The union Democrat., 1869-10-23
Tne Last Words of Great Men.

Marshal Neil's ia,t words wcre:-''. L drmee
Edmca ;Se!" (rhe French army.
What IA sad thing it Is to man close n
grand career Napoleon's last worts were !:
- 7ete d 'a1mec Head of the army Nei-
ther ot those remarks amount 10 anything "a
last words, 4nd reflect little credit upon
the ut:efers. A distinguished man shoulL be
as particular about his last words as he is
about his last hreath-IIe should write them
nut on u slip of paper, and take the iudgmeni
# his friends them. lie should never
leave such II thing to the last hour OF hiSsllie.
and trust To an intellectual squirt at the lasi
mnment To- enable him tn say something smart
with his latest gasp. and launch into eternit,
with grandeur. No--a man IL apt IL be Tn"
much tagged aud exhausted. bIth III body
and mind. at such time. TO be reliable; ami
perhaps the very thihg he wants IL Say. he
cannot thiuk of, to save him; and, besides.
there are his weeping friends. hnthering
abound. and worse thaa oil, rs likely az not
ne may have ~ deliver his last Ea>p when
ne j. not expecting tn. \ mar cannot al
ways expect to think of a naty thing 10 say
under such circumstances, and ~ II Is pure
egotstc ust entaiilnt u Tut il eH. There Is L,ird-
" On record y here man came to his
last moment and did not make solemn botch
Of it and go out of the world feeling absurd.
Now there was Daniel Webser-N -Nobody
could tell him anything. lie was not afraid
He cnu,d do something neat when the time
came And how did it turn out? Why. his
will bad to lie fixed over; a"d then all his re-
lations cama; and first one thing and then au-
other interrered, Till at last he had only q
chance to say: Il still live, 'mnd up he went.
OF crurso. he didn't still live. because be died
and so he might as we'll have kept his last
words to himself IA to have gone and made
such failure OF it as that. A week before
that, fifteen minutes of calm reflection would
have enabled that man tn contrive some last
words that world have been Il credit to him.
self ana a comfort to his family for genera
,iuns To come.
Aod there was Jahn Quincy Adams.-Re-
lvicg on lis splendid abilities AMI his GOODNESS
in emergencies. he trusted to a happy hit at
the last moment to carry him through and
what was the result? Death smote him in
the House Of Representatives. and he ohsarv-
ed, casually: This is the last of earth" The
last of earth Why the last Of earth"
when there was so much more left? II he had
said il was the last rose of summer. or the last
run Of ~had. it would have Just as much paint
to i;.-What he meant tn saw, was, adam
was the first and Adam; is the last Of earth, !"
hut he put it off ,rife too long, and so he
had TO 30 with that unmeaning observation
on his lips.
And there we have Napoleon. "Ttts d'ar-
meet That dnn't mean anything. Tale1
hy itself. Head Of the army" il No more
important than Head nf the police" And
vet that was man who could have said
good thing if he ba barred out the doctor and
studied over it awhile. Ard this Marshal
Neil with u half century at his disposal. could
not dash off anything be't-r. in his last mo-
ments. than n poor plagiarism of another
mans last words which were not worth pla-
siarizins in the first place. The French
army ~ Perfectly irrelevant-perfpctlv fat
utterly nointless. But if he had closed ole
eye Significantly and said. The subscriber
has made it Ireiy for the French army" and
:hen thrown lttle Of the comic in his last
gasp. i w"uii have heen thing to rrmpm-
her with satisfaction all the rest Of bis life
do wish our great men would quit saying
these fiat things just at moment they die.
let me have their next 10 their last words 20.
while. and zee If we cannot rarch up some
hing from them :hat will be iit.le more sat-
's'"e'"ry. The pnhic does not wish to be
outraged in this way all the lime.
but wren We Ceme u call to mind the last
woids os nartiea who tcok the trouble to make
nreper preparation for the occasion. We ir-
sda;e'y notice harpy difference in the re-
suit
There was Chesterfield who bad lahored all
his hte tn lnild up the most shining reputa-
fian for affahilitv ard elegance If sneech ard
man.er> the world has ever seen. And could
suprose he failed Ia appreciate the eff
rienrv af characteristic ''la>t words. in the
matter ef 80 zi,g the sorrcessfnllv driven nail
af such rerusatinn and clinehins it on the
ether side forever? Not he. lie prepar,i
himself He kent his eyes On the clock aud
his finger on his pulse. lie awaited hi-
chance. And Mt lasr. when he knew bis time
was come. he pretended ta think new sisitor
hal entered. and So. with the rattle in his
throat emnhasizai for drs matte Effect. be said
to the servant. "shn around. john, and get
the gentleman chair" And then be died.
amid tie thuuders Of applause.