The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1884-10-15
Chance

individual born whose whole career did
not hinge upon a chance or accident.
Whether or not an assertion so broad and
sweeping be true, it is fact that the his
tory of men who have stood IN the fore
most rank Is Gich with instances of the
effects Of happy chance or accident
Thus Wallenstein, the magnificent, the
great Captain who never lost battle, was,
until the age of manhood, little better
than an idiot; a chance fall down stone
staircase injureCehis head, but cleared his
clouded intellect Mahillon was mere
idiot until similar happy chance fall re-
stored him to reason. The golden genius
of Charles DickSs might have remained
| forever unsupported but for chance Dick
ems in early life was enamoured of the
stage After many attempts he succeeded
In gaining promise from the manager
of the Covent Garden Theater to accord
his histiOnic powers a private hearing.
A chance exposure to a rainstorm brought
on a cold which prevented Dickens from
keeping his engagement and thus the
stage lost an aspiring actor, while htera
ture gained king. Thorwaldseu, the
great Danish sculptor, after working for
months umecognized in Rome, determin-
ed in despair to return home and lay down
the sculptor's chisel forever A chance
error by careless clerk in drawing his
passport detained him twenty-four hours.
During that Interval of waiting Mr.. Hope
walked into his studio. admired his Jason
in clay and aroused the respondent Danes
hope by ordering a copy in marble Thor
waldsen unpacked his boxes and never
afterward in his long career lacked pat
ronage Rachel, the great tragedienne,
was, when a child, street singer, and as
such might have passed into womanhood
and old age had not party of critics din
ing together CHANGED to hear her loud,
clear voice beneath their window They
observed the child's wonderful face and
in kindly spirit, aroused no doubt by the
wine they had drank, proposed to her pro
| tectors to place her in the Conservatory as
a pupil. Sir Walter Raleigh would pro
baby have remained out Of favor with the
court had Elizabeth, on her walk to the
| Tower, CHANGED to take path less muddy.
| Every reader of history knows the story.
how the gallant Sir Walter spread his
cloak beneath the royal feet and was re
warded with his sOyereign's smile and
! speedy restoration to favor. Potemkin,
the fayorite of Catherine II, and the foun
der of the powerful Russian family which
bears his name, would doubtless have re
manned an obscure soldier had not a tn
vial incident a chance, in fact-changed
his destiny After Catharine had depos-
ed her weak husband and herself assumed
| the scepter. she was accustomed to parade
the streets of st. Petersburg, sword in
hand, at the head Of her troops One day
He boldly stepped forward. Drawing the
! lnOut for his INSTRUMENTATION, and offered
his. The Czarina accepted it, and struck
by the handsome young Lieutenant, asked
! his name and regiment and If he would
not like to serve her in the palace. Haul
Pasha, the Sultan's Chief of Artillery and
most trusted adviser, was timer. En-
ployed in the palace, he offered to mend a
valuable French clock, as no clockmaker
was available, and did the work so well
the Sultan babe him lay aside his timers
service and serve him. Sir Robert Wilson
one of England's best generals, owes his
elevation from desk in a solicitors office
to chance meeting with the Duke of York
IN the rain. OF Benjamin Disraeli there
was story current years ago to prove the
building of his greatness was helped along
by chance. In his youth he was reck-
less spendthrift. His ambition was to
lead his party, but such was the state Of
his finances that at one time it was doubt
full whether he could longer support the
expense of a seat in Parliament Accident
or chance, threw him in the way of noted
money lender in London, who liked the
brilliant young dandy on first sight and
did what he had never done before MOI
afterward to any man, lent Disraei f500C
on no other security than his genius and
ambition. DisraeH never forgot the ser
vice and never tired, so the story goes, Of
returning it in the various ways which his
after influence enabled him to do.
George Stephenson, the inventor of the
locomotive, was born with taste for me
chanics. His parents were too wretched
" poor to give him the advantages Of
education. AT a very tender age he was
compelled to work as a pit boy at two
pence a day, to help support the family
Deep in the mines, shut out from every.
thing that cheered the senses. young Ste
phenson found much to stimulate his me
chanical bent. He mastered the hosting
machinery and longed to be allowed
charge of it. One day the engineer chanc
ed to stumble and injTe himself. Young
Stephenson promptly offered to supply
his place and proved his skill so well that
the mine Superintendent gave him per
manent charge of the machinery, and thus
gave him an opportunity to observe anG
think and build until the Rocket appear
ed as a result of his labors.-Nc0 Yor
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