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
His mother resolved to spend the night at Holly Lodge. She had just left
the drawing-room to make her preparations for the visit (it being, I
suppose, a little before seven in the evening), when a servant arrived
with an urgent summons. As we drove up to the porch of my uncle's house,
the maids ran, crying, out into the darkness to meet us, and we knew
that all was over. We found him in the library, seated in his easy
chair, and dressed as usual; with his book on the table beside him,
still open at the same page. He had told his butler that he should go to
bed early, as he was very tired. The man proposed his lying on the sofa.
He rose as if to move, sat down again, and ceased to breathe. He died as
he had always wished to die--without pain; without any formal farewell;
preceding to the grave all whom he loved; and leaving behind him a great
and honorable name, and the memory of a life every action of which was
clear and transparent as one of his own sentences.--_G. Otto Trevelyan._
MACCAIL (his given name has not been preserved, a Scots Covenanter who
expired under torture in the time of Charles II. of England), 1668. He
died in an ecstasy of joy, and his last words were: "_Farewell sun, moon
and stars; farewell, world and time; farewell, weak and frail body;
welcome, eternity; welcome, angels and saints; welcome, Saviour of the
world; welcome, God, the Judge of all._"
MACHIAVELLI, or MACCHIAVELLI, sometimes MACHIAVEL (Nicholas, a
celebrated atheist, and the author of "The Prince"), 1469-1530. "_I
desire to go to hell, and not to heaven. In the former place I shall
enjoy the company of popes, kings, and princes, while in the latter are
only beggars, monks, hermits, and apostles._"
MACKINTOSH (Sir James, philosopher and politician), 1765-1832.
"_Happy!_"
MALHERBE (Francois de, the "Father of French lyric poetry"), 1555-1628.
"_Hold your tongue; your wretched style only makes me out of conceit
with them_," to his confessor, who was presenting the joys of heaven in
vulgar and trite phrases.
His ruling passion was purity of diction. He would destroy a quire of
paper in composing a single stanza; and it is said that during the
twenty-five most prolific years of his life he made only about
thirty-three verses a year.
MARAT (Jean Paul, court-physician, author of several scientific works,
and later the main promoter of the Reign of Terror in France),
1743-1793. "_Help, my dear--help!_" As Marat uttered these words he fell
at the feet of Charlotte Corday, and immediately expired.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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