the time, as it is shocking to us in the retrospect. The spacious
meeting-house was filled with people. The sheriff, accompanied by his
deputy brought in the prisoner, manacled, with the chains clanking from
her side. The two elders, Higginson and Noyes, as the clergy were then
called, delivered an address over the sorrow-burdened form condemning
her to eternal punishment.
Then came the day of execution, July 19, 1692. At an early hour the
little village was bristling with activity. "The devil's angel on earth"
was to be punished with the death she deserved, and so the Puritan
maidens attired themselves in holiday dress to honor the event. The
procession to the gallows was a long one, scores of people from the
neighboring towns and villages taking part. The victim, manacled and
guarded by the sheriff and his deputy, headed the line, while close
behind followed troops of men and women who laughed, deeming it rare
sport to see the agonized faces of the terror-stricken family as they
watched the mother and wife grow pale, and tremble as she began the
ascent of the rocky cliff whose top was crowned with the instrument of
death. It is impossible in words to depict the scene of the execution in
the horrible colors in which tradition has painted it. With firm steps
and eyes upturned to heaven, the gray-haired woman took her place on the
drop. Silently the hangman tied the rope before the eager waiting
assembly; then a momentary hush passed over the crowd--the
executioner's duty was done. A moment later all that was left to tell
the story was the body of the aged woman swinging gently in the summer
wind.
Seldom has a woman met with a harder fate. Her body was thrown with the
previous victims into a hole in a crevice of the rocks, and hastily
covered with earth. Then the masses of spectators turned homeward,
leaving the bereaved family at the homestead uncared for and ignored by
their once firm friends.
It is a family tradition that in some way the remains of Mrs. Nourse
were recovered by her husband and sons and interred in the spot which is
now pointed out on the estate as her grave. Imagination only can recall
the details of the event, so sad and awful. In the darkness of night the
sons hasten to the new-made grave, throw off the slight covering of
earth, and by the feeble light of a lantern discover the remains. What
feelings of revenge and sorrow must have stirred their hearts as they
raised their mother's soulless frame tenderly in their arms, and carried
it along through woods and valleys, over highways and fields to the
homestead, where, on the following night, the three pronounced the only
burial service over the remains, as they lowered the body into a
newly-made grave in their own consecrated grounds, which down through
the generations has been reverently guarded.
A beautiful shaft of granite has been erected over her grave by her
descendants. The monument is of Rockport and Quincy granite, and is
eight and a half feet high. The base and apex are of Rockport granite,
and the die of Quincy granite, polished and lettered as follows:
REBECCA NOURSE.
YARMOUTH, ENGLAND.
1621.
SALEM, MASS.
1692.
O Christian martyr, who for truth could die,
When all about thee owned the hideous lie,
The world redeemed from superstition's sway,
Goes breathing freer, for thy sake, to-day.
(On the reverse.)
Accused of witchcraft, she declared, "I am innocent, and God will clear
my innocency." Once acquitted, yet falsely condemned, she suffered death
July 19, 1692.
In loving memory of her Christian character, even then fully attested by
forty of her neighbors, this monument is erected July, 1885.
NEY (famous French marshal, "The bravest of the brave"), 1769-1815.
"_Soldiers--fire!_" said to the soldiers appointed to dispatch him.
Some say his last words were: "Comrades, straight to the heart, fire!"
While repeating these words, he took off his hat, it is said, with his
left hand, and placed his right hand upon his heart. The officer gave
the signal with sword at the same moment, and the marshal instantly fell
dead, pierced with twelve balls, three of which took effect in the
head.
NOYES (John, the martyr). "_We shall not lose our lives in this fire,
but change them for a better, and for coals, have pearls_," said to a
fellow martyr.
OATES (Titus), about 1619-1705. "_It is all the same in the end._"
Titus Oates was the son of an anabaptist minister, but was educated for
the Church of England, and received an appointment as chaplain in the
royal navy. He was dismissed in disgrace from the navy, and united with
the Jesuits. Later he rejoined the Church of England, and revealed a
pretended popish plot, which resulted in the execution and imprisonment
of many innocent persons. For this he received a large pension, and was
granted a residence at Whitehall, where he lived until the death of
Charles II. Under King James he was convicted of perjury and publicly
whipped. William III. pensioned him.
An old acrostic, in a book published by Nat. Thompson, the bookseller,
"at the entrance into the Old Spring Garden near Charing Cross," during
the reign of Charles II., has this choice description of Titus Oates:
Trayter to God, damn'd source of blasphemy,
Insect of hell, grand mass of perjury;
Thorough-pac'd villain, second unto none,
Unless to Judas (if by him out-done),
Satan's black agent, hell's monopoly,
Of all that's called sin and villainy;
Accursed parent of an hell-bred brood,
Teacher of lies, spiller of guiltless blood;
England's dark cloud, eclipsing all her glory;
Satan's delight, and hell's repository.
O'CAROLAN, or CAROLAN (Turlough, famous Irish bard and musical
composer), 1670-1738. "_It would be hard indeed if we two dear friends
should part after so many years, without one sweet kiss._" These words
were spoken to a bowl of wine which he kissed when he was no longer able
to drink.
OLIVER (Francois, Chancellor of France), 1497-1560. "_O Cardinal! thou
wilt make us all to be damned_," to Cardinal Lorrain under whom he had
condemned to death many innocent men for their faith. He fell sick
through remorse, and in his delirium charged Cardinal Lorrain with
bringing down upon him the wrath of God.
ORANGE (William, Prince of, called "William the Silent," founder of the
Dutch Republic), 1533-1584. "_I do_," in response to his sister's
question, "Dost thou commend thy soul to Jesus Christ?"
William staggered and fell into the arms of an equerry. All crowded
round. "I am wounded," said William in a feeble voice.... "God have mercy
on me and on my poor people!" He was all covered with blood. His sister,
Catherine of Schwartzburg, asked, "Dost thou commend thy soul to Jesus
Christ?" He answered, in a whisper, "I do." It was his last word. They
placed him on one of the steps and spoke to him, but he was no longer
conscious. They then bore him into a room near by, where he died.--_De
Amicis: "Holland."_
The assassin was put to death by the Dutch, but his parents were
ennobled and richly rewarded by Philip II. of Spain. Philip had offered
a reward for the prince's murder, and five separate attempts had been
made previously to kill him.
ORLEANS (Louis Philippe Joseph, Duc d', surnamed "Egalite"), 1747-1793.
"_They will come off better after: let us have done_," to the
executioner who was about to draw off the duke's boots.
OWEN (Robert, socialistic writer and philanthropist), 1771-1858.
"_Relief has come._"
OWEN (John, English non-conformist divine and author, chaplain to
Cromwell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1651, Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Oxford. He was a man of great ability and devoted piety),
1616-1683. The first sheet of his "Meditations on the Glory of Christ"
had passed through the press under the superintendence of the Rev.
William Payne; ... and on that person calling on him to inform him of
the circumstances, on the morning of the day he died, he exclaimed with
uplifted hands, and eyes looking upward, "_I am glad to hear it; but, O
brother Payne! the long-wished-for day is come at last, in which I
shall see that glory in another manner than I have ever done, or was
capable of doing, in this world._"
_From Quotation in Allibone._
PAINE (Thomas, author of "Common Sense," "The Rights of Man" and "The
Age of Reason"), 1737-1809. "_I have no wish to believe on that
subject._" These words were in answer to his physician's inquiry: "Do
you wish to believe that Jesus is the Son of God?"
There is a dispute with regard to Paine's death. Some writers say he
recanted and became a Christian, while others affirm that he died as he
lived--an avowed Deist. In his last will and testament he says: "I have
lived an honest and useful life to mankind; my time has been spent in
doing good; and I die in perfect composure and resignation to the will
of my creator, God." On the other hand some authors say that he was
grossly intemperate and licentious, and that he discarded Christianity,
not so much from conviction as from a base desire to lead a bad life.
"In 1802, he (Paine) returned to America and resided a part of the time
on a farm at New Rochelle, presented to him by the State of New York for
his Revolutionary service. Paine became very intemperate, and fell low
in the social scale, not only on account of his beastly habits, but
because of his blasphemous tirade against Christianity."
_Lossing in "Our Countrymen."_
Of Paine's last hours Rev. O. B. Frothingham speaks as follows:
"The truth is, that Paine, though not rich, was in comfortable
circumstances. He had considerable property, which is specified in his
will. His sick bed was surrounded by friends who ministered to his
wants, witnessed the firmness and calmness of his last hours, and
attested the sincerity and sufficiency of his convictions. Not even the
impertinent intrusiveness of the clergy disturbed the entire serenity of
his death."
The commonly received opinion, and most likely the correct one, with
regard to Paine is this which we excerpt from _Appleton's Cyclopaedia of
Biography_:
"His attacks upon religion had exceedingly narrowed his circle of
acquaintance; and his habitual intemperance tended to the injury of his
health and the ultimate production of a complication of disorders, to
which he fell a victim in 1809. The Quakers refused to admit his remains
among their dead, and he was buried on his own farm. Cobbett boasted of
having disinterred him in 1817, and of having brought his body to
England; many, however, assert that Cobbett did not take that trouble,
but brought over from America the remains of a criminal who had been
executed."[39]
[39] The effects of Mr. Cobbett were sold by auction, in 1836; and
the bones brought forward to be offered for competition. The
auctioneer, however, refused to put them up; and they were
withdrawn, and remained in the possession of the receiver. This
gentleman, desiring to be relieved, awaited the orders of the Lord
Chancellor; but the latter, upon the matter being mentioned to him
in court, refused to recognize them as part of the estate, or make
any order respecting them. The receiver thus continued to hold them;
but finding that none of the creditors would relieve him of them,
or, indeed, make inquiry about them, he transferred them, in 1844,
to a Mr. Tilley, who retained them in his possession until a public
funeral could be arranged. I have never heard that this has been
done, and know nothing more of these _Thomae venerabilis
ossa_.--_William Bates: "The Maclise Portrait Gallery."_
_Ode to the Bones of the Im-mortal Thomas Paine, newly transported
from America to England, by the no less Im-mortal William Cobbett,
Esq._, by Thomas Rodd, Senr., the Bookseller (London, 1819, 4to). _A
Brief History of the Remains of the late Thomas Paine, from the time
of their disinterment, in 1819, by the late William Cobbett, M.P.,
down to the year 1846_ (London, Watson, 1847); and _Notes and
Queries_, Fourth Series.
"How Tom gets a living now ... I know not, nor does it much signify.
He has done all the mischief he can in the world; and whether his
carcase is at last to be suffered to rot on the earth, or to be
dried in the air, is of very little consequence. Whenever or
wherever he breathes his last, he will excite neither sorrow nor
compassion; no friendly hand will close his eyes, not a groan will
be uttered, not a tear will be shed. Like _Judas_, he will be
remembered by posterity; _men will learn to express all that is
base, malignant, treacherous, unnatural, and blasphemous, by the
single monosyllable_--PAINE!"--_Life of Thomas Paine_, by William
Cobbett.
PALMER (John, English actor of considerable merit), 1742-1798. "_There
is another and a better world._"
His death took place on the stage of the Liverpool Theatre while he was
performing the character of the _Stranger_, and his last words were a
line in the play.
Palmer was a man of acute and affectionate feelings, which had been much
exercised by the course and events of his life. He had recently lost his
wife and a favorite son, labored in consequence under profound grief and
depression of mind which he strove to overcome, and had expressed a
conviction that these mental sufferings would very shortly bring him to
his grave. During some days he seemed, however, to bear up against his
misfortunes, and performed in some pieces, including _The Stranger_,
with much success. About a week afterward he appeared a second time in
that character, when he fell a victim to the poignancy of his feelings.
On the morning of the day he was much dejected, but exerted himself with
great effect in the first and second acts of the play. In the third act
he showed evident marks of depression; and in the fourth, when about to
reply to the question of Baron Steinfort relative to his children,
appeared unusually agitated. He endeavored to proceed, but his feelings
overcame him. The hand of death arrested his progress, and he fell on
his back, heaved a convulsive sigh and instantly expired without a
groan. Having been removed to the scene-room, and medical aid
immediately procured, his veins were opened, but yielded not a single
drop of blood, and every other means of resuscitation was tried without
effect. His death was by most persons ascribed to apoplexy; but Dr.
Mitchell and Dr. Corry gave it as their opinion that he certainly died
of a broken heart, in consequence of the family afflictions which he had
recently experienced.
_Annual Register._
PARK (Edwards Amasa, distinguished American theologian, author and
translator, professor in Andover Theological Seminary, and one of the
editors of the "Bibliotheca Sacra"), 1808-1899. "_These passages may be
found on the following pages._" His mind was wandering, and, like Dr.
Adam, head master at the High School in Edinburgh, he thought himself
once more in the class-room.
PARKER (Theodore, Unitarian preacher and writer), 1810-1869. "_It is all
one, Phillips and Clarke will come for my sake._" He meant that Wendell
Phillips and James Freeman Clarke would attend his funeral. He died at
Florence, where he had gone for his health. The character of Theodore
Parker was above reproach. His tone of morality was high. His motives
were elevated, and, apparently, sincere. His firm grasp of some of the
fundamental principles of natural religion, together with his unfailing
confidence in his own powers, gave a strength to his utterances of truth
and duty which often stirred and swayed the moral nature of his hearers.
But in all his writings we find no expression of a consciousness of
guilt and of need as a sinner, and no recognition of Christ as a
Saviour. Of Theodore Parker, Lowell speaks thus wittily, in his "Fables
for Critics:"
His hearers can't tell you on Sunday beforehand,
If in that day's discourse they'll be Bibled or Koraned,
For he's seized the idea (by his martyrdom fired),
That all men (not orthodox) may be inspired;
Yet though wisdom profane with his creed he may weave in,
He makes it quite clear what he doesn't believe in,
While some, who decry him, think all kingdom come
Is a sort of a, kind of a, species of Hum,
Of which, as it were, so to speak, not a crumb
Would be left, if we didn't keep carefully mum,
And, to make a clean breast, that 'tis perfectly plain
That all kinds of wisdom are somewhat profane;
Now P's creed than this may be lighter or darker,
But in one thing 'tis clear he has faith, namely--Parker.
And this is what makes him the crowd-drawing preacher.
There's a background of God to each hard-working feature.
PARKMAN (Francis, American author), 1823-1893. He died peacefully about
noon on the 8th of November, 1893, and was buried in the Mount Auburn
Cemetery. The last book he read was "Childe Harold," and his last words
were to tell that he had just dreamed of killing a bear. Though
suffering extremely, he yet maintained to his last hour an impressive
degree of dignity, firmness, gentleness and serenity.
_Farnham: "Life of Francis Parkman."_
PASCAL (Blaise, one of the most profound thinkers and accomplished
writers of France), 1623-1662. "_May God never forsake me!_"
PAYSON (Rev. Edward, American Congregational divine), 1783-1827. "_Faith
and patience hold out._" These words were spoken with extreme difficulty
and in great pain. Some report his last words thus: "_I feel like a mote
in the sunbeam._"
Dr. Payson directed that when he was dead a label should be attached to
his breast on which should be written, "Remember the words I spake unto
you while I was yet present with you," that all who came to view his
dead body might receive from him one more sermon. The same words were at
the request of his people engraven upon the plate of the coffin.
PELLICO (Silvio, Italian poet, author of "Francesca da Rimini" and "My
Prisons"), 1789-1854. "_O Paradise! O Paradise! At last comes to me the
grand consolation. My prisons disappear; the great of earth pass away;
all before me is rest._"
PEMBO (the hermit), "_I thank God that not a day of my life has been
spent in idleness. Never have I eaten bread that I have not earned with
the sweat of my brow. I do not recall any bitter speech I have made for
which I ought to repent now._" This suggests the prayer of the Pharisee,
"God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give
tithes of all that I possess."--_Luke xviii: 11, 12._
PENN (William, founder of Pennsylvania), 1644-1718. "_To be like Christ
is to be a Christian._"
PERCEVAL (Spencer, distinguished statesman, assassinated on the 11th of
May, 1812, in the lobby of the House of Commons, by John Bellingham),
1762-1812. "_O my God!_"
PESTEL (Paul, Russian revolutionist, author of "Pestel's Hymn." He was a
brave man who loved liberty, and desired to establish it upon the ruins
of Russian absolutism), 1794-1826. "_Stupid country, where they do not
even know how to hang._" These words were spoken when the rope broke by
which he was to be hanged.
PETER (His original name was Simon; but when he became a disciple of
Christ he received the name Peter, which in Greek signifies a "rock." He
was sometimes called Cephas. He was one of the most distinguished of the
twelve apostles of our Lord, and is the author of two epistles included
in the canon of Scripture),--65. "_Remember the Lord Jesus Christ._"
These words which rest upon the authority of Eusebius, Peter is said to
have addressed to his wife on seeing her going to martyrdom. Some
suppose that he was himself at the time suspended upon the cross.[40]
[40] It is said that Peter was crucified with his head down, himself
so requesting, because he thought himself unworthy to be crucified
in the same manner as his Lord.
PETER I. (of Russia, "Peter the Great"), 1672-1725. "_I believe, Lord,
and confess; help my unbelief._"
PETER III. (Feodorovitch, of Russia, grandson of "Peter the Great." He
drew down upon himself, by his innovations, the enmity of the nobles and
clergy, and was in consequence dethroned and strangled by conspirators,
of whom his wife, the profligate, cruel and infamous Catherine II. was
an accomplice), 1728-1762. "_It was not enough to deprive me of the
Crown of Russia, but I must be put to death._"
PETERS (Hugh, distinguished clergyman and politician, pastor of the
First Congregational Church in Salem, Mass., succeeding Roger Williams,
"whose doctrines he disclaimed and whose adherents he excommunicated."
In 1637 he was appointed overseer of Harvard. In 1641 he returned to
England, where he joined the Parliamentary party, and became a chaplain
in the army. After the restoration of Charles II. Peters was committed
to the Tower, and indicted for high treason. He was executed in London,
Oct. 16, 1660), 1599-1660. "_Friend, you do not well to trample on a
dying man._"
When Hugh Peters was carried on a sledge to the scaffold, he was made to
sit within the rails, and see the execution of Mr. Cook. When the latter
was cut down to be quartered, Colonel Turner ordered the sheriff's men
to bring Mr. Peters near, that he might see it; and when soon after the
hangman rubbed his blood-stained hands together, he tauntingly asked,
"Come, how do you like this work, Mr. Peters?" He calmly replied,
"Friend, you do not well to trample on a dying man."
_The Percy Anecdotes._
It was alleged that Peters was one of those that stood masked on the
scaffold when the king was beheaded, and to render him more odious, it
was reported that he was the executioner. During his imprisonment he
wrote several letters of advice to his daughter, which were published
under the title of "A Dying Father's Legacy to an Only Child," of which
his great-nephew, Samuel, said: "It was printed and published in Old and
New England, and myriads of experienced Christians have read his legacy
with ecstasy and health to their souls." After execution his head was
stuck on a pole and placed on London bridge.... His private character
has been the subject of much discussion. He was charged by his enemies
with gross immorality, and the most bitter epithets have been applied to
him. Of late years he has been estimated more favorably.
_Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography._
PHILIP II. (of Spain), 1527-1598. "_I die like a good Catholic, in faith
and obedience to the Holy Roman church._"
Soon after these last words had been spoken, a paroxysm, followed by
faintness, came over him, and he lay entirely still. They had covered
his face with a cloth, thinking that he had already expired, when he
suddenly started with great energy, opened his eyes, seized the crucifix
again from the hand of Don Fernando de Toledo, kissed it, and fell back
again in agony.... He did not speak again, but lay unconsciously dying
for some hours, and breathed his last at five in the morning of Sunday,
the 13th of September.
_Motley: "History of the United Netherlands."_
PHILIP III. (of Spain), 1578-1621: "_Oh would to God I had never
reigned! Oh, that those years I have spent in my kingdom I had lived a
solitary life in the wilderness! Oh, that I had lived alone with God!
How much more secure should I now have died! With how much more
confidence should I have gone to the throne of God! What doth all my
glory profit, but that I have so much the more torment in my death?_"
PIUS IX. (Cardinal Giovanni Maria Mastai-Farretti, elected Pope June
17th, 1846), 1792-1878. "_Guard the church I loved so well and
sacredly._" Some say his last words were, "Death wins this time."
PHOCION (Athenian statesman and general, unjustly condemned on a charge
of treason, and put to death), B. C. 402-317. "_No resentment._"
PITT (William), 1759-1806. "_O my country, how I leave thee!_"
PIZARRO (Francisco, the conqueror of Peru), about 1475-1541. "_Jesu!_"
He was assassinated in his palace, June 26, 1541, and was killed only
after desperate resistance.
PLOTINUS (Greek philosopher of the Neo-Platonic school), 204-270. "_I am
laboring to return that which is divine in us, unto that Divinity which
informs and enlivens the whole universe._"
He was intensely religious, and if he had come a century later would,
instead of a heathen philosopher, have been one of the first names among
the saints of the church.--_Hallam._
POE (Edgar Allan, American poet, author of "The Raven"), 1811-1849.
"_Lord help my soul!_"