Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-09-30


Islands. Porkers, indeed, have among goot
Christians been always . fetirema eauso
bella. 1t is hardly forty years since Loui,
Philippe threatened war against the Texar
Republic because an irate citizen had sho
the uespassing pigs Of the French ambassa
dor. As it was, he prevented the Lone Stal
sovereignty from floating their European
loan. and thus the king and the pigs com.
bined hAstcned the annexation of Texas to
the United States. The battle of the Nile
was turning point in history. But it could
never have been fought had not Nelson
feet been permitted to revictual at Syracuse
and into Syracuse it could never have gone
had not the wife Of the English ambassador
at Naples been accidentally aware that King
Ferdinand was very foolish, and his Queen
very much the reverse. States before nov
have been ceded through the accidents Of
ignorance. The Dutch are said to have
'jockeyed" Us out Of Malacca in exchange
for Java by representing on the map. which
our simple minded ENJOYS took for granted,
the one territory Is large and the other as
small and among the most firmly rooted
traditions Of American diplomacy is one
which represents the English commissioner
as agreeing to the surrender Of Oregon "be-
cause a country in which = salmon does not
rise to the fy cannot be worth much" Laws
have been altered through accident before
the queens printers boy forgo, to deliver
Lord Reacons6cld's amendment to q bill.
Many years ago the Georgia Legislature pu,
tax Of $40 on "all jackasses. lawyers and
doctors" 1t was originally only intended
TO apply To the first, but was finally imposed
on the two latter also. in order to tickle the
grim humor Of an old planter who held the
casting vote in the Assembly.
But II tribes have determined the fate OF
laws and nations, accidents equally small
have caused men to follow pursuits the re-
suit Of which have been no, much less mo-
mentous to culture and civilization. Father
Malebranche devoted himself to philosophy
after reading Descarte's "L'Homme :" Cow
ley became a peet owing to his perussl Of
Spenser's "Fserie Queen" and Sir Joshua
Reynolds had never thought of painting
until Richardson's Treatise" fell into his
hands. Corneille showed no liking for any
literature except the Law until he fell in love
and felt himself compelled to tell the lady so
in poetry; and Moliere might have remained
making tapestry had not his grandmother
nettled his pride by wishing that he could
be an actor like Monrosc. Balboa might
never have discovered the Pacific had he not
been unsuccessful as a shopkeeper in His
PAMELA. and found it necessary to aee to
the mainland. concealed from his creditors
in cask on board Encisco's vessel and it
is certain tha, had Cortes become a we'll
briefed lawyer in Salamanca. he would never
have lived TO proudly tell Charles V. that
he had given him more provinces than his
father had left him cities. lgnatius Loyola
vas soldier and the Order Of Jesuits
might never have been founded had he not
accidentally beguied the tedium Of inaction
necessiiated by a wound with reading The
Lives of the Saints Gibbon determined 20
write his famous work after listening TO the
monks singing yespers in the Temple Of Ju-
piter at Rome and La Fontaine was s,imu-
lated to cultivate literature after hearing
some verses Of Malherbe. Men Of science
have often been ''made" by accidents as
seemingly trifing. We shall not repeat the
well-worn tale about the apple which set
Newton upon the track Of his great discov-
cry for the tale is extremely mythical but
it is true that Flamsteed took to astronomy
after having accidentally read Sacrobosco's
"De Spheria,' Pennant 10 natural history
after seeing Willoughby's book on birds,
Bonnet to the observation Of insects after
studying Reamur. and DIR. Franklin always
attributed the bent of his scientific genius TO
DE Foes Essay on Projects" Faraday
might have remained 4 journeyman book
binder had not kindly Mr.. Dance invited
him to hear Sir Humphrey Davy lecture,
and Vaucanson only took to studying the
mechanism Of clocks in order to beguile the
weary hours which he had TO pass while al,
tending his mother al confession.
Nor is i, less true tina, grea, moral and
political revolutions have taken place which
might often have been avoided By the OBJ
servance Of triaes. Guicciardini-for whose
yeraeity Isaac Disraeli Vouches-has left it
on record that so terrified was Martin Luth-
er when the Emperor Charles V. put him
under "the ban," that had he then received
some preferment he would have "renounced
his errors" But the threatening words of
Cardinal San Sisto, the apostolic legate,
threw him into such despair that he did not
care, after the insults he had received to
make an effort to save himself Franklin,
in like manner, was so annoyed at the tohe
which Lord Granville assumed toward him
that it is believed that the interview entirely
altered the eoncilisiory views with which the
agent for the colony Of Pennsylvania came
TO England, and fastened, if it did not pre-
cipitate, the final explosion. In studying
the chronicles Of nations, We see only the
broad, prominent events, but not the secret
springs which are all the time modifying
and moving the actors even more power
fully. We can read the dispatches concern
ing the English share in the Greco-Turksh
war, but the Blue Book contains no refer
ence to the '.Go it, Ned" which, scrawled
in the corner Of the Duke of Clarence's
dispatch, is said to have determined the
battle of Navarino. The shelves Of our
Libraries are laden with books labelled his
tory. But in reality real history still re-
mains to be written, for the older the world
is growing the more it is inclined to agree
with Sir Robert Walpole when he told his
son Horace that after having been for halt a
century engaged in making the materials
for them, three-fourths Of the written chron-
icles we're lies not worth reading.-[ London
Standard.