'It is very sad,'
he said, with his usual politeness, 'to be deaf, when one would so much
enjoy listening. I am not,' he added, 'so philosophic as my friend the
President de Montesquieu, who says, "I know how to be blind, but I do
not yet know how to be deaf."' 'We shortened our visit,' says M. Suard,
'lest we should fatigue the earl.' 'I do not detain you,' said
Chesterfield, 'for I must go and rehearse my funeral.' It was thus that
he styled his daily drive through the streets of London.
Lord Chesterfield's wonderful memory continued till his latest hour. As
he lay, gasping in the last agonies of extreme debility, his friend, Mr.
Dayrolles, called in to see him half an hour before he expired. The
politeness which had become part of his very nature did not desert the
dying earl. He managed to say, in a low voice, to his valet, 'Give
Dayrolles a chair.' This little trait greatly struck the famous Dr.
Warren, who was at the bedside of this brilliant and wonderful man. He
died on the 24th of March, 1773, in the 79th year of his age.
The preamble to a codicil (Feb. 11, 1773) contains the following
striking sentences, written when the intellect was impressed with the
solemnity of that solemn change which comes alike to the unreflecting
and to the heart stricken, holy believer:--
'I most humbly recommend my soul to the extensive mercy of that
Eternal, Supreme, Intelligent Being who gave it me; most
earnestly at the same time deprecating his justice.
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