Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1897-01-14
FADS OF FAMOUS MEN
GREAT CHARACTERS WHO HAD
A FONDNESS FOR SOMETHING.
WELLINGTON AND NAPOLEON LIKED
THE PRATTLE OF BABES AND MIL
TON COUNTED soNG-BYRoN'S
LOVE OF FLOWERS.


LOVE OF FLOWERS.
Henry " of France, the grsat Huruenot
king. ', 40 has l.tely become familiar to
many Of us in the works of Mr.. Stanley
Weyman, was passiouately fond of chill
dren. 1t Is related of him that one day he
was discovered by an embas sador crawling
on all tours with the dauphin on his back
and the rest of the royal children urging
him to equine feats. He was not abashed,
and, without rising, said to tho intruder,
Have you chiidrelh-d Embassador?N
Eyes, sire. " IN that case, replied Henry,
81 shall proceed with my sport. fond
ness for children was feature In the char
acter of the Duke of Wellington, and also
in that of his great adversary, Napoleon
1t is difficult to realize this imperious man,
this terror of nations dandllng the young
king of Rome in his arms and laughingly
daubinG his face with sauce from bis break
fast plate Yet so it is recorded of him
Another of his weaknesses s.As for the
music of bells He would stop in the midst
of discussion on the gravest subjects to
listen to n village peal, and be surprised
and almost indignant if those about him
failed to eyince corresponding interest
They remind me, - he said on one occa-
sion, "of the first y ears passed at Brienne.
l was happy then.
Music, indeed, in one form or another
has been the hobby of many great men,
Milton delighted to play upon the organ
and composed many fine chants to psalms.
Gainsborough performed with no little
skill on the violin. Many of the anxious
and feyerish hours of Luther were solaced
by his flute. The great reformer, however,
had another favorite recreation in the shape
Of the game Of skttles or nnepins Prob
ably the success attending his labors never
gave him SO keen an eXhilaration OF pleas
ure as did the knocking down of all the
pins at a stroke.
Byron loved flowers and kept his rooms
constantly decaed with them. lie said
that he drew from them his inspiration.
In the later years of his life he formed a
great affection for dogs. and generally had
some of them about him. a faverite one,
on its demise received the honor Of a
Byronic epitaph. Many famous men have
displayed similar fonduess fer animals,
and in mot Il few instances the animal
chosen has been Of Kind usually connect
ed with household pets, Cardinal Richie
lieu found amusement in a collection Of
spent much Of his time feeding ard fon-
ding them. Goethe made friends with an
animal Of far less inviting description.
1t is related Of him that be rarely passed a
day without bringing from chimney cor
ner live snake, which he kept there, and
caressed il like bosom friend. Hardly
more agreeable form was taken by Rem
brandt, who became devoted TO an ape.
bp pf ar "a
was SO overcome with grief that he intro
duced its figure into group he was then
engaged upon Of a noble family. Needless
to say, the family in question refused to
recognize this unseemly addition to their
numbers, and, the painter declining To
erase it, the picture was left on his hands
II is said to be still in existence.
More remarkable almost than any OF
these is the friendship which Poisson
made with spider in order to begui the
tedium of solitary confinement in the bas:
tile That a creature Of this kind should
show itself amenable to such influence is
perhaps more to be wondered at than that
a man SO placed should desire to tame It,
James l was another lover of animals, but
be does not seem to have confined his favor
to any particular variety. He kept prl
waite menagerie in St James park where
in all manner of beasts were gathered to-
gether and tended with scrupulous care.
Stables, white gyrfaloons CT Iceland and
flying squirrels We're, we are told, among
the most highly priced specimens in this
collection.
About the year 1929 the king Of Spain
obtained the good offices of his majesty by
the diplomatic presentation OF an elephant
and five camels. ne former OF these APP
pears to have been a somewhat costly visit
or to entertain. He required two Spanish
keepers as well as two English ones for
his sole service, andh breeze noate what
the chardges OF the elephant and his
keepers are in the yeare' sets the figure
at 4275 12s. CS1.37sl This computa-
ton, however, does not seem to have COW
cred the entire expense, for the "breefe
noatei is supplemented by the following:
"Besides his keepers aflrme that from the
month of September until April he must
drink (not water but wyne-and from
April unto Septem Der he must have gal
lon of wyne the daye,
Apart from animals the vagaries of
great men have taken many similar forms.
Beethoven was possessed with continual
desire to change lodgings Hardly was he
installed in enc set of apartments than he
WOuIu ulsCONer SOME ueleCt III UDeiD anu
set about searching for others. What
field is there here, surely, for the enter
prising tourist He would be an unlucky
man, indeed, who s<1uld fail to unearth
at least one of the great composer many
abodes. London Standard
One of the Many.
81 say, old man, remarked the other
mans friend really you WON'T take it