Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-02-14

and Hannibals cause was lost.
Jefferson was fond of telling a story |
which illustrates in a forcible manner
the Importance that abSurdly insig- |
nlncant matters may sometimes as
sumo. When the deliberatiye body |
that gave the world the declaration of |
independence was in session its pro- |
ceedings were conducted in a hall |
close to which was situated a livery |
stable. The weather was warm. and |
from the stable came swarms of flies |
that lighted on the legs of the honor |
able members, and, biting through the
thin silk stockings then in fashion, |
gave infinite annoyance. 1t was no
uncommon sight, said jefferson, to see
member making a speech with a
large handkerchief in hand and paus-
ing at every moment to thrash the
flies from his thinly protected calves.
The opinion of the body was not unani-
nous in favor of the document. and,
under other circumstances, discussion
might have been protracted for days,
if not weeks, but the flies Were in
tolerable. Efforts were made to find
another hall, free from the pests, but
in vain. AS the weather became
warmer the flies grew worse, and the
tapping of handkerchiefs was heard
all over the hall as an accompaniment
to the voices OF the speakers. In de-
spair at last some one suggested that
matters be hurried so that the body
might adjourn and get away from the
flies. There were a few mild protests,
but nc one hae ded them, the immortal
declaration was hurriedly copied and.
with nandkerchiefS ia hand fighting
flies as they came, the members has
tened up to the table to sign the au-
thentic copy and leave the flies in the
lurcli. Had it not been for the livery
stable and its inmates there is no tell
ing when the document would have
been completed, but it certainly would
not have been signed on the Fourth.
Two historians of the time of Henry
VIII. of England are responsible for
the statement that a lost horseshoe
changed the religious and possibly also
the political history of the insular
power. After the fall of Anne Boleyn,
and when her death had been deter
mined, the papacy prepared terms Of
reconciliation so favorable in every
particular to Henry and so fattering
to the vanity Of which he possessed
rather more than q due share that it
was impossible for him not to accept
them. A delegate was dispatched
from Rome with tile proposals and
rode post haste across Europe with
them. When only a days Journey
Calais, however, his horse cast shoe
and fell lame. AS the horse was Il
favorite animal, the papal messenger
determined to wait for a day rather
than take another stned which might
not prove SO easy under the saddle.
The next day the horse was swell and
the journey was resumed, Calais was
reached, the channel was crossed, and
the delegate arrived in London only to
find that on the day of his arrival
Henry had been married to Jane Sey
mour, Protestant; that Anne had
been beheaded the day before, and
that ali hope Of reconciliation was
lost. He was day too late. A lost
horseshoe had changed the course Of Il
nations history. A similar mishap is
said to have been responsible for the
arrest and detention of Louis XVI. ii
Varennes. A guard of cavalry had |
been sent to meet him at the village
and escort him in safety across the
frontier. One of the horses drawing
the royal carriage became lame from
the loss Of a shoe and the royal party
was detained. Meantime the cavalry
escort, fearful &C attracting too much
attention in the village, withdrew to
q bridge a few hundred yards dis !
tant and on the opposite side from
which the king was expected and there
waited his arrival. The delay and
change were fatal. The king was
recognized, the party was detained; |
the cavalry, becoming tired Of waiting
and supposing that the king had taken
some other route, rode off, and Louis |
went back to Paris and the scaffOld.
History records one war that was
caused by glass Of water which the
English ambassador procured for a |
celebrated French beauty at the Paris
court, and of a treaty, that of Utrecht, |
which was brought on by quarrel be-
tween Queen Anne and the gloves. |
Odder than either, however, was the |
cause of the great hundred years war |
between England and France, which |
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 penance of one kind
or another at the hands of his confes-
sor. Finally he was guilty Of some
peccadilloes so very bad that the rev.
erend father ordered him to have his
luxuriant beard shaved and his flow
ing locks cropped short. This was
done, and the change made in the per-
sonal appearance 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
1 worse appearance than his close
cropped poll, so he was forced in ST.
ence to endure her gibes. If she had
stopped at ridicule the matter might
nave ended there and been forgotten
when his beard and hair were grown,
mt hp was rendered. so cOntamntiblQ