The Osceola times., 1880-09-18
PROF. MOMMSEN'S LOSS.
Grief mt the Loss OF His Library-Frantic
EfYorts TO Rescue His Treasures.


Efforts to Rescue His Treasures.
A Berlin letter to the London GLOBE
saws: "The sad tidings of the terrible
loss sustained by Prof. Mommsen have
caused such genuine regret throughout
the whole of Germany as has seldom
been witnessed on like occasion. All
marty feelings have been laid aside. and
even the Professors political antago-
nists. however dissatisfied with his out
spoken Liberalism, could not help join
inc in the universal commiseration.
rhe eminent scholar, residing with his
large family IN small villa, sitrated In
one of the fashionable suburbs, had been
STUDYING until an advanced hour OF the
night over copy of some important
Roman inscriptions, when sleep over
powered him. lie awoke at about In
the morning, put out the gas. and was
going to retire, when he, by inadver-
tance, dropped burning match, with
which he had lighted the candle, on a
thick carpet. The fire thus produced
must have been smoldering some time
before it was discovered by some work
men employed I'M neighboring manu-
factory. An alarm was Immediately
given, but too late to save the treasured
library from the ravagcs of the destruc-
tive element. Prof Mommsen, almost
bes de himself could with the utmost
difficulty be withheld from rushing in
to the flames in the vain hope of rescu-
ing some of the precious documents
hoarded. on his shelves. He was partic-
ularly anxious to get h Did of those in
valuable parchments handed down from
remote antiquity, and lent to him as an
especial favor by the papal authorities,
| for the purpose of being included in his
| grand work on Roman Inscriptions,
nearly finished when the awful contla-
grafton put such a sudden stop to the
| labors of many years. An eyewitness
who saw the Professor soon after the
discovery OF the fire, relates that he
never beheld anything more touching
than his agonzing grief. The poor old
man seemed to have lost all self-control
When the endeayors of his family tc
remove him from the scene of the disas
ter failed the police had to insist upon
his retiring. Notwith standing all eflort'
to keep him out of danger he received
several severe wounds which it will take
long to heal. Besides the above-men
toned work on Roman Inscriptions,
all the materials for a continuation o
his famous History of Rome, destined
to describe the time of the first emper
ors, have been utterly lost. By singu
lar coincidence Prof. Mommscn has un
dergone the same trial "a Niebuhr, hi
great predecessor IN the professorship o
history at the University of Berlin
whose library in his old age alss fell ;
prey to the devouring element. Unlik'
Niebuhr, who could never quite recove
the shock of that fatal night, Prot
Mommsen, with really wonderful
elasticity of mind, has already in grea
measure regained his composure. an,
speaks with confidence of repairing
speedily the destruction Of the fruits o
his long researches. The emperor, a
well as the crown prince, the latter o
whom was ons of the professors pupils
sympathetically inquired about his con
dition. | should no! be surprised
royal apartments were placed mt mis- dis
posal, to enable him to pursue his stud
les in quiet. Thousands and thousand
ha, hocked TO Charlottenburg to lool
at Mommsen's halfburned house an,
gardens. strewn with the ashes of $
many valuable records of the past. Tn,
burning of Mommsen's library will
doubtless, give rise to active discussion
of the question rs to whether such ire
parable documents, if intrusted by tn
Vatican and other governments to
private individual, be he ever so re
nowned, should not be minutely copie
bv some chemical or other process, =
that the originals should never leay
their sale repositories.