The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1878-01-27

, some famous work has been suggeste /
apparently by The merest accident We
need bar remlnd the reader how Lady
Alslen.s suggestion NJ "the sola" as "a
subject Tor blank verse was the begin,
mug OF The Task" poem which grew
10 formidable proportions under Cove
pers laeIle pom, Another example of
sNhel great events rom trivial cau.as
l. furnished by Lockharts account of
lht gradual growth Of THE Lay of the
Last Minstrel The lovely countess of
paikellh hears a wild legend Of border
a'qt'fns aud sporliyely asks Scott 10
make u The subject OF q ballad, The
poelh accidental confinement In the
must OF yeomanry camp gave him
leisure 10 mediate his theme 70 the
sound OF the buglei suddenly there
flashes on him the idea Of extending his
simple outline so as 10 embrace vivid
panorama Of that old border life Of war
ana lumult a friends suggestion led
10 The arrangement aud framework Of
the Lay and the conception of the
ancient harper Thus step by step grew
lhe poem that first made iis author m, !
nous, The manuscript of "Wayerley'
lay hidden away In the old cabinet i,r
years before the public were aware of its
existence la the word, Of the Great
Unknown, ~ had written the greater
part OF the fast volume and sketched
other passages when ! mishid the man,
us1rpt aud only found IL by the merest
uecdcnt ms wnsummnging the drawer
OF AN old cabinet, aud tool, the fancy
of finishing IT, "
Charlotte Bronte's chance discovery
.ot a manuscript volume OF verses in
her sister Emlys handwriting led,
from 70 mutual confession Of the Juror
goc'rw to the Joint publication of their
poems. which, though adding little TO
their subsequent fame, AZ least gives
~ another instance Of how much OF
what is called chance has often TO do
with the carrying out of literary pro.
leols 1t was the burning of Drury
Lane Thcator that led to the produc
ton of " The Rejected Addresses the
success OF which, says one of the au,
thors decided him to embark in that
literary career which the favor of the
noyel-reading world rendered both
pleasant and profitable to him" Most
of MS know how that famous fairy tale,
" Alice in Wonderland came TO be
written, The characters in "Oliyer
Twist of Fagin, Skies and Nancy
were suggested 10y some sketches of
Cruikshauk, who long had design to
show the life of London thief by
series of drawings Dickens, while
paying Cruikshank visit, happened
TO turn over some sketches in port(o-
lilo, When he came TO that one which
represents Fagin in the condemned cell
he studied it for half an hour, and told
his friend that he was tempted to :
change the whole plot of his story, not ,
to carry Oliver through adventures in 9
the country, but to take him up into
the thieves den in London, show what !
this life was, and bring Oliver through
II without sin or shame. Cruikshank
to let Dickens write up sto
rs many of the drawings as he thought /
would suit his purpose SO the story
rs it now runs resulted in great meas d
sure from that chance inspection of the
artists portfolio The remarkable pic
lure of the jew maleiactor in the con-
Iemned cell biting his nails in the tor
.ure of remorse is associated with
happy accident The artist had been
aboring ut the subject for several days,
md thought the task hopeless, when
sitting up in his bed one morning with
his hand on his chin and his fingers in
his mouth, the whole attitude express
i've Of dispair, he saw his face in the
oheval glass. "That's it !" he exclaim>
ed; that's the expression | want"
Aud he soon finished the picture,
The sudden prosperity of many {
famous painter has resulted from some
fortunate accident. Anthony Vatican,
when a nameless struggling artist, tins 5
idly offered painting to a rich picture
aealet for six francs, and was on the
eve of being scorntully rejected, when a {
stranger, who happened to be in the
shop, came forward, and, seeing some
talent in the work, spoke encouragingiy
to the youth, and offered him $50 francs
for the picture; nor was this all, for he
became Watteau's patron and inN
sructor One day Il little shepherd boy
was seated near the roadside on the
way from Vespignano to Florence, draw
ing up polished stone, his only pencil
another polished stone which he held in
his tiny fingers. A richly>dressed
stranger who had descended from
that was following him,
CHANGED to pass, and looking over the
boy ; shoulder, saw that he had just
sketched with wonderful truth and cor~
rectness sheep and its twin lambs.
and pleased, he examined
the face Of the young artist. Certainly
it was not its beauty that attracted him.
The child looked up, but with such
light in his dark eyes that
the stranger exclaimed, MY child, you
must come with me- | will be your
master and your father it is some good
angle that has led me here" The
stranger was Cimabue, the most celeN
brated painter of that day; and his pupi
and protege became the famous painter
sculptor and architect Giotto, the friend
and admiration of Dante and Pc
trarch.
An excellent land scape of Salvador
Rosa's, exhibited at the British insti-
tuition in 1928, came to be painted in a
curious way The painter happened
one day to be amusing himself 10y turn.
ing an old harpsichord; some one
observed they were surprised he could |
take 50 much trouble with an instru-
ment that was not worth crown. 81
bet YOU / make it worth thousand be-
fore have done with it, said Rosa.
The bet was taken, and Salvador painted
on the harpsichord a landscape that not
only sold for thousand crowns, but
was esteemed tirst>rate painting.
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