Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-10-03
DYING MEMS LAST WORDS.
Pathetic Utteranees Upon The Verge of
the Grave.
An Occasion Upon Which Most Men
Will Speak the Truth-The Last
Thoughts of Goethe. Walter
Scott. Washington and
Others.

the IOluon Standard Most men MAY
be credited with speaking the truth at
least on this occasion. We are not aware
that out of fiction there is any authenticat-
ed instance of any one dying with lie on
his lips. The dying, too. are credited IN
common belief with clearer insight and
a further knowledge into the past and
present, if not the future than is vouch-
Safed to hale humanity. Last words NAV
therefore be said TO possess a mauy-sided
interest: and 1t is not little curious that
now that we have literature which dis
sects the faults ana foihleS and habits of
great men, there should exist no collection
of the last words of celebrities. Scattered
throughout biography are to be founo an
immense number of examples, many of
them curlouSly striking, which only await
the industry of the bookmaker of those
thoughts that breathe and words that
burn. From shelf of ones bookcase
indeed, one can find illustrations and to
spare. Perhaps one of the noblest of
death bed utteranceS was that of J. r.
Green. whose last words were, Il die
learning" 1t is almost worthy of rank
ing with the famous words of General
Wolfe. who. while in the agonies of death,
was aroused with the cries of They run. "
and eagerly asked. WHO run?" On be-
ing tod ''rhe French" he exclaimed, Il
thank God and die contented.' " | thank
God. " said the Nelson, that have done
my duty" as the guns Numbered over
head prOclaiming the victory of Trafalgar
The scholar and warrior alike look back
upon their life's work. 1t is not seldom
that we find soldiers proud Of having done
their duty, but Green's utterance reflects
the eternal character of the students
labors, which only end as they began. The
dying Goethe exclaimed, More light"
and the words have possibly double sense,
although their first meaning undoubtedly
applied to the waning twilight of his
earthly day. 1t is not seldom that we
have an instance of the ruling passion
strong in death.
God bless you, - was the dying express
sion Of Dr. Johnson, who addressed it to
Miss Morris, the sister of the beautiful
girl who sat to Reynolds for his picture of
Hope Nursing Love" These were also
the last words of Wadsworth, and of Ed
mund Burke, while Sir Walter Scott, in
his last moments of consciousness, invoked
the blessings of heaven upon his sons and
daughters. joy was the utterance Of
Mrs. Hannah Moore: Happy that of Sir
James Macintosh, the historian. Charles
Matthews. the great actor, lied with the
words II am ready on his lips. which re-
mind us irreSisti5ly of Col. NewcOme's
death, more real to most people than many
in real life aud of the noble expression
Thackeray puts into his mouth, "Adsum.'
1t Is difficult and perhaps needless to in
stitute comparisons, but it would be i'm
possible to find any nobler words than
those of General Washington. Il am
about to die, and am not afraid to die. "
There is calm heroism in them which
seems to show us that the great soldier had
conquered the king. of terrors "Wonder-
fdl, wonderful, this death" that seems to
indicate philoso2 hical caim-they were
the words of Etty, the painter. Dying
dying said Thomas Hood, Just before
the end. and his biographer tells us that
he thus expressed or altitude for coming
rest. Who shall say what was the mean
ing of Charles |. Remember, and was
there not a grim irony as well as perhaps
an unconscious pathos in the expression OF
the merry monarch, who apoIOgized to his
courtiers for the trouble he had caused
them-"l have been an uncOnScionable
time in dying. and hope you will excuse
it. AS Lord Macaulay remarks: This
was the last glimpse of that exquisite ur-
banity so often found potent to charm
away the resentment of justly incensed
nation. This hand hath offended, was
the last and nOblest utterance of Graz mer
as extending his right hand he watched it
consume away in the flames And Lati
mer, addressing Ridley at the stake, ex-
claimed in tones of triumph. This dav
we light a candle in England which will
never be extirguished. Is there not some
thing irresistibly touching in Douglas Jer-
j l.. E., l.,
waiting and waited for. Frank Buck
remarked. IL am going on a long journey
to a strange country and shall see many
strange animals by the way. and,
whether this be well founded OF not, it is
certainly Characteristic of the great natur-
alist. A future without Gods lesser but
lovely creation was impossible to such a
lover of nature Mozart died singing the
alto part of his Requiem, while friends
took the soprano and bass Happy.
Supremacy happy" lord Lyndhurst ex-
claimed as he lay dying in the dining
room surrounded by his fathers pictures
and able to look back upon a career of
rarely successful effort. Sleep am
asleep already; | am talking in my
sleep" was the expression of Daniel Will
son on the night of his death, which re-
minds US of Shelloy's beautiful lines:
low wonderful is Death,
Death and his brother Sleep.
ord Eldon resignedly remarked in re-
joinder to the information that it was
cold day, it being, in point of fact, one of
the severest frosts that had occurred for
many years. that it mattered not to him
where he was going whether the weather
was hot or cold IL is. perhaps. hardly
fair to lay any great stress upon the last
differences of Swift, which are recorded
as being: - am what | am; am what
am, - for he passed away in the midst of
an almost total eclipse of intellect. Il
am not going to die, am i?' Charlotte
Bronte asked her husband after few
short months of married life. He will
not seperate US; we have been so happy
and there Is much that is pathetic in this
when we remember what a stormy and sor-
rowful life she had passed through There
Is, too, something saddening, if cnar-
acteristic. In Oliver Godsmiths farewell
words when his doctor asked, lis your
mind at ease? and he replied scrrowful-
". No, It is mott but it is fair to add
,hat there seems to have been In his mind
q natural renlOrse for having taken his
own remedies IN spite of the remon-
strances of his medical advisers Keats.
as everybody remembers, exclaimed, short
ly before his death. Il feel the flowers
growing over me, beautiful conception,
worthy of one of our greatest poets.
Another poet, Torquato Tasso. died say
ing, with extreme difficulty In manus
tuas. Domino. which was curiously like
the dying prayer of Martin Luther
My days are passed as a shodow that
returns not. were the last words of Rich
ard Hooker, but they were not spoken as
much in regret for wasted hours as for
his labors being at an end before they
were completed. Joseph Addison, when
dying. called. 1t is said. the young Earl of
Warwick. his wlfe's son. a very disslpated
young man. to his bedside. saying. Il
have sent for you that yJu may see how a
christian can die. C0Hpers was a sad
dsath-bed Asked now he felt. he replied.
Feel! | feel unutterabIe. LGdtterabie de-
spairl" His last words vera to a lady
who offered him d cordial, WHIT does 1t
signify" When Lore Severance lay on his /
death bed. apparently unable to spsak or
recognize any one. his wife said, DO
you know me-? To which he replied.
quite audibly. To my last grasp. my
darling, and d few minutes later. breath
ing the words. Il m 20 weary. he PASSED
away. There was much that was artificial
about Pope's death-bad His attempt to
write an essay On the immortality Of