The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-01-01
LAST WORDS.
Closing Scenes in tn, Iaes q Two Great
Hen.

Closing Scenes in tn, 1ats ef Two Great
Every Other Saturday.
The last scene of all in fiction and BIZ
ography is generally the most affecting
and often the most characteristic. One
might make curious collection OF ex-
tracts to show how frequently those
who are juat crossing the river recur,
ut the moment of Inconsistencies, to
striking events in former years, or I'd
occupations which have taken strong
hold Of the sufferer when in active life.
The last word of Napoleon were re,
markable for this, and we have
lately been struck by the account
of the death of that great mag
istrate, Chief Justice Parsons, of Mas.
sachusetts, in the memoir by his son,
the late Professor Parsons. of the Har-
ward Law School: "His thoughts when
he could no longer control them went
back to his duties and to his business,
and responded unconsciously to his con.
dition, as death drew near to close bis
earthly career. When he spoke it was
as Judge, giving answers, directions.
etc. At last, after 4 suspense of all
speech so long that We thought We
should never hear his voice again, he
suddenly revived, and, with perfect dis
tinctness, spoke for the last time on
earth that formula which he had used
hundreds of times: Gentleman of the
jury, the case is closed and in your
hands. You will please retira and agree
upon your verdict"
Almost the same thing is said in the
biography Of Lord Chief Justice Ten:
terdeh. We quote from his Life by
Lord Campbell: can access of fever
supervening, he was put to bed, from
which he never rose. He became de-
lirious and talked incoherently. After
wards he seemed to recover his com.
posure, and, raising his head from the
pillow, was heard to say, in a slow and
solemn tone, as when he used to con-
clude his summing up in cases of great
Importance: And now, gentlemen of
the jury, you will consider of your ver-
dict The were his last words. When
he had uttered them his head sunk
down, and in a few minutes he expired
without groan."
In connection with the above it affords
MS pleasure to print a communication
from an accomplished scholar. whose &C.
curacy in matters of history is only
equaled by the elegant simplicity Of
his style:
Il met. the other day, d little article
on the difficulty of getting correctly at
the last words of great men, and refer
ring particularly to William Pitt. It
brought to my mind Daniel Webster.
The evening before he died his physician
repeated to him the words, Thy rod and
Thy staff they comfort me- and Mr..
Webster replied, as if in sympathy, but
too weak to complete the sentence,
"Thy rod and Thy staff"-the fact
the fact-I want Here the matter
rested as at first reported; and;
I think, lis publicly repeated by
Mr.: Everett. The true account;
as it came to me very directly,
is as follows: Mr.. Webster asked
whether he was likely to live till morn
ing. His physician, DR.. Jeffreys, not
willing to give direct answer, repeated
from the Twenty third Psalm: Thy
rod and thy staff etc. Mr.. Webster
saw the evasion, and in clear and
rather severe tone said: Thy rod and
thy staff!-the fact, tho fact, I want,
j. O., he wanted an answer to his ques-
tion.'
"This reminds me of the last, or near
~ the last, words of his distinguished
; friend, Jeremiah Mason. His daughter
said, in a suppressed voice: He is
dying Mr.. Mason asked what she was
saying. Nothing, father she replied.
Precisely what words did you use to
say nothing?' was the question then
put by the great lawyer and GROSS OK
aminer. In both these instances the
clear, penetrating intellect of the advo,
cate continued to the last.