The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1829-11-18
ENoCH LINCOLN.

iiioA 1hoch Aihcoln OF MAINE, VIII
ten by the spirited editor of that work. AS our
limits will not allow US to copy the article en-
tire, we make the following extract:
Though ready for death even at the age
of forty, as if aware that having accom-
plished more than other men are able to do
in long life, short life would be all that
ne could hope for and though he expect
ed and was prepared for death, not only at
the time of his withdrawal from public life,
but up to the day of his arrival at Augusta,
and went forward to meet the king of
Terrors with repeated averment that he
had come to breathe his last where he did
breathe it-stll death took him by surprise.
He left Portland with a belief that he
should not return. He said SO and repeat
ed 1t, as he stood on the floor of his room
preparing to 60, and playing with piece
OF paper which he had suffered to drop
twice without perceivino it. | am yerv
weak, SAID he: my strength is leaving me
i do not expect to return. This was
uttered with striking solemnity, and the
impression will never depart from the recol-
lection OF those who heard it. On his arri-
val at Augusta, whittier he had gone to
deliver an address before the children of
the Coney Female Academia step that
nothing could justify in the governor of the
state,* or nothing save that awful sense of
duty which led him there, and which how
ever mistaken it might be in itself, was an
act OF uncommon virtue and self-denial on
his part; for no man that ever breathed
could be more averse to such display,-he
mentioned two or three times that he had
come to die there and when his friends
OnthlrQ6 hi AoI &c
the state of his health, and begged him to
forhear. he said in his mild, firm way-H IS
my duty: afterwards he alluded to his
mother, an extraordinary woman, who had
" lett him" him suddenly, but few months
before and it was evident from his beha-
,ylor, even moro than by his language, that
her sudden death was a heavy blow to
him.. He was thoroughly possessed with
the belief that as he owed so much to his
mother, he owed it to her memory by the
last OF his public acts to impress the future
mothers of our country with becoming
sense of their own value. On the day
when he delivered the address, he had been
quite unwell before he made the attempt
during the delivery he grew so i'll that he
was Obliged to sit down; and after it was
delivered ne went straightway to his bed
the bed OF death and there by his heroic
selt-possesslon, his untrembling faith and
cheerful though serious language, even to
the last, when he grew delirious, he left
another proof, though by this time no other
proof was wanted, that he was in truth
great man.
lie was not afraid of death-after he
knew that death was inevitable; nor was
ne afraid of it before, properly speaking,
though he would have resisted the APP
proach, and avoided the presence of un-
worthy danger, like every other rational
man, if he had been able to do so. He
conversed on the subject hour by hour, and
with perfect Complementary, with a sort
OF strange, mournful pleasantly; for it so
happened that one day, as he and the adju-
dant-general of the state, an old and very
intimate friend were sitting together, he
remarked that he should have to stay with
him to which the general, who had no
idea of his danger, and who saw nothing
in the observation but desire to converse
on favorite though dangerous theme, re-
plied-Well well, governor, we can give
you good tomb here. The next day, or
day after, finding that he could keep no
food upon his stomach, not even a light
broth, the governor turned to the generals
wife, as she sat near, and said with smile,
which never quite abandoned his mouth,
Well, madam, | believe l shall have to
accept your husbands invitation,
But one of the most remarkable circum-
stances that attended his death was this.
During the whole of his delirium, he never
uttered an equivocal sentiment, nor an i'm
proper word. Nay, more, he never lost
sight of his own personal dignity-nor Of
what he owed as man in the presence of
female: for in his fiercest paroxysms, he
would suddenly recollect himself so far as
to wrestle down, with overmastering power,
the spirit that shook HIM, and apologize in
the language of gentleman, for the unhap-
Ply hallucination," as he termed it, which
he had been partially subdued by.
On one occasion he insisted on getting up.
The General demonstrated with him, and
urged him to lie down. But he refused
he would not be controulIed You may
have the physical superiority, said he, but
you shall not eontroul my mind. The Gen.
eral saw it was vain to argue with him in
the usual way. Govorner, said he, you are
a philosopher, and will not contend with
what is inevitable. The poor delirous
man looked at him-smiled faintly-and
lay down like a child at the bidding of its
mother. And not long before he breathed
his last, as an elder son of the General sat
watching by him, he took it into his head
to get up. The young man argued with
him, and putting his hand upon his shoulder,
told him he must lie down. .MuSt-theIe
is no such word for me. | will not be
CONTROLLED sir. But, continued the other,
alarmed at the probable consequences,
entreat you, beg of you, to lie down. O.,
said the Governor, that is another affair !;
that is talking nationally; and he lay down
as quiet as if nothing were the matter, al
though unquestionably delirous at the time.
These facts are not mentioned lightly
they help to show the mans character; he
would not be dealt with by any body, nor