Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-04-09
FADS OF FAMOUS MEN
GREAT CHARACTERS WHO HAD A
FONDNEss FOR SOMETHING.

tie of Babes and Milton Courted Song.
Byron's Love of Flowers and Dogs-Pel.
lisson and the Spider.
Henry " of France, the great Huguenot
king, who has lately become familiar to
many of us in the works of Mr. Stanley
Weyman, was passionately fond of chill
dren. 1t is related of him that one day he
was discovered by an ambassador 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 the intruder,
"Have you children, Mr.. Embassador?"
yes, sire. 'In that case, - replied Henry,
II shall proceed with my sport" A 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 dandlng the young
king Of Rome in his arms and laughingly
daubing his face with sauce from his break
fast plate. Yet so it is recorded of him.
Another of his weaknesses was for the
music of bells. He would stop in the midst
of discussion on the gravest subjects to
listen to a village peal, and be surprised
and almost indignant If those about him
failed to evince corresponding interest.
"Thgy remind me-" he said on one occa-
sion, "of the first years passed at Brienne
l was happy then
Music, indeed, i'm one form or another
has been the hobby of many great men.
Milton delighted to play upon the organ
and composed n.any fine chants to psalms.
Gainsborough performed with no little
skill on the violin Many of the anxious
and feverish hours of Luther were solaced
by his flute. The great reformer however,
had another favOritJ recreation in the shape
Of the game Ct Sktilos or ninepins Prob.
ably the success Attending his labors never
gave him so keen an cXhilaration of pleas
ure as did the knocking down of all the
pins at Il stroke.
Byron loved flowers and kept his rooms
constantly decked with them. He said
that he drew from them his inspiration.
In the later years of his life he formed
great affection for dogs, and generally had
some of them about him. a favorite one,
on its demisC received the honor of a
Byronic cptaph. Many famous men have
displayed similar fondness for animals,
and in not few instances the animal
chosen has been of kind usually connect
ed with household pets. Cardinal Richie
cats The poet Cowper tanned hares and
spent much of his time feeding and fon-
ding them. Goethe made friends with an
animal of far less inviting description.
1t is related of him that he rarely passed a
day without bringing from chimney cor
ner live snake, which he kept there, and
caressed it like bosom friend. Hardly IA
more agreeable form was taken by Rem
brandt, who became devoted to an ape.
When he heard of this animals death, he
was so overcome with grief that he intro
duced its figure into a 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.
1t is said to be still in existence.
More remarkable almost than any Of
these is the friendship which Pelsson
made with a spider in order to beguie tho
tedium of solitary confinement in the bas-
tile That u 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
he does not seem to have confined his favor
to any particular variety. He kept pri-
vato menagere in st. James park, where
in all manner of beasts were gathered to-
gether and tended with scrupulous care
Stables, white gyrfalcons of Iceland and
flying squirrels were, 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. The former of these ap-
pears to have been n somewhat costly visit
or to entertain. Ne required two Spanish
keepers as well rs two English ones for
his sole service, and breeze noate what
the chardges of the elephant and his
keepers are in the yeare' sets the figure
at 9275 12s. (Sl,37S). This computa-
ton, however, does not seem to have COW
cred the entire expense, for the "breefe
nOate' is supplemented by the following:
Besides his keepers aflrme that from the
month of September until April he must
drink (not wuter) but wyne-and from
April unto September he must have gal
lon of wyne the dayo "
Apart from animals, the vagaries of
great mon have taken many similar forms
Beethoven was possessed with a continual
desire to change lodgings. Hardly was he
installed in one set of apartments than he
would discover some defect in them and
set about searching for others. What a
field is there here surely, for the enter
prising tourist He would be an unlucky
man, indeed, who should fail to unearth
at least one of the great composers many
abodcs London Standard.