The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-05-07
Tun CASE or JOHN SMITH


81 f,I tho historic doubt IL anybody is very
l,,,. IT,. l,un.nt4 insist on lifting him ny and
pu.ils lt.in uppn pinnacle Il his place is es-
t4bU hyL thcy insist on pulling him down.
AIprhinvril according to Lord Maoaulay WAS
IA much more virtupus man than prOpl" sup
poqc and Mr. Frouds will have ii that Henry
VIII wps n model sovereign, that Queen EIizn-
brth's Il -linction was due " hor Ministers
and that the poor Queen II Scots was without
n relccming trait. We hayc not proceeded
cutie so far in American letters but William
Penn, the representative polcemnkor. IT has
lust been discovered wore n sword and the
records Of other American worthless viii soon
be subjected TO tho microscope.
On. 9th, r has olrrn Iy fallen into the hands Of
III, historic duubtor4 the famous sodi"r-ad
vonturcr Cant John Smith tho founder Of
VIRGINIA and therefore, it would seem of the
United Stltos. This stalwart swor,isman has
not been rs lucky us some OF his contem-
pornrics. MIR. LougfclIow has immortnlned tho
martial figure Of Can't Miles Stundish mud
John Smith ought TO have his uOct, Not
having lrd that good fortune he has his
eritica. which ia very different. IIo once ranked
with the iIlu-trinls names of the great Eliza
nathan oyo: ho is now said To have bccn a no.
body md in the recent life of Can't John Smith
nv Mr. Charles ulley Warmer scarcely a shred
of character il lort him rbe historic doubtors
shaut in chorus that there never was any po-
o,hoptna rescuo nt All: that tho virginia
fouo,nr ,v,. n eos,on aud hangar. and the
"Cc,.r,I History of yir,iri, Now Eus.rnrd
ami rho summer IsIca'' &, ,,.r, romance. Itis
t,,,, tj,nt III, hook In. hoon r,rnrd,d for two
bun,,r,d vc,ra no the. carmen, st,n. Of Amrr,con
htstorv md ,ho, III, poc,hop,ns l,yopd ia a
mart of tho b.I;.f of IN, ,ror,d Smith said that
III. incident ho1 occurrcl lint thc toult.r. snv
a. was uurclv Imaginary. Then the solder
,rinte, /, f,ls,boo5 Mia b,2
II /. worth whiln io look a, the ORIGIN and
.+,oJ, ,,ro,v,b nj this curious historic do,ti4
7, 10 onita rcoont F,r about two centuries
evervb,dv regarded tho General History ns a
.,otomor, of fnnts prr.b,s tho p,,st eminent
n, bist,rio,. of S,nitI,,s ti,,o nuot.d II os nm
thority. and no was u member of tho London
COMPANY. and had access to all the Official pa
pers. Beverley writing about 100 accepts II
without hesitation and the accurate Stith" q
little later sncnks of Smith MS " n very honest
man and a strenuous lover of the truth" In
this century judge Marshall and Mr. Bancroft
verc never haunted by the least doubt and
only during the last generation has this ap-
parently firm edif1ce Of belief been attacked. 1t
is now said that tho General History" 10 only
romance full OF the cXuggeyations and seh-
assertions OF an advrnturrr."
Mr. Pafrey serms to have boon the first re-
spnctablc douhter on the subject In his His
tory Of New England" published in 1853 he
hazards the PRESUMPTION that he is not tho
first reader who has been haunted with incro-
dulity respecting some Of tho adventures of
Cant Smith" Mr. Dranc n little later OK
pressed tho same view in n new edition OF
Smiths "Trun Relation " but Mr.. Neil the au-
thor of "A history OF the London Company. was
by no means satisfied with such courteous
avoidance Of the direct question He figuratiysly
a liar The historic aurels OF the solder-au-
thor robbed him OF his sccp. Tho Porahontas
legend was pure fabrication he said and his
views found very respectable sympathizors.
LIr. Bryant. in his History OF the United
States" rejects the Legend. anil Prof. Tyler in
his History Of American Literature" writes:
This pretty story has now lost historical
credit, and is given up by critical students Of
our early history" Lastly Mr.. Warner
treats tho whole subject In the light Of comedy,
calls the legend n pretty romance" and de-
scrlbes Smith a. person with "a serene orin-