The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-12-09

| cess OF Waiting. Chemical ahnltles 90 the
rest of the work.
TIE B0REs OF HISTORY.
| from the London Civilisn.)
Mary Queen of Scotts-or Marie, as some
| fair writer's will insist on calling her-has De-
come one of the greatest tornents IN tne
whole gallery Of b0res. We shall never, as
| far as we can see, hear the last OF her "oeau-
tiful person" and ''graces OF manner. il'sa Iaas
| snow white little neck will apparently inspire
| the pens of the literary butchers until The
world in anger cries. Shame She has been
| done to death in countless leaders and essays.
| Her sorrows and her crimes-f she really
committed any-have been the constant theme
| of hacks ever since Scott discovered her TO
the curious people who never read history
unless It's iricked out In The garp Oh ncuon. on.
We confess we are utterly tired OF her. IN our
| youth we did think she was persecuted ana
Injured VIC IAN, but since she has 60 per-
| sisrently prosecuted and injured us we nave
arrived at the belief that she deserved her
fate and are only sorry that we have no
power to decapitate her shade.
Then, go back " classic times, tnere ls Cle-
| opa,ra and Mark Antony. When shall we
hear the last of them? What good genius or
pious priest wll,undertake tolay the ghosts Of
this celebrated pair /? When shall we hear
| the last of the profound speculations In
which our ''great writer's" are wont tc
indulge anent the probable fate OF the
| trffe shorter, Surely we have had enough
4 OF her; and as 1t Is impossible to say
i an original thing about her and her great ad-
| mirer. il would be as well to let them both
rest quietly in the echool-books until the
crack Of doom. We are willing to admit that,
| il Ia taboo were placed upon the remarkable
persons who have figured In history, many OF
our picturesque writer's would be deprived Of
| their whole stock In trade. We are, however,
| not quite sure that the world would lose much
| il tie whole tribe resigned their pens for
good We might be deprived of great quail
tity of fthrice-threshed strew, but, for our own
part, We could get on quite as well without H.
What we really need Is little more OF the
| salt Of originality, and more sparing use OF
mere words. II Is bad enough to be obliged
| to read the ordinary literature OF the day, but
| tits really vexing that the common topics OF
1.-the hour cannot be discussed without all TINS
| froth and folly.
Coming nearer to our own time, we find
Samuel Pepys growing into bore OF the hrst
water. We can all read his diary If we
please; put having read 1t for ourselves we do
not care to see it hashsd up on every occa-
aion for the people who care nothing 1or
Pepys nor the time in which he lived. The
story of his first wig has gone from pole 10
pole, and, as far as we can Judge, It's likely
to travel round the world, like The wandering
Jew, until the last trump summons scribbler
and darist 10 the great account. Pepys did
not bargain for this posthumous fame, and
one knows not what agonies his shade must
endure If 1t Is conscious that 1t has become
stalking horse behind which the fell writer's
of the hour hide their base designs on the in-
nocent reader Of all the bores Of history,
however, commend us to, or rather save US
from, the Piigrim Fathers and the Mayfower:
We cannot open q book on stall without
meeting with them. These old bgots pertne-
ate all literature and haunt our picture gale
ries, to the terror of all sens BILE people. Can
we not1eJthem rest in peace? Is II not pos
slble TO Danish them for GOOD into nmoos
| Hawthorne, heaven bless him took some OF
the gilt off their Puritanical gingerbread In
the IsScarlet Letter." and we thank him for
that knightly service. If We were inclined 10
play the part of literary Don Quxote We
should certainly try whether vigorous
lance prick or two wonld not flghten those
grim old giants from the stage. But we nave
TOO great q horror Of them 10 attempt the task
of eXorclsm. and are only sorry that, for the
purposes Of this article, We are obliged to
admit them again before the curtain. f1f
Grace Darling is another, but charming,
bore OF history. She has been rowing that
old boat OF hers daily 10 some. print or other
for the last thirty or forty years she must
tire of the work, and no doubt the fair hero.
inc would gladly retire from business, but the
literary hack finds her too valuable, and so
| her poor shade goes backwards and forwards
from the wreck to the lighthouse as regularly
az II she Were eXpatlng crime, and 30 In
truth she is. Her crime In the eyes OF her
prosecutors Is her heroism, and they will not
let her rest until another victim, equally brave
and interesting, takes her place. Had she re-
fiected upon the possibility OF being famous,
we fear the unfortunate passengers on the
Forfarshire steamer would have gone TO the
bottom before she would have lifted finger
to aid them.
We cannot close this article without some
"alusionn more or less "brilllantn 10 the New
Zea!ander, who has been such an unconscion-
able time making that sketch OF St. Paups.
Macaulay little knew, when he borrowed the
gentleman from VOlney, that he had inadVer-
tenily started the poor savage upon never
ending series of travels through the press OF
the world; yet such is the mysterious dtspen-
sation of Providence. We hear Of the great
traveller daily, and he is always trying to fin
ish that unlucky sketch. He crops up in the
most unexpected places, and SO popular is he
| that every tyro who puts pen to paper feels
called upon to look over his shoulder to see how
| he is getting on. We wish to heaven he would
fold his portfolio. and 60 back to the land OF
tomahawks. We do not want him here. Per-
likes fame, and is glad to see the crowd OF
| admirers who gaze in wonder at his mas
terly touches and bold outlines. But whether
he is proud OF his prominent position or
not, ne is a bore of the most vulgar
type, and we do not thank the historian
for so recklessly introducing him to the
great masters Of the art of choppng straw
Many pen would no doubt be paralyzed If
harm came to the tiresome savage or any Of
his brethren Of the company of bores. A
universal paralysis of The pen, however,
would, in our opinion, be preferable to this
hashing-up of history, this continual fitting-on
of the cast-off clothes of great writer's. Had
we absolute power, we would certainly inter-
tere to protect the public from the men who
thus Systematically annoy them. A decree of
pains and penalties should at once be issued.
We Woulf make 1t treason, without benefit OF
clergy. 10 .'aliude" in any way to the Pilgrim
Fathers. We would fine any man who dared
to mention Cleopatra, or Hero and Leanderr,
and we would send to the hulks OF the tread
mill the whole school oil able editors who so
persistently disturb the peace OF Marie An
toinetie. Society should be preserved from
the nuisance of the literary organ-grinder,
and he should be compelled to go back 10 the
plough, or to some other congenlal employ
ment.