OCR Text |
Show I QUEER QUIRKSf ! IN HUMAN I DESTINY I ':' !' !! By HARRY R. CALKIN'S ::-c:-:-::vx-x.-::-X"W-:x-x4 W.N'U Sorvlc Disobedience Brought Victory TI110 disobedience of an army once relieved Europe from a threatened invasion by the Turks who had conquered con-quered the Eastern Koman empire, taking tak-ing Constantinople. The capital of the Eastern empire fell Into the hands of the Turks in 1453 and two years later Mahomet II , was hammering at the walls of Belgrade, Bel-grade, bent on sxtenuing his con- quests throughout Europe. The pope i and John Caplstrano, papal legate and general of the Capuchins, preached a crusade to Europe, but without success. suc-cess. Feudal noblemen prayed and the people slaughtered Jews, It being the naive custom to blame all misfortune on this unhappy race, but armies to fight the Turks were lacking. At length Capistrano, traveling through Germany and preaching war, gained a few thousand of peasant followers. fol-lowers. They were armed only with flails and pitchforks but they were ready to die for Christianity. Caplstrano Capls-trano bravely led his mob to join John I Hunyades and the little Hungarian army, who were planning to relieve the besieged army in Belgrade. The motley army floated in boats down the Danube, attacked and dispersed dis-persed the Turkish fleet and entered the beleaguered city. Hunyades, In command, saw little hope of making effective soldiers out of Capistrano's peasants. He sternly forbade an attack at-tack upon the Turks, hoping to make a successful resistance within the walls -of Belgrade. Artillery of the enemy battered down these walls in time, but the inhabitants of. the city had built a secondary line of defense. Encountering the new wall the Turks-were Turks-were discouraged. At this time, the fanatic followers of Capistrano could no longer be restrained. Despite Hunyades' commands and his promise of death to any who disobeyed, they burst over the walls and charged the ! enemy. The first intrench nient was taken by storm, then a second and a third. The Turkish host of 1(10,000 was soon in great disorder. Hunyades, perceiving perceiv-ing the success that disobedience to his orders had brought, joined the attack at-tack with his cavalry and Mahomet II was beaten. His power was so badly crippled, in fact, that it was many years before he could take the field again. Patrick Henry's Chance PATRICK HENRY, . the famous colonial patriot, might have remained re-mained a handy man around a Virginia Vir-ginia inn and the American Revolutionary Revolu-tionary party would have lacked a powerful leader, if a lawsuit had not arisen In 1703, which no other lawyer of Virginia dared to defend. It was Henry's chance and lie made the most of it. His neighbors laughed heartily when they heard that Patrick Henry was going go-ing to be a lawyer. They had known him as a lazy, good-natured fellow, fond of dancing, fishing and playing the fiddle. He had failed as a storekeeper store-keeper and as a farmer, and was now helping with the general work about his father-in-law's tavern at Hanover Courthouse. When he asked for a license li-cense to practice law, the judge examined ex-amined him and found he knew no law, but he promised faithfully to study and was admitted to practice. Naturally no clients came to a man in whose industry the community had no faith. There came a time, however, when Patrick Henry found a client. The Church of England was the official church of the colony and the people, many of whom belonged to other sects, were required to pay the Episcopal clergyman whether they attended their churches or not. The house of burgesses bur-gesses had decided against the rigid of tile preachers, hut the king had overruled the provincial legislators. The influences behind the clergymen clergy-men were powerful. No recognized lawye- in Virginia would defend Uie people against them, but Patrick Henry said lie would. The courtroom was crowded when be left the tavern bar "to plead against the parsons." I Most of the visitors had come to laugh at the clownish figure of l lie attorney. Patrick Henry surprised them. He talked hut little about the law, hut he placed the authority of the house of hurgi-fscs above that of the kinj,. Me was accused of treason by counsel for the preachers, but the Jury returned with a verdict awarding the clergymen clergy-men Just one cent damages, which meant victory for the young orator. Patrick Henry was elected to the house of burgesses on the reputation made in l:,nt trial and a few years later all of colonial America was thrilling thrill-ing to his defiant words: "Is life :o dear, or peace or sweet, as to be purchased at the price o chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty Al-mighty God! I know not what cours others may t.ike. but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" |