The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-04-01
MYTHS OF HISTORY.
THEY CUT A WIDE sWATH IN THE
FANCY OF NoVELISTS.

Pen Pictures of the Past That Read Well,
but DO Not Bear Close estigation.
when Our Turn Comes, the scribes VIII
Revel In Schemes Undreamed of Now.
While it may not be quite true, it is
very nearly true that the historical novel
IS entertaining entirely on account of its
improbabilities. We possess smatter-
ing of general information. At least we
30 flatter ourselves History is for us
not quite closed book. We know Caesar
and Hannibal and Napoleon and Oliver
Cromwell and Henri Quatre and Richie
lieu 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
grimace amazingly and knowingly.
"Charles I? Certainly. His majesty and
we are old friends. We possess secrets
which his majesty would give his crown
and kingdom to know. M. Posterity has |
conflded to us stories that would cause |
his majesty's royal hairs to stand on end |
| like quills upon the fretful porcupine. |
Don't 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 droll! |
How about Whitehall and the block and
the AK? 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 impressing upon
him his own superiority and the correct
| ,,f ,iunu
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-somehow manage
to plot and scheme and hobnob with the
very greatest personages Of all times. If
mysterious figure is introduced, of
course there is a great personality be-
hind it. The exigencies of the trade
make this imperative From muffled
cloak we will accept great duke with
fairly becoming grace. A disguised voice
and stealthy, oyercautious demeanor de-
mand king or hero who, in his
tory's pages, looms up as mighty or
m1ghtier than a king.
Wonder might justly be expressed
that simple soldier Of fortune of the
Quentin Durward, D'Artagnan ilk
I should be Of such supreme Importance to
I the welfare Of nations and the safety of
1 kings To deny either the Scot or the
I 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 be acknowl-
i edged, pretty strong chain of improb-
Il abilities. To thoroughly appreciate this
k one would have to read the historical
r romance that is to deal with our day
y and to be written l2 score years hence.
This, alas, we cannot dol What a
y screaming farce it will be when it
Q comesl Will it not read like the rawlings
2 of a mailman? How ludicrous will be
I. the complications! What an extraordi-
n nary age our own will seeml But the
u drollest feature of all will be the sub
lime gravity, the supreme sincerity with
u which the whole will be accepted by
~ the reader of that future day. How is
it that, in an age like our own, when
"a there are publisher and a market for
,s every literary conceit and absurdity, no
0. one has thought to anticipate this, the
m historical romance of the future. Surely
oi 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
"a will be made to take place at our very
OF doorsl The mysteries that are to be
@. cleared up are as nothing to those which
OF are to be invented. Our nights and days
will be given over to tragic intrigues
DC and fell deeds. Murder will stalk our
q streets. Swords will leap and cross,
n. knives will CLEAN, pistols will crack
be along Broadway, or, if we prefer, Re-
lie gent street, or the Ringstrasse, or UnteI
by den Linden, or the Boulevard des Capu
In cines The guet peur will be supreme.
es All this will come to pass when the
re scribes of the twenty-second century sit
sy ,U down to the task of writing their his
~ torical novels. And then-other heroes
of How mum they are keeping themselves
gy Why don't they come out of the dark
ness and mystery and shadow and amust
EN- the age with the narrative of those thrill
'ie ing and soul stirring adventures with
en which the romancers of the future viii
20 'a credit them? We know that when the
~ arbitration question is settled and botl
he the United States and England are freed
he from the possibilities of a hideOus ant
vs. devastating war, it is not her majesty
IRE the queen of Great Britain and empress
of India, or the president, or the prim,
se- minister, or the secretary of state, wht
~ I brought it about. Oh, mol That nigh
as do very well to gull and beguile and ca
es, jole the poor, ignorant masses The rea
ey power behind the throne is the impov
so erished soldier of fortune, of whom tn
by romance of the historical novelists o
les the future will tell us. What nets h
a. will spreadl What strange and unhol.
oL influences he will bring to bear Wha
ingenuity, cunning, valor, patience
Dr.. will he employ before the great schem
be is consummated and history is made
ed What dangers he will encounterl Wha
ch feSrful odds he will overcomel We knoN
me he is here. Could we doubt the histoI
ical romance of the future? We see tn
otS result, we reap its benefit but the cause
,ks the colossal nobody whose machination
ly- brought it all about, where is he? LC
led him stand forth that the age may q
RAJ him honorl-New York Advertiser