The Washington times., 1901-09-29
FAMOUS PHYSICAL FAILINGS.
Distinguished Men Who Were Dis
rbIed Throughout Life.

The face OF Oliver Cromwell was dis
figured with moles, pimples, and warts.
He mus. have been very proud of them,
however, for when his portrait was being
painted by Sir Peter Lely he swore he
would not pay for it unless all these ia
cial disigurements were quite clearly
shown.
Hogarth the famous painter. had a
prominent scar on his forehead, which
was the result of an accident in his early
days. He made this appear still more
prominent in portrait of himself which
he painted with his own hand
The great Napoleon was subject to epi-
leptic seizures, one of which it has been
said lost him the battle of Waterloo, al
though most people believe his defeat was
accomplished by the Duke of Wellington.
Lord Nelson lost one of his eyes; and
his left arm had to be amputated as the
result of a wound sustained in one of his
numerous engagements. These deformi-
ties do not appear to have affected the
great admirai's abilities, and on one ia
nous occasion he found his blind eye par
ticularly useful.
Viscount Wolseiey, the late commander
in-chlef, has the use of only one of his
eyes. He was deprived of the sight Of
the other in the .Crimean war few days
before the capture of Sebastopol.
AS Is well known. the Emperor William
of Germany suffers from semi-paralysis of
the left arm; and his father, the Emperor
Frederick. died Of chronic affection Of
the throat. n 5s
Few people are aware OF the curious
throat trouble d from which Lord
Brougham, the eminent Lord Chancellor,
was a constant sufferer. At the back OF
his throat there was a kind of pouch-like
cavity. which not only diverted the food
from its proper channel but caused him
infinite pain. If7 u
Lord Byron, who was otherwise a mag
nificent specimen of a man. had g club
foot OF which he was anything but proud
II, however, 1t detracted from his appear
ance and hindered locomotion. II did not
hamper his genius. Byron was possessed
Of morbid fear Of going out of his mind.
Indeed. all poets are said to be more or
less mad. Cowper was certainly subject
to fits of lunacy, as was likewise Chat
terton. who killed himself In 1t of de-
rangement. The same Is true Of Rous-
seau. Vervantes. Southey, and Swift.
Alexander Pope was a hunchback. with
a very caustic tongue, which once result
ed in his being as good az told that he
was "a crooked little thing that asks i'm
pudent questions"
Throughout his life Sir Walter Scott
could only walk with a limp AS boy
he was afflicted with paralysis, which left
him permanently lame.
The late James Pays, the novelist, was
extremely deaf, in which respect he re-
sembled Edison. the world-renowned cleo
trician and inventor.
Milton was totally blind when he pro-
duced the masterpiece of his marvellous
genius. From his youth UP he suffered
acutely from gout. which was the prima-
ry cause Of the loss of his eyesighs
AS anybody could gather from his
works. Thomas Carlyle was a chronic
dyspep:ic. state of irritation appears
to have been his normal condition and al
though in the absence of his peculiar all
ment he might have been a far more ami
able being, his writings would certainly
have lost some of their most prominent
characteristics.
Like Demosthenes, Charles Kingsley
was afflicted with suffering but he did
not cure himself of the failing, as did the
famous Athenian orator, by practicing
speaking with pebbles in his mouth.
Perhaps the most famous of European
surgeons was also the most nervous This
was Billroth. of Vienna, whose hands
were subject to violent trembling. But he
operated with such cele rity that his hand
had no opportunity Of trembling.-Tit-
Bits.