The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1897-06-16
POPULAR TRADITION.
INSTANCES WHERE 1T WAS FOUNDED
ON HISTORICAL FACT.

Earl's Treasure.
There was once an energetic and
strong minded missionary in the south
seas, who took great deal of interest
in the folklore of the island where he
dwelt, After years Of study he made up
his mind for good and all that there
was not particle of fact in the legends
protesting tu be historic which he had
laburiously gathered In distrust at his
own crcdulity, unwilling to let people
know what a fool he had bee,, he toss
ed his whole collection into the fire.
Some days aftCrward there was tcrrif.
IT, hurricane. The islanders had told
him that once upon u time long ago "a
certain famous chieftain used TO sit on
q stuuo bench beneath tree which
grew close TO the mission house. That
bench had disappeared, no one knew
whcl or how, but i'll the days of hca-
thoudOm they used TO place offerings to
the spirit Of the old chief near the spot
where it had stood. When the mission
ary sailed ont on the morning after the
storm, the flst object he noticed was
this tree ovcrthrown-and in the midst
of its upturnod roots hung Il stone
bench.
The reverend gentloman-Whiting
was his name. if we remember right
stood in maze. The legend was true,
then. Examination proved beyond
doubt that the bench had rested against
the bule Of the tree in some distant age,
for there was no trace Of an incision.
The wood had grown smoothly round
and over it. So far as he could ronghly
compute, four centuries must have
passed since it stood outside the trunk.
For that time the islanders had pre-
served the memory of a circumstance so
trifiing, for to question that this was
the bench tloy assigned to their mythic
hero would have been silly. And then
the good man mourned his haste. He
had destroyed the patient labor of years
because he would not credit the ac-
counts of grave events given in all Sc
robustness by members of his flock aud
it proved that they were trustworthy
even on such detail as the personal
habits of a man who died 400 years ago.
The story is one TO be borne in mind
by all students of folklore and of that
early stage in human annals which is
based upon tradition. But il does not
follow that Mr.. Whiting had good cause
TO lament his burned manuscripts If he
valued them only for the records Of
events they might contain. That there
are particles of fact in the most gro
tesque Of these legends, which profess to
be historic, we find more and more rea-
son to believe as our knowledge widens,
but it is rarely possible to sift them
from the mass of poetic nonsense Saw.
ages everywhere keep the memory of
startling incidents which occurred, as
we learn by internal evidence, an in
definite number Of ages ago.
Biologists recognize that the Black
sea was once lake, with no outlet to-
ward the Mediterranean They incline
to think or believe that it escaped
through the Bosporus and the Darda-
nelles shortly after the glacial period.
But Diodorus Siculus mentions tradi.
tion of the Samothracians exactly agree
ing with this account, which learned
men of the day have framed upon the
teaching Of science. Did the Samothra-
clans exist in the glacial period? They
say that when the Black sea broke its
barriers at last all their country was
drowned-that was the Samothracian
food. And it is evident enough that
such must have been the result of the
cataclysm. There is passage in Pin
dar also which some commentators in
terpret as en- allusion to the same pro-
digious event.
Traditions Of the mammoth are so
general and so vigorous in the extreme
north of America that savants of repu
tation are not unwilling to admit the
possibility that it survived 200 years
ago, and Others who have no scientific
reputation to hazard go very much fur
ther. Very small details are preserved
by the popular memory sometimes.
When the wizard Earl Of FOULS was
carried off to be boiled alive as the only
means Of killing him, tradition report
ed that he threw away the key of his
treasure chamber 1t could never be
found. But less than 60 years ago
schoolboys playing in the haunted ruins
unearthed great key which might
very well have been tossed through the
uirHoie VI uuHReOu OpenlnB-tn6
point is ignificant-beside the road
along which the wicked earl was hur-
ried. Many cases might be cited where
even antique stories of buried treasure
have been proved true, A notable one
is told by ths worthy DR.. Plot in his
history Of Herefordshire. Bransel castle
had specially fine tale of this sort,
alleging that kings crown was sunk
in the moat. In 1850 cottager named
Taller, planting hedge along the moat
to protect his children, found crown
set with diamonds. He sold it to jew
eler at Gloucester for eS7. The jeweler
transferred it to IA Lombard street gold
smith at great profit and he sold the
diamonds alone for 81, 300 London
Standard.