Part 18
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 Æternæ Providentiæ," and "De Admirandis Naturæ 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 (Eugène François, 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 François 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 Abbé Gaultier, the Abbé 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 Cæsar 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 Patriæ_; 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]