The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-01-15
THE SWORD IN LITERATURE.
Writers and Actors Do Not Always Han
die 1t Well.

die 1t Well.
He tilts
With piercing steel at hold A. rcutiO's breast,
| Who, al as hot turns dooIiT roint to point.
| Ard, with martial scCTs. Win one hand beats
Cold death aside and with til" other sends
! 1t back to Tybalt whose d@Xtrrity
Retorts il.
-''Eameo and Juliet" Act g. Scene /.
The introduction Of r>Picr and dagger
at the Danish court curing the middle
ages j.. of course, no i,~s IN anachron-
ism than that of a small sword bout III
the performance, but if the actors part
be TO carry out the authors ideas it is
certainly wonder thar greater care
should never have been bestowed on the
scene.
nj Actors " 10 in every other case are
most particular about historical accu-
racy generally dispose Of all questions
relative TO fighting by referring them to
the first fencing master al hand, and,
accordingly one secs Laertes and Ham
let with the utmost snl:Q fr0id going
through Salute which, hesides being
perfectly unmanagea5le with rapiers,
was only established in all its details
some 20 years ago.. There would be in
deed less anachroniam in uncorkiug
ssottle of chanlpagne-tn Gil the kings
beaker than there is il Hamlet correctly
lunging, reversing his point, saluting
carte ard tieIce, etc, foil fencing, in
fact, i'll spite of the anticipation raised
by OSric's announcements that the bout
Aould be played with rapicr aud dag
ger. a single passage like this (many
such occur in the EJi2abethun drama.
tists) might have suggested tine proba-
bility of rapier figh. being a very diff
ferent thing indeed from Il modern fenr-
ing bout, though not less exciting.
The difficulty of getting at the old
authors on sword play, and then to real
ize their meaning in the midst of their
philosophical depression, seems to have
prevented the investigation of the sub
ject III dueling times more reliance
was placed on ability and inspiration
than on settled principles.
Most modern ideas of swordsmanship
should be dismissed in order TO realize
what duel with rapiers in the six
teenth and early seventeenth centuries
reilly meant, and how unlikely and fu-
tile are the picturesque descriptions of
historical nJvelists.
The antiquarian will find in the study
of swordsmanship the explanation of all
the changes in the shapes of guards ami
blades and the differentiation Of the
sword, from the old plain, crop hilted
Teutonic "schnert" through the oompli-
Gated cut and thrust rapier into either
the right triangular small sword or the
solid, fiat saber. Painters must often
wish to have some early means of ascer- !
tanning the most usual method of WELD
ing the rapitr and the dagger, or small
sword. Were the old books of fencing
more often consulted, t"Jre would I've
finer pictures even by celebrated artists
representing, for instance, a cavalier
attempting to close hi, hand around the
three inch grip of Il rapifr instead Of
screening it under the guard by locking
two fingers around the quillons or of
minions lunging in the most approved
modern style and grasping their daggers
like silettos, thumb on pommel, i'll a
manner which would have deprived the
weapon of any value, defensive or Often
sivs.
The want must be felt of some his
torical account of the changes in the
of "the white arm" since
the days when something more than
brute strength became the requisite in
personal combat. The subject is full of
interest not only for the fencer, who
looks upon his fAvorite pastime as a
science, but also in high degree for
the novelist the painter, the actor and
the antiquarian.
The amount of miscouception on the
subject Of ancient sword play often dis
played by some historical painters and
novelists is incredible In the works Of
such authors as Dumas, Ainsworth and
even Sir Walter Scott, very seldom
guilty of anachronism on any other sub
ject, one reads of duels in the fourteenth
details of which are evidently
borrowed from modern fencing school.
e. B. Beaumont in Detroit Free Press.
You'll use Is less of Harmless Soap.