Weekly Phoenix herald., 1885-01-15
AIirabeau's Death-Bed.

brilIIance- Ills physician lay on q
 neighbering couch, and Mlrabeau
 spoke with wondrous continuity till tte morning; his words pouring "' forth too rapidly and too impetuous. y lY, Tn an unbroken f1reflo0d, as Tn i' the Assembly in his days of strength. ID Slowly also the curtains of night
 were in their turn drawn aside, and
 daylight began to dawn upon the IS world. His last day on earthl Think |. what lies in thati The past curling
 back like and indistlnct and con-
 fused battle-picture, the present e before, the dim immensity of the ,- unknown To>Come, looming up in
 the hazy distance: unknown and
 dubious to the best of us Christians;
 but alas! doubly so to the dying
 Mirabeau; for he properly had no
 belief whatever, and iD the world to l come he knew not the coDsoling l sublimity of a universal tribunal
 and an everlasting reward but he
 look ed forwa ard unto death simply
 as a rest and an annihilation. And it is this that renders his death the : more heroic; for It is comparatively
 easy to died when death IS regarded
 as the portal 10 happier kingdom;
 but when an ignoble rest is the high l af ic
 His first act on this last day was one of humane consideration. The | wife of a faithful retainer, named | Legrain, had srarceIy ever left his | chamber since his illness, although | her son was ill of fever, and she ] herself very far advanced in preg- ] nancy; and scarcely had the day dawned ere Mirabeau addressed her thus:
 | "Henrietta, you are good crea- ture. You are about to have a child, and are risking the life Of another, and yet you never quit me. You owe yourself to your family; go, there's fore; desire it."
 As soon as day had broken thor oughly, the windows were flung open, and the mild spring breeze stole in and famed his teverish temples
 "My friend" he said to Cabanls, I shall die to-day. When one is in that situation, there remains but one thing to do; and that is to perfume me, to crown me with flowers, to environ me with music, so that may enter sweetly into that slumber wherefrom there is no awakening"
 Ills mention of flowers was one of the ruling passions asserting itself at the hour of death. In his little garden he had many trees and shrubs, then greenly verdant, and here and there, in turf or border, the earlier flowers were bursting into bud, and the laier ones peeping from the brown earth and that hIs eye might behold him once agaIn, they wheeled hls bed to the open !, window, and he looked forth into the expanse of heaven. Just then, as though to greet him, the round !, and lustrous sun emerged from be. hind the clouds, and rayed forth upon him; and as he basked ID the beams and gazed up, dazzled aud delighted. to it's broad circle he cried {; If that is not God, it is at least his cousin-Germanr
 He then informed Cabanis that he felt he should not live many hours, and begged him to promise not to o leave him till his death and when, in promising, Cabanis burst into tears, he said, "No weakness, un- worthy yourself and mel This is moment when we ought to know how to make the most of each other. Pledge me your word that you will not make me suffer useless pain. II wish to be able to enjoy without drawbacks, the presence of all dear to me-"
 He then had De Lamarck brought
  one side of hIm on his bed, and Cab> " anis on the other, for three quarters :, of an hour he spoke to them of pri- '. Yate and public affairs, gliding rap 1 idly over the former, but dwelling r upon the latter, in mentioning which 7 he uttered his memorable words: =
 q carry in my heart the dirge of n the monarchy, the ruins whereof will now be the prey of the fac . tions' :,
 Almost immediately after this he |, lost his power of speech, in which II state he lay for an hour, apparently devoid of pain; but at about eight, " the c0uo-de- grace of death was given; =, his body cOnvulsed and wrIthed as though in frightful and agonizing pain, and In dumb torture be signed 1' tor drink; water, wine, lemonade, and jelly were offered, but refusing r, the n all, he signed again for paper. =. which being given. in hot rapidity ~ he scrawled his wants and wishes in tue words TO SLEPT (dormir). Then, when that wish was not compiled - with, he wrote more at length, pray> =. ing for common humanity's sake =, that they would give hlm opium - Just at that time Dr. Petit arrived =, and decided upon giving him VI. I com posing draught; and the pre- -, scriPtion was immediately dispatch- n' cd to the nearest druggist. Mean while, his aggravated death bangs had burst the very chains of death,