Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-04-03
ACCIDENTS AND TRIPLES.
Some Slight Occurrences Which have
Led to Great Result.

Some Slight Occurrences Which Have
Led to Great Result.
Some very wise men hold that there
is 90 such thing as an accident and no
such thing as trifle; that what looks
to us the merest chance is inevitable
and must have happened, as part OF
the great foreordained history OF the
world and that there is no great and no
small in the eyes of Him
Who sees with equal eye, as Lord of all,
Nh ero perish or a sparrow fall.
Something of the same thought was
given expression by Michael Angelo.
A visitor at his studio marveled that
he should spend the whole day in adj
justing some infnitesimal bit OF
clay on statue. Gentlemen,
said Michael Angelo, this may seem OF
you a trife, but it is trifes that make
perfect; and perfection is no trifie'
! Nevertheless there is certain amount
| of amusement and even information to
be gained in specializing on what might
| have occurred but for some more or less
trifing circumstances. "lf the nose OF
| Cleopatra had been shorter" says Pas
| cal, boldly, the whole face of the
earth would have been different "A
common soldier" says Edmund Burke,
"a child, girl at the door of an inn,
/ have changed the face of fortune, and
almost of nature" A glass of wine too
much is said to have turned the course
of French history. The son and heir of
Louis Philippe, always confined him
/ self to a certain number of glasses, be-
cause he knew that beyond that
| number he was sure to get
drunk On certain morning he
| forgot tn count the glasses, and
drank one more than usual. Entering
his carriage he stumbled; the frightened
hol ses ran away: the young Prince
| leaped out of the carriage, struck his
| head against the pavement and was
| killed. That extra glass of wine over
/ threw the Orleans rule, confiScated the
property of the family, and sent them
| into exile. If Mary had lived a little
! longer, or Elizabeth had died a little
sooner, John Stuart Mill thinks, the
reformation would have been crushed in
England 1t was chapter of accidents
that gave 70 Spain for many generations
the leadership in the New World and
the consequent wealth which made her
at one period the most important
/ of European nations Columbus, it
will be remembered, after applying
| in vain to a number of other courts,
| dispatched his brother Bartolommeo
to ask aid from Henry VII of England.
Now, it happened that Bartolommeo
fell into the hands of pirates, and
landed in England so destitute that he
was not presentable at court. But by
| the time he had earned a little money
he was too latc Columbus had had his
memorable interview with Isabella of
| Spain. Ever that interview was the
result Of accident. If Juan Perez de
! Marcana, the Queens cOnfeSsOr, had not
happened to be passing by the door OF
the La Rabida monastery at the very
moment when the weary mariner was
asking aims there. and if the reverend
gentleman had not possessed the pene-
tration to be struck by the noble Inca
mcnts of the ragged and dusty
beggar, Columbus might never
| have been presented to the
Queen. Therefore, if Bartolommeo
had reached London in time
or if Columbus had been a moment
earlier or moment later in applying
at the monastery door-indeed, if Co
lumbus, like any other great men, had
been of insignificant face and stature
the fate of the new world might have
been entirely different. Who can con-
lecture what the history of the world
| might have been if the Genoese, after
the peace of Paris had not sold Corsica
to France: if Luther's friend had cs-
caped the thunder Storm if the spider
had not woven its web across the cave
in which Mohammed had taken REFUGEE
Sallust says that pcriwinkle led TO the
! capture of Gibraltar. The cacliling
of geese saved the Roman nation from
the Gauls. "A chambermaid," wrote
| Chesterfield to his son. has often made a
revelation in palaces which was followed
bv political revolution in kingdoms: the
| subtlest diplomacy has sometimes been
interrupted by a cough or a sneeze." If
]
OF nations accidents equally small have
led men into pursuits which have made
them benefactors Of their race. Cowley
became a poet through reading the
"Faerie Queene;" Reynolds had never
thought of painting until Richardson's
treatise fell into his hands; Corneilie
/ showed no liking for any except legal
I II i 4 IL :
necessary to rolieve his passion in verse;
! Moliere might have continued weaving
tapestry had not his grandfather piqued
his pride by wishing he could be an actor
/ like Montrose. If that sturdy soldier
! Don lingo Lopez de Loyolo had not re-
| ceived wound which led him to be-
/ guile the leisure of 'convalescence by
reading THE Lives of the Saints. the
world might have never heard of him as
| Ipnatius Loyolo, nor of the famous
| order of Jesuits which he founded.
| Every one has read of the falling apple
/ which led Newton to investigate the
/ laws of gravitation; of the boiling tea
/ kettle which suggested TO Watts the
power of steam: of the swinging
| lamp which gave to Calico his first
idea of the pendulum. In the history of
science, of manufactures of literature,
of art, in every department Of human
activity, instances of the happy accident
NAV be found. Accident made Sir
Walter Scott novelist. 1t will be re-
membered that he threw away the I'M
| finished manuscript Of "Waverly' in
disgust and about eight years after
ward. rummaging in the drawers of an
4 cabinet for some fishing tackle,
| came across the discarded manuscript.
Was there ever more striking instance
of man finding a kingdom while he
sought his fathers asses?-Lippincott's
| Magazine.
| The Census Bureau reports the av-
] r s-g11 mined ANNA liz from