



Produced by Therese Wright, Larry B. Harrison and the
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THE
LAST WORDS OF DISTINGUISHED
MEN AND WOMEN




  THE LAST WORDS
  (REAL AND TRADITIONAL)
  OF DISTINGUISHED
  MEN AND WOMEN

  COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES
  BY
  FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN


                      The tongues of dying men
  Enforce attention like deep harmony;
  Where words are scarce they're seldom spent in vain,
  For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain.
                                                  --_Shakspeare_


  NEW YORK    CHICAGO    TORONTO
  FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
  1901


  Copyright 1901
  by
  FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN
  (June)


  To my Wife
  this Book is most Lovingly
  Dedicated


  Neither is there anything of which I am so inquisitive, and delight
  to inform myself, as the manner of men's deaths, their words, looks,
  and bearing; nor any places in history I am so intent upon; and it
  is manifest enough, by my crowding in examples of this kind, that I
  have a particular fancy for that subject. If I were a writer of
  books, I would compile a register, with a comment, of the various
  deaths of men: he who should teach men to die, would at the same
  time teach them to live.--MONTAIGNE.




Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women.


ADAM (Alexander, Dr., headmaster at the High School in Edinburgh, and
the author of "Roman Antiquities"), 1741-1809. "_It grows dark, boys.
You may go._"

    "It grows dark, boys. You may go."
      (Thus the master gently said,
    Just before, in accents low,
      Circling friends moaned, "He is dead.")

    Unto him, a setting sun
      Tells the school's dismissal hour,
    Deeming not that he alone
      Deals with evening's dark'ning power.

    All his thought is with the boys,
      Taught by him in light to grow;
    Light withdrawn, and hushed the noise,
      Fall the passwords, "You may go."

    Go, boys, go, and take your rest;
      Weary is the book-worn brain:
    Day sinks idly in the west,
      Tired of glory, tired of gain.

    Careless are the shades that creep
      O'er the twilight, to and fro;
    Dusk is lost in shadows deep:
      _It grows dark, boys. You may go._
                              _Mary B. Dodge._


ABD-ER-RAHMAN III. (surnamed An-Nasir-Lideen-Illah or Lidinillah, that
is to say, "the defender of the religion of God," eighth Sultan and
first Caliph of Cordova. Under Abd-er-Rahman III. the Mohammedan empire
in Spain attained the height of its glory), 886-961. "_Fifty years have
passed since I became Caliph. Riches, honors, pleasures--I have enjoyed
all. In this long time of seeming happiness I have numbered the days on
which I have been happy. Fourteen._" Though these sad words correctly
express the spirit of the man who is reported to have spoken them, they
are purely traditional.


ADAMS (John, second President of the United States), 1735-1826.
"_Independence forever!_"

He died on the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence; and it is thought that his last words were suggested by
the noise of the celebration. Some say his last words were, "Jefferson
survives;" if so, he was mistaken, for Jefferson passed away at an
earlier hour the same day.


ADAMS (John Quincy, sixth President of the United States), 1767-1848.
"_It is the last of earth! I am content!_" On the twenty-first of
February, 1848, while in his seat in the Capitol, he was struck with
paralysis, and died two days later.


ADDISON (Joseph, poet and essayist), 1672-1719. "_See in what peace a
Christian can die!_" These words were addressed to Lord Warwick, an
accomplished but dissolute youth, to whom Addison was nearly related.


ADRIAN or HADRIAN (Publius AElius, the Roman Emperor), 76-138. "_O my
poor soul, whither art thou going?_"

Adrian wrote both in Greek and Latin. Among his Latin poems (preserved
by Spart