New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-16
EARLY ENGLISH TALES.
MODERN PIIARAPHRASE OF OLD-TlME
RONANCES'

Current in England From Early Tines WI" pa
Nv, 4o6. Macmillan d GO.
The world viii never tire Of the oft-tOld tales
such as form the bulk Of this volume. But some
of US are getting downright weary under the
infction of pseudo-sccnti;ic observations. which,
Ike the familiar " flowers that bloom III the
spring, have nothing TO do with the case Nhth
Mr. Uazlitt saws: The study Of such romantic
cpics as Rolm Hood. Doctor FaustuS. frar
Bacon. Friar Rush and Nirgiius should not prove
less attractive TO educated intelligence ne
cause evidence Of a trustworthy character Is al
duced that there in these and in other analogous
stories something beyond the superficial meah-
ing conveyed by the text. he SAYS only what couu
he asserted with equal truth OF the uiooerh
novel Nobody will pretend that the hcton OF
the nineteenth century, in It's Scnesis-"hd'
ever may be said Of some OF its elements-lS COM
parable to folklore. 1t is denoerae' cdrciui
product Every line Of 1t smells OF the candle
This Is true In exactly tt" same sense Oh cne hlas
ical novels Virgilius Bacon. and faus'us Inc
authors Of these stories wrote for popular reading
The modern novel.writer does the same Ihey
utilized popular beliefs and preiudices so does he
They worked in popular theories of science lust
a. tber successor does il to-day. and they cared no
moro than he does whether these theories were
correct in themselves consistent WIN each
o,ber or course these stories were incredible,
but were they any more incredible than tales
about rabbits that climb wire fences IN Australia
about atoms that are in love. about olue-strlpeo
CLAIMS of musical tastes. man-eatlng trees al"
human beings whose souls live generally on the
roofs Of their houses?
II we look back little we shall observe ths' d
generation or so ago favorite form OF hctioh "as
the so-called historical novel. In exactly the
same sense there wa. in the sixteenth century
favorite form Of fiction which NAV ee called 'he
magical novel. It's material was suiKlngS uni
form If YOU find clever stroke In the hrs' one
the chances are that you will find similar oeVice
in ali the rest. Did Virgil make hean Una!
talked? Then of course, Bacon ana faus'us aHu
Paracelsus and Arbertus Masnus and Pope oyl-
vester all had to be credited with Hmilar
achievement.
Back Of This romance writing in the sixteenth
certurv there was indeed an accretion of incred-
ibe anecdotes about the names oil various per
cons hut this can IN almost every case he traceh
mot to foil. lore but to misunderstandlnes Oh Ue
mart of men more or less trained in the schools
A laundering scribe did more mischief WIN
single stroke of his pen in those DAYS IMAM all
tho critics since have been able to repair M
IIaz1itt saws that the romance OF Nrgllus pre-
SCENTS to our view remarkable Illustration OF oNe
SLOW tancle of Roman or italian folK'iore WIN
Heterogeneous Midde-Age empirical peNels ana
ideas He ought to support his aileg q l'shah
folk lore with some sort of testimony III there
&c q single line of il that not a direct I'M
variation from England. France and germany
,bcre are several men Of learning in various
countries who would like to have that line
nointed ont TO them There is a surprising uear.h
81 oil matter of this sort in Italy anterior TO tne
a,-or+ of the French r0mances What is more
- tbs nointif there had been such tales about
Will AMONG the peope of Italy in the Mlddle
Aces Dante would no more have Nentured 10
AMT tho Roman poet with the titles OF GUIDE
and m, ster than he would have ventured to take
,Ucbael Scot out of the group of sorcerers where
nonular prejudice had placed him. Dante Is 1"e'
- ,horouob in what he does not say as he Is IN
,baf no does say, and he is in touch win uhe
-, % his time every step of the way from the
rate q, hell 10 the uttermost circle OF heaven
W. no saws what he takes care not to say
those are the Ariadne's thread in the mediaeNai
labvrnth - ,,;,
As r. Robin Hood, Mr.. Hazlitts Euhemeilsn
di.nosos of all the science there is in the case.
Given q real hero and real biography, and you
oro hound 70 have real biographcr, even If you
cannot name him. But aside from this needless
assumption of scientific profundltS the coi'o"O'
is . charming one Mr. Hazitt has preserved the
archaic atmosphere of the works he re"ri'es MAJ
,.oI1onsI,. we'll with all his modernization. FOR
those who shrink from the labor OF feaoinS 'ne
ballads and tales in the better thoush "oio
anTrrTdated form. the book VIII serve ''''''
purpose