The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1878-06-20
The Romance of Accident.

simplest causes the most lmroilAhl Sl
fects have ensued. The following are a
few culed at random for the amus' meDt
of our readers:
The Trial of two robbers before the
Court of Assizss of the BasseS-Pyle ecs
accidentally led to a most interesting
arcA9 logical disc very. the accused,
Rivas a shoemaker, and Belier a weaver,
by armed attacks on the highways and
frequent burslaries, had spread terror
around the DeighborhoOd of Sistertun.
The evidence against them was clear
but no traces could he obtained Of the
plumber, until ore Of the men gave cleN
to the mystery. Riyas in III, youth had
been a shepherd-boy near that place, and
knew the legend Of the Trvu d'Argent,
cavern on one Of the mountains with
sides SO precipitau- as 10 he almost mac
cessible, and which 10 one was ever
known to have reached. The cummisslry
of police of Ssterton, after extraordinary
labor, succeeded in scaling the mountain,
and penetrated to the mysterious grotto,
where he discovered al enormous quan-
tity of plumber of every description.
The way having been once todnd, the vast
cavern was afterward explored by Sdrdat';
and their researches brought to l!ght a
number of Roman medals of the ;hlrd
century, flint hatchets, ornamented pot
terry, and the remaiEs Of rUmiuants of
enormous size. These interesting dis.
coveries. however, obtained no indul-
gence for the accused GnadvortcnO pio-
neers of science, who were sentenced to
twenty years hard labor.
Daring the Thirty Years War in Ger
many. the little village Of CuseroN, in
the island of Uscdom, AZ, the Prussian
border of the Baltic, was sacked by the
contendng armies, the villagers escaping
10 the hills to save their lives, Among
them was q simple pastor named SchWe
ier, and his pretty daughter Mary. When
the danger was over, the villagers found
themselves without houses, food, or mon
ey. One day, We are told, Mary went up
the Streckelberg Ia gather blackberrleS;
but soon afserwari she ran back 'yOuS
and breathless to her father, with two
shining pieces Of amber each of very
great size. She told her father that near
the shore the wind had blown away the
sand from vein Of amber; that she
straightway broke off these pieces with
q stick; that there was an ample store Of
the precious substance; and that she had
covered it over t. conceal her secret.
The amber brought money, food, clothing
and comfort; but those were supersttious
times, and legend goes that poor Mary
was burned for witchcraft. At the vii
lage of Stlmen, amber vas first accident
ally found by rustic who was fortunate
enough TO turn some up with bis plough.
Many valuable literary relics have been
preserved 10y curious accidents, often
turning up just in time to save them from
crumbling to pieces. Not only mineral
but literary treasures have been brought
to light when excavating mother earth.
For instance, in the foundations Of an
old house Lu hers Table Talk" was
discovered lying in deep, obscure hole,
wrapped IL strJug linen cloth, which was
waXed all over with beeswaX within and
without TAerei it had remained hidden
ever since its suppression by Pope Greg
DRY XIII. The sudden falling in of a
ceiling, for example, of some chambers
in Lincoln's Inn, REVEALED the secret de
pository ui the Thurioe state papers.
Other Literary treasures have turned up
il an equally curious manner. Millions
essay on the "DJctrucs Of Christianity
was discovered in bundle Of old dis
patches; and II !, said that one OF the
cantos Of Dantes great poem was found,
after being long mislaid, hidden away
beneath a wiuao"-siil.
II is curious TO trace how the origin at
some famous work ha. been suggested
apparently by the mcrest accident. We
need but remind The reader how Lady
Austen's suggestion Of "the sofa" IS "a
subject for blank verse was the beginning
Of The Task a poem which grew 10
formidable proportions under CuwpeI :
facile pen. Another example Of
What great events from trivial causes spring"
is furnished by Lockhart's account of the
gradual growth of The Ivy of the Last
Minstrel" The lovely Countess Of D4l-
keith hears a wild legend Of border di-
a5lerte, and sportively asks Scott to make
it the subject of u ballad. The poet 5
accidental confinement in the mids; Of a
yeomanry camp gave him leisure to medi-
tate his theme to the sound of bugle
suddenly there flashes on him the idea OF
extending his simple outline so as to en-
brace a vivid panorama of that old Dor
der-life of war and tumult A friend :
suggestion lei to the arrangement and
framework Of the Lay" and the concep-
ton of the ancient harper. Thus step by
step grew the poem that first made its
author famous. The manuscript OF
"Waverley' lag hidden away in an old
cabinet for years before the public were
aware of its existence. In the words OF
the G treat Unknown: IL had written the
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