The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-05-16

out in time to save his life, but not
until he was pretty we'll tanned; and
this accident very possibly gave colo1'
ing to his subsequent course OF life. !
Timon experienced several narrow !
escapes from drowning, which gives
rise to suspicion that he was not
born for such fate, but reserved for I!
something higher.
reformer, wa, always wont to sit at
the head of the table, with his back
to the window. On one particular
evening, without, however, being
able to account for it, he would
neither himself sit in the chair nor
permit any one else to occupy his
place. That very night, bullet was
shot in at the window purposely to
kill him; it grazed the chair In which
he sat, and made n hole in the foot of
q candlestick on the table.
Many years have now elapsed since
three subalterns might have been
seen 'truggling in the water off st.
Helena-one of them, peculiarly help
less, was fast succumbing. He was
saved to life rs Arthur Wellesley,
Duke Of Wellington.
The life of John Newton is but the
history of series of marvellous de-
hverances. AS q youth, he had agreed
to accompany some friends on board
a man-of-war. He arrived too late;
the boat in which his friends had
gone was capsized, and all its occn-
pants drowned. On another occasion,
when the tide surveyor in the port OF
Liverpool, some business had de-
tained him, so that he came to his
boat much later than usual, to the
great surprise Of those who were in
the habit of observing his then unde-
Waiting punctuality. He went out in
the boat Us heretofore to inspect
ship, which blew up before he reached
her. Had he left the shore few
minutes sooner, he must have pc
rished with the rest on board.
Evelyn was sauntering one day
along q meadow near Says Court,
when he looked in ut the window of
thatched cottage, and saw young
man carving one of Tintorettos car
toons. He entered, admired the
work, and soon recommended the
artist to Charles II. Thus the name
of Gibbins became known. Milton
sees q wretched mystery in Italy,
and conceived the plan Of Paradise
Lost" The plague breaks out in
London; he retires to Chalfont, and
the simple question of a Quaker
friend calls forth Paradise Regain
ed" Gibbon muses. among the ruins
of Roman grandeur; and the decline
and fall of the mighty Empire
breaks in long perspective on his
view. A Wesh harper thrills the
chords st Cambridge, and Gray, fired
with sudden emotion, writes the con-
clusion of the "Bard." Lady Austen
points to sofa, and Cowper creates
the "Task."
The history of nations, as Of indi-
viduals, hangs on threads. Robert
Bruce was about to join crusade,
when spider, struggling TO fix his
web to the ceiling, gave him a lesson
in perseverance, and remaining in his
own land, he routed the army Of
Edward II, at Bannockburn, and
achieved the independence Of the
Scottish crown. Cromwell was about
to set sail for America, and clear
forests with his axe, when royal
edict forbade emigration in unli-
censed ships. Had he embarked the
day before, he would never have been
Lord Protector, nor Charles Stuart
have laid his head on the block.
The feet of William of Orange had
been driven Westward to Torbay
To return in the teeth Of the wind
was impossible, and Plymouth, the
next port, was garrisoncd by Lord
Bath. The royal fleet was ont of
the Thames, and hastening down the
channel You may go to prayers.
doctor" said Russell to BHrnet: 'all
is over" But it was not so. a soft
breeze sprung up from the South.
and the sun shone forth. The feet
turned back, William landed, and the
Stuart dynasty ceased to reign.
We recollect that we had several
narrow escapes ourselves in child
hood. We once got choked on
fsh-bone till We were black in the
face; and, on another occasion, we
tumbled into pond of water, but
were fiShed out all right, which gave