The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-06-02
MYTHS OF HISTORY.
THEY CUT A WIDE swATH IN THE
FANCY OF kovEuSTS.

Is entertaining entirety Oh aCtouhs VI its
iInprobabilities We possess smatter-
ing Of general information. At least we
so flatter ourselves. History is for us
not quite closed book We knoy Caesar
and Hannibal and Napoleon and Oliver
Cromwell and Henri Quatre and Richie
lien and the Man in the Iron Mask,
perhaps even few others. And when
in company with the hero OF the his
torical novel we are ushered into the
royal presence, we bow and smirk and
erimace amazingly and knowingly.
''Charles l? Certainly. His majesty and
we are old friends. We possess secrets
which his majesty would give his crown
and kingdom TO know. NJ. Pcsterity has
confded to us stories that would cause
his majesty's royal hairs TO stand ON end
like quills upon the fretful porcupine.
Dent Try to gull Us with appearances
We know all about whats coming. The
gracious smile which now illumines his
rnajesty's lyngly lips is, oh, so drolli
How about Whitehall and the block and
the ax? Ha, hal We are delighted TO see
his majesty in such excellent spirits
1t is TO this faculty Of making the
reader feel knowing, of ilnpressing upon
him his own superiority and the correct
ness of his own retrospective surmises
and decisions. that the makers of his
torical romance owe in great part their
vogue and popularity. Then out at the
elbows soldiers of fortune-nay, even
the wine drawers, the innkeepers and
the scullery maids whom we meet IN the
historical romance-sonehcw manage
to plot and scheme and hobnob with the
very greatest personages of all times. II
a mysterious figure is introduced, Of
course there is n great personality be-
hind it. The exigencies of the trade
make this imperative. From muffled
cloak we Will accept a great duke with
fairly becoming grace. A disguised voice
and s;ealthy. ovorcGutious demeanor de-
mand a king or hero who, in his
tory's pages, locns up as mighty or
michtier than king.
Wonder night justly be expressed
that simple soldier Of fortune Of the
Quentin DGTvard, D'Artagnan ilk
should be Of such supreme importance TO
The welfare Of nations and the safety Of
kings. To deny either the Sect or the
Gascon would surely be outright heresy.
They embody old Caledonia and old
Francois we see them. But the col
lective possibilities that are necessary TO
give the historical romance fire and go,
make in the end it must Ice acknowl-
edged, pretty strong chain of improb-
abilities. To thoroughly appreciate this
one would have to read the historical
romance that is to deal with our day
and to be written IL score years hence.
This, xlas, we cannot dol What
screaming farce it will be when it
comesl Will it not read like the rawlings
Of madman? How ludicrous will be
the complicaIionsl What an extraordi-
nary age cur own will seeml But the
drollest feature of all will be the sub
lime gravity, the supreme sincerity with
which the whole will be accepted by
the reader Of that future day. How is
it that, in an age like our own, when
there are a publisher and a market for
every literary conceit and absurdity, no
one has thought to anticipate this, the
historical romance of the future. Surely
it would not be all burlesque
What marvellous things those scribes
will be telling Of our age and civiliza-
tionl What strange and darkling events
will be made TO take place at our very
doorsl The mysteries that are to be
cleared up are as nothing to those which
are to be invented. Our nights and days
will be given over to tragic intrigues
and fell deeds. Murder will stalk our
streets. Swords viii leap and cross,
knives Will CLEAN, pistols will crack
along Broadway. or, if we prefer, Re-
gent street, or the RinSstrasse, or Unter
den Linden, or the Boulevard des Capu-
cines. The guet peur Will be supreme.
All this VIII come 10 pass when the
scribes of the twenty-second century sit
down TO the task of writing their his
tOrical novels. And then-other heroes.
How mum they are keeping themselvesl
| Why don't they come out of the dark
ness and mystery and shadow and amuse
| the age with the narrative of those thrill
/ ing and soul stirring adventures with
/ which the romancers of the future will
credit them? We know that when the
| arbitration question is settled and both
the United States and England are freed
from the possibilities of hideous and
devastating war, it is not her majesty,
the queen of Great Britain and empress
If India, or the president, or the prime
minister, or the secretary Of state, who
| brought it about On, mol That might
Go very well to gull and beguile and ca
| jole the poor, ignorant masses. The real
| power behind the throne is the impov-
erished soldier of fortune, of whom tho
romance of the historical novelists of
the future will tell us What nets he
will spread! What strange and unholy
| influences he will bring TO bearl What
ingenuity, cunning, valor, patience,
viii he employ bef ire the great scheme
is consunmated ind history is madel
What dangers he will encounterl What
J fearful odds he will overcome! We know
he is here. Could we doubt the histor-
ical romance of the future? We see the
result, we reap its benefit, but the cause,
the colossal nobody whose Vaccinations
brought it all about, where is he? Let
him stand forth that the age may do
hsrn homer i-N-arr Nort Adxarticor A