Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-27
DYING PEN IN HAND.
"ALL rs FINISHED NOW"
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wrsssed from she Grim msr.ier Tine
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Eneush 20 Complete Their wssk.
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Not little interest attaches TO thos.
passages in literary history rccounting
the closing scenes in the lives o.
authors whose work has been suddenly
terminated by death. All readers oil
Green's History Of England must surely
have been impressed with the descrip-
ton there given Of the last hours in the
life of Beda. the good monk Of Var
row and the first English historian.
BGda dictated the last pages OF his
version Of St. Johns Gospel with his
dying breath. bidding his scribe write
quickly, lest his task should be left un-
dene. "All is finished now" he said,
when the last words we're written
down, and, turning his face to the spot
where be was wont 10 pray, he COM
menced chanting hymn, and SO
passed away.
Green himself, who describes Beda's
death so touchingly, was overtaken in
the midst Of his labors by the same
dread messenger. During the last year
Of his life he worked in constant ex-
pectstion Of death. The incidents Of
that year Of uncertainty are related
BY the historians wife in the introduce
ton to the " Conquest Of England" the
work which Green left unfinished. He
would not yield the pen until he was
too weak to hold it longer, and then be
dictated until his voice, too. failed. His
last words were "Now ! am weary,
can work no more"
Goethe wrote on until his last hour,
and died tracing letters with his fore
finger in the air. 1t was an April
morning, and he was sitting in an arm
chair in his study at Weimar. His
daughter-in-law, his beloved Ottilie, sat
beside him, holding his hand in
hers. He kept murmuring her
name, and then his thoughts be-
gan TO wander incoherently. A piece
Of paper on the floor turned his mind
to Schiller, and he asked how they
could leave such letters lying csrelessly
about. After speech had failed him he
raised his forefnger and wrote upon the
air. Then. reclining in his armchair,
he fell asleep so peacefully that the
watchers did not know at what moment
his spirit took its departure. "Never
Fastening, never resting" had been his
motto. and so it was to the end.
Thsckeray was forced TO lay aside
his pen before he had completed his
" Denis Duval." The COrnhiH MGga-
zine had duly announced a new serial
from the author who had so many times
before delighted the English-speaking
public with his charming creations.
But one Christmas morning they found
him dssd in bed. his arms thrown up on
his pillow, and peaceful look upon his
face, as though he had departed in the
midst Of 2 happy dream. Only two
days before be had congratulated
himself on the completion Of four num-
bers Of his new novel. Part Of the
manuscript was found in his pocket.
with the appearance Of having been
carried about and revised at odd mo-
ments. II is said there was a com
pleteness in the fragment Of the story
written. in respect TO plot and incident,
that could hardly have been better at
tanned had the writer foreseen his sud-
den demise. The last words Thacke-
ray corrected in proof were. And my
heart throbbed with exquisite bliss"
Dickens, in memoir Of his loved
friend and co-worker, comments on
these words with that pathos and ten
derness characteristic Of the author OF
4" little Nell " and Dora" God
ant" be says, - that on that Christ
; as-eve, when be laid his head back on
J pillow and threw up his arms as be
been wont 10 90 when very weary.
: me consciousness Of duty done aud
Christian hope throughout life humbly
cherished. may have caused his own
heart so to throb when lac passed away
70 his Redeemer's rest"
1t was not many years thereafter that
he who wrote the words just quoted
was himself stricken down in the midst
OF literary work. Death stopped the
busy hand Of Dickens while he was yet
writing " Edwin brood" All the June
day before his death and far into the
night the novelist had spent in his
chalet at Gsdshill, completing the
fifth chapter Of his story. A fac
simil> Of the last page Of manuscript
written by him is given in Forster's
life. 1t is written IN fine. close hand.
with numerous erasures and interllnes-
tons. The last sentence Is - There.
he's fully committed. interposed the
clerk take him away" The scene
Of the passage is laid in the City Of
Rochester. in whose quaint and old
cathedral Dickens loved 10 wander
and dream his dreams, and under whose
shadows be had expressed the wish that
his own body might be laid IN its
last sleep. 1t seems as though il could
have been nothing less than Fremont
tion Of his sudden departure that
prompted the novelist TO have inserted
in the agreement for the publication Of
Edwin brood" a clause providing
that " if said Charles Dickens shall die
during the composition Of the said work A"
q proportion Of the amount paid for il
IN advance should be refunded to the
publishers. This had not been the
customary form Of his agreements.
The same grim presence that brought
the stories Of Denis Duyal" and
" Edwin brood " 70 such an abrupt
conclusion also concluded before its
time Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel.
Wives and Daughters. Mrs. Gas
kell achieved a reputation in the literary
world by Her Life Of Charlotte
Bronte." She died one November day.
without q moments warning, in her
home at Holybourne, Hampshire. Eng
land. Her unfinished novel was com
pleied by other hands. And so it was
IN the very presence Of the King Of
Terrors that Thomas Benton dictated q
portion Of his Abridgment Of the
Debates Of Congress. He persevered
until the last, although unable for a
long time 10 speak above q whisper.
And thus, more recently. died Padre
Rafaelle Garrucci. the linguist and