The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-24
King Arthur.


King Arthur.
Edward Everett Hale In Wide Awake.l
"a ~ what T i00s s,arsd
from, you do not find great comfort. Here
Is the very frank confession OF Godfrey of
Monmouth, who wroe six hundred years
after the time he says Arthur died.
while occ1Yied on many and various
studies. happened to light upon the history
ut the kings Of Britain, and wondered that
"A the account which Gildas aud Bede, in
their elegant treaties had given OF them, 1
found nothing said OF those kings who lived
here before the In nation Of Chritt. nor of
Artlur,ar many Others WHO succeeded after
the Incarnation; through their action both
deserved immortal fame, and we're also cela-
brated by many people il a pleasant man
ner and by heart, as II they had been written.
WhzIst was intent upon these and such like
thoughts, Waiter, archdeacon Of Oxford,
man of great eloquence. and learned in for.
eigI, histories, offered me very ancient book
in the British tongue. which. in q continued
regular story and elegant style, related the
actions Of them all, from Brutus the first
king of the Britons, down to Cadawallader
the son of Cadwalio. At his request there
fore, though had not made fine language
my study, by collecting expressions from
other authors, yet coDtented with my own
homely style, undertook the translation of
the book into Latin.'
You zee that this excsllent Godfrey was
surprised that in the two best histories OF
Eng and which he knew, the great King Ar
thurs name wss not 80 much mentioned.
logged IN romance and not in history. The
truth is. that there werc, in those ages, many
kings and many lords. Where the Saxons
Landed, and made raid, the Britons gath.
cred end opposed them. But gradually the
SaxoDs made head against them, and estab.
ltct t>s ~ IL o1klx
later down, their descendants established
Masss chusetts, and Providence Plantations,
and Maryland and Virginia in America. In
after years. more or less was remembered of
the British chieftains, and on this more or
lets, on the romance writers, when the time
for romanceS came, huI their stories
Or. Lingard says of him: I'VE knew nei.
thRr the period when he lived nor the dis.
trict over which he reigned. He is said to
hEve for ght and to have gained twelve bst-
tIis. In most OF these, from the names of
the pie ces he seems to have bean opposed to
the Angles IN LiDcolDshiTe, from the last, at
Ill. Bacon, to The Saxons under Cerdic or
Csnric This, whether it was fought under
Arthur or not, was splendid and useful
victory, VII CD fur forty years chscked the
advance Of shs strangers. Perhaps when the
reader haa been told that Arthur was Brit.
bstties, that be was murdered
BARRED in Glastonbury. where his renal ms
were discovered In the reign of Henry the
Second, he Will have learned all that can be
ascsrtained at the present day, respecting
tEat cee brated warrior"
1t is good deal as YOU might read q good
history of the United States for the first half
OF this century, and possibly not find the
name OF Tecumseh; or as you might read
one OF the last half OF this century which
should not mention Sitting Bull. But if. a
t,f7y n pcd x>co
spirited tribe o. Indiana, who had advanced
e'century toward civilization, you might
Ind enthusiastic accounts of Sitting Ball
and OF Tecumssh preserved in ballads aud
stories And these accounts. very likely,
would surpass anything which was true or
e!ysn pcssible in the real lives of those
Imay say, in passing. that both Tecumseh
sHd Sitting Bull were men quite AS accom-
IIishsd rs the real King Arthur was. AS for
weapons and arts, they were quite in advance
Or hin.
both Lord Tennyson and Lord Lvtton in
our time have felt that in this legend of AR.
thur was the best subject for great Easlish
poem. Leyd Lytton said once, that he had
isiore hope Of being remembered in another
country, because he had written King Ar
thur: than for any fame which any of his
Loveis would have then. But You will Ind
II naro to buy copy to-day. and there are
sood pubic Libraries which do not contain
sbuiwsr 8 King Arthur" 1 am afraid that
go srutb Bulwsr had ''to pump That is q
phrase Mr.. Emerson once used to me when
ne was speaking of another poet. The story
= dimcuit 10 follow, it is lougwiuded, it ia
not ioun ded on the real LEGENDS and you can
Dot help feeling that Bulwer determined TO
write three verses o day, aud wrote them re ..
ularly. Still there are noble passages in it.
remember that dear Starr King was very
fond OF It. and used to quote exquisite verses
ffon 1t.
Bet, as every boy knows, who will read
these lines, the tenderness, the vigor. tbs
simplicity and the truth Of Lord Tonnvson's
Jdyls have made men and women forget All
other poetry about King Arthur. The Idvls
have been published at various times. aud
Ore now published in the chronological order
Of their own story. But In the later editions
you will find in that order the author means
Chat they shall be read.
Moiasses, Soft Soap and Cider.
Jour Young Folks
A lady recently told the following stery,
bH{o q 10 A va o of hor AZ nj -vse-