Litchfield enquirer., 1867-06-20
ESCAPES OF EMINENT
 MEN.

Some years ago young man, holding subordinate position in the East India Company's service twice attempted to de- prive himself of life by snapping loaded pistol at his head. Each time the pistol missed fire. A friend entering his room shortly afterward, he requested him to fire it out of the window; 1t then went off with out any difficulty. Satisfied that the weap- on had been duly primed and loaded, this young man sprang up: exclaiming, 'l must be reserved for something greal;' and from that moment gave up the idea of suicide, which for some time previous had been up permost in his thoughts. That young man became Lord Cleve Two brothers were on one occasion walking together, when violent storm of thunder and lightning overlook them. One was struck dead on the spot, and the other was spared; e1sa would the name of the great reformer, Mar tin Luther, have been unknown to the mankind. The holy St. Augustine hay ing to preach in distant town, took with him guide who, by some unaccountable means, mistook the usual road and fell in to by path. He afterward discovered that his enemies, having heard of his move ments, had placed themselves in the prop CT road with the design of murdering him. l U five years old, fell into a soap boiler, and must have perished, had not a workman, just entering the yard, observed the top of his head, and immediately delivered him.
 When Oliver Cromwell was an infant, a monkey snatched him from tlre cradle, leaped with him through the garret win dow, and ran along the leads of the house.
 The utmost alarm was excited amongst the inmates, and various were the devices used to rescue the child from the guardianship of his newly-found protector. All were unavailing; his would-be rescuers had lost courage, and were in despair of ever sec ing the baby alive again, when the monkey quietly retracted its steps and deposited his burden safely on the bed. On sub sequent occasion the waters had we'll nigh quenched his unsuitable ambition. He fell into deep pond, from drowning in which clergyman named Johnson was the sole instrument of his rescue. At the seige of Leicester, @ young soldier at about seven teen years of age, was, drawn out for sen try duty. One of his companions was very anxious to take his place. No objection was made, and this man went. He was shot dead, while on guard. The first man drawn afterwards became the author of ''Pilgrim's Progress "-Doddridg when ! 1 lieved to be dead. A nurse standing by fancied she saw some signs of vitality. Thus the feeble spark of life was saved from being extinguished and an emi- nent and consistent Christian preserved to the world. John Welsey, when a child was only just preserved from fire. Almost the moment after he was removed, the roof of the house where he had been fell in. Of l Henry similar instance Is recorded, John Knox, the renowned Scotch Reformer, was always wont to sit at the head of the table, with his back towards the window. On one particular evening, without, however be- ing able to account for it, he would neither himself sit in the chair, nor permit any one else to occupy his place. That night bull let was shot in at the window, purposely to kill him, 1t grazed the chair in which he usually sat, and made hole ill the foot of the candlestick on the table. Many years have now elapsed since three you1ig subal- terms might have been seen struggling in the water, off St. Helena; one of them pe- culiarly helpless, was fast uncombining. He was saved, to live, as Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington.-The life of John Newton is but series of marvellous deliver ances. As youth he had agreed to accom- pany some friends on board man -of-war
 He arrived too late to go; the boat in which his friends had gone was capsized and all it's occupants were drowned On another occasion, when the tide surveyor in the Port of Liverpool, some business had detained him, so that he came to his boat much later than usual, to the great sur prise of those who knew his habit of undertaking punctuality. He went out in the boat as heretofore to inspect 8 ship which blew up just before he reached her. Had he left the shore few minutes sooner, he must have perished with the rest on board