The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1895-02-06
MISTAKES or HISTORY.
Errors That Creep Into the Popular Mina
and Are Hard to Eradicate.

and Are nara 10 EIauASAsSs
"what is history but universally 40
cepted fable?' said learned Smith
sonian professor. Il quote the great
Napoleon. For example, consider liy-
mouth rock. In the town of Plymouth
is rock with q fence around it, 1t is
a sort of local fetish. On Forefathers
day every year exercises are held there
commemorating the alleged fact that
on this rock the pilgrims landed. Az
a matter of fact, there is no evidence
that such was the fact, Prof. Cham
ming, the historical expert of Harvard,
has traced the story lack, and believes
it to have been started by an old man
named Faunce, who many years ago
pointed out the rock to some children,
saying: Here they landed"
"fIistory states that the pilgrims ar
rived on sunday, but refrained from
landing until Monday lest they should
break the Sabbath. That is pure nom
sense. As matter Of fact, the women
and children stayed on the ship all
winter because it was more comfort
able.
1.-THE gorgeousness and high civiliza-
ton of the ancient Mexicans at the
time of the Spanish conquest have been
permanently embalmed in history.
The whole story is misrepresenta-
ton. Cortez naturally wished to give
the impression at home that he had
conquered great and rich nation. In
reality it was only a half-eivilized and
untutored people. The mode of living
was patriarchal, whole families of one
hundred or more persons living in one
house. The communal dwelling was
of one story and necessarily of large
size. These structures were described
by the SpaniGrds as palaces The
people ate only one cooked meal each
day, for the rest of their food depend
ing on a grub diet picked up anyhow.
The dinners partaken of by so many
individuals are reported in history as
'banquets.'
1.-THE schoolboy learns that Columbus
was the man who first conceived the
idea that the world was round. Moth
NOhAu bG AAA2IC ldbSAASENaA* sAhS
truth is, that he merely accepted no
ton on this subject which had been
handed down from classic times by
scholarly men. Strabo, the Latin
autho", was ore of these. The concep'
ton was for many centuries as faint
light glimering in darkness.
Let me call your attention to an in.
stance OF the making Of fictitious his.
tory. There are excellent reasons for
believing that the Sorsemen reached
the shores Of Nor, i America before Go.
lumbus. The records of their sagas,
however, give no notion of the locality
where they landed. Only few such
non-descriptive facts are stated as that
they found grapes growing. Yet an
enthusiast named Horsford, trustee
Of Harvard, a few years ago built on
the Charles river tower between
Waltham and Newton to com
memorate the landing Of the Morse
voyagers ut that point. The
sagas tell Of going up a river
and Horsford chose TO assume that the
/ &A&EAEs EAfN4 was NitN ANANAA1& W.
Very likely the notion thus recorded
by a monument will gain general
credit some day, though there is nc
more reason to suppose that the rirei
was the Charles than that it was thu
Delaware or Hudson. or any one o.
dozens Of other rivers
- quoted Napoleon a moment ago
You probably know that no battle wa
ever fought at Waterloo. Waterlo'
was post dispatch station some mile
distant. Dispatches were sent thence
10 England, and hence the name givel
10 the battle.
"Sheridan's ride TO Winchester wa
not twenty miles--not over ten miles
think. There never was any founda
ton In fact for the story of Barbari
Frietchie. The same Ia true of III,
yarns about Pocahontas and JOIN
Smith. r-Washington Star.