The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-10-27
sxcr1orAI HrsroRrcAL CRITICS.

EMOTIONAL HISTORICAL CRITICS.
The Wilmington Messenger 10 correct in Its
statement as to tho object which Whateley
had In view IN seeking to disprovs the his
| torical fact of Napoleon's existence. Viewer
| Of course. aware. and 30 remarked. that the
English prelats did not seriously advance the
assertion that the victor Of Lodi and Auster
ltz was creation Of the imagination alone
but that this proposition was sustained for
special purpose which was only apparently
of destructive character.
Wbateley's famous argument, famous In
itself, indepen IDENTITY of its significance AZ a
refutation of Hume, has at least this very
important bearing upon tho point which we
| made IN our recent article on Historical
Sappers." namely. that il is not q very difficult
matter for an ingenious mind to cast cloud
of doubt upon events Of history that seem TO
| rest upon an immoyable basis. A perusal OF
Whatoley's argument in disproof Of the exis-
| tence Of Napoleon would satisfy any man
| who had no knowledge whatever Of the life
| of the Emperor from other sources that he
! never lived. And yet so ample is the evidence
| which confirms the historical fact that Ma
/ poleon did exist that thousand arguments
10 the contrary would not shake the frmness
| Of our conviction.
The truth of Captain Smiths career is not
sustained by the same volume of contemporary
evidence rs the truth of Napoleons career,
and il is therefore more open 10 attack. We
are surprised, however that the Northern
critics Of the brave Englishman should con-
fine themselves TO doubling few episodes in
his Virginian narrative. In the main that
narrative is accepted even by them as accu-
rate because it is largely supported by the
narratives of his associates, but the incident
of Pocahontas, which was entirely consistent
with her relations with him, is rejected. be-
cause the only civilized witness of the incident
was Smith himself, and he failed to mention
it in his True Relation
The fact that Smith is substantially sus-
tanned by contemporary narratives does not
seem to carry any weight with Northern wri-
tiers, wherever his own independent state
ments are involved, which shows TO what
extent personal animosity enters into the GEN.
sure of these critics The ablest foreign critics
who have examined Smiths narrative
Of his Virginian career have accepted 1t as
entitled TO the frmest confidence; Aber, for
instance. who has prepared one Of the most
careful editions extant Of the work of the
founder Of our Commonwealth, declares there
are no reasonable grounds for the attack
which has been made upon the correctness of !
his statements.
The most beautiful idyl in American history
is that of the rescue of the great Engishman |
by Pocahontas. an episode that is only asso-
ciated with Virginia. Is il not cause for |
suspicion that the first doubt that was ever |
cast upon this episode originated with a
Northern professor at a time when the whole
energies Of the Northern States were bent
upon running the South? Not content with
the confscation of Southern property and the
destruction of our social and economic sys-
TEN, the literary men of the North Of that
day must do their part by ro5bing us of our
history. The question raised by Charles
Deane has been echoed 10y every Northern
writer who has followed him, but on grounds
which will not carry conviction to the minds
Of perfectly impartial critics, like the English
for instance.
How deeply the attention Of Northern
writer's towards the South is biased by sec
tional feeling is shown not only in this con-
troyersy. but in the series of books which
nave been composed by Northern writers on
,he lives of American statesmen. One of
,he most ludicrous Of literary farces was the
assignment of the life OF John Randolph to
/ New England Puritan Republican, and the
esult was precisely what was to have been
expected. The lives Of jefferson and Cal
ioun show the same faint. The life of
Henry would probably have been just as bad
)ut Tor the fact that the author had access to
he valuable collections OF Hon. William
Writ Henry. which he was wise enough to
Use TO advantage.