Ultima Thule contained the graceful poem on the pen presented by "beautiful Helen of Maine." The following lines are from the poem which gives its title to the book: "With favoring winds, o'er sunlit seas, "Ultima Thule! Utmost isle! In 1881 The Literary World published a Longfellow Number, a beautiful tribute to the poet. Extracts from its careful papers have been embodied in this book. In this year was published The Longfellow Birthday Book, edited by Miss Charlotte Fiske Bates. Of this book nineteen thousand copies were sold during the first year after its publication. It is a handsome little volume, with quotations from Longfellow's writings sprinkled through a calendar containing blank spaces for autographs and dates of birth. On Feb. 27, 1882, the schoolchildren of the country, as has been said, devoted the day to honoring the name of Longfellow. LAST SICKNESS. The last two summers of his life were spent at Nahant, his daughter and her children being there. He found the sea air very cold, however; and it was his custom to 1 The pen was made from a fetter of Bonnivard, the prisoner of Chillon; the handle, of wood from the frigate "Constitution," bound with a circlet of gold, inset with three precious stones, from Siberia, Ceylon, and Maine. wear a heavy overcoat to protect him from the chill breezes. At Nahant Mr. Longfellow wrote very little. He took only a few volumes with him, but received impressions which he later expressed in verse. His health remained tolerably good until within about three months of his death, although his digestive powers were considerably impaired, and he was obliged to live at times almost exclusively on bread and milk. His health had received a shock on the occasion of the death of his friend Louis Agassiz, and he perhaps never fully recovered from that blow. During the last three months he scarcely walked outside of his private grounds. He now wrote very few letters, using a printed form for the acknowledgment of such communications as he received from others. On Saturday morning, the 18th of March, he walked for a while on the piazza, and on going into the house complained of being chilled. At dinner he expressed a fear that he should have a return of vertigo. On retiring to his chamber, he was taken violently ill with vomiting and diarrhoea. Dr. Morrill Wyman was summoned, and later Dr. Francis Minot. Sunday morning he was so dizzy as to be unable to rise. His sufferings were severe, and opiates were administered. On Monday the symptoms were alarming and dangerous in character, and peritonitis had plainly developed. On Tuesday the lungs became affected, and bronchitis set in, the patient suffering extremely from coughing fits. Wednesday and Thursday he suffered less pain; and, recovering during the latter day from a sleepiness that was upon him the day before, he became as bright and genial in conversation as was his wont. An increase of inflammation, Thursday night, induced partial unconsciousness, which recurred at intervals. His talk was often incoherent and rambling. As the morning of Friday wore on, there was a return of complete consciousness, and the sick man knew his end was near. Pain was now nearly absent, but there was a disposition to dulness. He talked very little, and for an hour before death became unconscious. He died easily and peacefully, at ten minutes after three o'clock on Friday afternoon, March 24, 1882, surrounded by the complete circle of his family. By the bedside were the three daughters, Edith (wife of Richard Henry Dana), Alice M., and Annie Allegra (unmarried); the two sons, Ernest and Charles Appleton; his brother, Alexander W. Longfellow of Portland; his sisters, Mrs. James Greenleaf of Cambridge and Mrs. Annie L. Pierce of Portland; his brothers-in-law Thomas Gold Appleton and Nathan Appleton of Boston; Mrs. Ernest Longfellow; and Wadsworth and William P. P. Longfellow, nephews, of Portland. The poet's brother, Rev. Samuel Longfellow of Germantown, Penn., arrived too late at Craigie House: its owner had passed into the silent land. The people of Cambridge were most of them well informed of the dangerous character of his sickness, so that, when the solemn bells slowly tolled seventy-five strokes, they knew what had occurred; and deep and genuine was the sorrow, as if each had suffered a severe personal bereavement. It was touching to witness the grief of the servants of the house. Soon after the death became known, tokens of mourning were exhibited on many houses, and the poet's portrait draped in black was seen in many shop-windows. Among those who sent letters of inquiry, or called personally, during the sickness, were Dr. Oliver Wen dell Holmes, President Charles William Eliot and many Harvard professors, William D. Howells, John G. Whittier, Mayor Samuel A. Green of Boston, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Walt Whitman, James Russell Lowell, and George W. Childs. THE FUNERAL. The funeral was held on Sunday, March 26, and was both private and public. To the service at the house none were admitted but the members of the family and a very few of the poet's most intimate friends who had cards of invitation. The services at the house began at three o'clock. At that time the sky was heavily overcast; and soon the snowflakes began to fall, recalling Longfellow's beautiful poem : Out of the bosom of the Air, Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the harvest-fields forsaken, Silent, and soft, and slow Descends the snow. Even as our cloudy fancies take Suddenly shape in some divine expression, In the white countenance confession, The grief it feels. A Throughout the city, flags were displayed at half-mast. Before the gate of the Longfellow mansion were a few hundred people braving the snow and the cold. reverential stillness characterized the company; and, when the remains were brought out to the hearse, nearly all stood with uncovered heads. Many eyes were moistened with tears. Among those present in the house, besides the relatives above mentioned, were Alexander Agassiz and Mrs. Louis Agassiz; Peter Thacher; Mr. and Mrs. Frank I. Eustis; Mr. and Mrs. I. M. Spellman; Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his daughter Ellen Emerson; Oliver Wendell Holmes; George William Curtis; Professor Charles Eliot Norton; Miss Grace Norton; Rev. Cyrus A. Bartol, D.D.; Dr. Morrill Wyman; Miss Charlotte Fiske Bates; Samuel Ward of New York; Luigi Monti; Mrs. James Thomas Fields; Mrs. Ole Bull; Mrs. Beane (Helen Marr); Mr. and Mrs. Eben N. Horsford and daughters; John Owen; the Misses Palfrey; Mr. William Dean Howells; Mr. James Myers; Professor Louis Dyer; Mr. and Mrs. John Brooks; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Warner; Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan. The remains were laid in a plain casket covered with broadcloth embossed with black ornaments. On the top were placed two long palm-leaves crossed; and the casket was encircled with a rim of the passionflower vine, bearing one beautiful blossom. The silver plate bore the inscription: Wenry W. Longfellow. Born February 27, 1807. Died March 24, 1882. The brother, the Rev. Samuel Longfellow, conducted the services, making a short prayer, and reading selections from Mr. Longfellow's poems, one of which was the exquisite poem entitled Suspiria: |