The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1882-09-20
The Weakness Of the Great.

swift we'd his tense and tragic
moods by har sing his servants with
cnIde-cn one occasion he insisted on
ha NJ ssing hts learned and respectable
friend DR.. Sheridan and driving them
up aud down the stairs and through the
rooms of his deanery. Peter the Great
sought TO unbend hImself by being wheel
ed over the flower beds and neat parterr 9
of his hosts garden in d wheelbarrow, us
pool Sir William Temple found to his
cost. That accomplished diplomatist
appears to have felt his chagrin at the
failure of the triple alliance mere child's
play to his feeling at beholding the Rus
sian monarch riding roughshod over the
priceless tulips of Moore Park. Glover.
the once famous author of 'LeOnida1
and the Ath.naid," had the same disa.
greeable weakness, though, not being
safe in the divinity which doth hedge a
king" his plebean back received on more
than occasion Infatuated cudgellings at
the hands of insulted horticulturists.
Cardinal Mazarin is said to have been
fond of shutting himself up in . room
and jumping over the chairs, arranged in
positions varying according to the de-
grees o! difficulty in clearing them. OF
III VII thC pau vi Ia CACCt-
lency, an amusing anecdOte is told. On
one occasion, while engaged in these
athletics, he forgot to lock the door. A
young courier inadvertently entering
the room, surprised the great man in
his undignifeG pursuit. 1t was an en-
barrassing position, for Mazarin was, he
knew, as naughty as he was eccentric.
But the young man was equal to the cri-
sis. Assuming the intensest interest in
tine proceeding he exclaimed, with we'll
feigBed earnestness, II will bet you en-
inence two gold pieces | Can beat that
jump He had struck the right chord
and in two minutes be was measuring his
leaping powers with the prime minister,
whom he took care not tc beat. He lost
his two gold pieces, but he gained be-
fore long q mitre. Samuel Clarke reliev-
ed his theological pursuits in the same
way, and on one occasion seeing a pc
dantic fellow approaching, said to the
pupil who was sharing his amusement.
"Now We must stop, for a fool is coming
in" Ole Burton, the author OF
the Anatomie of the Melancholy"
the only book which got DR.. Johnson
out Of his bed two hours before he in
tended to rise, found his chief recreation
in going down TO Follow Bridge at Ok
ford and listening 70 the ribaldry If the
bargees: (which did clear away bis
vapores, and make him laugh as be would
die" 1t was we'll for the old gentleman
reproach which Dante represents himself
as receiving from Virgil for a similar
weakness Innocent ILL.,, probably the
greatest pontif who ever sat on the throne
of st. Peter, relieved his graver amuse-
ment of playing at ninepins with the po-
tentates of Europe by gossipping famil-
iarly with an old monk on a seat at a
fountain in the Vatican. He would listen
for hours to the stories and pointless an
ecdotes with which his humble companion,
who had travelled a great deal, RECALLED
him. The lighter hours of good Bishop
Corbet have been very graphically des-
cribed by one who knew him well. His
lordship's f~avorite companion was his
chaplain, DIR. Washington. When the
business of the day was over, the bishop
delighted to descend with this faithful
henchman into the cellar of the episcopal
palace. Corbet would then dof his
hood, saying, there lies the doctor :"
he would then divest himself of his gown,
adding, There lies the bishop" The
glasses were filled and the toast was drunk,
: Here's to thee, Lushington." Here's
to thee. Corbet." The celebrated Dean
| Aldrich was the slave Of his pipe. There
is a story in the biography of John Phil
lips, the poet, which not only amusingly
illustrates this weakness on the part of
the dean, but gives us a curious glimpse
of the free and easy way in which the
dons and undergraduates of those days
used to live. A senior student laid a
wager with one Of his college chums that
the dean was at that instant smoking his
pipe, that instant being about ten o'clock
in the morning. Away, therefore, he
went to the deanery, where, having made
his way into the deans study, he explain
ed the reason of his appearance at so
early an hour. "Ah." replied the dean
with the utmost GOODNESS. you have
lost the wager. for ] am not smoking.
but filling my pipe emple Bar.
Mile. Bertha Marie de R%otbchild
daughter of the head of the Frankfort
branch of that family, w'llibe married
tomorrow to Prince de Wagram. The
young lady has signed an abjuration OF
the Jewish faith.