Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-12-30

delivered an Grafton at the ceremony of
laying the corner stone of the capitol at
Augusta In the following October he
was again called to Augusta to deliver an
address at the establishment of the Cony
Female Academy. This was his last pub
lie performance. find in the Yankee
and Boston Literary Gazette-John Meals
paper-so full and interesting an account
OF his last hours that / venture to intro
duce it here:
'-He left Portland with belief that he
should not return. He said so and repeated
it, as he stood on the floor of his room
preparing to go, and playing with piece
Of paper which he had suffered to drop
twice without perceiving it. Il am very
weak said he. my strength is leaving
! do not expect 10 return This was ut
tered with striking solemnity, and the
impression will never depart from the
recollection of those who heard it. On
his arrival at Augusta, whittier he had
gone to deliver an address before the
children Of the Cony Female Academy
he mentioned two or three times that he
had come to die there; and when his
friends gathered about him, and remind
ed him of the state of his health, and
begged him to forbear, he said in his
mild, firm way, 1T is my duty. After
wards he alluded to his mother, an extra
ordinary woman. who had left him sud-
denly. but few weeks before and it was
evident from his behavior, even more than
by his language. that her sudden death
was heavy blow to him. He was
thoroughly possessed with the belief that
as he owed so much to his mother. he
owed 1t TO her memory by the last of his
pnblic 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: dur
ing the delivery he grew so i'll that he
was obliged to sit down; and after it was
delivered he went straightway to bed
the bed of death.
.'He was not afraid of death after he
knew death was inevitable; nor was he
afraid of 1t before. properly speaking,
though he would have resisted the APP
proach, and avoided the presence OF I'M
worthy danger like every rational man. if
he had been able to do so. He conversed
on the subject hour by hour, and with
perfect composure - nay, with sort of
strange, mournful pleasantly; for it SO
happened that one day, as he and General
Cony. the adjutant general of the State,
an old and very intimate friend. were sit
ting together. he remarked that he should
have to stay with him; to which the gen.
eral, who had no idea of his danger, and
who saw nothing in the observation but
desire to converse on a favorite though
dangerous theme. replied, We'll, well,
Governor, we can give you good tomb
La. Iar- xbnJ Ia .fta
finding that he could keep no food upon
his stomach not even light broth, the
governor turned to the generals wife. as
she sat near, and said with smile which
never quite abandoned his mouth, We'll,
madam, believe | shall have to accept
your husbands invitation.
But one of the most remarkable cir
cumstances that attended his death was
this. During the whole of his delirium.
he never uttered an equivocal sentiment
nor an improper word. Nay, more, he
never lost sight of his own personal dig
nifty. nor of what he owed as Il man to the
presence of female; for in his fiercest
paroxysms, he would suddenly recollect
himself so far as to wrestle down with
over mastering power, the spirit that
shook him, and apologize in the language
of IA gentleman for the unhappy 'halluci
nation, as he termed it, by which he had
been partially subdued."
"On one occasion he insisted on getting
up. The general demonstrated with him
and urged him to lie down. But he re-
fused-he could not be controlled. You
may have the physical superiority said
he, but you shall not control my mind
The general saw it was it VAN to argue
with him in the usual way. Governor,
said he, you are a philosopher, and will
not contend with what is inevitable The
poor delrious man looked at him-smiled
faintly-and lay down like child at the
bidding of its mother. And not long be-
fore 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-there is no such word
for me. will not be controlled. sir
But continued the other. alarmed at the
probable consequences, Il entreat you, beg
of YOU to lie down. Oh said the gov
ernor, that is another affair; that is talk
ing nationally; ) and ne lay down as quiet
as if nothing was the matter. although
unquestionably delrious at the time. These
facts are not mentioned lightly-they help
to show the mans character; he would
not be dealt with by anybody, nor any
thing, to the abridgment of his liberty
No outrage affected him in health like
that of one person daring to exercise i'm
proper dominion over another. And weak
though he was-a small man of a slight
frame, he would have resisted even to
death, the oppression of brute force over
anybody"
But the last scene of all was yet more
striking-he addressed the troops in elo
quent and powerful language. though it
was occasionally incoherent and the last
words he spoke were, Gentlemen, call
YOU all to witness that die in the pres
ence OF Franklin, after which he appear
ed to forget himself--to sink into a leth-
argy-and then he revived and added. as
ifcommuning with a congress of shadows,
a sacred and solemn scene And with
this, the spirit of the sufferer prepared
for departmental his last hour was an
hour of untroubled sleep"
Governor Lincoln died Oct. IL, 1929,
having nearly completed his forty -first
year. He was never married. He was
buried with public honors on the grounds
fronting the capitol at Augusta, where his
remains still repose. He is the only one
a. -. l.