Northern Weekly Gazette. — 1914-07-18 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

NARROW ESCAPES  OF GREAT MEN.  During the great Ord War, a young soldier was stationed with his regiment at Leicester at the time of its memorable siege. Sentinel duty was extremely hazardous, and in consideration thereof recourse was had to drawing by lot the names of the new guard. One night the young soldier's name was drawn. lie was a mere boy  of seventeen years; danger was nothing to him, and in a moment more he would have gone on duty but a young friend, tired of inactivity in the camp. begged to go in his place. and he was allowed to do so.  That night the substitute was shot. The young scventeen-year-old soldier whose place he took lived to become afterwards the author of •' The Pilgrim's Progress —the famous John Bun van  A little over a hundred years ago. three young officers might have been seen struggling with the turning tide, and in great danger of drowning. off the island of St. Helena. One of them was particularly helpless and exhausted. Yet he was saved, and afterwards became the worldrenowned general Arthur, first Diike of Wellington. 0  About the middle of the 18th century a young man landed from an English ship at Bombay. He had a mean. poorly-paid position in the great East India Company's service. Disgustyd with his prospects, and hopeless, sick and angry at •• fate.- he walked out of the city. and potting a pistol to his head, pulled the trigvr. Snap! It failed to go off. Returning to his lodgings. he repeated the experiment. Snap! It failed a second time to go off, and the disheartened man, feeling that even death was against him. threw the pistol on the table. Soon after a friend came in, took up the weapon, pointed it out of the window, and bang—it went off! The would-be suicide liveul to become Lord Clive. of Plassev, the conqueror of all India, and ruler lof millions of human heinw.  A gentleman wandered off one day in a fit of del-lees...ion. intending to drown himself in the river about a Mile hrOM 111 110111'•. But a dense fog came down suddenly, and he lost his bearing,. and was unable to find the waters ot Let tie Alicr a time he found himself at home again, and his melancholy having abated, he sat down and wrote the lines beginning- -God rnocPs in a inystPrions a-a% His wonders to pArtorm:  The depressed gentleman was the poet Cowper. Two friends were walking along a highway in Germany, deep in conversation. A Maid( cloud rolled up. and a terrific stnrm of thunder and lightning was quickly upon them. They wore instantly drenched, for there was no shelter. Suddenfy a blinding flash of lightning shot. from the cloud and struck one of the friends dead on the spot. The Other was Martin Luther, afterwards the founder of the Reformation, awl the most conspicuous character of his century.  A monkey stole into a gentleman's hoi.se. in Huntingdon. and snatched a baby out ot the cradle. carrying the child to the top of the roof. Every moment the alarniad servants expected to zPo I'llo kahv tocised to the t..-.,round. At last. in pprtpot safety. hy an impufsivp freak of kindon the part of the aninlal. the future Oliver Cromwell. the baby in question. was returned to the oradle.—T. Matson.