Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1889-07-18
DECAY OF TRADITIONS.


re Iavsasssa sf wFtsias sssas. - Have
rat sn Ena - Falk Lsrs.
u l. said that the invention Of writ
ING injured the power Of memory. and
year. ago. before the schoolmaster was
abroad. a. he h nowadays. IL VAS pos
sisle 10 meet with many Instances Of
strong mernorizing capacity among
persons who could neither read nor
write Complicated accounts could be
kept By the aid Of tally" only. and
the memory Of many small farmer or
petty rural shopkoeper was his only
ledger and order book. II Is certain that
since tha ART Of writng has b'seome an
almost universal accomplishment the
faculty Of memory, balng less neoded, h
les cultivated. Long after the inven-
tion of letters cur ioreiathers rosted
much upen oral traditlon. Ahtlqua-
rians assert that one - the ancient
races Of Italy possessed no written
language and even whero written char
actcrs Were Ia use oral tradition formcd
an important supplement 70 them.
Folk lore tales and ballads have boon
handed down from iip 10 lip Tor osatn-
rios with curious idelhy.
When oral tradition vas recognized
~ q vehielo for actual Information
more care was taken regarding The
accuracy than would b. the case In
these days The old reciieFs iealously
guarded a tlme-honored form Of words
even In their prosa uaEratixe< Breton
peasants. motahly those Who possess
lalent a. racontears. viii repeai le-
gend or q story with serupalous ideli,y
- thc established Form Ia whlch they
have always heard the incidents rotated.
and viii cheek a traveller who "A.
tempts 10 deviata from the orthodox
version with NAY. Monsieur. The
story should begin thus.' repeating the
regular form % The tale. The Eastern
story teller deviaies little la his time
honorcd recital q taies q love. ad-
venture and magic 80 recognize all
our cid friends from the ARABIA
Nights" Il Ne halt 81 listen 10 pro-
icssional racouteur la The streets Of
ANY oriental town In the days Of war
against prescribed books faithful
memories we're often utilized 30 pre-
serve prohibited WORKS from Nbliyion.
During the persecution ~ The " aid
sn.es. In the thiftccHih century. shcu
their version of tho Scriptures
vas prphibiled and destroyed whor-
ever found. their m.ulstrr. com
mltted whole books - the sacrcJ
volume 90 memory. aud repeated chap
ters az their re-. giogs msctinF> Il
would b. tedious o. cuumsraia the
many instances iu which tradition has
preserved what Sritton histories wcre
forbiddea % chronicle ca the "a hulr.
oral traditions are strangely aocurats,
strangely. when 80 consider how farts
are frequently altered and distorted
when Occurrences are related by
successive story toicrs Tho child =
game Of Russian Scandal t.n vhich
sscrst Is whispered o. one person
aud repeated to circle u Others, ls
usually altered out Of recognition when
rvpeatcd aloud by The last hearerl 10
played every day in society. Aud yot
locsl tradition will faithfully chronicle
tho sitc % battle, ths burial place OF
hero. the date Of a Siege. aud s1WH-
times. after generations % historians
and ant.guarians have scofel al the
unreliable local legoud. a later iuvesii-
CATION " .ll discover that the dospissd
traditional story was she true one after
all Centuries Of repetition may have
added % the incidents or distorted
some Of tha facts, but The main tale is
strictly exar- Tho REPEATED trvaslrf
troye may prove bat triniug hoard
the bstuoae.is smaller lu extent the
graves Of the heroes less numerous. but
In each case Local tradition Is true re-
garding the facts that occurred and The
locale where they took place
Tradition may a. least claim H. De as
accurate A. written history though
this. perhaps. Is faint prai-e. Era.
tradition Is usually free from conscious
party bias The repeatcrv ~ traditional
loro carry on the tale as thuy heard b.
bat nov many an eloquent historian
appears % assume brief for one side
or another In every party contest aud
10 write his history with 70 vieN. not Il
elucidstinx iacis. but Of representing
certain historical characters a. angels
OF the reverse. Such writers are al.
ways tho ploa-antest to read; aa i'm
pcriai historian h. sadly dul a. d
rule, but when a biased writer plays
the part % Clio, tradition may Often
prove the safer guide Of the Two Folk
lore. n not an altogether reliab.s
guide. l. seldom totally at fault la IL.
statement Of facts. aud tradition ha.
frequently kept alive memories which
might otherwise have persisted alto
geiher Bo02s may 20 destroyed anl
history wNiully garbled. but u Is losi
easy b distinguish local tradition. 81
Manchester (Eng) Courier.
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