa-
sioned the consumption from which he died at Rome
93
ila*t Worttf of
where he had but just completed his twenty-fourth
year.
Over the grave of Keats in the Old Protestant ceme-
.tery at Rome is the inscription : " This grave contains
all that was mortal of a young English poet, who, on his
death-bed, in the bitterness of his heart at the malicious
power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraved
on his tombstone : ' Here lies one whose name was writ
in water.' February 24, 1821."
In the "Letters and Memorials of Archbishop
Trench," occurs the following distressing letter on the
last days of Keats, addressed to Trench by a friend in
Rome:
"I have made Severn's acquaintance. He is a very
fine fellow, and I like him amazingly. My only intro-
duction to him was our common admiration of Keats,
whose memory he cherishes most affectionately, and of
whom he is never tired of speaking when he finds one
who listens with gladness. I sat in his studio for hours
while he painted a design which Keats suggested to him,
and all the while he was telling me particulars of his
last days. His sufferings were terrible and prolonged.
Shelley and Hunt had deprived him of his belief in
Christianity, which he wanted in the end, and he en-
deavored to fight back to it, saying if Severn would get
him a Jeremy Taylor he thought he could believe ; but
it was not to be found in Rome. Another time (which
is to me peculiarly painful, though it shows at the same
time how little way he had proceeded in a particular line
of thought), having been betrayed into considerable im-
patience by bodily and mental anguish, he cried, on recov-
94
2r>t0ttngut^eD spot ana Momm.
ering himself, ' By God, Severn, a man ought to have
some superstition, that he may die decently.' "
King (Thomas Star, Unitarian clergyman), 1 824-1 864.
" Dear little fellow — he is a beautiful boy." This he said
of his little son who had been brought in to see him.
Kingsley (Charles, clergyman, novelist, and poet),
1 8 19-1875. " Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our
hearts; shut not Thy merciful ears to our prayer ; but spare
us, O Lord most holy, God most mighty, O holy and
merciful Saviour, Thou most worthy Judge Eternal, suffer
us not at our last hour, from any pains of death, to fall
from Thee"
From the " Burial Service" of the Episcopal Church.
In the night he was heard murmuring, " No more fight-
ing: no more fighting." Then followed intense earnest
prayers, which were his habit when alone. His warfare
was accomplished ; he had fought the good fight ; and,
on one of his last nights on earth, his daughter heard him
exclaim, " How beautiful God is ! " The last morning,
at five o'clock, just after his eldest daughter and his phy-
sician, who had sat up all night, had left him, and he
thought himself alone, he was heard, in a clear voice, re-
peating the Burial Service. He turned on his side after
this, and never spoke again.
Letters and Memoirs of Charles Kingsley, by his wife.
KLOPSTOCK (Friedrich Gottlieb), 1 724-1 803. He died
reciting his own beautiful verses, descriptive of the death
of Mary, the sister of Lazarus. The song of Mary was
sung at the public funeral of the poet.
95
IU0t OTfottw of
Knox (John, Scotch reformer), 1505-1572. "Now it
is come." Some give his last words thus : " Live in Christ,
live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death/'
La Harpe or Laharpe de (Jean Francis, French
critic and dramatist), 1 739-1 803. " I am grateful to Di-
vine Mercy for having left me sufficient recollection to feel
how consoling these prayers are to the dying" These are
his last recorded words, and refer to the prayers for the
sick to which he was attending, but later he conversed
with M. Fontanes, and did not die until the next day.
Latimer (Hugh, early English reformer and martyr),
about 1472-1555.
" Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man:
J we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace, in
England, as I trust shall never be put out."
Latimer and Ridley suffered martyrdom at Oxford at
the same time, October 16, 1555.
Laud (William, Archbishop of Canterbury and favorite
minister of Charles I.), 1 573-1645. "Lord, receive my
soul" spoken to the headsman as a signal to strike.
Laud was declared guilty of treason, and executed on
Tower Hill, January 10, 1645.
LAURENTIUS (" Saint," a deacon of Rome who was
roasted alive on a gridiron before a slow fire), about A. D.
258. "Assatus est; jam versa et manduca" — "I am
roasted, — now turn me, and eat me." According to
some authorities he said later : " I thank thee, O my God
96
SDttftmguietyeD spot anil Women*
and Saviour, that I have been found worthy to enter into
thy beatitude."
LEE (Robert Edmund, distinguished Confederate gen-
eral, and president of Washington College, at Lexington,
Virginia), 1 806-1 870. " Tell Hill he must come up."
During his last hours his mind wandered, and he was liv-
ing over again in his disordered imagination the military
campaign through which he had passed.
His body lies in the mausoleum erected at the rear of
the College chapel, and beside him are laid his wife and
his daughter Agnes. Above the tomb, and visible from
the chapel hall, is Valentine's recumbent marble figure of
Lee the soldier taking his rest, with his sword sheathed
at his side and his martial cloak around him. — White.
LEO X. (Cardinal Giovanni de* Medici, elected Pope
March 11, 15 13), 1475-1521. " I have been murdered;
no remedy can prevent my speedy death." It is believed
that he was poisoned.
The circumstances attending the death of the pontiff
are involved in mysterious and total obscurity, and the
accounts given of this event by Varillas and similar writ-
ers in subsequent times, are the spurious offspring of
their own imagination. — Roscoe ; Life of Leo the Tenth.
Leo X. expired upon the 1st day of December, 1521.
The vacillating game he played in European politics had
just been crowned with momentary success. Some folk
believed that the Pope died of joy after hearing that his
Imperial allies had entered the town of Milan ; others
thought that he succumbed to poison. We do not know
7 97
iLatft OTforM of
what caused his death. But the unsoundness of his con-
stitution, overtaxed by dissipation and generous living,
in the midst of public cares for which the man had hardly
nerve enough, may suffice to account for a decease cer-
tainly sudden and premature.
Symond: Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti.
LlEBER (Francis, German author, political refugee,
and, later, Professor of History and Political Science in
Columbia College, New York), 1 800-1 872.
On the afternoon of the 2d of October, 1872, he was
sitting quietly, listening to his wife, who was reading
aloud to him as was her custom, when he gave one cry
and immediately died. — Perry's Life and Letters ofLieber.
LlNDSEY (Theophilus, English Unitarian clergyman),
1 723-1 808. " No, whatever is, is best," — said to a friend
who suggested that his fortitude sprang from his recol-
lection of the maxim, "Whatever is, is right"
LlPPARD (George, American author), 1822-1854. "Is
this death ?" to his physician.
Lippard wrote a number of sensational novels, and a
book on " Washington and his Generals." He was the
founder of the once strong and useful Brotherhood of the
Union, a secret charitable institution.
LOCKE (John, author of the celebrated " Essay Con-
cerning the Human Understanding"), 1632-1704. " O t
the depth of the riches of the goodness and knowledge of
God!"
98
2DitfUttgui0i)e6 $0en and Women*
Longfellow (Henry Wadsworth) 1807 -1882,
" Now I know that I must be very ill, since you have been
sent for** said to his sister who came from Portland, Me.
LOUIS I. (Louis le D<ft>onnaire), 778-840. "Huzf
husr
He turned his face to the wall and twice cried, " Huz !
huz !" (" Out ! out !") and then died.— Bouquet.
LOUIS IX. (Saint Louis, canonized by Pope Boniface
VIII. in 1297), 12 1 5-1270. "/ will enter now into the
house of the Lord"
Some authorities say his last words were, " We will go
to Jerusalem."
Louis XIV. (surnamed Le Grand, often called Louis
QUATORZE, the most magnificent of the Bourbon Kings,
1638-1715. "Why weep ye? Did you think I should
live forever ?" then after a pause, " I thought dying had
been harder" Some say his last words were : " O God,
come to mine aid ! O Lord, make haste to help me !"
On Sunday, August 31, towards eleven o'clock in the
evening, the prayers for the dying were said for Louis
XIV. He recited them himself in a louder voice than
any of the spectators ; and seemed still more majestic on
his death-bed than on his throne. When the prayers
were ended he recognized Cardinal de Rohan and said to
him, " These are the graces of the Church." Several
times he repeated : " Nunc est hora mortis." Th£n he
said, "O God, come unto mine aid ; O Lord, make haste
to help me." These were his last words. The agony
99
*? ■ , -A »
iUut Worto of
was beginning. It lasted all night, and on Sunday, Sep-
tember I, 171 5, at a quarter past eight in the morning,
Louis XIV., aged seventy-seven years lacking three days,
during sixty-two of which he had been a king, yielded
his great soul to God. — Imbert de Saint- Amand.
LOUIS XVI. (guillotined by a wild and blood-thirsty
mob, called the French Republic, the 21st of January,
1793% 1 754-1 793. "Frenchmen, I die innocent of all
the crimes which have been imputed to me. I forgive my
enemies ; I implore God, from the bottom of my heart, to
pardon them, and not to take vengeance on the French na-
tion for the blood about to be shed."
He was proceeding, when Santerre, who was on horse-
back near the scaffold, made a signal for the drums to
beat, when the assistants seized their victim, and the hor-
rid murder was completed.
When the king's head was severed from the body, one
of the executioners held it up by the hair, dancing at the
same time around the scaffold, with the most savage ex-
ultation. — Contemporary History of the French Revolution.
LOUIS XVIII. (Louis Stanislas Xavier) 1755-1824.
" A King should die standing"
Lovat (Lord Fraser of Lovat, Scottish Jacobite con-
spirator. In the rebellion of 1745 he was detected in
treasonable acts against King George, for which he was
executed), about 1666-1747.
He was beheaded on Tower Hill. On reaching the
scaffold, he asked for the executioner, and presented him
with a purse containing ten guineas. He then asked to see
100
BD&ttngutfltyrt tytn anil Women*
the axe, felt its edge, and said he thought it would do.
Next he looked at his coffin, on which was inscribed :
Simon, Dominus Fraser De Lovat.
Decollat April 9, 1747
iEtat suae 80.
After repeating some lines from Horace, and next from
Ovid, he prayed, then bade adieu to his solicitor and
agent in Scotland ; finally the executioner completed his
work, the head falling from the body. Lord Lovat was
the last person beheaded in England.
Andrews : Bygone Punishments.
Lucan or LUCANUS (Marcus Annaeus, Roman epic
poet, nephew of the philosopher Seneca), 38-65.
Lucan exhibited great apparent serenity at the ap-
proach of death. After the veins of his arm had been
voluntarily opened, and he had lost a large quantity of
blood, he felt his hands and his legs losing their vitality.
As the hour of death approached, he commenced repeat-
ing several lines out of his own " Pharsalia," descriptive of
a person similarly situated to himself. These lines he re-
peated until he died :
" Asunder flies the man —
No single wound the gaping rupture seems,
Where trickling crimson flows the tender streams ;
But from an opening horrible and wide
A thousand vessels pour the bursting tide :
At once the winding channel's course was broke,
Where wandering life her mazy journey took"
Winslow : " Anatomy of Suicide."
7* 101
iLatft OTfottw of
LUTHER (Martin, the greatest of the Protestant re-
formers), 1484-1546. "Yes" in response to the question
whether he stood by the doctrines of Scripture as he had
taught them.
The same man who could scold like a fishwife could be
as gentle as a tender maiden. At times he was as fierce
as the storm that uproots oaks ; and then again he was
as mild as the zephyr caressing the violets. . . . The
refinement of Erasmus, the mildness of Melancthon, could
never have brought us so far as the godlike brutality of
brother Martin. — Heine.
Macaulay (Thomas Babington, Lord), 1800-1859.
" I shall retire early ; I am very tired" said to his butler,
who asked him if he would not rest on the sofa.
Maccail (his given name has not been preserved, a
J Scots Covenanter who expired under torture in the time
of Charles II. of England) — 1668. He died in an ecstasy
of joy, and his last words were : " Farewell sun, moon, and
stars ; farewell, world and time ; farewell, weak and frail
body ; welcome, eternity ; welcome, angels and saints ; wel-
come, Saviour of the world ; welcome, God, the Judge of
all."
j Machiavelli, or Macchiavelli, sometimes Machi-
AVEL (Nicholas, a celebrated atheist, and the author
of "The Prince "), 1469-15 30. " I desire to go to hell,
and not to heaven. In the former place I shall enjoy the
company of popes, kings, and princes, while in the latter
are only beggars, monks, hermits, and apostles"
102
a>t0tmgufatyefi $!)en ant) Women*
Mackintosh (Sir James, philosopher and politician),
1 765-1 832. "Happy"
MALHERBE (Francis de, the " Father of French lyric
poetry"), 1 555-1628. "Hold your tongue; your J
wretched style only makes me out of conceit with them"
to his confessor, who was presenting the joys of heaven
in vulgar and trite phrases.
His ruling passion was purity of diction. He would
destroy a quire of paper in composing a single stanza ;
and it is said that during the twenty-five most prolific
years of his life he made only about thirty-three verses a
year.
MARAT (Jean Paul, court-physician, author of several
scientific works, and later the main promoter of the Reign
of Terror in France), 1 743-1 793. "Help, my dear —
help I " As Marat uttered these words he fell at the feet
of Charlotte Corday, and immediately expired.
Charlotte, motionless, and as if petrified at her crime,
was standing behind the window curtain. The transpar-
ent material allowed her form to be easily distinguished.
Laurent, taking up a chair, struck her a clumsy blow on
the head, which knocked her to the floor, where Marat's
mistress trampled her under foot in her rage. At the
noise that ensued, and the cries of the two women, the
inhabitants of the house hastened thither, neighbors and
persons passing in the streets ascended the staircase and
filled the room, the courtyard, and very speedily the
whole quarter, demanding, with fierce exclamations, that
they would throw the assassin out to them, that they
103
JLwt flHttorta of
might avenge the dead — yet still warm — body of the
people's idol. Soldiers and national guards entered, and
order was, in some measure, re-established. Surgeons
arrived, and endeavored to stanch the wound. The red-
dened water gave to the sanguinary democrat the ap-
pearance of having died in a bath of blood. — Lamartine.
The veneration for the monster Marat knew no bounds.
Hymns were written in his honor. On divers stamps he
was placed by the side of Christ. Men swore by the
sacred heart of Marat. The new worship was complete,
it had prostitutes for goddesses, and a man of violence
and blood for a martyr and a saint. All it yet lacked was
to engage in persecution ; and it failed not in this worthy
business. — De Pressense.
MARCUS (of Arethusa), being hung up in a basket
smeared with honey, to be stung to death by bees, ex-
claimed, 1 " How am I advanced, despising you that are
upon the earth / "
1 To some of the most distinguished of our race death has come in the
strangest possible way, and so grotesquely as to subtract greatly from the
dignity of the sorrow it must certainly have occasioned. iEschuylus, whose
seventy tragedies, to say nothing of his many satiric dramas, have given their
author an immortal name, was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald
head from the talons of an eagle high in the air above him.
There was a singular propriety in the death of Anacreon by choking at a
grape stone or a dried grape. The poet whose sweetest and most enticing
lines celebrate wine and love came to his death at the ripe age of eighty-five
from the fruit of the vine. Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, was given by
the treacherous Maenou a poisoned toothpick which soon rendered his
mouth incurably gangrened, and deprived him of the power of speech. While
in this miserable and helpless condition he was stretched upon the funeral
pile and burned alive.
Fabius, the Roman praetor, died from the same cause that occasioned the
IO4
a>i0tinguiflfye& SJ9en anfi Women*
Margaret (of Scotland, wife of Louis XL of France),
1 420- 1 445. " Fi de la vie ! qiion ne tn* en parte plus"
Margaret was devoted to literature, and, while she
lived, patronized men of learning and genius. Her ad-
miration for the poet Alain Chartier is said to have in-
duced her to kiss his lips as he sat asleep one day in a
chair. Her attendants being astonished at this act of
condescension, the princess replied that " she did not kiss
the man, but the lips which had given utterance to so
many exquisite thoughts." She died at the age of
twenty-five, before her husband had ascended the throne.
Mrs. Hale's Sketches of Distinguished Women.
Margaret (of Valois, Queen of Navarre and sister of
Francis I., of France), 1492-1549. "Farewell, and re-
death of Anacreon. A single goat hair in the milk he was drinking lodged
in his trachea and choked him. Chalchas, the soothsayer, outlived the
time predicted for his death, which struck him as so comical that he burst
into a fit of most immoderate laughter from which he died. Thus also died
the famous Marquette, who was convulsed with a fatal merriment on seeing
a monkey trying to pull on a pair of boots. Philomenes was seized with an
equally disastrous merriment when he came suddenly upon an ass that was
devouring with greediness the choice figs that had been prepared for his own
desert.
Laughter killed the great Zeuxis, of whom Pliny relates the story of a trial
of skill with the painter Parrhasius. The former painted a bunch of grapes
that were so natural a bird endeavored to eat the fruit. Charles VIII.,
while gallantly conducting his queen into the tennis court, struck his head
against the lintel and died soon after from the accident.
Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, was struck by a cricket ball, which
caused his death. A pig occasioned the death of Louis VI., the creature ran
under the monarch's horse causing it to stumble. But of all strange deaths
that of Itadach is the strangest. He expired from thirst while toiling in the
harvest field, because, in obedience to the rule of St. Patrick, he would not
drink "a drop of anything."
105
iLaat Wfotb& of
member me" Some say, upon what authority I do not
know, that the queen's last words were: "I never de-
parted from the true church."
She inclined to the Protestant faith, but Roman Catho-
lic writers assert that before her death she acknowledged
her religious errors, and De Remond even goes so far as
to imply that she denied on her death-bed having ever
swerved from the standard of Roman authority. — Memoir
of Margaret, attached to the English translation of her
Heptameron.
She was a brilliant writer in both prose and verse, and
was called the "Tenth Muse." Several authors speak of
her as " Margaret the Pearl, surpassing all the pearls of the
Orient." She composed a religious work called " Miroir
de Tame Pecheresse," which was condemned by the Sor-
bonne, on the ground that it inclined to Protestant doc-
trines. She also wrote the " Heptameron, or Novels of
the Queen of Navarre."
Marie Antoinette (Marie Antoinette Josephine
Jeanne de Lorraine, daughter of Francis I., Emperor of
Germany, and Maria Th^r&sa, and wife of Louis XVI., of
France; she was guillotined October 16, 1793), 1755—
1793. "Farewell, my children, forever. I go to your
father^
The king perished on the scaffold January 21, 1793.
■. The queen had four children, Marie Thdrese Charlotte,
who married the oldest son of Charles X. ; the dauphin,
Louis, born in 1781 and died in 1789; Charles Louis,
who died a victim to the brutality of the cobbler Simon,
and a daughter who died in infancy.
106
>
a>i*tingui*tye& 3pm ami Women*
Mary (Queen of Scots), 1 542-1 587. " Lord, into
Thy hands I commend my spirit."
The first blow of the executioner inflicted a ghastly
wound on the lower part of the skull. Not a scream nor
groan, not a sigh escaped her, but the convulsion of her
features showed the horrible suffering caused by the
wound. The eye-witness of the execution, whose ac-
count is published, thus relates this incident : — " There-
upon the headsman brought down his axe, but missing
the proper place, gave her a horrible blow upon the upper
extremity of the neck ; but, with unexampled fortitude,
she remained perfectly still, and did not even heave a
sigh. At the second stroke the neck was severed and
the head held up to the gaze of bystanders with ' God
save Queen Elizabeth ! ' "
Meline's "Mary Queen of Scots."
When the psalm was finished she felt for the block,
and laying down her head muttered : — " In manus, Dom-
ine, tuas commendo animam meam." The hard wood
seemed to hurt her, for she placed her hands under her
neck. The executioners gently removed them lest they
should deaden the blow, and then one of them, holding
her slightly, the other raised the axe and struck. The
scene had been too trying even for the practised heads-
man of the Tower. His arm wandered. The blow fell
on the knot of the handkerchief and scarcely broke the
skin. She neither spoke nor moved. He struck again,
this time effectively. The head hung by a shred of skin,
which he divided without withdrawing the axe, and at
once a metamorphosis was witnessed strange as was ever
wrought by wand of fabled enchanter. The coif fell off
107
iLaat WELotb* of
and the false plaits ; the labored illusion vanished ; the
lady who had knelt before the block was in the maturity
of grace and loveliness. The executioner, when he raised
the head as usual to show it to the crowd, exposed the
withered features of a grizzled, wrinkled old woman.
Fronde's "History of England* 9
Mary (Countess of Warwick), -1678. " Well, ladies,
if I were one hour in heaven, I would not be again with
you, as much as I love you."
She is the author of the famous question : " Why are
we so fond of that life which begins with a cry, and ends
with a groan ? "
MARY I. (Queen of England, commonly called " Bloody
Queen Mary " on account of her violent and cruel perse-
j cution of the Protestants), 1 5 1 7-1 5 5 8. " After I am dead,
you will find Calais written upon my hearth
The loss of Calais just before her death affected her
deeply.
Mary II. (Queen of England and wife of William III.),
1 662- 1 694. "My Lord, why do you not go on? I am
not afraid to die" Said to Archbishop Tillotson who,
reading to her, when she was upon her death-bed, the
commendatory prayer in the office for the sick, was so
overcome by grief that he was compelled to pause.
Masaniello (Tommaso Aniello, the fisherman of
Amalfi, who headed the revolt which occurred in Naples
in 1647 against the Spanish viceroy, the Duke of Arcos.
His victory lasted nine days, during which time he had
108
SPtetingufatyet) spent ana Women*
one hundred and fifty thousand men under arms and at
his command. He was murdered by his own soldiers),
1 623-1646. " Ungrateful traitors!" said to the assassins.
Mather (Cotton), 1633-1728. " 1 am going where all
tears will be wiped from my eyes" to his wife, who wiped
his eyes with her handkerchief.
Just before this he exclaimed : " Is this dying ? Is this
all ? Is this all that I feared when I prayed against a
hard death ? Oh ! I can bear this ! I can bear it ! I can
bear it!"
He was a masterful man, abundant in labors, the or-
ganizer of over twenty charitable societies, a leader of all
movements in church and state, an omnivorous reader,
and the author of 382 separate publications, besides his
enormous " Biblia Americana," which remains to this day
in manuscript. He surmounted the prejudices of his age
in defending inoculation, but not with regard to witch-
craft and some other matters. His character was marred
by certain restless infirmities ; " it was his unconcealed
grief that he was never elected to preside over Harvard."
His greatest work, "Magnalia Christi Americana," 1702,
was reprinted in two volumes, with memoir, and transla-
tions of the numerous Hebrew, Greek, and Latin quota-
tions, Hartford, 1855. — Biographical Dictionary.
Mather (Increase, distinguished New England divine),
1 639-1 723. "Be fruitful"
Mather (Richard, celebrated congregational minister
in Dorchester, Mass. He was a voluminous author), 1 596-
109
iUuft OTorta of
1669. " Far from well, yet far better than mine iniquities
deserve" in response to a question about his health.
Mathews (Charles, English Comedian), 1 776-1 836.
"lam ready."
Maurice (John Frederick Denison, English divine and
leader of the Broad Church party), 1805-1872. " The
knowledge of the love of God— r the blessing of God Al-
mighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost be
amongst you — amongst us — and remain with us forever"
During the early days of his last sickness he suffered
greatly in mind, but as the end approached the sky
cleared as after a shower, and his spirit passed away
under the bright rainbow of hope.
Mazarin (Jules, cardinal and chief minister of France
during the minority of Louis XIV.), 1 602-1661. " O f
my poor soul, what is to become of thee t Whither wilt
thou go ?"
Mazarin (Hortense Mancini, sister of the celebrated
cardinal), 1647-1699. "Debt/"
She was so heavily in debt at the time of her death
that her body was seized by her creditors.
Maximilian I. (Emperor of Germany), 1459-15 19.
His last words are not recorded, but just before his death
he left directions that as soon as he was dead all his hair
should be plucked out of his body, all his teeth should
be drawn, and that both his teeth and his hair should be
no
H)t0tmgtti*tye& tytn anfi Women*
burned. His body was to be scourged, and then wrapped
in quicklime, after which, clad in silk and damask, it was
to be buried under the high altar in such position that
the priest who said mass should always rest his feet above
the emperor's breast. His body is entombed in Wiener-
isch Neustadt under the altar as he directed.
Melanchthon (Philip. His original German nam! was
Schwarzerdt, which he Grecized into Melanchthon, or, as
he sometimes spelled it, Melanthon. Both names djenote
" black earth "), 1497-1 568. " Nothing else but heaven"
in answer to a friend who enquired if he wanted anything
further.
MERICOURT (Anne Joseph Theroigne de, the famous
"Goddess of Reason" 1 ), 1760-18 17. This woman's last
1 Mile. Maillard, the actress, is mentioned by Lamartine as one of the
Goddesses, who was compelled to play the part much against her will.
" Chaumette, assisted by Lais, an actor of the Opera, had arranged the
f£te of December 20, 1793. Mademoiselle Malliard, an actress, brilliant
with youth and talents, played the part of the goddess. She was borne
in a palanquin, the canopy of which was formed of oak branches. Women
in white, with tri-colored sashes, preceded her. Attired with theatrical
buskins, a Phrygian cap and a blue chlamys over a transparent tunic,
she was taken to the foot of the altar and seated there. Behind her burnt an
immense torch, symbolizing ' the flame of philosophy/ the true light of the
world. Chaumette, taking a censer in his hands, fell on his knees to the
goddess, and offered incense, and the whole concluded with dancing and
song." — Lamartine,
There was also a Goddess of Liberty. The wife of Momoro went attended
by the municipal officers, national guards and troops of ballet girls to the
cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Gobet (the archbishop of Paris), and
nearly all the bishops, vicars, canons, priests, and curb's of Paris stripped
themselves of their canonicals, donned the red nightcap, and joined in this
blasphemous mockery.
Ill
iU*t flHttorto of
words were partly reminiscent and partly the incoherent
ravings of a disordered brain. The old scenes rose be-
fore her with startling vividness.
" Died, within these few days, in the hospital of pauper
lunatics of Saltp&triere, where she had lived unpitied and
unknown for many years, the famous Th^roigne de Meri-
court (the Goddess of Reason), the most remarkable of
the heroines of the revolution."
A Paris paper of August /, iSiy.
METASTASIO (Pietro Bonaventura, originally named
Trapassi, but changed to Metastasio, " a changing," in
allusion to his adoption by the celebrated jurist Gravina,
from whom he received a large property), 1698— 1782.
After he had received the sacrament, and a few minutes
before his death, the poet uttered with unusual enthusiasm
the following beautiful stanzas :
" Toffro il tuo proprio Figlio,
Che gia cTamore in pegno,
Racchiuso in picciol segno
Si voile a noi donar.
A lui rivolgi il ciglio.
Guardo chi foffro y e poi
Lasci, Signor, se vuoi,
Lascia di per donar."
I offer to Thee, O Lord, Thy own Son, who already has given the pledge
of love, inclosed in this thin emblem ; turn on Him thine eyes ; oh ! behold
whom I offer to Thee and then desist, O Lord! if Thou canst desist from
mercy.
112
©tetrngutetyea S0m anfi Women*
MlRABEAU (Honore Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de),
1749-1791. "Are those already the Achilles' funeral? "
He referred to his famous " Achilles speech."
At daybreak he said to Cabanis : — " My friend I shall
die to-day. When one is in this situation, there remains
but one thing more to do, and that is to perfume me, to
crown me with flowers, to environ me with music, so that
I may enter sweetly into that slumber wherefrom there
is no awaking." * Later in the day he uttered these memo-
l Jeremy Bentham, when he firmly believed that he was near his last hour,
said to one of his disciples, who was watching over him : — "I now feel that
I am dying. Our care must be to minimize the pain. Do not let any of the
servants come into the room, and keep away the youths. It will be distress-
ing to them, and they can be of no service. Yet I must not be alone, and you
will remain with me, and you only, and then we shall have reduced the pain
to the least possible amount."
Bentham dreaded the silence and darkness of the grave, and wished to
remain even after his death in a world of living men. He left his body to
Dr. Southwood Smith who was to perform certain experiments to ascertain
that no life remained. After these experiments the following disposition
was to be made of his remains : " The skeleton Dr. Smith shall cause to be
put together in such manner that the whole figure may be seated in a chair
usually occupied by me when living, in the attitude in which I am sitting
when engaged in thought in the course of the time employed in writing. I
direct that the body, thus prepared, shall be transferred to my executor, and
that he shall cause the skeleton to be clothed in one of the suits of black
usually worn by me. The body so clothed, together with the chair and the
staff in my later years borne by me, he shall take charge of, and for contain-
ing the whole apparatus he shall cause to be prepared an appropriate box
or case, and shall cause to be engraved in conspicuous characters on a plate
to be affixed thereon, and also in the glass case in which the preparations of
the soft parts of my body shall be contained, as, for example, in the manner
used in the case of wine decanters ; my name at length with the letters ob :
followed by the day of my decease. If it should so happen that my personal
friends and other disciples should be disposed to meet together on some day,
or days of the year for the purpose of commemorating the founder of the
Greatest Happiness System of Morals and Legislation, my executor shall
8 113
ILatft flHttorta of
rable words: — "I carry in my heart the dirge of the
monarchy, the ruins whereof will now be the prey of the
factions."
Mohammed (The name signified " the praised," and
was assumed by the founder of Islam. He was origin-
ally called Halabi), about 570-632. " O Allah, be it
so I Henceforth among the glorious host of paradise."
Some give his last words thus, " O Allah, pardon my
sins. Yes, I come, among my fellow labourers on high."
In his last wanderings he only spoke of angels and
heaven. He died in the lap of Ayeshah, about noon of
Monday, the twelfth (eleventh) of the third month, in the
year 1 1 of the Hedyrah (June 8, 632). His death caused
an immense excitement and distress among the faithful,
and Omar, who himself would not believe in it, tried to
persuade the people of his still being alive. But Abu
Bekr said to the assembled multitude : — " Whoever
among you has served Mohammed, let him know that
cause to be conveyed into the room in which they meet the case with its
contents."
Humphry Repton, author of a delightful book on "Landscape Gar-
dening and Landscape Architecture," requested that his remains might be
deposited in a "garden of roses." He selected a small enclosure by the
church of Aylsham, in Norfolk, one of the most lovely spots in all England,
where were a number of roses and vines, as his last resting place. On the
monument over his grave, after his name and age, are these lines written by
himself: —
" Not like the Egyptian tyrants — consecrate,
Unmixt with others shall my dust remain ;
But mouldering, blended, melting into earth,
Mine shall give form and colour to the rose ;
And while its vivid blossoms cheer mankind,
Its perfum'd odour shall ascend to heaven."
114
J^fetingufatyefi S0m anfi Wlomm.
Mohammed is dead ; but he who has served the god of
Mohammed, let him continue in his service, for he is still
alive and never dies." — Chambers' Encyclopedia.
Montcalm (Saint-Vdran de Marquis), 1712-1759.
"So much the better / I shall not then live to see the surren- v
der of Quebec ," on being told that he was dying.
MONTEFIORE (Sir Moses, wealthy and distinguished
Jewish philanthropist), 1785-1885. " Thank God! Thank
Heaven /"
Montezuma II. (Monctesumatin, "the sad or severe
man " — the last of the Aztec emperors), about 1470-1520.
" 1 confide to your care my beloved children, the most pre-
cious jewels I can leave you. The great monarch beyond
the ocean will interest himself to see that they come into
their inheritance, if you present before him their just claims.
I know your master will do this, if for no other reason, then
for the kindness I have shown the Spaniards, though it has
occasioned my ruin. For all my misfortunes, Malinche 1 , I
bear you no ill will."
MONTFORT DE (Simon, Earl of Leicester), 1 208-1 265.
" Commend your souls to God, for our bodies are the foes'/ " v
To his followers, when he saw the advance of the enemy
at the battle of Evesham.
1 Malinche, Montezuma's name for Cortes, was borrowed from the original
name of the conqueror's mistress and interpreter, known in the Spanish
records as Marina. See "Death of Montezuma? in Prescott's " Conquest
cf Mexico."
us
ilatt Wort* of
Moody (Dwight Lyman, distinguished American evan-
gelist), 1 837-1 899. "/ see earth receding ; Heaven is
opening; God is calling me"
As the noonday hour drew near, the watchers at the
bedside noticed the approach of death. Several times Mr.
Moody's lips moved as if in prayer, but the articulation
was so faint that the words, could not be heard.
Just as death came Mr. Moody awoke as if from slum-
ber, and said, with much joyousness : " I see earth reced-
ing ; Heaven is opening ; God is calling me," and a mo-
ment later he had entered upon what one of his sons de-
scribed as " a triumphal march into heaven."
New York Times, Dec, 23, 18pp.
Moody (John, the actor), 1727-18 12.
" Reason thus with life,
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep"
Skakspeare.
Moore (Sir John, British General, whose death is
beautifully commemorated in an ode by Rev. Charles
Wolfe. Byron pronounced this ode the best in the
English language) \ 1 76 1 - 1 809.
He said to Colonel Anderson, who for one and twenty
years had been his friend and companion in arms:
1 It has been generally supposed that the burial of Sir John Moore, who
fell at the battle of Corunna, in 1809, took place during the night, an error
which doubtless arose from the statement to that effect in Wolfe's celebrated
lines. Rev. Mr. Symons, who was the clergyman on the occasion, states,
however, in " Notes and Queries," that the burial took place in the morning,
in broad day-light.
116
EDtetmsjuistyea tym anfi Women*
" Anderson, you know that I always wished to die in this
way." He frequently asked, "Are the French beaten ?"
And at length, when he was told they were defeated in every
point, he said, " It is a great satisfaction to me to know we
have beaten the French. I hope the people of England
will be satisfied. I hope my country will do me justice."
Having mentioned the name of his venerable mother, and
the names of some other friends, for whose welfare he
seemed anxious to offer his last prayers, the power of
utterance was lost, and he died in a few minutes without
a struggle. — The Book of Death.
The last words that passed his dying lips were a mes-
sage to Lady Hester Stanhope, the niece of Pitt, after-
wards so famous for her eccentricity, as her father had
been before her. To her, to whom he is said to have
been deeply attached, if not engaged, he sent his dying
remembrances by her brother, one of his aides-de-camp,
and then passed peacefully into the presence of his God.
Cornhill Magazine.
More (Sir Thomas, author of " Utopia." He suc-
ceeded Wolsey as lord chancellor, a dignity never before
filled by a common lawyer. He refused to take the oath
to maintain the lawfulness of the marriage of Henry
VIII. with Anne Boleyn, and was therefore adjudged
guilty of high treason, and condemned to death. He
was beheaded July 6, 1535), 1480-1535. " I pray you
see me safe up the scaffold; as for my coming down, let me
shift for myself" Some say his last words were these,
addressed to the executioner, "Stay friend till I put
aside my beard; for that never committed treason."
8* 117
iLa^c Motto* of
More (Hannah, poet, essayist and moralist), 1744"-
1833. "Jw"
Morris (Gouverneur, American Statesman), 1752—
1816.
Courageously he had lived, and courageously he met
the great change, with entire resignation to the Divine
will. "Sixty-four years ago," he said just before his
death, " it pleased the Almighty to call me into exist-
ence — here, on this spot, in this very room; and now
shall I complain that he is pleased to call me hence ?"
On the day of his death he asked about the weather, and,
on being told that it was fair, he replied: "A beautiful
day, yes, but —
' Who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing, anxious being e'er resign'd;
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind ?' "
Diary and 'Letters of Gouverneur Morris,
MORTON (Oliver P., American Statesman), 1 823-1 877.
" I am dying, I am worn out" to Dr. Thompson who
was standing by his bed and holding his hand.
MoTHE LE Vayer de la (This learned man's favorite
amusement consisted in the study of distant countries),
1 588-1672. " Well, my friend, what news from the
Great Mogul?" The question was addressed to Bernier,
the traveller, who had entered his room to bid him an
affectionate and last farewell.
Motley (John Lothrop, distinguished historian), 1814-
1 877. " / am ill — very ill, I shall not recover"
118
BDitfttngutfltyea jpm ana WHomm.
About two o'clock in the day he complained of a
feeling of faintness, said he felt ill and should not recover ;
and in a few minutes was insensible with symptoms of
ingravescent apoplexy. There was extensive hemorrhage
into the brain, as shown by post-mortem examination,
the cerebral vessels being atheromatous. The fatal
hemorrhage had occurred into the lateral ventricles, from
rupture of one of the middle cerebral arteries.
Sir William W. Gull's account of Motley's death.
MOZART (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus,
one of the most eminent of musical composers), 1756—
1792. The last words which he addressed to Sophie
Haibl were, " I have the flavour of death on my tongue.
I taste death; and who will support my dearest Constanze
if you do not stay with her?" Later he conversed
with Siissmayer over Jhe Requiem and was heard to
say, " Did I not say that I was writing the Requiem
for myself? " This he said with tears in his eyes as he
looked at the notes.
Just before death he demanded to hear again the
Requiem. Dr. Clossel, his physician, nodded his con-
sent. Siissmayer sat down at the piano, Schack sang
the soprano, Hofer the tenor, Gorl the bass, and the
dying Mozart the alto. Softly swelled forth the ineffable
music of the sweet, sorrowful, sacred death song. After
this the chamber was silent as the grave. Only the clock
ticked softly on the shelf, as it marked the weary hours of
the passing night. — Condensed from Sill's translation of
Rau's Biographical Romance of Mozart.
After all consciousness had gone, still Mozart's fancies
119
iLatft WoiD0 of
were busy with the Requiem, blowing out his cheeks to
imitate the trumpets and drums. Toward midnight he
raised himself, opened his eyes wide, then lay down
with his face to the wall and seemed to fall asleep. At
one o'clock he expired.
The swelling of Mozart's body after death led to the
suspicion that he had been poisoned. But there was no
other ground for the suspicion than Mozart's diseased
fancies, which gave rise to the most shameful and unfor-
tunate distrust of Salieri who, it was reported, acknowl-
edged upon his deathbed having administered poison to
Mozart. All these suspicions were fully laid to rest by
Carpani in the Biblioteca Italiana, 1824. 1
Muhlenberg (Rev. William Augustus, founder of St.
Luke's Hospital in New York, and author of the hymn,
" I would not live alway "), 1 796-1 877. " Good morning"
spoken to a friend who entered the room.
Murphy (Arthur, dramatic author, and translator),
1728-1805. He died repeating the lines of Pope :
" Taught, half by reason, half by mere decay,
To welcome death, and calmly pass away"
1 A common undistinguished grave received the coffin, which was then
left without memorial — almost forgotten — for nearly twenty years; and
when, in 1808, some inquiries were made as to the precise spot of the inter-
ment, all that the sexton could tell was that, at the latter end of 1791, the
space about the third and fourth row from the cross was being occupied
with graves ; but the contents of these graves being from time to time
exhumed, nothing could be determined concerning that which was once
Mozart. — Home's Life of Mozart.
I20
BDtetmguifltyeD gptn anD Women*
Nadir Shah (Thamasp Kouli Khan, celebrated Per-
sian conqueror), 1688-1747. " Thau dog/ 1 * addressed
to one of the conspirators who slew him in his tent, June
19, 1747.
Nani (Giambattista Felice Gasparo, author of " Istaria
della Republica Veneta "), 1616-1678. " How beautiful 7 "
Napoleon I. (Napoleon Bonaparte), 1 769-1 821.
" Man Dieu / La Nation Frangaise / Tete d'armie"
He died on the island of St. Helena, May 5. 182 1. In
1840 his remains were removed to France and deposited
in the Hotel des Invalides.
Napoleon III. (Louis Napoteon, "The Little/'
" Ratipole," "The Man of Sedan," "The Man of Decern-
ber," " Boustrapa," " Badinguet " and " The Comte d'Ar-
enenberg"), 1808-1873. " Were you at Sedan?" He
asked the question of Dr. Conneau. It was at Sedan
that he surrendered his sword to the King of Prussia.
NARES (Rev. Edward, "Thinks I to myself"), 1762-
1841. "Good-bye."
Naruszewicz (Adam Stanislas, "The Polish Taci-
tus"), 1 733-1 796. " Must I leave it unfinished?" He
referred to his " History of Poland."
NEANDER (Johann August, the celebrated church his-
torian. He was of Jewish descent, but early in life em-
braced the Christian faith, and at his baptism assumed
121
J
]La*t WLotbti of
the name " Neander," from two Greek words signifying
a new man), 1789-1850. "/ am weary; I will now go
to sleep. Good night I "
Nelson (Horatio), 1758-1805. " Thank God, I have
done my duty" He died in battle. Some say his last
words were : " Kiss me, Hardy." Others give them thus :
" Tell Collingwood to bring the fleet to anchor."
His ever-memorable signal to his fleet, immediately
before the battle commenced, had been : " England ex-
pects every man to do his duty," and if ever a man lived
and died in earnest, fearless, unselfish discharge of his
duty to his country, it was Admiral Nelson, victor of the
Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar.
Appletoris Cyelopcedia of Biography.
Nero (Lucius Domitius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of
Rome), 37-68. " Qualis artifex pereo I "
The poor wretch who, without a pang, had caused so
many brave Romans and so many innocent Christians to
be murdered, could not summon up resolution to die.
He devised every operatic incident of which he could
think. When even his most degraded slaves urged him
to have sufficient manliness to save himself from the fear-
ful infamies which otherwise awaited him, he ordered his
grave to be dug, and fragments of marble to be collected
for its adornment, and water and wood for his funeral
pyre, perpetually whining : " What an artist to perish ! "
Meanwhile a courier arrived for Phaon. Nero snatched
his dispatches out of his hand, and read that the Senate
had decided that he should be punished in the ancestral
fashion as a public enemy. Asking what the ancestral
122
2Pi0tingui0tie& tym ana Women*
fashion was, he was informed that he would be stripped
naked and scourged to death with rods, with his head
thrust into a fork. Horrified at this, he seized two dag-
gers, and after theatrically trying their edges, sheathed
them again, with the excuse that the fatal moment had
not yet arrived ! Then he bade Sparus begin to sing his
funeral song, and begged some one to show him how to
die. Even his own intense shame at his cowardice was
an insufficient stimulus, and he whiled away the time in
vapid epigrams and pompous quotations. The sound of
horses' hoofs then broke on his ears, and venting one
more Greek quotation, he held the dagger to his throat.
It was driven home by Epaphroditus, one of his literary
slaves. At this moment the centurion who came to arrest
him rushed in. Nero was not yet dead, and under pre-
tense of helping him, the centurion began to stanch the
wound with his cloak. "Too late," he said; "is this
your fidelity ?" So he died; and the bystanders were
horrified with the way in which his eyes seemed to be
starting out of his head in a rigid stare. He had begged
that his body might be burned without posthumous in-
sults, and this was conceded by Icelus, the freedman of
Galba. — Farrar: Early Days of Christianity.
It was the remark of Nero's father, Ahenobarbus, that
nothing but what was hateful and pernicious to mankind
could ever come from Agrippina and himself. Yet the
story of a strange hand that strewed flowers upon the
tomb of this tyrant is well known.
NEWELL (Harriet, missionary in India), 1793-18 12.
" The pains, the groans, the dying strife. How long, O
Lord, how long ? "
123
ilatft Motto* of
Newport (Francis, once famous as an opponent of
Christianity). " Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell and
damnation!" Died 1692.
Newton (John, English divine. His early life was
that of a profligate sailor engaged in the African slave-
trade. After his conversion he became the friend of the
poet Cowper, and with him wrote the " Olney Hymns "),
1725-1807. " / am satisfied with the Lord's will." Last
recorded words.
Newton (Richard, an English divine, founder of Hert-
ford College, Oxford), 1676-175 3. " Christ Jesus the
Saviour of sinners and life of tfte dead. I am going,
going to Glory I Farewell sin! Farewell death ! Praise
the Lord! "
Ney (famous French marshal), 1769-18 15. " Soldiers
— fire!" said to the soldiers appointed to dispatch him.
Noyes (John, the martyr). " We shall not lose our
lives in this fire, but change them for a better, and for
coals, have pearls," said to a fellow martyr.
Oates (Titus), about 1619-1705. "// is all the same
in the end."
Titus Oates was the son of an anabaptist minister, but
was educated for the Church of England, and received
an appointment as chaplain in the royal navy. He was
dismissed in disgrace from the navy, and united with
the Jesuits. Later he rejoined the Church of England,
124
BDitfttnguifl^ea spm ana Women.
and revealed a pretended popish plot, which resulted in
the execution and imprisonment of many innocent
persons. For this he received a large pension, and was
granted a residence at Whitehall, where he lived until the
death of Charles II. Under King James he was con-
victed of perjury and publicly whipped. William III.
pensioned him.
O'Carolan, or Carolan (Turlough, famous Irish
bard and musical composer), 1670-1738. "// would be
hard indeed if we two dear friends should part after so
many years, without one sweet kiss;" these words were
spoken to a bowl of wine which he kissed when he was
no longer able to drink.
Orange (William, Prince of, called "William the
Silent/' founder of the Dutch Republic), 1 533-1 584.
" O God, have mercy upon me, and upon this poor
nation / " This he said when shot by Balthasar Gerard.
The assassin was put to death by the Dutch, but his
parents were ennobled and richly rewarded by Philip II.
of Spain. Philip had offered a reward for the prince's
murder, and five separate attempts had been made pre-
viously to kill him.
Owen (Robert, socialistic writer and philanthropist),
1771-1858. " Relief has come"
OWEN (John, English non- conformist divine and
author, chaplain to Cromwell, Dean of Christ Church
Oxford, in 165 1, vice-chancellor of the University of
125
iLatft OTorte of
Oxford. He was a man of great ability and devoted
piety), 1616-1683. The first sheet of his "Meditations
on the Glory of Christ " had passed through the press
under the superintendence of the Rev. William Payne ;
.... and on that person calling on him to inform him
of the circumstances, on the morning of the day he died,
he exclaimed with uplifted hands, and eyes looking
upward, " I am glad to hear it; but, O brother Payne I
the long-wished-for day is come at last, in which I shall
see that glory in another manner than I have ever done, or
was capable of doing, in this world."
From quotation in Allibone.
Paine (Thomas, author of " Common Sense," " The
Rights of Man" and "The Age of Reason"), 1737-
y 1809. "/ have no wish to believe on that subject."
These words were in answer to his physician's inquiry :
" Do you wish to believe that Jesus is the Son of God ?"
There is a dispute with regard to Paine's death. Some
writers say he recanted and became a Christian, while
others affirm that he died as he lived — an avowed Deist
In his last will and testament he says: " I have lived an
honest and useful life to mankind ; my time has been
spent in doing good ; and I die in perfect composure and
resignation to the will of my creator, God." On the
other hand some authors say that he was grossly intem-
perate and licentious, and that he discarded Christianity
not so much from conviction as from a base desire to lead
a bad life.
" In 1802, he (Paine) returned to America and resided
a part of the time on a farm at New Rochelle, presented.
126
H>t0tingui0t}e& jpen ana Women*
to him by the State of New York for his Revolutionary
service. Paine became very intemperate, and fell low in
the social scale, not only on account of his beastly habits,
but because of his blasphemous tirade against Chris-
tianity." — Lossing in " Our Countrymen."
Of Paine's last hours Rev. O. B. Frothingham speaks
as follows:
" The truth is, that Paine, though not rich, was in com-
fortable circumstances. He had considerable property,
which is specified in his will. His sick bed was sur-
rounded by friends who ministered to his wants, witnessed
the firmness and calmness of his last hours, and attested
the sincerity and sufficiency of his convictions. Not
even the impertinent intrusiveness of the clergy disturbed
the entire serenity of his death."
The commonly received opinion, and most likely the
correct one, with regard to Paine is this which we excerpt
from Appletoris Cyclopedia of Biography :
" His attacks upon religion had exceedingly narrowed
his circle of acquaintance ; and his habitual intemperance
tended to the injury of his health and the ultimate pro-
duction of a complication of disorders, to which he fell a
victim in 1809. The Quakers refused to admit his re-
mains among their dead, and he was buried on his own
farm. Cobbett boasted of having disinterred him in
18 17, and of having brought his body to England ; many,
however, assert that Cobbett did not take that trouble,
but brought over from America the remains of a criminal
who had been executed."
127
ilatft Motto* of
Palmer (John, English actor of considerable merit),
1 742-1 798. "There is another and a better world"
His death took place on the stage of the Liverpool
Theatre while performing the character of the Stranger,
and his last words were a line in the play.
Parker (Theodore, Unitarian preacher and writer),
1 8 10- 1 869. " // is all one, Phillips and Clarke will come
for my sake" He meant that Wendell Phillips and
James Freeman Clarke would attend his funeral. He
died at Florence, where he had gone for his health.
The character of Theodore Parker was above reproach.
His tone of morality was high. His motives were ele-
vated, and, apparently, sincere. His firm grasp of some
of the fundamental principles of natural religion, together
with his unfailing confidence in his own powers, gave a
strength to his utterances of truth and duty which often
stirred and swayed the moral nature of his hearers. But
in all his writings we find no expression of a conscious-
ness of guilt and of need as a sinner, and no recognition
of Christ as his Saviour. Of Theodore Parker, Lowell
speaks thus wittily, in his " Fable for Critics " :
His hearers can't tell you on Sunday beforehand,
If in that day's discourse they'll be Bibled or Koraned,
For he's seized the idea (by his martyrdom fired),
That all men (not orthodox?) may be inspired ;
Yet though wisdom profane with his creed he may weave in,
He makes it quite clear what he doesn't believe in,
While some, who decry him, think all kingdom come
Is a sort of a, kind of a, species of Hum,
Of which, as it were, so to speak, not a crumb
Would be left, if we didn't keep carefully mum,
And, to make a clean breast, that 'tis perfectly plain
128
H>i0tingui0tie& $&m mi Women.
That all kinds of wisdom are somewhat profane ;
Now P's creed than this may be lighter or darker,
But in one thing 'tis clear he has faith, namely — Parker.
And this is what makes him the crowd-drawing preacher.
There's a background of god to each hard-working feature.
Pascal (Blaise, one of the most profound thinkers and
accomplished writers of France), 1623-1662. "May
God never forsake me!"
PAYSON (Rev. Edward, American Congregational di-
vine), 1 783-1 827. " Faith and patience holdout" These
words were spoken with extreme difficulty and in great
pain. Some report his last words thus: " I feel like a
mote in the sunbeam"
Dr. Payson directed that when he was dead a label
should be attached to his breast on which should be
written, " Remember the words I spake unto you while I
was yet present with you," that all who came to view
his dead body might receive from him one more sermon.
The same words were at the request of his people en-
graven upon the plate of the coffin.
PELLICO (Silvio, Italian poet, author of " Francesca da
Rimini " and " My Prisons "), 1789-1854. " O Paradise!
O Paradise ! At last comes to me the grand consolation.
My prisons disappear; the great of earth pass away ;
all before me is rest"
PEMBO (the hermit), " / thank God that not a day of
my life has been spent in idleness. Never have I eaten
bread that I have not earned with the sweat of my brow, I
9 129
iUtft WBLotte of
do not recall any bitter speech I have made for which I
ought to repent now" This suggests the prayer of the
Pharisee, " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this pub-
lican. I fast twice in the week ; I give tithes of all that
I possess." — Luke xviii: it, 12.
Philip III. (of Spain), 1578-1621. " Oh, would to
God I had never reigned I Oh, that those years I have
spent in my kingdom I had lived a solitary life in the wil-
derness! Oh, that I had lived alone with God! How
much more secure should I now have died ! With how
much more confidence should I have gone to the throne of
God! What doth all my glory profit, but that I have so
much the more torment in my death ? "
Pitt (William), 1759-1806. " my country, how I
love thee ! "
PlZARRO (Francisco, the conqueror of Peru), about
1475-1 541 . "Jesu ! " He was assassinated in his palace,
June 26, 1541, and was killed only after desperate resist-
ance.
Poe (Edgar Allen, American poet, author of "The
Raven "), 181 1-1849. " Lord ^ el P m y soul! "
Dr. Moran, resident physician of the Marine Hospital,
where Poe died, wrote to Mrs. Clemm, under date of
November 15 th, 1849, an account of Poe's last hours, in
which he represents him as having been wildly delirious,
sometimes " resisting the efforts of two nurses to keep
130
O)i0ttngtti*t}e& S0tn ana Women*
him in bed, until Saturday, when he commenced calling
for one 'Reynolds', which he did through the night until
three on Sunday morning. At this time a very decided
change began to affect him. Having become enfeebled
from exertion, he became quiet and seemed to rest for a
short time ; then gently moving his head he said, ' Lord
help my soul ! ' and expired."
POLYCARP (St., Christian Father and martyr, and the
reputed disciple of the Apostle John), burned at the stake,
169. " Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son, Jesus
Christ/ O God of all principalities and of all creation ! I
bless Thee that Thou hast counted me worthy of this day,
and of this hour, to receive my portion in the number of the
martyrs, in the cup of Christ I praise Thee for all these
things; I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, by the eternal High
Priest, Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son, through whom,
and with whom, in the Holy Spirit, be glory to Thee, both
now and forever. Amen."
POPE (Alexander), 1 688-1 744. " I am dying, sir, of
a hundred good symptoms" said to a friend who called
to inquire concerning his health. Some give his last
words thus : " Friendship itself is but a part of virtue." l
l On some occasion of alteration in the church at Twickenham, England,
or burial of some one in the same spot, the coffin of Pope was disinterred,
and opened to see the state of the remains. By a bribe to the sexton of the
time, possession of the skull was obtained for the night, and another skull
was returned in place of it. Fifty pounds were paid for the successful man-
agement of this transaction. Whether this account is correct or not, the
fact is that the skull of Pope figures in a private museum. — William Hewitt*
131
/
iLa*t wa*m of
PORTEUS (Beilby, Bishop of London. Among his
works are a " Life of Archbishop Seeker," " Sermons,"
and a Seatonian prize poem on " Death." It is said that
he assisted Hannah More in the composition of " Coelebs
in Search of a Wife"), 1 731-1808. " O, that glorious
sun/"
PRESTON (John, author of "Treatise on the Cove-
nant"), 1 587-1628. "Blessed be God, though I change
my place, I shall not change my company; for I have
walked with God while living, and now I go to rest with
Godr
Priestly (Joseph, philosopher and writer), 1733-1804.
" / am going to sleep like you, but we shall all awake to-
gether, and I trust to everlasting happiness" spoken to
his grandchildren and attendants.
To Priestly we owe our knowledge of oxygen, binoxide
of nitrogen, sulphurous acid, fluosilicic acid, muriatic
acid, ammonia, carburetted hydrogen, and carbonic
oxide.
PUSEY (Edward Bouverie, Regius professor of Hebrew
at Oxford, author with John Henry Newman, of " Tracts
for the Times." He favored auricular confession and
many of the distinctive doctrines and practices of the
Roman Catholic Church), 1800-1882. "My God I"
He repeated again and again during his last hours the
words, " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was
given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto ever-
lasting life." When a common cup containing food was
132
apitftingttisfyet jpen ant Wtitomm.
brought to him, he clutched it with reverent eagerness,
thinking in the bewilderment of his mind, that it was the
chalice. When he saw the friends about his bed kneeling
in prayer, he raised his hand, with the words, " By His
authority committed unto me, I absolve thee from all thy
sins." At last, gazing about him as though he saw what
the dear ones by his bedside could not see, he cried out,
" My God ! " and ceased to breathe. His Hebrew Bible
lay open on a little table near his bed just as he had left
it a few days before, at I Chron. xvi, where is described
David's triumphant restoration of the ark of God to its
place in the reverent worship of Israel.
QUIN (James, actor), 1 693-1 766. "I could wish this
tragic scene were over, but I hope to go through it with
becoming dignity. * '
Quick (John, actor), 1748-1831. "Is this death ?**
Rabelais (Fronts), about 1483-1553. "Let down *
the curtain, the farce is over/* Some say his last words
were, " I am going to the great perhaps."
Raleigh, or Rawleigh (Sir Walter), 1 552-1618.
44 This is a sharp medicine, but a sure remedy for all
evils!** These words he said upon the scaffold, when
permitted to feel of the edge of the axe. Some say that
later he was asked which way he chose to place himself
on the block, and that he replied, " So the heart be right,
it is no matter which way the head lies." Others say
that his last words were these addressed to the hesitating
headsman, " Why dost thou not strike ? Strike ! "
9* 133
ilatft WorM of
The lovers of tobacco will remember that it was
Sir Walter Raleigh who introduced their "delightful
weed " into Europe.
Randolph (John, an able but eccentric American
statesman), 1 773-1833. " Write that word* Remorse' ;
show it to me." These words rest upon doubtful
authority.
Ravaillac (Francois, the assassin of Henry IV. of
France), 1578-1610. " / receive absolution upon this con-
dition" Ravaillac asked absolution of Dr. Filesac, who
answered, "We are forbidden to give it in the case of a
crime of high treason, unless the guilty one reveals his
abettors and accomplices. " Ravaillac replied," I have none.
It is I alone that did it. Give me a conditional absolu-
tion. You cannot refuse this." " Well, then/' said Dr.
Filesac, " I give it to you, but if the contrary be true, in-
stead of absolution I pronounce your eternal damnation.
Look to it." Ravaillac answered, " I receive absolution
upon this condition."
On May 27, 16 10, Ravaillac was declared by the Par-
liament guilty of divine and human high treason ; con-
demned to have his flesh torn with hot pincers and the
wounds filled with melted lead, boiling oil, etc. ; to have
his right hand, holding the regicidal knife, burned in a
fire of sulphur ; to be afterward torn to pieces alive by
four horses, to have his members reduced to ashes and
the ashes thrown to the winds. The same decree ordered
that the house in which he was born be demolished ; that
his father and his mother leave the kingdom in fifteen
134
g>tetmgui*t)e& $peu ana WSlomtn.
days, with orders not to return, under penalty of being
hung and strangled ; and finally that his brothers, sisters,
uncles, etc., give up the name of Ravaillac and take
another, under pain of the same penalties.
RAYMOND (John Howard, President of Vassar Col-
lege), 1 8 14 — . "How easy — how easy — how easy to
glide from work here to the work " there •, he evi-
dently wished to add, but his voice failed him.
READE (Charles, author of " Peg Woffington," "The
Cloister and the Hearth," " Very Hard Cash," " Griffith
Gaunt " and " Put Yourself in His Place "), 18 14-1884.
" Amazing, amazing glory / I am having Paul's under-
standing" He referred to 2 Cor. xii, 1-4, which had
previously been a subject of conversation with a relative.
In the epitaph which he wrote for his own tombstone, he
shows his complete reliance for future happiness on the
merits and mediation of Christ :
HERE LIE,
BY THE SIDE OF HIS BELOVED FRIEND,
THE MORTAL REMAINS OF
CHARLES READE,
DRAMATIST, NOVELIST AND JOURNALIST.
HIS LAST WORDS TO MANKIND ARE
ON THIS STONE.
"I hope for a resurrection, not from any power in
nature, but from the will of the Lord God Omnipotent,
who made nature and me. He created me out of nothing,
I3S
ILtft Worto of
which nature could not do. He can restore man from the
dust y which nature cannot.
" And I hope for holiness and happiness in a future
life, not for any thing I have said or done in this body,
but from the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ.
" He has promised his intercession to all who seek him,
and he will not break his word ; that intercession, once
granted, cannot be rejected : for he is God, and his merits
infinite ; a man's sins are but human and finite.
"'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast
out.' 'If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he is the propitia-
tion for our sins.' "
RENAN (Ernest, Orientalist and critic), 182 3- 1892. "/
have done my work. It is the most natural thing in the
world to die ; let us accept the Laws of the Universe
— the heavens and the earth remain"
Some authorities give his last words thus: "Let us
submit to the Laws of Nature of which we are one of the
manifestations. The heavens and the earth abide/'
He began to study for the priesthood, but renounced
that profession because he doubted the truth of the
orthodox creed. He displayed much learning in his " Gen-
eral History of the Semitic Languages," was admitted
into the Academy of Inscriptions in 1856, and was sent
to Syria in i860 to search for relics of ancient learning
and civilization. Soon after his return he was appointed
professor of Hebrew in the College of France, but was
suspended in 1 862, in deference to the will of those who
considered him unsound in faith. He admits the excel-
136
ffi>t0tmgtu0f)e& tym ant Women*
lence of the Christian religion, but discredits its super-
natural origin and rejects the miracles.
Lippincotfs Biographical Dictionary,
Reynolds (Sir Joshua, celebrated portrait painter),
1723-1792. "/ have been fortunate in long good health
and constant success, and I ought not to complain. I know
that all things on earth must have an end, and now I am
come to mine."
Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal and
French statesman), 1 585-1642. " Absolutely, and I pray
God to condemn me, if I have had any other aim than the
welfare of God and the state," in reply to the question
whether he pardoned his enemies.
His last words are sometimes incorrectly given thus :
" I have no enemies except those of the State."
RICHMOND (Leigh, a clergyman of the English church,
and author of " Annals of the Poor " and " The Fathers
of the English Church"), 1 772-1 827. "Brother, brother,
strong evidences, nothing but strong evidences will do in
such an hour as this. I have looked here and looked there
for them, and all have failed me, and so I cast myself
on the sovereign, free and full grace of God in the cove-
nant by Jesus Christ ; and there, brother, there I have
found peace."
RlCHTER (Jean Paul Frederich, German author),
1763-1825. " My beautiful flowers, my lovely flowers / "
His wife brought him a wreath of flowers that a lady
had sent him, for every one wished to add some charm to
137
ilatft Worto of
his last days. As he touched them carefully, for he
could neither see nor smell them, he seemed to rejoice
in the images of the flowers in his mind, for he said
repeatedly, " My beautiful flowers, my lovely flowers ! "
Although his friends sat around the bed, as he
imagined it was night, they conversed no longer; he
arranged his arms as if preparing for repose, which was
to be to him the repose of death, and soon sank into a
tranquil sleep At length his respiration became
less regular, but his features always calmer, more
heavenly. A slight convulsion passed over the face ; the
physician cried out, " That is death ! " and all was quiet.
The spirit had departed.
Robertson (Frederick William, an English clergy-
man of singular purity and depth of religious feeling, and
of great ability), 1816-1853. " I cannot bear it; let me
rest. I must die. Let God do his work."
A member of his congregation, a chemist, asked him
to look at his galvanic apparatus. He took the ends of
the wire, completed the circuit, experiencing the tingling.
He then held the end of the wire to the back of the head
and neck, without a single sensation being elicited.
Then he touched his forehead for a second. " Instantly
a crashing pain shot through, as if my skull was stove in,
and a bolt of fire were burning through and through."
In the same letter he writes, " My work is done." Some
hope might have been entertained if he could have had a
curate to help him with his work. But the then Vicar of
Brighton, rather an unsympathetic man, refused to let
him have the curate on whom his heart was set So he
138
SPfetingufatyeft S0m ana Women*
sank, unrelieved, into death. The dark secrets of the
hospital of torture hardly reveal greater suffering than
Robertson endured in those last hours. When they
sought to change his position, he said, " I cannot bear it ;
let me rest. I must die. Let God do his work." These
were his last words.
He was only thirty-seven years old when he died ; an
age when he had not reached the climax of his powers,
or the complete development of his character and views.
It is an interesting circumstance that after his death an
inhabitant of Brighton who had stood aloof from his
teaching during his lifetime, read his sermons and was so
struck with the beauty of his teaching that in gratitude
he placed a marble bust of the great preacher in the
Pavilion. — London Society.
For six years he continued to preach sermons, the like
of which, for blending of delicacy and strength of
thought, poetic beauty and homely lucidity of speech,
had perhaps never been heard before in England.
Robertson was unhappily (for his comfort) not very
" orthodox ; " consequently he was long misunderstood,
and vilified by the "professedly religious portion of
society ; " but so true, so beautiful was his daily life and
conversation that he almost outlived those pious calum-
nies, and his death (from consumption) threw the whole
town in mourning. — Chambers' Encyclopedia.
ROB Roy (whose original name was Macgregor, was
a friend and follower of the " Pretender " in the Rebellion
of 1715. He is the hero of one of Scott's novels), about
1 660- 1 743.
139
Haft TOorte of
Tradition relates that Rob Roy was visited on his death-
bed by a person with whom he was at enmity, and that
as soon as the visitor, whom he treated with a cold,
haughty civility during their short conference, had
departed, the dying man said, " Now all is over — let the
piper play ' Ha til mi tulidh ' (we return no more) " — and
he is said to have expired before the dirge was finished.
Francis Jacox.
Rogers (John, Vicar of St. Pulchers, and reader of
St. Paul's in London. He was burnt at the stake), — 1 555.
" Lord, receive my spirit."
Roland (Marie Jeanne Philipon, Madame. "The
Spirit of the Girondin Party "), 1 754-1 793. " O liberty I
O liberty / how many crimes are committed in thy name I"
These words, spoken on the scaffold, were suggested by
a statue of liberty in the public square, and fronting the
guillotine.
Romaine (William, English theologian, for thirty
years rector of Blackfriars), 1714-1795. "Holy, holy %
holy> blessed Lord Jesus / to Thee be endless praise I "
ROSA (Salvator, Italian painter), 161 5-1673. "To
judge by what I now endure, the hand of death grasps me
sharply" Last recorded words.
ROSSETTI (Dante Gabriel, English painter and poet,
leader in the Pre-Raphaelite movement), 1 828-1 882. "/
think I shall die to-night" These are his last recorded
words.
140
a>&tmgufotyet jpen anD Women*
Dante Gabriel Rossetti is buried near the waves of his
beloved German Ocean in the churchyard of Birchington,
a small village on the Isle of Thanet. He died in 1882
at his bungalow, on a cliff near by, and his grave is
marked by a tall Celtic cross of stone, carved with de-
signs by Ford Madox Brown. The head and arms of the
cross are decorated with a spray ending in leaves, and
two leafy branches right and left. The shaft has four
panels, with reliefs. The upper compartment has a figure
of Christ, fronting, and two figures right and left in pro-
file. The panel below has a kneeling bull, with wings,
to represent the Evangelist. Below that is a kneeling
painter, with canvas and easel before him and his palette
on his arm. The lowest panel is filled with a decorative
scroll. There is a stained-glass window to his memory
in the little church.
ROUSSEAU (Jean Jacques, the famous author of " La
Nouvelle H&oise," " Emile," " Du Contrat Social " and
" Confessions "), 1712-1778. "Throw up the window
that I may see once more the magnificent scene of nature."
Rutherford (Rev. Samuel), 1695-1779. " If he
should slay me ten thousand times, ten thousand times I'll
trust him. I feel, I feel, I believe in joy, and rejoice ; I
feed on manna. O for arms to embrace him I O for a
well-tuned harp / "
Rutherford (Rev. Thomas), 1712-1771. " He has
indeed been a precious Christ to me ; and now I feel him
to be my rock, my strength, my rest, my hope, my joy, my
all in all."
141
JUtft WOfitM Of
Sabatier (Raphael Bienvenu, French surgeon), 1732-
181 1. "Contemplate the state in which I ant fallen, and
learn to die" said to his son.
He was ashamed of his bodily infirmities and of his ap-
proaching mortality.
Samson (one of the judges of Israel, of the tribe of
Don, and the son of Manoah), about B. C. 1155. "Let
me die with the Philistines." After performing several
wonderful deeds of strength, he was made prisoner, and
deprived of sight by the Philistines, a great number of
whom he subsequently destroyed, along with himself, by
pulling down the temple in which they were assembled.
See Judges, xvi.
Sand (George, pseudonym of Madame Dudevant),
1 804-1 876. " Laissez la verdure" — meaning, "Leave
the tomb green, do not cover it over with bricks or stone."
Sanderson (Robert, English prelate, chaplain to
Charles I., and later Bishop of London), 1587-1663.
" My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed where true
joy is to be found."
Sarpi (Fra Paolo, author of " History of the Council
of Trent," and opponent of the doctrine of the infallibility
of the Pope), 1 552-1623. " Be thou everlasting." These
words were spoken in reference to his country, Venice.
Saunders (Lawrence, suffered martyrdom during the
reign of Queen Mary). " Welcome the cross of Christ,
welcome everlasting life."
142
0>tttingui*t)e& tytn aitD Women*
Away went Mr. Saunders, with a merry courage, to-
ward the fire. He fell to the ground and prayed; he
rose up again and took the stake to which he should be
chained in his arms and kissed it, saying : " Welcome the
cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life." Being fastened
to the stake he fell full sweetly asleep in the Lord.
Fox's Book of Martyrs.
Savonarola (Girolamo, celebrated preacher and po-
litical, as well as religious, reformer of Florence), 1452-
1498. " O Florence, what hast thou done to-day t " He
was strangled and burnt by the commissioners of the
Pope, May 23, 1498. His last words are sometimes given
thus: "The Lord has suffered as much for me."
While he and his companions, all three barely covered
by their tunics, with naked feet and arms bound, were
being slowly led from the ringhiera to the gibbet, the
dregs of the populace were allowed to assail them with
vile words and viler acts. Savonarola endured this bitter
martyrdom with unshaken serenity. One bystander,
stirred with compassion, approached him and said a few
comforting words, to which he benignantly replied : " At
the last hour, God alone can give mortals comfort." A
certain priest, named Nerotto, asked him, " In what spirit
dost thou bear martyrdom ?" He said : " The Lord hath
suffered as much for me." He then kissed the crucifix,
and his voice was heard no more.
Villari: " Life and Times of Savonarola."
SCARRON (Paul, the creator of French burlesque), v
16 10-1660. " Ah/ fnes enfans, you cannot cry as much
143
iLatft Worte of
for me as I have made you laugh in my time I " Some
say that a few moments later he added, " I never thought
that it was so easy a matter to laugh at the approach of
death."
The life of Scarron was one of extreme wretchedness.
He was, like Heine, a miserable paralytic ; his form, to
use his own words, " had become bent like a Z." " My
legs/' he says, "first made an obtuse angle with my
thighs, then a right and at last an acute angle; my thighs
made another with my body. My head is bent upon my
chest; my arms are contracted as well as my legs, and
my fingers as well as my arms. I am, in truth, a pretty
complete abridgement of human misery." At the time
of his marriage (to the beautiful and gifted Mademoiselle
d'Aubign^, afterward Madame de Maintenon, the wife
for thirty years of Louis XIV.) he could only move with
freedom his hand, tongue and eyes. His days were
passed in a chair with a hood, and so completely was he
the abridgement of man he describes himself that his wife
had to kneel to look in his face. He could not be moved
without screaming from pain, nor sleep without opium.
The epitaph which he wrote on himself is touching from
its truth :
Tread softly — make no noise
To break his slumbers deep ;
Poor Scarron here enjoys
His first calm night of sleep.
Russell: Library Notes.
Schiller (Friedrich, " the only German poet who can
contest the supremacy of Goethe "), 1759-1805. " Many
things are growing plain and clear to my understanding**
144
0>ttftmgtttafyt& 9pm attt) W&omtn.
Of his friends and family he took a touching but tran-
quil farewell ; he ordered that his funeral should be pri-
vate, without pomp or parade. Some one inquiring how
he felt, he said, " Calmer and calmer; " simple but mem-
orable words, expressive of the mild heroism of the man.
About six he sank into a deep sleep ; once for a moment
he looked up with a lively air and said, " Many things are
growing plain and clear to my understanding." Again
he closed his eyes, and his sleep deepened and deepened
till it changed into the sleep from which there is no
awakening, and all that remained of Schiller was a lifeless
form soon to be mingled with the sods of the valley.
Carlyle's Life of Schiller.
SCHLEIERMACHER (Friedrich Ernst Daniel, distin-
guished German pulpit orator and theologian), 1768-
1834. " Now I can hold out here no longer. Lay me in
a different posture"
On the last morning, Wednesday, February 12, his
sufferings evidently became greater. He complained of
a burning inward heat, and the first and last tone of im-
patience broke from his lips : " Ah, Lord, I suffer much ! "
The features of death came fully on, the eye was glazed,
the death-struggle was over ! At this moment, he laid
the two fore-fingers upon his left eye, as he often did
when in deep thought, and began to speak : " We have
the atoning death of Jesus Christ, his body and his
blood." During this he had raised himself up, his fea-
tures began to be reanimated, his voice became clear and
strong ; he inquired with priestly solemnity : " Are ye
one with me in this faith?" to which we, Lommatzsch
10 14s
ILa*t fflttorte of
and a female friend who were present, and myself, an-
swered with a loud yea. " Then let us receive the Lord's
supper ! but the sexton is not to be thought of; quick,
quick ! let no one stumble at the form ; I have never held
to the dead letter ! "
As soon as the necessary things were brought in by
my son-in-law, during which time we had waited with
him in solemn stillness, he began — with features more
and more animated, and with an eye to which a strange
and indescribable lustre, yea, a higher glow of love with
which he looked upon us, had returned, — to pronounce
some words of prayer introductory to the solemn rite.
Then he gave the bread first to me, then to the female
friend, then to Lommatzsch, and lastly to himself, pro-
nouncing aloud to each, the words of institution (Matt.
xx vi, etc. ; I Cor. xi, 23-29), — so loud indeed, that the
children and Muhlenfels (late Professor in the London
University), who kneeled listening at the door of the
next room, heard them plainly. So also with the wine,
to us three first, and then to himself, with the full words
of institution to each. Then, with his eyes directed to
Lommatzsch, he said : " Upon these words of Scripture
I stand fast, as I have always taught ; they are the foun-
dation of my faith." After he had pronounced the bless-
ing, he turned his eye once more full of love on me, and
then on each of the others, with the words : " In this love
and communion, we are and remain ONE."
He laid himself back upon his pillow ; the animation
still rested on his features. After a few minutes he said :
" Now I can hold out here no longer/' and then, " Lay me
146
ffl>tetmguwfye& S0m ana nomm«
in a different posture." We laid him on his side, — he
breathed a few times, — and life stood still ! Meanwhile
the children had all come in, and were kneeling around
the bed as his eyes closed gradually.
Account of ' Schleiermacher *s Death prepared by his wife,
SCOTT (James, Duke of Monmouth, natural son of
Charles II., of England), 1649- 1685. " There are six
guineas for you, and do not hack me as you did my Lord
Russell. I have heard that you struck him three or four
times. My servant will give you more gold if you do
your work well" said to the headsman, who, notwith-
standing these words, being unnerved, inflicted several
blows before the neck was severed.
SCOTT (Thomas, Privy councillor of James V. of Scot-
land). " Begone, you and your trumpery ; until this mo-
ment I believed there was neither a God nor a hell. Now
I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to
perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty" said to
a priest who wished to point out to him the way of
salvation.
SCOTT (Sir Walter), 177 1-1832. " God bless you all! "
to his family. Some give his last words thus : " I feel as
if I were to be myself again."
SERMENT (Mile de, called " The Philosopher," because
of her rare attainments in literature and of her wide ac-
147
ila*t Wort* of
quaintance with ethics). She died of cancer of the breast,
and expired in finishing these lines which she addressed
to Death :
" Nectare clausa suo,
Dignutn tantorum pretiutn tulit ilia laborum."
Servetus (Michael. He calls himself Serveto alias
Revfo, adding his family name to his own, in the title of
his earliest book. For twenty years of his life, during his
residence in France, he was known only as Michel de
Villanovanus, from the assumed name of his birthplace),
1 509 or 1511-1553. " Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have
mercy on me I"
The sentence was drawn out at great length on the
26th of October. Servetus did not know it till the next
day, Friday, two hours . before the execution. On a
rising ground near the lake, a little to the eastward of the
city, he was chained to a stake, and, the oldest account
(that in Sandius) says, for more than two hours, while
stifling in the fumes of straw and brimstone, suffered the
torture of a fire of " green oak fagots, with the leaves still
on," the wind blowing the flame so that it would only
scorch, not kill, till the crowd, in horror, heaped the fuel
closer. His last cry was, " Jesus, Son of the eternal God,
have mercy on me ! " Farel's retort was, " Call rather
on the Eternal Son of God ! " "I know well," he had
written not long before, " that for this thing I must die,
but not for that does my heart fail me that I may be a
disciple like the Master."
Joseph Henry Allen in the New World, Dec. iSp2.
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a>i*tingui0tiefi flpen ano Women*
SETON (Elizabeth Ann, philanthropist, foundress and
first Superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United
States), 1 774-1 821. " Soul of Christ, sanctify me ; Body
of Christy save me ; Blood of Christ, inebriate me ; Water
out of the side of Christ, strengthen me" A few moments
after she had spoken these words she murmured, "Jesus,
Mary, Joseph," and expired.
SEVERUS (Bishop of Ravenna), -390. " My dear one,
with whom I lived in love so long, make room for me, for
this is my grave, and in death we shall not be divided"
The last words of Severus are purely traditional.
Severus, Bishop of Ravenna, prepared a tomb for him-
self in his church. In it he placed the bodies of his wife,
Vincentia, and of his daughter, Innocentia. After some
years he was premonished that his time to die had come.
He held service with the people, dismissed them and
closed the cathedral doors. Then, clothed in his epis-
copal robes, with one attendant, he went to the sepulchre
of his family. They raised the stone from the tomb, and
Severus, looking in, said : " My dear one, with whom I
lived in love so long, make room for me, for this is my
grave, and in death we shall not be divided." Imme-
diately he descended into the tomb, laid himself down
between his wife and daughter, crossed his hands upon
his breast, looked up to heaven in prayer, gave one sigh
and fell asleep.
Sheppard (Jack, the noted highwayman, the hero of
many a chap-book of his day, and the hero and title of a
novel by Defoe, and one by Ainsworth), 1 701-1724. "/
io # 149
ILatft Wort* of
have ever cherished an honest pride ; never have I stooped
to friendship with Jonathan Wild, or with any of his de-
testable thief -takers ; and though an undutiful son, I never
damned my mother's eyes."
Jack Sheppard was a popular idol followed by praise
and applause even to the gallows. " There was scarce a
beautiful woman in London who did not solace him dur-
ing his prison hours with her condescension, and enrich
him with her gifts. Not only did the President of the
Royal Academy deign to paint his portrait, but (a far
greater honor) Hogarth made him immortal. Even the
King displayed a proper interest, demanding a full and
precise account of his escapes. The hero himself was
drunk with flattery; he bubbled with ribaldry; he
touched off the most valiant of his contemporaries in a
ludicrous phrase. But his chief delight was to illustrate
his prowess to his distinguished visitors, and nothing
pleased him better than to slip in and out of his chains."
Not a few of the highwaymen of the day were " gentle-
men " and "coxcombs." We have from Swift a picture
of one such in his sketch of " Clever Tom Clinch," who
While the rabble were bawling,
Rode stately through Holborn to die of his calling ;
He stopped at the George for a bottle of sack,
And promised to pay for it — when he came back.
His waistcoat and stockings and breeches were white,
His cap had a new cherry ribbon to tie't :
And the maids at doors and the balconies ran
And cried " Lac-a-day ! he's a proper young man ! "
Sheridan (Richard Brinsley), 1751-1816. "Did
you know Burke ? " He referred to Edmund Burke, the
celebrated orator, statesman and philosopher.
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3>t0tmguifityefi tym anfi Women*
SlCKINGEN (Franz von, Protestant leader and a brave
German soldier. He championed the cause of learning
and protected Ulrich von Hutten, Reuchlin and others
from the rage and oppression of Romish ecclesiastics),
1481-1523. " I have already confessed my sins to God''
to his chaplain who inquired whether he desired to con-
fess. He was killed while defending his castle of
Neustall.
Smalridge (George, Bishop of Bristol), 1663-17 19.
" God be thanked, I have had a very good night."
Smith (Joseph, founder and first prophet of the
Mormon Church), 1 805-1 844. " That's right, Brother
Taylor; parry them off as well as you can" to the Mor-
mon Apostle John Taylor who was defending Smith and
endeavoring to drive back the mob.
Smith amassed a large fortune, assumed the title of
lieutenant-general and president of the church, and
exercised absolute authority over his "saints." He pro-
voked the popular indignation by attempts to seduce
the wives of other men, and was arrested and confined in
jail at Carthage. In June, 1844, a mob broke into the
jail and killed Joseph Smith.
Lippincotfs Biographical Dictionary.
'* I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail,
when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming
round the corner of the jail and aiming toward the stairs.
" As Hyrum fell he cried, * I am a dead man/ and
spoke and moved no more. As he fell Joseph leaned
over him, and in tones of deep and sad sympathy ex-
ILatft Wort* of
claimed, ' Oh ! my poor, dear brother Hyrum ! '
While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother
Joseph said, 'That's right, Brother Taylor; parry them
off as well as you can.' These were the last words I
ever heard him speak on earth."
Martyrdom of Smith, by Apostle John Taylor.
It was believed that sacred as the tomb is always con-
sidered to be, there were persons capable of rifling the
grave in order to obtain the head of the murdered
Prophet for the purpose of exhibiting it, or placing it in
some phrenological museum — the skull of Joseph Smith
was worth money. This apprehension, in point of fact,
proved true, for the place where the bodies were sup-
posed to be buried was disturbed the night after the in-
terment. The coffins had been filled with stones, etc., to
about the weight which the bodies would have been. The
remains of the two brothers were then secretly buried the
same night by a chosen few, in the vaults beneath the tem-
ple. The ground was then levelled, and pieces of rock and
other debris were scattered carelessly over the spot. But
even this was not considered a sufficient safeguard against
any violation of the dead, and on the following night a
still more select number exhumed the remains, and buried
them beneath the pathway behind the Mansion House.
The bricks which formed the pathway were carefully re-
placed, and the earth removed was carried away in sacks
and thrown into the Mississippi. If this last statement is
true, the bodies must have been removed a third time, as,
since writing the above, the author has it on unquestion-
able authority that they now repose in quite a different
place. Brigham Young has endeavored to obtain pos-
152
2Dtettngutsrt)e& S&m anO Women*
session of the remains of the Prophet, that they might be
interred beneath the temple at Salt Lake.
Early Days of Mormonism by J. H. Kennedy,
Socrates, 470-400 b.c. " Crito, I owe a cock to jEs-
culapius, will you remember to pay the debt? "
He walked about until, as he said, his legs began to
fail, and then he lay on his back, according to the direc-
tions, and the man who gave him the poison now and
then looked at his feet and legs, and after awhile he
pressed his foot hard and asked him if he could feel, and
he said " No ; " and then his leg, and so upward and up-
ward, and showed us that he was cold and stiff. And he
felt them himself, and said, " When the poison reaches
the heart that will be the end." He was beginning to
grow cold about the groin, when he uncovered his face,
for he had covered himself up, and said (they were his last
words) — he said : " Crito, I owe a cock to iEsculapius,
will you remember to pay the debt ? " " The debt shall
be paid," said Crito. " Is there anything else ? " There
was no answer to this question, but in a minute or two a
movement was heard and the* attendants uncovered him ;
his eyes were set, and Crito closed his eyes and mouth.
From Jowetfs " Dialogues of Plato**
SOUTHCOTT (Joanna, a religious impostor who was
probably of unsound mind), 1750-1814. " If I have been
deceived, doubtless it was the work of a spirit ; whether
that spirit was good or bad, I do not know" Last recorded
words.
In the last year of her life she secluded herself from the
153
ILatf t Wort* of
world, and especially from the society of the other sex,
and gave out that she was with child of the Holy Ghost ;
and that she should give birth to the Shiloh promised to
Jacob, which should be the second coming of Christ. Her
prophecy was that she was to be delivered on the 19th
of October, 18 14, at midnight; being then upwards of
sixty years of age.
This announcement seemed not unlikely to be verified,
for there was an external appearance of pregnancy ; and
her followers, who are said to have amounted at that
time to 100,000, were in the highest state of excitement.
A splendid and expensive cradle was made, and consider-
able sums were contributed, in order to have other things
prepared in a style worthy of the expected Shiloh. On
the night of the 19th of October a large number of per-
sons assembled in the street in which she lived, waiting
to hear the announcement of the looked-for event; but
the hour of midnight passed over, and the crowd were
only induced to disperse by being informed that Mrs.
Southcott had fallen into a trance.
Chambers' Miscellany.
After the death of Joanna Southcott, her followers re-
fused to believe her dead, and consented to a post-mortem
examination of her body only when decomposition had
actually commenced. After her burial they formed them-
selves into a religious society which they called the South-
cottian church, and professed to believe that she would
rise from the dead and bring forth the promised Shiloh.
Spinoza (Baruch, his Hebrew name which he trans-
lated into Latin as Benedictus), 1632 — 1677. There
154
2Di*tmgut0t)e& spen anD Women*
can be no certainty with regard to the last hours of
Spinoza. There was with him at the time of his death
but one friend who refused to make any disclosure, and
who chose to pass to his own grave in silent posses-
sion of the secret. Nevertheless a report prevailed, and
was for a time believed, that Spinoza died in great fear
and distress of mind, and that with his last breath he
cried out : " God have mercy upon me, and be gracious to
me, a miserable sinner! " Another report, equally with-
out foundation, represented the great Dutch philosopher
as resorting to suicide when he saw death drawing near.
Spinoza is regarded as the ablest of modern pantheistic
philosophers. Dugald Stewart goes so far as to call him
an Atheist : " In no part of Spinoza's works has he
avowed himself an Atheist ; but it will not be disputed
by those who comprehend the drift of his reasonings,
that, in point of practical tendency, Atheism and Spino-
zism are one and the same." During his life he awak-
ened in the minds of some of the ablest men of letters
and religion a bitter hatred it is now difficult to under-
stand. It is but fifty years ago that Karel Luinman, at
that time minister of the Reformed church at Middel-
burg, said: "Spit on that grave — there lies Spinoza."
Later Froude, Lewes and Maurice have described him
as a calm, brave man who lived nobly, and confronted
disease and death with a deeply religious faith. Cole-
ridge pronounced the Pantheism of Spinoza preferable to
modern Deism, which he held to be but " the hypocrisy
of Materialism." Schleiermacher vindicated the memory
of the great philosopher after the following fashion:
" Offer up reverently with me a lock of hair to the manes
155
of the rejected but holy Spinoza ! The great Spirit of the
Universe filled his soul ; the Infinite to him was begin-
ning and end; the Universal his sole and only love.
Dwelling in holy innocence and deep humility among
men, he saw himself mirrored in the eternal world, and
the eternal world not all unworthily reflected back in
him. Full of religion was he, full of the Holy Ghost ;
and therefore it is that he meets us standing alone in his
age, raised above the profane multitude, master of his
art, but without disciples and the citizen's rights." Proba-
bly the truth of the matter is that Spinoza was a man of
pure, brave and simple life ; of gentle disposition ; and of
rare philosophical abilities and attainments; but whose
system, though possessed of much that is true and good,
is yet essentially opposed to God's revelation of himself
in the sacred Scriptures, and in the person of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.
" Even people who lived in the same house with him
never suspected how rapidly death was approaching.
He had come down, as he generally did in the evening,
and talked for a long time with his companions about the
sermons which they had just heard. That evening he
went to bed earlier than usual. The next day, February
23, 1677, he came once more downstairs, before church-
time to speak with his friends. In the meantime Dr.
Ludwig Meyer, of Amsterdam, to whom Spinoza had
written, arrived. He gave his suffering friend such medi-
cal assistance as he could; and, amongst other orders,
desired the landlady to kill a chicken, that Spinoza might
have some soup for dinner. This was done, and Spinoza
ate the soup with a good appetite. When Van der Spyck
156
SDitftinguifityeO $&m ana W&omm.
and his wife returned from the afternoon service, they
heard that Spinoza had died about three o'clock. No-
body was with him in his last hours except the doctor
from Amsterdam, who went away again the same even-
ing." — Kuno Fisher's Lecture on " The Life and Char-
cutter of Spinoza."
StaEl-Holstein (Anna Louise Germaine Necker,
Baroness de), 1766-18 17. " I have loved God, my father
and liberty."
Stambuloff (Stefan N., ex-Prime Minister of Bul-
garia, called "The Bismarck of Bulgaria"), 1853-1895.
" God protect Bulgaria."
Stanley (Arthur Penrhyn, Dean of Westminister,
and the leader of the "Broad Church" party), 1815-L/
1 88 1. "So far as I have understood what the duties of
my office were supposed to be, in spite of every incompe-
tence, I am yet humbly trustful that I have sustained be-
fore the mind of the nation the extraordinary value of tlie
Abbey as a religious, national and liberal institution."
Later he said : " The end has come in the way in which I
most desired it should come. 1 could not have controlled
it better. After preaching one of my sermons on the beati-
tudes, I had a most violent fit of sickness, took to my bed,
and said immediately that I wished to die at Westminster.
I am perfectly happy, perfectly satisfied; I have no mis-
givings." His last recorded words were: "/ wish
Vaughan to preach my funeral sermon, because he has
known me longest."
157
Ilatft Mother of
STEELE (Miss Anne, the author of many beautiful and
familiar hymns), 17 16-1778. "I know that my Redeemer
liveth" The following lines are inscribed on her tomb :
Silent the lyre, and dumb the tuneful tongue,
That sung on earth her dear Redeemer's praise ;
But now in heaven she joins the angelic song,
In more harmonious, more exalted lays.
STEPHEN (first Christian martyr), " Lord y lay not this
sin to their charge." — Acts vii : 60.
Stevens (Thaddeus, American statesman and oppo-
nent of slavery ; a man of great ability and nobleness of
spirit), 1 793-1 868.
Two colored clergymen called and asked leave to see
Stevens and pray with him. He ordered them to be ad-
mitted; and when they had come to his bedside, he
turned and held out his hand to one of them. They sang
a hymn and prayed. During the prayer he responded
twice, but could not be understood. Soon afterward the
Sisters of Charity prayed, and he seemed deeply affected.
The doctor told him that he was dying. He made a mo-
tion with his head, but no other reply. One of the sis-
ters asked leave to baptize him, and it was granted, but
whether by Stevens or his nephew is not clear. She
performed the ceremony with a glass of water, a portion
of which was poured upon his forehead. The end came
before the beginning of the next day. He lay motion-
less for a few moments, then opened his eyes, took one
look, placidly closed them, and, without a struggle, the
great commoner had ceased to breathe.
Samuel W. McCall: Life of Stevens.
i 5 8
S>i0ttngui*l)efi S&m ano Women*
On his monument reared over his grave are inscribed
by his direction, these words : " I repose in this quiet and
secluded spot, not from any natural preference for soli-
tude, but finding other cemeteries limited as to race by
charter rules, I have chosen this, that I might illustrate in
my death the principles which I advocated through a long
life, (the) equality of Man before his Creator."
STEVENSON (Robert Louis, English author), 1850-
1894. " What is that?" He felt a sudden pain in his
head, and, clasping his forehead with both hands, he ex-
claimed, "What is that?" and soon after ceased to
breathe.
"The Academy" tells this of Stevenson : " An old friend
had set his beautiful lines to music :
Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live, and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me :
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
" He said one evening at his happy home in Merton
Abbey, before he started on his last journey, that, when
out in the Sudan, he crooned himself to sleep night after
night with those lines which had been set to music by
his friend. It is fitting that he should lie at rest out
there in the spacious country, under the wide and
starry sky."
159
ILa*t fl&orlw of
Strozzi (Filippo, Florentine statesman), 1 488-1 538.
He committed suicide while imprisoned by Cosmo de'
Medici, the first Great Duke of Tuscany. As he was
dying he cut with the point of his sword upon the
mantel-piece, this line from Virgil: " Exariare aliquis
nostris ex ossibus ultor"
Sumner (Charles, distinguished United States Senator
and opponent of slavery. He was a man of great learn-
ing in history, political science and polite literature ; and,
notwithstanding the rare culture of his mind and tastes,
he was always the defender of the poor and enslaved),
1811-1874. "Sit down* 9 to his friend, Hon. Samuel
Hooper. As he uttered these words his heart ruptured,
a terrible convulsion shook his frame, and death came at
once.
A few hours before Sumner died Judge Hoar gave him
a message from Ralph Waldo Emerson, to which Sumner
replied, with some difficulty, " Tell Emerson that I love
and revere him." Over and over again he said to Judge
Hoar, " Do not let the Civil Rights bill fail ! " To the
last his mind was engaged upon the great problems of
national interest that had occupied him during all the
stormy days of the Civil War.
Svetchine, or Swetchine (Sophia Soymonof, a
Russian lady and writer), 1782-1857. Madame Svet-
chine's last words were, " It will soon be time for mass.
They must raise me" She was a most devoted Roman
Catholic.
160
SPiftingutityet) spen anfi Women*
Swartz (Frederick Christian, Missionary in India),
1 726-1 798. "Had it pleased my Lord to spare me longer
I should have been glad. I should then have been able to
speak yet a word to the sick and poor ; but His will be
done I May He, in mercy, but receive me! Into Thy
hands I commend my spirit ; Thou hast redeemed me, O
Thou faithful God" After this his Malabar helpers sang
a portion of a hymn and he endeavored to sing with
them, but his strength failing, he soon expired in the
arms of a native Christian.
SwEDENBORG (Emanuel, Swedish seer, philosopher
and theologian), 1 688-1 772. "It is well ; I thank you ;
God bless you" He told the Shearsmiths on what day
he should die ; and the servant remarked : " He was as
pleased as I should have been if I was to have a holiday,
or was going to some merry-making."
His faculties were clear to the last. On Sunday after-
noon, the 29th day of March, 1772, hearing the clock
strike, he asked his landlady and her maid, who were
both sitting at his bed-side, what o'clock it was ; and
upon being answered it was five o'clock, he said — " It
is well ; I thank you ; God bless you ;" and a little after,
he gently departed. 1
White's Life and Writings of Swedenborg.
1 Swedenborg was buried in the vault of the Swedish Church in Prince's
Square, on April 5, 1772. In 1790, in order to determine a question raised
in debate, viz., whether Swedenborg were really dead and buried, his wooden
coffin was opened, and the leaden one was sawn across the breast. A few
days after, a party of Swedenborgians visited the vault. " Various relics "
(says White: Life of Swedenborg, 2nd ed., 1868, p. 675) "were carried off:
Dr. Spurgin told me he possessed the cartilage of an ear. Exposed to the
II l6l
ila*t Wort* of
Sydney (Algernon), 1621-1683. "/ know that my
Redeemer liveth. I die for the good old cause" He was
beheaded on the seventh of December, 1683.
Talleyrand-Perigord (Charles Maurice, celebrated
French diplomatist), 1754-1838. "/ am suffering, sire,
the pangs of the damned" Said to the king, Louis
Philippe, who enquired his condition.
Talma (Francis Joseph, " the Garrick of the French
stage "), 1770-1 826. " The worst is I cannot see"
He was interred, according to his own directions, in
the cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise, Paris, without any re-
ligious ceremony, but funeral orations by Jouy and
Arnault were delivered at the grave. To change, it is
alleged, his resolution on this score, the Archbishop of
Paris had sought an interview, but in vain. Talma's
conduct, it is supposed, proceeded from his resentment
at the excommunication pronounced by the Roman
Catholic Church against actors.
Tasso (Torquato), 1544-1595. "Lord, into thy hands
I commend my spirit"
When a guest of Rome, lodged in the Vatican, wait-
air, the flesh quickly fell to dust, and a skeleton was all that remained for
subsequent visitors. ... At a funeral in 1 817, Granholm, an officer
in the Swedish Navy, seeing the lid of Swedenborg's coffin loose, abstracted
the skull, and hawked it about amongst London Swedenborgians, but none
would buy. Dr. Wahlin, pastor of the Swedish Church, recovered what he
supposed to be the stolen skull, had a cast of it taken, and placed it in the
coffin in 18 19. The cast which is sometimes seen in phrenological collec-
tions is obviously not Swedenborg's : it is thought to be that of a small
female skull."
162
BPitftingufatyeft j0en ana Women*
ing to be crowned with laurel — the first poet so
honored since Petrarch — he sighed to flee away and be
at rest. Growing very ill, he obtained permission to
retire to the Monastery of Saint Onofrio. When the
physician informed him that his last hour was near, he
embraced him, expressed his gratitude for so sweet an
announcement, and then, lifting his eyes, thanked God
that after so tempestous a life he was now brought to
a calm haven. The Pope having granted the dying
poet a plenary indulgence, he said, " This is the chariot
on which I hope to go crowned, not with laurel as a
poet into the capital, but with glory as a saint into
heaven." — Alger's Genius of Solitude.
Taylor (Bayard, traveller, poet and lecturer; the
translator of Goethe's " Faust "), 1825-1878. " / want,
oh, you know what I mean, the stuff of life"
Taylor (Edward T., an American preacher known
as "Father Taylor"), 1 793-1871. "Why, certainly,
certainly/" These words were spoken to a friend
who asked him if Jesus was precious. He became a
sailor, and was for many years the chaplain of the
Seamen's Bethel, Boston.
Taylor (Jane, writer for the young), 1 783-1 823.
44 Are we not children, all of us t "
Taylor (Jeremy, distinguished bishop in the Eng-
lish church, and author of " Holy Living and Dying."
He has been called the "Shakspeare of Divines "), 161 3-
1667. " My trust is in God."
163
ilatft W&om of
Taylor (John, "The Water Poet." He followed
for a long time the occupation of waterman on the
Thames, and later kept a public house in Phoenix
Alley, Long Acre), 1580-1654. "How sweet it is to
rest!"
Taylor (Rev. Dr. Rowland), -1555. He said
as he was going to martyrdom, "I shall this day de-
ceive the worms in Hadley churchyard." And when
he came within two miles of Hadley, " Now," said he,
" lack I but two stiles ; and I am even at my Father's
house." His last words were, " Lord receive my spirit"
Taylor (Zachary, American General and twelfth
President of the United States), 1784-1850. " I am
about to die. I expect the summons soon. I have en-
deavored to discharge all my official duties faithfully.
I regret nothing, but am sorry that I am about to leave
my friends"
Tenderden (Lord), " Gentlemen of the fury, you will
now consider of your verdict."
Tennyson (Alfred, Lord, Poet-laureate of England),
1 809-1 892. "/ have opened it" These are the last
words of the poet that have been made public ; later he
bade his family farewell, but what he said has never been
published.
His last food was taken at a quarter of four, and he
tried to read, but could not. He exclaimed, "I have
164
SDtetmguiifyrt flpen an* Women.
opened it." Whether this referred to the Shakspeare,
opened by him at
Hang there like fruit, my soul,
Till the tree die,
which he always called among the tenderest lines in
Shakspeare, or whether one of his last poems, of which
he was fond, was running through his head I cannot tell :
Fear not, thou, the hidden purpose of that Power
Which alone is great,
Nor the myriad world, his shadow, nor the silent
Opener of the Gate.
He then spoke his last words, a farewell blessing, to
my mother and myself.
For the next hours the full moon flooded the room and
the great landscape outside with light ; and we watched
in solemn stillness. His patience and quiet strength had
power upon those who were nearest and dearest to him ;
we felt thankful for the love and the utter peace of it all ;
and his own lines of comfort from " In Memoriam " were
strongly borne in upon us. He was quite restful, hold-
ing my wife's hand, and, as he was passing away, I spoke
over him his own prayer, " God accept him ! Christ re-
ceive him ! " because I knew that he would have wished
it. — Alfred \ Lord Tennyson, a Memoir by his son.
Terchout (Ad£le— "La Com£te"). The gay and
thoughtless life of this beautiful young woman ended in
sad regrets and bitter remembrances, and yet there is
some slight hope that there was with her at last a thought
real, if not deep, of better things.
ii* 165
iu«t masortw of
Does any one remember a beautiful girl who went by
the nickname of " La Comete," and flashed through the
Parisian world during the last year of the Second Em-
pire ? She was called " Comet " on account of the ex-
ceeding length and loveliness of her golden hair. Theo-
phile Gautier wrote a sonnet to her, Cabanel painted her
portrait, Worth dressed her, and L&>n Cugnot took her
as the model of his statue, " La Baigneuse." Her real
name was Adele Terchout, and just before the Franco-
German war broke out she declined an offer of marriage
from an elderly duke, with a very ancient escutcheon.
At that time she owned one of the finest mansions in the
Champs Elysees, had twelve horses in her stables and a
bushel of diamonds in her dressing-case. Last week
this dazzling creature died in a Parisian hospital abso-
lutely destitute, and the disease which carried her off
was the most hideous that could befall a pretty woman —
a lupus vorax, or cancer in the face, which totally dis-
figured her. Like Zola's " Nana," the only vestige left
of her beauty when she died was her matchless hair,
which measured nearly five feet. — London Truth,
Theresa, or Teresa (Saint, Spanish nun, author of a
number of devotional books, a visionary of whom many
wonderful miracles are related. She was canonized by
Pope Gregory XV.), 15 15-1582. " Over my spirit flash
and float in divine radiancy the bright and glorious visions
of the world to which I go" The claim of celestial illu-
mination was made by her throughout her entire life and
in the hour of death, but just what were her last words is
very uncertain.
166
BPttftingufatyeft fytn ana Women*
At her death-bed the bystanders beheld her already
in glory ; to one she appeared in the midst of angels,
another saw floating over her head a heavenly light that
descended and hovered about her, 1 another discovered
spiritual beings clothed in white entering her cell, an-
other saw a white dove fly from her mouth up to heaven,
while at the same time a dead tree near the sacred spot
suddenly burst into the fullness of bloom. After her
death she appeared to a nun and said that she had not
died of disease, but of the intolerable fire of divine love.
Salazar: Anamnesis Sanctorum Hispanorum, T. V.p. 529.
THURLOW (Edward, Lord Chancellor in the reign of
George III.), 1 732-1 806. " Fll be shot if I don't believe
I'm dying"
Tiberius (Claudius Nero, Roman Emperor), B. c.
42 — A. D. 37. Finding himself dying, he took his signet
ring off his finger, and held it awhile, as if he would de-
liver it to somebody ; but put it again on his finger, and
lay for some time, with his left hand clenched, and with-
1 The luminous faces and bodies of martyrs and saints are common enough
in the chronicles of mediaeval miracles. Some modern physicians think there
were physiological causes for the strange and, at the time, startling phe-
nomena.
Bartholin, in his treatise " De Luce Hominumet Brutorum" (1647), gives
an account of an Italian lady whom he designates as "mulier splendens,"
whose body shone with phosphoric radiations when gently rubbed with
dry linen ; and Dr. Kane, in his last voyage to the polar regions, witnessed
almost as remarkable a case of phosphorescence. A few cases are recorded
by Sir H. Marsh, Professor Donovan and other undoubted authorities, in
which the human body, shortly before death, has presented a pale, luminous
appearance.
167
ILatft WotM of
out stirring ; when suddenly summoning his attendants,
and no one answering the call, he rose ; but his strength
failing him, he fell down at a short distance from his
bed. — Seneca.
He died without appointing his successor, but the
people cared little for that. They rejoiced at his death,
and ran through the streets of Rome crying, " Away
with Tiberius to the Tiber."
TlLDEN (Samuel Jones, distinguished American law-
yer and politician. He was twice a representative in
the Legislature of the State of New York, a member
of two Constitutional Conventions, Governor of the
State of New York for two years, and a candidate for the
Presidency of the United States), 1 8 14-1886. " Water."
During the closing hours of life he suffered greatly
from thirst.
Timrod (Henry, American poet), 1829-1867. "Never
mind, I shall soon drink of the river of Eternal Life"
on finding that he could no longer swallow water.
"An unquenchable thirst consumed him. Nothing
could allay that dreadful torture. He whispered as I
placed the water to his lips, ' Don't you remember that
passage I once quoted to you from " King John ? " I
had always such a horror of quenchless thirst, and now I
suffer it ! ' He alluded to the passage —
And none of you will let the Winter come,
To thrust his icy fingers in my maw!
" Just a day or two before he left on a visit to you at
' Copse Hill/ in one of our evening rambles he had re-
168
fiP&tinguififyrt flpen ana Women.
peated the passage to me with a remark on the extra-
ordinary force of the words.
" Katie took my place by him at five o'clock (in the
morning), and never again left his side. The last spoon-
ful of water she gave him he could not swallow. ' Never
mind/ he said, ' I shall soon drink of the river of eternal
Life.'
" Shortly after he slept peacefully in Christ."
From a letter by Timrod's sister.
Tindal (Matthew, celebrated author and infidel),
1657-1733. " God— if there be a God— I desire
Thee to have mercy on me"
Tindal is particularly celebrated for two publications,
the first, issued in 1706, being entitled, "The Rights
of the Christian Church Asserted against the Romish
and all other Priests; " and the other, published in 1730,
called, " Christianity as Old as the Creation, or the
Gospel a Republication of the Religion of Nature."
TlTUS (Flavius Vespasianus, Roman Emperor. He
was called by his subjects, "The love and delight of
the human race"), 40-81. " My life is taken from me,
though I have done nothing to deserve it ; for there is
no action of mine of which I should repent, but one"
What that one action was he did not say.
TOPLADY (Rev. Augustus Montague, English Calvin-
istic clergyman and vicar of Broad Henbury, Devon-
shire. He was the author of several controversial works
and of a number of beautiful hymns, chief among which
169
ILatft »otM of
is "Rock of Ages"), 1 740-1 778. " No mortal man
can live after the glories which God has manifested to
my soul."
TYNDALE, or TlNDALE (William, the venerable martyr
and translator of the Bible), 1484-1536. "Lord, open
the eyes of the King of England." He was first stran-
gled and afterward burnt.
The merits of Tyndale must ever be recognized and
honored by all who enjoy the English Bible, for their
authorized version of the New Testament has his for
its basis. He made good his early boast, that plough-
boys should have the Word of God. His friends
speak of his great simplicity of heart, and commend
his abstemious habits, his zeal and his industry; while
even the imperial procurator who prosecuted him styles
him "homo, doctus, pius et bonus."
Usher (James, Archbishop), 1 580-1656. "Lord, for-
give my sins ; especially my sins of omission" His last
words are sometimes given thus, "God be merciful to
me, a sinner."
VALDES (Gabriel de la Concepcion, commonly known
as Placido), -1844. "Here! fire here!"
Valdes was a full-blooded negro. He was executed
with twenty other persons, for conspiracy to liberate
the black population, the slaves of the Spanish inhabit-
ants of Cuba. The execution took place at Havana,
July, 1844. Standing before the soldiers appointed to
shoot him, he said : " Adios, mundo ; no hay piedad
170
DiattnguifltyeD jpen and Women.
para mi. Soldados, fuego." "Adieu, O world; here
is no pity for me. Soldiers, fire." Five balls entered
his body. He arose, turned to the soldiers, and said,
his face wearing an expression of superhuman courage :
— " Will no one have pity on me ? Here," pointing to
his heart, " fire here ! " At that instant two balls
pierced his heart and he fell dead. Little is known of
him but his death, which was described in the Heraldo,
of Madrid. " The Poems of a Cuban Slave," edited by
Dr. Madden, are believed to have been the composi-
tion of the gifted Valdes.
VANE (Sir Henry), 161 2-1662. "Blessed be God, I
have kept a conscience void of offence to this day, and
have not deserted the righteous cause for which I suffer*'
Vane was condemned for treason, and beheaded
June 14, 1662.
Vane, young in years, but in sage counsels old,
Than whom a better senator ne'er held
The helm of Rome, when gowns, not arms, repelled
The fierce Epirat and the African bold,
Both spiritual power and civil thou hast learned:
Therefore on thy firm hand religion leans
In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son. — Milton,
Vanini (Lucilio), 1 585-1619. " Mi in extremis prae
timore itnbellis sudor ; ego itnperturbatus tnorior" See
Grammondy Hist, Gal. Hi. 211.
After travelling through Germany, Holland and Eng-
land, he went to Toulouse, where he was arrested and
condemned by the parliament to be burned alive. He
171
iU0t «OtW of
wrote " Amphitheatrum iEternae Providentiae," and
"De Admirandis Naturae Arcanis," for which latter
work he suffered in 1619.
Vespacian (Titus Flavius, Roman Emperor), 9-79.
"An Emperor ought to die standing." A short time
before this he said in attending to the apotheosis of
y the emperors, " I suppose I shall soon be a god."
Veuster d£ (Joseph, the " Leper- Priest of Molokai."
When he became "religious" he took the name of
Damien, after the second of two brothers, Cosmos and
Damien, both physicians, martyrs and saints in the Ro-
man Catholic Church. He is commonly known as
"Father Damien"), 1889. " Well! God's will be
done. He knows best. My work, with all its faults and
failures, is in His hands, and before Easter I shall see my
Saviour"
There has been much discussion with regard to the
character and work of Damien. The Rev. C. M. Hyde,
D. D., of Honolulu, a missionary of high repute, and who
had personal knowledge of the leper-priest, wrote a letter
to the Rev. H. B. Gage, which was published in " The
Sydney Presbyterian" of October 26, 1889. In that
letter he said :
" The simple truth is, he (Father Damien) was a coarse,
dirty man, headstrong and bigoted. He was not sent to
Molokai, but went there without orders ; did not stay at
the leper settlement (before he became himself a leper),
but circulated freely over the whole island (less than half
the island is devoted to the lepers), and he came often to
172
BPtetingufofyeft flpen ana Women.
Honolulu. He had no hand in the reforms and improve-
ments inaugurated, which were the work of our Board ot
Health, as occasion required and means were provided.
He was not a pure man in his relations with women, and
the leprosy of which he died should be attributed to his
vices and carelessness. Others have done much for the
lepers, our own ministers, the government physicians,
and so forth, but never with the Catholic idea of meriting
eternal life."
To the statements of Dr. Hyde, Robert Louis Steven-
son replied in most violent language, of which the follow-
ing is a sample :
" You remember that you have done me several cour-
tesies for which I was prepared to be grateful. But there
are duties which come before gratitude, and offences
which justly divide friends, far more acquaintances. Your
letter to the Rev. H. B. Gage is a document which, in
my sight, if you had filled me with bread when I was
starving, if you had sat up to nurse my father when he
lay a-dying, would yet absolve me from the bonds of
gratitude."
After this and more vituperation follows an analysis
of Dr. Hyde's letter, and an elaborate defense of Father
Damien. Men will differ in their opinions of the leper-
priest, and, no doubt, much may be said upon both sides
of the case ; but to the compiler of this work, who, in his
own home, heard the story in all its details from the lips
of Dr. Hyde, the beatification of Damien is, to say the
least, a grotesque absurdity.
173
iUflft WOotb* of
Vidocq (Eugene Francis, famous French detective),
1 77S-I8S7. "How great is the forgiveness for suck a
life/"
He was successively a thief, soldier, deserter, and
gambler before he entered the public service, and was
often imprisoned for his offences. About 18 10 he en-
listed in the police at Paris. His success as a detective
has scarcely been paralleled in history.
Lippincott: Biographical History.
He retired to Paris and there lived quietly in lodgings
until 1857, when, at the great age of eighty-two, he was
struck down with paralysis. On finding his end near, he
sent for a confessor, and — so whimsical a thing is human
nature — he greatly edified the holy man by dying like a
saint. One trifling peccadillo he perhaps forgot to men-
tion. The breath had scarcely left his body, when ten
lovely damsels, each provided with a copy of his will,
which left her all his property, arrived. Alas for all the
ten ! Vidocq had always loved the smiles of beauty, and
had obtained them by a gift which cost him nothing.
He had left his whole possessions to his landlady.
Smith: " Romance of History"
Villiers (George, First Duke of Buckingham. He
was assassinated by John Felton in 1628), 1592-1628.
" God's wounds ! the villain hath killed me"
John Felton, gentleman, having watched his opportu-
nity, thrust a long knife, with a white heft, he had secretly
about him, with great strength and violence, into his
breast, under his left pap, cutting the diaphragma and
lungs, and piercing the very heart itself. The Duke hav-
174
Distinguished tytn an* Women.
ing received the stroke, and instantly clapping his right
hand on his sword-hilt, cried out, " God's wounds ! the
villain hath killed me." — Book of the Dead.
Virgil (Publius Virgilius Maro, most illustrious of
Latin poets), B.C. 70-19.
Upon a visit to Megara, a town in the neighborhood of
Athens, he was seized with a languor, which increased
during the ensuing voyage ; and he expired a few days
after landing at Brundisium, on the 2 2d of September in
the fifty-second year of his age. He desired that his
body might be carried to Naples, where he had passed
many happy years ; and that the following distich, written
in his last sickness, should be inscribed upon his tomb :
Mantua me genuit : Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc
Parthenope, Cecerie pascua, rura, daces.
Voltaire (a name capriciously assumed by Francois
Marie Arouet, and made by him more celebrated than any
other of which we read in the literary history of the eight-
eenth century), 1694-1778. "Adieu my dear Maraud ;
I am dying*' said to his valet.
According to a document discovered by Mr. Schuyler,
American Consul at Moscow, bearing on the death of
Voltaire, and which was forwarded to M. Taine, and pub-
lished in the Journal des Debats, the last words of Vol-
taire were, "Take care of Maria," meaning his niece,
Madame Denys. These words were addressed to one of
his servants.
It has also been said that his last words were : " For
the love of God, don't mention that Man — allow me to
I7S
ilatft OTorM of
die in peace!" to one who called his attention to our
Saviour.
Wagner (Richard Wilhelm, German composer
among whose works are " Rheingold," "Valkyria,"
Siegfried and " The Twilight of the Gods"), 1813-1883.
" Mir ist sekr schlecht."
At three o'clock he went to dinner with the family, but
just as they were assembled at table and the soup was
being served he suddenly sprang up, cried out, " Mir ist
sehr schlecht (I feel very badly)," and fell back dead from
an attack of heart disease.
Waller (Edmund, English poet), 1605-1687. He
died repeating lines from Virgil.
Warham (William, Archbishop of Canterbury), 1450-
1532. " That is enough to last till I get to Heaven."
Said to his servant who told him he had still left thirty
pounds.
Washington (George, "the Father of his Country," 1
and the first President of the United States), 1 732-1 799.
" // is well/' Some say his last words were, " I am about
to die, and I am not afraid to die."
Washington said to Mr. Lear, his secretary, " I am just
going ; have me decently buried, and do not let my body
1 " And Meonothai begat Ophrah : and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the
Valley of Charashim ; for they were craftsmen."—/ Chronicles w: 14;
Julius Caesar was called the Father of his country ; Cosmo de' Medici is so
described on his tombstone; Andrea Doria has upon his statue at Genoa,
Pater Patrice ; and Louis XVIII. of France was commonly called the
Father of the Country.
I76
DtetmguttfljeD fytn ana Women*
be put into the vault till three days after I am dead — do
you understand me ? " On his secretary's replying that
he did, the dying man added, "It is well. ,, About an
hour later he quietly withdrew his hand from Mr. Lear's,
and felt his own pulse, and immediately expired without
a struggle.
A coffin of mahogany, lined with lead and covered
within and without with black velvet, was made on the
following day at Alexandria. On a plate at the head of
the coffin was inscribed " Surge ad Judicium " / on an-
other, in the middle, " Gloria Deo" while on a small
silver plate in the form of an American shield appeared
the inscription :
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Born Feb. 22, 1732.
Died Dec 14, 1799.
His body was first placed in the family vault on the
Mount Vernon estate. In his will, Washington left direc-
tions and plans for a new vault, which was built after-
ward, and to which his remains were transferred in 1832.
The front of this tomb has an ante-chamber, built of red
brick, about twelve feet in height, with a large iron gate-
way. It was erected for the accommodation of two
marble coffins, or sarcophagi, one for Washington, the
other for Mrs. Washington; they stand in full view of
the visitor. Over the gateway, upon a marble slab, are
the words :
«« Within this enclosure rest the remains of General George Washington."
Over the vault door inside, are the words :
" He that Believeth in Me, Though he were Dead, yet Shall
he Live Again."
12 177
fUtft OTorte of
Napoleon, who was then First Consul of the French,
issued the following order under date of February 18,
1800 : "Washington is no more ! That great man fought
against tyranny. He firmly established the liberty of his
country. His memory will be ever dear to the French
people, as it must be to every friend of freedom in the two
worlds and especially to the French soldiers, who, like him
and the Americans, bravely fight for liberty and equality.
The First Consul in consequence orders that, for ten
days, black crepes shall be suspended to all the standards
and flags of the Republic.' '
Webster (Daniel), 1 782-1 852. " / still live ! " This
was his last coherent utterance. Later he muttered
something about poetry, and his son repeated to him
one of the stanzas of "Gray's Elegy." He heard it and
smiled.
WEBSTER (Thomas, Professor of Geology in the Lon-
don University, and author of "Encyclopaedia of Do-
mestic Economy "), 1 773-1 844. " Examine it for your-
self: 9
Webster (William, English clergyman, and author of
" The Life of General Monk "), 1689-1758. " Peace."
Weed (Thurlow, American journalist and politician.
He wrote " Letters from Europe and the West Indies/'
and for many years edited with marked ability, " The
Albany Evening Journal") , 1 797-1 882. " I want to go
home"
i 7 8
&>i*tingut£fyrt $en anil Women*
During his last hours his mind wandered, and he
thought himself in conversation with President Lincoln
and General Scott with regard to the Southern Confeder-
acy.
WESLEY (John, founder of the Methodist Episcopal
Church), 1 703-1 79 1. " The best of all is God is with us"
WESLEY (Sarah, wife of Charles Wesley). " Open the
gates ! Open the gates / "
Whitaker (William, English theologian, professor of
Divinity at Cambridge, and translator of the " Liturgy
of the Church " and " Nowell's Catechism " into Greek),
1 547-1 595 . " Life or death is welcome to me ; and I de-
sire not to live, but so far as I may be serviceable to God
and His church"
White (Joseph Blanco. In Spain, where he was born,
he was called Blanco, which he exchanged for its English
equivalent. He wrote many interesting and useful books,
but will be remembered longest for his exquisite sonnet,
entitled " Night "), 1775-1841. "Now I die."
He remained some days longer, chiefly in the state of
one falling asleep, until the morning of the 20th, when
he awoke, and with a firm voice and great solemnity of
manner, spoke only these words : " Now I die." He sat
as one in the attitude of expectation, and about two
hours afterward — it was as he had said.
There was no apparent pain or struggle, and it was an
inexpressible relief to behold, shortly after, the singular
beauty and repose of features lately so wan and suffer-
179
ILatft OTorte of
ing ; but there took place in the act of expiring, What we
had observed in other cases after long exhaustion, but
had never seen described. A sudden darkness beneath
the surface, like the clouding of a pure liquid from
within, the immediate shadow of Death, was passing
from the forehead downwards, and leaving all clear again
behind it as it moved along.
Thorn's Life of Joseph Blanco White.
Compare the death-bed of the Deist, Blanco White,
with that of poor Keats, and I think it must be ad-
mitted that both in faith and fortitude the former has
immeasurably the advantage. It ought, however, to be
recollected that Blanco White was older, and had had
more time to gain strength of mind. But he was also of
a more religious turn from the first.
Memoirs and Letters of Sara Coleridge.
WHITEFIELD (George, founder of the Calvinistic Meth-
odist Church, and chaplain to the Countess of Hunting-
don), 1714-1770. "lam dying" He was standing by
the open window gasping for breath, as he uttered these
words. A friend persuaded him to sit down in a chair,
and have a cloak thrown over him, and thus seated, he
quietly passed away.
" David Hume pronounced Whitefield the most inge-
nious preacher he had ever heard, and said it was worth
while to go twenty miles to hear him. But perhaps the
greatest proof of his persuasive powers was when he drew
from Benjamin Franklin's pocket the money which that
clear, cool reasoner had determined not to give."
Robert Southey.
180
SPtetinguisfyet) $en ano Women*
Whitman (Walt, American poet and army nurse),
1 8 19-1892. "0/ he 's a dear, good fellow** said ot
Thomas Donaldson, one of his most enthusiastic friends,
and later his biographer.
There was a most pathetic incident connected with Mr.
Whitman's death. It was related to me by "Warry"
Fritzinger, his nurse. Warry had arranged a rope above
Mr. Whitman's head, in the bed, which was attached to a
bell below. He would pull this rope, after he became
weak, and thus ring the bell to attract attention. Prior
to this time, he had used his heavy cane to pound the
floor with. This brought assistance at once. Just before
he died, as the great change came over him — he was
conscious that it was a great change, a something un-
usual (Mrs. Davis and Warry were by his side) — he
seemed as if groping for something. Death had called
for him, and, as the call came, he attempted to reach
above his head with one of his hands and feel for the
rope, as if to call for help. In an instant the arm dropped,
and soon he was dead.
Donaldson; " Walt Whitman the Man. 9 '
Whitman has, amid the fleshly and physical poems,
much that is deeply spiritual ; amid the tuneless and form-
less, much noble thought fitly voiced. The higher mood
and the higher work maybe seen in "O Captain! my
Captain!" " Reconciliation," "Vigil on the Fields,"
"The City Dead-House." "Song of the Broad Axe,"
"Proud Music of the Storm," "The Mystic Trumpeter,"
"Seashore Memories," and the death-carols of the "Pas-
sage to India."
Welsh: "Digest of English and American Literature"
12* 181
tUuft ©ttorw of
Whittier (John Greenleaf, distinguished American
poet), 1 807-1 892. " I have known thee all the time" to
his niece in response to her question, " Do you know
me?"
Others say his last words were, " Give my love to the
world."
Upon the silver coffin-plate was the inscription : "John
Greenleaf Whittier, December 17, 1807, September 7,
1892." The face of the dead man wore an expression of
peace and perfect repose. All around his head and body
was a delicate fringe of maidenhair fern. Directly over
his breast was a superb wreath of white roses, carnations,
and maidenhair ferns from that other loved poet and dear
friend, for whom Whittier wrote his last poem, Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes. Upon the lid was a cluster of white
carnations from Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, and
at the foot were two crossed palms with white lilies. At
the last were roses and maidenhair ferns. A broad white
satin ribbon encircled the palms and sprays, and upon
the ends, delicately painted, were the inscriptions : " In
memory of John Greenleaf Whittier, September 7, 1892,"
and this verse :
" Some sweet morning, yet in God's
Dim aeonian periods,
Joyful I shall wake to see
Those I love, who rest in Thee,
And to them, in Thee allied,
Shall my soul be satisfied."
Upon the card were these words : " In memoriam of
my husband's dear friend. This verse of Andrew Ryk-
182
&>ttftittguttfl)et) $en atto Women*
man's prayer was used for consolation by him who wrote
it in the hour of death. Mrs. Daniel Lathrop."
N. Y. Tribune, September 12, iSp2.
WlLBERFORCE (William, British statesman and philan-
thropist), 1 759-1 833. "Heaven!" Some say his last
words were: "I now feel so weaned from earth, my
affections so much in heaven, that I can leave you all
without regret; yet I do not love you less, but God
more."
Wild (Jonathan, noted highwayman, the hero of
many a chap-book of his day, and the hero and title of a
novel by Fielding), 1682-1725. " Lord Jesus, receive my
soul/ 99 Unfortunately there is some doubt as to the
genuineness of these pious words, for they come to us
through the chaplain of the prison, Rev. Thomas Pureney,
a man of whom we have this description in Charles
Whibley's Book of Scoundrels :
" Pureney yielded without persuasion to the pleasures
denied his cloth. There was ever a fire to extinguish at
his throat, nor could he veil his wanton eye at the sight
of a pretty wench. Again and again the lust of preach-
ing urged him to repent, yet he slid back upon his past
gaiety, until ' Parson Pureney ' became a by- word. Dis-
missed from Newmarket in disgrace, he wandered the
country up and down in search of a pulpit, but so in-
famous became the habit of his life that only in prison
could he find an audience fit and responsive."
183
iLatft ©ttorte of
William III. (of England), 1650-1702. " Can this
last long? " to his physician.
Wilmot (John, Earl of Rochester, witty and profligate
courtier and author, and a great favorite with Charles II.
Notwithstanding his evil life, he was a brave soldier and
had many attractive qualities), 1647- 1680. " Th* only
objection against the Bible is a bad life' 9
WILSON (Alexander, distinguished ornithologist), 1766-
18 13. His last words are not recorded, but just before
his death he asked to be buried where the birds might
sing over his grave. *
Wishart (George), 1 502-1 546. " For the sake of the
true gospel, given one by the grace of God, I suffer this day
with a glad heart. Behold and consider my visage. Ye
shall not see me change color. I fear not this fire'* He
was burned at the stake for preaching the doctrines of the
Reformation.
Witt (Cornelius de). " This man, who had bravely
served his country in war, and who had been invested
with the highest dignities, was delivered into the hands of
the executioner, and torn in pieces by the most inhuman
torments. Amidst the severe agonies which he endured
he frequently repeated an ode of Horace, 2 which con-
tained sentiments suited to his deplorable condition."
Hume.
1 Walter von der Vogelweid requested that he might repose where a
leafy tree should cast its shadow, and the light of the summer day should
linger long ; and that the birds might be fed every day from the stone over
his grave. See Longfellow's beautiful poem, " Walter von der Vogelweid. "
2 Horace lib. iii, Ode 3.
184
Dtetinguiflljrt 9pm *nt Women*
WOLCOTT, or WOLCOT (John, " Peter Pindar," witty
and scurrilous, satiric poet. " The most unsparing calum- v
niator of his age."— Sir Walter Scott) , 1738-1819. " Give
me back my youth" to Taylor who had asked him, " Is
there anything I can do for you ? "
Wolcott is well described by Gifford in these lines :
Come, then, all filth, all venom, as thou art,
Rage in thy eye, and rancour in thy heart ;
Come with thy boasted arms, spite, malice, lies,
Smut, scandal, execrations, blasphemies.
Wolfe (James, a celebrated English officer, killed in
the battle of Quebec), 1726-1759. " / die happy" On
being told of the defeat of the French.
WOLLSTONECRAFT (Mary, afterwards Mrs. Godwin,
English authoress), 1 759-1 797. " I know what you are
thinking of, but I have nothing to communicate on the sub-
ject of religion" to her husband who was endeavoring to
tell her death was near and to sound her mind in the
matter of a spiritual world.
WOLSEY (Thomas, known in history as Cardinal Wol-
sey), 1471-1530. "Master Kingston, farewell! My
time draweth on fast. Forget not what I have said and
charged you withal ; for when I am dead ye shall, perad-
venture, understand my words better" — 'd Aubigne's His-
tory of the Reformation.
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one;
Exceeding wise, fair spoken and persuading;
Lofty and sour to them that loved him not,
185
!L*0t WBtotM of
But, to those men that sought him, sweet at summer.
And though he was unsatisfied in getting,
(Which was a sin), yet in bestowing, madam,
He was most princely.— -Shakspeare.
Wood (Rev. John George, English naturalist, author
of "Man and Beast Here and Hereafter"), 1 827-1 889.
" Give me a large cup of tea."
At six o'clock he complained of thirst, and asked for a
cup of milk. Still his mind was perfectly clear, for, find-
ing that he could no longer raise his head to drink, he
asked whether there happened to be an invalid's cup in
the house, and, finding that there was not, suggested that
a small milk-jug would answer the purpose instead. This
was procured, and he drank his milk, asking immediately
afterward for a large cup of tea, which he drank also.
And almost immediately afterward he turned his head
upon one side, and quietly passed away.
Theodore Wood.
Woodville (William, English physician and author of
a work on " Medical Botany "), 1752-1805. "I shall not
live more than two days, therefore make haste" last re-
corded words said to a carpenter he had sent for to
measure him for a coffin.
WOOLSTON (Thomas, English theologian), 1669-1733.
" This is a struggle which all men must go through, and
which I bear not only with patience, but with willingness"
WOOLTON (John, Bishop of Exeter), 1535-1594. "A
Bishop ought to die on his legs" He insisted upon stand-
ing up to die, as did also the Rev. Patrick Bront&
186
SPitftittgufefyet $en ant Women*
Wordsworth (William, distinguished English poet),
1 770-1 850. " God bless you ! Is that you, Dora t "
Mrs. Wordsworth, with a view of letting him know
what the opinion of his medical advisers was concerning
his case, said gently to him, " William, you are going to
Dora ! " More than twenty-four hours afterward one of
his nieces came into the room, and was drawing aside the
curtain of his chamber, and then, as if awakening from a
quiet sleep, he said, " Is that you, Dora ? "
Memoirs of Wordsworth, Vol. ii. p. 506.
WYATT (Sir Thomas, the younger), 1520-1554. On
the scaffold he said to the people : " Whereas it is said
abroad that I should accuse my Lady Elizabeth's grace
and my Lord Courtenay ; it is not so, good people, for I
assure you that neither they nor any other now yonder
in bold endurance was privy of my rising a commotion
before I began." Weston, his confessor, shouted, " Believe
him not, good people ! he confessed otherwise before the
council." Wyatt answered: " That which I said then I
said, but that which I say now is true.* 9 These were
Wyatt's last words.
Wycherley (William, author of "The Plaindealer,"
" The Country Wife," and several other comedies), 1640-
17 1 5. " Promise me you will never again marry an old
man,' said to his wife.
When he was over seventy years old he married a
young woman, but he survived his marriage only eleven
days.
1 8 7
fUtft ©ttorto of
Ximenes (J. A., Spanish theologian), 1719-1774.
" This is death."
YANCEY (William Lowndes, American politician, se-
cessionist and commissioner to Europe to secure recogni-
tion of the Southern Confederacy. He was called " The
Fire-Eater "), 1815-1863. " Sarah" his wife's name.
YVART (J. A. Victor, called " The Arthur Young of
France "), 1 764-1 831. " Nature, how lovely thou art ! "
ZANE (Giacomo, a Venetian poet), 15 29-1 560. "/
should like to live." There is dispute about these words ;
some writers say his last words were : " I should not like
to live/'
Zeno, or ZENON (Greek philosopher and founder of the
school of the Stoics), about B. c. 355 — about B. C. 257.
"Earth, dost thou demand me? I am ready" Last re-
corded words.
The occasion of the philosopher's death is related as
follows : " One day, as he was coming out of his school, he
ran against some object and broke his finger; this he
considered as an intimation from the gods that he must
soon die ; and, immediately striking the ground with his
hand, he said, ' Earth, dost thou demand me ? I am
ready.' Instead of seeking to have his finger healed, he
deliberately strangled himself.
" He had taught publicly forty-eight years without in-
termission ; and, reckoning from the time when he com-
188
&>t0tinguififyrt $en anu Women*
menced his studies under Crates, the Cynic, he had de-
voted himself to philosophy for sixty-eight years."
Fenelon.
Zimmermann (Johann Georg von, eminent Swiss phy-
sician of the eighteenth century, and author of a famous
essay on " Solitude "), 1728-1795. "I am dying; leave
me a/one"
He was completely deranged for some time before his
death.
Zinzendorf (Nicolaus Ludwig, Count and Lord of Zin-
zendorf and Pottendorf, founder of the Moravian Church,
and the author of a number of beautiful hymns), 1700-
1760. Around his bed more than a hundred members of
the community gathered to receive his blessing, and hear
his last council and encouragement. When he had spoken
kindly to them all he said to his son-in-law : " Now, my
dear son, I am going to the Saviour. I am ready ; I am
quite resigned to the will of my Lord. If He is no longer
willing to make use of me here I am quite ready to go to
Him, for there is nothing more in my way'' His son-in-
law offered prayer, and as he closed with the petition,
" Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,"
the great and holy man fell asleep in his Saviour.
Zwingle, or Zwinglius (a Swiss Reformer who was
killed at the battle of Cappel), 1484-153 1. " Can this be
considered a calamity? Well! they can, indeed, kill the
body, but they are not able to kill the soul." Said after re-
ceiving the mortal wound.
189
Epilogue.
Great men may by their courage and virtue fortify us
against the terrors of death, if by their vices, and fears
begotten of vices, they do not distress us tenfold more
than we were distressed before ; they may point the way
from a present twilight to the infinite day-dawn beyond ;
and yet in the end must every pilgrim choose for himself
the road over which he is to journey. The foregoing
pages give only the experiences of others. Nevertheless,
they may soften in our minds the dark outlines of the
landscape, and cast a ray of light into the great unseen.
Happy is the soul that in an age of doubt and uncer-
tainty can trust, even though it be with trembling faith,
One greater than the greatest, and Who has named Him-
self the Resurrection and the Life !
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me !
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.
191
(Epilogue
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless
deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark !
And may there be no sadness of farewell ;
When I embark ;
For tho' from out our bourne of time and place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar. — Tennyson.
192
INDEX
13
Index
Absolutely, and I pray God to con-
demn me, if I have, 137
Adieu, my dear Maraud ; I am dying,
175
Adieu, world ; here is no pity for
me. Soldiers, fire, 171
Adios, mundo ; nohay piedad para mi.
Soldados, fuego, 170
After I am dead you will find Calais
written upon my heart, 108
Ah, Jesus ! 34
Ah! mes enfans, you cannot cry as
much for me, 143
Ah 1 my child, let us speak of Christ's
love, 21
Ah ! poor humpback, thy many long
years, 40
All I request of you, gentlemen, is
that you bear witness, 5
All is well, all is well — the seed of
God reigns over all, 58
All my life I have carried myself
gracefully, 28
All my possessions for one moment
of time, 53
Amazing, amazing glory! I am hav-
ing Paul's understanding, 135
An Emperor ought to die standing,
172
And must I then die ? Will not all my
riches save me ? 10
Anderson, you know that I always
wished to die, 117
Are the French beaten? 117
Are those already the Achilles' funeral ?
"3
Are we not children, all of us ? 163
Artery ceases to beat, The, 72
Assatus est ; jam versa et manduca, 96
" Asunder flies the man," 101
At rest at last. Now I am free from
pain, 77
Away ! Away ! Why do you thus look
at me? II
Ay, Jesus! 35
Be fruitful, 109
Be of good comfort, brother, for we
shall have a merry supper, 20
Be of good comfort, Master Ridley,
and play the man, 96
Be serious, 70
Be thou everlasting, 142
Begone, you and your trumpery ; until
this moment, 147
Behold then, the recompense reserved,
45
Beloved Bickus, the principle of ex-
istence and mutability, 65
Best of all is, God is with us, The, 179
Bishop ought to die on his legs, A, 186
Blessed be God, I have kept a con-
science void of offence, 171
Blessed be God, though I change my
place, 132
Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which
was given, The, 132
Bring thy torch hither; do thine office
before my face, 91
Brother, brother, strong evidences,
nothing but strong evidences, 137
Brother Ranney, will you bury me ?
bury me ? quick ! quick I 92
Can this be considered a calamity?
Well, they can, 189
Can this last long? 184
Carry my bones before you on your
march, 50
Catholic faith is, to love God and to
love man, The, 37
Christ also hath suffered for sins, 80
Christ Tesus the Saviour of sinners
and life of the dead, 124
19s
3ln&e*
Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die !
4
Come, my son, and see how a Christian
can die, 75
Come to me, 48
Commend your souls to God, for our
bodies are the foes ! 115
Comme un dernier rayon, comme un
dernier zSphyre, 35
Contemplate the state in which I am
fallen, and learn to die, 142
Crito, I owe a cock to iEsculapius, 153
Dear little fellow — he is a beautiful
boy, 95
Debt! no
Did I not say I was writing the Re-
quiem for myself ? 119
Did you know Burke ? 150
Did you think I should live forever ?
99
Do not let the Civil Rights bill fail!
160
Don't let poor Nelly starve ! 33
Domine! Domine! fac fineml fac
finem ! 57
Dying, dying, 81
Dying man can do nothing easy, A, 59
Earth, dost thou demand me ? I am
ready, 188
End has come in the way in which I
most desired, The, 157
Erravi cum Petro, sed non flevi cum
Petro, 64
Et tu, Brute ! 27
Examine it for yourself, 178
Exariare aliquis nostris ex ossibus
ultor, 160
Faith and patience hold out, 129
Far from welt, yet far better than mine
iniquities deserve, 1 10
Farewell, and remember me, 105
Farewell, my children, forever. I go
to your father, 106
Farewell, O farewell, all earthly things,
and welcome heaven, 14
Farewell sun, moon, and stars, 102
Fear not true Pharisees, but greatly
fear painted Pharisees, 3
Fi de la vie ! qu'on ne m'en parle plus,
105
For the love of God, don't mention
that man! 175
For the name of Jesus and the de-
fense of the Church, 1 1
For the sake of the true gospel given
once by the grace of God, 184
Frenchmen, I die innocent of all the
crimes, 100
Friendship itself is but apart of virtue,
131
Gentlemen of the jury, you will now
consider of your verdict, 164
Give Day Rolles a chair, 36
Give me a large cup of tea. 186
Give me back my youth, 185
Give my love to the world, 182
Give the boys a holiday, 4
" Glory be to the Father, and to the
Son, and to the Holy Ghost," 12
Glory hallelujah ! I am going to the
Lordy! I come! Ready! Go! 70
Glory to God for all things, Amen,
"(Sod be merciful to me, a sinner/ 1
170
God be thanked, I have had a very
good night, 151
God bless you, 2<j
God bless you all ! 147
God bless you! Is that you, Dora ?
187
God bless you, my dear ! 92
God have mercy upon me, and be
gracious to me, 155
God preserve the emperor, 75
God protect Bulgaria, 157
God, who placed me here, will do
what he pleases with me hereafter,
19
God will continue to support me, 50
God's wounds ! The villain hath
killed me, 174
Good-bye, 121
Good-bye, General; I'm done. I'm
too old, 52
Good Doctor, God has heard my daily
petitions, 81
Good morning, 120
Good people, give me more fire, 82
Grateful — in peace! 89
Grenadiers ! lower your arms, other-
wise you will miss me, 57
196
Hifcff
Ha til mi tulidh, 140
Had it pleased my Lord to spare me
longer, 161
Happy, 103
He, 75
He has indeed been a precious Christ
to me, 141
Heaven! 183
Help, my dear — help ! 103
Here! Fire here! 170
Here, then, we have come to the last
stage of my journey, 18
Here thou art then ! j6
Herr Tesu, to thee I live ; Herr Jesu,
to thee I die ! 61
Hold your tongue; your wretched
style only makes, 103
Holy, holy, holy, blessed Lord Jesus !
140
How am I advanced, despising you
that are upon the earth ! 104
How beautiful I 121
How beautiful God is ! 9$
How easy — how easy — now easy to
glide from work here, 135
How grand the sunlight I It seems
to beckon earth to heaven, 85
How great is the forgiveness for such
a lite! 174
How sweet it is to rest ! 164
Huz! Huz! 99
I am about to die, and I am not afraid
to die, 176
I am about to die. I expect the sum-
mons soon, 164
I am almost dead ; lift me up a little
higher, 50
I am almost well, 9
I am done for, 76
I am dying, 180
I am dying, I am 'worn out, 118
I am dying; leave me alone, 189
I am aying, sir, of a hundred good
symptoms, 131
I am glad to hear it ; but, O brother
Payne! 126
I am going to sleep like you, but we
* all r*
shall all awake together, 132
1 am going to the great perhaps. 13
I am going where all tears will b
wiped from my eyes, 109
I am grateful for your presence, 30
I am grateful to Divine Mercy, 96
I am ill — very ill, I shall not re-
cover, 118
I am just going; have me decently
buried, 176
I am not in the least afraid to die, 42
I am now ready to die. Lord, for-
sake me not, 79
I am ready, 57
I am ready, 1 10
I am ready at any time — do not keep
me waiting, 22
I am readv — let there be no mistake
and no delay, 18
I am roasted — now turn me, and eat
me, 96
I am satisfied with the Lord's will,
124
I am suffering, sire, the pangs of the
damned, 102
I am very ill. Is it not strange that
those people, 30
I am weary ; I will now go to sleep,
Good night! 122
I am wounded, 77
I cannot bear it ; let me rest. I must
die, 138
I carry in my heart the dirge of the
monarchy, 114
I confide to your care, my beloved
children, 115
I could wish this tragic scene were
over, 133
I desire to go to hell, and not to
heaven, 102
I did not think that they would put a
young gentleman to aeath, 9
I die a martyr and willingly — my
soul shall mount up to heaven, 23
I die happy, 185
I die not only a Protestant, but with
a heart-hatred of popery, 6
I die of a broken heart, f§
I die unprepared, 19
I do forgive you, 84
I do not fear death, 18
I fear not death ; death is not terrible
to me, 52
I feel as if I were sitting with Mary
at the feet of my Redeemer, 76
I feel as if I were to be myself again,
M7
I feel like a mote in the sunbeam, 129
13*
197
3ln&e*
I feel quite well, only very weak, 92
I feel the flowers growing over me, 93
I give thee thanks, O God, for all thy
benefits, 51
I have already confessed my sins to
God, 151
I have always endeavored to the best
of my ability, 37
I have been fortunate in long good
health and constant success, 137
I have been murdered; no remedy
can prevent my speedy death, 97
I have done my work. It is the most
natural thing in the world to die,
136
I have enough, brother ; try to save
your own life, 71
I have ever cherished an honest pride';
never have I stooped, 149
I have found at last the object of my
love, 87
I have had wealth, rank and power,
but if these were all, 3
I have known thee all the time, 182
I have led a happy life, 75
I have loved God, my father and lib-
erty, 157
I have loved justice and hated in-
iquity, 69
I have no enemies except those of the
state, 137
I have no religious joys; but I have
hope, 62
I have no wish to believe on that sub-
ject, 126
ha
I have often read and thought of that
scripture, 27
I have opened it, 164
I have pain — there is no arguing
against sense, 9
I have Paul's understanding, 135
I have peace, perfect peace, 27
I have taught men how to live, 38
I have the flavor of death on my
tongue, I taste death, 119
I heard your voice ; but did not un-
derstand what you said, 70
I hope the people of England will be
satisfied, 117
I know that it will be well with me,
58
" I know that my Redeemer liveth,"
158
"I know that my Redeemer liveth."
I die for the good old cause, 162
know what you are thinking of, but
I have nothing, 185
'11 be shot if 1 don't believe I'm
dying, 167
must now hasten away since my
baggage has been sent, 7
must sleep now, 27
never departed from the true church,
106
never thought that it was so easy a
matter to laugh, 144
now feel so weaned from earth, my
affections so much in heaven, 183
now feel that I am dying. Our care
must be, 113
only regret that I have but one life
to give to my country ! 72
pray you all pray for me, 10
pray you see me safe up the scaf-
fold, 117
receive absolution upon this con-
dition, 134
repent of my life except that part, 49
resign my spirit to Goa; my
daughter to my country, 91
see earth receding; Heaven is open-
ing; God is calling me, 116
shall be glad to find a hole to creep
out of the world at, 80
shall hear in heaven, 13
shall not live more than two days,
therefore make haste, 186
shall not long hesitate between con-
science and the Pope, 14
shall retire early ; I am very tired,
102
shall this day deceive the worms in
Hadley churchyard, 164
should like to live, 188
should like to record the thoughts
of a dving man, 9
should not like to live, 188
stand in the presence of my Creator,
80
still live! 178
strike my flag, 8j
suffer nothing, but feel a sort of
difficulty of living longer, 58
suffer the violence of pain and
death, 20
suppose I shall soon be a god, 172
I98
3ln*w
I take God to witness I have preached,
87
I thank God that not a day of my life
has been spent, 129
I thank thee, O my God and Saviour,
T &
I thank you for all your faithful ser-
vices ; God bless you, 28
I think I shall die to-night, 140
I thought dying had been harder, 99
I trust in the mercy of God, it is not
now too late, 78
I want, oh, you know what I mean,
the stuff of life, 163
I want to go away, 31
I want to go home, 178
I were miserable, if I might not die, 49
I will enter now into the house of the
Lord, 99
I will have no rogue's son in my seat,
53
I will lie down on the couch, 36
I wish I had the power of writing, 40
I wish Vaughan to preach my funeral
sermon, 157
I wish you to understand the true
principles of government, 73
If he should slay me ten thousand
times, 141
If I die, I die unto the Lord, Amen,
88
If I had strength to hold a pen I
would write, 87
If I have been deceived, doubtless it
was the work of a spirit, 153
If you love my soul, away with it ! 81
Ilh in extremis prae timore imbellis
sudor, 171
In death at last let me rest with
Abelard, 76
Independence forever ! 2
In life and in death, I am the Lord's,
88
" In maims tuos, Domine, commendo
spiritum meum," 37
In the name of modesty, cover my
bosom ! 54
Is it not true, dear Hammel, that I
have some talent after all? 13
Is Lawrence come ? — Is Lawrence
come ? 63
Is not this dying with courage and
true greatness ? 15
Is this death ? 98
Is this death ? 133
Is this dying ? Is this all ? Is this
all that I feared ? 109
It came with a lass, and it will go
with a lass, 91
It grows dark, boys. You may go, 1
It is a great consolation for a dying
poet, 19
It is a great consolation to me, in my
last hour, 62
It is a great satisfaction to me to
know, 117
It is all one, Phillips and Clarke will
come for my sake, 128
It is all the same in the end, 124
It is beautiful, 22
It is delightful to see those whom I
love still able to swallow, 41
It is likely that you may never need
to do it again, 80
It is not painful, Paetus, 6
It is safest to trust in Jesus, 14
It is small, very small indeed, 19
It is the last of earth ! I am content ! 2
It is well, 176
It is well; I thank you; God bless
you, 161
It matters little to me ; for if I am but
once dead, 24
It matters not where I am going,
whether the weather, 52
It will be but a momentary pang,
It will soon be time for mass. T
must raise me, 160
It would be hard indeed if we two
dear friends should part, 125
Jefferson survives, 2
Jesu! 130
esus! Jesus! 92
esus, Mary, Joseph, 149
esus ! precious Saviour ! 41
esus, Son of the eternal God, have
mercy on me ! 148
Joy, 118
" J ustum et tenacem propositi virum,"
46
King should die standing, A, 100
Kiss me, Hardy, 122
Knowledge of the love of God— the
blessing of God Almighty, The, 1 10
hey
199
3ltuw
La montagne est passee, nous irons
mieux, 62
Laissez la verdure, 142
Let down the curtain, the farce is over,
133
Let me die with the Philistines, 142
Let my epitaph be, " Here lies Joseph,
who was unsuccessful," 92
Let us go over the river, and sit under
the refreshing shadow, 88
Let us submit to the laws of nature,
»3«
Life or death is welcome to me, 179
Life spent in the service of God, A, 78
Live in Christ, live in Christ, 96
Lord! 39
Lord, forgive my sins ; especially my
sins of omission, 170
Lord has suffered as much for me, The,
143
Lord, have mercy upon me. Wilt thou
break a bruised reed ? 6
Lord help my soul ! 130
Lord, into thy hands I commend my
spirit, 35
Lord, into thy hands I commend my
spirit, 69
Lord, into thy hands I commend my
spirit, 162
Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit !
85
Lord, receive my soul, 96
Lord Tesus, receive my spirit, 82
Lord Jesus, receive my soul ! 183
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,
158
" Lord, now let thy servant depart in
peace," 21
Lord, open the eyes of the King of
England, 170
Lord, receive my spirit! 164
Lord, receive my spirit! 140
Lord take my spirit, 51
Luis de Moscoso, 45
Madame, 26
Mais quel diable de mal veux —
te que cela me fosse ? 47
Many things are growing plain and
clear to my understanding, 144 ^
Master Kingston, farewell ! My time
draweth on fast, 185
May God never forsake me ! 129
May God's will be done, 15
Mir ist sehr schlecht, 176
Molly, I shall die! 68
Mon Dieu ! Mon Dieu ! 66
Mon Dieu ! La Nation Franchise, T6 te
d'armee, 121
Monks! Monks! Monks! 78
More light! More light! 66
Murder of the Queen had been rep-
resented to me, The, 7
Must I leave it unfinished ? 121
My anchor is well cast, and my ship, 82
My beautiful flowers, my lovely now-
ers! 137
My beloved! they are not mine. No!
they are not mine ! 15
My children, these fearful forests and
these barren rocks, 66
My Christ, 22
My dear one, with whom I lived in
love so long, 149
My desire is to make what haste I
may to be gone, 40
My mend, I shall die to-day. When
one is in this situation, 113
My friend, it is only from cold, 8
My God! 132
" Mv God, my Father, and my Friend,"
My heart is fixed, O God ! my heart
is fixed, 142
My heart is resting sweetly with Jesus,
40
Mv life is taken from me, though I
nave done nothing, 169
My Lord, why do you not go on ? I
am not afraid to die, 108
My soul I resign to God, my body to
the earth, 24
My trust is in God, 163
My work is done ; I have nothing to
do but to go to my Father, 87
Nature, how lovely thou art ! 188
Nectare clausa suo, 148
Never heed ; the Lord's power is over
all weakness, 58
Never mind, I shall soon drink of the
river of Eternal Life, 168
No, it is not, 67
No, No! 21
No mortal man can live after the
glories which God, 170
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No, whatever is, is best, 98
No, toot Majesty, to-morrow you will
not see me here, 31
Nobody, nobody but Jesus Christ, 25
Not , 55
Nothing else but heaven, ill
Now all is over — let the piper play
"Hatilmitulidh," 140
Now am I about to make my last voy-
age — a great leap in the dark, 80
Now comes the mystery, 13
Now I am going, 57
Now, God be praised, only one hour !
°5
Now God be with you, my dear chil-
dren, 22
Now I can hold on no longer. Lay
me in a different posture, 145
Now I die, 179
Now I know that I must be very ill,
since you have been sent for, 99
Now it is come, 96
Now lack I but two stiles ; and I am
even at my Father's house, 164
Now, Lord, I go ! 35
Now, my dear son, I am going to the
Saviour, 189
Nurse, nurse, what murder ! what
blood ! Oh ! I have done wrong, 34
O Allah, be it so ! Henceforth among
the glorious host of paradise, 1 14
O Allah, pardon my sins. Yes, I come,
among my fellow labourers, 1 14
O, better, 88
O come in glory ! I have long waited
for thy coming, 53
" O death where is thy " 78
" O Father of thy beloved and blessed
Son, Jesus Christ !" 131
O Florence, what hast thou done to-
day? 143
O God come to mine aid; O Lord
make haste to help me, 99
O God have mercy upon me, and upon
this poor nation, 125
O God — if there be a God — I desire
Thee to have mercy on me, 169
O ! he 's a dear, good fellow, 181
O Hobbima, Hobbima,how I do love
thee! 40
O liberty, O liberty ! how many crimes
are committed in thy name? 140
O Lord Almighty, as thou wilt ! 24
O Lord, forgive the errata ! 20
O Lord, into thy hands I commit my
spirit, 107
O Lord, save my country ! O Lord,
be merciful, 73
O my country, how I love thee ! 130
O, my mother ! how deep will be thy
sorrow at the news, 38
O, my poor soul, what is to become of
thee? no
O. my poor soul, whither art thou go-
ing? 2
O Paradise ! O Paradise ! At last comes
to me the grand consolation, 129
O, that beautiful boy! 55
O, that glorious sun ! 132
O the depths of the riches of the good-
ness and knowledge of God! 98
O, to die for liberty is a pleasure and
not a pain, 20
O wretched virtue ! thou art a bare
name! 23
Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell and
damnation! 124
Oh death, why art thou so long in
coming? 41
Oh, don't let the awkward squad fire
over me ! 26
Oh Puss, chloroform — ether — or I
am a dead man, 26
Oh, would to God I had never reigned !
130
On the ground, 47
One hundred and forty-four, 42
Only objection against the Bible is a
bad life, The, 184
Open the gates! Open the gates! 179
Over my spirit flash and float in di-
vine radiancy, 166
Pains, the groans, the dying strife, The,
123
Peace! 20
Peace! 178
People my trust, The, 64
Poor little boys ! 24
Pourquoi est-ce que vous me quittez,
66
Pray, pray ! 72
Precious salvation ! 80
Promise me you will never again marry
an old man, 187
Qualis artifex pereo! 122
20I
3imer
" Reason thus with life," 1 16
Refresh me with a great thought, 79
Relief has come, 125
Remember, 32
Remember that I die as becomes a
British officer, 5
Righteous wait expectant till I re-
ceive my recompense, The, 59
" Rock of Ages cleft for me," 3
Sarah, 188
See in what peace a Christian can die, 2
Set your mind at rest, Dieu me par-
donnera, 75
Shall I sue for mercy? — Come, come,
no weakness, 27
Sister! sister! sister! 44
So far as I have understood what the
duties of my office were, 157
So much the better ! I shall not then
live to see the surrender, 115
So the heart be right, it is no matter
which way the head lies, 133
Sit down, 160
Sixty-four years ago it pleased the
Almighty to call, 118
Soldiers — fire ! 124
Soul of Christ, sanctify me ; Body of
Christ, save me, 149
South! The South! God knows what
will become of her ! The, 28
Stay, friend, till I put aside my beard,
117
Stop, go out of the room ; I am about
to die, 58
Stopped! 68
Strike, if it be for the Roman's good,
63
Suffer no pomp at my funeral, nor
monumental inscription, 84
Sun, thou hast betrayed me, 93
Take care of Maria, 1 75
Take care of poor mistress, 92
" Taught, half by reason, half by mere
decay," 120
Tell Collingwood to bring the fleet to
anchor, 122
Tell Emerson that I love and revere
him, 160
Tell Hill he must come up, 97
Tell them to go forward and do a good
work, 41
Texas! Texas! Margaret, 83
Thank God, I have done my duty, 122
Thank God! Thank Heaven! 11 5
Thank God, to-morrow I shall join
the glorious company above, 5°
That is enough to last till I get to
heaven, 176
That's right, Brother Taylor; parry
them off as well as you can, 151
That which I said then I said, but
that which I say now is true, 187
There are six guineas for you, and do
not hack me, 147
" There is another and a better
world," 128
There is no other life but the eternal,
22
There is no time to be lost, 42
This is a beautiful world, 58 .
This is a sharp medicine, but a sure
remedy, 133
This is a struggle which all men must
go through, 186
This is death, 188
This is not my home, 6
This is the toilette of death, 38
This soul in flames I offer, Christ, to
thee, 92
This unworthy right hand, 40
Thou dog! 121
Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!
thou hast conquered ! 93
Thou hast said truly, consummatum
est, 13
Thou knowest, O Lord, the secrets of
our hearts, 95
Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am
abundantly satisfied, 29
Throw a quilt over it, 61
Throw up the window that I may see
once more, 141
Thy creatures, O Lord, have been my
books, 7
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done," 37
Tired — very tired — a long journey-
to take, 73
To judge by what I now endure, the
hand of death, 140
Toffi-o il tuo proprio Figlio, 112
Trotter will tell you, 59
Trust in God and you need not fear,
51
202
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Under the feet of mr friars, 49
Ungrateful traitors f 109
Very little meat for the mustard, 81
Vex me not with this thing, but give
me a simple cross, 30
Vos plaudite, 6
Water, 68
Water, 168
We are all going to heaven, and Van-
dyke is of the company, 63
We are ready — soldiers, fire ! 42
We return no more, 140
We shall not lose our lives in this
fire, 124
We will endeavor to crawl to this
line, 83
We will go to Jerusalem, 00
Welcome the Cross of Christ, wel-
come everlasting life, 143
Well! God's will be done. He
knows best, 172
Well, ladies, if I were one hour in
heaven, 108
Well, my friend, what news from the
Great Mogul? 118
Were you at Sedan ? 12 1
What an idle piece of ceremony, 21
What ! art thou too, one of them !
Thou, my son ! 27
What can it signify ? 39
What is that ? 159
Whatty, what is this ? It is death, my
boy, 66
When I think of the existence which
shall commence, 30
While there is life there is will, 21
Will no one have pity on me ? Here,
fire here! 171
With all my heart : I would fain be
reconciled to my stomach, 57
Whose house is this ? Wnat street
are we in ? 24
Write the word " Remorse "; show it
to me, 134
Why, certainly, certainly ! 163
Why dost thou not strike? Strike!
>33
Why weep ye ? Did you think that
I could live forever ? 99
Worst is I cannot see, The, 162
Yes! 59
Yes! 102
Yes, it would be rash to say that they
have no reasons, 30
You are fighting for an earthly crown,
63
You are good fellows, but you can do
nothing for me, 9
You make me drink. Pray leave me
quiet, 35
You may go home, the show is over,
44
You need not be anxious concerning
to-night, 31
You see what is man's life, 64
You will show my head to the people,
42
Young man, keep your record — , 67
Young man, you nave heard, no doubt,
how great are the terrors, 9
203