Nevada County picayune., 1888-12-12
FRUITS OF ACCIDENT.
How Some of tine tfost Precious Literar,
 L. Il.s N..re ItIanoyared.

How Some of the Most Precious iter"ry
 .i, Hes x ere Discovered.
 To the accident have we been indebted for the preservation of volumes which arc justly considered to rank among the most precious relics of literature, and not less remarkable than the discoveries themselves Is the fact that they have often been made at n time when further delay would have made them impossible. This has been particularly noticeable in regard to the remains of classical literature. In a dungeon in the monastery of St. Gall, Poggio found. corrodcd with damp and covered with filth, the great work Of Quintilian. Tn Wcatphalia a monk stumbled accidentally upon the only manuscript oi Tacitus, and to that &C., cident we owe the writings of his torian who has more influence, per- haps, upon modern prose literature than any ancient writer, with the soll- tary exception of Cicero. The poems of Propertius, one of the most viz orous and original of the Roman poets, were found under the casks in a wine cellar In few months the manu- script would have crumbled to pieces and become illegible. Parts of Ho- mer have come to light in the most extraordinary way. A considerable portion of the "llliad," for instance, was found in the hand of a mummy. The best of the Greek romances, the Ethiopics of Heliodorus, which was such a favorite with Mr. Browning, was rescued by n common soldier. who found it kicking about the streets in town in Hungary. To turn, however. to more modern times, every one the original manuscript of Magma Char ta from the hands of a common tailor, who was cutting it up into measures. The valuable Thurloe State Papers were brought to light by the tumbling in of the ceiling of some chambers in Lincolns Inn. The charming letters of Lady Montague, winch have long taken their place among English class ics, were found in the false bottom of an old trunk, and in the secret drawer of d chest the curious manuscripts of Dr. Dee lurkcd unsuspected for years. One of the most singular discoveries of this kind was the recovery of the delightful volume, ''Luther's Table Talk" A gentleman in 1926 had oc- casion to build upon the foundation of a house. When the workmen were en- gagged in digging they found lying in a deep, obscure hole, wrapped in strong linen cloth which was waxed all over with beeswax, within and without this interesting work, which had lain concealed ever since its sup pression by Pope Gregory XIII We are told that one of the cantos of Dante's "Paradiso. which had long been mislaid, was drawn from its turk ing place Git had slipped beneath a window sill) in consequence of an inti- nation received in dream. One of the most interesting of Milton's prose works-the essays on the 'Doctrines of Christianity uncarthed from the midst of bundle of dispatches by Mr. Lemon, deputy keeper of the state papers in 1923. As years roll on and curiosity is more and more awak- ened, such discoveries must become rarer, but probably many precious documents are still lurking in unsus- peeted corners, and not a few literary discoveries remain even now to be made which will, when made, immor- talize the fortunate discoverer. don Spectator.