The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1900-11-08

centuries of war were incurred that
desolatel France and cost her three
millions of men.
( A note warning Cesar of the con-
spiraoy against his life was put into
his hand by Artemidorus on the fata4
Ides OF March, but he was prevented
from reading it by continual ealutee
and addresses on his way to the Senate
and he died with the means of saying
his life in his hand. The shifting oi
his tent by Octavius Caesar on the
very night when the one he had pre-.
viously occupied was captured by the
forces OF Brutus, saved the life of the
future emperor and changed the des-
TIMES Of the world. !. violent shove,
which led Pope Julius II to return tc
the castle of st. Felix instead
OF proceeding on his journey saved
him when the Chevaller Bayard was
on the point of capturing him neal
Ferrara by surprise. Twice did Cliye
the predestined conqueror of India, try
to end his own life, and twice did the
pistol, although loaded, fail to go of
"Surely," he exclaimed, II am reserv-
ed for something great |" So the
gloomy and taciturn Wallenstein's I
character underwent a complete change
after he fell without injury from a
great height. Luther, the master
spirit of the Reformation, was turned
from the study OF the law to monaatic
life by bolt of lightning, which killed
a fellow student by his side and it was
a chance wound, received by soldier
OF fortune at the siege Of Pampeluna
in 1920, that led to the founding OF
that powerful society, the Order OF
Jesuits, which arrested the victorious
march OF the Reformation in more
| than halt of Europe.
Shakespeare, with his profound
knowledge of human life, makes some
of the most tragic events hinge on the
most triaing circumstances. Poor Des-
demona's fate hangs on the accidental
dropping of handkerchief. The un.
happy deaths of Romeo and Juliet re-
suit from miscarriage OF a letter.
Wolser falls from the pinnacle of his
glory through one fatal misstep, which
not all his deep sagacity can retrieve,
| The author OF the ballad of Lillibullero
boasted that he had rhymed James II
out of three kingdoms. A grain OF
sand in the glands of Cromwell chang
ed :he fate OF England and restored the
Stuarts to the throne. Frederick the
Great, when almost overwhelmed by
the mighty combination of his enemies,
was saved by the death at that critical
moment of Elizabeth, Empress of Rus
sia, the bitterest of his foes. Had Cor
sica not been sold by Genoa to France
in 1768 Napoleon, who was born only
a year afterward, would not have been
French citizen and would not have
overturned nearly all the kingdoms of
Europe and sacrificed millions OF lives.
1t was a typographical error that gave
to his nephew the title of Napoleon III.
There was sent to all the Bonapartist
adherents throughout France sort OF
proclamation with the words: "Let
the watch-cry be, Vive Napoleon /"
The printer mlstook the three exclama-
ton points for III, printed the docu-
ment accordingly and soon the COM
munes we're raising the cry for Nspo-
leon III. A series of accidents en-
abled the wasted and baffled Wolfe to
scale the Heights of Abraham and
capture Quebec. Had the French sem
tries-who had been told that provision
boats were to 60 down the St. Lawrence
to Quebec on the night that Wolfe
climbed the heights-been informed
that Bougainville had countermanded
the order had not Verger, who COM
| manded at the Anse du Foulon, where
Wolfe made his ascent, kept careless
| watch that night and gone to bed had
the battalion oil Guienne taken post, as
ordered, on the Plains of Abraham,
instead of remaining en- camped by the
St. Charles River, Wolfe would proba-
ly not have won his victory and Cana
da and the Mississippi Valley would
then have remained under the crown
OF France.
An egg is a small thing, yet the egg
product OF this country has in soma
years been of double the value of the
silver product and far exceeds the value
O; the product of pig iron. Some OF
the deadllest diseases spring from
causes seemingly Insignificant. Will
not the scratch of pin cause lockjaw,
and is not prick by the lancet OF a
surgeon, which has been used in dis
section, fatal to life? Catherine de
Medici had a ring with a tiny spring
from which, when pressed by the fin-
ger, came forth the most deadly poison
and she inhaled death from the petals
of rose. Hannibal carried with him
the means of suicide, by which be