difficulty; but this was the last effort of nature, for about eight
o'clock in the evening, certain symptoms of dissolution manifested
themselves. When one of his domestics brought one of the brethren, and
me, who had only just left him, this intelligence, I returned
immediately with all speed, and found he had died in so very tranquil a
manner, that without his feet and hands being in any respect
discomposed, or his breathing increased, his senses, judgment and in
some measure his voice, remaining entire to his very last gasp, he
appeared more to resemble one in a state of sleep than death.... At two
o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday, his body was carried to the common
burying-place, called Plein Palais, without extraordinary pomp. His
funeral, however, was attended by the members of the senate, the
pastors, all the professors of the college, and a great portion of the
citizens. The abundance of tears shed on this occasion afforded the
strongest evidence of the sense which they entertained of their loss.
According to his own directions, no hillock, no monument was erected to
his memory.--_Theodore Beza: "Life of John Calvin."_
CAMPBELL (Thomas, English poet), 1777-1844. "_No; it was one Tom
Campbell._" Campbell's friends were doubtful whether he was conscious or
not of what was going on in his presence, and had recourse to an
artifice to learn. One of them spoke of the poem "Hohenlinden," and
pretending to forget the author's name, said he had heard it was by Mr.
Robinson. Campbell saw the trick, was amused, and said playfully, but in
a calm and distinct tone, "No; it was one Tom Campbell."
Some time before he uttered his last words he said:--
"When I think of the existence which shall commence when the stone is
laid over my head, how can literary fame appear to me, to any one, but
as nothing? I believe, when I am gone, justice will be done to me in
this way--that I was a pure writer. It is an inexpressible comfort, at
my time of life, to be able to look back and feel that I have not
written one line against religion or virtue."
CANO (Alonzo, the "Michael Angelo of Spain"), 1601-1667. "_Vex me not
with this thing, but give me a simple cross, that I may adore it, both
as it is in itself and as I can figure it in my mind_," to a priest who
gave him an elaborate but badly carved cross. He had previously refused
the sacrament from the hand of a priest who had administered it to
converted Jews.
CARLYLE (Thomas, essayist, translator, and historian), 1795-1881. His
mind was wandering when Froude went to his bedside, but he recognized
him and said: "_I am very ill. Is it not strange that these people
should have chosen the very oldest man in all Britain to make suffer in
this way?_" Froude answered, "We do not know exactly why those people
act as they do. They may have reasons we cannot guess at." "_Yes_," said
Carlyle, "_it would be rash to say that they have no reasons_." When
Froude saw him next, his speech was gone.[10]
[10] On February 5th, 1881, in the tranquil exhaustion of a ripe old
age, this true SAGE of modern times passed away at his home in
Cheyne Row, Chelsea, where he had lived for fifty years: and,--as
the _Times_ remarked,--the world seemed duller, colder, and darker,
in that this one grey old man had left it.
No time was lost in collecting funds to provide for a public
monument of the philosopher. The work was entrusted to Mr. J. E.
Boehm, R. A., with the result of a most admirable statue in bronze,
life-size, representing Carlyle as he was in his latter days, in an
attitude of thought, seated in an arm-chair, and wearing his
well-known dressing-gown. "For this noble piece of portraiture," Mr.
Ruskin wrote of it, "I cannot trust myself to express my personal
gratitude, or to speak at all of the high and harmonious measure in
which it seems to me to express the mind and features of my dear
master." It is appropriately placed in the little public garden, at
the end of Great Cheyne Row, Chelsea, where Carlyle had spent the
last forty years of his life. There, on October 26th, 1882, in
presence of many of those who were his attached friends in life, it
was unveiled by Professor Tyndall, who delivered an eloquent address
on the occasion. Among those who assisted were Lord Houghton, Mrs.
Oliphant, Miss Swanwick, Moncure D. Conway, Robert Browning, Dr.
Martineau, Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, and others. A simple inscription on
the massive pedestal, of Aberdeen granite, records the dates of the
birth and death of the remarkable man in whose honour it is
erected.--_William Bates._
CARNOT (Marie Francois Sadi-Carnot, President of the French Republic,
assassinated by Cesare Giovanni Santo in Lyons, June 24, 1894),
1837-1894. "_I am grateful for your presence._" These words were in
response to those of Dr. Poncet who leaned over the bed on which the
President was lying, and said, "Your friends are here, Monsieur le
President."
CARY (Alice, American poetess and magazine writer), 1820-1871. "_I want
to go away._"
CAVOUR (Camillo Benso, Count de, Italian statesman), 1810-1861. "_No,
your Majesty, to-morrow you will not see me here_," to Victor Emmanuel,
who, as he turned away in tears, said to Cavour, "I shall come to see
you again to-morrow."
He secured liberty of the press, and favored religious toleration and
free trade. Among the important measures of his administration were his
rebellion against papal domination, and his alliance with France and
England in the war against Russia in 1855. After the close of the war he
devoted his efforts to the liberation and unity of Italy, undismayed by
the angry fulminations of the Vatican.
_Lippincott._
CAZOTTE (Jacques, French poet and royalist, executed by the
revolutionists September 25th, 1792), 1720-1792. "_My dear wife, my dear
children, do not weep: do not forget me, but above all, remember never
to offend God._"
CHANNING (William Ellery, distinguished Unitarian clergyman and writer
of rare grace and beauty. He has been called the "Father of American
Unitarianism"), 1780-1842. "_You need not be anxious concerning
to-night. It will be very peaceful and quiet with me._"
He turned his face toward that sinking orb, and he and the sun went away
together. Each, as the other, left the smile of his departure spread on
all around,--the sun on the clouds; he on the heart.
_Theodore Parker._
His remains were brought to Boston, and committed to the grave amidst
the regrets of all classes and parties; and, as the procession moved
from the church, the bell of the Catholic Cathedral tolled his knell,--a
fact never perhaps paralleled in the history of Romanism. And so
departed one of the great men of the Republic,--one who, amidst its
servility to mammon and slavery, ceased not to recall it to the sense of
its honor and duty,--a man whose memory his countrymen will not
willingly let die. As the visitor wanders among the shaded aisles of the
western part of Mount Auburn, he sees a massive monument of marble,
designed by Allston, the poet-painter. Generous and brave men, from
whatever clime, resort to it, and go from it more generous and brave;
for there reposes the great and good man whom we have commemorated. The
early beams, intercepted by neighboring heights, fall not upon the spot;
but the light of high noon and the later and benigner rays of the day
play through the foliage in dazzling gleams upon the marble,--a fitting
emblem of his fame; for, when the later and better light which is yet to
bless our desolate race shall come, it will fall with bright
illustration on the character of this rare man, and on the great aims of
his life.
_Methodist Quarterly Review_, January, 1849.
CHARLES I. (Charles Stuart, King of England), 1600-1649. "_Remember!_"
to William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury, who declared to the
Commissioners of the Commons that the king's last words were meant as a
message to his son, and were intended to enjoin forgiveness of his
enemies by his son in the future. Some say his last words were, "I fear
not death; death is not terrible to me." He was executed January 30,
1649.[11]
[11] I mention the discovery of the body of Charles I. when George
IV. was Prince Regent. It has been asserted, and is, I believe,
true, that the nation wished the body of him whom they always called
"the saint and martyr" to be removed from Windsor and buried in
Westminster Abbey: and that a sum of no less than L70,000 was
entrusted by Parliament to Charles II. to erect a tomb over the
remains of his father. If the story be true, the entire sum
disappeared and was not put to the intended purpose. It was,
however, supposed that the "White King's" _coffin_, at any rate, had
been transferred to the Abbey. It was in order to settle a doubt on
this point that George IV., then Prince Regent, went down into the
vaults of Windsor with the famous physician, Sir Henry Halford.
There they found the coffins of Henry VIII. and of his wife, Lady
Jane Seymour; and between them lay a coffin on which were rudely
scratched the letters "C. I." In order to be sure that this was
indeed the coffin of the executed king, they opened it--and there
lay before them the handsome face, just as Vandyke depicted it;
though (as always happens in such cases) the nose fell in
immediately that the corpse was exposed to the open air. Then--I
simply tell the tale as it was told to me; for, though there must be
some printed account of the event, I have never seen it--Sir Henry
Halford took up by the hair the decapitated head, and placed it on
the palm of his hand, which was covered by his silk handkerchief.
When he replaced the head in the coffin the vertebra of the neck,
which had been smoothly severed by the axe of the executioner, was
lying on his handkerchief; and the Prince Regent remarked to Sir
Henry that this would be an interesting relic for him. He took it;
and had it set in gold with the inscription, "Os Caroli Primi, heu
intercisum." I believe that, by the wish and right-feeling of
H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, this relic of the hapless king has been
replaced in the coffin. Everyone will recall the sanguinary epigram
of Lord Byron upon the incident which I have narrated.--_Farrar._
CHARLES II. (of England, "The Merry Monarch"), 1630-1685. "_Don't let
poor Nelly starve!_" The king referred to Margaret Symcott, known as
Eleanor Gwynne or Nell Gwynn. She commenced life as an orange-girl in
the streets of London. Later she sang in taverns, and after a time
became a popular actress in the Theatre Royal. She is remembered as the
mistress of Charles II. She seems to have been a very kind and
good-hearted woman. She was faithful to her royal lover, and upon his
death retired from the world and lived in seclusion.[12]
[12] In his _History of the Stage_, Curll states that Nell first
captivated the king by her manner of delivering the epilogue to
Dryden's _Tyrannic Love: or, The Royal Martyr_. The tragedy was
founded upon the story of the martyrdom of St. Catherine, by way of
compliment to Catherine of Braganza. She personated _Valeria_, the
daughter of Maximin, tyrant of Rome.
CHARLES V. (of France, called "The Wise." He was the son of John II. who
was made prisoner by the Black Prince at Poitiers), 1337-1380. "_Ah,
Jesus!_"
CHARLES IX. (of France, second son of Henry II. and Catharine de'
Medici), 1550-1574. "_Nurse, nurse, what murder! what blood! Oh! I have
done wrong. God pardon me!_" The king referred, no doubt, to the
massacre of St. Bartholomew, which he occasioned. Voltaire tells us his
dying remorse was so great that "blood oozed from his pores."[13] There
are recorded other examples of bloody sweat. It is said of a man at
Lyons that when sentenced to death a bloody sweat covered his body. In
the Medical Gazette, December, 1848, is an account by Dr. Schneider of
some Norwegian sailors who, in a tremendous storm, sweated blood from
extreme terror. See also the British Critic, 1831, p. 1. When our
Saviour bore the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane, "his
sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
(Luke xxii., 44.)
[13] The massacre of St. Bartholomew lasted seven days, during which
more than 5,000 persons were slain in Paris, and about 50,000 in the
country. During all this season of murder, the king betrayed neither
pity nor remorse, but fired with his long gun at the poor fugitives
across the river; and on viewing the body of Coligni on a gibbet, he
exulted with a fiendish malignity. In early life this monster had
been noted for his cruelty: nothing gave him greater pleasure than
cutting off the heads of asses or pigs with a single blow from his
couteau de chasse. After the massacre, he is said to have contracted
a singularly wild expression of feature, and to have slept little
and waked in agonies. He attributed his thirst for human blood to
the circumstance of his mother having at an early period of his life
familiarized his mind with the brutal sport of hunting bullocks, and
with all kinds of cruelty.--_Winslow's Anatomy of Suicide, p. 52,
note._
CHARLES V. (Don Carlos I. of Spain, afterwards Emperor of Germany),
1500-1558. "_Now, Lord, I go!_" a moment later, with eyes fixed upon the
crucifix, he added, "_Ay, Jesus!_" and expired.
CHARLEMAGNE (Charles I., King of France and Emperor of the West),
742-814. "_Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit._"
CHARLOTTE (Augusta, commonly called the Princess, daughter of George IV.
and Queen Caroline), 1796-1817. "_You make me drink. Pray leave me
quiet. I find it affects my head._" She died in child-bed.
CHASTELARD, DE (Pierre de Boscosel, a young French poet and musician who
became enamoured of Mary Queen of Scots, and concealing himself in her
bedchamber, attempted her honor. Mary pardoned his offence, but upon his
repeating it, he was executed at Edinburgh), 1540-1563. He died
chanting a love-song, having on the way to the scaffold prepared his
mind for the work of the executioner by reading Ronsard's hymn on death.
CHAUCER (Geoffrey, "Father of English Poetry"), 1328-1400. Chaucer died
repeating the "Balade made by Geoffrey Chaucyer, when upon his
dethe-bedde, lying in his grete anguysse."
CHENIER (Andre), 1762-1794. He was waiting for his turn to be dragged to
the guillotine, when he commenced this poem:
"_Comme un dernier rayon, comme un dernier zephyre
Anime la fin d'un beau jour;
Au pied de l'echafaud j'essaie encore ma lyre,
Peut-etre est ce bientot mon tour;_
"_Peut-etre avant que l'heure en cercle promenee
Ait pose sur l'email brillant,
Dans les soixante pas ou sa route est bornee,
Son pied sonore et vigilant,_
"_Le sommeil du tombeau pressera me paupiere--_"
Here, at this pathetic line, was Andre Chenier summoned to the
guillotine! Never was a more beautiful effusion of grief interrupted by
a more affecting incident.--_Curiosities of Literature._
CHESTERFIELD (Philip Dormer Stanhope), 1694-1773. "_Give Day Rolles a
chair._"
CHOPIN (Frederick, distinguished Polish pianist and composer),
1810-1849. "_Who is near me?_" he was told Gutman--his favorite pupil.
He bent his head to kiss the hand of his dear friend and pupil, and in
that act of love and devotion died.
CHRYSOSTOM (John, called "Saint"), 350-407. He died at the close of
church-service, with the words, "_Glory to God for all things, Amen._"
Splendor of intellect, mellowness of heart, and gorgeousness of fancy
were the characteristics of this greatest of preachers.
CHUDLEIGH (Elizabeth, Duchess of Kingston. She was an adventuress famous
throughout England for her wonderful beauty and for her wild and wayward
life), 1720-1788. "_I will lie down on the couch; I can sleep, and after
that I shall be entirely recovered._"
CLEOPATRA (Queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy Auletes), B. C. 69-30.
"_Here thou art, then!_" These words, which are traditional, she is said
to have addressed to the asp with which she committed suicide.
When she heard that it was Caesar's intention to send her into Syria, she
asked permission to visit Antony's tomb, over which she poured forth
most bitter lamentations. "Hide me, hide me," she exclaimed, "with thee
in the grave; for life, since _thou_ hast left it, has been misery to
_me_." After crowning the tomb with flowers, she kissed it, and ordered
a bath to be prepared. She then sat down to a magnificent supper, after
which a peasant came to the gate with a small basket of figs covered
with leaves, which was admitted into the monument. Amongst the figs and
under the leaves was concealed the asp which Cleopatra applied to her
bosom. She was found dead, attired in one of her most gorgeous dresses,
decorated with brilliants, and lying on her golden bed.--_Winslow:
"Anatomy of Suicide."_
COKE (Sir Edward, Lord Chief Justice of England, and author of the
celebrated work, "Coke upon Littleton"), 1552-1633. "_Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done._"
COLLINGBORN (William), "_Lord Jesus! Yet more trouble?_" These words he
is reported to have spoken after the executioner had opened his body to
extract his heart.
William Collingborn was condemned for making this rhyme on King Richard
III.,
The cat, the rat, and Lovel, our dog,
Rule all England, under the hog.
Collingborn was hanged and cut down alive, his bowels ripped out and
cast into the fire; when the executioner put his hand into the bulk of
his body, to pull out his heart, he said, "Lord Jesus! Yet more
trouble?" and so died, to the great sorrow of many people.--_Fab.
Chron._, p. 519.
COLLINS (Anthony, essayist and deist), 1676-1729. "_I have always
endeavored, to the best of my ability, to serve God, my king and my
country. I go to the place God has designed for those who love him._"
Some say his last words were, "The Catholic faith is, to love God and to
love man. This is the best faith, and to its entertainment I exhort you
all."
COLUMBUS (Christopher, discovered America October 12th, 1492),
1435-1506. "_In manus tuos, Domine, commendo spiritum meum._"
Columbus died at Valladolid, a disappointed, broken-hearted old man;
little comprehending what he had done for mankind, and still less the
glory and homage that through all future generations awaited his
name.--_Ticknor._
CONFUCIUS (His name was Kong, but his disciples called him Kong-Fu-tse,
which is "Kong the Master," and this the Jesuit missionaries Latinized
into Confucius), B. C., 551-479. "_I have taught men how to live._"
Early one morning, it is said, he rose, and with his hands behind his
back dragging his staff, moved about by his door, crooning, "The great
mountain must crumble, the strong heart must break, and the wise man
wither away like a plant. In all the provinces of the empire there
arises not one intelligent monarch who will make me his master. My time
has come to die." He went to his couch and never left it again.... His
mind was magnanimous and his heart was serene. He was a lonely old
man--parents, wife, child, friends, all gone--but this made the fatal
message so much the more welcome. Without any expectation of a future
life, uttering no prayer, betraying no fear, he approached the dark
valley with the strength and peace of a well-ordered will resigned to
Heaven, beyond a doubt treasuring in his heart the assurance of having
served his fellow-men in the highest spirit he knew, and with the purest
light he had.
For twenty-five centuries he has been as unreasonably venerated as he
was unjustly neglected in his life. His name is on every lip throughout
China, his person in every imagination. The thousands of his descendants
are a titled and privileged class by themselves. The diffusion and
intensity of the popular admiration and honor for him are wonderful.
Countless temples are reared to him, millions of tablets inscribed to
him. His authority is supreme. He is worshiped by the pupils of the
schools, the magistrates, the emperor himself in full pomp. Would that a
small share of this superfluity had solaced some of the lonesome hours
he knew while yet alive!--_Alger's "Genius of Solitude."_
CONRADIN (Konradin of Swabia, the last descendant of the imperial House
of Hohenstaufen, son of Konrad IV.), 1252-1268. "_O my mother! how deep
will be thy sorrow at the news of this day!_"
A few minutes before his execution, Conradin, on the scaffold, took off
his glove and threw it into the midst of the crowd as a gage of
vengeance, requesting that it might be carried to his heir, Peter of
Arragon. This duty was undertaken by the Chevalier de Walburg, who,
after many hairbreadth escapes, succeeded in fulfilling his prince's
last command.
_Chambers' Encyclopaedia._
COOKMAN (Alfred, American clergyman connected with the Presbyterian
church), 1828-1871. "_I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the
blood of the Lamb._"
CORDAY D'ARMANS, DE (Marie Anne Charlotte, usually called Charlotte
Corday, a young woman of noble family and of a courageous and lofty
spirit. She stabbed Marat, one of the most bloodthirsty of all the vile
monsters of the French Revolution), 1768-1793. "_This is the toilette of
death, arranged by somewhat rude hands, but it leads to immortality._"
She must have spoken later, perhaps many times, but the words recorded
are the last of which we can be certain.
One description of Charlotte Corday says that she was of medium height,
with an oval face, fine features, blue eyes, a good nose, beautiful
mouth, chestnut hair, lovely hands and arms; another says that she was
a virago, awkward, dirty, insolent, rubicund, and fat; and that if she
had been pretty she would have been more anxious to live.
_La Demagogie._
We read in the _Moniteur_, "Charlotte Corday has been executed, the
17th, about seven P. M., in the Place de la Revolution, in the (red)
garb of assassins, and her goods confiscated to the Republic." The
executioner ... struck the bleeding head, when he showed it, according
to custom, to those present; the cheeks were still crimson, and it was
said that they were so in consequence of the insult thus offered to
them.[14]--_La Demagogie._
[14] It is a tradition in Corsica that when St. Pantaleon was
beheaded, the _caput mortuum_, as it might have been thought, rose
from the block and sang.
A reliable gentleman who witnessed an execution, wrote as follows:
"It appears to be the best of all modes of inflicting the punishment
of death, combining the greatest impression on the spectator with
the least possible suffering to the victim. It is so rapid that I
should doubt whether there was any suffering; but from the
expression of the countenance, when the executioner held up the
head, I am inclined to believe that sense and consciousness may
remain for a few seconds after the head is off. The eyes seemed to
retain speculation for a moment or two, and there was a look in the
ghastly stare with which they stared upon the crowd, which implied
that the head was aware of its ignominious situation."
COSIN or COZEN (Dr. John, English divine), 1594-1672. "_Lord!_"
He raised his hand and cried, "Lord!" After this he expired without
pain. It is thought that he wished to repeat his frequent prayer, "Lord
Jesus, come quickly!" He desired above all things to die suddenly and
without distress of body or mind.
COWPER (William, distinguished English poet), 1731-1800. "_What can it
signify?_" Said to Miss Perowne, one of his attendants, who offered him
some refreshments. He died in the gloom of a deep melancholy from which
he had suffered during a considerable portion of his life.
CRATES (of Thebes, Cynic philosopher), about B. C. 330--he was living in
B. C. 307. "_Ah! poor humpback! thy many long years are at last
conveying thee to the tomb: thou shalt soon visit the palace of Pluto._"
Crates was deformed and ugly in shape and features, and to render
himself still more hideous he sewed sheepskins on his coat, so that it
was difficult at first sight to say to what species of animal he
belonged. He was, however, noted for self-control, abstinence, and
simplicity of life.
CRANMER (Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury), 1489-1556. "_This unworthy
right hand._"
When the fagots were lighted he stretched out his right hand, which had
signed the recantation, into the flames, and there held it firmly till
it was a mere cinder. This took place before his body was reached by
the fire.[15]