The Portland daily press., 1875-04-13
The Knight of TrOy,

n "naen IL ouSnC 10 heartily acknOWl-
edge, for DIR. Schliemann is an antiquarian
scholar who has busted himself in substan-
tlatlng favorite belief in place of DESTROY
ing 1t. 1t has been the fashion of late TO
write big books going to prove that the
charming stories which men have put faith
In for ages have no foundation in truth.
Ihere never was Cadmus who invented
letters; for letters are like Topsy, they grew.
Ihere never was nymph Egeria who coun-
seled the Tuscan king; for nymphs are i'm
possipilities. There never was such thing
as Mahomet's coffin, suspended between
two magnets; Mahomet was buried in an
eminently respectable way. There never
was William Tell, who refused to bow
to Gesler's cap; Gesler went bare-headed.
There never was ring given by Queen Eliz-
abeth to Essex; Elizabeth was too penuri-
GUS to give away rings, and she always
thought Essex was 'horrid." There never
was cherry-tree hacked by young Washing
ton; cherry trees did not grow upon the
Washington estate. In fact, nothing ever
happeled that is set down in books. The
criticism of the day is all destructive. If .he
orator apostrophizes the republics of Greece
and the commonwealth of Rome, the critic
tells him with sneer that Greek and Roman
freedom is myth. II the Sunday schoo,
scholar repeats the story of the deluge from
his catechism, the critic echoes the cry of
the drowning antediluvian and says it wasn't
much Of shower after all. Even the child
is disabused of his ret beliefs. He is told on
the Christmas holiday that there is no Santa
Klaus; and is gravely invited to examine the
chimney with view to convince himself
that nothing larger than''a cat can get down
the fue.
To what good is this harsh and destructive
criticism? What is gained by rejecting the
pleasant legends that mag be false and sub.
stituting explanations which are certainly
only conjectures? Let US do away with
these doubts, and revive our faith in the old
stories. Let us believe that the red-bearded
Kaisar is stirring in his tomb, and will rise to
see the united fatherland. Let us hope for the
coming of Arthur to reign over the new and
better Britain. Let us believe that the Pa
ter Patrig could not tell lie. Let us per-
pht the children 10 hold their trust in the all
cenquering Jack with his cloak of darkness
and his shoon of swiftness and his sword of
sharpness.
10 aid US in the restoration of faith comes
Herr Schliemann, German scholar and en-
thusiast, who reinstates Troy in our belief.
There Is need of it, for criticism has not
spared high Hum. The Greek Woman, and
great Hector, and Achilles vulnerable only as
to the heel, and the wise Ulysses are said TO
be myths. Heroes and demigods never
Joined combat on the windy plains. The
Greeks bearing gifts are no longer to be
feared. Troy itself is only cloud-city, hay
ing no local habitation and name. Such are
the heresies put forth in the name of criti-
cism. But the Trojan legend in its hour Of
extremity has found a doughty champion,
who rides gaily into the lists and overthrows
the disbelievers.
In the first years of the century the young
Schliemann was retailing beer in a small VII
lage in Germany. To the shop came drunk
en- student who, for the small recompense of
apot of beer, declaimed the swinging cadence
of Homeric verse to the listening waiter. O
glorious drunk! The admiring waiter learned
how Greek and Trojan met by the banks of
reedy Simois and how the high gods came
down and joined in the fray. From that
time forth the dream of his life was to see
Troy; for unlike the sceptical mod
ern commentators never doubt
possessed him of the existence of
the ancient city. He worked and
while he worked he studied. He devel-
oped wonderful facility in the requirement
of languages. and in this found his fortune.
In 1868 at the age of forty-one, he retired
from business with "such a fortune as his
ambition had never ventured to aspire to-"
Then he devoted himself to the discovery of
the site of Troy. At Athens he married a
Greek woman, and with her set out for the
Troad. Boldly rejecting all the theories of
the doubling moderns, he had the courage to
accept the ancient story and to search for the
beleaguered city of Priam on the site of the
Greek Colony of Ilium. His faith met with
its reward. In the vast mound of earth call
ed Hissarlik. under the very shadow of many
fountained Ida, the ruins of the city were
found.
The discoveries made by DR.. Schliemann
during three years. stay in the Troad are al
ready part of the worlds knowledge, set
forth in the superb book called "Troy and its
Remains" He took the role of the friendly
ghost in the old stories who visits some
favored mortal and tells him where to dig for
buried treasure. The German told his
workmen to dig in the great dust heap of
Hissarlik, and below the remains of the
Greek Colony they found the ancient Ilium,
found remains of houses, found Notifications,
temples, helmeted skeletons, scorie of melted
metal, found the tokens of terrible catastro-
phe and fiery destruction, and, last of all,
found the famed treasure of Priam.
Let us be thankful TO the German enthusi-
asst tor restoring one article of our early
creed, and let us dub him,-the man of med
laval strength of faith,-the knight of Troy,
after the anachronistic medieval style. Let
his example strengthen our belief In the old
stories. He minded the Injunction of one of
his countrymen, "Keep true to the dreams of
thy youth" Even the boys may take cour-
age by him, and one of them may yet find
the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow, or
the magic beanstalk up which Jack climbed
to wealth.
In spite of the denials, somewhat guarded
it must be confessed, that trouble is brewing
between the European powers, the impression
is very general that the present summer will
witness great war. The French are thirst
ing for revenge, and in spite of the caution
of their leaders, may at any moment be
seized by the war fever. Germany looks with
apprehension upon the recuperation OF
France, and evidently wishes to strike down
that country before it grows too strong. The
relic,ous conflict is increasing in bitterness