Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-18
WHIMS OF GREAT MEN
CELEBRITIES VICTIMS OF Pc
CULIAR FoIBLES.
Verged on Madness - Warriors Terri
fed at insignificant Things
Freaks Of Authors.



Study the private lives of all truly great
men. both present and past. 1t Is not diff
f1cult to determine that all of them. to a
greater or less degree, furnished material
of the "edd and eccentric kind. Cardinal
Richelieu found pleasure and amusement
in jumping and leaping with boys. Oliver
Cromwell sometimes cast aside his Puritan
gravity and played at blindmans buff with
his daughters and attendants; Henri
Quatre delighted to go about in disguise
with the peasantry. Cowper occupied a
great deal of his time in making bird
cages and in feeding and caring for hts
hares.
DIR. johnson was so fond Of his cats that
he would even go out himself to buy oys-
tiers for them. his servants being too proud
to do so. Goethe despised dogs, but he
kept tame snake.
Gray expressed the wish to be always on
a sofa reading new novels. and Fenton, the
eminent scholar, died from sheer inactiv-
ity; he rose late, and when he had risen
sat down to his books and papers. wo-
man who waited upon him In his lodgings
said that he would lie a-bed and be fed
with a spoon. Contrary to this was the eX-
ample Of Sir Walter Scott, who wrote all
his finest works before breakfast
Delighted In Spiders.
Spineza delighted to set spiders fighting.
and would laugh immoderateIy at beholding
their insect warfare; and Anthony Mag
liabecchi, the famous librarian to the Duke
OF Tuscany took a great interest in the
spiders which thronged his apartments. and
while sitting among his mountains of books
would caution visitors mot to hurt my
SPIDERS"
tivity the great logician, Samuel Clarke.
would leap over tables and chairs, and it
was not infrequent that the uphelsterer
had to be called in to repair damages. The
learned Petavius would twiri his chair
round for FIVE minutes at the end of every
two hours. finding recreation in this. Tycho
Brahe diverted himself with polishing
glasses for spectacfes. Ex-Pres:dent Cleve-
land would quit talking politics any time
to go fishing, and SO it was with Paley, the
author of Natural Theology" who was so
much given to angling that he had his
portrait painted with rcd and line in hand.
Louis XVI. of sad memory. amused him
self locksmithing, while Salvador Rosa per-
formed in extempore comedies, taking the
character of a mountebank In the streets
of Rome.
Charles IFS most innocent amusement
consisted In feeding the ducks In ST. James
Park and In rearing numbers of those
beautiful spaniels which still bear his name.
1t was difficult for Beethoven to be free
from a cold from the fact that he delighted
in splashing in cold water at all times Of
the day, swapping his chamber until the
water oozed through the flooring to the
rooms beneath. He would Also walk out in
the dewy fields without stockings or shoes.
Shelley could spend an entire day floating
little paper boats on any water he CHANGED
to be near.
Goldsmith's Oddities Many.
Poor Goldsmith's Oddities and eccentrici-
ties were chiefly dandyisms. and the story
of his peach blossom coat Is known the
world over.
Montaigne had an aversion for Friday
and while he preferred odd numbers, he
would not sit down to table with thirteen
people. Friday was always a black day in
Byrons calendar. but Byron believed in
ornens, dreams. supernatural appearances,
apparitions presentiments and all such. He
succumbed before the weakest prejudices,
intellects have always their weak side.
Voitaire, whom one would suppose devoid
of fear, mocker of religion and beliefs. was
made sick when hearing rocks cawing in
the country.
Hobbies did not believe In God, but he kept
a light burning in his bed room all night.
being afraid of the dark Rousseau was
another who was afraid of the dark, and
the approach of night brought only terror
Samuel Romilly would always look under
the bed to see II anyone was concealed
there. He dreaded to see night come. Great
warriors have been afraid Of thunder. Gaze
sar was almost thrown into commissions by
It and Sir Thomas Aquinas suffered greatly
in thunder storms Queen Elizabeth, Tai
leyrand and others could not bear to have
Marshal Sake. who overthrow armies, fled
at sight of a cat