LAST WORDS OF FAMOUS MEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3348, 15 May 1918, Page 54

LAST WORDS OF FAMOUS MEN.

FAREWELL TO THE WORLD. Many great men have closed their lives by giving utterance to a phrase or sentence which has been seized upon by biographers and which has passed into history. Nelson’s last words in the cockpit of the Victory were, “Thank God, I have done my duty!” The one significant word, “Remember!” was all that Charles 1 uttered on the scoli’old, while Charles 11, his profligate son, when he was dying bethought himself of his poor Nelly. “Don’t let poor Nellie starve,” he pleaded, which was followed by his asking for pardon for being such a long time in dying. When Richelein was asked if he forgave his enemies he replied, “ t have had no enemies but those of the State.” To Lockhart Sir Walter Scott said, “Lockhart, I may have but a minute to speak with you. My dear, be a good man, be virtuous, be religious—be a good man” When Lockhart asked if he should call Scott’s daughters the dying man replied, “No, don’t disturb them. Poor souls ! I know they were up all night. God bless you all!”

"More Light." — "More light!" lisped Uoethc as he was on the point of passing into the shadows; while Keats feebly' muttered, " I die of a broken heart," "Close this eye—the otner is closed already; and so, farewell," were the last words of Charles Wolfe, the celebrated author of the " Ode on the .Burial of Sir John Moore." Jefferson, the American patriot, said. 'I resign my soul to God and my daughter to my country." * Ho'bbes, the philosopher, at whose request the words, "This is the philosopher's stone," were carved on his tombstone, declared, " I am taking a fearful leap in the dark." "It is well," murmured George Washington as he breathed his last. When John Adams lay dying he heard the sound of cannon, and on being told it was July 4 exclaimed, " It is a glorious day: Independence forever!" Many devout Christians have died with verses of the Psalms on their lips. Notable historical examples are Basil the Great, Charlemagne, Martin Luther, Mary Queen of Scots, and good George Herbert, who all found consolation in the verse, "Into thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit." It will be remembered that the last words Sir Henry Irving ever uttered on the stage were, "Into Thy hands, 0 Lord, into Thy hands." "A Sky Full of Eoses." — Both the brothers Wesley quoted the Psalms when they lay dying. Charles Wesley repeated the line, *'iw.y flesh and my heart iaileth," and John Wesley was heard to mutter, " The clouds drop fatness," and, again, "The Lord of Hosts is with us, the Cod of Jacob is our Refuge," and, finally, " The best of all is, God is with us." Cromwell kept repeating in his last moments, "God is good." He also said, "I would be willing to be further serviceable to God and His people, but my work is done." The ruling passion of men's lives has often dominated them until the end. Dr Arne, the great composer, died, it is stated, Avhile conversing on music, and endeavoured with his last breath to sing a passage the meaning of which he was too exhausted to explain. The last words of Corot, the great French painter, were, " When the spring comes I will paint a beautiful picture. I see a sky full of roses." So saying he closed his fingers as though he- held a brush in his hand, and, making a movement as if he were painting, expired. Gainsborough is Teputed to have said, "We are all going to heaven, and Vandyke is of the company." The Gallant Dundee.— History records that when the gallant Dundee lay dying on the field of Killiecrankie he asked one of his officers how the day went. The reply was, "Well for the King; but I'm sorry for your Lordship." Dundee retorted, " 'Tis the less matter for me, seeing the day goes well for my master, and I have done my duty." Tenterden, who was Lord Chief Justice, believed himself to be on duty at the Law Courts, and thought he was dismissing the jury. "Gentlemen," he said, as he lapsed into unconsciousness, "you are all dismissed." The famous Earl of Chesterfield, who was reputed for his politeness, maintained his reputation until the closing scene, and said as the doctor entered the room as he lay dying, " Give Dayrolles a chair." Sir Isaac Newton expired while in the act of winding up his watch. Napoleon died as he had lived. He was in his war paint, and his last words, " Tete d'armee," show that his mind was still occupied with thoughts of conquest. With the French cannon firing close to whero he lived at Sehonbrunn, Haydn fell into a stupor at the piano after singing " Ciod save the Emperor." Mozart died in tho midst' of his daughter's singing of the " Requiem." Halicr, in the act of dying, felt his pulse, and, having exclaimed, " The artery ceased to beat/' expired instantaneously. Byron's last words were, "Now I must sleep." Charlotte Bronte's deathbed utterance is deeply pathetic. She scanned the anxious faces of those who surrounded her, remarking with deep emotion: "I an not going to die, am I? He will not separate -'is; we have been so happy." She had been mavvwd only a year when the end cam-j. Bobsrt Browning, in a letter written shortly after the death of his wife, described the deathbed scene. When he asked his wife how she felt, she replied, " B c auti£;jl." It appears to have been her lost wore.

Coventry Patmore, when ho lay dyi«g, turned to his wife and said: "I love you, my dear, but He is my Light and my Lif-e." Addison, addressing his stepson, the Earl of W ir.vick, shortly bcforo his

end, murmured: " See in what peace a Christian can die." Canon Ainger, speaking in his last moments of the song of the birds which entered his chamber and delighted his ears, exclaimed: "Those were very agreeable voices 1 heard this

morning. Cato read Plato all night, and at dawn he stabbed himself, exclaiming, as he felt the point "of the sword: "Now I am master of myself." Nero, when he knew that the search parties were looking for him, lay in hiding all night in a miserable hovel outside the city. The fugitive Emperor tried to pluck up Dutch courage, and continually muttered: "Come, rouse yourself." "this befits not Nero." " Tis shameful for me to live." Then the consummate actor in his nature came to the surface, and he exclaimed : "What an artist perishes in me !" As he heard the sound of horses' hoofs approaching nearer and nearer, it brought to his lips a line from a Greek play: " Lo! the sound of swift-footed horses strikes upon my ear." Finally, he took his sword, and," giving vent to the bitter cry, " Such is loyalty," stabbed himself.

The Emperor Vespasian, who had risen to his position from the obscurity of a Spanish village, remarked, as he 'felt he was dying : " An emperor should die standing." Then he uttered one of the grimmest jests that ever fell from the lips of a dying man. "Truly," he declared, "I feel I am becoming a god." Directly the breath left the bedv of an emperor the Romans always apotheosised him, and Vespasian's sarcasm showed how little the common soldier believed in the servile adulation of palaces.

The story set going by a gossiping old writer that the last words of Pitt when he was dying were; “I think I could eat one of Bellamy’s pies” (Bellamy being a noted pie-maker), has been contradicted. Pitt’s nephew, James Stanhope, who wrote a record of the closing scene, said that the last words from his uncle’s lips were; “Oh, my country! How I love my country !” The news of Austerlitz gave the death-blow to Pitt, but the patriot’s last thoughts were of England.—Scotsman i