New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1897-04-28
MYTHS OF HISYORY z.

- "a
THEY cur n WIDE swAT. IN THE
FANCY OF NOvELlsTS.
Pen Pictures Of the Past Thst Resd Wen.
but DO Not Bes1 Close Investigates.
When Our Turn Genes, the Scribes VIII
While it may not be quite true. it is
very nearly true that the historical novel
is entertaining entirely on account Of its
Probabilities We possess smatter
ing Of general information. At least we
20 latter ourselves History is for us
not quite closed book We know Cesar
and Hannibal and Napoleon and Oliver
Cromwell and Henri Quatre and Richie
lieu and the Man in the Iron Mask,
perhaps even q 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
g-imace amazingly and knowingly.
8 Charles r. Certainly. His majesty and
we are old friends. We possess secrets
which his majesty would give his crown
and kingdom to know. N. Posterity has
confided to us stories that would cause
his majesty's royal hairs to stand on end
like quilts upon the fretful porcupine.
Don It try to gull us with appearances
We know all about what's coming. The
gracious smile which now illumines his
majesty's kingly lips is, oh, SO drolli
How about Whitehall and the block and
the az? Ha, ha! We are delighted to see
his majesty in such excellent spirits -
It is to this faculty of making the
reader feel knowing, Of impressing 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 popula: :. 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 It
mysterious figure is introduced, of
course there is a great personality be-
hind it, The cxigencies of the trade
make this imperative. From muffled
cloak we will accept great duke with
fairly becoming grace. A disguised voice
and stealthy, overcautious demeanor de-
mand a king or a hero who, in his
tory's pages, looms up as mighty or
mightier than king.
Wonder, might justly be expressed
that simple soldier of fortune of the
Quentin Durward, D'Artagnan ilk
should be of such supreme importance to
the welfare of nations and the safety Of
kings. To deny either the Scot or the
Gdscon would surely be outright heresy>
They embody old Caledonia and old
Francois we see them. But the col
| lective possibilities that are necessary tC
| give the historical romance fire and go,
make in the end it must be acknowl-
edged, a 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 ~ score years hence
This, alas, we scannOt do! What s
screaming farce it will be when il
comes! Will it not read like the raving:
of a madman? How ludicrous will b.
the complications! What an extraordi
nary age our cwn will seem! But tn,
drollest feature of all will be the sub
lime gravity, the supreme sincerity will
which the whole will be accepted b,
the reader Of that future day. How i
it that, in all age like our own, whel
there are publisher and market TO
}every literary conceit' and absurdity, N
one has thought to anticipate this, tn
historical romance of the future. Surel.
it would not be all burlesque.
| What marvellous things those scribe
will be telling Of our age and civiliza
tion! What strange and darkling event
will be made to take place at our yer.
doors! The mysteries that are to b
cleared up are as nothing to those whicl
are to be invented. Our nights and day
will be given over to tragic intrigue
and fell deeds. Murder will stalk on
! streets. Swords will leap and cross
knives will CLEAN, pistols will crac
along Broadway, or, if we prefer, Re
gent street, or the Ringstrasse, or Unite
den Linden, or the Boulevard des Capu
: cines. The guet a peur will be supreme
. All this will come to pass when tn
scribes of the twenty-second century ST
, down to the task Of writing their his
torical novels. And then-other heroe:
How mum they are. keeping themselves
Why don't they come out Of the darl
ness and mystery and shadow and anus
the age with the narrative of those thrill
ing and soul stirring adventures wit
!. which the romancers Of the future wi
: credit them? We know that when tt
= arbitration question is settled and bot
]; the United States and England are free
} from the possibilities Of hideous an
: devastating war, it is not her majesty
!; the queen of Great Britain and empire!
! of India, or the president, or the prin
}, minister, or the secretary of state, WI
: brought it about. Oh, no! That migl
!. do very well to gull and beguile and c;
), jole the poor, ignorant masses. The re;
power behind the throne is the impo,
erished soldier Of fortune, of whom tt