The Last Words Of Distinguished Men And Women Part 15

HELOISE or ELOISE (a beautiful and accomplished French woman; the niece of Fulbert, canon of Notre-Dame. She became successively the pupil, mistress and wife of Abelard. After her marriage she became prioress of Argenteuil, and acquired a high reputation for piety. Her letters, written in elegant Latin, and printed with those of Abelard, are the expressions of a n.o.ble and fervent spirit), about 1100-1164. "_In death at last let me rest with Abelard._"

Heloise, when she felt the approach of death, directed the sisterhood to place her body by the side of that of Abelard, in the same coffin. It was commonly reported and believed, such was the credulity of the age, that at the moment when the coffin of Abelard was opened to lay her within it, the arm of the skeleton stretched itself out, opened, and appeared to be reanimated to receive the beloved one. They reposed for five hundred years in one of the aisles of the Paraclete, and after various changes, came to rest at last in the beautiful cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise at Paris.

HEMANS (Felicia Dorothea), 1794-1835. "_I feel as if I were sitting with Mary at the feet of my Redeemer, hearing the music of his voice, and learning of Him to be meek and lovely._"

HENDRICKS (Thomas A., Vice-President of the United States), 1819-1885.

"_At rest at last. Now I am free from pain._"

HENRY IV. (of France), 1553-1610. "_I am wounded_," said when struck by the a.s.sa.s.sin Ravaillac.

While the coach stopped, the attendants with the exception of two, went on before; one of these two advanced to clear the way, the other stopped to fasten his garter. At that instant a wild-faced, red-haired man in a cloak, who had followed the coach from the Louvre, approached the side where the king sat, as if endeavoring to push his way, like other pa.s.sengers, between the coach and the shops. Suddenly putting one foot on a spoke of the wheel, he drew a knife, and struck the king, who was reading a letter, between the second and third rib, a little above the heart. "I am wounded," cried the king, as the a.s.sa.s.sin, perceiving that the stroke had not been effectual, repeated it. The second blow went directly to the heart; the blood gushed from the wound and from his mouth, and death was almost instantaneous. A third blow which the a.s.sa.s.sin aimed at his victim was received by the Duke of Eperon in the sleeve.

The a.s.sa.s.sin's name was Francis Ravaillac, a native of Angoumois, who had been a solicitor in the courts of law. Whether the crime was prompted solely by his own imagination, or whether he was the instrument of any deep-laid conspiracy, was never clearly ascertained, though the latter was the general supposition.--_Chambers' Miscellany._

HENRY VIII. (second son of Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York. The death of his elder brother Arthur, in 1502, made him heir apparent to the throne. He married his brother's widow, Catharine of Aragon, and, upon his father's death in 1509, was crowned king of England. The great event in his reign was his divorcement of Catharine and his marriage with Anne Boleyn, which led to the repudiation of Romanism in England, and the organization of the English or Episcopal Church), 1491-1547. "_Monks!

Monks! Monks!_" He was in all probability thinking of the time when he abolished the monasteries and turned the monks out of doors.

HENRY (Patrick, American statesman and orator), 1736-1799. "_I trust in the mercy of G.o.d, it is not now too late._"

HENRY (Philip, English dissenting clergyman. He was the father of Matthew Henry, the eminent English divine and commentator), 1631-1696.

"_O death, where is thy--_" Here his speech failed, and in a few moments he breathed his last.

HENRY (Matthew, commentator on the Bible), 1662-1714. "_A life spent in the service of G.o.d, and communion with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life that any one can live in this present world._"

He was twenty-five years pastor of a church at Chester, and during that time went through the Bible three times in the course of expository lectures. "At the commencement of his ministry he began with the first chapter of Genesis in the forenoon, and the first chapter of Matthew in the afternoon. Thus gradually and steadily grew his 'Exposition' of the Bible. A large portion of it consists of his public lectures, while many of the quaint sayings and pithy remarks with which it abounds, and which give so great a charm of raciness to its pages, were the familiar extempore observations of his father at family wors.h.i.+p, and noted down by Matthew in his boyhood."

HERBERT (George, author of some of the finest sacred lyrics in the English language), 1593-1632. "_I am now ready to die. Lord, forsake me not, now my strength faileth me; but grant me mercy for the merits of my Jesus. And now Lord--Lord, now receive my soul._"

With these words he breathed forth his divine soul, without any apparent disturbance, Mr. Woodnot and Mr. Bostock attending his last breath, and closing his eyes.

Thus he lived, and thus he died like a saint, unspotted of the world, full of alms-deeds, full of humility, and all the examples of a virtuous life; which I cannot conclude better, than with this borrowed observation:

All must to their cold graves; But the religious actions of the just Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust.

_Izaak Walton._

HERDER (Johann Gottfried von, court-preacher at Weimar, and one of the most brilliant and delightful of German authors), 1744-1803. He died writing an "Ode to the Deity;" his pen had just reached the last line.

His last spoken words were "_Refresh me with a great thought._"

HERVEY (James, English divine, author of the once popular book, "Meditations Among the Tombs"), 1713-1758. "_Precious salvation!_"

Leaning his head against the side of the easy-chair, without a sigh, or groan, or struggle, he shut his eyes and died.

HEYLIN (Peter, author of "Life of Bishop Laud" and "Defence of the Church of England"), 1600-1662. "_I go to my G.o.d and Saviour._"

HILL (Rev. Rowland, a popular, pious, but eccentric preacher), 1745-1833. "_Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto G.o.d._"

HOBBES (Thomas, philosopher and translator), 1588-1679. "_Now am I about to take my last voyage--a great leap in the dark._"

Some say Hobbes's last words were: "I shall be glad to find a hole to creep out of the world at."

He clung warmly to his friends, had a horror of being left alone in his illness, bequeathed all his property to the faithful servant and friend who had been his amanuensis. He was not afraid of death but said he should willingly "find some hole to creep out of the world at," and was wont to amuse himself with choosing for the epitaph to be graven on his tombstone, "This is the true philosopher's stone."

_Alger's "Genius of Solitude."_

HODGE (Charles, American theologian, for fifty-six years President of Princeton Theological Seminary. His "Systematic Theology" in three volumes, is one of the ablest compends of divinity in the English language. His "Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans" has been greatly prized by Bible-students), 1797-1878. "_My work is done, the pins of the tabernacle are taken out._"

A moment later he was heard to whisper:

"_A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On Thy kind arms I fall._"

HOFER (Andreas, Tyrolese patriot), 1767-1810. "_I stand in the presence of my Creator, and standing I will render back my spirit to G.o.d who gave it. Fire!_" to the officer who directed him to place himself on his knees.

The first six shots wounded him but slightly. Dropping on his knees he received the remaining six, and was still struggling convulsively when a corporal, discharging a pistol close to his head, put an end to his sufferings.--_Markham._

HOGG (James, "the Ettrick Shepherd"), 1772-1835. "_It is likely you may never need to do it again_," to his wife, whom he had asked to watch by his bedside during the night.

HOOD (Thomas), 1798-1845. "_Dying, Dying._" Like poor Yorick, he was "a fellow of infinite jest; of most excellent fancy." In his genius were united the intensely pathetic and the exquisitely humorous. His life was one of toil and suffering, and yet he was always joking and making those around him laugh. His wit did not forsake him on his death-bed; it is recorded that when a mustard plaster was applied to his attenuated feet, he was heard feebly to remark that there was "very little meat for the mustard."

He died on the 3d of May, 1845, and on a July day nine years later Monckton Milnes unveiled the monument which stands above his grave in Kensal Green Cemetery. Beneath the bust there runs the legend, "He sang the Song of the s.h.i.+rt," and on either side of the pedestal are bas-relief medallions of "Eugene Aram's Dream" and "The Bridge of Sighs"--all pertinent reminders of the fact that there was a serious as well as a humorous side to the genius of Hood. He himself, there can be no doubt, would have elected to live by his serious verse.

HOOKER (Richard, eminent English clergyman), 1553-1600. "_Good Doctor, G.o.d has heard my daily pet.i.tions, for I am at peace with all men, and he is at peace with me; and from which blessed a.s.surance I feel that inward joy which this world can neither give nor take away._"

Some say his last words were, "My days are past as a shadow that returns not."

HOOPER (John, Bishop of Gloucester and later Bishop of Worcester _in commendam_), about 1495-1555. "_If you love my soul, away with it!_"

In January, 1555, he was condemned on three charges: for maintaining the lawfulness of clerical marriage, for defending divorce and for denying transubstantiation. He called the ma.s.s "the iniquity of the devil." He was sentenced to die at the stake in Gloucester, whither he was conveyed. He met his death firmly and cheerfully. To a friend bewailing his lot, the martyr replied in the oft-quoted words, "Death is bitter, and life is sweet, but alas! consider that death to come is more bitter, and life to come is more sweet." In another conversation he said, "I am well, thank G.o.d; and death to me for Christ's sake is welcome." His martyrdom was witnessed by a large throng of people. The martyr was forbidden to address the crowd. A real or pretended pardon being promised if he would recant, he spurned it away, saying, "If you love my soul, away with it." His agony was greatly prolonged and increased by the slow progress of the fire on account of the green f.a.ggots, which had to be rekindled three times before they did their work.

_Rev. D. S. Schaff in the Religious Encyclopaedia._