The Last Words (Real and Traditional) of Distinguished Men and WomenMarvin, Frederic Rowland
History
The Last Words (Real and Traditional) of Distinguished Men and Women
Marvin, Frederic Rowland
Last words
The good Pastor Fuhrmann comforted and encouraged him with the words of
Scripture, ending with, "Father, not my will," and Kaspar responded,
"but thine be done." To test his consciousness, the Pastor asked, "Who
prayed thus?" and again he was ready with his answer, "Our
Saviour."--"And when?"--"Before he died." A few minutes after this
followed his last words, "Tired--very tired--a long journey--to
take."--_The Duchess of Cleveland: "The True Story of Kaspar Hauser."_
The strange and mysterious history and sad death of Kaspar Hauser called
forth the deepest interest and sympathy throughout Europe. He was
discovered in the streets of Nuremberg in 1828, a lad about sixteen,
knowing almost nothing of the world, and able to speak but two or three
words of any language, and of the meaning of these he had but a dim
understanding. He had with him a letter purporting to be written by a
Bavarian peasant, declaring that Hauser had been left at his door, and
had been cared for by him. It was gradually ascertained that the youth
had been confined from infancy in a dark vault, so small that one could
not stand, and could move only slightly in its enclosure. He had never
tasted any food but bread and water, which had been brought to him by an
unknown man while he was sleeping. Hauser was cared for by a number of
generous and sympathetic patrons, among whom was Lord Stanhope; and his
mental and physical condition was studied by the scientific men of the
time. In 1833 he was invited to a meeting with a stranger who promised
to reveal to him the secret of his strange condition, and to tell him
who he was, but when Hauser was reading a document given him, this
stranger suddenly wounded him with a dagger, causing his death within
three days. See interesting history of the "Nuremberg Foundling" in
Merker's "_Kasper Hauser_," and Feuerbach's "_Account of an Individual
Kept in a Dungeon_."
HAVERGAL (Frances Ridley), 1836-1879. "_He._" It is thought she wished
to say, "He died for me."
HAVELOCK (Sir Henry), 1795-1857. "_Come, my son, and see how a Christian
can die._"
HAYDN (Francis Joseph), 1732-1809. "_God preserve the Emperor._" He
referred to the Emperor Francis.
In 1809 Vienna was bombarded by the French. A round-shot fell into his
garden. He seemed to be in no alarm, but on May 25 he requested to be
led to his piano, and three times over he played the "Hymn to the
Emperor," with an emotion that fairly overcame both himself and those
who heard him. He was to play no more; and, being helped back to his
couch, he lay down in extreme exhaustion to wait for the end. Six days
afterward, May 31, 1809, died Francis Joseph Haydn, aged seventy-seven.
_Haweis's "Music and Morals."_
HAYDON (Benjamin Robert, English artist), 1786-1846. His last recorded
words were, "_God forgive me.--Amen!_" Haydon took his own life in a
moment of great mental depression.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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