The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-08-17
STORIES ABOUT MEN.

STORIES ABOUT MEN.
THE PART PLAYED BY ANECDOTES or
BIG MEN IN HISTORY.
Many Times an Incident Interesting In
Not Be Characteristic Of the Man About
Whom the Story Is Told.
There is story going the rounds of
the newspapers to the effect that during
the siege of Petersburg General Lee
turned aside from the grave duties and
dangers of his position to pick up and
replace on the limb of tree nest full
of young birds that had been knocked
down by a Federal shell. A similar
story has been told of Lincoln to illus
trate his tenderness of heart, and the
probability is that the fable originated
away back in the early dawn of civilian
ton. 1t is mostly so with the anecdotes
which figure in the history of great men
and events. When they are not bor-
rowed from the ancients and handed
down through successive generations,
they are manufactured by skillful writ
ers to suit particular characters and oc-
casions. We may be quite sure that
General Lee never paused in the course
of battle to look after distressed birds.
He was a man Of fine feeling undoubt-
edly, but it does not follow that he was
in tho habit nf 1-i,,o 1s1,co1f
mentally absurd.
The story, in short, is not characteris-
tic, and so it has no historical value. A
distinguished mans fame is harmed
rather than helped when he is thus rep
resented as manifesting himself in an il
logical and improbable manner. It
would be easy to believe of Lee that he
stopped to ease the pain of wounded
soldier OF that he gave his rations to a
hungry prisoner, but it is not reasonable
to suppose that his instinct of sympathy
betrayed him into the girlish act which
this story attributes to him. And thus
it is with hundreds of other anecdotes
that are used to impart an enlivening
flavor to the dreariness Of history.
The anecdote is a desirable thing in
works which are intended to convey
vivid impression of historical occur
rences or celebrated personalities, but it
needs to be employed judiciously and
with a rational sense of fitness. There
is no advantage gained when such mat
ter is introduced for the mere purpose of
giving variety where there would other
wise be monotony. The anecdotes pros
perity lies in its adaptability to the char
acter that is being portrayed and its
service as striking illustration of an in
dividual trait or tendency We often
get better idea Of a man from some
simple story of his denoting tastes or
caprices than from the labored accounts
of his more important proceedings, but
the story must be carefully adjusted to
the logic OF the mans life and the salient
facts of his career, or it's intention will
be defeated.
The best historians and biographers
understand this and are accordingly as
painstaking and solicitous in the case of
an anecdote as in that Of problem of
serious interest. They do not tell stories
Of that sort for superficial effect or to
quicken the readers Tagging attention,
but to emphasize a given characteristic
and to fill q practical want in the way
of description or analysis. The anecdote
supplements and Eliminates the heavier
features OK the narrative. It is used
with discrimination and not in light
and proniscuous manner. The picture
would not be complete without it. The
character would be dim and distant in
the absence Of such aid to the apprecia-
ton of governing motives and peculiari-
ties.
It is not really essential that anecdotes
thus employed shall be literally true.
Some Of the best Of them are pure inven-
tons, which have the rare merit of being
we'll imagined. A story that has ret.-
sonable degree of probability and that
can be credited consistently with what
is known of the general qualities Of a
character is useful even when it is not
positively accurate. There are some fc-
tions Of that kind which are worth more
in their way than many ponderous and
tiresome facts. All Of the great figures
in history owe something to these con-
venient fables. They are identified with
certain anecdotes that keep them in easy
remembrance and that enable us to make
close acquaintance with them. But the
anecdotes must have the virtue Of plar-
sibility, OF they will not answer the pur-
pose.
Unless they represent things which
might have happened without CONTRA
diction Of the character to which they
relate there is no justification for them.
and they are a reproach to the writer
who uses them as we'll as damage to
the man whom they are designed to
benefit. The philosophy Of the matter is
all contained in the statement that great
men, like small ones, are expected to be
true to the laws of their lives. Anec-
dotes which come within this rule are
historically valuable, whether strictly
true or only products of fancy, and those
which fall outside Of it are silly and mis-
chievous, regardless of the reputation of
the author Or the purpose Of the decep-
tin,,