The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1884-08-01
VOL. XXIX----NO. 80.
Dying Words of the Great

DR.. Johnson, passing away amid tumut
| OF uneasiness and fear, said to one who stood
| close beside his bed, "God bless YOU. nv
dear p The celebrated DIR. Adams, rector of
the high school of Elizabeth, in some
moments of delrium preceding his death,
whispered, at is growing dark, boys;'
| stretching forth his hands, you may gow
| Queen Elizabeth, of England, lying on her
| royal couch, was heard to moan out the
| heart'rending words, as she closed her eyes
forever, "All my possessions for one moment
of timer But tile noble Wesley simply ex-
claimed in camness ofspirit, "The best of all
| Is, God is with u.s." Poor Robert Burns, out
| OF his head when he drew his last breath,
cried, "Oh, don't let the awkward squad fire
over me y How curious, indeed, that Lord
Ihurlow should have cried out, as he passed
| away, I'm shot if | don't believe Pm
dyingp
"Ah mes enfans, you cannot cry as much
for me as l have made you laugh in my
time r SO said the brilliant wit of France,
Scarron, as lay dying, that hour, with a
| host of weeping friends around him.
1t was Christian philosopher like John
Locke who exclaimed with his latest breath
| that solemn day, "Oh, the depth of the riches
OF the goodness and knowledge ofGodp
How strange to think that the great Mira
beau, after life of such wild discord, should
have cried out frantically, as he lay waiting
for the last change, emusic Let me die TO
the sound of delicious music Washington,
with the smile Of saint, looked up into the
face ofhis 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, at is well !" And the last
words of Luthers friend, Melancthon, are
wonderfully striking, it seems to me- The
nclyn Ia, fl,nt 81 H..
thing. mo, Luther, no! Nothing, nothing
but heaven !" he answered. and died with n
smile upon his face. The ruling passion may
be said to have been still strong with Ches-
terfield when hcpassed away, for the last
words he uttered were, "Give Daytolles
chairV Did poor Cowper say anything be.
fore he died-hc who had always dreaded
even the thought ofdying? Why, it is said
he sank to rest as peacefully as a little child
All, but what did Hobbies the deist say lust
before he gasped his last breath? 81 am
taking fearful leap in the dark" But the
sweet Herbert said, Nov, Lord, receive my
soul" Dear Goldsmith's physician asked
him a few moments before he ceased to
breathe if his mind was at ease. His mourn.
full answer was, mo, it is netn And yet
was not Goldsmith really as lovely
character at heart AS any man who ever liv-
ed! The deaf Beethoven, whose whole soul
had been full of glorious harmony through
out his life, cried out at 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 nowW The sun was shining very
brightly in the room where the great Hum
boldt lay dying, and he said, as he watched
the beautiful rays, Glow grand the sunlight
1t seems to beckon earth to heaven p John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson died the same
day, but one said with his last breath, "Inde.
pendence forcverw and the other, II resign
my soul to God-and my daughter to my
country" Sir Thomas More said to an attend.
ant, as he assembled the scafIold on the day
of his execution, 81 pray you to see me safe
up, and 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, indeed p What could
have possessed Franklin to say to his friends
on his deathbed, "a dying man docs nothing
wellF What strange question for Cardinal
Beaufort Tor any other MANI to ask at the last
moment of his life, "What is there no brib-
ing death?" Scott said, even when death
was creeping very near, 81 feel as if 1 were
to be myself again." And Hood, tired out,
whispered only the words, "Dying, Dyingp