, 1866-12-16
THOUGHTS ON HISTOKY-IY.
Sayings OF Great Men, &c,

Bacon, In one Of bis wcighty essays; after |
that truth Is q naked and open
ay-1ig1t, that doth rot show the masks and !
and triu1nphs Of the world, half |
20 stately and daintily US candle.nght adds |
hat ga mixture of Lie doth ever add
pleasure" Whatever tho cause. there IL !
wonderful ia the fascination and |
trrne1ty of Ealsehocd. It is q trIte proyerb |
That lie viii travel round the world while |
Truth Is putting on ita boots. But this is
tot 80 astonishing IA the gitality-the incx-
,Iicablc yicor of constttntIon-iu a popular |
r:ror. When the world has once got hold of
Il lie, 1t Is marvellous how hard II Is to drive
It out Il the world. Yuu beat it about the
1'rad till It trems utterly defunct, and 10!
iutt ns ytu nse beginning 70 hattcr yourself
that it has given up the ghost, 1t reappeara,
rs healthy nnd thrifty ~ ever. Il is poru.
lar belief that Truth, II run oycr By loco
motive and train, gets well! but Error dies
Of lockiaw lift hut scratches its finger. Bry
ant, too, asserts, that "Trutl, crushed to
earth, will rise again. and, no donbt, It
often does; but II Is equally true, in spite Of
all the rhetorical 1ourlsles On this sub
jcct, that lieR, too, have n most obstinate vi-
tality, and. like all poxlous things, arc de-
another. Once let fnlschood, however
ridiculous, gel fairly on IL legs, aud thougA,
when touched by the Ithuriel apear of
Truth, It
--uN'Ytlnc n patn,
and die enid tss uossatpprts."
get 1t is certain 81 { resurrection To the
philosopher there Is snmeahins ctaspcrating
In this; to the setIrist, there Ia an object for
his shafts.
Once declare to the world that Berkeley
dcuicd tne existence Of rnattcr, and all over
tho world men wttl, Berkeley In their hands
will cchU the absnrdity. Say that Locke
derives all knowledge through the medium
Of the senses. and, though Locke be studied
in every college, the statement Will pass uu-
challenged. Let some Fourth Of July orator
quote from Bacon the haekneycd sentm mt,
''KpowlclEe 10 power" aud vthcr orators
Will ring the changes upon It aa .saa1ta,n,
though Bulwcr sNuwa that the author OF the
lnlfttryatb never uttered or wrotc any such
arhori.n. OF MI tr.isms, or slsincB sup
iostd 10 be such, there Is no ore more frc.
Ircuil, On mems iiEs tlaln tie statement
thai Hacon wes the father Of tile 11l3nctlve
Philosophy, the grand founder Of modern
.cicncc. B-i ii may he doubted whether bis
osophy, WAS really new when lie announced
it as such, either as q process followed in
scientific discovery, or us theory Of the
true method of discovery Bacon was neither
the first to proclaim tho barscuucss
OF tho Ar,stotcliun philosophy, nor
Is bis , the glory Of huy-
i"s ended the reign OF that philosophy III
Europe. Ee but FASTENED the downirsll Of
Il sys;cm already in dIsrepute, aud which
would soou have been banlshed from the
schools had bis inflammation never tecn pub-
'ished. In bhcrt, as Dc Maistrc his shown,
be was barometer that announced the fine
"cathcr. utter long period Of storm anG
ccntroycrev; and because he forttol1 the Elo-
':ous daylight Of true science, af:cl tho, dark.
:ass Of tho middle a=ce, lc wls proclaine,,
sc author Of Il. A coiemrosaEs called HIM
truly the Ernp.tf o eci<nee. ~ have accn."
lays tue critic just quoted, 1.-the design ofu
.cda1 struck in iii. honor, the body of which
IS ri:ine sun, with The inscription, Etortus
uti at'T: iaf sn{ {'' Hc rose like the sun In the
sky.') Nothing Is Iao:e plainly false. Bet.
Ter an aurora, With the Inscription. .fuaeia
:olis { Messenger Of Tie snn, , aud eTcn tht.
would oc IN exnsgcra:iop, for, H1en Bacon
ro>c, il was It least ten o'clock IL tte morn
lEg."
How often do We tcar attributed to Sir
Ro.,trt Wn,pole tho e1ecr&ble saylag, "A1l
men have tl,cIr price, Pore refers tc It In
thr hires:
s.Wou!d ht ohl1cc mr.. Il! me only Gnd
lie does nnl tElpk NC whas be rn{nAa mankind"
Dut the "Grand Corrurtcr," as he IVES nick
uauled by his liheslers, uttered no such
sweeping slandce against his fellow
| Inen. He simply declared Of his cor
rurs opponents, "All these men have
their Price" truth as uuquestiouab1e IS his
alleged maxim was false. Again. let Lord
U,rcty :tlatc, as an unqucstionahle occur
renee, HAT Dean swim once commenced the
service VIXEN nototly, except the clerk, nt'
tended bis church, With "DcarlY beloved
Roger, the scripture noveth you snd ne It
| sundry Places" and the scandal will tx
again and ngain repeated, though a klnstnar
OF the Dean has sAewn that i: was published
Of another person In jest-book bafore Swift
was born. The author Of 'Thc Tale Of {
Tub" snd "The Battle Of the Books" VA
not 80 destitute Of originality as to hive Il
borrow Joke as paltry as It was profane
So Swift and Butler viii forever continue, s
suppose. to divide the honors Of the closiu:
couplet OF the cpig,am on the feud actwee,
uandel and Bononclni-
Strange all this difference should be
'1~t1t IM eedledpm and Twcedledec"
| though neither Of these wits was the anthot
who was pr. Byron, Of Manchester. As"t
| him that hath shalt be given, that arch wit
Butler, will OF course continue, 50 long =
thc n worlu Is infested with rascals, TO hav
the credit Of Trumbnirs sn1ea<rn oo tue TX
rics Of the American revoiution
"No rnsu e.er hlt tho halter draw
With good opinion Of the law.
So nany historic sayings have never bee
uttered By the great s1en to whom they bay
been attributed, that VIC shall expect SOC
) ! 10 hear that Cezar's "a ytss ridi ric5" Is
m5th that Perry nerer xrote the immort,
words, ave hare net the enemy. aud the
are oars;' while Lawrence's "Don't gi1
up tho ship" will be declared an old sal
or's yarn. Indeed, Napoleon, who nnde
rated the military skll Of the "forcmo
man OF al the world" Tidicu]ed ~ ahsu,
that other saying Of The great Jnliu
l "Hhat do you fears You carry Cesar, B1
:. not only the mos Of great pezsonaecs, hs
many Of the most striking facts Of history
: scene- and Incidents which artists hare bce
fond Of depicting, and orators of citing
have been proved to be pure felton, II
: story Of William Tell and the apple, aud tn
= of xer1es noseing the Hellcspont, have bes
+ shown to be pure myths, aud *'Tcll himst
Z has been grudgiDgly allowed commonp1a
I share In the exploits Of the early Swiss p
/. trfois." What historical tahleau ba, bct
: more deeply impressed on the public nit
C than the parting OF Lonis XVI 1r1;;;2 his fas
: uy! The scene has been described In pro
: and verse. and represented In pictures
= all sizes. yet neEer occurret3 i L t'
t the Queen wished, With tho CHILDREN
sce the King on the morning Of the d1ee
r tion, and he consented; but he subsequec
II requested that they might not be p
5 mittcd to return, A. their presence too dec
E ly affected him. Again, how oiten DO
, hear 1t stated. In private, md echoed no
the pulpit, that tho skepttc, Hume, di'
! In an agony Of remorse, although hn cAF
, tian hiogrnpher declares that his Ia
moments wctc as psaccful ana u
, ruftled rs the gentle Addison
: and though some Of Hune's more Intel
! ! gent cnem:ca hare asserted that he afecte
( au Indifference which be did not feel. VIII
, Saroleon-~osshipping disciple Of 1aeldley
, Ahtott ever dreams Of doubling that II
hero OF Lodi and Austcs1itx really did sea
, the Alps on fiery. h11k.n1cttlcd charger,
; fouti.erlx a. DaYid has painted him? But