The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1857-12-19
Dying Words of Distinguished Men.

Dying Words of Distinguished Men
1t is refreshing to find some evidence OF
deep consciousness of the vast soiemnity
BETTING dying hour among men endowed
beyond the average of their race with intel
lectual strength, as in the case of Grotius,
who, on being asked for his dying admoni-
ton, exclaimed, "Be serious % All his vast
learning did not allow him to think lightly
of the paramount claims of those things
which make for our eternal peace. Sir Will
liam Jones, one of the most brilliant geniuses
that ever lived, affords similar evidence OF
the right estimate of human learning, com
pared with the more important concerns OF
the future world. SIT matters not" says
johnson, chow man dies, but how ne lives"
And even skeptical Rosseau observes, s'The
great error is placing such an estimate on
this life, as if our being depended on it,
and we we're nothing after death. To at
tach ourselves but slightly to human affairs,
is the bes: 1ethod Of learning. de, Wher
Garrick showed DR.. Johnson his fne house
and gardens, at Hampton Court, instead
of his replying in the language of Aattery,
he exclaimed, "Ah! David, David these are
the things which make a death-bed ter
riblel"
Grotius cried out, "Ohl l have consumed
my days in laborious trifingn' DR.. john
son lameGted many things in his past career,
but when the light of evangelical truth
broke in upon his mind, he obtained Chris
tian peace, in which he died. Baron Haller
died expressing his renewed confidence in
Gods mercy, through Jesus Christ.
The deist Hobbies said, with horror, in
his last moments, 81 am taking fearful leap
in the dark" Cardinal Mazarine said, "Oh,
my poor soul, what is to become of thee ?
whittier wilt thou go7"
The following affords brilliant contrast
to some of the foregoing instances:
The aged Simeon, as he took the young
Saviour in his arms, said, "Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace, according
to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy
salvation" When the martyr Stephen fell
beneath the missiles of his enemies, he ex-
claimed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit
Lord, lay not this sin to their charged
When the chain was placed on the neck
of John Huss, he exclaimed, with a smile,
sWelcome this chain, for Christ's sake!"
The fagots having been piled up to his
neck, the Duke of Bavaria, in brutal man
ner, called on him to abjure. "No, no."
cried the martyr, 81 take God to witness
that preached none but his pure doctrines,
and what | taught am ready to seal with
my blood" Jerome, of Prague, who fol-
lowed Huss to the stake after few months,
said to the executioner, who was about to
kindle the fire behind him, "Bring thy torch
hither; do thine Office before my face. Had
| feared death, | might have avoided it."
The last words Luther was heard to utter
were, ''Into thy hands l commend my spirit.
Thou hast redeemed me, o Lord God of
truth" Nothing but heaven" said the
mild Melapcthoa when AGED bg his friends
if he wanted any thing; and then he gently
fell asleep in Christ. George Wishart cried
out at the stake, "For. the sake of the true
gospel given me by the grace of God, |
suffer this day with glad heart. Behold
and consider my visage; ye shall not see me
change COLOR fear not this fire." The
last prayer offered by Tindall, who trans
lated the Bible and suffered martyrdom in
1886, was, 80 Lord, open the eyes of the
King of England" Lawrence Saunders,
who suffer martyrdom during the reign of
Queen Mary, kissed the stake to which he
was bound, exclaiming, "Welcome the cross
of Christ; welcome life everlasting" "Be
of good heart, brother" cried Ridley to
Latimer, "for our God will either assuage
this flame, or enable us to abide it," Lati-
mer replied, "Be of good comfort, brother,
for we shall this day light such a candle in
England, as, by Gods grace, shall never be
put out" Bergerus, councillor of the En-
peror Macmillan, said on his dying bed,
"Farewell, oh farewell, all earthly things,
and welcome heaven" George Buchanan,
the ornament of Scottish literature, could
write Latin verse with purity almost wor-
thy the Augustian age, was taken with his
last illness when in the country. To the
message of King James, who snmmoned
him to be at court in twenty days he sent
this reply, Before the days mentioned by
your majesty shall be expired, / shall be in
that place where few kings enter" The
Marquis of Argyle. when advancing to the
scafold, said, "Iwould die like Christian"
Among the last words Of Claude were these:
81 am so oppressed that | can attend only
to the great truths of religion, namely, the
mercy of God and the gracious aids of the
Holy Ghost" ."-Pinsburgh chm Adroratc.