Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-10-15

FISKE'S STYLE.
Before leaving the subject something
must be said with references TO Mr..
Fiske's elegant STYLE" OF which we
hear so much. Rev. DR.. Sparrow, OF VIZ
ginia. one of the ablest thinkers ana
clearest writers Of our time, once OBJ
served that style should be like the pei
lucid air through which we clearly see.
In so far as the medium attracts atten.
ton to itself it obscures the object OF
sight" Mr. Fiske's style in school-hlstoiy
writing illustrates this defect 10 d ma n,
ed degree 1t is for this reason ana IN
this particular inferior TO that OF
writer's who-without his elegance
of diction-express themselves WIZ VIII
the simplicity that school children neeu.
Those who have maturer minds, stronger
mental visions. find great pleasure IN IL.
The atmosphere of Greece ADDS sigIy
to nurple Hvmettus our own blGe
mountains are beautiful, but with the
glory AMI the beauty the outlines are
blnrred Admitting that SUCH style -
suitable for school histories. it Is TO De9
observed that the sugar-coatlng or pm
does not warrant our administering poi-
son. 1t may be that the Trojan morse
was a shapely structure, but within rs
belly were concealed the enemies OF the
Mr Fiske's style is liable to more
serious charge. Tho true historian tens
the truth, 'uncaring consequences ~, ~
is governed by no feeling except loydily
TO the truth. There is no experienced
writer. careful of truth and yet In the
habit OF Weighing his sentences by rs
ear. who has not fought many p 1.i.
with the temptation that lies in striking
antithesis and rounded period we nave
few writer's who illustrate this truth more
forcibly than Mr.. Fiske: he mas not Won
all his battles. Possibly no one OF ms
defeats is more signal than the utter
overthrow that befel him i'm that lslst
mage we have mentioned. No other eN-
planation OF the false picture there pre-
scented Is at all admissible. IL IS scarce
too much TO say that the rounded PERIOD
makes the unreliable historian. Ar.
Fiske's history illustrates all the virtues
and all the vices that accompany mat
style OF writing
tlemen who have authorized the use or
this book are blind to its Objectionable
features. The explanation is doubtless 70
be found in the tact that they nave al
vised it's use only for high-school classes.
This must have been done on the as
SUMPTION that the public high-school boys
are mature enough to winnow the wheat
from the chaff; already sufficiently IN
structed TO recognize error ana De PROOF
AGAINST its eject and do not need SIM
ple textbooks. We venture to assert
that the assumption is untOunded: at
any rate, as citzens Of Virginia ana
Confederates, we are not willing TO take
the risk.
ment has been made, and denied, That
this book was adopted on the recommend
alton of the Citizen and Solder
Committee Of 1888; Endorsed by the
Grand Camp Committee OF the same
wear. However the impression as
10 that recommendation arose or
was made on the mind Of any member
OF the Board of Education or anybody
else, we are prepared TO prove by the
text and by a recent report of the same
committee, that they recommended only
two books-the Jones and Lee histories
Cooper & Estilrs History.
The second book to be noticed. also err
roneously supposed to have been recon-
mended by the committee for 1898, is the
Cooper d Estill History or Our CouilIt =,
The effective detailed criticism OF that
work also is handed you in the able re-
port OF Rev S. Taylor Martin. For the
purposes Of this paper. it needs, IKE the
last. only a general criticism as basis