The postman was bringing him the latest Sherlock Holmes

Abolitionist and preacher Henry Ward Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin), died on this day in 1887. His last words:

"Now comes the mystery."

Today’s Deathless Verse:

Is life an enigma,

  Which death will unravel,

Or merely a stigma

  At which we all cavil?

A puzzle, but trifling—

  Not nearly as stifling

As the quandary ahead;

  That is, being dead?