Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-09-25
miscellaneous.
Dying Words OF the Great.

DIR johnson, passing away amid tu-
multi of uneasiness and fear, said tOone
who stood close beside his bed, God
bless you, my dear" The celebrated
DIR. Adams, rector of the high school vf
Edinburgh, in some moments of delirium
preceding his death. whispered. ut is
growing dark. boys; :" stretching forth his
hand, ''you may go" Queen Elizabeth
of England, lying on her royal couch.
was heard to moan out the heartrending
words, as she closed her eyes forever,
'.All nv possessions tor one moment of
time, !" But the noble Wesley simply ex-
claimed, in calmness of spirit. The best
of all is, God is with us" Poor Robert
Burns, out of his head when he drew his
last breath. cried, .Oh, don't let the awk-
ward spud fire over me. ~ How curious,
indeed, that Lord Thurlow should have
cried out, as he passed away, I'm shot
if don't believe I'm dying"
.Ah mes enfans. You cannot cry as
much for me az have made you laugh in
my time ~ So said the brilliant wit of
France, Scarron. as he lay dying that hour
with host of weeping friends around
him.
TWAS a Christian philosopher like John
Locke who exclaimed with his latest
breath that solemn day, "Ob. the depth
of the riches of the goodness and knOwl-
edge of God.' How strange to think that
the great Mirabeau. after life of such
wild discord. should have cried out fran
tically, as he lay waiting for the last
change '.Music Let me die to the
sound of delicious music! !" Washington
with the smile of saint. looked up into
the face of his weeping wife for the last
time as she bent over him at Mt. Vernon
that dismal day, and calmly said, as he
crossed his arms above his noble heart,
1T is we'll" And the last words of Lu-
theirs friend, Melancthon. are wonderfully
striking, it seems to me. The former
asked him that hour If he desired anything.
mo, Luther. no, Nothing, but heaven!"
he answered and died with smile
upon his face. The ruling passion may be
said to have been still strong with Ches-
terrified when he passed away. for the last
words he uttered were. "Give Dollytolles
a chair!' Did poor Cowper say anything
before he died-he who had always dread
ed even the thought OF death Why, it
is said he sank to rest rs peacefully as a
little child. All. but what did Hobbies the
deist say just before he gasped his last
breath? II am taking a fearful leap in
the dark - but the sweet Herbert said,
Now, Lord, receive my souln' Dear
Goldsmith's physician asked him a few
moments before he ceased to breathe if
his mind was at ease. His mournful an
swer was. "No. it is not" And yet was
not Goldsmith really as lovely character,
mt heart. as any man who ever lived
The deaf Beethoven, whose whole soul
had been full of glorious harmony
Throughout his life, cried out at the last,
Now | shall heart May we not cherish
the hope that Byron's thoughts were OF
God and heaven when he said at last, so
YEARLY. II must sleep now p'' The sun
was shining very brightly in the room
where the great Humboldt lay dying an d he
said. as he watched the beautiful rays.
.'How grand the sunlight! 1t seems to
beckon earth to heaven ~ John Adams
and Thomas jefferson died the same day,
but one said with his last breath an |
dependence foreverr' and the other. 81
resign my soul to God-and my daughter
TO my country" Sir Thomas More said
to an attendant, as he assembled the scat
fold on the day of his execution, II pray
yon see me safe up. for my coming down |
let me shift for myself" Beautiful Anne !
Boleyn, just before she knelt down to lay
her head on the block, clasped her neck
with her hand and said. ut is small, |
very small indeedr' What could have
possessed Franklin to say to his friends
on his death-bed. "A dying man does
nothing well?" What a strange question
for Cardinal Beaufort tor any other mani
to ask at the last moment of life, what
is there no bribing death?" Scott said,
even when death was creeping very near,
IL feel as if | were to be myself again"
And Hood, tired ont, whispered only
the words, Dying. dying. -Boston
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