Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-02-15
7he Omces or the HIstOrIan and Poet.

VI l1dEc tuub Htlb lOIbu buC OAhSOo VI
the historian and the poet: "When have
read Herodotus, | know for certain that
Xerxes invaded Greece; after reading Ho-
mer, am left in doubt whether Agamem-
non ever sailed against Troy.
"And what are you the wiser for being
certain of the former fact or what the less
wise for being left in doubt as to the latter
Your mind may be more or less complete as
O chronological table; but that is all. The
human, the truly philosophio interest IN the
two stories is much the same, whether the
swords were actually drawn, and the blood
shed, or no. Or do you think you should be
wiser still, could you tell who forged the
swords, and from what mine the metal came,
and who dug it up2 and then again, who
made the spades used in the digging, and so
on or how mau9 ounces of blood were
shed, and how many corpses were strewn on
the plain, and what crops they fattened, and
by what birds they were devoured, and by
what winds their bones were bleached
Much information, at all events, you learn
from Homer, of the most trustworthy and
valuable kind, the knowledge of his age, of
its manners, arts, institutions, habits, its
feelings, its spirit, and its faith. Indeed,
with few pages are we equally familiar;
where we are, we must draw our familiarity
from other sources besides history. Nay, as
sumo that the facts of the Iidd never took
| place that "Agamemnon" and Achilles"
and "Ajax," and "Ulysses' and ''Diomede"
| and "Helen," were never born of woman,
nor ever lived life of flesh and blood, yet
sssuredly they did live a higher and more
| enduring and mightier life in the hearts and
minds Of their countrymeu. Soft has been
| questioned Of late years whether "William
| Tell did shoot the apple on his boys head !;
because q similar story is found among the
| the fables of other countries.
| / can not now examine the grounds on
| which that doubt has been raised; but be
they what they may, travel through Switz-
erland, and you will see that the story of
Tell is true; for it lives in the heart of every
Swiss, high and low, young and old, learned
and simple. A representation of it is to be
found, or was SO till lately, in every market
| place, almost in every house; and many q
boy has had the love of his country, aud the
resolution to live and die for her freedom,
kindled in him by the thought of Tells boy
many father, when his eyes were resting
on his own children, has blest him who de-
livered them from the yoke of the stranger
and from the possibility of being exposed to
such fearful trial, and has said to himself
Yes-I too tVould do as he did.
The true knowledge to be learned, whether
from poetry or from history, the knowledge
of real Importance to man for the study o.
his own nature-the knowledge which may
give him an insight into the sources of hi
weakness and Of his strength, and which
may teach him how to act upon himself ant
upon others-is the knowledge Of the prin
ciples and the passions by which men il
various ages have been agitated and swayed
and by which events have been brough
about; or by which they might have beer
brought about, if they were not. Thus il
other sciences it matters little whether an,
| particular phenomena were witnessed OF
such a day at such place; provided W
have made out the principles they resul
from, and the laws which regulate them.
Yet how can a poet teach us this wit
any thing like the same certainty as histo
risn2 .-....t -s-.
Just as a chemist may illustrate the oper
ations of nature by an experiment of hi
own devising, with greater clearness an
precision than any outward appearances wi
allow of. The poet has his principles of hu
man nature, which he is to embody and i'm
personate for to deny his having min
: stored with such principles, is to deny h
being poet. The historian, on the Oths
: hand, has his facts, which he is to set
order and to animate.