The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-03-03

The last words Of great men utter
ed as their life work was drawing t,
q close. have furnished inspiration TO
future generations and been made tn,
subject for story or song in, all coun
tries where genius in the arts or low
Of country is given q high place. TIL,
battlefield has been a ource whenc,
has sprung many messages which hava
breathed Of courage, often spoken un'
der cover Of jest, and which have
shown the utter disregard of self whe1
the sufferers country demanded a sac.
rifce.
When Lieut.. Egerton, Of H. M. S
Powerful, had both his legs blown Oh
at Ladysmith recently, his first
thoughts were, not Of ancestral home,
his broad acres, or the friends and
relatives he was never to see again,
but OF England's national game, OF
which he was an enthusiastic devotee.
This spoils my cricketing," he ex-
claimed, and lapsed into unconscious
ness. 70 I} =
A parallel case was that of Cornet
W. Banks, Seventh Hussars, who lost
his life at the Moosa Bagh, Lucknow
May, 1858. Alone and unsupported, the
heroic boy-he was only 18-charged
a strong body Of rebels, and killed or
wounded a round dozen ere he was
endorsed by an unlucky tulwar stroke.
When rescued he was in a terrible
plight. One leg was Topped off above
the knee; the other was only hanging
by a shred Of flesh; one arm was cleft
to the bone; the other had entirely dis
appeared, and about the body were
many gaping wounds. '"They tell me
I can go yachting il I get over this"
he cried, as they bore him from the
operating tent, and tainted away. An
hour later he was dead, never havine
recovered consciousness.
At the battle of E!andslaagte there
fell Col. Cunning, of the Sixty-ninth
Rifles, whose last words, Follow me:
Rifles" must have helped carry many
a brave fellow forward up the fire.
swept hill. ode hard, men, die hard,'
shouted Col. Inglis of the Fifty-seventb
British infantry, when MORALLY
wounded at Albuhera; and the regi-
ment has borne the proud nickname OF
"The Die-Hards" from that day to
this. Ensign Anstruthers, who planted
the Queens color Of the Royal Welsh
on the nights of Alma, and was imme-
diately shot dead for his pains, cried
"Floreat Etona"-he was an Elton boy
as the fatal bullet struck him.
Nelson's 'Thank God, I have done
my duty!" is historic; but the same
phrase, or something very like it, has
been used many times by soldiers on
their death beds. Very touching in
its simple and self-deprecatory nodes
ty was the paraphrase of it used by
Col. Booth Of the Forty-third British
Infantry, who was mortally wounded
while leading the unsuccessful attack
on the Gate Pah in the Maori wal.
When he found his end approaching
he sent for the general. and said, very
quietly, "Sir, / endeavored to carry
out your orders; I am sorry I have
failed; ! at least tried to do my duty"
Washington's last words were, 1T IL
WE'LL" Wolfe's, what, do they run al.
ready? Then I die happy" Napoleon.
a few minutes before he, expired, STAN.
mered out the words, Army" and
France" but It could not be ascer-
tanned whether it was a dream, deliri.
Inn or an adieu. The Duke Of Cumber.
land said, loudly, 1T is all over" Sill
Hugh Percy, killed fighting for Henry
vi. at Hedgeley Moore, cried as hi
fell, 81 have at least saved the bird in
my BOSOM" meaning that he had kept
the troth he plighted to his unfortun.
ate sovereign, while so many had de.
serted him. and thereby retained h1a
own self-respect. Cromwell. when hi
was dying, was pressed to drink q pos.
set which had been prepared for him
or at least to take some sleep, "a
which he replied, 1T is not my design
to eat or to sleep, but my design Il
to make what haste I can to DO gone"
Sir John Moore. killed at Corunna,
turned to one Of his aids-de-camn
Hon. Capt. stanhope, and said. stan.
hope, remember me to your sister"
The sister referred to was tho celebrat.
ed beauty and wit, Lady Hester Stan,
hope.