Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-04-22
ACHIEVEMENTS OF lNvALIDs.
Many Distinguished Workers In Liter
AZURE and Music.

III health and infirInity do not al
ways prevent the accomplishment OF
great things, and the list Of invalids
who have been famous for excelling
In their chosen field Is long and bril-
liant. Naturally such persons usually
have been restricted 10 the Quieter
pursuits. Literature seems TO have
been the field wherein most OF them
have fouI.d congenial occupation,
though there have been great inyalids
in other professions, also.
The long battle of Robert Louis
Stevenson against the malady which
finally conquered him. is well known
TO every one. He travelled about from
place to place. searching for the spot
where he could hope to live at least
long enough 10 do some OF the work
which It lay In him to do, until at last,
in the Samoan Islands, in the South
Seas. he found the haven for which
he had been searching. There the
heroic struggle went on for the four
last years of his life, and there he
was buried high on the peak of Mount
Vaea, above his island home.
Probably no famous writer suffered
for a longer period than did Alexander
Pope, who was stricken, when only a
child of ten, with a malady which de-
formed his body and robbed him OF
health and comeliness, leaving him to
forty-six years of invalidism. lis
constant study and work, combined
with his physical infirmity, made his
life zone long. disease"
thomas Carlyle was a chronic dys-
peptic. and suffered, all his life, the
torrents which only those unfortu-
mates, who are victims of this disease,
can comprehend The bitterness OF
some of his writings which were pub
lished after his death may surely be
excused when this is considered, for
the chronic dyspeptic is generally I'M
derstood to develop, in spite of him
self, gloomy view of life.
Heinrich Heine, the great German
lyric poet, was the victim, during the
last twelve years Of his life, OF re-
lentless disease. He bore his dread
full sufferings so patiently that he APP
pears in a nobler light than ever be-
fore during his life. His hearing was
bad, his sight was dim, and his legs
were paralyzed, yet he wrote some OF
his most wonderful songs during the
long watches of sleepless nights, ly-
ing on his "mattress-grave." He de-
scribed his condition as "a grave
without rest, death without the privi-
leges of the departed" yet he was
never so many-sided as during this
period. He produced humorous pieces,
political songs, and the tenderest
poems. He kept at his work as
long as he could hear and speak, his
last words being paper and pencil"
John Keats, while on tour OF the
English Lakes, contracted throat
trouble. which developed into con-
sumption. lie continued to write.
though he failed rapidly in health,
and his last volume contains some OF
his best poems.
I4ilLAUClH DdliEll DIV INNS ffN--
confined to her room for seven years,
but was restored to something Ike a
normal state of health before her mar
riage. The long period of illness vas
partly caused by the death of Ter
brother of whom she was extremely
fond. and many times her life was
despaired OF. She wrote in spite
of sickness, however and produced
some excellent verse. All her life she
struggled against naturally weak
constitution and she worked under
difficulties.
Chopin, the great modern master OF
pianoforte composition, was unable
because of lack of physical strength
TO nlay some of his own works as he
would have them played. A trip to
ENGLAND. of only eleven days dura
ton. was enough to develop the iatent
consumption which was in his family
and from this time on he worked I'M
der the advancing ravages of the dis
ease. though he lived twelve years
before finally succumbing to its on
sladght. Many times during this
period he was reported at deaths
dncr