The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16
SLAUGHTER or THE INNOCENTs.
Must Washington and the Msynower Ga
the way Of Homer and william TesiT

the Way Of Homer and william TeET
Will the time ever come when the anti
quarians Of the future. porting over the
dusty records Of American history, will
take Washington and John Brown TO be
mere culture myths, personihcations Of
tendency and spirit, rather. h actual
p~ersonalities1 Will they interpret Wash
ington a. a type Of the spirit that crave
civil. liberty, and Brown Of that which
Graves liberty Of the person2
No one can be certain. So many cherished
stories aSd traditions OF the past have been
ruthlessly dealt with by ~callous and cold
blooded inquirere, 30 many personalities
have been transformed into phantoms,
that one can hardly feel sure even OF ones
own Identity. Perhaps We ourselves are
simply solar myths or types OF something.
Homer was slain long ago; he Is merely
the poet. a generic name applied TO a syn-
dictate Of Greek bards. Bacon has been
resurrected for the purpose Of postum
mously killing Shakespeare, and 10 is certain
that his own personality has not been made
any more distinct thereby. One may
think Of him as a ehoetly slayer OF ghosts.
Britons used to believe ~strenuously in
their patron st. George. Il now appears
that their adoption OF such a saint was an
egregious blunder. St. George, IL he ex-
isted at all, was a C~appadocian martyr,
and never killed any dragon unless 1t was
his own sins. II is very certain that he had
nothing to do with Britain. His figure on
the coins il a delusion.
Even st. Patrick has been seriously
doubted in some learned quarters; and it
is clear that st. David or Devil OF Wales
has only a claim to represent a small portion
OF the principally. In spite Of Tennyson
and Mallory, King Arthur has been ex-
planned away; he seems to have been a gi-
gantic fraud of the Welsh minstrels. in
vented to console them for the incursions
OF the clustering Teutons. They were
determined to have a great hero, and they
succeeded in palming Arthur upon the i'm
agination OF Europe.
They even pretended that he was not
dead, but would return to lead them to
victory; and 10 combat one illusion by an
other Henry II. pretended 10 find Arthur's
bones at Glastonbury. Such at least il the
statement OF the arch@ologic wet blankets.
who persist in pouring a cold douche on our
dearest fancies.
What IL the use OF having patron saints
and national heroesl They all belong to
some other country, or else they never
existed; they are stars or suns or solar sys-
TENS, or types OF culture.
Perhaps Francis Drake and Walter
Raleigh were Aryan myths; many marvels
have been told about them which the
a~ntiquarians are sure TO discredit. Surely
the Mayhower itself ia as visionary as the
Grecian Argo.
Andrew Lang has discovered the legend
Of Jason among the Mslsgasy, Esquimaux,
Japanese, Zulus, Samoyeds: perhaps ne
will discover King Alfred and the cakes
in some similar outlandish regions. The
cakes certainly have a solar look; perhaps
they may be found in the Hitopadesa.
Wales used to be proud OF its legend Of
the dog Gelert, and visitors 20 the Snowdon
district were always ready to repeat lines
from the ballad that tells Of his prowess.
But the Gelert whose name survives at
Bedd- Gelert was only a Celtic saint, not a
dog at all.
Then there il that fine old story Of William
Tell. impressed on our minds from child
hood. rendered immortal by Schiller in the
domain Of drama and by Rossini in that Il
music. Poor Tell is denounced az an Aryan
fable and his apple is as mythical as those
OF the Hesperides.
AntIuuarians find the tale in Norway and
in Finland and in Persia; Switzerland's
claim Is quite a secondary matter, she only
comes in at the death. GessIor is the spirit
Of evil and Tell the cloud that shoots light
ming at him. In real life these things do not
happen; the lightning strikes the just and
the unjust with strict impartislity.
The point IL that Tell and his apple
are gone forever, and there is not even a
khost to console US. After this you are not
surprised to be robbed Of Browning's Pied
Piper. Of course, he has to go-he IN far
too interesting 60 be real. He traces from
Orpheus and Apollo and old Sanscrit
wind legends; he is a type OF the " OF
music, Of the mysterious vail Of the wind
that seems to speak to the very soul. Wind
myths are very common in all countries
and ages and are usually beautiful.
Then there was Bishop Hatto. People
used to believe in him oncs and LongfelIow
with a vivid touch brought him home
to us. or course, people must dismiss him
from their minds. Tradition got hold Of
the wrong man, besides which the old
Mouse Tower il only an ancient toll house
for collecting dues.
The tale about the devouring mice has
been told Of several other persons. Hatto
was really a good man and has been sorely
maligned The story Is found In Austria
and Bavaria, in Poland, in Scandinavia.
In this case it il possible that some occur-
renee really happened like tina related in
the legend; but il should not attach TO the
Bishop Of Bingen.
People nave suffered many other
deprivations in the field Of tradition. some
Of which touch the public more nearly than
this. King Lear has been traced to Indian
fable. and the story OF the Merchant Of
Venice also comes from the i%mmemorial
East, TO which literature owes far more
than is ever acknowledged.
In more recent times, IL seems certain
that Wellington never said up, Guards,
and at 'em!- You even begin to doubt
Nelson's famous motto that he signalled
through his feet.
IL il not time to revolt against this icono-
elastic tyranny ? The public will turn al
last against those who have trodden on its
traditions, people will refuse to surrender
any more Of their cherished traditions and
ideals; they will even revert to some that
are supposed to have been slain and decline
to acknowledge that they are dead.