the dead body through the mouth. Sometimes it passed out under the
form of a bird, and sometimes it seemed to be a vapor. The
appearance of the departing soul is mentioned as a known fact, by
the celebrated mystic, Jacob Boehmen, in his curious book. "_The
Three Principles_," where it is described as that of "a blue vapor
going forth out of the mouth of a dying man, which maketh a strong
smell all over the chamber."
THOREAU (Henry David, American author and naturalist), 1817-1862. "_I
leave this world without a regret._"
He was bred to no profession; and it is said that he never went to
church, never voted, and never paid a tax to the state though he was
imprisoned for not doing so. He ate no flesh, drank no wine, never knew
the use of tobacco, and never (though a naturalist) used either trap or
gun.--_Emerson._
He lived in the simplest manner; he sometimes practised the business of
land-surveyor. In 1845 he built a small frame house on the shore of
Walden Pond, near Concord, where he lived two years as a hermit, in
studious retirement. He published an account of this portion of his
life, in a small book entitled "Walden."--_Lippincott._
Thoreau was a kind and good man, but a multitude of eccentricities
separated him from the average life of man and removed him from the
common sympathy of his race. His little house on the shore of Walden
Pond he constructed with his own hands, because he thought that men
should be able to do as much as the birds who build their own nests. The
entire house cost him less than thirty dollars; and in it he lived at an
expense of about twenty-seven cents a week. The house had neither lock
nor curtain, and was unprotected day and night. The door was seldom
closed, and the window was often wide-open in the midst of a winter
storm. "I am no more lonely," he wrote, "than Walden Pond itself. What
company has that, I pray? And yet it has not the blue devils, but blue
angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters." It is said that he could
tell the day of each month by the trees and flowers.
THURLOW (Edward, Lord Chancellor in the reign of George III.),
1732-1806. "_I'll be shot if I don't believe I'm dying._"
TIBERIUS (Claudius Nero, Roman Emperor), B. C. 42--A. D. 37. Finding
himself dying, he took his signet ring off his finger, and held it
awhile, as if he would deliver it to somebody; but put it again on his
finger, and lay for some time, with his left hand clenched, and without
stirring; when suddenly summoning his attendants, and no one answering
the call, he rose; but his strength failing him, he fell down at a short
distance from his bed.--_Seneca._
He died without appointing his successor, but the people cared little
for that. They rejoiced at his death, and ran through the streets of
Rome crying, "Away with Tiberius to the Tiber."
TILDEN (Samuel Jones, distinguished American lawyer and politician. He
was twice a representative in the Legislature of the State of New York,
a member of two Constitutional Conventions, Governor of the State of New
York for two years, and a candidate for the Presidency of the United
States), 1814-1886. "_Water._"
During the closing hours of life he suffered greatly from thirst.
TIMROD (Henry, American poet), 1829-1867. "_Never mind, I shall soon
drink of the river of Eternal Life_," on finding that he could no longer
swallow water.
"An unquenchable thirst consumed him. Nothing could allay that dreadful
torture. He whispered as I placed the water to his lips, 'Don't you
remember that passage I once quoted to you from "King John?" I had
always such a horror of quenchless thirst, and now I suffer it!' He
alluded to the passage:--
And none of you will let the Winter come,
To thrust his icy fingers in my maw!
"Just a day or two before he left on a visit to you at 'Copse Hill,' in
one of our evening rambles he had repeated the passage to me with a
remark on the extraordinary force of the words.
"Katie took my place by him at five o'clock (in the morning), and never
again left his side. The last spoonful of water she gave him he could
not swallow. 'Never mind,' he said, 'I shall soon drink of the river of
eternal Life.'
"Shortly after he slept peacefully in Christ."
_From a letter by Timrod's sister._
TINDAL (Matthew, celebrated author and infidel), 1657-1733. "_O God--if
there be a God--I desire Thee to have mercy on me._"
Tindal is particularly celebrated for two publications, the first,
issued in 1706, being entitled, "The Rights of the Christian Church
Asserted against the Romish and all other Priests;" and the other,
published in 1730, called, "Christianity as Old as the Creation, or the
Gospel a Republication of the Religion of Nature."
TITUS (Flavius Vespasianus, Roman Emperor. He was called by his
subjects, "The love and delight of the human race"), 40-81. "_My life is
taken from me, though I have done nothing to deserve it; for there is no
action of mine of which I should repent, but one._" What that one action
was he did not say.
TOPLADY (Rev. Augustus Montague, English Calvinistic clergyman and vicar
of Broad Henbury, Devonshire. He was the author of several
controversial works and of a number of beautiful hymns, chief among
which is "Rock of Ages"), 1740-1778. "_No mortal man can live after the
glories which God has manifested to my soul._"[50]
[50] Dr. Moore states that when the vital flame was flickering, the
heart was faltering with every pulse, and every breath was a
convulsion, he said to a dying believer, who had not long before
been talking in broken words of undying love, "Are you in pain?" and
the reply, with apparently the last breath, was, "It is delightful!"
In another person, in whom a gradual disease had so nearly exhausted
the physical powers that the darkness of death had already produced
blindness, the sense of God's love was so overpowering, that every
expression for many hours referred to it in rapturous words, such
as, "This is life--this is heaven--God is love--I need not faith--I
have the promise." It is easy to attribute such expressions to
delirium; but this does not alter their character, nor the reality
of the state of the soul which produces them. Whether a dying man
can maintain any continued attention to things through his senses,
we need not inquire. It is enough for him, if, in the spirit, he
possesses the peace and joy of believing.--_The Use of the Body in
Relation to the Mind._
TURENNE (Henry de la, Vicomte, famous French general, killed at Salzbach
in July, 1675), 1611-1675. "_I do not mean to be killed to-day._" Said
just before he was struck by a cannon-ball.
TYNDALE, or TINDALE (William, the venerable martyr and translator of the
Bible), 1484-1536. "_Lord, open the eyes of the King of England._" He
was first strangled and afterward burnt.
The merits of Tyndale must ever be recognized and honored by all who
enjoy the English Bible, for their authorized version of the New
Testament has his for its basis. He made good his early boast, that
plough-boys should have the Word of God. His friends speak of his great
simplicity of heart, and commend his abstemious habits, his zeal and his
industry; while even the imperial procurator who prosecuted him styles
him "homo, doctus, pius et bonus."
TYNDALL (John, English physicist, author of many scientific books, chief
among which are "Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion," "Forms of Water
in Clouds and Rivers, Ice and Glaciers," and "Floating Matter in the
Air"), 1820-. It is uncertain what were the last words of Prof. Tyndall,
but the last words which he wrote for publication were in response to a
request from an American syndicate for a Christmas message to his
American friends. The message closed with these words: "I choose the
nobler part of Emerson, when, after various disenchantments, he
exclaims, 'I covet truth!' The gladness of true heroism visits the heart
of him who is really competent to say that."
TYNG (Dudley A., a young and gifted clergyman whose last words furnished
the inspiration for Rev. Dr. Duffield's popular hymn, "Stand up for
Jesus"). "_Know Him? He is my Saviour--my all. Father, stand up for
Jesus!_"
Leaving his study for a moment, he went to the barn floor, where a mule
was at work on a horse-power, shelling corn. Patting him on the neck,
the sleeve of his silk study gown caught in the cogs of the wheel, and
his arm was torn out by the roots. His death occurred in a few hours.
When he was dying his father said to him, "Dudley, your mother has your
hand in hers, can you press it a little that she may know you recognize
her?" The young man made no response. Later his father said, "Dudley, do
you know the Lord Jesus Christ?" He started, and said, "Know Him? He is
my Saviour--my all. Father, stand up for Jesus!"
USHER (James, Archbishop), 1580-1656. "_Lord, forgive my sins;
especially my sins of omission._" His last words are sometimes given
thus, "God be merciful to me, a sinner."
VALDES (Gabriel de la Concepcion, commonly known as Placido),--1844.
"_Here! fire here!_"
Valdes was a full-blooded negro. He was executed with twenty other
persons, for conspiracy to liberate the black population, the slaves of
the Spanish inhabitants of Cuba. The execution took place at Havana,
July, 1844. Seated on a bench, with his back turned, as ordered, to the
soldiers appointed to shoot him, he said: "Adios, mundo; no hay piedad
para mi. Soldados, fuego." "Adieu, O world; here is no pity for me.
Soldiers, fire." Five balls entered his body. He arose, turned to the
soldiers, and said, his face wearing an expression of superhuman
courage:--"Will no one have pity on me? Here!" pointing to his heart,
"fire here!" At that instant two balls pierced his heart and he fell
dead. Little is known of him but his death, which was described in the
_Heraldo_, of Madrid. "The Poems of a Cuban Slave," edited by Dr.
Madden, are believed to have been the composition of the gifted Valdes.
VANDERBILT (Cornelius "Commodore," President of New York Central
Railroad under whose management that road was consolidated with the
Hudson River Railroad. He laid the foundation of an extensive railroad
system and of an immense family fortune), 1794-1877. "_Yes, yes, sing
that for me. I am poor and needy_," to one who was singing to him the
familiar hymn, "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy."
VANE (Sir Henry), 1612-1662. "_Blessed be God, I have kept a conscience
void of offence to this day, and have not deserted the righteous cause
for which I suffer._"
Vane was condemned for treason, and beheaded June 14, 1662.
Vane, young in years, but in sage counsels old,
Than whom a better senator ne'er held
The helm of Rome, when gowns, not arms, repelled
The fierce Epirat and the African bold,
Both spiritual power and civil thou hast learned:
Therefore on thy firm hand religion leans
In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son.--_Milton._
VANINI (Lucilio), 1585-1619. "_Illi in extremis prae timore imbellis
sudor; ego imperturbatus morior._" See _Grammond, Hist. Gal. iii._ 211.
After travelling through Germany, Holland and England, he went to
Toulouse, where he was arrested and condemned by the parliament to be
burned alive. He wrote "Amphitheatrum AEternae Providentiae," and "De
Admirandis Naturae Arcanis," for which latter work he suffered in 1619.
VESPASIAN (Titus Flavius, Roman Emperor), 9-79. "_An Emperor ought to
die standing._" A short time before this he said in attending to the
apotheosis of the emperors, "I suppose I shall soon be a god."
VEUSTER DE (Joseph, the "Leper-Priest of Molokai." When he became
"religious" he took the name of Damien, after the second of two
brothers, Cosmos and Damien, both physicians, martyrs and saints in the
Roman Catholic Church. He is commonly known as "Father Damien").--1889.
"_Well! God's will be done. He knows best. My work with all its faults
and failures, is in His hands, and before Easter I shall see my
Saviour._"
There has been much discussion with regard to the character and work of
Damien. The Rev. C. M. Hyde. D. D., of Honolulu, a missionary of high
repute, and who had personal knowledge of the leper-priest, wrote a
letter to the Rev. H. B. Gage, which was published in "The Sydney
Presbyterian" of October 26, 1889. In that letter he said:
"The simple truth is, he (Father Damien) was a coarse, dirty man,
headstrong and bigoted. He was not sent to Molokai, but went there
without orders; did not stay at the leper settlement (before he became
himself a leper), but circulated freely over the whole island (less than
half the island is devoted to the lepers), and he came often to
Honolulu. He had no hand in the reforms and improvements inaugurated,
which were the work of our Board of Health, as occasion required and
means were provided. He was not a pure man in his relations with women,
and the leprosy of which he died should be attributed to his vices and
carelessness. Others have done much for the lepers, our own ministers,
the government physicians, and so forth, but never with the Catholic
idea of meriting eternal life."
* * * * *
To the statements of Dr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson replied in most
violent language, of which the following is a sample:
"You remember that you have done me several courtesies for which I was
prepared to be grateful. But there are duties which come before
gratitude, and offences which justly divide friends, far more
acquaintances. Your letter to the Rev. H. B. Gage is a document which,
in my sight, if you had filled me with bread when I was starving, if you
had set up to nurse my father when he lay a-dying, would yet absolve me
from the bonds of gratitude."
* * * * *
After this and more vituperation follows an analysis of Dr. Hyde's
letter, and an elaborate defense of Father Damien. Men will differ in
their opinions of the leper-priest, and, no doubt, much may be said on
both sides of the case; but to the compiler of this work, who, in his
own home, heard the story in all its details from the lips of Dr. Hyde,
the beatification of Damien is, to say the least, a grotesque absurdity.
VICTORIA (Alexandrina Victoria, Queen of England and Ireland and Empress
of India), 1819-1901. It is said, though upon what authority the
compiler is unable to discover, that the last words of Queen Victoria
were, "_Oh, that peace may come._" It is understood that the Queen was
opposed to the war in South Africa, and her last words would seem to
indicate that her thoughts, even in the hour of death, were busy with
the unhappy conflict.
VIDOCQ (Eugene Francois, famous French detective), 1775-1857. "_How
great is the forgiveness for such a life!_"
He was successively a thief, soldier, deserter, and gambler before he
entered the public service, and was often imprisoned for his offences.
About 1810 he enlisted in the police at Paris. His success as a
detective has scarcely been paralleled in history.
_Lippincott: "Biographical History."_
He retired to Paris and there lived quietly in lodgings until 1857,
when, at the great age of eighty-two, he was struck down with paralysis.
On finding his end near, he sent for a confessor, and--so whimsical a
thing is human nature--he greatly edified the holy man by dying like a
saint. One trifling peccadillo he perhaps forgot to mention. The breath
had scarcely left his body, when ten lovely damsels, each provided with
a copy of his will, which left her all his property arrived. Alas for
all the ten! Vidocq had always loved the smiles of beauty, and had
obtained them by a gift which cost him nothing. He had left his whole
possessions to his landlady.
_Smith: "Romance of History."_
VILLARS DE (Claude Louis Hector, famous French general), 1653-1734. "_I
always deemed him more fortunate than myself._" Said to his confessor,
who told him that the Duke of Berwick had perished by a cannon ball.
VILLIERS (George, First Duke of Buckingham. He was assassinated by John
Felton in 1628), 1592-1628. "_God's wounds! the villain hath killed
me._"
John Felton, gentleman, having watched his opportunity, thrust a long
knife, with a white heft, he had secretly about him, with great strength
and violence, into his breast, under his left pap, cutting the
diaphragma and lungs, and piercing the very heart itself. The Duke
having received the stroke, and instantly clapping his right hand on
his sword-hilt, cried out, "God's wounds! the villain hath killed
me."--_Book of Death._
VIRGIL (Publius Virgilius Maro, most illustrious of Latin poets), B. C.
70-19.
Upon a visit to Megara, a town in the neighborhood of Athens, he was
seized with a languor, which increased during the ensuing voyage; and he
expired a few days after landing at Brundisium, on the 22d of September
in the fifty-second year of his age. He desired that his body might be
carried to Naples, where he had passed many happy years; and that the
following distich, written in his last sickness, should be inscribed
upon his tomb:
Mantua me genuit: Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc
Parthenope, Cecerie pascua, rura, duces.
VITELLIUS (Aulus, Emperor of Rome), 15-69. "_Yet I was once your
emperor_," to the soldiers of Vespasian who were putting him to death by
a lingering torture whilst they were dragging him by a horse into the
Tiber.
VOLTAIRE (a name capriciously assumed by Francois Marie Arouet, and made
by him more celebrated than any other of which we read in the literary
history of the eighteenth century), 1694-1778. "_Adieu my dear Marand; I
am dying_," said to his valet.
According to a document discovered by Mr. Schuyler, American Consul at
Moscow, bearing on the death of Voltaire, and which was forwarded to M.
Taine, and published in the _Journal des Debats_, the last words of
Voltaire were, "Take care of Maria," meaning his niece, Madame Denys.
These words were addressed to one of his servants.
It has also been said that his last words were: "For the love of God,
don't mention that Man--allow me to die in peace!" to one who called his
attention to our Saviour.
There are several widely divergent accounts of the last hours of
Voltaire, and perhaps it is not possible to know just what measure of
truth is to be found in any one of them. It is said that on his
death-bed he cursed D'Alembert and denounced his infidel associates;
that he made in the presence of Abbe Gaultier, the Abbe Mignot, and the
Marquis de Villeveille a declaration of his wish to be reconciled to
"the church;" that he spent much time in alternately praying and
blaspheming. These facts, if facts they really are, rest upon the
statements of Mons. Tronchin, the Protestant physician from Geneva, who
attended him almost to the last, and who was so horrified at what he
witnessed that he said, "_Pour voir toutes les furies d'Oreste, il n'y
avait qu'a se trouver a la mort de Voltaire._" The Marechal de
Richelieu, also, was terrified at what he saw and heard, and left the
bed-side of Voltaire declaring that his nerves were not strong enough to
endure the strain. Tronchin's statements are denied by Vilette and
Monke, who represent the last hours of the great Frenchman as calm and
peaceful. The exact truth will, it is most likely, never be known beyond
all question, and yet, to the compiler of this book, the weight of
evidence seems to be with Tronchin rather than with those who have
impeached his testimony.
WAGNER (Richard Wilhelm, German composer, among whose works are
"Rheingold," "Valkyria," "Siegfried" and "The Twilight of the Gods"),
1813-1883. "_Mir ist sehr schlecht._"
At three o'clock he went to dinner with the family, but just as they
were assembled at table and the soup was being served he suddenly sprang
up, cried out, "Mir ist sehr schlecht (I feel very bad)," and fell back
dead from an attack of heart disease.
WALLER (Edmund, English poet), 1605-1687. He died repeating lines from
Virgil.
WARHAM (William, Archbishop of Canterbury), 1450-1532. "_That is enough
to last till I get to Heaven._" Said to his servant who told him he had
still left thirty pounds.
WARNER (Charles Dudley, author and lecturer), 1829-1900. "_I am not
well, and should like to lie down--will you call me in ten minutes?
Thank you. You are very kind--in ten minutes--remember!_"
Among Mr. Warner's acquaintances was a colored man, to whom he gave
books to encourage his desire to read, particularly books connected
with the history of the colored race, upon which Mr. Warner was an
authority.
Mr. Warner probably intended to call on this man, as he was in the
neighborhood of his house when he was stricken. Feeling ill, he asked
permission at a house to sit down, then to lie down, requesting to be
called in ten minutes. When the woman of the house went to call him he
was dead.
WASHINGTON (George, "the Father of His Country,"[51] and the first
President of the United States), 1732-1799. "_It is well._" Some say his
last words were, "I am about to die, and I am not afraid to die."
Washington said to Mr. Lear, his secretary. "I am just going; have me
decently buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault until
three days after I am dead--do you understand me?" On his secretary's
replying that he did, the dying man added, "It is well." About an hour
later he quietly withdrew his hand from Mr. Lear's, and felt his own
pulse, and immediately expired without a struggle.
A coffin of mahogany, lined with lead and covered within and without
with black velvet, was made on the following day at Alexandria. On a
plate at the head of the coffin was inscribed "_Surge ad Judicium_;" on
another, in the middle, "_Gloria Deo_," while on a small silver plate in
the form of an American shield appeared the inscription:
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
BORN FEB. 22, 1732.
DIED DEC. 14, 1799.
His body was first placed in the family vault on the Mount Vernon
estate. In his will, Washington left directions and plans for a new
vault, which was built afterward, and to which his remains were
transferred in 1832. The front of his tomb has an ante-chamber, built of
red brick, about twelve feet in height, with a large iron gateway. It
was erected for the accommodation of two marble coffins, or sarcophagi,
one for Washington, the other for Mrs. Washington; they stand in full
view of the visitor. Over the gateway, upon a marble slab, are the
words:
"Within this enclosure rest the remains of General GEORGE
WASHINGTON."
Over the vault door inside, are the words:
"HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE
LIVE AGAIN."
Napoleon, who was then First Consul of the French, issued the following
order under date of February 18, 1800: "Washington is no more! That
great man fought against tyranny. He firmly established the liberty of
his country. His memory will be ever dear to the French people, as it
must be to every friend of freedom in the two worlds, and especially to
the French soldiers, who, like him and the Americans, bravely fight for
liberty and equality. The First Consul in consequence orders that, for
ten days, black crepes shall be suspended to all the standards and flags
of the Republic."
[51] "And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, _the
father of the Valley of Charashim_; for they were craftsmen."--_1
Chronicles iv: 14_; Julius Caesar was called the Father of his
country; Cosmo de Medici is so described on his tombstone; Andrea
Doria has upon his statue at Genoa, _Pater Patriae_; and Louis XVIII.
of France was commonly called the Father of the Country.
WATTS (Isaac, English divine and sacred poet. He is the author of many
beautiful and popular hymns), 1674-1748. "_It is a great mercy to me
that I have no manner of fear or dread of death. I could, if God please,
lay my head back and die without terror this afternoon._"
WEBSTER (Daniel), 1782-1852. "_I still live!_" This was his last
coherent utterance. Later he muttered something about poetry, and his
son repeated to him one of the stanzas of "Gray's Elegy." He heard it
and smiled.[52]
He inquired whether it were likely that he should again eject blood
from his stomach before death, and being told that it was improbable, he
asked, "Then what shall you do?" Being answered that he would be
supported by stimulants, and rendered as easy as possible by the opiates
that had suited him so well, he inquired, at once, if the stimulant
should not be given immediately; anxious again to know if the hand of
death were not already upon him. And on being told that it would not be
then given, he replied, "_When_ you give it to me, I shall know that I
may drop off at once."