Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-07-12
SUCHIS FAME.

recent WrlLeEt WHICH AAAuSA1tc9
once the value Of popular myths ana
Limitations Of earthly renown. NOT
far from Tappan, on the Palisades,
the tree is pointed out from when
Andre was hung. Its rather nOta-
BILE feature in the landscape, and az
local memorial helps to break the
monotOnOus refrain Of "the house In
which Washington slept A trav-
eler was under escort OF a farmer
thereabout who pointed out the tree
'Thatis q famous tree" quOth the
farmer.
"What is it famous for"
81 don't remember exaetly-but
believe a general was. hung there once
"What general ? General Washing
ton ?ii
"Yes that was his name"
What did they hang him for ?
"Well, he captured somebody, I be
Iieve. Idon't remember exactly
wasn't it Andre2n
AYE, that was it. They captured
him for capturing Andre. remem-
Der now"
Now, how much OF written history
rests on Just such luminous and au-
thentic testimony as thRt2 Certain
ly the question eanRot be answered.
but 1t suggests a wholesome skepti-
eism as the appropriate atmosphere in
which to read those stately records
that are named by the venerable name
Of History. But there is another line
Of reflection suggested by the story
which I have repeated. How start
ling it is to get such a glimpse Of the
mental horizons by which so many
Of our fellOw-eitizens are girded about
We had supposed that the fame OF
Washington within the boundaries
of America at least, was the one uni
versal American possession. But IL
seems to be certain that there are
hooks and reeesses Of human life
among US which even that awful re-
nown has not Invaded.
Indeed there is no such thing as an
absolutely universal renown On this
earth and as there are Americans
who suppose that Washington was
hung for capturing somebody, 50 there
are Christians who would be astOllsh-
ed at the announcement that Jesus
Christ is dead. We impose upon our
own imaginatiOns by speaking OF this
century as the nineteenth. In reality,
it is the nineteenth century for only
a small fraction Of the people VINO
live in it. Many are yet no farther
on than the fifteenth century many
more dwell in the tenth and fifth
while by far the majority OF the hu-
man family are still in the ages before
the Christian era. When we call
this an enlightened age, we state
what Is true of only q slight portion
ofit-all the rest being still under the
ancient shadows Of opacity and su-
perstition. The most penetrating rep
utatiOns among mankind, those OF
Alexander. Socrates, Cesar, COnfu-
cius, Jesus, MOhammed, Washing
ton, Napoleon, have never yet thor
/ oughly entered those shadows.
On the day which was celebrated as
the tercentenary Of Shakespeare, 1
talked in London with q LOndoner
who asked me-"WhO is this fellow
Shakespeare that they are making
such a row about to-dayW Wheni
in the same city, the morning papers
announced the death Of Richard Cob
den, I met an elegantly dressed and
genteel English lady, who innOeently
mentioned that she did not remem-
Der ever before to have heard his
name. After these experiences, 1 had
no more surprise in England at the
| revelation Of English ignorance con-
| cerning the famous men Of other
countries, especially our own and l
came to take it as a scarcely note
/ worthy affair for English elergymen
and others to say that they had never
heard Of such Americans as Henry
Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Z.
Calhoun.
But in America, the paradise Of
popular education, it IS not easy to
adjust ones self to such phenomena.
And even when we concede the possi-
bility Of our having fellow-eitizens
who have no distinct idea Of the Faith
er of his Country, we are still In
trouble at the discovery that those
| living names, which at this moment
are tossed up most constantly on the
waves Of talk, are unknown names to
many Americans who participate
with US in the common beatitudes OF
our goOdly land. If theCensus were
to have a column for the record OF
such items, il il probable that hun
dreds of American citizens would be
entered there az unable to tell the
name OF the present occupant OF the
| Presidential Office. Is 1t conceivable
that any citizen among US has not
heard Of that name which, for ten
years, has been the pet and plaything
Of the newspapers-the name OF the
| Vice President? On his last lecture
tour, there were people who speak
English, and who, on seeing the pla-
cards announcing his coming, in.
uuired who Schuyler COlfax was ?
| Last winter 1 found white men in
/ Virginia who knew nothing Of Hen
~ Ward Beecher or Horace Greeley,
and black men who learned from me
for the first time, the names OF Garrl-
son, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick
Douglass.
Such, then, is fame an uncertain
blast blown through a trumpet, and
audible only to here and there a list
ener. And so slight is the impression
made by the loudest names blown
forth upon the world Of men, that the
name OF the great patriot who
hangs the spy is liable to be substitute
ed for that Of the spy whom he hangs
Golden Age.