The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-07-26

love, choked to death with a grape
stone. Kschylus was killed by an eagle
dropping n tortoise on his head, sup
posing il was rock. William the Con
queror was killed by being thrown on tC
the pummel Of his saddle, and Chrysop-
pus, the philosopher, laughed himself to
death ut seeing an ass eating figs.
Moliere, the great French comedian and
dramatist, accidentally killed himself
while playing one of his pieces, "The
Man Who Pretends To BE Dead"
"Old surIy Death. offended at his play,
Would not be ioked with in so free a way;
He, when h.e mimicked him, HIS voice re
strained,
And made him act i'm earnest when hi
feigned."
Thomas May, the historian of the
"Long Parliament and translator OF
Lucan's Pharsalia," and one of the
most versatile authors of the seven
teenth century, was found dead in his
led with signs of having been strangled.
He was very fat; had gone to bed
drunk, and tying his night-cap strings
too tight was found strangled. The old
authors whom a drop too much and the
accident of going to bed booty killed
form quite list. Sir George Etheridge,
author of "Sir Fopling Flutter," hav-
ing passed the evening with some Ia
borious old soakers, staggered out to
light them downstairs. He fell over
and broke his neck. Lee, the rival of
Dryden, was going home drunk, and,
falling in the street, was run over by a
dray; and Edgar Allen Poe, the most
brilliant of American poets, died of ex-
posture and ill-treatment when recover
ing from debauch. A pinch of snuff
accidentally dropped into glass of
wine that Jean Baptist Santeul, one of
the greatest Latin poets France ever
produced, was drinking, killed him in
a few hours. Eating too many melons
killed Argyropolis and the melancholy
Cowley, who had been to a merry-mak-
ing with Rev. Thomas Sprat, afterward
Bishop of Rochester. Both were drunk
and lay down to sleep by a haystack.
Cowley caught cold and died. Xenoc-
rates accidentally walked into well,
and Charles Lamb stumbled and pro-
duced rupture which ended his life.
William Duprat, the Bishop of Cler-
mont, was the victim of an accident
which indicated his weakness of char
acter. He was the possessor of the
most beautiful beard that, up to his
time, had ever been seen in France, and
was very proud of it. On Easter he
presented himself at his cathedral to as
sist in the performance of religious SER
vices. He found three canons awaiting
his arrival. The dean held in his hands
a pair of scissors and razor, another
bore a copy of the statute of the chapter
where it is stated that in order to enter
the choir the beard must be shaved,
while the third pointed out to the Bishop
the spot where these fearful commands
were inscribed. AS the dean was about
to commence operations the Bishop
cried: "Spare my beard and l will re-
nounce the bishopric." The Bishop
ran off to his chateau, but eventually
yielded to the stern canons of the church,
but the modification of losing his beard
was so great that he was thrown into
a fever.
A curious incident is related as occur
ing during the war of 1909 between En-
gland and France. A brig commanded
by an American was captured by the
Sparrow cutter off San Domingo, under
the belief that she was sailing under
false colors-at any rate, carrying enc
mv's goods. The court at Port Royal
found the ships papers all correct, and
the Captain swore SO positively as to
her American nationality that the court
decided in his favor. The American
commander then began proceedings
against Lieutenant Wylie, the Spar
rows commander. While the case was
pending a small tender in the charge of
Midshipman FELTON, came into port, and
the young officer being a friend of
Wylie at once went on board and
learned of his dilemma. The midship-
man at once said the brig was lawful
prize, and related that q few days be-
fore the sailors had captured an enor-
nous shark, and, cutting her up, had
taken out the genuine papers of the
brig which had been thrown overheard
when capture was imminent, and they
proved beyond doubt that the brig and
cargo were French. The friends hast.
ened to Kingston, but the news travelled
before them; but the skipper had
skipped, leaving his vessel, and Lieu
tenant Wylie was richer by several thou
rand pounds.
LUCKY ACCIDENTS.
Not always are accidents disastrous,
ill-omencd, ruinous. Chance has been
the parent of many great invention,
and the means of discovering benefac-
tons for the human race. Shrewd
minds have otter turned to practical
advantage accidental observations.
Once the great philosopher, Calico Ga
lelel, was in the cathedral at Pisa
watching the oscillations of a lamp that
hung from the roof. He noticed that
the swings, or vibrations, were all per-
formed in equal times whether the arc
of the swing was large or small, and
whether the lamp had just begun to
swing or was nearly ready to cease its
oscillations. Returning home, he made
pendulums of various lengths, to which
he attached weights, and he soon found
that the time of oscillation for each
pendulum bore a certain ratio to the
length of the string. From this acct
dental occurrence came the application
of the pendulum as a regulator OF
clocks.
Blue-tinted writing paper was discov-
cred by an accident. Mrs. East, the