It is interesting to recall, apropos of the recent Milton celebration, an anecdote of Milton that was told in an old family letter written in 1762, recently quoted in the columns of the London “Spectator”:
“Possibly you may not have heard this anecdote concerning him. John Vallack—who, I believe, died after you came to Tavistock—told me it, and he lived in London in 1696. Milton, as you know, was blind. Charles the Second had the curiosity to see him, and said: ‘God hath punished you for your malice, etc., to my father by taking away your eyesight.’
“‘Aye,’ says Milton, ‘but before I lost my eyes he lost his head.’”
In writing a sketch of Washington a pupil ended her essay by saying: “Washington married a famous belle, Martha Custis, and in due time became the father of his country.”
A certain regiment was on the march from Philadelphia to Gettysburg and the companies were ordered to move with a few minutes’ interval between them and to keep each other in sight, the band and drums leading.
The band soon got a long way ahead, and on reaching a bend, halted for a few minutes’ rest. Presently up galloped a mounted officer in hot haste and shouted for the band sergeant.
“What do you mean,” he said, “by getting out of sight of the leading company?”
“We were not out of sight, sir,” answered the sergeant.