d, what would have become
of the epitaph? And if she escaped, of what use was it? She should
rather have said her prayers. The verses however have all the _naivete_
of the times. They are--

Cy gist Margot, la gente demoiselle,
Qu'eut deux maris, et si mourut pucelle.

Beneath this tomb is high-born Margaret laid,
Who had two husbands, and yet died a maid.

She was betrothed to Charles VIII. of France, who forsook her; and being
next intended for the Spanish infant, in her voyage to Spain, she wrote
these lines in a storm.

Mademoiselle de Serment was surnamed the philosopher. She was celebrated
for her knowledge and taste in polite literature. She died of a cancer
in her breast, and suffered her misfortune with exemplary patience. She
expired in finishing these verses, which she addressed to Death:--

Nectare clausa suo,
Dignum tantorum pretium tulit illa laborum.

It was after Cervantes had received extreme unction that he wrote the
dedication of his Persiles.

Roscommon, at the moment he expired, with an energy of voice that
expressed the most fervent devotion, uttered two lines of his own
version of "Dies Irae!" Waller, in his last moments, repeated some lines
from Virgil; and Chaucer seems to have taken his farewell of all human
vanities by a moral ode, entitled, "A balade made by Geffrey Chaucyer
upon his dethe-bedde lying in his grete anguysse."[116]

Cornelius de Witt fell an innocent victim to popular prejudice. His
death is thus noticed by Hume:--"This man, who had bravely served his
country in war, and who had been invested with the highest dignities,
was delivered into the hands of the executioner, and torn in pieces by
the most inhuman torments. Amidst the severe agonies which he endured he
frequently repeated an ode of Horace, which contained sentiments suited
to his deplorable condition." It was the third ode of the third book
which this illustrious philosopher and statesman then repeated.

Metastasio, after receiving the sacrament, a very short time before his
last moments, broke out with all the enthusiasm of poetry and religion
in these stanzas:--

T' offro il tuo proprio Figlio,
Che gia d'amore in pegno,
Racchiuso in picciol segno
Si volle a noi donar.

A lui rivolgi il ciglio.
Guardo chi t' offro, e poi
Lasci, Signor, se vuoi,
Lascia di perdonar.

"I offer to t