Sir Isaac Newton had on his table a pile of papers upon which were
written calculations that had taken him twenty years to make. One
evening, he left the room for a few minutes, and when he came back he
found that his little dog "Diamond" had overturned a candle and set
fire to the precious papers, of which nothing was left but a heap of
ashes. It was then that he cried, "Oh, Diamond! Diamond! thou little
knowest what mischief thou hast done!"
It is said that George Washington, when a boy, destroyed his father's
favorite cherry-tree, and, being asked about it, replied: "I cannot
tell a lie; I did it with my little hatchet."
Oliver Cromwell, when dispersing Parliament, saw the Speaker's mace
upon the table, and, pointing to it, said, "Take away that bauble!"
Just after Lord Nelson's great naval victory off Cape Trafalgar, as he
was dying from a wound received in the battle, he kept repeating the
words, "Thank Heaven, I have done my duty!"
Prince William, son of Henry II. of England, was drowned on his way
home from France. The king was so affected by his loss that "he never
smiled again."
[Fannie P.
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