New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-08-02
TRIO LIGHTNING Strokes.
Why not try an eight hour lawi

The fact that the two lightning strokes. one OF
which fell on the site chosen tor General Ifant
tomb in the Riverside Park. aud the other at NIL
McGregor where his body lay, should nave Occa-
sloncd scarcely any comment, shows the extent Oh
the advance made in apprehension OF mans re'a-
tions 70 Nature. and the virtual disappearance OF
one Of the most prevalent and persistent of super
sttions. To-day these occurrences are simply re-
glrded as condolences; strange. perhaps. but per-
fecty natural, and possessing no human slgnin-
canoe But for ages mankind. and even the most
highly civilized races. firmly believed that inc
deaths OF great men were marked oy per-
turbations in nature. The history OF TO-
hgion shows that IN regard to the found
crs of crccds this belief universal,
and throughout the history OF Pagan Rome prodi-
cies were supposed 10 attend the accession anu
death of rulers shakespeare h is faithfully repre-
scntcd the feeling OF that period when he ma kes an
old Roman say,
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death OF
princes"
And the reverentia crcdulity of the age finds ex-
preston IN the assertion.
"iis the part OF mon to fear and trcinbe
When the most mighty gods. by tokens, send
such dreadful hcralds TO astOnish u.s.
During the Republic cf Rome the Senate itself
undertook to interpret such prodigies. and tho
augurs had classified lightning strokes into eleven
categorics each of which had It's special application
and significance.
Nor did tho belief in poreni and especially III tho
occurrence OF commissions OF nature upon the death
of great men. cease with Pagansm The natural
tendency to associate earthly Importance with some
special relation u the cosmos proved too strong Tor
ia, Renaissance to extirpatc. and even long after
Science had removed the foundation from the pre-
yailmg popular supcrsutions. this one survived.
That II did 10. however, Is certainly due quite a.
much to the occurrence OF condolences as to the
inherent force of popular credulity In the INFINITE
variety of natural phenomena OF course IL must
bappen sometimes that remarkable storms or other
commissions coincide with the deaths of great men,
In such cases the coincidence alone is remembered;
the great majority of cases in which nothing hap
pens are ignored. And 1t is possible to ma many
curlous Instances of such events, most OF winch
have been noted by historians deprccatingy, yet
with that touch Of supcrsitlon or ieeiing LOT INC
nnscen which is n part OF human nature
Down into comparatively modern times this Kind
of coincidence has been remarked. Thus, on the
death of Cromwell. n great storm swept over
England: q storm COMMUNICATED by Waller in tho
lines
aucaycn his great soul does claim
In storms. loud AZ his Immortal Iane
s,cb , storm lash.d the desoato plateau Of st.
Helena and wrecked the plantations about Long
wood when Napoleon breathed his last, and 1t is
recorded that a favoritc tree under which the dead
Emp,ror had been wont to sit was either struck
by lightning or Frustrated by the wind. az the
moment when. muttering t6te darm6e- hc passed
away.
Condolences such rs this have often occurred.
but IL Is only recently that their true character has
been recognized Not many generations ago the
two lightning strokes ut Riverside Park and Mount
McGregor would have caused widespread sensa-
ton, and people with blanchcd cheeks and fear
haunted eyes would have whispered to one another
their fanciul ideas 10 the supernatural meaning
of the occurrence, and would have eagerly dis
cussed its supposed bearings upon the career or the
ultimate fate of the great departed Now the world
has passed beyond such illusions. and condolences,
however seeming strange have lost their mysterious