The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-04

plays. apparently regarding them as
valueless, and while in his will he care
fully disposes of tfre"second- best bed.
not the smallest allusion is madefto the
dramas. His whole life was a mystery.
Every other great poet or thinker left
on the political, religious or social life
of his time some trace of his influence.
Milton. Dante, Goethe, were known to
all their contemporaries; Shakespeare
was known to none. At the time when
he was living. either In London or at
Stratford, Raleigh, Sydney, Spencer.
Bacon. Coke, Camden. Hooker. Drake.
lingo Jones and hundred lesser lights
of literature, art poetry We're also alive.
but there is not the slightest evidence
that he knew any of them, or that any
of them knew him. Such facts as these
and the striking circumstance that his
will, while mentioning as beQuests many
articles of trifiing value. does not allude
to the plays causes many doubts as to
real share, if any, he had in their au-
thorship.
The allusion to Milton and Dante re-
calls the fact that the reputation of
each was, in large measure, attained
after he had ceased to take an interest
in his masterpiece. Milton's reputa-
tion. during his lifetime. depended not
upon his pOetical abilities. but on his
prose works and skill as controversial
ist. In the controversy of those days
argument and vituperatiOn were mixed
in about the proportion of one to three,
and in controversial mudsling;ng Mil
ton was a stunendous genius. This
gave him q great name long before he
had done any serious work on the
Paradise Lost" Whatever he may
hn from, his ,,nap . very
plain that the publishers did not antici-
pate much, nor does it appear that they
were disappointed In this particular, for
few copies were sold Of the early edi-
tions, nor, indeed, did the work make its
way to public favor until many years
after Milton had been buried Dantes
great poem was finished only four or
five years before his death in 1921. and
as the multiplication of manuscript
copies was slow, he must have died in
ignorance of the reception destined for
the poem. No doubt re dreamed of its
Immortality, but such dreams are COM
mon among poets and are generally
doomed to disappointment. The works
of Homer, II there ever was such man,
We're not collected until ages after his
death, while, when Virgil was on his
deathbed, he felt so keenly his disap-
pointment In not being able to correct
and revise the Aeneid,N that he COM
manded the only copy in existence to
be burned and only by the disobedience
of his friends has the world retained
this monument of Roman genius. The
fame of both Shelley and Keats is large
ly posthumous, and not until after poor
young Chatteron had committed sui
eide did the world find out that he was
really a great poet.
FAMOUS HISTORIANS.
The reputation of historians is gener-.
ally poSthumOus, for the world general
ly needs a century or so to find out that
a historical work is really worth read
ing. When the reputation of the his
torian begins to grow, however, there
is practically no limit to it's extension.
for 1t appears to increase with the lapse
of time. and, although his books may
not be read. everybody knows them by
name, and that Is as much as any one
could expect. There are probably not
a thousand men in America who have
read the writings of HerOdotus, but
every body knows that he was the
Father of History" The fame Of Livy
and Tacitus has been growing ever since
they died. and their works will probably
be even more highly regarded as time
moves on, while the world is only now
beginning to appreciate what q stu;
pendouS labor Of genius was the De-
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire"
Many histories Of England have been
written since that of Hume appeared,
but his work Is more highly appreciated
today than 1t was when he laid down
his pen for the last time. while Guizot's
France" which appears to have made
little sensation at the time of its ap-
pearance, has steadily grown in popu-
lar favor. Even less pretentious works.
done, have sometimes achieved
far more sobriety than theirs could pos
sibly have anticipated. When old
cord, in the grabbed shorthand of his
own invention, the doings of the day.
he little thought what a flood of light
would be poured on the times In which
he lived by his fourteen big volumes.
He died without telling any one the Sc
cret of his shorthand, and for over a
hundred years his diary remained unde-
ciphered, and, as everybody supposed,
Finally the key to his
crooked characters was discovered, his
diary was translated, and, as a hand
book Of the times in which he lived. it
has proved invaluable. Kept for his
own amusement. it has since been found
of enormous worth to the historian.
NEGLECTED ARTISTS.
Among the artists whose names are
household words there are several
whose paintings were not appreciated
until the list had been completed by the
death Of the painter. Among the many
pitiable cases Of this kind, that of Mils
let was probably the most conspicuous.
His whole life was a struggle with Bit
ter poverty. He would not paint save
under inspiration. and steadily refused
to do work which the dealers wanted,
because it did not come up to his stand
ard of what art ought to be. During
his lifetime he was known to compara-
tnvely few persons, and some of them
regarded him as an Impractical crank.
With few like himself, he sought the
seclusion of the forest of Frontaine-
oleau, and there labored in quiet, paint
ing pictures that the dealers would not
buy, or If they did, paid for them such
prices as would be given for the works
Of unknown and little appreciated ar
lists. But the art dreamer never COM
planned, or If he did, his complaints
were ignored, and are now forgotten.
How he managed to live at all Is mys-
terry, for the sums he received for his
art works were not sufficient to support
life. but somehow or other he managed
to drag out weary existence until old
age came and he died. Then, all at
once. the world discovered that he was
4 great artist. worthy of its highest
praises and prices. Art critics could
not utter sufficiently flattering encomi-
lms on his style: collectors could not
na " tOn hi n prjcac for btS r,icturaS The