Maryland free press., 1866-07-05
REMARK ABLE ESCAPES OF EMI-
NENT MEN.

! Some years ago, young man holding \ sub
ordinate position in the East India Company
service, twice attempted to deprive himself Of ift
by swapping loaded pistol at his head. Each
time the pistol missed fire. A friend entering hi.
room shortly afterwards he requested him to firs
il out of the window;it then went OFT without ans
difficulty. Satisfied thus that the weapon had
been duly prinied and loaded the young man
spraug up exclaimng. 81 must be reserved toI
something good, " and from that moment gave
up the idea Of suicide, which, for some time pre-
vious, had been uppcrmost in his thought That
young man afterwards became Lord Give.
| Two brothers were on one occasion walking to-
gether, when q violent storm Of thunder and
lightning overlook them. One was struck dead
upon the spot, the other was spared, else would
the name Of the great refUrmtr; Martin Luther,
have been unknown to mankind. ''A
The holy st. Augustine, having, TO preach in a
distant town, took with him guide, who, by
road and fell into by-path. lie afterwards dis
covered that his enemies, having heard Of his
movements, had placed themselves in the proper
road with The design of numbering him.
Bacon the suptor, when a tender boy of five
years old, fell into the pit Of n soap boiler, and
must have persisted had not workman, just Ell
tering the yard, observed the top Of his head and
delivered him. .. ... ID.
When Or er Cromwell was an inf,nt,a monkey
snatchcd him from his cradle, eaped with him
through garret window, and rtn with him a.
long the leaders of the house. The utmost alarm
| WAS excited among the inmates, and various
were the devices used TO the child from the
guardianship of his newly-found protector
All were unavailing: his would-bc rcscuers had
lost courage, aud were in despair of ever seeing
the baby alive again, when the monkey quietly
retraccd his steps and deposited his burden safely
on the bed. On subsequent occasion the wa
tcrs had well nigh qucnched his Unsuitable ambi-
ton. lie f. II into deep pond, from drowning
in which clergyman named johnson was the
sole instrument of his rescue
AT the siege of Leicester, young soldier about
seventeen years of age was detailed for pikcet du-
ty. One Of his comrades was very anxious to
take his place. No objection was made, and this
man went. lie was shot dead while on post
The young man first detailed afterwards became
the author Of the ''Pilgrim's Progress"
Doddridge, when born, was SO wcakley an in
FAINT that he was believed to be dead. A nurse
standing by flncicd she saw some signs of vietay
Thus the feeble spark of life was saved from beng
extingiiislcd, and I'm eminent author and conSs-
tent Christian preserved t1 the world.
John Wesley when child was only just pre-
served from fire. Almost the moment after he
was rescued, the roof of the house where he had
been fell in. ofPhilip Henry similar instance
is recorded
John Knox, the renowned Scocth rcformcr
was always wont to sit at the head of the table,
with his back to the window On one particu-
lar evening, without, however, being able to ac-
count for it, he would neither himself sit in the
chair nor permit any one else to occupy it. That
very night bullet was shot in at the window
purposely TO kill him; it grazed the chair in
which he sat, and made hoe in the foot of q
candcstick on the table.
Many yeais have now elapsed since three sub
aterns might have been seen struggling in the
water of ST. Helena. One of them, peculiarly
helpless, was fast succumbing. lie was saved to
live as Arthur Wesley, Duke of Wellington.
The life of John Newton is but u history of a
series of marvellous dclivcranccs. As youth,
he had agreed to accompany some friends on
board Of II man-ot-war. He arrived too late, the
boat in which his friends had gone was capsized,
and all its occupants drowned. On another oc-
casion, when tide surveyor in the port of Liver
pool, some business detained him. so that he
came much later than usual, TO the great sur
prise of those who were in the habit of observing
his undertaking punctuaity He went out in the
boat as heretofore to inspect ship, which blew
up before he reached her. Had he left the shore
o few minutes sooner, he must have perished with
the rest on board.