The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-02-05
Accidents and TrifIes.

Some very wise men hold that there is no
such thing as an accident and no such thing
as trifle-that what LOOKS to us as the
merest chance is inevitable and must have
happened, as part of the great foreOr-
dained history of the world. and that there is
no great and no small in the sight of Him
Who sees with equal eye, as Lord of all,
hero 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 adjusting some infinitesi
NAL bit of clay on statue. Gentlemen, :"
said Michael Angelo, this may seem to
you trife, but it is trifles that make per-
feet; and perfection is no trfle." Never
theleSS there is certain amount of amuse-
ment and even information to be gained in
specializing on what might have occurred
but for some more or less tritling circum
stances. ''If the nose of Cleopetra had
been shorter" says Pascal. boldly, 'the
whole face of the earth would have been
different" "A common soldier" says Ed
mund 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 con-
lined himself to certain number of glasses,
because he knew that beyond that number
he was sure to get drunk. On certain
morning he forgot to count the glasses, and
drank one more than usual. Entering his
carriage he stumbled; the frightened horses
ran away; the young prince leaped out of
the carriage, struck his head against the
pavement. and was killed. That extra
glass OF wine overthrow the Orleans rule.
cOntiscated the property of the family, and
sent them into exile. If Mary had lived
little longer. Oh Elizabeth had died little
sooner, John Stuart Mill thinks. the Ref
OrmatiOn would have been crushed in Eng
land. 1t was chapter of accidents that
gave to Spain for many generations the
leadership in the New World and the con-
Sequent wealth which made her at one
period the most important of European ma
tiOns. Columbus. it will be remembered.
after applying in vain to a number of other
courts, dispatched his brother BartolOmmeO
to ask aid from Henry the Seventh of Eng
land. Now, it happened that BartOlOmmeO
fell into the hands Of pirates. and landed in
England so destitute that he was not pre-
sentable at court. But by the time he had
CdIHCu q lulu mOuCy uC was lOO ldtcs w.
lumbus had had his memorable interview
with Isabella of Spain. Even that inter-
view 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 ask
ing aims there. and if the reverend gentle
men had not possessed the penetration to
be struck by the noble lineament 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 apply
ing at the monastery doOr-indeed, if Co.
lumbus. like many other great men, had
been of insignificant face and stature-the
fate of the New World might have been en-
tirely different.
Who can conjecture 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 escaped
the thunder storm, if the spider had not
woven its web across the cave in which Mo-
manned had taken refuge? Sallust says