The Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women

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Title: The Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women - (Real and Traditional)
Author: Marvin, Frederic Rowland
Language: English
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THE
LAST WORDS OF DISTINGUISHED
MEN AND WOMEN

THE LAST WORDS
(REAL AND TRADITIONAL)
OF 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.
--_Shakspeare_

NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
1901

To my Wife
this Book is most Lovingly
Dedicated

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 history I am so intent upon; and it
is manifest 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 comment, 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"), 1741-1809. "_It grows dark, boys.
You may go._"

"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Light withdrawn, and hushed the noise,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._

ABD-ER-RAHMAN III. (surnamed An-Nâsir-Lideen-Illah or Lidinillah, that
is to say, "the defender of the religion of God," eighth Sultan and
first Caliph of Córdova. Under Abd-er-Rahman III. the Mohammedan empire
in Spain attained the height of its glory), 886-961. "_Fifty years have
passed since I became Caliph. Riches, honors, pleasures--I have enjoyed
all. In this long time of seeming happiness I have numbered the days on
which I have been happy. Fourteen._" Though these sad words correctly
express the spirit of the man who is reported to have spoken them, they
are purely traditional.

ADAMS (John, second President of the United States), 1735-1826.
"_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), 1767-1848.
"_It 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. "_See in what peace a
Christian can die!_" These words were addressed to Lord Warwick, an
accomplished but dissolute youth, to whom Addison was nearly related.

ADRIAN or HADRIAN (Publius Ælius, the Roman Emperor), 76-138. "_O my
poor soul, 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 blandula,
Hospes comesque corporis,
Quæ nunc abibis in loca?
Pallidula, rigida, nudula,
Nec, ut soles, dabis jocos.

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.

Adrian is known in history as one of the greatest of the Roman Emperors.
It is hardly too much to say that, by his progress through all the
provinces and his policy of peace, he was the consolidater of the empire
founded a century and a half before by Augustus. He was the author of
the Roman Wall between England and Scotland; he beautified the city of
Athens; he founded the modern Adrianople; he built for his own mausoleum
what is now the Castle of St. Anglo at Rome. He was also a patron of
the fine arts and of literature.

Of the famous lines, "The Dying Adrian's Address to His Soul," no fewer
than one hundred and sixteen translations into English have been
collected, the translators including Pope, Prior, Byron, Dean Merivale,
and the late Earl of Carnarvon. It should be added that Pope's familiar
version, beginning "Vital spark of heav'nly flame," is a paraphrase
rather than a translation. I quote Prior's version:

"Poor little, quivering, fluttering thing,
Must we no longer live together?
And dost thou prune thy trembling wing,
To take thy flight thou know'st not whither?

"Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly
Lie all neglected, all forgot:
And pensive, wavering, melancholy,
Thou dread'st and hop'st thou know'st not what."

This is the only certain composition of Adrian that has been preserved,
though he is reported to have attempted many forms of literature. The
authenticity of a letter ascribed to him with a reference to the
Christians, is open to grave doubt. But now the sands of Egypt, which
are daily yielding up so many secrets of antiquity, have given us what
purports to be a private letter addressed by the Emperor Adrian to his
successor, Antoninus Pius, and--what is more interesting--it is written,
like the address to his soul, in view of his approaching death.
Unfortunately the papyrus is very fragmentary, but its general meaning
seems clear. We have evidently only the commencement of an elaborate
epistle. After the assertion that his death is neither unexpected, nor
lamentable, nor unreasonable, he says that he is prepared to die, though
he misses his correspondent's presence and loving care. He goes on:

"I do not intend to give the conventional reasons of philosophy for this
attitude, but to make a plain statement of facts.... My father by birth
died at the age of forty, a private person, so that I have lived more
than half as long again as my father, and have reached about the same
age as that of my mother when she died."

All this accords with the known facts about Adrian. He died at the age
of sixty-two, after a long illness, during which he was assiduously
tended by Antoninus. Just before the end he withdrew to Baiae, leaving
Antoninus in charge at Rome. His father had died when his son was ten
years old; of his mother we know nothing. _Prima facie_, there is no
improbability that letters of Adrian should be in circulation in Egypt,
which he visited at least once. His freedman Phlegon is reported to have
published a collection of them after his death.

On the other hand, it should be frankly admitted that some suspicious
circumstances attach to the letter. Of the antiquity of the papyrus
there is no doubt, for the handwriting cannot be later than the end of
the second century A. D., bringing it within sixty years (at farthest)
from Adrian's death. But it is written as a school exercise on the back
of a taxing-list, which naturally gives rise to the suspicion that it
may be merely the composition of the schoolmaster. The actual form of
the document is interesting. At the top are about fifteen lines, written
in a clear cursive, or running, hand. Below, the first five lines are
repeated in large, irregular uncials, or capital letters. It is
impossible not to recognize here an exercise set by a schoolmaster and a
copy begun by a pupil.

The papyrus is one of the many found by Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt while
excavating in the Fayoum on account of the Egypt Exploration Fund, and
appears in the volume issued by the Græco-Roman Branch of Egypt
Exploration Fund, called "Fayoum Towns and Their Papyri."
_J. S. Cotton in Biblia for November, 1900._

AGIS (King of Lacedæmonia, strangled by order of the Ephori. He was
charged with subverting the laws of his country, but was in reality a
brave and good man according to the light of the age in which he lived.
He died with great calmness and courage),--240. "_Weep not for me._"

AGRIPPA (Henricus Cornelius, German physician, theologian and
astrologer, skilled in alchemy and occult sciences), 1486-1535.
"_Begone, thou wretched beast, which hast utterly undone me._" The story
is that he was always accompanied by a devil in the shape of a black
dog. When he perceived that death was near he wished, by repentance, to
free his soul from the guilt of witchcraft, and so took off the collar
from his dog's neck. This collar was covered with magical characters. As
he removed the collar he muttered these, his last words: "Begone, thou
wretched beast, which hast utterly undone me." The familiar dog
disappeared with Agrippa's death, and was never more seen. This curious
story was for a long time believed by the common people, and is to be
found in one form or another in many old books.

Agrippa lectured on theology at Cologne, Pisa, Turin, and Pavia, and
practiced medicine in France. Henry VIII. invited him to England, but he
preferred the court of Margaret of Austria, regent of the Low Countries.
He died poor, leaving behind him a number of books, and among them "On
the Vanity of the Sciences," which has been translated into English and
other languages.

AGRIPPINA (mother of the Emperor Nero. She was one of the worst of
women, and was condemned to death by her own son),--60. "_Strike here!
Level your rage against the womb which gave birth to such a monster._"
These words she said, placing her hand over her womb, to the man sent to
dispatch her.

ALBERT (Francis-Augustus-Charles-Emmanuel, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha. He married Queen Victoria, his cousin, the tenth of February,
1840), 1819-1861. "_I have had wealth, rank and power, but if these
were all I had, how wretched I should be!_" A few moments 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 mountain overlooking
Balmoral Palace: "To the beloved memory of Albert the great and good
Prince Consort, erected by his broken-hearted widow, Victoria R., 21
August, 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._

One year after Prince Albert died, the Queen erected a costly mausoleum
in the grounds of Frogmore House, which is legally a part of the domain
of Windsor Castle. The mausoleum is cruciform, eighty feet long, with
transepts of seventy feet. As soon as it was completed and consecrated
by the Bishop of Oxford, the remains of the Prince Consort were there
deposited. Over the entrance is a Latin inscription, which in English
reads as follows:

WHAT WAS MORTAL OF PRINCE ALBERT
HIS MOURNING WIDOW, QUEEN VICTORIA,
HAS CAUSED TO BE DEPOSITED IN THIS SEPULCHER.
FAREWELL, MY WELL BELOVED!
HERE AT LAST SHALL I REST WITH THEE.
WITH THEE IN CHRIST SHALL RISE AGAIN.

ALEXANDER (Jannæus, son of John Hyrcanus, succeeded his brother
Aristobulus as King of Judea in 105 B. C. The Pharisees rose in
rebellion against his authority; 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.

ALFIERI (Vittorio, eminent Italian tragic poet), 1749-1803. "_Clasp my
hand, my dear friend, I die!_" Addressed to the Countess Stolberg, who
derived the title Countess of Albany from being the wife of Charles
Edward 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 the great "Westminster Abbey of Italy" that the poet first dreamed of
fame.

ALFORD (Henry, commonly called "Dean Alford," English poet and divine,
Dean of Canterbury), 1810-1871. "_Will you tell the Archdeacon?--will
you move a vote of thanks for his kindness in performing the ceremony?_"
He wished the Archdeacon to assist in the services at his funeral.

He had expressed a wish to be buried in St. Martin's churchyard. The
spot chosen for his grave is beneath a yew-tree on the brow of the hill
on the south side of the path which leads from the lich-gate to the
western door of the ancient church. At the distance of about half a mile
to the west the towers of the Cathedral look down upon his tomb.

Among his papers was found the following memorandum, which, of course,
was carefully obeyed:

"When I am gone, and a tomb is to be put up, let there be, besides any
indication of who is lying below, these words, and these only:

DEVERSORIUM VIATORIS HIEROSOLYMAM PROFICISCENTIS.

i. e., the inn of a traveller on his way to Jerusalem."

AMBROSE ("Saint," Latin Father, author of many books of varying value
and interest, and author of a method of singing known as "the Ambrosian
Chant"), 340-397. "_I have not so behaved myself that I should be
ashamed to live; nor am I afraid to die, because I have so good a
Master._"

AMES (Fisher, distinguished American statesman, leader of the Federal
party in the House of Representatives during the administration of
Washington), 1758-1808. "_I have peace of mind. It may arise from
stupidity, but I think it is founded on a belief of the gospel. My hope
is in the mercy of God._"

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 continued his studies, and was highly respected by the
citizens, 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._

ANDRÉ (John, major in the British army at the time of the American
Revolution, and executed as a spy, October 2, 1780), 1751-1780. "_It
will be but a momentary pang._"

The order for execution was loudly and impressively read by
Adjutant-General Scammel, who at its conclusion informed André he might
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 officers,
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 pretended account of André'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." André uttered no sentiment like
this. Miss Seward, his early friend, on reading this account, wrote thus
in her "Monody on Major André:"

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!
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, p. 768._

ANDRONICUS I. (Comnenus, usurper and emperor), 1115-1185. "_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.

ANNE (of Austria, daughter of Philip III. of Spain, and mother of Louis
XIV. of France, Queen of France), 1601-1666. "_Observe how they are
swelled; time to depart._" These words were spoken as she viewed her
hands which had been greatly admired for their beauty.

ANSELM ("Saint," Archbishop of Canterbury), 1034-1109. "_I shall gladly
obey His call; yet I should also feel grateful if He would grant me a
little longer time with you, and if I could be permitted to solve a
question--the origin of the soul._"

ANTHONY or ANTONY ("Saint," surnamed Abbas, the reputed founder of
monachism), 251-356. "_Let this word of mine be kept by you, so that no
one shall know in what place my body reposes, for I shall receive it
incorruptible from my Saviour in the resurrection of the dead. And
distribute my garments thus: To Athanasius, the bishop, give one of my
sheepskins, and the cloak under me, which was new when he gave it me,
and has become old by my use of it; and to Serapion, the bishop, give
the other sheepskin; and do you have the hair-cloth garment. And for the
rest, children, farewell, for Anthony is going, and is with you no
more._"

ANTONINUS (Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, celebrated for nobleness of
character and great wisdom. He is sometimes called "The Philosopher"),
121-180. "_Think more of death than of me._"

Notwithstanding the mild and upright character of the emperor, there
took place during his reign a severe persecution of the Christians.
Efforts have been made to excuse him from responsibility in the matter,
but all such efforts have succeeded only in greatly palliating his
guilt, which was probably much less than that of many other persecutors
of the early followers of our Lord.

ARAM (Eugene, executed for the murder of Daniel Clark. The story of
Eugene Aram forms the subject of one of Bulwer's novels, and of a poem
by Thomas Hood), 1704-1759. "_No_," on being asked upon the scaffold if
he had anything to say.

While acting as an assistant to his father, who was a gardener, he
studied mathematics and gave some attention to the languages. On
marrying, he became a schoolmaster, and prosecuted his studies with such
diligence and success as to obtain a good knowledge of the Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, Welsh and Irish languages. In 1759 he was tried
for the murder of Daniel Clark, a shoemaker of Knaresborough, and found
guilty. At the trial he made an elaborate and able defence, but after
his condemnation he confessed his guilt. On the night before his
execution he made an attempt to commit suicide, by opening the veins of
his arms; but he was discovered before he had bled to death, and the
sentence of the law was carried into effect.--_Lippincott._

PAPER CONTAINING ARAM'S REASONS FOR ATTEMPTING SUICIDE, FOUND ON THE
TABLE IN HIS CELL.

"What am I better than my fathers? To die is natural and necessary.
Perfectly sensible of this, I fear no more to die than I did to be born.
But the manner of it is something which should, in my opinion, be decent
and manly. I think I have regarded both these points. Certainly nobody
has a better right to dispose of a man's life than himself; and he, not
others, should determine how. As for any indignities offered to my body,
or silly reflections on my faith and morals, they are (as they always
were) things indifferent to me. I think, though contrary to the common
way of thinking, I wrong no man by this, and hope it is not offensive to
that Eternal Being that formed me and the world; and as by this I injure
no man, no man can be reasonably offended. I solicitously recommend
myself to the Eternal and Almighty Being, the God of Nature, if I have
done amiss. But perhaps I have not; and I hope this thing will never be
imputed to me. Though I am now stained by malevolence, and suffer by
prejudice, I hope to rise fair and unblemished. My life was not
polluted, my morals irreproachable, and my opinions orthodox.

"I slept soundly till three o'clock, awaked, and then writ these lines:

"Come pleasing rest, eternal slumber fall,
Seal mine, that once must seal the eyes of all;
Calm and compos'd my soul her journey takes,
No guilt that troubles, and no heart that aches:
Adieu! thou sun, all bright like her arise;
Adieu! fair friends, and all that's good and wise."

ARCHIBALD (eighth Earl of Argyle), 1598-1661. "_I 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), 1479-1533. "_This is not my home._"

ARMISTEAD (Lewis Addison, brigadier-general in the Confederate army),
1817-1863. "_Give them the cold steel, boys._"

Armistead put his hand on the cannon, waved his sword and called out,
"Give them the cold steel, boys," then, pierced by bullets, he fell dead
along side Cushing. Both lay near the clumps of trees about thirty yards
inside the wall, their corpses marking the farthest point to which
Picketts' advance penetrated, where the "High Water Mark Monument" at
Gettysburg, now marks the top of the flood tide of the rebellion, for
afterwards there was a steady ebb.
_Baedeker's Handbook of the United States._

ARNOLD (Thomas, of Rugby, English historian and teacher. In August,
1841, he was appointed regius professor of modern history at Oxford. He
is the author of five volumes of sermons, "Introductory Lectures on
Modern History," and "The History of Rome"), 1795-1842. "_Ah! Very
well_," to his physician who told him of the serious nature of his
complaint, and described to him the remedies to be used.

"The benevolent and accomplished Dr. Arnold was taken from us by _angina
pectoris_. He awoke in the morning with a sharp pain across his chest,
which he had felt slightly on the preceding day, before and after
bathing. He composed himself to sleep for a short time; but the pain
seemed to increase, and to pass down the left arm, which called to Mrs.
Arnold's remembrance what she had heard of this fatal disease. Their
usual medical attendant, Dr. Bucknill, was sent for, and found Dr.
Arnold lying on his back--his countenance much as usual--his pulse,
though regular, was very quick, and there was cold perspiration on the
brow and cheeks. He apologized in a cheerful manner for troubling Dr.
Bucknill at so early an hour, and inquired as to the nature and danger
of his illness: he was told it was a spasm of the heart. The physician
quitted the house to furnish himself with remedies. On his return, Dr.
Arnold said, 'If the pain is again as severe as it was before you left,
I do not know how I can bear it.' He again questioned Dr. Bucknill as to
the danger of his complaint--he was told of his danger--inquired as to
the remedies, and on being told, answered, 'Ah! very well.' The
physician, who was dropping the laudanum into a glass, turned around,
and saw him quite calm, but his eyes were shut. In another minute he
heard a rattle in his throat, and a convulsive struggle,--flew to the
bed, and called to one of the servants to fetch Mrs. Arnold. The family
soon arrived; but the sobs and cries of his children were unable to
affect him--the eyes were fixed, the countenance was unmoved, there was
a heaving of the chest, deep gasps escaped at prolonged intervals, and
just as the usual medical attendant arrived, and as the old school-house
servant, in an agony of grief, rushed with the others into the room in
the hope of seeing his master once more, he breathed his last."
_Stanley's Life of Arnold._

ARRIA (wife of Cæcina Pætus, a consul under Claudius), 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: "_It is not painful, Pætus._"

When to her husband Arria gave the steel,
Which from her chaste, her bleeding breast she drew;
She said--"My Pætus, this I do not feel,
But, oh! the wound that must be given by you!"[1]
_Martial._

[1] Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Pæto
Quem de visceribus traxerat ipsa suis,
Si qua fides, vulnus, quod feci, non dolet, inquit;
Sed quod tu facies, hoc mihi, Pæte, dolet.

AUGUSTINE ("Saint," Latin Father, able controversialist and eloquent
preacher, author of "On the City of God," "Confessions," and many other
books of value), 354-430. "_Oh, Lord, shall I die at all? Shall I die at
all? Yes! Why, then, oh, Lord, if ever, why not now?_"

His mother, Monica, was a woman of the most devoted piety. His father
was a pagan, and from him Augustine inherited a vehement and sensual
disposition. While a mere youth he gave way to his unbridled passions
and sensual propensities. His mother's patient prayerfulness for both
husband and son, which was at last crowned with success, has passed into
a touching type of womanly saintliness for all ages.--_A. H. Gottschall._

AUGUSTUS (Caius Julius Cæsar Octavianus, first Emperor of Rome), B. C.
63-14. "_Vos plaudite_," after asking how he had acted his part in life.
These reputed last words of Augustus rest upon the authority of Cicero.

Suetonius gives his last words thus: "Live mindful of our wedlock,
Livia, and so farewell."

BABINGTON (Anthony, English gentleman devoted to the cause of Mary
Stuart. Executed for having conspired 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. Albans), 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 carriage, 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 bronchitis 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 Gorhambury, and it is the only Christian 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._"

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 property 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 before
him," and immediately expired.
_The Book of Death._

BAILLY (Jean Sylvain, French astronomer and philosopher, first President
of the States-General, and later a victim of the Revolution), 1736-1793.
"_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."[2]

[2] Charles I., of England, put on two shirts the morning of his
execution, saying, "If I tremble with cold, my enemies will say it was
from fear: I will not expose myself to such reproaches."--_Lingard:
"History of England."_

BARNEVELDT (Johan van Olden, Dutch statesman of liberal principles
greatly in advance of his age. He has been called "the father of Dutch
freedom and religious liberty." He was beheaded at the Hague in his
seventy-first year, and met his fate without regret or a sign of fear),
1549-1619. "_Oh God, what then is man!_" Some say his last words were
these, addressed to the executioners: "Be quick about it. Be quick."

BARRE, DE LA (Jean François le Fèvre, Chevalier. He was condemned to
death for having mutilated a crucifix, and was executed in 1766, at the
age of nineteen), 1747-1766. "_I did not think they would put a young
gentleman to death for such a trifle._"[3]

Poor young Barre was tortured, strangled and burned for not taking off
his hat to a file of greasy monks. He remained covered while the
Capuchins carried some mediæval trumpery in procession.
_Walter Besant's "French Humorists."_

[3] See Voltaire's "Account of the Death of the Chevalier de la
Barre."

BATTIE (William, English physician), 1704-1776. "_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_," to his servant.

BAXTER (Richard, noted English nonconformist, author of "The Saints'
Everlasting Rest," and "The Call to the Unconverted"), 1615-1691. "_I
have pain--there is no arguing against sense--but I have peace, I have
peace!_" A little later he said, "_I am almost well._"

BAYARD (Pierre du Terrail, called "_le chevalier sans peur et sans
reproche_," the knight without fear and without reproach), 1475-1524.
"_At least, I may die facing the enemy._"

At the defeat of Romaguans, Bonnivet, wounded and not able to serve any
longer, gave the command of the army up to Bayard; who, as usual,
performed prodigies of valor, until he was wounded by a musket shot,
which broke the vertebrae of his back. He then caused himself to be
helped off his horse, and to be placed at the foot of a tree. "At
least," said he, "I may die facing the enemy;" and in a few moments he
was dead.

BEARD (Dr. George Miller, an American physician and scientist of unusual
promise, who died upon the threshold of a great career), 1839-1883. 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._"

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 generalization, and too
positive and comprehensive assertion 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 witnesses. 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 general approbation,
because it made almost everything a sign of nervous exhaustion. As a
writer, he was brilliant and prolific. His fame would be more enduring
if he had written five books, instead of fifty.
_Obituary._

BEATON OR BEATOUN OR BETON (David, Cardinal and Archbishop, an
implacable enemy of Protestants. He knew neither rest nor mercy in his
determination to crush the Reformed Faith, and his execution of George
Wishart drew down upon him the execration of all good men), 1449-1546.
"_I am a priest! Fie! Fie! All is gone._"

Cardinal Beaton was assassinated in May, 1546, in the chamber of his
castle, by a band of men who sympathized with the Reformers, headed by
Norman Leslie.

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
tribunal that sent the Maid of Orleans to the stake, and is supposed to
have participated in the murder of the Duke of Gloucester), 1370-1447.
"_I pray you all pray for 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! 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
Gloucester'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 recommend
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.[4]

[4] _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,
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 iii._

BECKET (Thomas à, first Saxon archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman
conquest), 1117-1170. "_For the 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 Anglorum_"), 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 dictate." "No," said
Bede, "take your pen and write quickly." After some time the scribe
said, "Master, it 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 Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.), 1813-1887.
"_Now comes the mystery._"

BEETHOVEN (Ludwig van), 1770-1827. "_I 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 gradually, 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 quarrelled, 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 distressing 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 evening closed in, there came a
sudden storm of hail and snow, covering the ground and roofs of the
Schwarzspanierplatz, 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 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), 1542-1621. "_It is safest to trust in
Jesus_," to one who enquired whether it is safer to trust in the Virgin
Mary than in Jesus.

BENTHAM (Jeremy, English philosopher and jurist, author of "Defence of
Usury," "Theory of Penalties and Rewards," "The Rationale of Judicial
Evidence," "Panopticon," and many other works of interest and value. He
devoted much of his time and ability to the development of the theory
that "Utility is the test and measure of virtue"), 1748-1832. "_I feel
now that I am dying._"

BÉRENGER (de Tours, celebrated French ecclesiastic), 998-1088. "_I shall
not long hesitate between conscience and the Pope, for I shall soon
appear in the presence 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._

Bérenger 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 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 became "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 ("Saint," Abbot of Clairvaux and active promoter of the crusade
of 1146. He is the author of many beautiful hymns), 1091-1153. "_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), 1798-1870. "_Is
not this dying with courage and true greatness?_"

BIRON (Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun, French general-in-chief
of the army of the Rhine), 1747-1793. "_I have been false to my God, to
my order, and to my king: I die full of faith and of repentance._"

The executioner's messenger surprised him at a breakfast of oysters and
white wine, and said he was at the duke's orders; to which the latter
rejoined, "_No morbleu_, 'tis just the other way: I am at yours!" He
then asked that he might be permitted to finish his breakfast, after
which he answered the summons of the executioner.

BISMARCK VON SCHONHAUSEN (Karl Otto, Prince, the most distinguished of
Prussian statesmen), 1813-1898. "_Thank you, my child_," to his
daughter, Countess von Rantzau, who wiped the perspiration from his
forehead.

On Thursday evening an improvement set in in the Prince's condition, in
which repeated changes for the worse had occurred since October last,
and he was able to appear at the table and take part in the
conversation, drinking champagne and afterward smoking several pipes,
which he had not done lately.

His condition was so satisfactory that Dr. Schweninger, after the Prince
had gone to bed, went away, with the intention of returning on Saturday.
His condition was comparatively satisfactory throughout Friday and
Saturday morning. He read the "Nachrichten" and conversed on politics,
particularly referring to Russian affairs. In the forenoon he took
luncheon, grumbling jocularly at the small proportion of spirits in his
drinking water. Then a sudden change for the worse occurred, and in the
afternoon he frequently became unconscious.

Recently, besides periods of unusual mental clearness, the Prince had
had intervals of drowsiness, falling into long, sound and beneficial
sleep, on awaking from which he would be completely refreshed.

On Saturday evening grave symptoms appeared. Death came easily and
painlessly. Dr. Schweninger was able to some extent to lighten the last
moments, wiping the patient's mouth and enabling him to breathe more
freely.

The last words Prince Bismarck uttered were addressed to his daughter,
Countess von Rantzau, who wiped the perspiration from his forehead. They
were, "Thank you, my child."

The whole family were assembled at the bedside at the time of his death,
and Dr. Schweninger, Dr. Chrysander and Baron and Baroness Merck were
also present. As no breathing, movement or pulse was perceptible for
three minutes, Dr. Schweninger declared quietly and simply that the
Prince was dead.

Dr. Schweninger telegraphed the news to Emperor William, in Norway.

The Prince lies as he used to sleep, with his head slightly inclined to
the left. The expression on his face is mild and peaceful. It is
remarked that his head remained warm for an unusually long time.

In accordance with Prince Bismarck's wish, he will be buried upon the
hill opposite the castle in the vicinity of Hirschgruppe.
_Nachrichten, July 31st, 1898._

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 Catherine, 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 asked where he would be buried, and whether a dissenting 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 neighbor, her only other companion, said afterwards: '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 standing by
him observed."[5]
_From a letter written at the time of Blake's death._

[5] Lablache (1794-1858), 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, attempted 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_.'"--_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 a
cart, _vis-à-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 below 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 arrivé:
Contre toi de la tyrannie
Le couteau sanglant est levé!"

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._

BLOOD (Thomas, an Irish adventurer who served in Cromwell's army. He
seized the Duke of Ormond in his coach in London, and would have hanged
him but for the resistance of his servants. In 1671 he came very near
possessing himself of the crown jewels), 1628-1680. "_I 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 Windischgrätz he was arrested, tried by court-martial, convicted
of having instigated the uprising, and shot), 1807-1848. "_I 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 favor, that he might be permitted to write to
his wife, which was agreed to, and the letter concluded with these
words: "Let not my fate discourage 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 blindfolded
himself, and knelt down with manly courage. He fell pierced by three
balls, and died instantly.--_Balleydier, ii. 366, 367._

BOEHM or BOHME (Jacob, German mystic who believed himself divinely
illuminated and gifted with an understanding of the secrets of nature
and grace. Some of his writings are so obscure and visionary as to be
well nigh incomprehensible, yet he numbered among his admirers many
learned and distinguished persons who sat at the feet of the
"phylosophical shoemaker of Görlitz," and adopted his most remarkable
opinions), 1575-1624. "_Do you hear the music? Now I go hence._"

BOERHAAVE (Herman, Dutch physician and philosopher), 1668-1738. "_He
that loves God ought to think nothing desirable but what is pleasing to
the Supreme Goodness._"

The reputation of Boerhaave as a physician and a man of learning is
perhaps without a parallel in history. His fame extended not only to
every part of Christendom, but to the farthest bounds of Asia. A Chinese
mandarin addressed a letter to him with this superscription, "To
Boerhaave, Physician in Europe," and the missive was duly received....
His intense application to study, and the exposure incident to his
professional duties, had brought upon him (in 1732) a severe illness,
which confined him to his bed for several months. When he recovered, the
inhabitants of Leyden celebrated the joyful event by a public
illumination.--_Lippincott._

BOILEAU (Boileau-Despréaux, 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), 1507-1536. Just before she
knelt to lay her head on the block she clasped her neck with her hands,
and said: "_It is small, very small indeed._"

BOLINGBROKE (Henry St. John, Viscount, English author, orator, and
politician), 1678-1751. At last, though the precise words are not
preserved, he gave directions that no clergyman should visit him, and
avowed his adherence 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._"[6]

The dreadful malady under which Bolingbroke lingered, and at length
sank--a cancer in the face--he bore with exemplary fortitude, a
fortitude drawn from the natural resources of his mind, and unhappily
not aided by the consolation of any religion; for, having early cast off
the belief in revelation, he had substituted, in its stead, a dark and
gloomy naturalism, which even rejected those glimmerings of hope as to
futurity not untasted by the wiser of the heathens.--_Lord Brougham._

[6] It is too early for the last words of John Burroughs (may it be
yet many years before they are spoken), but we are struck with the
wonderful accord between the last words of Bolingbroke and the
closing paragraph to the preface with which Burroughs introduces
his, "The Light of Day:" "I am content to let the unseen powers go
their own way with me and mine without question or distrust. They
brought me here, and I have found it well to be here; in due time
they will take me hence, and I have no doubt that will be well for
me too."

BOOTH (John Wilkes, American actor, the assassin of President
Lincoln),--1865. _"Useless! useless!"_ Said to the officer who demanded
that he should surrender.

There has been some strange discussion of a mysterious paper said to
have been delivered to Mr. John F. Coyle, editor of "The National
Intelligencer" and purporting to be a statement to the public from John
Wilkes Booth. An eye-witness relates that on the night of the
assassination of President Lincoln, a private dinner-party was in
progress in a back room at Wormley's restaurant, in Washington, at which
were present General Baird, Robert Johnson, the Hon. Samuel J. Randall,
John Morrissey, John F. Coyle, editor of "The National Intelligencer,"
and one other gentleman. During the progress of the dinner a waiter, who
had been out on the street, returned and stated that the President had
been shot at Ford's Theatre. The news created great consternation in the
party, who at first thought the waiter was drunk or crazy. Later, when
they were assured that it was a fact, and that John Wilkes Booth was
accused of the crime, John F. Coyle, with blanched features and
trembling lips, said: "My God, gentlemen! This very day I met John
Wilkes Booth on the market-space. He was on a bay mare, and rode up to
me and handed me a sealed envelope, saying, as he did so, 'If you hear
of me within twenty-four hours, publish this; if you do not hear of me
within that time, destroy this,' and he rode away. Here is the package,"
continued Mr. Coyle, producing a letter envelope from his pocket; "what
shall I do with it?" "Destroy it at once," said Mr. Randall. "They will
hang anybody who knows anything about the assassination, no matter how
innocently he may have come by the knowledge; don't open it--burn it up
just as it is!" "Yes," said Mr. Morrissey, "burn it up, for God's sake,
at once." The doors were carefully locked. A fire was made in the grate,
and the mysterious envelope and its contents were carefully burned. Even
the ashes were collected and placed in a dish; water was poured upon
them, and the two were mixed into a paste, which was afterward put into
the fire and burned again.

BORGIA (Cesare), killed at the siege of the Castle of Biano in 1507. "_I
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 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 garrisons massacred, and carried off bands of
women to gratify his lust."--_Cate._

BOSSUET (Jacques Bénigne, French divine and pulpit orator), 1627-1704.
"_I suffer the violence of pain and death, but I know whom I have
believed._"

BOURG DU (Anne, French magistrate. He was falsely accused of the
assassination of Minard, and was executed in 1559), 1521-1559. "_Six
feet of earth for my body, and the infinite heavens for my soul, is what
I shall soon have._"

BOYLE (Robert, chemist and experimental philosopher), 1626-1691. "_We
shall there desire nothing that we have not, except more tongues to sing
more praise to Him._"

Boyle learned the Hebrew and Greek languages to qualify himself to write
in defence of revealed religion; and printed at his own expense a
translation of the gospels into the Malay language. He refused a
peerage, which was offered to him repeatedly. It has been remarked that
he was born in the year of Bacon's death, as the person destined by
nature to succeed him; and he may be accounted the most zealous and
successful disciple of Bacon in inductive philosophy. His merits were
commemorated by Boerhaave in terms like these: "Mr. Boyle, the ornament
of his age and country, succeeded to the genius and talents of Lord
Verulam. We owe to him the secrets of fire, air, water, animals, plants
and fossils." He was distinguished for his liberality and active
benevolence.--_Lippincott._

BOZZARIS (Marcos, a Greek patriot, celebrated by Fitz-Greene Halleck in
a thrilling poem), 1790-1823. "_O, to die for Liberty is a pleasure and
not a pain._"

BRADFORD (Alden, Secretary of the State of Massachusetts from 1812 to
1824, and author of a history of Massachusetts and other works),
1765-1843. "_Peace!_"

BRADFORD (Andrew, publisher of the "American Weekly Mercury," the first
newspaper that appeared in Philadelphia. He was the only printer in
Pennsylvania from 1712 to 1723), 1686-1742. "_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.

BRAINERD (David, Missionary to the Indians), 1718-1747. "_Lord, now let
thy servant depart in peace._"

Some say his last words were: "I am almost in eternity. I long to be
there. My work is done. The watcher is with me; why tarry the wheels of
his chariot?"

BREMER (Fredrika, the most celebrated of Swedish novelists, called the
"Miss Austen of Sweden"), 1802-1865. "_Ah! my child, let us speak of
Christ's love--the best, the highest love!_"

BROCKLESBY (Richard, distinguished English physician), 1722-1797. "_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.

BRONTÉ (Rev. Patrick, father of Charlotte and Emily), 1774-1861. "_While
there is life there is will._" He died standing.[7]

[7] 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 Heywood's Register is the following entry:--"Oct. 28, 1684.
Captain Taylor'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 chestnut. The funeral services were held July 27,
1899.--_Albany Argus._

M. Halloin of the neighborhood 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, comfortably tucked in, with pillows and coverlets
as he had died. As no opposition 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 imperturbable
quietist.--_S. Baring-Gould: "Curiosities of Olden Times."_

BRONTÉ (Emily), 1818-1848. "_No, no!_" to her sister who begged her to
allow them to put her to bed. She died sitting upon the sofa.

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 in the famous
Harper's Ferry insurrection), 1800-1859. "_I am ready at any time--do
not keep me waiting_," said to the sheriff who asked him if he should
give him a private 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 for this comparatively long time upright as
a soldier in position and motionless.--_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. "_It is
beautiful._"

BRUCE (Robert, distinguished divine of the Scottish Church), about
1554-1631. "_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 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 Romans 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), 1550-1600. "_I die a martyr and willingly--my soul shall
mount up to heaven in this chariot of smoke._"[8]

[8] 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 convince 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 persecutors 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."

BRUTUS (Decimus Junius, one of the murderers of Cæsar),--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 bare name! I mistook thee for a substance; but thou thyself art
the slave of fortune._"

BRYANT (William Cullen, American poet and journalist), 1794-1878.
"_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
sufficiently 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),
1506-1582. "_It 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 thereupon 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"),
1822-1862. "_Poor little boys!_"

BULL (George, Bishop of Saint David's, author of "The Defence of the
Nicene Faith"), 1634-1710. "_Amen._"

BUNYAN (John, author of "Pilgrim's Progress"), 1628-1688. "_Weep not for
me, but for yourselves. I go to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
no doubt will receive me, though a sinner, through the mediation of our
Lord Jesus Christ; where I hope we shall ere long meet to sing the new
song and remain happy forever--forever, world without end. Amen!_"

BUONAROTTI (Michael Angelo), 1474-1564. "_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 sufferings of Jesus Christ. And I do desire that my body
be taken to the city of Florence for its last rest._"--_Vasari xii:
269._

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 of 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 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), 1759-1796. "_Oh,
don't let the awkward squad fire over me!_" He alluded to a body of
Dumfries militia, of which he was a member, and of which he entertained
a very poor opinion.[9]

[9] 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 published:

"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 [_i. 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."

BURR (Aaron, third Vice-President of the United States. In 1804 he
fought his famous duel with Hamilton), 1756-1836. "_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 anæsthetic
without the direction of a physician. Dr. Barker in a letter to Lady
Stisled says that a moment later "suddenly the breathing became labored,
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."

BUTLER (Benjamin Franklin, attorney-general of the United States, from
1831 to 1834), 1795-1858. "_I have peace, perfect peace. '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. "_I 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 greatest of English poets),
1788-1824. "_I 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."

CAESAR (Caius Julius), B. C. 100-44. "_Et tu Brute!_" to Marcus Brutus,
on discovering him among the assassins.

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
between Cæsar 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.

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
memory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising always about
eleven o'clock; and it was supposed to be the soul of Cæsar, 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 Cæsars."_

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.),--1621. "_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), 1751-1797. "_I 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-rights"), 1782-1850. "_The South! The South! God knows
what will become of her!_"

"He died under the firm impression that the South was betrayed and
gone."
_An unpublished letter from Senator Hunter of Virginia._

CALHOUN (Simeon Howard, missionary in the Holy Land for nearly forty
years. He was a thorough scholar in Arabic and Turkish languages, and
assisted Dr. Goodell in making the first translation of the Bible into
Turkish), 1804-1876. "_Were the church of Christ what she should be,
twenty years would not pass away without the story of the cross being
uttered in the ear of every living person._"

CALVIN (John, one of the greatest of the Protestant Reformers, and "The
Father of Presbyterianism"), 1509-1564. "_Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I
am abundantly satisfied, 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 returned
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 portion 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."_

CAMPBELL (Thomas, English poet), 1777-1844. "_No; it was one Tom
Campbell._" Campbell's friends were doubtful whether he was conscious or
not of what was going on in his presence, and had recourse to an
artifice to learn. One of them spoke of the poem "Hohenlinden," and
pretending to forget the author's name, said he had heard it was by Mr.
Robinson. Campbell saw the trick, was amused, and said playfully, but in
a calm and distinct tone, "No; it was one Tom Campbell."

Some time before he uttered his last words he said:--

"When I think of the existence which shall commence when the stone is
laid over my head, how can literary fame appear 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 priest who
gave him an elaborate but badly carved cross. He had previously refused
the sacrament from the hand of a priest who had administered it to
converted Jews.

CARLYLE (Thomas, essayist, translator, and historian), 1795-1881. His
mind was wandering when Froude went to his bedside, but he recognized
him and said: "_I 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.[10]

[10] On February 5th, 1881, in the tranquil exhaustion of a ripe old
age, this true SAGE of modern times passed away at his home in
Cheyne Row, Chelsea, where he had lived for fifty years: and,--as
the _Times_ remarked,--the world seemed duller, colder, and darker,
in that this one grey old man had left it.

No time was lost in collecting funds to provide for a public
monument of the philosopher. The work was entrusted to Mr. J. E.
Boehm, R. A., with the result of a most admirable statue in bronze,
life-size, representing Carlyle as he was in his latter days, in an
attitude of thought, seated in an arm-chair, and wearing his
well-known dressing-gown. "For this noble piece of portraiture," Mr.
Ruskin wrote of it, "I cannot trust myself to express my personal
gratitude, or to speak at all of the high and harmonious measure in
which it seems to me to express the mind and features of my dear
master." It is appropriately placed in the little public garden, at
the end of Great Cheyne Row, Chelsea, where Carlyle had spent the
last forty years of his life. There, on October 26th, 1882, in
presence of many of those who were his attached friends in life, it
was unveiled by Professor Tyndall, who delivered an eloquent address
on the occasion. Among those who assisted were Lord Houghton, Mrs.
Oliphant, Miss Swanwick, Moncure D. Conway, Robert Browning, Dr.
Martineau, Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, and others. A simple inscription on
the massive pedestal, of Aberdeen granite, records the dates of the
birth and death of the remarkable man in whose honour it is
erected.--_William Bates._

CARNOT (Marie François Sadi-Carnot, President of the French Republic,
assassinated by Cesare Giovanni Santo in Lyons, June 24, 1894),
1837-1894. "_I am grateful for 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), 1820-1871. "_I want
to go away._"

CAVOUR (Camillo Benso, Count de, Italian statesman), 1810-1861. "_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 measures 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._

CAZOTTE (Jacques, French poet and royalist, executed by the
revolutionists September 25th, 1792), 1720-1792. "_My dear wife, my dear
children, do not weep: do not forget me, but above all, remember never
to offend God._"

CHANNING (William Ellery, distinguished Unitarian clergyman and writer
of rare grace and beauty. He has been called the "Father of American
Unitarianism"), 1780-1842. "_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 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 neighboring 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, who declared to the
Commissioners of the Commons that the king's last words were meant as a
message to his son, and were intended to enjoin forgiveness of his
enemies by his son in the future. Some say his last words were, "I fear
not death; death is not terrible to me." He was executed January 30,
1649.[11]

[11] I 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. 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. It 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 "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 it--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 vertebra of the neck,
which had been smoothly severed by the axe of the executioner, 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._

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 in 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.[12]

[12] 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 Braganza. She personated _Valeria_, the
daughter of Maximin, tyrant of Rome.

CHARLES V. (of France, called "The Wise." He was the son of John II. who
was made prisoner by the Black Prince at Poitiers), 1337-1380. "_Ah,
Jesus!_"

CHARLES IX. (of France, second son of Henry II. and Catharine de'
Médici), 1550-1574. "_Nurse, nurse, what murder! what blood! Oh! I have
done wrong. God pardon 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."[13] 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 tremendous storm, sweated blood from
extreme terror. See also the British Critic, 1831, 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.)

[13] 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 malignity. 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._

CHARLES V. (Don Carlos I. of Spain, afterwards Emperor 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 Emperor 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), 1796-1817. "_You make me drink. Pray leave me
quiet. I find it affects my head._" She died in child-bed.

CHASTELARD, DE (Pierre de Boscosel, a young French poet and musician who
became enamoured of Mary Queen of Scots, and concealing himself in her
bedchamber, attempted her honor. Mary pardoned his offence, but upon his
repeating it, he was executed at Edinburgh), 1540-1563. 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"), 1328-1400. Chaucer died
repeating the "Balade made by Geoffrey Chaucyer, when upon his
dethe-bedde, lying in his grete anguysse."

CHÉNIER (André), 1762-1794. He was waiting for his turn to be dragged to
the guillotine, when he commenced this poem:

"_Comme un dernier rayon, comme un dernier zéphyre
Anime la fin d'un beau jour;
Au pied de l'échafaud j'essaie encore ma lyre,
Peut-être est ce bientôt mon tour;_

"_Peut-être avant que l'heure en cercle promenée
Ait posé sur l'émail brillant,
Dans les soixante pas où sa route est bornée,
Son pied sonore et vigilant,_

"_Le sommeil du tombeau pressera me paupière--_"

Here, at this pathetic line, was André Chénier summoned to the
guillotine! Never was a more beautiful effusion of grief interrupted by
a more affecting incident.--_Curiosities of Literature._

CHESTERFIELD (Philip Dormer Stanhope), 1694-1773. "_Give Day Rolles a
chair._"

CHOPIN (Frederick, distinguished Polish pianist and composer),
1810-1849. "_Who is near me?_" he was told Gutman--his favorite pupil.
He bent his head to kiss the hand of his dear friend and pupil, and in
that act of love and devotion died.

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 gorgeousness 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), 1720-1788. "_I 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 words, which are traditional, she is said
to have addressed to the asp with which she committed suicide.

When she heard that it was Cæsar's intention to send her into Syria, she
asked permission to visit Antony's tomb, over which she poured forth
most bitter lamentations. "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 covered
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"), 1552-1633. "_Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done._"

COLLINGBORN (William), "_Lord Jesus! Yet more trouble?_" These words he
is reported to have spoken after the executioner had opened his body to
extract his heart.

William Collingborn was condemned for making this rhyme on King Richard
III.,

The cat, the rat, and Lovel, our dog,
Rule all England, under the hog.

Collingborn was hanged and cut down alive, his bowels ripped out and
cast into the fire; when the executioner put his hand into the bulk of
his body, to pull out his heart, he said, "Lord Jesus! Yet more
trouble?" and so died, to the great sorrow of many people.--_Fab.
Chron._, p. 519.

COLLINS (Anthony, essayist and deist), 1676-1729. "_I 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 entertainment I exhort you
all."

COLUMBUS (Christopher, discovered America October 12th, 1492),
1435-1506. "_In manus tuos, Domine, commendo spiritum meum._"

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._"

Early one morning, it is said, he rose, and with his hands behind his
back dragging his staff, moved about by his door, crooning, "The great
mountain must crumble, the strong heart must break, and the wise man
wither away like a plant. In all the provinces of the empire there
arises not one intelligent monarch who will make me his master. My time
has come to die." He went to his couch and never left it again.... His
mind was magnanimous and his heart was serene. He was a lonely old
man--parents, wife, child, friends, all gone--but this made the fatal
message so much the more welcome. Without any expectation of a future
life, uttering no prayer, betraying no fear, he approached the dark
valley with the strength and peace of a well-ordered will resigned to
Heaven, beyond a doubt treasuring in his heart the assurance of having
served his fellow-men in the highest spirit he knew, and with the purest
light he had.

For twenty-five centuries he has been as unreasonably venerated as he
was unjustly neglected in his life. His name is on every lip throughout
China, his person in every imagination. The thousands of his descendants
are a titled and privileged class by themselves. The diffusion and
intensity of the popular admiration and honor for him are wonderful.
Countless temples are reared to him, millions of tablets inscribed to
him. His authority is supreme. He is worshiped by the pupils of the
schools, the magistrates, the emperor himself in full pomp. Would that a
small share of this superfluity had solaced some of the lonesome hours
he knew while yet alive!--_Alger's "Genius of Solitude."_

CONRADIN (Konradin of Swabia, the last descendant of the imperial House
of Hohenstaufen, son of Konrad IV.), 1252-1268. "_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' Encyclopædia._

COOKMAN (Alfred, American clergyman connected with the Presbyterian
church), 1828-1871. "_I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the
blood of the Lamb._"

CORDAY D'ARMANS, DE (Marie Anne Charlotte, usually 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
monsters 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.

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 Démagogie._

We read in the _Moniteur_, "Charlotte Corday has been executed, the
17th, about seven P. M., in the Place de la Révolution, 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 custom, to those present; the cheeks were still crimson, and it was
said that they were so in consequence of the insult thus offered to
them.[14]--_La Démagogie._

[14] It is a tradition in Corsica that when St. Pantaleon was
beheaded, the _caput mortuum_, as it might have been thought, rose
from the block and sang.

A reliable gentleman who witnessed an execution, wrote as follows:
"It appears to be the best of all modes of inflicting the punishment
of death, combining the greatest impression on the spectator with
the least possible suffering to the victim. It is so rapid that I
should doubt whether there was any suffering; but from the
expression of the countenance, when the executioner held up the
head, I am inclined to believe that sense and consciousness may
remain for a few seconds after the head is off. The eyes seemed to
retain speculation for a moment or two, and there was a look in the
ghastly stare with which they stared upon the crowd, which implied
that the head was aware of its ignominious situation."

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.

CRATES (of Thebes, Cynic philosopher), about B. C. 330--he was living in
B. C. 307. "_Ah! poor humpback! thy many long years are at last
conveying thee to the tomb: thou shalt soon visit the palace of Pluto._"

Crates was deformed and ugly in shape and features, and to render
himself still more hideous he sewed sheepskins 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.

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.[15]

[15] Upon the 14th of February, in the 30th year of Queen Mary, was
Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, brought to the stake, where he
first thrust his right hand into the fire (with which he had before
subscribed a recantation) till it first, and then his whole body was
consumed; but what was most remarkable, his heart remained whole,
and was not once touched by the fire.--_Baker's Chron. p. 463._

We have the same story about the heart of Zuinglius. Three days
after it had been cast into the fire to be burned to ashes some
friends found it untouched by the flames.--_Melch. Adam. Vit. p.
37._

"MR. J. C. JEAFFRESON in his book 'The Real Shelley' writes: 'All
the world knows how Shelley's torn and disfigured corpse was reduced
to ashes and a few fragments of bone (with the exception of the
heart that would _not_ be burnt) on the pyre;' and probably, since
Trelawny, shortly after the poet's death, reported that 'his heart
remained entire,' his statement has been unhesitatingly accepted. I
have, however, reason for thinking that the story does not rest on
trustworthy evidence.

"When a body is burnt the part which longest resists the action of
the fire after the base of the skull and one or two of the most
solid portions of bone, is the liver. The heart, being hollow and
smaller, is easily destroyed: but the liver, a moist and solid mass,
repels intense heat, and ultimately deposits an ash of pure carbon,
which no continued burning or increase of temperature can further
change. In the cemetery of Milan where I have seen human cremations
completely carried out in seventy minutes by Signor Venini's
reverberatory furnace, the best method known, I also learned that
the liver, perhaps from its containing this element of carbon, can
endure for a considerable time even that concentrated whirlwind of
fire, and remain almost intact after the heart has totally
disappeared. Moreover, in Shelley's case the liver would have been
saturated with sea-water, and thereby rendered still more
incombustible. It is extremely improbable that Byron, Leigh Hunt, or
Trelawny knew enough anatomy to identify accurately the charred
substance they took to be the heart, and it is more likely, owing to
the thin edge of the liver being consumed, and its size consequently
being much reduced, that they mistook the shrunken remains of the
one organ for the whole of the other.

"From observing the Milanese cremations alluded to I think it barely
possible that the human heart is ever capable of withstanding fire
for more than a brief period; but since Mr. J. A. Symonds asserts,
to my surprise, that Shelley's heart was given by Leigh Hunt to Mrs.
Shelley, and is now at Boscombe, the seat of the present baronet, it
would be easy for some competent anatomist to determine the question
I have raised.

"In any case, the hero-worshipping and sentimental tourists who go
in crowds to that lovely spot beneath the pyramid of Caius Cestius
to mourn over Shelley's untimely fate have been strangely deceived
for more than sixty years in believing that beneath the marble
graven with the touching words 'Cor Cordium' lies the flame proof
heart of their favorite poet."--_Bicknell._

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.

Some say his last words were, "Then I am safe," in response to his
chaplain who assured him that, "once in grace is always in grace."

CROME (John, English landscape painter), 1766-1821. "_O Hobbima,
Hobbima, how I do love thee!_"

CROSBY (Howard, Presbyterian clergyman, Chancellor of the University of
New York, and a man of great classical learning), 1826-1891. "_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 describe to you how pleasant a thing
it is to die._"

CUMMINGS (George David, first Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church),
1822-1876. "_Jesus! precious Saviour!_"

His last message to his church was: "_Tell them to go forward and do a
good work_."

CUSHMAN (Charlotte Saunders, distinguished American actress), 1816-1876.
Her last words are not recorded, but on the night before her death she
asked to have Lowell's poem "Columbus" read to her, and from time to
time she prompted the reader when a word or line was missing.

CUVIER (George Chrétien Léopold Frédéric Dagobert, Baron, one of the
greatest naturalists of modern times, and founder of the science of
comparative anatomy), 1769-1832. "_It 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.

CYPRIAN (Thascius Cæcilius Cyprianus, "Saint," Bishop of Carthage, Latin
Father and martyr. He is the author of numerous epistles and tracts),
200-258. "_Thanks be to God_," to the heathen judge, on hearing from him
the sentence of death.

CYRUS (Cyrus the Elder, surnamed "the Great," founder of the Persian
empire, and the greatest of Persian monarchs. He appears in Sacred
History as the conqueror of Belshazzar. Herodotus represents him as
killed in battle, but Xenophon records that he died a natural
death),--B. C. 559.

Xenophon (Cyropædia B. viii. 7) gives the speech which Cyrus is said to
have made upon his death-bed. These are the closing sentences in that
speech:

"_When I am dead, my children, do not enshrine my body in gold, or in
silver, or in any other substance; but restore it to the earth as soon
as possible; for what can be more desirable than to be mixed with the
earth, which gives birth and nourishment to everything excellent and
good? I have always hitherto borne an affection to men, and I feel that
I should now gladly be incorporated with that which is beneficial to
men. And now my soul seems to be leaving me, in the same manner as, it
is probable, it begins to leave others. If, therefore, any one of you is
desirous of touching my right hand, or is willing to see my face, while
it has life, let him come near me; but when I shall have covered it, I
request of you, my sons, let no man, not even yourselves, look upon my
body. Summon, however, all the Persians, and the allies, to my tomb, to
rejoice for me, as I shall then be safe from suffering any evil, whether
I be with the divine nature, or be reduced to nothing. As many as come,
do not dismiss until you have bestowed on them whatever favors are
customary at the funeral of a rich man. And remember this, as my last
admonition: by doing good to your friends, you will be able also to
punish your enemies. Farewell, dear children, and say farewell to your
mother as from me; farewell, all my friends, present and absent._"

Having said this, and taken every one by the right hand, he covered his
face and expired.

DAMIENS (Robert François, known for his attempt to assassinate Louis
XV., and called, because of his crimes, Robert le Diable), 1715-1757.
"_Oh 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 attempted 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
almost superhuman, kept his resolution of not confessing who were his
accomplices if, indeed, he had any. His remains were immediately burned,
his house was destroyed, his father, wife and daughter were banished
from France forever, and his brothers and sisters compelled to change
their names.--_Chambers._

From his arrest to his death--nearly three months--he was in torture;
bound in chains, and frequently taken to the torture room, and there
treated as the North American savages were wont to treat their victims,
and with the aid of more skillful appliances for inflicting pain than
Indians have. By a circuitous journey he was taken to the place of
execution, guarded by a small army, all Paris ready to see the show. For
half an hour he was kept waiting in view of the preparations for his
murder, and in the presence of an immense assemblage--many of them
delicate ladies of high rank--he was bound naked upon a table placed on
a high platform. The ladies and gentry looked on with joy; those who had
succeeded, through influence in gaining good positions for seeing the
spectacle, saw his right hand (the one with which he had struck the
King) burned off; the pieces of flesh torn from him by red-hot pincers,
and melted lead and resin poured into his wounds; a powerful horse was
attached to each of his four limbs, but it was impossible to tear him to
pieces, and a request was sent to cut the muscles; but not until the
request was repeated was permission given, and he did not expire until
both legs and one arm had been torn from the body. His execution lasted
over an hour. His body was burned, his house purchased and destroyed;
and the leaders in this murder were munificently rewarded. To the two
judges who pronounced sentence were given life pensions of six thousand
francs a year; the lawyers, the clerks, the torturers and the
executioners also had their reward.... Damiens was a monomaniac of the
style of Guiteau, driven insane, or excited to this special development
of insanity by the political excitement of the time. It is probable,
also, that he was a religious monomaniac, for he was a pious fanatic--a
Jacobinist--and in his pocket were found a copy of the New Testament,
and thirty gold pieces. He had no accomplices, no plan, no motives that
could appeal to a sane mind, any more than had Guiteau.
_Dr. George M. Beard._

DANTON (George Jacques), 1759-1794. "_You will show my head to the
people--it will be worth the display!_" 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),
1809-1882. "_I am not in the least afraid to die._"

DARWIN (Erasmus, English poet and physician. Author of "The Botanic
Garden"), 1731-1802. "_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), 1660-1734. "_144_," in
response to a friend who asked for the square of 12.

DELGADO (Gen. E., the Honduras Revolutionist),--1886. "_We are
ready--soldiers, fire!_"

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 messenger 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.

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 churchyard 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 sat, 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), 1762-1794.
"_Behold, then, the recompense reserved for the first apostle of
liberty._" Said while standing before the guillotine, 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. "_Luis de Moscoso_"--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 miserable 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 statesman), 1625-1672.

One Tichelaer, a barber, a man noted for infamy, accused Cornelius de
Witt of endeavoring by bribes to engage 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
protestations of his innocence, and frequently repeated an ode of
Horace, which contained sentiments suited to his deplorable condition:
"_Justum et tenacem propositi virum_," _etc._[16]

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 satiate 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._

[16] 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.
_Translated by Blacklocke._

DICKENS (Charles), 1812-1870. "_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), 1712-1784. On the evening of the 30th of July, 1784, he
sat down to the 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; 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 1633-1684. 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._"

DIOGENES (the Cynic, son of Isecius), B. C. 413-323. Just what were his
last words is uncertain, but a short time before he died, he was asked
where he would be buried when dead. "In an open field," said he. "How!"
enquired one, "are you not afraid of becoming food for birds of prey and
wild beasts?" "Then I must have my stick with me," said Diogenes. "But,"
continued the other, "you will be devoid of sensation." "If that is the
case," said he, "it is no matter whether they eat me or not, seeing I
shall be insensible to it."

His death was occasioned by indigestion from eating a neat's foot raw;
but some say he put an end to his life by holding his breath. After his
death there was a great dispute among his friends and followers as to
who should be accorded the privilege of burying him, and when they were
about to come to violence, the magistrates interfered and quieted the
disturbance.

DODD (Rev. Dr. William, author of numerous religious and other works. He
was the founder of "The Magdalen" for reclaiming young women fallen from
virtue, the "Poor Debtors' Society" and the "Humane Society." He was
executed for forgery), 1729-1777. Just before his death he said to the
executioner, "_Come to me_," and when the executioner obeyed, the doctor
whispered to him. What he said is not known, but it was observed that
the man had no sooner driven away than he took the place where the cart
had been, under the gibbet, and held the doctor's legs, as if to steady
the body, and the unhappy man appeared to die without pain.

DOMINIC ("Saint," founder of the order of Dominicans and of the order of
Preaching Friars. He was one of the instigators of the cruel and inhuman
crusade against the Albigenses about 1212. Many strange stories are told
of him, and among these that he offered himself for sale to the highest
bidder, in order to raise money for charitable purposes), 1170-1221.
"_Under the feet of my friars_," when asked where he would like to be
buried.

DONNE (John, D. D., English poet and theologian), 1573-1631. "_I were
miserable, if I might not die._" Some say his last words were: "I repent
of my life except that part of it which I spent in communion with God,
and in doing good." Others say his last words were, "Thy will be done."

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 Cathedral, 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.[17]

[17] Charles V., of Spain, seems to have entertained the same morbid
desire for a personal acquaintance with his own _postmortem_
appearance and condition. 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. 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.--_Quarles._

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. "_I am 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 conversion 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,
to-morrow I shall join the glorious company above._" Last _recorded_
words.

DRUMMOND (Henry, author of "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," "The
Ascent of Man" and a large number of published lectures and addresses),
1851-1897. "_There's nothing to beat that, Hugh. It is a paraphrase of
the words of Paul: 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him, against that
day,'_" said of the lines which Dr. Barbour had just joined with him in
singing:--

"I'm not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend His cause,
Maintain the glory of His cross,
And honor all His laws."

The last words of Drummond, as given above, are only the last _recorded_.
He said much afterward, but most of his words were disconnected. His
mind wandered idly from thought to thought without aim or purpose.

DWIGHT (Timothy, American clergyman and author, President of Yale
College. He wrote the beautiful hymn, "I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord"),
1752-1817. "_O, what triumphant truth!_"

EDWARD I. (of England, surnamed "Long-shanks"), 1239-1307. "_Carry my
bones before you on your march, for the rebels will not be able to
endure the sight of me, alive or dead_," to his son Edward.[18] He died
while endeavoring to subdue a revolt in Scotland.

[18] These instructions were probably ignored; for, when his tomb
was opened by the Society of Antiquaries in 1771, 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 1419
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 insurgents
were 40,000 in number, and well disciplined.

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), 1330-1376. "_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.

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. Henry Clay), 1840-1899. "_Good-bye, General; I'm done. I'm
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 Philippines.

In all his army service he was wounded four times before 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 five feet five inches, and weighed only about one hundred and
ten 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, 1899._

ELDON (John Scott, Earl, Lord Chancellor of England), 1750-1838. "_It
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 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.--_Appleton's
Cyclopædia 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 VIII. 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 dejection. "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, on March
24, 1603, the life of Elizabeth, a life so great, so strange and lonely
in its greatness, ebbed quietly away.[19]

[19] There is a dim tradition that, much more than a century ago,
the tomb under which the two sister-queens--Mary, the Roman
Catholic, and Elizabeth, the Protestant, _regno consortes et
urna_--lie side by side had fallen into disrepair, 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._

ELIZABETH (Philippine Marie Hélène, 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 bystanders 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, calmly awaited another attack."

ELLIOTT (Ebenezer, English poet known as the "Corn-Law Rhymer." He was a
workman in an iron foundry who won the attention of the cultivated world
by his verses, and rose to eminence by his "Corn-Law Rhymes" in which he
urged the repeal of duties on corn. He wrote also "The Village
Patriarch," "Byron and Napoleon," "Love" and a number of other poems of
more or less merit), 1781-1849. "_A strange sight, sir, an old man
unwilling to die._"

EMERSON (Ralph Waldo, American essayist, poet, and speculative
philosopher), 1803-1882.

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
inconvenience. But to the last there was no delirium; in general he
recognized every one and understood what was said to him, though he was
sometimes unable to make intelligible reply. He took affectionate leave
of his family 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 address. 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.[20]
_James Elliot Cabot_

[20] The quiet little town of Concord is greatly stirred up over the
discovery of a dastardly attempt on Saturday night to rob the last
resting place of its noted dead, the grave of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The fact that the grave had been visited by vandals was discovered
early Sunday afternoon by a visitor to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where
the remains are interred. At the head of the grave was a large
aperture seven feet in depth and twenty inches wide extending to the
box containing the casket.

An alarm was at once given, and the town authorities, together with
the Sleepy Hollow Commissioners, made an investigation. The
perpetrators of the deed have not been discovered, but the theory is
that the attempted vandalism was made some time during Saturday
night, and the villains were frightened away by some passing team on
the Bedford road just adjacent. Whether the motive was to obtain
possession of the remains, or to despoil the casket of its valuable
trimmings, is, of course, a matter of conjecture; but the general
impression is that the skull was what was most wanted. The wooden
box inclosing the casket had decayed somewhat, the interment having
taken place over seven years ago, and in the earth which the
rascals had thrown out were some pieces of the box. One side of the
casket had fallen down a little, but this is attributable to natural
decay. Otherwise the casket had not been disturbed or opened.

Mr. Edward W. Emerson, son of Ralph Waldo, arrived home this
afternoon, and the investigation of the desecration of his father's
grave was immediately entered upon by him with the town authorities.
Mr. Emerson has been out of town for two weeks or more, and the
first information he had of the affair was that given him upon his
arrival this noon. The earth has been replaced, and a watch placed
over the grave.
_N. Y. Times, Oct. 15, 1889._

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 universal 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 contrived 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 question 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 uninscribed
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 his attachment to Miss
Curran in two of the Irish Melodies.

EMMONS (Rev. Dr. Nathaniel, distinguished New England theologian and
divine), 1745-1840. "_I am ready._"

ENGHIEN D' (Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon, Duc. French prince who was
arrested on neutral territory on suspicion of conspiracy, and, after a
military trial which was little better than a farce, shot), 1772-1804.
To the soldiers who had pointed their guns he said: "_Grenadiers! lower
your arms, otherwise you will miss me or only wound me._" Some say his
last words were: "Is there no priest at the château?--is there no
priest?"

A lantern glimmering at either end of the file of soldiers shewed
d'Enghien his fate. As the sentence of death was read, he wrote in
pencil a message to his wife, folded and gave it to the officer in
command of the file, and asked for a priest. There was no priest in
residence at the château. He prayed a moment, covering his face with his
hands. As he raised his head, the officer gave the word to fire.
_Hopkins: "The Dungeons of Old Paris."_

This deed excited general and deep indignation against Bonaparte, and is
commonly regarded as one of the worst crimes by which his memory is
stained.
_Lippincott: "Biographical Dictionary."_

EPAMINONDAS (Theban statesman and general. Cicero describes him as "the
greatest man that Greece ever produced"), B. C. 412-363. "_All is
well!_" These words were spoken immediately after the javelin had been
extracted from his breast.

The fatal dart was thrown by Gryllus, son of Xenophon, the historian and
leader of the ten thousand Greeks on their retreat from the battle-field
of Cunaxa to the Black Sea.

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!_"

ETTY (William, English historical painter among whose last pictures are
"Pandora Crowned by the Seasons," "Ulysses and the Sirens," "Joan of
Arc," and "The Judgment of Paris"), 1787-1849. "_Wonderful, wonderful,
this death!_"

EUCLES (The "runner" from the plains of Marathon, who brought the news
of the successful issue of that battle to the anxious Senate waiting at
Athens). "_Rejoice! we rejoice!_" As Eucles ran he cried these words
until he came to the Senate, when he shouted them with all his voice and
fell dead.

EUGENIUS IV. (Gabriele Condolmero, Pope), 1383-1447. "_Oh Gabriele, how
much better would it have been for thee, and how much more would it have
promoted thy soul's welfare, if thou hadst never been raised to the
Pontificate, but hadst been content to lead a quiet and religious life
in the monastery._"

EVERERUARD (Charles de, Saint-Denis, French courtier, soldier, wit and
_littérateur_. He was a brave man, but of flippant disposition),
1613-1703. "_With all my heart I would fain be reconciled to my stomach,
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.

FICHTE (Johann Gottlieb, distinguished German philosopher whose name is
forever associated with those of Kant, Schelling, and Hegel as worthy of
a place with the greatest thinkers of modern times), 1762-1814. "_Indeed
no more medicine; I am well._"

The following, purporting to be the "Dying Confession of Fichte," has
been frequently published, but upon what authority the compiler of this
book has been unable to discover:

"I know absolutely nothing of any existence, not even of my own. Images
there are, and they constitute all that apparently exists. I am myself
one of those images; nay, not so much, but only a confused image of an
image. All reality is converted into a marvellous dream, without a life
to dream of, or a mind to dream; into a dream itself made up only of a
dream. Perception is a dream; and thought, the source of all the
existence, the reality of which I imagine to myself, is but the dream of
that dream."

For eleven days he lingered, with but few intervals of clear
consciousness, his sleep being ever deeper till on the night of the 27th
of January all sign of life vanished. He was buried in the first
churchyard before the Oranienburg gate in Berlin; at his side now lie
the remains of Hegel and Solger. Five years later his wife was laid at
his feet. On the tall obelisk which marks his grave is the inscription
from the Book of Daniel: "The teachers shall shine as the brightness of
the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars
that shine for ever and ever."
_Adamson: "Life and Philosophy of Fichte."_

FILLMORE (Millard, thirteenth President of the United States),
1800-1874. "_The food is palatable._"

FLAVEL (John, distinguished nonconformist clergyman and author),
1627-1691. "_I know that it will be well with me._"

A man of beautiful Christian character and great learning 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 "Conversations on a
Plurality of Worlds," "Dialogues of the Dead" and "History of the
Academy of Science"), 1657-1757. "_I 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"), 1736-1802. "_Stop, go out of the room;
I am about to die_," to his daughter who was reading to him.

FORSTER (Johann Reinhold, a Polish Prussian naturalist, geographer and
philologist), 1729-1798. "_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._"

FOX (Charles James, English orator and statesman), 1749-1806. "_Trotter
will tell you_," said to Mrs. Fox, who did not understand what he meant.

FRANCIS ("Saint," of Assisi, founder of an order of mendicant 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 Theologiæ;" and other works, and founder of
the orphan asylum and college for the poor which were known as Francke's
Institutions), 1660-1727. "_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 philosopher), 1706-1790.
"_A 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 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 passerby 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.[21]

[21] 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."

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 mournfully 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 Friedrich 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 Wilhelm, at rest
from all his labors, slept with the primeval sons of Thor.[22]--_Carlyle._

[22] 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 certain 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 Béarnais song as her brave boy was coming into the world at
Pau.

FREDERICK II. (of Prussia, called Frederick the Great), 1744-1786.
"_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, but later, in delirium, he said, "_La montagne est
passée, nous irons mieux._"

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 interred 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.[23]
_Lord Mahon's Historical Essays._

[23] Mr. Berkley, of Knightsbridge, who died in 1805, left a pension
of £25 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.

FREDERICK V. (of Denmark), 1723-1766. "_It 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 minister who stood by his
bedside.

FUSELI or FUESSLI (John Henry, historical painter), 1741-1825. "_Is
Lawrence come--is Lawrence come?_"

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 landscape painter),
1727-1788. "_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 different stories of what he said;
those who killed him could not be expected to care what it was; "non
interfuit occidentium quid diceret."--_Clough._

GAMBETTA (Leon Michel, French statesman. He was a brilliant and
courageous agitator, and it is to his efforts in large measure that the
French Republic owes its existence. It was reported at the time of his
death that he met with an accident in handling a revolver, but there are
those who insist that he was deliberately shot by his mistress, with
whom he had quarreled), 1838-1882. "_I am lost, and there is no use to
deny it._"

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
Pretender at Prestonpans, 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 Colonel James Gardiner," and
the account of Colonel Gardiner's death in Scott's "Waverley."

GARDINER (Stephen, Bishop of Winchester), 1483-1555. "_Erravi cum Petro,
sed non flevi cum Petro._"

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.

Colonel Gardner is represented, in a dramatic production called "The
Battle of Bunker Hill" which was printed at Philadelphia in 1776, as
saying immediately after receiving 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._"

GARIBALDI (Giuseppe, Italian patriot and general, author of "Cantoni the
Volunteer" and "The Rule of the Monk"), 1807-1882. As he lay dying two
small birds alighted on the window-sill and looked into his room. He
noticed them, and said, "_Those are the spirits of my little girls, Rosa
and Annita, who have come to see their father die. Be kind to them, and
feed them when I am dead._" It is thought that his mind was wandering.

He gave minute and positive orders to be cremated immediately after
death. The urn containing his ashes was to be placed under the orange
tree that shaded the tombs of his two little girls. But this wish,
cherished for years, was disregarded. He was embalmed and exposed to the
gaze of the crowds who hastened to Caprera on hearing of his death. The
excuse was, that it would have been impossible to have burned his body
in the way he indicated, with the aromatic woods that grow near the spot
he had chosen, as the ashes would have been mixed with the burned wood.
But this was only an excuse and nothing more, for Dr. Praudina, to whom
Garibaldi wrote on this subject five years before his death, had
prepared the sheet of asbestos that would have kept together the
precious ashes. The true reason for this violation of the great man's
order was the desire of the Republican party to have the remains brought
to Rome and buried on the Janiculum, where from time to time political
demonstrations might be made. When once a man is dead it is very
uncertain what degree of respect will be paid to his expressed wishes
by those who survive.

GARTH (Sir Samuel, English physician and poet), --1718. "_Dear gentlemen,
let me die a natural death_," to his physicians whom he saw consulting
together just before his death. After receiving extreme unction he said,
"I am going on my journey: they have greased my boots already."

GASSENDI or GASSEND (Pierre, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and
metaphysician), 1592-1655. "_You see what is man's life._"

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._"
_Bigandt's Life of Gautama, Vol. ii., p. 68._

Sometimes his last words are given thus: "Behold, brethren, I exhort
you, saying, Decay is inherent in all component things, but truth will
remain forever."

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 charity, 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.--_Barthélemy 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 millions of lips daily repeat the
formula, 'I take refuge in Buddha!'"[24]

[24] The King of Siam is sending an envoy to India to receive the
relics of Buddha, discovered some time ago on the Nepal frontier,
which were offered his Majesty by the Indian Government. The King,
who gratefully accepted the offer, has agreed to distribute portions
of the relics among the Buddhists of Burma and Ceylon from Bangkok.
It will probably be remembered that in January last a well-preserved
stupa was opened at the village of Piprahwa, on the Nepal frontier,
in the Basti district of the North-west Provinces. This village was
in the Birdpur grant, a large property owned by Mr. William C. Peppé
and his brother. Inside the building was found a large stone coffer,
crystal and steatite vases, bone and ash relics, fragments of lime,
plaster, and wooden vessels, and a large quantity of jewels and
ornaments placed in two vases in honor of the relics. A careful list
was at once made of all the articles, and Mr. Peppé generously
offered to place them at the disposal of the Government. The special
interest of the discovery lies in the fact that the relics in honor
of which the stupa was erected appear to be those of Gautama Buddha
Sakya Muni himself, and may be the actual share of the relics taken
by the Sakyas of Kapilavastir at the time of the cremation of
Gautama Buddha.

The inscription on one of the urns proves that the builders of the
stupa believed the relics to be those of Gautama Buddha himself, and
runs: "This relic-receptacle of the Blessed Sakya Buddha is
dedicated by the renowned brethren with their sisters and their
sons' wives." The characters of the record, Prof. Bührer points out,
do not mark medial long vowels, and appear to be older than those of
the Asoka inscription.

The actual relics, being a matter of such intense interest to the
Buddhist world, were offered by the Indian Government to the King of
Siam, who is the only existing Buddhist monarch, with a proviso that
he would not object to offer a portion of the relics to the
Buddhists of Burma and Ceylon, and it was suggested that his Majesty
should send a deputation to receive the sacred relics with due
ceremonial.

No relics of Buddha authenticated by a direct inscription have
before been found in modern times, so the relics are as rare as they
are unique, and by all Buddhists will be regarded as most sacred and
holy objects of devotion. Their presentation to the King of Siam,
the recognized head of the religion, is therefore highly proper. The
accessories which were discovered will, it is understood, be
distributed among the Imperial Museum at Calcutta, the Lucknow
Provincial Museum, and perhaps the British Museum, Mr. Peppé
retaining a reasonable number of duplicates for his own use. The
stone coffer above referred to is over four feet in length and two
in height. It is made out of a solid block of sandstone, and weighs
about sixteen hundredweight. It is understood that the
acknowledgments of the Government have been conveyed to Mr. Peppé
for his public-spirited action in the matter.--_London Times, Dec.
17, 1886._

GELLERT (Christian Fürchtegott, 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.

GEORGE IV. (of England, eldest son of George III. and Queen Charlotte),
1762-1830. "_Wally, what is this? It is death, my boy: they have
deceived me_," said to his page, Sir Walthen Waller.

GERSON (Charlier de, surnamed "The Most Christian Doctor," chancellor of
the University of Paris and canon of Notre-Dame. He is supposed to have
been the author of the "Imitation of Christ," attributed to Thomas à
Kempis), 1363-1429. "_Now, O God, thou dost let thy servant depart in
peace! The soul that is accompanied to eternity by the prayers of three
hundred children, may advance with humble hope into the presence of
their Father and their God._"

The pious Gerson, the canon of the church and chancellor of the
University of Paris, had the terror of his last moments assuaged by the
prayers of three hundred children supported and educated by his charity,
and who were congregated in his house from the threshold to his
bedchamber.

GIBBON (Edward, author of "The History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire"), 1737-1794. "_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_"

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 apprehension 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 (Saint, "Patron Saint of the Rhine"), "_My children, 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! 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 GÖTHE (Johann Wolfgang von, greatest of German poets),
1749-1831. "_More light! more light!_" He mistook the shadow of death
for evening twilight.

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." (_Macht doch den
Fensterladen im Schlafgemach 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),
1817-1886. "_Young man, keep your record_--" the last word was
inaudible, but was probably "clean."[25]

[25] A paragraph from one of Mr. Gough's public addresses, carved
upon his monument in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, shows the strength of
his conviction 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 intoxicating 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."

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.

GRATTAN (Henry, Irish statesman and orator), 1750-1820. "_I am perfectly
resigned. I am surrounded by my family. I have served my country. I have
reliance upon God, and am not afraid of the Devil._"

GRAY (Thomas, author of "Elegy written in a country churchyard"),
1716-1771. "_Molly, I shall die!_"

GREELEY (Horace, famous editor of "The Log Cabin," and later founder,
and, for thirty years editor of "The New York Daily Tribune"),
1811-1872. "_It is done!_" During the closing days of his life his mind
was deranged.

GREEN (Joseph Henry, distinguished English surgeon, thinker,
philosopher, and instructor), 1791-1863. "_Stopped!_"

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 unaccomplished work of
his life. Upon Coleridge's death, Mr. Green abandoned all his London
work, threw aside the distinctions and emoluments of professional life,
rewards 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 gathered
grieving round him, he said, 'While I have breath, let me thank you for
all your kindness and attention 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 defunct, 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' Encyclopædia._

GREY (Lady Jane), 1537-1554. "_Lord, into Thy hands I commend my
spirit._"

Then the hangman kneeled down and asked her forgiveness, 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 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 disposition.

GROTIUS or DE GROOT (Hugo, jurist, divine, historian, and scholar),
1583-1645. "_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!
Go!_"

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. 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), 1594-1632. "_I have enough,
brother; try to save your own life_," to the Duke of Lauenburg.

Some authorities say that when he was fallen to the ground, he was
asked, who he was, and replied: "I am the King of Sweden, and seal with
my blood the Protestant religion and the liberties of Germany. Alas! my
poor Queen! My God! My God!"

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 importance, 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 without being noticed by the troops, a second shot struck
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.--_Markham's 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 during 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 sisters 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._

HALLER (Dr. Albert, eminent Swiss anatomist and physiologist. He is
chiefly known by his "Disputationes Anatomicæ Selectæ." George II.
obtained for him a brevet as a noble of England, and he is sometimes
spoken of as Baron Haller), 1708-1777. 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), 1674-1712. "_Pray! pray!_"

He cried out several times, "Free 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.

HAMLIN (Cyrus, distinguished American missionary and first President of
Robert College, Constantinople), 1811-1900. "_Put me there_," pointing
to a chair which belonged to his mother and in which he used to sit as a
boy, eighty years ago, in his old home at Waterford. He passed away
peacefully, and his body was buried, a few days later, in the cemetery
at Lexington, Massachusetts.

HAMMOND (Henry, English divine and author), 1605-1660. "_Lord, make
haste!_"

HAMPDEN (John, English patriot and statesman), 1594-1643. "_O Lord, save
my country! O Lord, be merciful to----._"

HANWAY (Jonas, English merchant famous for his benevolence, author of
"Journal of Travels Through Russia and Persia," and "Historical Account
of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea"), 1712-1786. "_If you think
it will be of service in your practice or to any one who may come after
me, I beg you will have my body opened: I am willing to do as much good
as possible._"

HARRISON (Benjamin, twenty-third President of the United States),
1833-1901. "_Are the doctors here?_" to his wife who had just asked him
if he wanted anything.

As Tuesday marked the turning point in his disease, so it was the time
from which evidences of consciousness began to disappear. Since that
time there were few lucid intervals, and it is doubtful, with the single
exception of Tuesday afternoon, when his little girl was taken to his
bedside, and he recognized her for a moment, if he had been conscious at
all of his surroundings. The last words he spoke were to Mrs. Harrison
in answer to a question, but his voice was then almost inaudible and his
manner indicated that it required a concentration of effort to grasp the
import of the wife's question and frame a reply.

In his delirium, Mr. Harrison's mind wandered frequently to the stirring
scenes through which he had passed, and he spoke of events connected
with the history of his country and in which he played a conspicuous
part, as the Chief Magistrate of the nation. But his mind seemed more to
be occupied with thoughts of the Boer war than with any other one thing
to which he alluded, and it was manifest that the struggle of the South
African people for liberty had made a deep impression, and had awakened
his strongest sympathies, for he frequently talked, disconnectedly, of
course, of the sufferings of the Boer people, and the attempt to crush
them out of existence.--_New York Sun, March 14, 1901._

HARRISON (William Henry, ninth President of the United States),
1773-1841. "_I 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 becoming more feeble every moment, and repeated 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 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 sympathy throughout Europe. He was
discovered in the streets of Nuremberg in 1828, a lad 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
Bavarian peasant, declaring that Hauser had been left at his door, and
had been cared for by him. It was gradually 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 "_Kasper Hauser_," and Feuerbach's "_Account of an Individual
Kept in a Dungeon_."

HAVERGAL (Frances Ridley), 1836-1879. "_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 (Francis Joseph), 1732-1809. "_God preserve the Emperor._" 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."_

HAYDON (Benjamin Robert, English artist), 1786-1846. His last recorded
words were, "_God forgive me.--Amen!_" Haydon took his own life in a
moment of great mental depression.

At dinner he got up from his chair and turned a glazed picture to the
wall; his brain could not bear the reflected light. He looked flushed
and haggard, and passed a silent and abstracted evening. That night he
was heard walking about his room nearly the whole night, apparently in
great agitation. It was in those wakeful hours he settled his resolve.
He was dressed and out of his room early the next morning (22d June),
and walked down, before breakfast, to Rivière, a gunmaker in Oxford
Street, near Regent Street. Here he bought one of a pair of pistols. He
came home about 9 A. M., breakfasted alone, then went to his
painting-room, and probably wrote the letters to his children, his will,
and his "last thoughts." As his mother and sister passed the
painting-room door on their way to their rooms, about 10:30 A. M., they
tried the door--it was locked--and he called out very fiercely, "Who's
there?" A few minutes after, as if regretting the tone in which he had
spoken, he came up to his mother's room, kissed her affectionately, and
lingered about the room as if he had something to say. But he said
little, except to ask her to call that day on an old friend (one of the
executors he had just named in his will) and, returned to his
painting-room, deliberately wrote in his journal:--

"God forgive me.--Amen!"

In a few moments he had destroyed himself.
_Stoddard: "Haydon's Life, Letters and Table Talk."_

HAZLITT (William, essayist and critic), 1778-1830. "_I have led a happy
life._"

HEINE (Heinrich, German poet and author), 1800-1856. "_Set your mind at
rest, Dieu me pardonnera, c'est son métrer._"

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
métrer."
_Stigand: "Life, Work and Opinions of Heine."_

Catherine Bourlois, Heine's nurse, says in a letter to Mrs. Charlotte
Embden, that Heine's last words often repeated were, "I am done for."
She endeavored to comfort 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, canon of Notre-Dame. She became successively the pupil,
mistress and wife of Abelard. After her marriage she became prioress of
Argenteuil, and acquired a high reputation for piety. Her letters,
written in elegant Latin, and printed with those of Abelard, are the
expressions of a noble and fervent spirit), about 1100-1164. "_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
five hundred years in one of the aisles of the Paraclete, and after
various changes, came to rest at last in the beautiful cemetery of
Père-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 lovely._"

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 exception 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._

HENRY VIII. (second son of Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York. The death
of his elder brother Arthur, in 1502, made him heir apparent to the
throne. He married his brother's widow, Catharine of Aragon, and, upon
his father's death in 1509, 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
organization of the English or Episcopal Church), 1491-1547. "_Monks!
Monks! Monks!_" He was in all probability thinking of the time when he
abolished the monasteries and turned the monks out of doors.

HENRY (Patrick, American statesman and orator), 1736-1799. "_I trust in
the mercy of God, it is not now too late._"

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), 1662-1714. "_A life spent in
the service of God, and communion 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 commencement of his ministry he began with the first
chapter of 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), 1593-1632. "_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._"

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.

HEYLIN (Peter, author of "Life of Bishop Laud" and "Defence of the
Church of England"), 1600-1662. "_I go to my God and Saviour._"

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."

He clung warmly to his friends, had a horror of being left alone in his
illness, bequeathed all his property to the faithful servant and friend
who had been his amanuensis. He was not afraid of death but said he
should willingly "find some hole to creep out of the world at," and was
wont to amuse himself with choosing for the epitaph to be graven on his
tombstone, "This is the true philosopher's stone."
_Alger's "Genius of Solitude."_

HODGE (Charles, American theologian, for fifty-six years President of
Princeton Theological Seminary. His "Systematic Theology" in three
volumes, is one of the ablest compends of divinity in the English
language. His "Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans" has been greatly
prized by Bible-students), 1797-1878. "_My work is done, the pins of the
tabernacle are taken out._"

A moment later he was heard to whisper:

"_A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On Thy kind arms I fall._"

HOFER (Andreas, Tyrolese patriot), 1767-1810. "_I 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. "_It 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.

HOOD (Thomas), 1798-1845. "_Dying, Dying._" 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, and on a July day nine years later
Monckton Milnes unveiled the monument which stands above his grave in
Kensal Green Cemetery. 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 reminders 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._"

Some say his last words were, "My days are past as a shadow that returns
not."

HOOPER (John, Bishop of Gloucester and later Bishop of Worcester _in
commendam_), about 1495-1555. "_If you love my soul, away with it!_"

In January, 1555, 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 of 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 Encyclopædia._

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 theologian and
controversialist: founder of the so-called "Hopkinsian Theology"),
1721-1803. "_My anchor is well cast, and my ship, though weather-beaten,
will outride the storm._"

HOTMAN (William, Revolutionary soldier and patriot, the record of whose
noble and courageous spirit is preserved upon a grave-stone at Groton,
Connecticut), --1781. "_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 perhaps a few of
our comrades who are only wounded!_"

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
commander 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
magazine, 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."

HOUGH (John, Bishop of Oxford, afterward Bishop of Worcester),
1651-1743. "_We part to meet again, I hope, in endless joys_," to some
friends who were with him at the time of his death.

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, 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. "_I do forgive you._"

Having embraced and taken leave of his friends, he knelt down and placed
his head on the block: the executioner 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 forgiveness. "I do forgive you," replied Stafford,
and placing his head again in position, at one blow it was severed from
his body.--_Bell's "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._"[26]

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 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.

[26] Tacitus said, "At my funeral let no tokens of sorrow be seen,
no pompous 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."

Ludovious Cortesius, a rich lawyer at Padua, commanded by his last
will, that no man should lament; but, as at a wedding, music and
minstrels to be a delight to the people, should be provided; and
instead of black mourners, he ordered that twelve virgins clad in
green should carry him to the church.

The Hon. T. G. Shearman wrote in his diary (read at his funeral in
Plymouth church, Brooklyn, N. Y.) under date of May 21, 1894: "Give
me an unostentatious, cheery funeral, in no darkened room, and with
no dreariness of any kind."

HULL (Isaac, commodore), 1775-1843. "_I strike my flag._"

HUMBERT I. (King of Italy), 1844-1900. "_It is nothing._" These words
were spoken as he sank into the arms of his aide, upon receiving the
third bullet from the revolver of the assassin Bressi, at Monza, where
he attended a gymnastic fête and distributed prizes.

"The King at once took his place on the platform amid the tumultuous
cheering of the people. He wore civilian attire, and appeared to be in
excellent health and spirits. In distributing the prizes, his Majesty
made a speech which he concluded by saying:

"'It gives me great pleasure to be among my own people after so long an
absence from Monza.'

"These, as it proved, were the last words King Humbert uttered publicly.
The distribution of the prizes ended at 10:30 o'clock, and on leaving
the platform the King entered the first of the two four-wheeled court
carriages that were waiting. He sat on the right of Lieut.-Gen.
Ponziovaglia, his chief aide.

"As the carriage began to move the members of the various gymnastic
societies gathered round and cheered the King enthusiastically. His
Majesty, smiling and acknowledging the demonstration, brought the
carriage to a temporary halt.

"It was beginning to start again when three revolver shots rang out,
startling every one. The horses were frightened and began to rear, and
almost simultaneously the people saw that the King had fallen into the
arms of his aides, bleeding from his neck and breast.

"The murderer was instantly recognized and the enraged people fell upon
him with the evident intention of killing him. He was kicked, cuffed and
beaten with canes. He would not have escaped alive if carbiniers and
members of the fire brigade had not rushed through the crowd and seized
the culprit. They formed a cordon round him and conveyed him to jail
amid the execrations of the crowd.

"Meantime the King was taken with all speed to the royal castle, while
the second carriage was sent to the local hospital for surgeons. Before
these could reach the castle the King had died.

"Upon receiving the terrible news the Archbishop of Milan hastened to
Monza and solemnly blessed the corpse.

"Each of the three bullets had hit the King. One struck him on the left
collarbone, another between the fifth and sixth ribs on the right side,
while the one that inflicted the fatal wound entered the heart.

"As he fell the King said to his aide: 'It is nothing.' These were the
last words he uttered, and he was dead when the carriage arrived at the
palace.

"The body was borne tenderly up a long flight of steps and carried into
a chamber and placed on a bed. The King's eyes were open, but he gave no
sign of life. The Queen threw herself on the body of her husband,
alternately calling to him in tones, filled with anguish, and praying
the doctors to tell her the truth. When they were convinced that the
King was dead the Queen submitted to be led gently away. The surgeons
then removed the King's clothing and examined his wounds. The Queen
afterward returned and kept her vigil beside the body, praying until a
late hour.

"Bystanders say the assassin rushed through the crowd and raised the
revolver. Several attempted to seize the weapon, but Bressi fired before
they could do so. He was captured with the smoking revolver still in
his hand, and exultingly admitted his guilt."
_Carriere Della Sera._

HUMBOLDT (Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von, author of the
"Cosmos"), 1769-1859. "_How grand the sunlight! It seems to beckon earth
to heaven._"

HUNT (James Henry Leigh, English poet and _littérateur_), 1784-1859.
"_Deep dream of peace._"

HUNTER (William, a young man of nineteen, burned at the stake for his
faith, in the time of Mary I., of England), 1536-1555. "_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,
'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,' 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 people! 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 lifted he up his hands to heaven and said, 'Lord, Lord,
Lord, receive my spirit,' and, casting down his head again into the
smothering smoke, he yielded up his life for the truth, sealing it with
his blood to the praise of God."
_Fox's "Book of Martyrs."_

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), 1717-1783. "_If I had
strength to hold a pen I would write down how easy and pleasant a thing
it is to die._"

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), 1370-1415. 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, "_I take God to witness I preached
none but his own pure doctrines, and what I taught I am ready to seal
with my blood._"

IGNATIUS (surnamed Theophorus, early Christian Father, and one of the
immediate successors of the apostles),--107. "_I am the wheat of Christ;
I am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be
found pure bread._" These words he is said to have uttered when he heard
the roaring of the lions that were to devour him.

He had a burning desire for the martyr's crown, and went to his death
with a shout of triumph. Of the same spirit was Germanicus, who actually
provoked the wild beasts to rush upon him, that he might at once be
delivered from this wretched life and receive a martyr's reward.

ILITCHEWSKI (Alexander Demainowitch, the Russian poet). "_I have found
at last the object of my love_," a line written by the poet just before
his death, and found 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 discovery.

ILLEPPY (Solyman, the Turkish peasant who assassinated General
Kleber),--1800. "_Tay hip!_" (That is good).

The assassin suffered death by having the flesh burned off his right
hand, and by being impaled, in which situation he lived one hour and
forty minutes; dying without showing any fear, and declaring to the
last, "that the act which he had done was meritorious, and one for which
he should be made happy in the other world." He continued exclaiming,
from the moment of his hand being burnt, to that of his death, "_Tay
hip!_"--_The Percy Anecdotes._

INGERSOLL (Robert Green, an American lawyer and orator, distinguished as
an opponent of Christianity), 1833-1899. "_O, better_," in response to
his wife's question, "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 National 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 Germany, but refused it. About the year 1877 he
removed to New York, and was soon in great demand as a lecturer and
orator. Among his most celebrated cases was his defense of the "Star
route conspirators" in 1883.

Some of the most beautiful of Col. Ingersoll's 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,
and several volumes of lectures.

IRVING (Rev. Edward, an able and eccentric preacher, and the founder of
the "Catholic Apostolic Church"), 1792-1834. "_If I die, I die unto the
Lord. Amen._" Some say his last words were: "In life and in death, I am
the Lord's."

IRVING (Washington, distinguished American author), 1783-1859. "_I must
arrange my pillows for another weary night_," said on retiring. A moment
later he tried to say something more but could pronounce only the word
"end," after which he uttered a slight cry as of pain, and fell to the
floor. When the physician arrived life was extinct.

It was on November 28th, 1859, when Irving was seventy-six years old,
that his death came. He had been in poor health for some months,
suffering much from sleeplessness and a shortness of breath, but at the
last a weakness of the heart brought the sudden end. Lacking to-day a
man of letters who holds such a place in the affections of his
countrymen as Irving held, it is difficult for us to realise the
impression made by his death. It was as if a President or a great
soldier had died in these later years. Flags on shipping and buildings
in New York flew at half-mast, and the Mayor and Council recognised the
event as a public grief. A multitude of people bore witness to their own
sense of loss at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The day of the funeral,
December 1st, had the fullest beauty and suggestion of Indian
summer--"one of his own days," the people said. It is to Longfellow,

"No singer vast of voice; yet one who leaves
His native air the sweeter for his song,"

that we instinctively turn for the words:

IN THE CHURCHYARD AT TARRYTOWN.

Here lies the gentle humorist, who died
In the bright Indian summer of his fame!
A simple stone, with but a date and name,
Marks his secluded resting-place beside
The river that he loved and glorified.
Here in the autumn of his days he came,
But the dry leaves of life were all aflame
With tints that brightened and were multiplied.
How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death!
Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours,
Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer;
Dying, to leave a memory like the breath
Of summers full of sunshine and of showers,
A grief and gladness in the atmosphere.

ISAIAH (spelled in the New Testament Esaias which means "salvation of
Jehovah." He is the greatest of the Hebrew Prophets, and his poetical
genius is ranked with that of Homer), B. C. 765-660. "_Go ye to the
country of Tyre and Sidon, for the Lord hath mixed the cup for me
alone._"

There is a tradition that the prophet Isaiah suffered martyrdom by a
saw. The ancient book entitled, "The Ascension of Isaiah the Prophet,"
accords with the tradition. It says: "Then they seized Isaiah the son of
Amos and sawed him with a wooden saw. And Manasseh, Melakira, the false
prophets, the princes and the people, all stood looking on. But he said
to the prophets who were with him before he was sawn, 'Go ye to the
country of Tyre and Sidon, for the Lord hath mixed the cup for me
alone.' Neither while they were sawing him did he cry out nor weep, but
he continued addressing himself to the Holy Spirit until he was sawn
asunder."

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.

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 whenever 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 involved in some
uncertainty. Stanley in Historical Memorials 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 Westminster 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 College. 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 Fossés 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 Revolution." 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
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 English Benedictines
in the Rue St. Jacques, 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 chapels 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 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
probably at the time of the king's death, and the face of the corpse was
very like them. The body had been originally kept at the palace of St.
Germain, from whence it was brought to the convent of the Benedictines."

JAMES V. (of Scotland), 1512-1542. "_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), 1743-1826. "_I
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 anniversary 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 century, and suffered at the stake, May
30, 1416). "_Bring thy torch hither; do thine office before my face; had
I feared death I might have avoided it._" 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."

JEWELL or JEWEL (John, Bishop of Salisbury), 1522-1571. "_This day let
me see the Lord Jesus._"

JOAN OF ARC (Jeanne d'Arc, surnamed "the Maid of Orleans," burned at the
stake May 31, 1431, in the twenty-first year of her age. "The
Virgin-Martyr of French Liberty"), 1410-1431. "_Jesus! Jesus!_"

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 literature"), 1709-1784. "_God
bless you, my dear!_" to Miss Morris.

JOSEPH II. (of Germany), 1741-1790. "_Let my epitaph be, Here lies
Joseph, who was unsuccessful in all his undertakings._"

JOSEPHINE (Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, wife of Napoleon I.
of France), 1763-1814. "_Napoleon! Elba! Marie Louise!_"

JUDSON (Adoniram, missionary to Burmah and translator of the Bible into
the language of that country), 1788-1850. "_Brother Ranney, will you
bury me? bury me?--quick! quick!_" These words were prompted perhaps by
the thought of burial at sea. A moment later he said to his servant,
"_Take care of poor mistress_," meaning Mrs. Judson.

JUDSON (Mrs. Ann Hasseltine, wife of Adoniram Judson, and with him a
missionary in Burmah), 1789-1826. "_I feel quite well, only very weak._"

JUGURTHA (an African prince carried in chains to Rome where he was cast
into the Mamertine prison and starved to death). "_Heracles, how cold
your bath is!_" Jugurtha referred to the cold and dark prison into which
he was plunged as into an icy bath. "Heracles" is the ordinary Greek
interjection, and is not here an address to a god. Longfellow in his
little poem "Jugurtha," has substituted, it is hard to say by what
authority, the name of Apollo for that of Heracles:

How cold are thy baths, Apollo!
Cried the African monarch, the splendid,
As down to his death in the hollow
Dark dungeons of Rome he descended,
Uncrowned, unthroned, unattended;
How cold are thy baths, Apollo!

How cold are thy baths, Apollo!
Cried the Poet, unknown, unbefriended,
As the vision, that lured him to follow,
With the mist and the darkness blended,
And the dream of his life was ended;
How cold are thy baths, Apollo!--_Longfellow._

The Jugurthine war, which was terminated B. C. 106, is the subject of
one of the histories of Sallust.

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, O Galilean! thou hast conquered!_"
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 admirers 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 inventions conceived in the spirit of an age of ornate
rhetoric.--_Smith's "Universal History, iii, 717."_

KALAKAUA (David, King of the Hawaiian Islands), 1836-1892. The monarch
was unconscious of what was going on around him, and seemed to be
dreaming of his early days. Colonel Baker heard him murmur something
and leaning over the bedside could make out that he was speaking to
himself in his native tongue of the oceans and mountains and natural
scenery of Hawaii.

He died at San Francisco, Cal., while on a visit to the United States.

KANT (Immanuel, one of the greatest of German metaphysicians, founder of
the Critical or Transcendental school of philosophy), 1724-1804. "_Est
ist gut_," said as he declined a refreshing draught, offered him by one
who thought he was suffering from thirst.

KEATS (John), 1796-1821. "_I feel the flowers growing 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 occasioned the consumption from which he died at Rome where
he had but just completed his twenty-fourth year.

Over the grave of Keats in the Old Protestant cemetery 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 introduction 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 endeavored 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
impatience by bodily and mental anguish, he cried, on recovering
himself, 'By God, Severn, a man ought to have some superstition, that he
may die decently.'"

KEN (Thomas, Bishop of Bath and Wells, author of several volumes of
sermons and of some very beautiful hymns, among which is the famous
Doxology. "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow"--the Protestant
"_Te Deum laudamus_"), 1637-1711. "_God's will be done._"

Bishop Ken was one of the seven bishops committed to the Tower for
disobedience by James II., but proved his loyalty by refusing to take
the oaths to William and Mary, and was therefore deprived of his
bishopric. He was a man of devoted piety, expansive benevolence, and
great tenderness of spirit.--_Allibone._

KING (Thomas Star, Unitarian clergyman), 1824-1864. "_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), 1819-1875. "_Thou
knowest, O Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not Thy merciful ears
to our prayer, but spare us, O Lord most holy, O 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._"--_Episcopal
"Burial Service."_

In the night he was heard murmuring, "No more fighting: 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 physician, who had sat up all night, had
left him, and he thought himself alone, he was heard, in a clear voice,
repeating 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), 1724-1803. 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.

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."

LABÉDOYÈRE (Charles Angélique Huchet de, Count and French general "noted
for graceful manners and chivalrous spirit." He was charged with
treason, rebellion and military seduction, and was executed as one of
the "authors and instigators of the horrible plot which had brought back
Buonaparte"), 1786-1815. "_Above all do not miss me!_"

At half past six in the evening Labédoyère was escorted to the plain of
Grenelle by a strong detachment of _gen d'armerie_. On arriving at the
place of execution, he knelt down and received the benediction of the
confessor who accompanied him. He then rose, and, without waiting for
his eyes to be bandaged, uncovered his breast to the veterans who were
to shoot him, and exclaimed, "Above all do not miss me!" In a moment
after he was no more.
_Christopher Kelly: "The Battle of Waterloo."_

LACORDAIRE (Jean Baptiste Henri, French ecclesiastic celebrated for his
funeral orations), 1802-1861. "_Open to me, O God!_"

LA HARPE or LAHARPE DE (Jean François, French critic and dramatist),
1739-1803. "_I am grateful to Divine 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.

LAMBERT (John, English teacher of languages who suffered as a martyr.
His true name was Nicholson, but he changed it for greater safety in
time of persecution),--1538. "_None but Christ! none but Christ!_"

After his legs were consumed to the stumps, two inhuman monsters who
stood on each side of him pierced him with their halberds, and lifted
him up as far as the chain which fastened him to the stake would reach,
while he raised his half consumed hands dripping with blood and fire,
and said, "None but Christ! none but Christ!"

LATIMER (Hugh, early English reformer and martyr), about 1472-1555.

"_Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; 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.), 1573-1645. "_Lord, receive my soul_," spoken to the headsman as a
signal to strike. According to some authorities his last words were: "I
am coming, O! Lord, as quickly as I can. I know I must pass through
death before I can come to Thee, but it is only a mere shadow--a little
darkness upon nature. Thou hast broken the jaws of death."

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 and Saviour, that I
have been found worthy to enter into thy beatitude."

LEE (Robert Edmund, distinguished Confederate general, and President of
Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia), 1806-1870. "_Tell Hill he
must come up._" During his last hours his mind wandered, and he was
living 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, 1513),
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 writers 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 what caused his death. But the
unsoundness of his constitution, 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 certainly sudden and
premature.
_Symond: "Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti."_

LIEBER (Francis, German author, political refugee, and, later, Professor
of History and Political Science in Columbia College, New York),
1800-1872.

On the afternoon of the 2nd 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.[27]
_Perry's "Life and Letters of Lieber."_

[27] It has been thought that Lieber's death was occasioned by
rupture of the heart. See the last words of Charles Sumner and the
foot note on his sudden death. See also the last words of John
Palmer and the account of his death appended from the Annual
Register.

LINDSEY (Theophilus, English Unitarian clergyman), 1723-1808. "_No,
whatever is, is best_,"--said to a friend who suggested that his
fortitude sprang from his recollection of the maxim, "Whatever is, is
right."

LIGNE (Charles Joseph, Prince de, "The Friend of Kings," author of
"Commentaries on the Art of War." He was a brave and good soldier, but
a great beau and dandy), 1734-1814. "_Back, thou accursed phantom!_" As
he felt the approach of death he sprang from a recumbent to a sitting
posture, and ordered the door to be closed; but finding that he could
not prevent the last great enemy from entering, he gave the phantom
battle; and in the midst of the conflict he threw up his arms and cried,
"Back thou accursed phantom!" In a moment he was dead.

At seventy-two he was still a fop and still a gallant. "His delicately
malicious and gayly ironic wit," wrote Count Ouvaroff, who knew him only
in old age, "was allied with a sweetness of character and an equality of
temper that were unparalleled." "Gravity only was distasteful to him,
and he would always turn the conversation with a word or a nod from too
serious a topic. His pride was flattered by the eagerness wherewith the
curious pointed their finger at him in the street, and he was yet
anxious to attract the attention which was his due. He would walk abroad
in the Field Marshal's cloak, which became his youthful figure, or,
still more splendid, he would drive in his gray coach, whose white
horses were the wonder of all Vienna. His happiness had suffered no
eclipse; his talk was as marvelous as when he astonished the Court of
Versailles, and not even his wrinkles obscured the dazzle of his smile.
The best of life had been his, and he waited the end in placid content,
and it is in his triumph in Vienna, rather than in his cumbrous books,
that you catch the last glimpse of the Prince de Ligne."
_Charles Whibley: "The Pageantry of Life."_

LIPPARD (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.

LISLE (Sir George, English royalist officer, taken prisoner at
Colchester, where he was put to death August 29th, 1648),--1648. "_I
have been nearer to you when you have missed me_," said to a soldier of
the squad appointed to shoot him, and who had, to Sir George Lisle's
request that he would not miss or merely wound him, replied, "I'll
warrant, sir, we will hit you." Lisle thought the distance between
himself and the firing party was too great and he wished the soldiers to
come nearer to him.

Fairfax sullied his victory by an act of great cruelty. In a council of
war, it was resolved that Sir Charles Lucas, Sir George Lisle, and Sir
Bernard Gascoign, the governors of Colchester, should be put to death:
but the life of Gascoign was spared, on account of his being a
foreigner. When the other two were brought out to be shot, Lucas gave
the word to fire, as if he had been at the head of his own company.
Lisle kissed him eagerly after he was dead; and desired the executioners
to come nearer.--_The Percy Anecdotes._

LIVINGSTONE (David, distinguished missionary, traveler and discoverer),
1813-1873. His last words, which are not recorded, were about
Chilanebo's village, in Ilala, and the neighboring country, and
especially about the Luapula. His mind wandered, and the questions were
often disconnected and indistinct, but his last thoughts were of Africa.
His attendants constructed for him a rude hut, and when it was completed
they took him into it and laid him upon a rough bed--the best they could
procure. He spoke only once or twice during the night. Next day he lay
undisturbed. He asked a few wandering questions about the
country--especially about the Luapula. His people knew that the end
could not be far off. Nothing occurred to attract notice during the
early part of the night, but at four in the morning, the boy who lay at
his door called in alarm for Susi, fearing that their master was dead.
By the candle still burning they saw him, not in bed, but kneeling at
the bedside with his head buried in his hands upon the pillow. The sad
yet not unexpected truth soon became evident: he had passed away on the
furthest of all his journeys, and without a single attendant. But he had
died in the act of prayer--prayer offered in that reverential attitude
about which he was always so particular; commending his own spirit,
with all his dear ones, as was his wont, into the hands of his Saviour;
and commending AFRICA--his own dear Africa--with all her woes and sins
and wrongs, to the Avenger of the oppressed and the Redeemer of the
lost.

So soon as the death of Livingstone was known to his men, they resolved
to carry their master's remains to Zanzibar. Arrangements were made for
drying and embalming the body, after removing the heart and other
viscera. For fourteen days the body was dried in the sun. After being
wrapped in calico, and the legs bent inward at the knees, it was
enclosed in a large piece of bark from a Myonga tree in the form of a
cylinder; over this a piece of sail-cloth was sewed; and the package was
lashed to a pole, so as to be carried by two men. Jacob Wainwright
carved an inscription on the Moula tree under which the body had rested,
and where the heart was buried, and Chitambo was charged to keep the
grass cleared away, and to protect two posts and a cross-piece which
they erected to mark the spot.

The remains were brought to Aden on board the "Calcutta," and thereafter
transferred to the steamer "Malwa," which arrived at Southampton on the
15th of April. Mr. Thomas Livingstone, eldest surviving son of the
Doctor, being then in Egypt on account of his health, had gone on board
at Alexandria. The body was conveyed to London by special train and
deposited in the rooms of the Geographical Society in Saville Row.

In the course of the evening the remains were examined by Sir William
Fergusson and several other medical gentlemen, including Dr. Loudon, of
Hamilton, whose professional skill and great kindness to his family had
gained for him a high place in the esteem and love of Livingstone. To
many persons it had appeared so incredible that the remains should have
been brought from the heart of Africa to London, that some conclusive
identification of the body seemed to be necessary to set all doubt at
rest. The state of the arm, the one that had been broken by the lion,
supplied the crucial evidence. "Exactly in the region of the attachment
of the deltoid to the humerus" (wrote Sir William Fergusson in a
contribution to the _Lancet_, April 18, 1874), "there were the
indications of an oblique fracture. On moving the arm there were the
indications of an ununited fracture. A closer identification and
dissection displayed the false joint that had so long ago been so well
recognized by those who had examined the arm in former days.... The
first glance set my mind at rest, and that, with further examination,
made me as positive as to the identification of these remains as that
there has been among us in modern times one of the greatest men of the
human race--David Livingstone."

The black slab that now marks the resting-place of Livingstone in
Westminster Abbey bears this inscription:

BROUGHT BY FAITHFUL HANDS
OVER LAND AND SEA,
HERE RESTS
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
MISSIONARY, TRAVELER, PHILANTHROPIST,
BORN MARCH 19, 1813,
AT BLANTYRE, LANARKSHIRE.
DIED MAY 4,[28] 1873,
AT CHITAMBO'S VILLAGE, ILALA.

For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to
evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets,
and abolish the desolating slave-trade of Central Africa, and where,
with his last words he wrote: "All I can say in my solitude is, may
Heaven's rich blessing come down on every one--American, English,
Turk--who will help to heal this open sore of the world."

Along the right border of the stone are the words:

TANTUS AMOR VERI, NIHIL EST QUOD NOSCERE MALIM
QUAM FLUVII CAUSAS PER SÆCULA TANTA LATENTES.

And along the left border:

OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD,
THEM ALSO I MUST BRING, AND THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE.
_Blaikie's "Personal Life of Livingstone."_

The late E. J. Glane, who crossed Africa in the interest of _The
Century_, makes the following entry in his journal:

July 9. To-day I revisited the tree where Livingstone died, and in
order to guide others to the exact spot, in case this tree should
disappear from any cause, I selected another big tree likely to last
many years, cleared away two and a half square feet of its bark, and in
the space marked as follows: "This tree is magnetic southwest of the
tree where Livingstone's remains are buried, and is forty-five paces
from it." I brought away a bit of the bark of the memorable tree--a dead
part, so as not to be guilty of vandalism.[29]

Livingstone's grave is in a quiet nook, such as he himself desired, in
the outskirts of a forest bordering on a grass plain where the roan buck
and eland roam in safety. When I visited the place turtle-doves were
cooing in the tree-tops, and a litter of young hyenas had been playing
near by; in the low ground outside the hole leading to the cave were
their recent tracks; they had scampered into safety at our approach.

[28] In the _Last Journals_ the date is May 1st; on the stone, May
4th. The attendants could not quite determine the day.

[29] The section of the tree containing the inscription made by
Jacob Wainwright has been brought to England and deposited in the
house of the Geographical Society.

LOCKE (John, author of the celebrated "Essay Concerning the Human
Understanding"), 1632-1704. "_O, the depth of the riches of the goodness
and knowledge of God!_"

Some authorities say his last words were, "Cease now;" to Lady Masham
who was reading to him a Psalm of David.

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.

His last written lines (nine days before his death) were:

"Out of the shadows of night,
The world rolls into light;
It is daybreak everywhere."
--_The Bells of San Blas._

LOUIS I. (Louis le Débonnaire), 778-840. "_Huz! huz!_"

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),
1215-1270. "_I will enter now into the house of the Lord._"

Some authorities say his last words were "We will go to Jerusalem."

LOUIS XIII. (son of Henry IV. and Marie de Médicis), 1601-1643. "_Well,
my God, I consent with all my heart_," to his physician who told him he
had but two hours to live.

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 et in hora mortis._" Then
he said, "O God, come unto mine aid; O Lord, make haste to help me."
These were his last words. The agony was beginning. It lasted all night,
and on Sunday, September 1, 1715, 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 XV. (of France), 1710-1774. "_Repeat those words Monsieur the
almoner, repeat them_," to Cardinal de La Roche-Aymon, who read aloud
the public apology made by the sovereign to his people.

Some authorities give his last words thus: "I have been a great sinner,
doubtless, but I have ever observed Lent with a most scrupulous
exactness; I have caused more than a hundred thousand masses to be said
for the repose of unhappy souls, so that I flatter myself I have not
been a very bad Christian."

A candle burning in the King's chamber, which was to be extinguished at
the same moment as the life of the King, was the signal agreed on for
the measures to be taken and the orders to be given as soon as he should
have breathed his last. The candle was put out at two o'clock in the
afternoon of May 10, 1774. Instantly a great tumult, comparable to a
clap of thunder, shook the arches of Versailles. It was the crowd of
courtiers leaving the antechambers of the dead man and noisily hastening
to meet the new monarch.
_Imbert de Saint-Amand: "The Last Years of Louis XV."_

LOUIS XVI. (guillotined by a wild and bloodthirsty mob, called the
French Republic, the 21st of January, 1793), 1754-1793. "_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 nation for the blood about to be
shed._"

He was proceeding, when Santerre, who was on horseback near the
scaffold, made a signal for the drums to beat, when the assistants
seized the victim, and the horrid 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 exultation.
_Contemporary History of the French Revolution._

LOUIS XVII. (second son of Louis XVI. He became dauphin at the death of
an elder brother in 1789, and was recognized as king in January, 1793,
by the French royalists and several foreign courts, but he was closely
confined by the Jacobins. The cruel treatment which he received in
prison hastened his death), 1785-1795. "_I have something to tell you._"

LOUIS XVIII. (Louis Stanislas Xavier), 1755-1824. "_A King should die
standing._"

LOUISE (Auguste Wilhelmine Amelie, Queen of Prussia), 1776-1810. "_I am
a Queen, but have no power to move my arms._"

LOVAT (Lord Fraser of Lovat, Scottish Jacobite conspirator. 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 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
Ætat 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 Annæus, Roman epic poet, nephew of the
philosopher Seneca), 38-65.

Lucan exhibited great apparent serenity at the approach 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 repeating
several lines out of his own "Pharsalia," descriptive of a person
similarly situated to himself. These lines he repeated 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."_

LUCAS (Sir Charles. He commanded the right wing of the royal army at
Marston Moor, was taken prisoner at Colchester, where he was put to
death August 29th, 1648),--1648. "_Soldiers, fire!_" to the soldiers
appointed to shoot him.

LULLI or LULLY (Jean Baptiste, Italian composer, called "the Father of
French Dramatic Music"), 1633-1687. "_Sinner, thou must die._" In sign
of his repentance he died with a halter around his neck, repeating and,
sometimes singing, with tears of remorse, "Sinner, thou must die."

LUTHER (Martin, the greatest of the Protestant reformers), 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._

LYTTELTON (George, first Lord, English statesman, author of "Dialogues
of the Dead," and "History of Henry II."), 1709-1773. "_Be good, be
virtuous, my lord, you must come to this_," to his son-in-law, Lord
Valentia.

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.

His mother resolved to spend the night at Holly Lodge. She had just left
the drawing-room to make her preparations for the visit (it being, I
suppose, a little before seven in the evening), when a servant arrived
with an urgent summons. As we drove up to the porch of my uncle's house,
the maids ran, crying, out into the darkness to meet us, and we knew
that all was over. We found him in the library, seated in his easy
chair, and dressed as usual; with his book on the table beside him,
still open at the same page. He had told his butler that he should go to
bed early, as he was very tired. The man proposed his lying on the sofa.
He rose as if to move, sat down again, and ceased to breathe. He died as
he had always wished to die--without pain; without any formal farewell;
preceding to the grave all whom he loved; and leaving behind him a great
and honorable name, and the memory of a life every action of which was
clear and transparent as one of his own sentences.--_G. Otto Trevelyan._

MACCAIL (his given name has not been preserved, a 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; welcome, Saviour of the
world; welcome, God, the Judge of all._"

MACHIAVELLI, or MACCHIAVELLI, sometimes MACHIAVEL (Nicholas, a
celebrated atheist, and the author of "The Prince"), 1469-1530. "_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._"

MACKINTOSH (Sir James, philosopher and politician), 1765-1832.
"_Happy!_"

MALHERBE (François de, the "Father of French lyric poetry"), 1555-1628.
"_Hold your tongue; your 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),
1743-1793. "_Help, my dear--help!_" 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 transparent 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 occupants 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 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 reddened water gave to the sanguinary democrat the
appearance of having died in a bath of blood.--_Larmartine._

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 Pressensé._

MARCUS (of Arethusa), being hung up in a basket smeared with honey, to
be stung to death by bees, exclaimed,[30] "_How am I advanced, despising
you that are upon the earth!_"

[30] 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. Æschylus, 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 Maenon 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 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."

MARGARET (of Scotland, wife of Louis XI. of France), 1420-1445. "_Fi de
la vie! qu'on ne m'en parle plus._"

Margaret was devoted to literature, and, while she lived, patronized men
of learning and genius. Her admiration for the poet Alain Chartier is
said to have induced 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 remember me._" Some say, upon what
authority I do not know, that the queen's last words were: "I never
departed from the true church."

She inclined to the Protestant faith, but Roman Catholic 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 l'âme Pècheresse," which was condemned by the
Sorbonne, on the ground that it inclined to Protestant doctrines. 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 Thérèsa, 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 Thérèse 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.

MARTINEAU (Harriet, English author, and translator of "The Positive
Philosophy of Auguste Comte"), 1802-1876. "_I have had a noble share of
life, and I do not ask for any other life. I see no reason why the
existence of Harriet Martineau should be perpetuated._"

During the last one-and-twenty years of her life, death was the idea
most familiar and most welcome. It was spoken of and provided for with
an easy freedom that I never saw approached in any other home, yet she
never expressed a wish respecting a place of burial. But a few days
before her death, when asked if she would be laid in the burial-place of
her family, she assented; and she lies with her kindred, in the old
cemetery at Birmingham.[31]
_Maria Weston Chapman._

[31] Her Will, by which her personalty, sworn under £10,000, is
suitably divided among her brothers and sisters, an old servant, and
a few friends, contains one peculiar provision which indicates the
desire of the testatrix, even when dead, to benefit the living. "It
is my desire," she says, "from an interest in the progress of
scientific investigation, that my Skull should be given to Henry
George Atkinson, of Upper Gloucester Place, London, and also my
Brain, if my death should take place within such distance of his
then present abode, as to enable him to have it for the purposes of
scientific observation." By the second codicil, dated October 5th,
1872, this direction is revoked; "but," the codicil proceeds, "I
wish to leave it on record that this alteration in my testamentary
directions is not caused by any change of opinion as to the
importance of scientific observation on such subjects, but is made
in consequence merely of a change of circumstances in my individual
case." The "circumstances" alluded to were doubtless these. When the
removal of Miss Martineau to London took place, the "Burke and Hare"
murders, and "body-snatching" generally, were the special horrors of
the day. The only authorized supply of "subjects" for dissection was
from the gallows; and philanthropic persons sought by selling the
reversion of their bodies (a transaction which, legally, does not
hold good), or like Jeremy Bentham, leaving them to some
institution, or medical expert, by a special bequest (also
nugatory), to dissolve the association of disgrace with the
necessary procedure of dissection. The difficulty was, in great
measure, relieved by the passing of Mr. Warburton's Bill; and hence
the necessity for such an arrangement as that made by Miss Martineau
ceased to exist. The singular provision, had however, become known;
and shortly after the execution of the document, the testatrix
received a letter from the celebrated aurist, Mr. Toynbee, asking
her point-blank to bequeath him a "legacy of her ears." She had
suffered from deafness all her life; a large amount of mischief and
misery was caused by the ignorance of surgeons with regard to the
auditory apparatus; and this ignorance could only be removed by such
means as he proposed. The lady to whom this strange request was
made, says with grim humour, that she felt "rather amused when she
caught herself in a feeling of shame, as it were, at having only one
pair of ears,--at having no duplicate for Mr. Toynbee, after having
disposed otherwise of her skull." She, however, told him how the
matter actually stood; and a meeting took place between the doctor
and the legatee, "to ascertain whether one head could, in any way,
be made to answer both their objects."

An autopsy of her body was eventually made by Dr. T. M. Greenhow, of
Leeds; a full detail of the appearances at which will be found in
the _British Medical Journal_, for April 14th, 1877, p.
449.--_William Bates in "The Maclise Portrait Gallery._"

MARY (Queen of Scots), 1542-1587. "_O 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 account is
published, thus relates this incident: "Thereupon 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, Domine, 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 headsman 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 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.
_Froude's "History of England."_

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 persecution of the Protestants),
1517-1558. "_After I am dead, you will find Calais written upon my
heart._"

The loss of Calais just before her death affected her deeply.

Of the first Mary, long and too deservedly known by the title of "Bloody
Mary," we confess we can never think without commiseration. Unamiable
she certainly was, and deplorably bigoted. She sent two hundred and
eighty-four people to the stake during a short reign of five years and
four months; which, upon an average, is upwards of four a week! She was
withal plain, petty of stature, ill-colored, and fierce-eyed, with a
voice almost as deep as a man's; had a bad blood; and ended with having
nobody to love her, not even the bigots in whose cause she lost the love
of her people.
_Leigh Hunt: "Men, Women and Books."_

MARY II. (Queen of England and wife of William III.), 1662-1694. "_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
one hundred and fifty thousand men under arms and at his command. He was
murdered by his own soldiers), 1623-1646. "_Ungrateful traitors!_" said
to the assassins.

MATHER (Cotton), 1633-1728. "_I 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 organizer 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 witchcraft 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 translations of the numerous Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin quotations, Hartford, 1855.
_Biographical Dictionary._

MATHER (Increase, distinguished New England divine), 1639-1723. "_Be
fruitful._"

MATHER (Richard, celebrated Congregational minister in Dorchester, Mass.
He was a voluminous author), 1596-1669. "_Far from well, yet far better
than mine iniquities deserve_," in response to a question about his
health.

MATHEWS (Charles, English Comedian), 1776-1836. "_I am ready._"

MAURICE (John Frederick Denison, English divine and leader of the Broad
Church party), 1805-1872. "_The knowledge of the love of God--the
blessing of God Almighty, 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.), 1602-1661. "_O, my poor soul, what is to become
of thee? 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), 1459-1519. 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
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 Wienerisch
Neustadt under the altar as he directed.

MAXIMILIAN (Ferdinand Joseph, Emperor of Mexico and Archduke of
Austria), 1832-1867. "_Lotte._" His last word would seem to indicate
that he was thinking of his wife, the unfortunate Carlotta, daughter of
Leopold, King of Belgium.

In 1865 Maximilian was tempted by Napoleon III. to act the part of
Emperor of Mexico, then partly governed by the republican President
Juarez and partly conquered by the French. He arrived at the Mexican
capital in June 1864. He issued a decree that all who adhered to the
republic or resisted his authority should be shot. Many prisoners,
including General Orteaga, accordingly suffered death by his order.
According to the "New York Evening Post" of July 1st, 1867, he ordered
the enslavement of the whole laboring population of Mexico. The United
States refused to recognize him as Emperor, and required Napoleon to
withdraw his army. Maximilian was embarrassed by want of money, and
offended the clerical party (which had favored him) by refusing to
restore the property of the Church, which had been confiscated by the
Liberals. The French troops departed about the end of 1866, after which
the republicans gained several victories and the empire quickly
collapsed. Maximilian was captured at Quéretaro, and shot on the 19th of
June 1867.--_Lippincott._

MELANCHTHON (Philip. His original German name was Schwarzerdt, which he
Grecized into Melanchthon, or, as he sometimes spelled it Melanthon.
Both names denote "black earth"), 1497-1568. "_Nothing else but
heaven_," in answer to a friend who enquired if he wanted anything
further.

MERICOURT (Anne Joseph Théroigne de, the famous "Goddess of
Reason"[32]), 1760-1817. This woman's last words were partly reminiscent
and partly the incoherent ravings of a disordered brain. The old scenes
rose before her with startling vividness.

"Died, within these few days, in the hospital of pauper lunatics of
Saltpêtrière, where she had lived unpitied and unknown for many years,
the famous Théroigne de Mericourt (the Goddess of Reason), the most
remarkable of the heroines of the revolution."--_A Paris paper of August
1, 1817._

[32] Mlle. 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 Laïs, an actor of the Opera, had
arranged the fête of December 20, 1793. Mademoiselle Maillard, 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 curés of Paris stripped themselves of their canonicals,
donned the red nightcap, and joined in this blasphemous mockery.

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:

"_T'offro il tuo proprio Figlio,
Che già d'amore in pegno,
Racchiuso in picciol segno
Si volle a noi donar.

A lui rivolgi il ciglio.
Guardo chi t'offro, e poi
Lasci, Signor, se vuoi,
Lascia di perdonar._"

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.

MIRABEAU (Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de), 1749-1791. "_When nature
has abandoned an unhappy victim, when a miracle only can save his life,
how can you have the barbarity to let him expire on the wheel?_" spoken
in support of a request for laudanum.

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."[33]

Later in the day he uttered these memorable words:--"I carry in my
heart the dirge of the monarchy, the ruins whereof will now be the prey
of the factions."

His death, although that of a sceptic, had something in it sublime. He
was no stranger to his approaching dissolution; but, far from being
intimidated by the prospect, he gloried in the name he was to leave.
Hearing the cannon discharge upon some public event, he exclaimed, "I
already hear the funeral obsequies of Achilles--after my death, the
factions will tear to shreds the remnants of the monarchy." His
sufferings were severe at the close of his illness: at one period, when
the power of speech was gone, he wrote on a slip of paper the words of
Hamlet, "To die is to sleep." "When a sick man is given over, and he
suffers frightful pains, can a friendly physician refuse to give him
opium?" "My pains are insupportable; I have an age of strength, but not
an instant of courage." A few hours before his death, the commencement
of mortification relieved his sufferings. "Remove from the bed," said
he, "all that sad apparatus. Instead of these useless precautions,
surround me with perfumes and the flowers of spring; dress my hair with
care; let me fall asleep amidst the sound of harmonious music." He then
spoke for ten minutes with such vivid and touching eloquence, that every
one in the room was melted into tears. "When I am no more," said he, "my
worth will become known. The misfortunes which I have held back will
then pour on all sides upon France; the criminal faction which now
trembles before me will be unbridled. I have before my eyes unbounded
presentiments of disaster. We now see how much we erred in not
preventing the commons from assuming the name of the National Assembly;
since they gained that victory, they have never ceased to show
themselves unworthy of it. They have chosen to govern the King, instead
of governing by him; but soon neither he nor they will rule the country,
but a vile faction, which will overspread it with horrors." A spasm,
attended with violent convulsions, having returned, he again asked for
laudanum. "When nature," said he, "has abandoned an unhappy victim, when
a miracle only can save his life, how can you have the barbarity to let
him expire on the wheel?" His feet were already cold, but his
countenance still retained its animation, his eye its wonted fire, as if
death spared to the last the abode of so much genius. Feigning to
comply, they gave him a cup, containing what they assured him was
laudanum. He calmly drank it off, fell back on his pillow, and expired.
_Alison's "History of Europe."_

[33] 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 distressing 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 containing 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 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 Gardening
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."

MOHAMMED (The name signified "the praised," and was assumed by the
founder of Islam. He was originally called Halabi), about 570-632. "_O
Allah, be it so! 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 11 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 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' Encyclopædia._

MONTCALM (Saint-Véran de Marquis), 1712-1759. "_So much the better! I
shall not then live to see the surrender 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 (Monteçumatin, "the sad or severe man"--the last of the
Aztec emperors), about 1470-1520. "_I confide to your care my beloved
children, the most precious 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,[34] I bear you no ill will._" Some give his last
words thus: "And do you think I, then, am taking pleasure in my bath?"

[34] _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 of Mexico_."

MONTFORT DE (Simon, Earl of Leicester), 1208-1265. "_Commend your souls
to God, for our bodies are the foes'!_" To his followers, when he saw
the advance of the enemy at the battle of Evesham.

MOODY (Dwight Lyman, distinguished American evangelist), 1837-1899. "_I
see earth receding; Heaven is opening; God is calling me._"[35]

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 slumber, and said, with
much joyousness. "I see earth receding; Heaven is opening; God is
calling me," and a moment later he had entered upon what one of his sons
described as "a triumphal march into heaven."--_New York Times, Dec. 23,
1899._

[35] The world recedes. It disappears.
Heaven opens to my eyes. My ears
With sounds seraphic ring.
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O grave, where is thy victory!
O death, where is thy sting!
--_Pope: "The Dying Christian to his Soul."_

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),[36] 1761-1809.

He said to Colonel Anderson, who for one and twenty years had been his
friend and companion in arms: "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 message to Lady Hester
Stanhope, the niece of Pitt, afterwards 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._

[36] 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.

MORE (Sir Thomas, author of "Utopia." He succeeded 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."

MORE (Hannah, poet, essayist and moralist), 1744-1833. "_Joy._"

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
existence--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 Perry, American Statesman), 1823-1877. "_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), 1588-1672. "_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), 1814-1877. "_I am
ill--very ill, I shall not recover._"

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 postmortem 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 Süssmayer over the 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 consent. Süssmayer 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 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
unfortunate distrust of Salieri, who, it was reported, acknowledged upon
his deathbed having administered poison to Mozart. All these suspicions
were fully laid to rest by Carpani in the Biblioteca Italiana, 1824.[37]

[37] 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 interment, 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."_

MUHLENBERG (Rev. William Augustus, founder of St. Luke's Hospital in New
York, and author of the hymn, "I would not live alway"), 1796-1877.
"_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._"

NADIR SHAH (Kouli Khan, celebrated Persian conqueror), 1688-1747. "_Thou
dog!_" addressed to one of the conspirators who slew him in his tent,
June 19, 1747.

When Nadir invaded India in 1739, he arrived first at Lahore; where the
governor immediately surrendered the city to him, and treated him with
princely honours. At night Nadir, whose only couch, for months past,
had been a horse-blanket, with a saddle for a pillow, was conducted to a
magnificent bed, with piles of cushions; and twelve young damsels were
in attendance to shampoo his limbs and fan him to sleep. Nadir started
from his luxurious couch, roared for his secretary, and gave orders that
the drums should be beat, and a proclamation made that Nadir had
conquered all India. The astonished scribe ventured to hint that this
conquest had not yet been accomplished. "No matter," said Nadir, "where
the chiefs of the people choose to live in this effeminate manner, it
will cost me little trouble to conquer them." And his anticipation was
fully verified. After he had taken the city of Delhi, he visited the
discomfited Emperor, who received him in fear and trembling. Nadir was
seated in the chair of state, and the attar of roses and other perfumes
were brought, according to custom and presented to him. Nadir had not
changed his clothes or taken off his armor for many days, and his person
was by no means free from vermin. He asked contemptuously what was the
use of perfuming a soldier's garments; and, thrusting his hand into his
bosom, drew forth a number of lice, which he told the astonished Emperor
were better companions than all his sweet scents. Nadir had ordered a
splendid mausoleum to be built for himself at Mush'hed, in Khorassan;
and on his return from India he went to see it. The night before he
visited his intended resting-place, some unfriendly wag wrote above the
spot destined for his grave--"Welcome, conqueror of the world! your
place here has long been empty." The wag had in mind Nadir's common
salutation to a friend who had been long absent, "Your place has been
long empty." Nadir offered a reward for the discovery of the writer, but
never succeeded in finding out who he was. The place was not long empty,
for Nadir was assassinated soon after, and here his remains rested till
they were dug up and desecrated by Agha Mohammed.
_Welby: "Predictions Realized in Modern Times."_

NANI (Giambattista Felice Gasparo, author of "Istaria della Republica
Veneta"), 1616-1678. "_How beautiful!_"

NAPOLÉON I. (Napoléon Bonaparte), 1769-1821. "_Mon Dieu! La Nation
Française! Tête d'armée_," He died on the island of St. Helena, May 5,
1821. In 1840 his remains were removed to France and deposited in the
Hotel des Invalides.[38]

During the last nine days of his life he was constantly delirious. On
the morning of May 5th he uttered some incoherent words, among which
Montholon fancied that he distinguished, "_France ... armée ... tête
d'armée._" As the patient uttered these words he sprang from the bed,
dragging Montholon, who endeavored to restrain him, on the floor. It was
the last effort of that formidable energy. He was with difficulty
replaced in bed by Montholon and Archambault, and then lay quietly till
near six o'clock in the evening, when he yielded his last breath. A
great storm was raging outside, which shook the frail huts of the
soldiers as with an earthquake, tore up the trees that the Emperor had
planted, and uprooted the willow under which he was accustomed to
repose. Within, the faithful Marchand was covering the corpse with the
cloak which the young conqueror had worn at Marengo.
_Lord Rosebery._

[38] The heart of the first Napoleon had a narrow escape from
disappearing forever, elsewhere than in the tomb. It is recorded
that when he died at St. Helena his heart was extracted for
preservation. The English physician who had charge of it placed it
in a silver basin containing water, and leaving tapers burning
beside it retired to rest. Sleep, however, visited him not, and
suddenly, breaking the silence, he heard first a rustling, then a
plunge in the water of the basin, then a fall with a rebound on the
floor, all in quick succession. Springing from his couch, the
physician saw an enormous rat dragging Bonaparte's heart to its
hole: in a few moments more it would have formed a meal for rats.

NAPOLÉON III. (Louis Napoléon, "The Little," "Ratipole," "The Man of
Sedan," "The Man of December," "Boustrapa," "Badinguet" and "The Comte
d'Arenenberg"), 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 Tacitus"), 1733-1796. "_Must I
leave it unfinished?_" He referred to his "History of Poland."

NEANDER (Johann August, the celebrated church historian. He was of
Jewish descent, but early in life embraced the Christian faith, and at
his baptism assumed the name "Neander," from two Greek words signifying
a new man), 1789-1850. "_I am weary; I will now go to sleep. Good
night!_"

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 expects 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.--_Appleton's Cyclopædia of Biography._

NERO (Lucius Domitius Claudius Cæsar, Emperor of Rome), 37-68. "_Qualis
artifex pereo!_"

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 fearful 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 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 daggers, 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 pretense 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 insults,
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), 1793-1812. "_The pains, the
groans, the dying strife. How long, O Lord, how long?_"

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. "_I am satisfied with the Lord's will._" Last
recorded words.

NEWTON (Richard, an English divine, founder of Hertford College,
Oxford), 1676-1753. "_Christ Jesus the Saviour of sinners and life of
the dead. I am going, going to Glory! Farewell sin! Farewell death!
Praise the Lord!_"

NOTT (Eliphalet, American clergyman, President of Union College,
Schenectady, N. Y., for more than sixty years), 1773-1866. "_One word,
one word--Jesus Christ!_"

NOURSE (Rebecca, a good and brave woman who, in the old Puritan-days,
suffered as a witch at Salem, Mass.), 1621-1692. Her last words are not
preserved, but it is recorded that just before her death she declared
her innocence and appealed to the judgment of Almighty God. The story of
her death forms one of the saddest of the many distressing chapters in
the history of early New England.

Mrs. Nourse was a very devout woman, and probably the hardest blow of
all was the action of the First Congregational Church, of which she was
a member. The records still preserved read as follows:

"After Sacrament the elders propounded to the church, and it was by
unanimous vote consented to, that our Sister Nourse, being a convicted
witch, and condemned to die, be excommunicated, which was accordingly
done in the afternoon, she being present."

The scene presented on this occasion must have been as impressive at
the time, as it is shocking to us in the retrospect. The spacious
meeting-house was filled with people. The sheriff, accompanied by his
deputy brought in the prisoner, manacled, with the chains clanking from
her side. The two elders, Higginson and Noyes, as the clergy were then
called, delivered an address over the sorrow-burdened form condemning
her to eternal punishment.

Then came the day of execution, July 19, 1692. At an early hour the
little village was bristling with activity. "The devil's angel on earth"
was to be punished with the death she deserved, and so the Puritan
maidens attired themselves in holiday dress to honor the event. The
procession to the gallows was a long one, scores of people from the
neighboring towns and villages taking part. The victim, manacled and
guarded by the sheriff and his deputy, headed the line, while close
behind followed troops of men and women who laughed, deeming it rare
sport to see the agonized faces of the terror-stricken family as they
watched the mother and wife grow pale, and tremble as she began the
ascent of the rocky cliff whose top was crowned with the instrument of
death. It is impossible in words to depict the scene of the execution in
the horrible colors in which tradition has painted it. With firm steps
and eyes upturned to heaven, the gray-haired woman took her place on the
drop. Silently the hangman tied the rope before the eager waiting
assembly; then a momentary hush passed over the crowd--the
executioner's duty was done. A moment later all that was left to tell
the story was the body of the aged woman swinging gently in the summer
wind.

Seldom has a woman met with a harder fate. Her body was thrown with the
previous victims into a hole in a crevice of the rocks, and hastily
covered with earth. Then the masses of spectators turned homeward,
leaving the bereaved family at the homestead uncared for and ignored by
their once firm friends.

It is a family tradition that in some way the remains of Mrs. Nourse
were recovered by her husband and sons and interred in the spot which is
now pointed out on the estate as her grave. Imagination only can recall
the details of the event, so sad and awful. In the darkness of night the
sons hasten to the new-made grave, throw off the slight covering of
earth, and by the feeble light of a lantern discover the remains. What
feelings of revenge and sorrow must have stirred their hearts as they
raised their mother's soulless frame tenderly in their arms, and carried
it along through woods and valleys, over highways and fields to the
homestead, where, on the following night, the three pronounced the only
burial service over the remains, as they lowered the body into a
newly-made grave in their own consecrated grounds, which down through
the generations has been reverently guarded.

A beautiful shaft of granite has been erected over her grave by her
descendants. The monument is of Rockport and Quincy granite, and is
eight and a half feet high. The base and apex are of Rockport granite,
and the die of Quincy granite, polished and lettered as follows:

REBECCA NOURSE.
YARMOUTH, ENGLAND.
1621.
SALEM, MASS.
1692.

O Christian martyr, who for truth could die,
When all about thee owned the hideous lie,
The world redeemed from superstition's sway,
Goes breathing freer, for thy sake, to-day.

(On the reverse.)

Accused of witchcraft, she declared, "I am innocent, and God will clear
my innocency." Once acquitted, yet falsely condemned, she suffered death
July 19, 1692.

In loving memory of her Christian character, even then fully attested by
forty of her neighbors, this monument is erected July, 1885.

NEY (famous French marshal, "The bravest of the brave"), 1769-1815.
"_Soldiers--fire!_" said to the soldiers appointed to dispatch him.

Some say his last words were: "Comrades, straight to the heart, fire!"
While repeating these words, he took off his hat, it is said, with his
left hand, and placed his right hand upon his heart. The officer gave
the signal with sword at the same moment, and the marshal instantly fell
dead, pierced with twelve balls, three of which took effect in the
head.

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. "_It 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, 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 convicted of perjury and publicly
whipped. William III. pensioned him.

An old acrostic, in a book published by Nat. Thompson, the bookseller,
"at the entrance into the Old Spring Garden near Charing Cross," during
the reign of Charles II., has this choice description of Titus Oates:

Trayter to God, damn'd source of blasphemy,
Insect of hell, grand mass of perjury;
Thorough-pac'd villain, second unto none,
Unless to Judas (if by him out-done),
Satan's black agent, hell's monopoly,
Of all that's called sin and villainy;
Accursed parent of an hell-bred brood,
Teacher of lies, spiller of guiltless blood;
England's dark cloud, eclipsing all her glory;
Satan's delight, and hell's repository.

O'CAROLAN, or CAROLAN (Turlough, famous Irish bard and musical
composer), 1670-1738. "_It 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.

OLIVER (François, Chancellor of France), 1497-1560. "_O Cardinal! thou
wilt make us all to be damned_," to Cardinal Lorrain under whom he had
condemned to death many innocent men for their faith. He fell sick
through remorse, and in his delirium charged Cardinal Lorrain with
bringing down upon him the wrath of God.

ORANGE (William, Prince of, called "William the Silent," founder of the
Dutch Republic), 1533-1584. "_I do_," in response to his sister's
question, "Dost thou commend thy soul to Jesus Christ?"

William staggered and fell into the arms of an equerry. All crowded
round. "I am wounded," said William in a feeble voice.... "God have mercy
on me and on my poor people!" He was all covered with blood. His sister,
Catherine of Schwartzburg, asked, "Dost thou commend thy soul to Jesus
Christ?" He answered, in a whisper, "I do." It was his last word. They
placed him on one of the steps and spoke to him, but he was no longer
conscious. They then bore him into a room near by, where he died.--_De
Amicis: "Holland."_

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 previously to kill him.

ORLEANS (Louis Philippe Joseph, Duc d', surnamed "Égalité"), 1747-1793.
"_They will come off better after: let us have done_," to the
executioner who was about to draw off the duke's boots.

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 1651, Vice-Chancellor of the
University 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! 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"), 1737-1809. "_I 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 intemperate 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 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 Christianity."
_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 comfortable
circumstances. He had considerable property, which is specified in his
will. His sick bed was surrounded 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 _Appleton's Cyclopædia 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 production of a complication of disorders, to
which he fell a victim in 1809. The Quakers refused to admit his remains
among their dead, and he was buried on his own farm. Cobbett boasted of
having disinterred him in 1817, 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."[39]

[39] The effects of Mr. Cobbett were sold by auction, in 1836; and
the bones brought forward to be offered for competition. The
auctioneer, however, refused to put them up; and they were
withdrawn, and remained in the possession of the receiver. This
gentleman, desiring to be relieved, awaited the orders of the Lord
Chancellor; but the latter, upon the matter being mentioned to him
in court, refused to recognize them as part of the estate, or make
any order respecting them. The receiver thus continued to hold them;
but finding that none of the creditors would relieve him of them,
or, indeed, make inquiry about them, he transferred them, in 1844,
to a Mr. Tilley, who retained them in his possession until a public
funeral could be arranged. I have never heard that this has been
done, and know nothing more of these _Thomæ venerabilis
ossa_.--_William Bates: "The Maclise Portrait Gallery."_

_Ode to the Bones of the Im-mortal Thomas Paine, newly transported
from America to England, by the no less Im-mortal William Cobbett,
Esq._, by Thomas Rodd, Senr., the Bookseller (London, 1819, 4to). _A
Brief History of the Remains of the late Thomas Paine, from the time
of their disinterment, in 1819, by the late William Cobbett, M.P.,
down to the year 1846_ (London, Watson, 1847); and _Notes and
Queries_, Fourth Series.

"How Tom gets a living now ... I know not, nor does it much signify.
He has done all the mischief he can in the world; and whether his
carcase is at last to be suffered to rot on the earth, or to be
dried in the air, is of very little consequence. Whenever or
wherever he breathes his last, he will excite neither sorrow nor
compassion; no friendly hand will close his eyes, not a groan will
be uttered, not a tear will be shed. Like _Judas_, he will be
remembered by posterity; _men will learn to express all that is
base, malignant, treacherous, unnatural, and blasphemous, by the
single monosyllable_--PAINE!"--_Life of Thomas Paine_, by William
Cobbett.

PALMER (John, English actor of considerable merit), 1742-1798. "_There
is another and a better world._"

His death took place on the stage of the Liverpool Theatre while he was
performing the character of the _Stranger_, and his last words were a
line in the play.

Palmer was a man of acute and affectionate feelings, which had been much
exercised by the course and events of his life. He had recently lost his
wife and a favorite son, labored in consequence under profound grief and
depression of mind which he strove to overcome, and had expressed a
conviction that these mental sufferings would very shortly bring him to
his grave. During some days he seemed, however, to bear up against his
misfortunes, and performed in some pieces, including _The Stranger_,
with much success. About a week afterward he appeared a second time in
that character, when he fell a victim to the poignancy of his feelings.
On the morning of the day he was much dejected, but exerted himself with
great effect in the first and second acts of the play. In the third act
he showed evident marks of depression; and in the fourth, when about to
reply to the question of Baron Steinfort relative to his children,
appeared unusually agitated. He endeavored to proceed, but his feelings
overcame him. The hand of death arrested his progress, and he fell on
his back, heaved a convulsive sigh and instantly expired without a
groan. Having been removed to the scene-room, and medical aid
immediately procured, his veins were opened, but yielded not a single
drop of blood, and every other means of resuscitation was tried without
effect. His death was by most persons ascribed to apoplexy; but Dr.
Mitchell and Dr. Corry gave it as their opinion that he certainly died
of a broken heart, in consequence of the family afflictions which he had
recently experienced.
_Annual Register._

PARK (Edwards Amasa, distinguished American theologian, author and
translator, professor in Andover Theological Seminary, and one of the
editors of the "Bibliotheca Sacra"), 1808-1899. "_These passages may be
found on the following pages._" His mind was wandering, and, like Dr.
Adam, head master at the High School in Edinburgh, he thought himself
once more in the class-room.

PARKER (Theodore, Unitarian preacher and writer), 1810-1869. "_It 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 elevated, 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 consciousness of
guilt and of need as a sinner, and no recognition of Christ as a
Saviour. Of Theodore Parker, Lowell speaks thus wittily, in his "Fables
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
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.

PARKMAN (Francis, American author), 1823-1893. He died peacefully about
noon on the 8th of November, 1893, and was buried in the Mount Auburn
Cemetery. The last book he read was "Childe Harold," and his last words
were to tell that he had just dreamed of killing a bear. Though
suffering extremely, he yet maintained to his last hour an impressive
degree of dignity, firmness, gentleness and serenity.
_Farnham: "Life of Francis Parkman."_

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 divine), 1783-1827. "_Faith
and patience hold out._" 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 engraven 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), "_I 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 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 publican. I fast twice in the week; I give
tithes of all that I possess."--_Luke xviii: 11, 12._

PENN (William, founder of Pennsylvania), 1644-1718. "_To be like Christ
is to be a Christian._"

PERCEVAL (Spencer, distinguished statesman, assassinated on the 11th of
May, 1812, in the lobby of the House of Commons, by John Bellingham),
1762-1812. "_O my God!_"

PESTEL (Paul, Russian revolutionist, author of "Pestel's Hymn." He was a
brave man who loved liberty, and desired to establish it upon the ruins
of Russian absolutism), 1794-1826. "_Stupid country, where they do not
even know how to hang._" These words were spoken when the rope broke by
which he was to be hanged.

PETER (His original name was Simon; but when he became a disciple of
Christ he received the name Peter, which in Greek signifies a "rock." He
was sometimes called Cephas. He was one of the most distinguished of the
twelve apostles of our Lord, and is the author of two epistles included
in the canon of Scripture),--65. "_Remember the Lord Jesus Christ._"
These words which rest upon the authority of Eusebius, Peter is said to
have addressed to his wife on seeing her going to martyrdom. Some
suppose that he was himself at the time suspended upon the cross.[40]

[40] It is said that Peter was crucified with his head down, himself
so requesting, because he thought himself unworthy to be crucified
in the same manner as his Lord.

PETER I. (of Russia, "Peter the Great"), 1672-1725. "_I believe, Lord,
and confess; help my unbelief._"

PETER III. (Feodorovitch, of Russia, grandson of "Peter the Great." He
drew down upon himself, by his innovations, the enmity of the nobles and
clergy, and was in consequence dethroned and strangled by conspirators,
of whom his wife, the profligate, cruel and infamous Catherine II. was
an accomplice), 1728-1762. "_It was not enough to deprive me of the
Crown of Russia, but I must be put to death._"

PETERS (Hugh, distinguished clergyman and politician, pastor of the
First Congregational Church in Salem, Mass., succeeding Roger Williams,
"whose doctrines he disclaimed and whose adherents he excommunicated."
In 1637 he was appointed overseer of Harvard. In 1641 he returned to
England, where he joined the Parliamentary party, and became a chaplain
in the army. After the restoration of Charles II. Peters was committed
to the Tower, and indicted for high treason. He was executed in London,
Oct. 16, 1660), 1599-1660. "_Friend, you do not well to trample on a
dying man._"

When Hugh Peters was carried on a sledge to the scaffold, he was made to
sit within the rails, and see the execution of Mr. Cook. When the latter
was cut down to be quartered, Colonel Turner ordered the sheriff's men
to bring Mr. Peters near, that he might see it; and when soon after the
hangman rubbed his blood-stained hands together, he tauntingly asked,
"Come, how do you like this work, Mr. Peters?" He calmly replied,
"Friend, you do not well to trample on a dying man."
_The Percy Anecdotes._

It was alleged that Peters was one of those that stood masked on the
scaffold when the king was beheaded, and to render him more odious, it
was reported that he was the executioner. During his imprisonment he
wrote several letters of advice to his daughter, which were published
under the title of "A Dying Father's Legacy to an Only Child," of which
his great-nephew, Samuel, said: "It was printed and published in Old and
New England, and myriads of experienced Christians have read his legacy
with ecstasy and health to their souls." After execution his head was
stuck on a pole and placed on London bridge.... His private character
has been the subject of much discussion. He was charged by his enemies
with gross immorality, and the most bitter epithets have been applied to
him. Of late years he has been estimated more favorably.
_Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography._

PHILIP II. (of Spain), 1527-1598. "_I die like a good Catholic, in faith
and obedience to the Holy Roman church._"

Soon after these last words had been spoken, a paroxysm, followed by
faintness, came over him, and he lay entirely still. They had covered
his face with a cloth, thinking that he had already expired, when he
suddenly started with great energy, opened his eyes, seized the crucifix
again from the hand of Don Fernando de Toledo, kissed it, and fell back
again in agony.... He did not speak again, but lay unconsciously dying
for some hours, and breathed his last at five in the morning of Sunday,
the 13th of September.
_Motley: "History of the United Netherlands."_

PHILIP III. (of Spain), 1578-1621: "_Oh would to God I had never
reigned! Oh, that those years I have spent in my kingdom I had lived a
solitary life in the wilderness! 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?_"

PIUS IX. (Cardinal Giovanni Maria Mastai-Farretti, elected Pope June
17th, 1846), 1792-1878. "_Guard the church I loved so well and
sacredly._" Some say his last words were, "Death wins this time."

PHOCION (Athenian statesman and general, unjustly condemned on a charge
of treason, and put to death), B. C. 402-317. "_No resentment._"

PITT (William), 1759-1806. "_O my country, how I leave thee!_"

PIZARRO (Francisco, the conqueror of Peru), about 1475-1541. "_Jesu!_"
He was assassinated in his palace, June 26, 1541, and was killed only
after desperate resistance.

PLOTINUS (Greek philosopher of the Neo-Platonic school), 204-270. "_I am
laboring to return that which is divine in us, unto that Divinity which
informs and enlivens the whole universe._"

He was intensely religious, and if he had come a century later would,
instead of a heathen philosopher, have been one of the first names among
the saints of the church.--_Hallam._

POE (Edgar Allan, American poet, author of "The Raven"), 1811-1849.
"_Lord help my soul!_"

Dr. Moran, resident physician of the Marine Hospital, where Poe died,
wrote to Mrs. Clemm, under date of November 15th, 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 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 ("Saint," Christian Father and martyr and the reputed disciple
of the Apostle John), burned at the stake, 169. "_O 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), 1688-1744. "_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."[41]

[41] 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 management of this
transaction. Whether this account is correct or not, the fact is
that the skull of Pope figures in a private museum.--_William
Howitt._

The head of the celebrated Duc de Richelieu, like that of Pope, the
Mahdi, and Swendenborg, is above ground. At the time of the
revolution in France the body of the Duke was exhumed from its grave
in the Church of the Sorbonne. This having been subjected to
numerous indignities, the head was cut off, and the latter
eventually came into the possession of a grocer, who afterward sold
it to M. Armez, the elder. M. Armez, after the Restoration, offered
the head to the then Duc de Richelieu, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, who took no notice whatever of the offer. The son of M.
Armez inherited the skull. In 1846 the illustrious Montalembert,
when President of the Historical Committee of Arts and Monuments, at
the instance of his colleagues, did his best to recover the head of
the Duke, but without success. M. F. Feuillet de Conches, in his
"Causeries d'un Curieux," makes this comment: "We accuse no one,
still the fact is undeniable that this terrible head, the
personification of the absolute monarchy killing the aristocratic
monarchy, is wandering upon the earth like a spectre that has
straggled out of the domain of the dead."

POPE (William, the notorious leader of a company of men who attracted
considerable attention by their open and continued abuse of sacred
things. The utterances of these men shocked community and filled the
minds of even open unbelievers with horror. It was reported, but of that
the compiler of this book has no positive knowledge, that Pope and his
associates diverted themselves by kicking the Bible about the floor of
the room in which they held their infamous meetings. In his death
chamber was a scene of terror),--1797. "_I have done the damnable
deed--the horrible damnable deed! I cannot pray. God will have nothing
to do with me. I will not have salvation at His hands. I long to be in
the bottomless pit--the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone! I
tell you I am damned! I will not have salvation! Nothing for me but
hell. Come, eternal torments. O God, do not hear my prayers, for I will
not be saved. I hate everything that God has made._"

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"), 1731-1808. "_O, that glorious sun!_"

PRESTON (John, author of "Treatise on the Covenant"), 1587-1628.
"_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 God._"

PRIESTLY (Joseph, philosopher and writer), 1733-1804. "_I am going to
sleep like you, but we shall all awake together, 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!_"

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 everlasting life." When a common cup containing food was
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 1 Chron. xvi, where is described
David's triumphant restoration of the ark of God to its place in the
reverent worship of Israel.

QUARLES (Francis, quaint English poet, author of "Emblems"), 1592-1644.
"_What I cannot utter with my mouth, accept, Lord, from my heart and
soul._"

QUIN (James, actor), 1693-1766. "_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 (François), 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), 1552-1618. "_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!"

The lovers of tobacco will remember that it was Sir Walter Raleigh who
introduced their "delightful weed" into Europe. So fond was he of the
weed that he used it upon the scaffold. The snuff-box out of which he
took a pinch just before his head rested upon the block was in constant
use by the Duke of Sussex, and was disposed of at his sale for £6.

Mr. Van Klaës whose will is celebrated all over Holland was not to be
behind Sir Walter Raleigh in his devotion to tobacco. After his bequests
to relatives and charities, he has this paragraph in his will:

"I wish every smoker in the kingdom to be invited to my funeral in every
way possible, by letter, circular and advertisement. Every smoker who
takes advantage of the invitation shall receive as a present ten pounds
of tobacco, and two pipes on which shall be engraved my name, my crest,
and the date of my death. The poor of the neighborhood who accompany my
bier shall receive every year on the anniversary of my death a large
package of tobacco. I make the condition that all those who assist at my
funeral, if they wish to partake of the benefits of my will, must smoke
without interruption during the entire ceremony. My body shall be placed
in a coffin lined throughout with the wood of my old Havana cigar-boxes.
At the foot of the coffin shall be placed a box of French tobacco called
_Caporal_ and a package of our old Dutch tobacco. At my side place my
favorite pipe and a box of matches, ... for one never knows what may
happen. When the bier rests in the vault, all the persons in the funeral
procession are requested to cast upon it the ashes of their pipes, as
they pass it on their departure from the grounds."

The wishes of the testator were fulfilled to the letter. The funeral
went off gloriously in dense clouds of smoke. Mr. Van Klaës' cook,
Gertrude, to whom was left in a codicil to the will a large sum of money
on condition she should overcome her aversion to tobacco, walked in the
funeral procession with a cigarette in her mouth.

RANDOLPH (John, an able but eccentric American statesman), 1773-1833.
"_Write that word 'Remorse;' show it to me._" These words rest upon
doubtful authority.

RAPHAEL (Sanzio, most illustrious of painters. "The Transfiguration" at
Rome, and the "Madonna di San Sisto" at Dresden are accounted his
master-pieces), 1483-1520. "_Happy--._'

"Once again Raphael revived, and, supported by two friends, arose and
looked around with wide-open eyes. 'Whence comes the sunshine?' murmured
he.

"'Raphael,' cried I, and extended both hands toward him, 'do you
recognize me?'

"For a moment it seemed as if he had not heard me, then he spoke again,
and the holy calm of his expression, in spite of the death-struggle,
bore testimony to his words, 'Happy--.' He tried to finish the sentence,
but could not. He never uttered another word, but it was full night when
a voice broke through the long stillness: 'Raphael is dead!'"
_Cardinal Bibbiena in a letter to his niece Maria di Bibbiena._

RAVAILLAC (François, the assassin of Henry IV. of France), 1578-1610.
"_I receive absolution upon this condition._" 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 absolution. You cannot refuse this."
"Well, then," said Dr. Filesac, "I give it to you, but if the contrary
be true, instead of absolution I pronounce your eternal damnation. Look
to it." Ravaillac answered, "I receive absolution upon this condition."

On May 27, 1610, Ravaillac was declared by the Parliament guilty of
divine and human high treason; condemned 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 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.

Ravaillac, most fearless of fanatics and devotees, said, when
interrogated before Parliament as to his estate and calling, "I teach
children to read, write, and pray to God." At his third examination, he
wrote beneath the signature which he had affixed to his testimony the
following distich:

"Que toujours, dans mon coeur,
Jésus soit le vainqueur!"

and a member of Parliament exclaimed on reading it, "Where the devil
will religion lodge next!"[42]

[42] John Chastel was torn to pieces sixteen years before, for
attempting the life of the same monarch. Salcede, the Spaniard,
endeavored to assassinate Henri III., and was accordingly
dismembered. Nicholas de Salvado and Balthazar de Gerrard suffered
in the same way for attacking William, Prince of Orange. Livy
records that Mettius Suffetius was dismembered by chariots for
deserting the Roman cause.

RAYMOND (John Howard, President of Vassar College), 1814--. "_How
easy--how easy--how easy to glide from work here to the work----_"
_there_, he evidently 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"), 1814-1884. "_Amazing, amazing glory! I am having Paul's
understanding._" 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, which nature could not do. He can restore man from the
dust, 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 propitiation for our sins.'"

RENAN (Ernest, Orientalist and critic), 1823-1892. "_I 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 "General History of the Semitic Languages," was admitted
into the Academy of Inscriptions in 1856, and was sent to Syria in 1860
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 1862, in deference to the will of those who
considered him unsound in faith. He admits the excellence of the
Christian religion, but discredits its supernatural origin and rejects
the miracles.--_Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary._

REYNOLDS (Sir Joshua, celebrated portrait painter), 1723-1792. "_I 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),
1585-1642. "_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"),
1772-1827. "_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 covenant by Jesus Christ;
and there, brother, there I have found peace._"

RICHTER (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 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 clergyman 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 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 calumnies, and
his death (from consumption) threw the whole town in mourning.--_Chambers'
Encyclopædia._

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 1660-1743.

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._

ROYER-COLLARD (Pierre Paul, French philosopher and statesman),
1763-1845. "_There is nothing solid and substantial in the world but
religious ideas._"

ROGERS (John, Vicar of St. Pulchers, and reader of St. Paul's in London.
He was burnt at the stake),--1555. "_Lord, receive my spirit._"

ROLAND (Marie Jeanne Philipon, Madame. "The Spirit of the Girondin
Party"), 1754-1793. "_Go first; I can at least spare you the pain of
seeing my blood flow._"

When she arrived in front of the Statue of Liberty, she bent her head to
it, exclaiming, "Oh Liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name!"
At the foot of the scaffold she said to her companion, an old and timid
man, whom she had been encouraging on the way, "Go first; I can at least
spare you the pain of seeing my blood flow."

ROMAINE (William, English theologian, for thirty years rector of
Blackfriars), 1714-1795. "_Holy, holy, holy, blessed Lord Jesus! to Thee
be endless praise!_"

ROSA (Salvator, Italian painter), 1615-1673. "_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), 1828-1882. "_I think I shall die to-night._"
These are his last recorded words.

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 designs 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 profile. 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 Héloïse,"
"Émile," "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! 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._"

SABATIER (Raphael Bienvenu, French surgeon), 1732-1811. "_Contemplate
the state in which I am fallen, and learn to die_," said to his son.

He was ashamed of his bodily infirmities and of his approaching
mortality.

SAMSON (one of the judges of Israel, of the tribe of Dan, 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), 1804-1876. "_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), 1552-1623.
"_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._"

Away went Mr. Saunders, with a merry courage, toward 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 political, as well as
religious, reformer of Florence), 1452-1498. "_O Florence, what hast
thou done to-day?_" 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."_

SAX (Hermann Maurice, Marshal of France), 1696-1750. "_The dream has
been short, but it has been beautiful._"

SCARRON (Paul, the creator of French burlesque), 1610-1660. "_Ah! mes
enfants, you cannot cry as much for me as I have made you laugh in my
time!_" 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 abridgment of human misery." At the time of his marriage
(to the beautiful and gifted Mademoiselle d'Aubigné, 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 abridgment 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._"

Of his friends and family he took a touching but tranquil farewell; he
ordered that his funeral should be private, without pomp or parade. Some
one inquiring how he felt, he said, "Calmer and calmer;" simple but
memorable 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."_

Dunzer says, in his "Life of Schiller": "During Schiller's delirium,
from May 5th to May 9th, 1805, he repeated passages from his
'Demetrius,' and before falling asleep he called out, 'Is that your
hell? Is that your heaven?' and then looked upward with a calm smile:
'_Liebe, gute_' (Dear, good one), addressed to his wife, were the last
words he uttered."

Schiller's last words are sometimes given thus: "_Einen Blick in die
Sonne._"

SCHIMMELPENNINCK (Mary Anne, author of "Memoirs of Port-Royal"),
1778-1856. "_O, I hear such beautiful voices, and the children's are the
loudest._"

SCHLEGEL (Karl Wilhelm Friedrich, von, German philosopher and author),
1772-1829. "_But the consummate and perfect knowledge--_"

SCHLEIERMACHER (Friedrich Ernst Daniel, distinguished 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 impatience 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 features 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
and a female friend who were present, and myself, answered 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, pronouncing
aloud to each, the words of institution (Matt. xxvi, 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
foundation of my faith." After he had pronounced the blessing, 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 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._

SCHWERIN VON (Kurt Christoph, Count and Field-marshal), 1684-1757. "_Let
all brave Prussians follow me_," said just before he fell dead, having
been struck by a cannon ball.

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, notwithstanding these words, being unnerved,
inflicted several blows before the neck was severed.

SCOTT (Thomas, Privy Councillor of James V. of Scotland). "_Begone, you
and your trumpery; until this moment 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), 1771-1832. "_God bless you all!_" to his family.
Some give his last words thus: "I feel as if I were to be myself again."

Still others say his last words were these, addressed to Lockhart, "My
dear, be a good man,--be virtuous,--be religious,--be a good man.
Nothing else can give you any comfort, when you come to lie here."

It is also said by some authorities that his last words were, "There is
but one book; bring me the Bible." These words it is represented were
addressed to Lockhart who had asked him what book it was he wished to
have read to him.

SCOTT (Winfield, distinguished American general), 1786-1866. "_James,
take good care of the horse._"

As Frederick the Great's last completely conscious utterance was in
reference to his favorite English greyhound, Scott's was in regard to
his magnificent horse, the same noble animal that followed in his
funeral procession a few days later. Turning to his servant, the old
veteran's last words were: "James, take good care of the horse." In
accordance with his expressed wish, he was buried at West Point on the
first of June 1866, and his remains were accompanied to the grave by
many of the most illustrious men of the land, including Gen. Grant and
Admiral Farragut.
_Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography._

SERMENT (Mlle. de, called "The Philosopher," because of her rare
attainments in literature and of her wide acquaintance with ethics). She
died of cancer of the breast, and expired in finishing these lines which
she addressed to Death:

"_Nectare clausa suo,
Dignum tantorum pretium tulit illa laborum._"

SERVETUS (Michael. He calls himself _Serveto alias Revès_, 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
_Michael de Villanovanus_, from the assumed name of his birthplace),
1509 or 1511-1553. "_Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have mercy on me!_"

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. 1892._

SETON (Elizabeth Ann, philanthropist, foundress and first Superior of
the Sisters of Charity in the United States), 1774-1821. "_Soul of
Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, 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 himself 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 episcopal 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." Immediately he descended into the tomb,
laid himself down beside 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), 1701-1724. "_I have ever cherished an honest pride; never
have I stooped to friendship with Jonathan Wild, or with any of his
detestable 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 during 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 "gentlemen" 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.

SHERMAN (John, distinguished American statesman, United States senator,
and secretary of state), 1823-1900. "_I think you had better send for
the doctor--I am so faint._"

At three o'clock yesterday morning, Mr. Sherman took a decided turn for
the worse. At that hour he complained of feeling faint and asked that
his physician be called. During the next hour the patient had several
fainting spells and during the day these continued at short intervals.
His doctor found him very weak and prescribed a stimulant, but the
medicine had very little effect, and the patient sank slowly. All day
his condition grew worse, but he retained consciousness till about nine
o'clock last night. From time to time, yesterday, Mr. Sherman attempted
to speak, but his words were not intelligible.
_Albany Evening Journal, Oct. 22, 1900._

SICKINGEN (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 confess. He was
killed while defending his castle of Neustall.

SIDNEY (Algernon, English republican patriot), 1622-1683. "_Not till the
general resurrection: strike on!_" to the executioner who, asked him if
he would like to rise again, after laying his head on the block.

SIDNEY (Sir Philip, English gentleman, soldier and author), 1554-1586.
"_In me behold the end of the world with all its vanities._"

He was mortally wounded at Zutphen, September, 1586. After he was
wounded he called for some drink, which was brought, but before he had
tasted it, he gave the bottle to a wounded soldier, saying, "Thy
necessity is greater than mine."

SMALRIDGE (George, Bishop of Bristol), 1663-1719. "_God be thanked, I
have had a very good night._"

SMITH (Joseph, founder and first prophet of the Mormon Church),
1805-1844. "_That's right, Brother Taylor; parry them off as well as you
can_," to the Mormon 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 provoked 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.
_Lippincott's 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
exclaimed, '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 considered 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 supposed to be buried was disturbed the
night after the interment. 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 temple. The ground was then levelled,
and pieces of rock and other _débris_ 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 replaced 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 unquestionable authority that they now repose in quite
a different place. Brigham Young has endeavored to obtain possession 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 Æsculapius, 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 directions, 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 upward, 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 Æsculapius, 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 Jowett's "Dialogues of Plato."_

SOPHONISBA (the wife of Syphax, King of Numidia). "_If my husband has
for his new wife no better gift than a cup of death, I bow to his will
and accept what he bestows. I might have died more honorably if I had
not wedded so near to my funeral._"

Sophonisba was taken prisoner by Masinissa who had been formerly her
lover. He married her, but, yielding to Scipio, who feared that she
would influence her husband in favor of Carthage, he sent her a cup of
poison, bidding her remember her birth and estate.

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 world, and
especially from the society of the other sex, and gave it out that she
was with child of the Holy Ghost; and that she would 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,
1814, 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 considerable
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 persons 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 refused to believe
her dead, and consented to a postmortem examination of her body, only
when decomposition had actually commenced. After her burial they formed
themselves into a religious society which they called the Southcottian
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 translated into Latin as
Benedictus), 1632-1677. There 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 possession 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 without 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 Spinozism are one and the
same." During his life he awakened in the minds of some of the ablest
men of letters and religion a bitter hatred it is now difficult to
understand. It is but fifty years ago that Karel Luinman, at that time
minister of the Reformed church at Middleburg, 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. Coleridge 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 of the rejected but holy
Spinoza! The great Spirit of the Universe filled his soul; the Infinite
to him was beginning 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." Probably 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 medical 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 and
his wife returned from the afternoon service, they heard that Spinoza
had died about three o'clock. Nobody was with him in his last hours
except the doctor from Amsterdam, who went away again the same evening."
_Kuno Fisher's Lecture on "The Life and Character of Spinoza."_

STAËL-HOLSTEIN (Anna Louise Germaine Necker, Baroness de), 1766-1817.
"_I have loved God, my father and liberty._"

STAFFORD (William Howard, Viscount of), 1612-1680. "_This block will be
my pillow, and I shall repose there well, without pain, grief or fear._"
He was accused by Titus Oates of complicity in the Popish Plot, and was
convicted of treason. He was probably innocent. His last words were
spoken at the place of execution, and show how noble and calm was his
spirit in the presence of death.

Stafford's brother accompanied him to the place of execution, weeping.
"Brother," said he, "why do you grieve thus; do you see anything in my
life or death which can cause you to feel any shame? Do I tremble like a
criminal or boast like an Atheist? Come, be firm, and think only that
this is my third marriage, that you are my bridesman."
_Lamartine's Cromwell._

STAMBULOFF (Stefan N., ex-Prime Minister of Bulgaria, called "The
Bismarck of Bulgaria"), 1853-1895. "_God protect Bulgaria._"

STANLEY (Arthur Penrhyn, Dean of Westminster, and the leader of the
"Broad Church" party), 1815-1881. "_So far as I have understood what the
duties of my office were supposed to be, in spite of every incompetence,
I am yet humbly trustful that I have sustained before the mind of the
nation the extraordinary value of the 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. I could not have controlled it
better. After preaching one of my sermons on the beatitudes, 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 misgivings._" His last recorded words were: "_I
wish Vaughan to preach my funeral sermon, because he has known me
longest._"

STEELE (Miss Anne, the author of many beautiful and familiar hymns),
1716-1778: "_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, lay not this sin to their
charge._"--_Acts vii: 60._

STEVENS (Thaddeus, American statesman and opponent of slavery; a man of
great ability and nobleness of spirit), 1793-1868.

Two colored clergymen called and asked leave to see Stevens and pray
with him. He ordered them to be admitted; 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 motion
with his head, but no other reply. One of the sisters 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 motionless 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."_

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 solitude, 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 exclaimed, "What is that?" and soon after ceased to
breathe.[43]

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."

[43] According to a writer in the Chicago "Open Court," the main
cause of the death of Robert Louis Stevenson was probably his
consumption of tobacco. Two years before his death he confessed that
his bill for cigars amounted to $450 a year; and during the last six
months of his life he smoked an average of forty cigarettes per day,
and often as many as eighty in twenty-four hours. Can any one wonder
that this frightful habit induced chronic insomnia, to cure or
lessen which he smoked all night, till narcosis of the brain brought
on stupefaction and temporary loss of consciousness--for weeks his
nearest approach to refreshing slumber. His physician warned him in
vain that he was burning life's candle at both ends, for he tried to
write in spite of his misery; but he stuck to nicotine as the only
specific for his nervousness, with the result that was
inevitable,--his death a year afterwards.--
_Mathews: "Nugæ Litterariæ."_

STONEHOUSE (Sir James, English physician and clergyman), 1716-1795.
"_Precious salvation!_"

STROZZI (Filippo, Florentine statesman), 1488-1538. 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 learning 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_," 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.[44]

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.

[44] Rupture of the heart, it is believed, was first described by
Harvey; but since his day several cases have been observed. Morgagni
has recorded a few examples: Amongst them that of George II., who
died suddenly, of this disease in 1760; and, what is very curious,
Morgagni himself fell a victim to the same malady. Dr. Elliotson, in
his Lumleyan Lecture on Diseases of the Heart, in 1839, stated that
he had only seen one instance; but in the Cyclopædia of Practical
Medicine, Dr. Townsend gives a table of twenty-five cases, collected
from various authors. Generally this accident is consequent upon
some organic disease, such as fatty degeneration; but it may arise
from violent muscular exertion, or strong mental emotions.--_Welby:
"Mysteries of Life, Death and Futurity."_

Dr. William Stroud endeavors to prove, in his "The Physical Cause of
the Death of Christ," that our Saviour died upon the cross from
rupture of the heart, produced by agony of mind. He says: "In the
garden of Gethsemane Christ endured mental agony so intense that,
had it not been limited by divine interposition, it would probably
have destroyed his life without the aid of any other sufferings; but
having been thus mitigated, its effects were confined to violent
palpitation of the heart, accompanied with bloody sweat. On the
cross this agony was renewed, in conjunction with the ordinary
sufferings incidental to that mode of punishment; and having at this
time been allowed to proceed to its utmost extremity without
restraint, occasioned sudden death by rupture of the heart,
intimated by a discharge of blood and water from his side, when it
was afterward pierced with a spear."

SVETCHINE, or SWETCHINE (Sophia Soymonof, a Russian lady and writer),
1782-1857. Madame Svetchine's last words were, "_It will soon be time
for mass. They must raise me._" She was a most devoted Roman Catholic.

SWARTZ (Frederick Christian, Missionary in India), 1726-1798. "_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! 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),
1688-1772. "_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 afternoon, 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.[45]
_White's "Life and Writings of Swedenborg."_

[45] 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 was 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 air,
the flesh quickly fell to dust, and a skeleton was all that remained
for subsequent visitors.... At a funeral in 1817, 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. Wählin, 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 1819. The
cast which is sometimes seen in phrenological collections is
obviously not Swedenborg's: it is thought to be that of a small
female skull."

SWIFT (Jonathan, Dean of Saint Patrick's, Dublin, and author of "The
Tale of a Tub," and "Travels of Lemuel Gulliver"), 1667-1745. "_It is
folly; they had better leave it alone_," to his house-keeper who
informed him that the usual bonfires and illuminations were preparing to
do honor to his birthday. Some say his last words were, "_Ah, a German!
a prodigy, admit him!_" spoken as Handel was announced.

TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (Charles Maurice, celebrated French diplomatist),
1754-1838, "_I am suffering, sire, the pangs of the damned._" Said to
the king, Louis Phillippe, who enquired his condition.

Louis Blanc (_Histoire de Dix Ans. v. 290_) says that when Louis
Philippe called upon Talleyrand during that prince's last hours, he
enquired if he suffered: "_Yes, comme un damné_," answered Talleyrand;
at which the king said under his breath, "What, already?" (Quoi, déjà?)

TALMA (François Joseph, "The Garrick of the French Stage"), 1770-1826.
"_The worst is I can not see._"

He was interred, according to his own directions, in the cemetery of
Père-la-Chaise, Paris, without any religious 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, waiting 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 tempestuous 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."_

Just before his death he requested Cardinal Cynthia to collect his works
and commit them to the flames, especially his "Jerusalem Delivered."

TAYLOR (Bayard, traveller, poet and lecturer; the translator of Goethe's
"Faust"), 1825-1878. "_I want, oh, you know what I mean, the stuff of
life._"

TAYLOR (Edward T., an American preacher known as "Father Taylor"),
1793-1871. "_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), 1783-1823. "_Are we not children,
all of us?_"

TAYLOR (Jeremy, distinguished bishop in the English Church, and author
of "Holy Living and Dying." He has been called "The Shakspeare of
Divines"), 1613-1667. "_My trust is in God._"

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 deceive the worms in Hadley churchyard."[46] 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._"

[46] Being asked by the sheriff to explain these words, he said: "I
am as you see, a man that hath a very great carcass, which I thought
should have been buried in Hadley churchyard, if I had died in my
bed, as I well hoped I should have done. But herein I see I was
deceived. And there are a great number of worms in Hadley
churchyard, which should have had jolly feeding upon this carrion
which they have looked for many a day. But now I know we be
deceived, both I and they; for this carcass must be burnt to ashes,
and so shall they lose their bait and feeding that they looked to
have had of it." Fox, the martyrologist, adds that, "when the
sheriff and his company heard these words they were amazed, and
looked at one another, marvelling at the man's constant mind, that
thus without all fear made but a jest at the cruel torment and death
now at hand prepared for him."

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 endeavored 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 jury, you will now consider of your
verdict._"

TENNENT (William, Pastor of Presbyterian Church in Freehold, N. J. His
name has been rendered famous by his peculiar experience which at the
time attracted the attention of the entire country. During an attack of
fever, he fell into a trance which continued three days. He was supposed
to be dead, and was prepared for burial; but suddenly he recovered, and
gave a description of what he had seen in the Heavenly world. He never
doubted to the last day of his life that he had seen the New Jerusalem
during the three days of his trance. Elias Boudinot published a
circumstantial account of the wonderful vision), 1705-1777. "_I am
sensible of the violence of my disorder, and that it is accompanied with
symptoms of approaching dissolution; but, blessed be God, I have no wish
to live, if it should be His will to call me hence._"

TENNYSON (Alfred, Lord, Poet-laureate of England), 1809-1892. "_I 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 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, holding my wife's hand, and, as
he was passing away, I spoke over him his own prayer, "God accept him!
Christ receive him!" because I knew that he would have wished it.
_Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a Memoir by his son._

TERCHOUT (Adèle--"La Comète"). 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.

Does any one remember a beautiful girl who went by the nickname of "La
Comète," and flashed through the Parisian world during the last year of
the Second Empire? She was called "Comet" on account of the exceeding
length and loveliness of her golden hair. Théophile Gautier wrote a
sonnet to her, Cabanel painted her portrait. Worth dressed her, and Léon
Cugnot took her as the model of his statue, "La Baigneuse." Her real
name was Adèle 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 Elysées, 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 absolutely 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 disfigured 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._

THEOPHRASTUS (eminent Greek philosopher. He was a favorite pupil of
Aristotle whom he succeeded as President of the Lyceum B. C. 322), about
B. C. 374-286. This philosopher's last words are not recorded, but on
his death-bed he accused Nature of cruelty. He charged her with
having-given a long life to stags and crows, and only a short one to men
and women who are so much better able to use for their own good and that
of others length of days. He declared that human beings needed long life
for the perfection of art. He complained that as soon as he had begun to
perceive the beauty of the world he was called upon to die.[47]

[47] Thus also did Themistocles, the most renowned of Grecian
generals, grieve that when he had acquired the wisdom necessary for
a useful life, it was time to die.

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.), 1515-1582. "_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
illumination was made by her throughout her entire life and in the hour
of death, but just what were her last words is very uncertain.

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,[48] another
discovered spiritual beings clothed in white entering her cell, another
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.[49]

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: "Anamuesis Sanctorum Hispanorum."_

[48] The luminous faces and bodies of martyrs and saints are common
enough in the chronicles of mediæval miracles. Some modern
physicians think there were physiological causes for the strange
and, at the time, startling phenomena.

Bartholin, in his treatise "De Luce Hominum et 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.

On the eve of St. Alcuin's death (May 19th, 804), the entire
monastery was enveloped in a mysterious light, so that many thought
the building was on fire. The soul of the saint was seen to ascend
in the form of a dove, and the spectators heard celestial music in
the air.--_Early Superstitions._

The soul of St. Engelbert while going up to heaven was so bright
that St. Hermann mistook it for the moon.

Andrew Jackson Davis (the "Poughkeepsie Seer") records that while in
the clairvoyant condition he saw the entire process of the soul's
disengagement from the body.--"_The Great Harmonia_," _vol._ I, _p._
163.

[49] It was commonly believed that the immortal soul escaped from
the dead body through the mouth. Sometimes it passed out under the
form of a bird, and sometimes it seemed to be a vapor. The
appearance of the departing soul is mentioned as a known fact, by
the celebrated mystic, Jacob Böhmen, in his curious book. "_The
Three Principles_," where it is described as that of "a blue vapor
going forth out of the mouth of a dying man, which maketh a strong
smell all over the chamber."

THOREAU (Henry David, American author and naturalist), 1817-1862. "_I
leave this world without a regret._"

He was bred to no profession; and it is said that he never went to
church, never voted, and never paid a tax to the state though he was
imprisoned for not doing so. He ate no flesh, drank no wine, never knew
the use of tobacco, and never (though a naturalist) used either trap or
gun.--_Emerson._

He lived in the simplest manner; he sometimes practised the business of
land-surveyor. In 1845 he built a small frame house on the shore of
Walden Pond, near Concord, where he lived two years as a hermit, in
studious retirement. He published an account of this portion of his
life, in a small book entitled "Walden."--_Lippincott._

Thoreau was a kind and good man, but a multitude of eccentricities
separated him from the average life of man and removed him from the
common sympathy of his race. His little house on the shore of Walden
Pond he constructed with his own hands, because he thought that men
should be able to do as much as the birds who build their own nests. The
entire house cost him less than thirty dollars; and in it he lived at an
expense of about twenty-seven cents a week. The house had neither lock
nor curtain, and was unprotected day and night. The door was seldom
closed, and the window was often wide-open in the midst of a winter
storm. "I am no more lonely," he wrote, "than Walden Pond itself. What
company has that, I pray? And yet it has not the blue devils, but blue
angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters." It is said that he could
tell the day of each month by the trees and flowers.

THURLOW (Edward, Lord Chancellor in the reign of George III.),
1732-1806. "_I'll 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 deliver it to somebody; but put it again on his
finger, and lay for some time, with his left hand clenched, and without
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."

TILDEN (Samuel Jones, distinguished American lawyer 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), 1814-1886. "_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 repeated the passage to me with a
remark on the extraordinary 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 spoonful 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. "_O 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."

TITUS (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 Calvinistic clergyman and vicar
of Broad Henbury, Devonshire. He was the author of several
controversial works and of a number of beautiful hymns, chief among
which is "Rock of Ages"), 1740-1778. "_No mortal man can live after the
glories which God has manifested to my soul._"[50]

[50] Dr. Moore states that when the vital flame was flickering, the
heart was faltering with every pulse, and every breath was a
convulsion, he said to a dying believer, who had not long before
been talking in broken words of undying love, "Are you in pain?" and
the reply, with apparently the last breath, was, "It is delightful!"
In another person, in whom a gradual disease had so nearly exhausted
the physical powers that the darkness of death had already produced
blindness, the sense of God's love was so overpowering, that every
expression for many hours referred to it in rapturous words, such
as, "This is life--this is heaven--God is love--I need not faith--I
have the promise." It is easy to attribute such expressions to
delirium; but this does not alter their character, nor the reality
of the state of the soul which produces them. Whether a dying man
can maintain any continued attention to things through his senses,
we need not inquire. It is enough for him, if, in the spirit, he
possesses the peace and joy of believing.--_The Use of the Body in
Relation to the Mind._

TURENNE (Henry de la, Vicomte, famous French general, killed at Salzbach
in July, 1675), 1611-1675. "_I do not mean to be killed to-day._" Said
just before he was struck by a cannon-ball.

TYNDALE, or TINDALE (William, the venerable martyr and translator of the
Bible), 1484-1536. "_Lord, open the eyes of the King of England._" He
was first strangled 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."

TYNDALL (John, English physicist, author of many scientific books, chief
among which are "Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion," "Forms of Water
in Clouds and Rivers, Ice and Glaciers," and "Floating Matter in the
Air"), 1820-. It is uncertain what were the last words of Prof. Tyndall,
but the last words which he wrote for publication were in response to a
request from an American syndicate for a Christmas message to his
American friends. The message closed with these words: "I choose the
nobler part of Emerson, when, after various disenchantments, he
exclaims, 'I covet truth!' The gladness of true heroism visits the heart
of him who is really competent to say that."

TYNG (Dudley A., a young and gifted clergyman whose last words furnished
the inspiration for Rev. Dr. Duffield's popular hymn, "Stand up for
Jesus"). "_Know Him? He is my Saviour--my all. Father, stand up for
Jesus!_"

Leaving his study for a moment, he went to the barn floor, where a mule
was at work on a horse-power, shelling corn. Patting him on the neck,
the sleeve of his silk study gown caught in the cogs of the wheel, and
his arm was torn out by the roots. His death occurred in a few hours.
When he was dying his father said to him, "Dudley, your mother has your
hand in hers, can you press it a little that she may know you recognize
her?" The young man made no response. Later his father said, "Dudley, do
you know the Lord Jesus Christ?" He started, and said, "Know Him? He is
my Saviour--my all. Father, stand up for Jesus!"

USHER (James, Archbishop), 1580-1656. "_Lord, forgive 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 inhabitants of Cuba. The execution took place at Havana,
July, 1844. Seated on a bench, with his back turned, as ordered, to the
soldiers appointed to shoot him, he said: "Adios, mundo; no hay piedad
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 composition of the gifted Valdes.

VANDERBILT (Cornelius "Commodore," President of New York Central
Railroad under whose management that road was consolidated with the
Hudson River Railroad. He laid the foundation of an extensive railroad
system and of an immense family fortune), 1794-1877. "_Yes, yes, sing
that for me. I am poor and needy_," to one who was singing to him the
familiar hymn, "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy."

VANE (Sir Henry), 1612-1662. "_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), 1585-1619. "_Illi in extremis prae timore imbellis
sudor; ego imperturbatus morior._" See _Grammond, Hist. Gal. iii._ 211.

After travelling through Germany, Holland and England, he went to
Toulouse, where he was arrested and condemned by the parliament to be
burned alive. He wrote "Amphitheatrum Æternæ Providentiæ," and "De
Admirandis Naturæ Arcanis," for which latter work he suffered in 1619.

VESPASIAN (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 the emperors, "I suppose I shall soon be a god."

VEUSTER DE (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
Roman 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
Honolulu. He had no hand in the reforms and improvements inaugurated,
which were the work of our Board of 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 Stevenson replied in most
violent language, of which the following is a sample:

"You remember that you have done me several courtesies 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 set 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 on
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.

VICTORIA (Alexandrina Victoria, Queen of England and Ireland and Empress
of India), 1819-1901. It is said, though upon what authority the
compiler is unable to discover, that the last words of Queen Victoria
were, "_Oh, that peace may come._" It is understood that the Queen was
opposed to the war in South Africa, and her last words would seem to
indicate that her thoughts, even in the hour of death, were busy with
the unhappy conflict.

VIDOCQ (Eugène François, famous French detective), 1775-1857. "_How
great is the forgiveness for such 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 1810 he enlisted 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 mention. 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."_

VILLARS DE (Claude Louis Hector, famous French general), 1653-1734. "_I
always deemed him more fortunate than myself._" Said to his confessor,
who told him that the Duke of Berwick had perished by a cannon ball.

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 opportunity, 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
having 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 Death._

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 22d 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, duces.

VITELLIUS (Aulus, Emperor of Rome), 15-69. "_Yet I was once your
emperor_," to the soldiers of Vespasian who were putting him to death by
a lingering torture whilst they were dragging him by a horse into the
Tiber.

VOLTAIRE (a name capriciously assumed by François Marie Arouet, and made
by him more celebrated than any other of which we read in the literary
history of the eighteenth century), 1694-1778. "_Adieu my dear Marand; 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 published in the _Journal des Debats_, the last words of
Voltaire 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 die in peace!" to one who called his
attention to our Saviour.

There are several widely divergent accounts of the last hours of
Voltaire, and perhaps it is not possible to know just what measure of
truth is to be found in any one of them. It is said that on his
death-bed he cursed D'Alembert and denounced his infidel associates;
that he made in the presence of Abbé Gaultier, the Abbé Mignot, and the
Marquis de Villeveille a declaration of his wish to be reconciled to
"the church;" that he spent much time in alternately praying and
blaspheming. These facts, if facts they really are, rest upon the
statements of Mons. Tronchin, the Protestant physician from Geneva, who
attended him almost to the last, and who was so horrified at what he
witnessed that he said, "_Pour voir toutes les furies d'Oreste, il n'y
avait qu'a se trouver a la mort de Voltaire._" The Marechal de
Richelieu, also, was terrified at what he saw and heard, and left the
bed-side of Voltaire declaring that his nerves were not strong enough to
endure the strain. Tronchin's statements are denied by Vilette and
Monke, who represent the last hours of the great Frenchman as calm and
peaceful. The exact truth will, it is most likely, never be known beyond
all question, and yet, to the compiler of this book, the weight of
evidence seems to be with Tronchin rather than with those who have
impeached his testimony.

WAGNER (Richard Wilhelm, German composer, among whose works are
"Rheingold," "Valkyria," "Siegfried" and "The Twilight of the Gods"),
1813-1883. "_Mir ist sehr 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 bad)," 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.

WARNER (Charles Dudley, author and lecturer), 1829-1900. "_I am not
well, and should like to lie down--will you call me in ten minutes?
Thank you. You are very kind--in ten minutes--remember!_"

Among Mr. Warner's acquaintances was a colored man, to whom he gave
books to encourage his desire to read, particularly books connected
with the history of the colored race, upon which Mr. Warner was an
authority.

Mr. Warner probably intended to call on this man, as he was in the
neighborhood of his house when he was stricken. Feeling ill, he asked
permission at a house to sit down, then to lie down, requesting to be
called in ten minutes. When the woman of the house went to call him he
was dead.

WASHINGTON (George, "the Father of His Country,"[51] and the first
President of the United States), 1732-1799. "_It 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 be put into the vault until
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
another, 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 directions and plans for a new
vault, which was built afterward, and to which his remains were
transferred in 1832. The front of his tomb has an ante-chamber, built of
red brick, about twelve feet in height, with a large iron gateway. 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."

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."

[51] "And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, _the
father of the Valley of Charashim_; for they were craftsmen."--_1
Chronicles iv: 14_; Julius Cæsar 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 Patriæ_; and Louis XVIII.
of France was commonly called the Father of the Country.

WATTS (Isaac, English divine and sacred poet. He is the author of many
beautiful and popular hymns), 1674-1748. "_It is a great mercy to me
that I have no manner of fear or dread of death. I could, if God please,
lay my head back and die without terror this afternoon._"

WEBSTER (Daniel), 1782-1852. "_I 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.[52]

He inquired whether it were likely that he should again eject blood
from his stomach before death, and being told that it was improbable, he
asked, "Then what shall you do?" Being answered that he would be
supported by stimulants, and rendered as easy as possible by the opiates
that had suited him so well, he inquired, at once, if the stimulant
should not be given immediately; anxious again to know if the hand of
death were not already upon him. And on being told that it would not be
then given, he replied, "_When_ you give it to me, I shall know that I
may drop off at once."

Being satisfied on this point, and that he should, therefore, have a
final warning, he said a moment afterwards, "I will, then, put myself in
a position to obtain a little repose." In this he was successful. He had
intervals of rest to the last; but on rousing from them he showed that
he was still intensely anxious to preserve his consciousness, and to
watch for the moment and act of his departure, so as to comprehend it.
Awaking from one of these slumbers, late in the night, he asked
distinctly if he were alive, and on being assured that he was, and that
his family was collected around his bed, he said in a perfectly natural
tone, as if assenting to what had been told him, because he himself
perceived that it was true, "I still live." These were his last coherent
and intelligible words. At twenty-three minutes before three o'clock,
without a struggle or a moan, all signs of life ceased to be visible.
--_Louis Gaylord Clark._

[52] The United States has produced no greater orator than Daniel
Webster; nevertheless, in the minds of many, he fell from his most
exalted station as the interpreter of the public conscience, when he
delivered, March 7, 1850, his famous speech, assenting to the
Fugitive Slave Law. It was this speech that called forth Whittier's
poem "Ichabod," which has been often compared with Browning's "Lost
Leader."

WEBSTER (Thomas, Professor of Geology in the London University, and
author of "Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy"), 1773-1844. "_Examine it
for yourself._"

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_"), 1797-1882. "_I want to go
home._"

During his last hours his mind wandered, and he thought himself in
conversation with President Lincoln and General Scott with regard to the
Southern Confederacy.

WESLEY (Charles, English hymn-writer whose sacred songs are sung, in
original or translation, all over the Christian world. He is the author
of "Love divine, all love excelling," "Jesus, lover of my soul," and
"Christ, the Lord, is risen to-day"), 1708-1788. "_I shall be satisfied
with Thy likeness--satisfied!_"

WESLEY (John, founder of the Methodist Episcopal Church), 1703-1791.
"_The best of all is God is with us._"

His body lay in a kind of state in his chapel at London the day previous
to his interment, dressed in his clerical habit, with gown, cassock,
and band, the old clerical cap on his head, a Bible in one hand, and a
white handkerchief in the other. The funeral service was read by one of
his old preachers. When he came to the part of the service, "Forasmuch
as it hath pleased God to take unto himself the soul of our dear
brother," his voice changed, and he substituted the word "father;" and
the feeling with which he did this was such, that the congregation, who
were shedding silent tears, burst at once into loud weeping.--"_Southey's
Life of Wesley._"

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), 1547-1595. "_Life or death is welcome to me; and
I desire 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 suffering; 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.
_Thom's "Life of Joseph Blanco White."_

Compare the death-bed of the Deist, Joseph Blanco White, with that of
poor Keats, and I think it must be admitted 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 Methodist Church, and
chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon), 1714-1770. "_I am 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 ingenious 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._

WHITMAN (Walt, American poet and army nurse), 1819-1892. "_O, he's a
dear, good fellow_," said of 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 unusual (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."_

Whitman has, amid the fleshly and physical poems, much that is deeply
spiritual; amid the tuneless and formless, much noble thought fitly
voiced. The higher mood and the higher work may be 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
"Passage to India."
_Welsh: "Digest of English and American Literature."_

WHITTIER (John Greenleaf, distinguished American poet), 1807-1892. "_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 Rykman's prayer was used for consolation by
him who wrote it in the hour of death. Mrs. Daniel Lathrop."
_N. Y. Tribune, September 12, 1892._

WIELAND (Christoph Martin, celebrated German poet, first translator of
Shakspeare's works into the German language, founder and editor of the
"Deutscher Mercur." His most celebrated poem is "Oberon"), 1733-1813.
"_To sleep--to die._"

WILBERFORCE (William, British statesman and philanthropist), 1759-1833.
"_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!_" 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
preaching urged him to repent, yet he slid back upon his past gaiety,
until 'Parson Pureney' became a by-word. Dismissed from Newmarket in
disgrace, he wandered the country up and down in search of a pulpit, but
so infamous became the habit of his life that only in prison could he
find an audience fit and responsive."

WILLARD (Frances Elizabeth, American reformer and temperance advocate),
1839--. "_How beautiful to be with God._"

Shortly before Frances Willard's death she took notice of Hoffman's
picture of Christ on the wall, which had been given to her by Lady Henry
Somerset, and directed that it be taken back to Lady Henry with this
inscription: "Only the golden rule of Christ can bring the golden age of
man." Her last words were "How beautiful to be with God."
_Rev. C. C. Carpenter._

WILLIAM I. (of England, surnamed "The Conqueror"), 1025-1087. "_I
commend myself to the blessed Lady Mary, hoping by her intercessions to
be reconciled to her most dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ._"

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. "_The only objection against the Bible is a bad life._"

WILSON (Alexander, distinguished ornithologist), 1766-1813. His last
words are not recorded, but just before his death he asked to be buried
where the birds might sing over his grave.[53]

[53] 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."

WINKELRIED (Arnold von, Swiss patriot who broke the Austrian phalanx at
the battle of Sempach in 1385, by rushing against the points of their
spears, and gathering within his arms as many as he could. He fell
pierced with many wounds, but the Swiss were victorious). "_Friends, I
am going to lay down my life to procure you victory. All I request is
that you provide for my family. Follow me and imitate my example._"

A column surmounted by a lion, erected on the five hundredth anniversary
of the victory marks the spot where Arnold von Winkelried fell.

WISHART (George), 1502-1546. "_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.

A few moments before he uttered his last words the executioner said to
him, "Sir, I pray you to forgive me, for I am not guilty of your death,"
to which the martyr, having replied, "Come hither to me," and then
kissed him on the cheek, said: "Lo, here is a token that I forgive
thee."

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,[54] which contained sentiments
suited to his deplorable condition."--_Hume._

[54] Horace lib. iii, Ode 3.

WOLCOTT, or WOLCOT (John, "Peter Pindar," witty and scurrilous satiric
poet. "The most unsparing calumniator 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 (Charles, Irish clergyman and poet, author of "Burial of Sir John
Moore," which is regarded as one of the most finished poems of its kind
in the English language), 1791-1823. "_Close this eye, the other is
closed already; and now farewell!_"

On going to bed he felt very drowsy; and soon after the stupor of death
began to creep over him. He began to pray for all his dearest friends
individually; but his voice faltering, he could only say--"God bless
them all! The peace of God and of Jesus Christ overshadow them, dwell in
them, reign in them!" "My peace," said he, addressing his sister (the
peace I now feel), "Be with you!"--"Thou, O God, wilt keep him in
perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." His speech again began to
fail, and he fell into a slumber; but whenever his senses were recalled
he returned to prayer. He repeated part of the Lord's prayer, but was
unable to proceed; and at last, with a composure scarcely credible at
such a moment, he whispered to the dear relative who hung over his
death-bed, "Close this eye, the other is closed already; and now
farewell!" Then, having again uttered part of the Lord's prayer, he fell
asleep.
_Rev. John A. Russell: "Remains of Rev. Charles Wolfe."_

WOLFE (James, a celebrated English officer, killed in the battle of
Quebec), 1726-1759. "_I die happy._" On being told of the defeat of the
French.

Some give his last words thus: "Support me, let not my brave soldiers
see me drop; the day is ours! Oh! keep it!" Said to those who were near
him when he received his wound. He feared the effect of his death upon
his troops.

WOLLSTONECRAFT (Mary, afterwards Mrs. Godwin, English authoress),
1759-1797. "_I know what you are thinking of, but I have nothing to
communicate on the subject 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 Wolsey), 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,
peradventure, understand my words better._"
_D'Aubigné's "History of the Reformation."_

On the morning of the second day, as Cavendish was watching near Wolsey,
he inquired the hour, and being told eight o'clock,--"That cannot be,"
he replied, "for at eight o'clock you will lose your master: my time is
at hand, and I must depart this world." His confessor, who was standing
near, requested Cavendish to enquire if he would be confessed. "What
have you to do with that?" answered the Cardinal, angrily; but was
appeased by the interference of the confessor. He continued to grow
weaker all that day: about four o'clock the next morning, he asked for
some refreshment, which having received, and made his final confession,
Sir William Kingston entered his room, and enquired how he felt himself:
"I tarry," said the dying man, "but the pleasure of God, to render up my
poor soul into His hands. I have now been eight days together troubled
with a continual flux and fever, a species of disease which, if it do
not remit its violence within that period, never fails to terminate in
death." Then follows his message to the King, concluding with, "Had I
served my God as diligently as I have served the King, He would not have
given me over in my grey hairs." He then continued, for a short time, to
give Sir William some advice, concluding with, "Forget not what I have
said; and when I am gone, call it often to mind." Towards the
conclusion, his accents began to falter; at the end, his eyes became
motionless, and his sight failed. The abbot was summoned to administer
the extreme unction, and the yeomen of the guard were called to see him
die. As the clock struck eight he expired, on the 29th of November,
1530.
_Welby: "Predictions Realized."_

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,
But, to those men that sought him, sweet as 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"), 1827-1889. "_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, finding 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.[55]--_Theodore
Wood._

[55] Sir Charles Blagden, the distinguished English physician and
chemist (1748-1820) died so quietly and peacefully that not a drop
of coffee in the cup which he held in his hand was spilt. He was
sitting in his chair at a social meal with his friends, Monsieur and
Madame Berthollet, and Gay Lussac. Dr. Joseph Black, also a famous
physician, died whilst eating his customary meal of bread and milk,
and so quiet and peaceful was his departure that he did not even
spill the contents of a spoon which he held in his hand.

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 recorded words said to a carpenter who had come 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 standing up to die, as did also the Rev.
Patrick Bronté.

WORDSWORTH (William, distinguished English poet), 1770-1850. "_God bless
you! Is that you Dora?_"

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?"[56]
_Memoirs of Wordsworth, Vol. ii, p. 506._

[56] William Wordsworth died April 23rd, 1850, at the age of 80, and
was buried in the little centry-garth of St. Oswald's, Grasmere,
between, as De Quincey records, "a yew-tree of his own planting, and
an aged thorn." On his tombstone is an inscription from the pen of
Keble, in which he is styled, "a chief minister, not only of noblest
poesy, but of high and Sacred truth." Surely the tender lover of
Nature, and high-priest of her mysteries, could have no fitter
resting-place than this Westmoreland churchyard, where, as some one
has written, "the turf is washed green by summer dew, and winter
rain, and in early spring is beautifully dappled with lichens and
golden moss?" This reads very prettily, and represents the thing as
it should be. But what are the facts? The literary pilgrim who may
chance to visit the spot will follow a narrow muddy path among the
grave mounds, till he reaches a gloomy dingy corner, with a group of
blue-black head-stones of funereal slate. Everything round the place
is decayed and blighted; no green grass is there; all is dull, dark
and depressing. The poet's corner is ill-drained; and there is a
tiny moat of water round the base of the stone curb, in which is
fixed the iron railing that surrounds the grave. Yet here is a
remarkable group of memorial tombs. Near to the poet lie all the
beloved members of his household. Here slumbers his favorite sister,
Dorothy; here, too, Mrs. Wordsworth,--Dora Wordsworth,--her husband,
Edward Quillinan, the poet, and translator of the _Lusiad_,--the two
infant children of Wordsworth,--and behind these, Hartley Coleridge,
that "inheritor of unfulfilled renown," whose bier the poet followed
one snowy day in January, unwitting that, before the trees were
again clad with verdure, he would be borne along the same narrow
path to his own long rest. Surely something should be done to rescue
the poet's monument from decay, and render it more in accordance
with the verdant foliage and the sun-bright hills around, of which
he sung so lovingly and so well.
_William Bates._

WOTTON (Sir Henry, English diplomatist, author of some very beautiful
short poems and of a number of books, chief among which are "The State
of Christendom," and "The Characters of Some of the English Kings"),
1568-1639. "_I now draw near to the harbor of death--that harbor that
will rescue me from all the future storms and waves of this restless
world. I praise God, I am willing to leave it, and expect a better--that
world wherein dwelleth righteousness, and I long for it._"

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._" These were Wyatt's last
words.

WYCHERLEY (William, author of "The Plain-dealer," "The Country Wife,"
and several other comedies), 1640-1715. "_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.

XIMENES DE CISNEROS (Francisco, Spanish cardinal), 1719-1774. "_This is
death._"

YANCEY (William Lowndes, American politician, secessionist and
commissioner to Europe to secure recognition 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"), 1764-1831.
"_Nature, how lovely thou art!_"

ZANE (Giacomo, a Venetian poet), 1529-1560. "_I should like to live._"
There is dispute about these words; some writers say his last words
were: "I should _not_ like to live."

ZEISBERGER (David, German missionary among the American Indians, author
of a number of books in the language of the Delaware Indians),
1721-1808. "_I am going, my people, to rest from all my labors and to be
at home with the Lord. He has never forsaken me in distress, and will
not forsake me now. I have reviewed my whole life, and found that there
is much to be forgiven._"

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 recorded 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 intermission; and,
reckoning from the time when he commenced his studies under Crates, the
Cynic, he had devoted himself to philosophy for sixty-eight
years."--_Fenelon._

ZIMMERMANN (Johann Georg von, eminent Swiss physician of the eighteenth
century, and author of a famous essay on "Solitude"), 1728-1795. "_I am
dying; leave me alone._"

He was completely deranged for some time before his death.

ZINZENDORF (Nicolaus Ludwig, Count and Lord of Zinzendorf 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), 1484-1531. "_Can this be considered a calamity? Well! they can,
indeed, kill the body, but they are not able to kill the soul._" Said
after receiving a mortal wound.

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 ten-fold 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 uncertainty can trust, even though it
be with trembling faith, One greater than the greatest, and Who has
named Himself 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,

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 crost the bar.
_Tennyson._

INDEX

Above all do not miss me! 159

Absolutely, and I pray God to condemn me if I have, 239

Adieu, my dear Marand; I am dying, 293

Adieu, O world; here is no pity for me. Soldiers, fire, 287

Adios, mundo; no hay piedad para mi. Soldados, fuego, 287

After I am dead you will find Calais written upon my heart, 186

Ah, Jesus! 61

Ah! mes enfants, you cannot cry as much for me, 247

Ah! my child, let us speak of Christ's love, 43

Ah! poor humpback, thy many long years, 70

Ah! very well, 16

Ah, a German! a prodigy, admit him! 273

All I request of you, gentlemen, is that you bear witness, 12

All is well! 97

All is well, all is well--the Seed of God reigns over all, 101

All my life I have carried myself gracefully, 52

All my possessions for one moment of time, 91

Amazing, amazing glory! I am having Paul's understanding, 237

Amen, 48

An Emperor ought to die standing, 289

And must I then die? Will not all my riches save me? 25

Anderson, you know that I always wished to die, 199

Are the doctors here? 123

Are the French beaten? 199

Are we not children, all of us? 275

Artery ceases to beat, The, 122

Assatus est; jam versa et manduca, 161

"Asunder flies the man," 175

At least, I may die facing the enemy, 23

At rest at last. Now I am free from pain, 129

At the last hour God alone can give mortals comfort, 247

Away! Away! Why do you thus look at me? 26

Ay, Jesus! 62

Back, thou accursed phantom, 164

Be fruitful, 188

Be good, be virtuous, my lord, 176

Be of good comfort, brother, for we shall have a merry supper, 43

Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man, 161

Be quick about it, 22

Be serious, 119

Be thou everlasting, 246

Begone, thou wretched beast, 6

Begone, you and your trumpery; until this moment, 252

Behold then, the recompense reserved, 80

Beloved Bickus, the principle of existence and mutability, 110

Best of all is, God is with us, The, 300

Bishop ought to die on his legs, A, 313

Blessed be God, I have kept a conscience void of offence, 288

Blessed be God, though I change my place, 231

Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given, The, 232

Bring thy torch hither; do thine office before my face, 152

Brother, brother, strong evidences, nothing but strong evidences, 240

Brother Ranney, will you bury me? bury me? quick! quick! 153

But the consummate and perfect knowledge--, 249

Can this be considered a calamity? Well, they can, 318

Can this last long? 307

Carry my bones before you on your march, 88

Catholic faith is, to love God and to love man, The, 66

Christ also hath suffered for sins, 133

Christ Jesus the Saviour of sinners and life of the dead, 210

Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die! 9

Close this eye, the other is closed already, 309

Come, my son, and see how a Christian can die, 126

Come to me, 85

Commend your souls to God, for our bodies are the foes! 198

Comme un dernier rayon, comme un dernier zéphyre, 63

Contemplate the state in which I am fallen, and learn to die, 245

Crito, I owe a cock to Æsculapius, 260

Dear gentlemen, let me die, 110

Dear little fellow--he is a beautiful boy, 158

Death wins this time, 227

Debt! 189

Deep dream of peace, 142

Did I not say I was writing the Requiem for myself? 202

Did you know Burke? 256

Did you think I should live forever? 171

Do not let the Civil Rights bill fail! 270

Do you hear the music? 37

Don't let poor Nelly starve! 60

Domine! Domine! fac finem! fac finem! 98

Dream has been short, The, 247

Dying, dying, 134

Dying man can do nothing easy, A, 102

Earth, dost thou demand me? I am ready, 316

Einen Blick in die Sonne, 249

End has come in the way in which I most desired, The, 206

Erravi cum Petro, sed non flevi cum Petro, 108

Est ist gut, 156

Et tu, Brute! 52

Examine it for yourself, 300

Exariare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor, 269

Faith and patience hold out, 223

Far from well, yet far better than mine iniquities deserve, 188

Farewell, and remember me, 181

Farewell, my children, forever. I go to your father, 182

Farewell, O farewell, all earthly things, and welcome heaven, 30

Farewell sun, moon, and stars, 177

Fear not true Pharisees, but greatly fear painted Pharisees, 9

Fi de la vie! qu'on ne m'en parle plus, 181

Fifty years have passed since I became Caliph, 2

Food is palatable, The, 100

For the love of God, don't mention that man! 294

For the name of Jesus and the defense of the Church, 26

For the sake of the true gospel given once by the grace of God, 308

Frenchmen, I die innocent of all the crimes, 178

Friend, you do not well to trample on a dying man, 225

Friendship itself is but a part of virtue, 229

Friends, I am going to lay down my life, 308

Gentlemen of the jury, you will now consider of your verdict, 276

Give Day Rolles a chair, 63

Give me a large cup of tea, 312

Give me back my youth, 309

Give my love to the world, 304

Give the boys a holiday, 11

Give them the cold steel, boys, 16

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," 27

Glory hallelujah! I am going to the Lordy! I come! Ready! Go! 119

Glory to God for all things, Amen, 64

Go first; I can at least spare you the pain, 243

Go ye to the country of Tyre and Sidon, 148

"God be merciful to me, a sinner," 287

God be thanked, I have had a very good night, 258

God bless you, 49

God bless you all! 252

God bless you! Is that you, Dora? 313

God bless you, my dear! 153

God forgive me.--Amen! 126

God have mercy upon me, and be gracious to me, 263

God preserve the emperor, 120

God protect Bulgaria, 266

God, who placed me here, will do what he pleases with me hereafter, 38

God will continue to support me, 102

God's will be done, 158

God's wounds! The villain hath killed me, 292

Good-bye, 207

Good-bye, General; I'm done. I'm too old, 90

Good Doctor, God has heard my daily petitions, 135

Good morning, 203

Good people, give me more fire, 136

Grateful--in peace, 149

Grenadiers! lower your arms, otherwise you will miss me, 97

Guard the church I loved so well, 227

Guilty, weak, and helpless worm, A, 133

Ha til mi tulidh, 242

Had it pleased my Lord to spare me longer, 271

Happy, 178

Happy, 235

He, 126

He has indeed been a precious Christ to me, 245

He that loves God ought to think, 37

Heaven! 305

Help, my dear--help! 178

Heracles, how cold your bath is, 154

Here! Fire here! 287

Here, then, we have come to the last stage of my journey, 37

Here thou art then! 64

Herr Jesu, to thee I live; Herr Jesu, to thee I die! 104

Hold your tongue; your wretched style only makes, 178

Holy, holy, holy, blessed Lord Jesus! 243

How am I advanced, despising you that are upon the earth! 180

How beautiful! 205

How beautiful God is! 158

How beautiful to be with God, 306

How easy--how easy--how easy to glide from work here, 237

How grand the sunlight! It seems to beckon earth to heaven, 142

How great is the forgiveness for such a life! 291

How sweet it is to rest! 275

Huz! Huz! 171

I always deemed him more fortunate than myself, 292

I am a Queen, but have no power to use my arms, 174

I am a priest! Fie! Fie! all is gone, 25

I am about to die, and I am not afraid to die, 296

I am about to die. I expect the summons soon, 276

I am almost dead; lift me up a little higher, 87

I am almost in eternity, 43

I am almost well, 23

I am done for, 128

I am dying, 302

I am dying, I am worn out, 201

I am dying; leave me alone, 317

I am dying, sir, of a hundred good symptoms, 229

I am glad to hear it; but, O brother Payne! 216

I am going, my people, to rest from my labors, 316

I am going to sleep like you, but we shall all awake together, 231

I am going to the great perhaps, 233

I am going where all tears will be wiped from my eyes, 187

I am grateful for your presence, 57

I am grateful to Divine Mercy, 160

I am ill--very ill, I shall not recover, 201

I am just going; have me decently buried, 296

I am laboring to return that which is divine, 228

I am lost, and there is no use to deny it, 107

I am not well, and should like to lie down, 295

I am not in the least afraid to die, 77

I am now ready to die. Lord, forsake me not, 131

I am perfectly resigned, 116

I am ready, 96

I am ready, 188

I am ready at any time--do not keep me waiting, 45

I am ready--let there be no mistake and no delay, 36

I am roasted--now turn me, and eat me, 161

I am satisfied with the Lord's will, 209

I am sensible of the violence of my disorder, 276

I am suffering, sire, the pangs of the damned, 273

I am sweeping through the gates, 68

I am the wheat of Christ, 145

I am very ill. Is it not strange that these people, 55

I am weary; I will now go to sleep, Good night! 207

I am wounded, 129

I believe, Lord, and confess, 224

I cannot bear it; let me rest. I must die, 241

I carry in my heart the dirge of the monarchy, 194

I commend myself to the blessed Lady Mary, 307

I confide to your care, my beloved children, 197

I could wish this tragic scene were over, 232

I desire to go to hell, and not to heaven, 178

I did not think that they would put a young gentleman to death, 22

I die a martyr and willingly--my soul shall mount up to heaven, 46

I die happy, 310

I die like a good Catholic, 26

I die not only a Protestant, but with the heart-hatred of popery, 16

I die of a broken heart, 156

I die unprepared, 41

I do, 215

I do forgive you, 138

I do not fear death, 36

I do not mean to be killed to-day, 285

I fear not death; death is not terrible to me, 59

I feel as if I were sitting with Mary at the feet of my Redeemer, 129

I feel as if I were to be myself again, 252

I feel like a mote in the sunbeam, 223

I feel now that I am dying, 29

I feel quite well, only very weak, 154

I feel the flowers growing over me, 156

I give thee thanks, O God, for all thy benefits, 89

I go to my God and Saviour, 132

I have already confessed my sins to God, 257

I have always endeavored to the best of my ability, 66

I have been false to my God, 31

I have been fortunate in long good health and constant success, 239

I have been murdered; no remedy can prevent my speedy death, 162

I have been nearer to you when you have missed me, 165

I have done my work. It is the most natural thing in the world to die, 238

I have done the damnable deed, 230

I have enough, brother; try to save your own life, 120

I have ever cherished an honest pride; never have I stooped, 255

I have found at last the object of my love, 145

I have had a noble share of life, 183

I have had wealth, rank and power, but if these were all, 7

I have known thee all the time, 304

I have led a happy life, 127

I have loved God, my father and liberty, 265

I have loved justice and hated iniquity, 118

I have no enemies except those of the state, 239

I have no religious joys; but I have hope, 106

I have no wish to believe on that subject, 217

I have not so behaved myself, 10

I have often read and thought of that scripture, 51

I have opened it, 277

I have pain--there is no arguing against sense, 23

I have Paul's understanding, 237

I have peace of mind, 10

I have peace, perfect peace, 51

I have something to tell you, 177

I have taught men how to live, 66

I have the flavor of death on my tongue, I taste death, 201

I heard your voice; but did not understand what you said, 119

I hope the people of England will be satisfied, 199

I know that it will be well with me, 100

"I know that my Redeemer liveth," 167

I know what you are thinking of, but I have nothing, 310

I leave this world without a regret, 281

I'll be shot if I don't believe I'm dying, 282

I must arrange my pillows for another weary night, 147

I must now hasten away since my baggage has been sent, 20

I must sleep now, 51

I never departed from the true church, 281

I never thought that it was so easy a matter to laugh, 247

I now draw near to the harbor of death, 315

I now feel so weaned from earth, my affections so much in heaven, 305

I now feel that I am dying. Our care must be, 193

I only regret that I have but one life to give to my country! 121

I pray you all pray for me, 25

I pray you see me safe up the scaffold, 200

I receive absolution upon this condition, 235

I repent of my life except that part, 85

I resign my spirit to God; my daughter to my country, 152

I see earth receding; Heaven is opening; God is calling me, 198

I shall be glad to find a hole to creep out of the world at, 133

I shall be satisfied with thy likeness, 300

I shall gladly obey His call, 13

I shall hear in heaven, 28

I shall not live more than two days, therefore make haste, 313

I shall not long hesitate between conscience and the Pope, 29

I shall retire early; I am very tired, 177

I shall this day deceive the worms in Hadley churchyard, 275

I should like to live, 316

I should like to record the thoughts of a dying man, 24

I should not like to live, 316

I stand in the presence of my Creator, 134

I still live! 298

I strike my flag, 139

I suffer nothing, but feel a sort of difficulty of living longer, 101

I suffer the violence of pain and death, 41

I suppose I shall soon be a god, 289

I take God to witness I have preached, 144

I thank God that not a day of my life has been spent, 223

I thank thee, O my God and Saviour, 161

I thank you for all your faithful services; God bless you, 53

I think I shall die to-night, 244

I think you had better send for a doctor, 257

I thought dying had been harder, 172

I trust in the mercy of God, it is not now too late, 130

I want, oh, you know what I mean, the stuff of life, 274

I want to go away, 57

I want to go home, 300

I were miserable, if I might not die, 85

I will enter now into the house of the Lord, 171

I will have no rogue's son in my seat, 91

I will lie down on the couch, 64

I wish I had the power of writing, 73

I wish Vaughan to preach my funeral sermon, 266

I wish you to understand the true principles of government, 124

If he should slay me ten thousand times, 244

If I die, I die unto the Lord, Amen, 147

If I had strength to hold a pen I would write, 144

If I have been deceived, doubtless it was the work of a spirit, 261

If my husband has for his new wife no better gift, 261

If you think it will be of service, 123

If you love my soul, away with it! 135

Illi in extremis prae timore imhellis sudor, 289

In death at last let me rest with Abelard, 128

In me behold the end of the world, 258

Indeed, no more medicine, 99

Independence forever! 2

In life and in death, I am the Lord's, 147

"In manus tuos, Domine, commendo spiritum meum," 66

In the name of modesty, cover my bosom! 92

Is it not true, dear Hammel, that I have some talent after all? 28

Is Lawrence come?--Is Lawrence come? 106

Is not this dying with courage and true greatness? 31

Is there no priest at the château? 97

Is this death? 165

Is this death? 233

Is this dying? Is this all? Is this all that I feared? 187

It came with a lass, and it will go with a lass, 152

It grows dark, boys. You may go, 1

It is folly; they had better leave it alone, 273

It is a great consolation for a dying poet, 38

It is a great consolation to me, in my last hour, 106

It is a great mercy to me, 298

It is a great satisfaction to me to know, 199

It is all one, Phillips and Clarke will come for my sake, 221

It is all the same in the end, 214

It is beautiful, 45

It is delightful to see those whom I love still able to swallow, 73

It is done! 116

It is likely that you may never need to do it again, 134

It is not painful, Pætus, 18

It is nothing, 139

It is safest to trust to Jesus, 29

It is small, very small indeed, 38

It is the last of earth! I am content! 2

It was not enough to deprive me of the crown, 225

It is well, 296

It is well; I thank you; God bless you, 271

It matters little to me; for if I am but once dead, 47

It matters not where I am going, whether the weather, 90

It will be but a momentary pang, 11

It will soon be time for mass. They must raise me, 271

It would be hard indeed if we two dear friends should part, 215

James, take good care of the horse, 253

Jefferson survives, 2

Jesu! 228

Jesus! Jesus! 153

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, 254

Jesus! precious Saviour! 73

Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have mercy on me! 254

Joy, 200

"Justum et tenacem propositi virum," 82

King should die standing, A, 177

Kiss me, Hardy, 207

Know Him? He is my Saviour, 286

Knowledge of the love of God--the blessing of God Almighty, The, 188

La montagne est passée, nous irons mieux, 105

Laissez la verdure, 245

Let all brave Prussians follow me, 251

Let down the curtain, the farce is over, 233

Let me die with the Philistines, 245

Let my epitaph be, "Here lies Joseph, who was unsuccessful," 153

Let this word of mine be kept by you, 13

Let us go over the river, and sit under the refreshing shadow, 149

Let us submit to the laws of nature, 238

Liebe, gute, 249

Life or death is welcome to me, 301

Life spent in the service of God, A, 131

Live in Christ, live in Christ, 159

Live mindful of our wedlock, Livia, 19

Lord, 69

Lord, forgive my sins; especially my sins of omissions, 287

Lord has suffered as much for me, The, 246

Lord, have mercy upon me. Wilt thou break a bruised reed? 12

Lord help my soul! 228

Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit, 62

Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit, 118

Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit, 274

Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit! 142

Lord, receive my soul, 161

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, 136

Lord Jesus, receive my soul! 306

Lord! Jesus! Yet more trouble, 65

Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, 267

Lord, make haste! 122

"Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace," 43

Lord, open the eyes of the King of England, 285

Lord, receive my soul, 161

Lord, receive my spirit, 243

Lord take my spirit, 89

Lotte, 190

Luis de Moscoso, 80

Madame, 50

Mais quel diable de mal veux-te que cela me fosse? 83

Many things are growing plain and clear to my understanding, 248

Master Kingston, farewell! My time draweth on fast, 310

May God never forsake me! 222

May God's will be done, 30

Mir ist sehr schlecht, 295

Molly, I shall die! 116

Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! 113

Mon Dieu! La Nation Française, Tête d'armée, 205

Monks! Monks! Monks! 130

More light! More light! 114

Murder of the Queen had been represented to me, The, 19

Must I leave it unfinished? 207

My anchor is well cast, and my ship, 136

My beautiful flowers, my lovely flowers! 240

My beloved! they are not mine. No! they are not mine! 33

My children, these fearful forests and these barren rocks, 114

My Christ, 45

My dear, be a good man, 252

My dear one, with whom I lived in love so long, 255

My dear wife, my dear children, do not weep, 57

My desire is to make what haste I may to be gone, 71

My friend, I shall die to-day. When one is in this situation, 193

My friend, it is only from cold, 21

My God! 232

"My God, my Father, and my Friend," 84

My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed, 246

My heart is resting sweetly with Jesus, 72

My life is taken from me, though I have done nothing, 284

My Lord, why do you not go on? I am not afraid to die, 187

My soul I resign to God, my body to the earth, 48

My trust is in God, 275

My work is done, 133

My work is done; I have nothing to do but to go to my Father, 144

Napoleon! Elba! Marie Louise, 153

Nature, how lovely thou art! 316

Nectare clausa suo, 253

Never heed; the Lord's power is over all weakness, 101

Never mind, I shall soon drink of the river of Eternal Life, 283

No, 14

No; it was one Tom Campbell, 54

No, it is not, 115

No, No! 44

No mortal man can live after the glories which God, 285

No resentment, 227

No, whatever is, is best, 163

No, your Majesty, to-morrow you will not see me here, 57

Nobody, nobody but Jesus Christ, 49

None but Christ! 160

Not----, 95

Not till the general resurrection, 258

Nothing else but heaven, 191

Now all is over--let the piper play "Ha til mi tulidh," 242

Now am I about to make my last voyage--a great leap in the dark, 133

Now comes the mystery, 28

Now God be praised, only one hour! 112

Now God be with you, my dear children, 45

Now I am going, 99

Now I can hold on no longer. Lay me in a different posture, 249

Now I die, 301

Now I know that I must be very ill, since you have been sent for, 171

Now it is come, 159

Now lack I but two stiles; and I am even at my Father's house, 275

Now, Lord, I go, 62

Now, my dear son, I am going to the Saviour, 317

Now, O God, thou dost let thy servant depart in peace, 112

Nurse, nurse, what murder! what blood! Oh! I have done wrong, 61

O Allah, be it so! Henceforth among the glorious host of paradise, 199

O Allah, pardon my sins. Yes, I come, among my fellow laborers, 196

O, better, 146

O, cardinal! thou wilt make us all to be damned, 215

O come in glory! I have long waited for thy coming, 91

"O death where is thy----," 131

"O Father of thy beloved and blessed Son, Jesus Christ!" 229

O Florence, what hast thou done to-day? 246

O God come to mine aid; O Lord make haste to help me, 172

O God have mercy upon me, and upon this poor nation, 215

O God--if there be a God--I desire Thee to have mercy on me, 284

O! he's a dear, good fellow, 303

O Hobbima, Hobbima, how I do love thee! 72

O, I hear such beautiful voices, 249

O Lord Almighty, as thou wilt! 48

O Lord, forgive the errata! 43

O Lord, into Thy hands I commit my spirit, 184

O Lord, save my country! O Lord, be merciful, 122

Oh, Lord, shall I die at all? 19

O my country, how I leave thee, 227

O my God! 224

O, my mother! how deep will be thy sorrow at the news, 68

O, my poor soul, what is to become of thee? 189

O, my poor soul, whither art thou going? 3

O Paradise! O Paradise! At last comes to me the grand consolation, 223

O, that beautiful boy! 93

O, that glorious sun! 231

O the depths of the riches of the goodness and knowledge of God! 170

O, to die for liberty is a pleasure and not a pain, 42

O, what triumphant truth, 88

O wretched virtue! thou art a bare name! 47

Observe how they are swelled, 13

Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell and damnation, 209

Oh death, why art thou so long in coming? 75

Oh, don't let the awkward squad fire over me! 50

Oh Gabrielle, how much better would it have been, 98

Oh God, what then is man, 122

Oh Puss, chloroform--ether--or I am a dead man, 50

Oh, that peace may come, 291

Oh, would to God I had never reigned! 227

On the ground, 83

One hundred and forty-four, 78

One word, one word--Jesus Christ! 210

Only objection against the Bible is a bad life, The, 307

Open the gates! Open the gates! 301

Open to me, O God! 160

Over my spirit flash and float in divine radiancy, 279

Pains, the groans, the dying strife, The, 209

Peace! 42

Peace! 300

People my trust, The, 108

Poor little boys! 48

Pourquoi est-ce que vous me quittez, 113

Pray, pray! 122

Precious salvation, 132

Precious salvation! 269

Promise me you will never again marry an old man, 315

Put me there, 122

Qualis artifex pereo! 207

Refresh me with a great thought, 132

Rejoice! We rejoice! 98

Relief has come, 216

Remember, 59

Remember that I die as becomes a British officer, 12

Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, 224

Repeat those words Monsieur the almoner, 172

Righteous wait expectant till I receive my recompense, The, 102

"Rock of Ages cleft for me," 8

Sarah, 316

See in what peace a Christian can die, 2

Set your mind at rest, Dieu me pardonnera, 128

Shall I sue for mercy?--Come, come, no weakness, 51

Sinner, thou must die, 176

Sister! sister! sister! 79

Sit down, 270

Six feet of earth for my body, and the infinite heavens for my soul, 41

Sixty-four years ago it pleased the Almighty to call, 200

So far as I have understood what the duties of my office were, 266

So much the better! I shall not then live to see the surrender, 197

So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lies, 233

Soldiers--fire! 176

Soldiers, fire, 213

Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me, 254

South! The South! God knows what will become of her! The, 53

Stand up for Jesus, 286

Stay, friend, till I put aside my beard, 200

Stop, go out of the room; I am about to die, 101

Stopped, 116

Strike here! Level your rage against the womb, 7

Strike, if it be for the Roman's good, 107

Strange sight, sir, an old man unwilling to die, 93

Stupid country, where they do not even know, 224

Suffer no pomp at my funeral, nor monumental inscription, 138

Sun, thou hast betrayed me, 155

Support me, let not my brave soldiers see me drop, 310

Tay hip! 145

Take care of poor mistress, 154

Take care of Maria, 294

"Taught, half by reason, half by mere decay," 203

Tell Collingwood to bring the fleet to anchor, 207

Tell Emerson that I love and revere him, 270

Tell Hill he must come up, 162

Tell them to go forward and do a good work, 73

Texas! Texas! Margaret, 137

Thank God, I have done my duty, 207

Thank God! Thank Heaven! 197

Thank God, to-morrow I shall join the glorious company above, 87

Thank you, my child, 31

Thanks be to God, 73

That is enough to last till I get to heaven, 295

That's right, Brother Taylor; parry them off as well as you can, 258

That which I said then I said, but that which I say now is true, 315

Then I am safe, 71

There are six guineas for you, and do not hack me, 251

"There is another and a better world," 219

There is but one book; bring me the Bible, 252

There is no other life but the eternal, 44

There is no time to be lost, 77

There's nothing to beat that, Hugh, 87

There is nothing solid but religious ideas, 243

These passages may be found on the following pages, 221

They will come off better after, 216

Think more of death than of me, 14

This block will be my pillow, 265

This day let me see the Lord Jesus, 153

This is a beautiful world, 101

This is a sharp medicine, but a sure remedy, 233

This is a struggle which all men must go through, 313

This is death, 316

This is not my home, 16

This is the toilette of death, 68

This soul in flames I offer, Christ, to thee, 153

This unworthy right hand, 70

Those are the spirits of my little girls, 109

Thou dog, 203

Thou hast conquered, O Galilean! thou hast conquered! 155

Thou hast said truly, consummatum est, 27

Thou knowest, O Lord, the secrets of our hearts, 158

Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am abundantly satisfied, 53

Throw a quilt over it, 105

Throw up the window that I may see once more, 244

Thy creatures, O Lord, have been my books, 19

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done," 65

Tired--very tired--a long journey--to take, 124

To be like Christ is to be a Christian, 223

To judge by what I now endure, the hand of death, 243

To sleep--to die, 305

Toffro il tuo proprio Figlio, 192

Trotter will tell you, 101

Trust in God and you need not fear, 89

Under the feet of my friars, 85

Ungrateful traitors! 187

Useless! Useless! 39

Very little meat for the mustard, 134

Vex me not with this thing, but give me a simple cross, 55

Vos plaudite, 19

Wally, what is this? It is death, my boy, 112

Water, 116

Water, 283

We are all going to heaven, and Vandyke is of the company, 106

We are ready--soldiers, fire! 78

We part to meet again, I hope, in endless joy, 137

We return no more, 242

We shall not lose our lives in this fire, 214

We shall then desire nothing, 42

We will endeavor to crawl to this line, 136

We will go to Jerusalem, 171

Weep not for me, 6

Weep not for me, but for yourselves, 48

Welcome the Cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life, 246

Well! God's will be done. He knows best, 289

Well, ladies, if I were one hour in heaven, 186

Well, my friend, what news from the Great Mogul? 201

Well, my God, I consent with all my heart, 171

Were the Church of Christ what she should be, 53

Were you at Sedan? 206

What an idle piece of ceremony, 43

What! art thou, too, one of them! Thou, my son! 52

What can it signify? 70

What I cannot utter with my mouth, 232

What is that? 268

When I am dead, my children, 74

When I think of the existence which shall commence, 55

When nature has abandoned an unhappy victim, 192

While there is life, there is will, 44

Who is near me? 64

Why, certainly, certainly! 274

Why dost thou not strike? Strike! 233

Why weep ye? Did you think that I could live forever? 271

Will no one have pity on me? Here, fire here! 288

Will you tell the archdeacon? 9

With all my heart: I would fain be reconciled to my stomach, 98

Whose house is this? What street are we in? 47

Wonderful, wonderful, this death, 98

Worst is I cannot see, The, 273

Write the word "Remorse"; show it to me, 234

Yes! 102

Yes! 176

Yes, it would be rash to say that they have no reasons, 56

Yes, yes, sing that for me, 288

Yes, comme un damné, 273

Yet I was once your emperor, 293

You are fighting for an earthly crown, 107

You are good fellows, but you can do nothing for me, 23

You make me drink. Pray leave me quiet, 62

You may go home, the show is over, 79

You need not be anxious concerning to-night, 58

You see what is man's life, 110

You will show my head to the people, 77

Young man, keep your record--, 115

Young man, you have heard no doubt, how great are the terrors, 22

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:

The following changes have been made to the original text:

Page 21: Added footnote marker missing in text.

Page 78: "DELAGADO" changed to "DELGADO".

Page 90: "Good-by" changed to "Good-bye"
(Good-bye, General; I'm done).

Page 102: "philososopher" changed to "philosopher"
(Benjamin, moralist, statesman, and philosopher).

Page 107: "Scotish" changed to "Scottish"
(James, a Scottish officer).

Page 159: "LABÉDOYÉRE" changed to "LABÉDOYÈRE".

Page 247 & 323: "enfans" changed to "enfants".
("_Ah! mes enfants,)

Page 304: "distinguishd" changed to "distinguished"
(John Greenleaf, distinguished American poet).

Page 323: Missing page reference added
(after "Begone, thou wretched beast,").

Page 327: "they" changed to "thy"
(I give thee thanks, O God, for all thy benefits).

Page 328: "inquity" changed to "iniquity"
(I have loved justice and hated iniquity).

Page 331: "Tète" changed to "Tête"
(La Nation Française, Tête d'armée).

In addition to this, minor punctuation errors have been corrected
without comment. A few instances of missing opening or closing
parenthesis or quotation marks have also been corrected without note.

All other variations in spelling or inconsistent hyphenation have been
retained as they appear in the original book.

Also worth mentioning is that throughout this book there are a number of
factual errors and misspellings of names. These have also been retained
as they appear in the original, text except for in the cases mentioned
above where they have been altered for consistency (for example: General
Robert Edmund Lee born 1806 is in fact General Robert Edward Lee born 1807
and Jacob Böhmen's name is in fact Jakob Böhme).

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women - (Real and Traditional)" ***

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