The Portland daily press., 1894-12-29


| eral times SHE'D violently at sights quite
common on the battlefield. At last he be-
gan to plunge violently and. running away,
carried the king within range of body of
imperial cuirassie1s. who at once began to
| fire at him. He was wounded III the aim.
but managed even then to regain control
| of the horse, and turned to ride out of
danger, whe n a second ball found a lodg-
ment i'll his back and he fell from the sad
| die. One of his feet caught in the stirrup,
| however, and he was dragged a consider
| able distance before the strap gave away
| and let his lifeless body fall to the ground.
| No more momentous consequences ever fol-
| lowed the restlessness of horse, for had
Gustavus lived the power. both of Spain
! and Austria, would have been checked, and
in a few yeai the map of Europe would
| have been redra wn on lines materially
different from those which were seen when
| the great Swedish king frs. took the field.
MING DAVID AND HANNIBAL.
| There is the testimony of the Book of
Samuel to prove that the history of Israel
| was materially changed by chance walk
taken by King David on the roof of his pal
ace. 1t was during this promenade that he
saw the beautiful Bathsheba, the wife OF
| Uriah, the little Hittite officer, who. though
| probably only mercenary in the royal ar
| my, was still faithful soldier; too faithful
| in fact, for his own good. for David. afteI
| vainly trying several schemes, finally utIl-
| lied the bravery of the deluded soldier to
| secure his removal. No more cowardly de-
| vice could have heen conceived to get rid
of the deceived husband, and the crime OF
his blood was amply repaid by the long
series of harem intrigues. revolts. murders
and rebellions through which the son of
| Bathsheba was finally established on the
| throne as David's successor.
| An equally casual promenade had conse-
quences quite momentous for Italy dur
ing the eoond Punic war. 1t was after the
great Hannibal had crossed the Alps and
entered Italy. The Romans had been de-
feated at the Ticinus and Trebia, at Lake
Thrasnenus, worst of all at Cannae, and
Hannibal had taken up winter quarters
at Capua. Here he took possession of one
of the best houses In the city for his OWL
use. and while walking in the garden heard
female voice singing not far away. He
could understand nothing of what was sung
but was struck by the rlaintive melody. In
the rough and ready way of those good old
days he comma nded the singer to be brought
into his presence, and when this was done
was SO greatly impressed by her appearance
that he at once took her into his own house
hold, Kidding himself of her husband ny the
simple but effective method of cutting OF
his head. Duringfthe remainder of the win
ter the time of the great Carthage MAN was
given up TO pleasure; business and disoi-
pline were alike neglected, and before
spring the Carthagfnian army was SO de-
moralized by dissipation and vice that 1t
was never afteward good for anything, and
Hannba cause was lost.
From A. D. 445 to 449 AttiIla was engaged
in continual hosiilities with the eastern en-
pire. but in the latter year, both sides being
tired of the war. an attempt was made to
patch up a treaty. An embassy from the
court of Theodosius was sent 10 thetcamp of
Attilla, and in the party was young man
from Rome, who was then on visit TO Con-
stantinople He was of noble birth and
carried on his person the miniature of his
sweetheart. and while the party was in the
presence of the savage chief he CHANGED to
drop the picture out of his pocket. IL fell
unnoticed in the straw which covered the
ground in AttilIa's tent, where, on the fol-
lowing day, it was found by an attendant
and shown to the Hunnish monarch himself.
struck by the beauty of the face, the am
orous king inquired in what part of the
world such women were to be found. and
when told from the inscription on the back
of the picture that the counterfeit pre-
| sentiment was that of an Italian beauty he
at once made up his mird to go thither. So
| he started in 400, with his hordes of Asiat-
| les and ravaged the heart of Europe with
| fire and sword.
| History records one war that was caused
| by a glass of water which the English am
| bassador procured fora celebrated French
| beauty at the Paris court and of a treaty,
| that of Utrecht. which was brought on by a
| quarrel between Queen Anne and the
Duchess of Marlborough about a pair of
| gloves. Odder than either, however, was
the cause of the great 100 years. war be-
| tween England and France. which impov-
| erished BOTH 1t was in this wise: Louis
VII. was no saint, but, SO far as the ladies
were concerned, had a weakness that was
| constantly securing for him penances of one
kind or another at the hands of his confess
sor. Finally he was guilty of some pecca-
dillos so very bad that the reverend father
ordered him to have his luxuriant beard
shaver and his flowing locks cropped
short. This was done, and the change made
in the pei sonal appearances of the majesty
of France was so startling that when his
queen, the already not too faithful Eleanor,
came into his presence. she laughed aloud
at the spectacle. The poor king could not
explain matters, for the explanation would
have made a worse appearance than his
close-cropped poll. SO he was forced in 81
lence to endure her gibes. If she had
stopped at ridioule the matter might have
ended there and been forgotten when his
beard and his hair were grown, but he was
rendered so contemplate in her sight that
she openly kept company with the Count Of
Anjou, then nobleman of the court. The
shaver king stood the disgrace long
he could, but matters went from bad to
worse, and finally he sent to the pope the
evidence in the cause and succeeded in hav-
ing the marriage declared invalid. Eleanor
then finding herself free, married her lover,
who afterward became Henry II. of Eng
land. When she came to the throne of
Louis, however, she had brought as her dow
er the rich provinces of Potion and Guienne
and after her divorce from Louis sought
| to reclaim them. To this, however, Louis
h. Id