Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-12-08
HEROES BECOMINCG GHOSTS
WASHINGTON AND JOHN BROWN
MAY SOME DAY LOSE PER-
S0NAL IDENTITY.
ST. GEORGE A BLUNDER.
st. Patrick Has Been Doubted in Certain
Quarters and Gelert of Wales
Was Not Dog.

quarlans OF the future, porting over the
dusty records of American history, will
take Washington and John Brown to be
mere culture myths. personifcations of
tendency and spirit, rather than actual
personalities! Will they interpret Wash
lngtOn as a type of the spirit that
Graves civil liberty; and Brown Of that
which Graves liberty of the person?
No one can be certain, says The New
and traditions of the past have been
ruthlessly dealt with by callous and cold
blooded inquirers; so manw personalities
have been transformed into phantoms,
that one can hardly feel sure even of
ones own identity. Perhaps we our
selves are simply solar myths or types
of something.
merely "the poet" a generic name APP
piled to a syndicate of Greek bards.
Bacon has been resurrected for the pur-
pose OF pOsthumously killing Shake
speare, and it is certain that his own
personality has not been made any more
distinct thereby. One may think of him
as a ghostly slayer of ghosts.
ST. George a Blunder.
Brtons used to believe strenuously in
their patron Sir George. 1t now APP
pears that their adoption of such saint
was an egregious blunder. st. George,
if he existed at all, was Cappadocian
martyr, and never killed any dragon
unless it was his own sins. 1t is very
certain that he had nothing to do with
Britain. His figure on the coins is 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 small
norton of fbn nFin0in o. ifx Tn of
Tennyson and Mallory, King Arthur has
been explained away; he seems to have
been gigantic fraud of the Welsh min
strels, invented to console them for the
incursions of the clustering Teutons.
They were determined to have a great
hero, and they succeeded in palming Ar
thur upon the imagination of Europe
What Is the Use?
They even pretended that he was not
dead, but would return to lead them to
victory, and to combat one illusion by
another Henry II. pretended to find Ar
thurs bones at Glastonbury. Such at
least is the statement of the archaeologic
wet blankets, who persist in pouring a
cold douche on our dearest fancies.
What is the use of having patron
saints and national heroes? They all
belong to some other country; or else
they never existed; they are stars or
suns or solar systems, or types of cul
ture.
Perhaps Francis Drake and Walter
Raleigh were Aryan myths; many mar
wells have been told about them which
the antiquarians are sure to discredit.
Surely the Maytiower itself is as vision
airy as the Grecian Argo.
Andrew Lang has discovered the leg
end OF Jason among the MalagaSy, ES-
quimauX, japanese. Zulus, Samoyeds:
perhaps he will discover King Alfred
nd h
ish regions. The cakes certainly have a
solar look; perhaps they may be found
in the HitOpadesa.
Gelert Was Not a Dog.
Wales used to be proud of its legend
of the dog Gelert and visitors to 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 dog at all.
Then there is that fine old story of
William Tell, impressed on our mines
from childhood rendered immortal by
Schiller in the domain of drama and by
RosSini in that of music. Poor Tell is
denounced as an Aryan fable and his
apple is rs mythical as those of the
Hesperdes
Antiquarians find the tale in Norway
and in Finland and in Persia: Switzer-
lands claim is quite a secondary matter
she only comes in at the death. Cess
Ter is the spirit of OWL and Tell the cloud
that shoots lightning at him In real
life these things do not happen: the
lightning strikes the just and the unjust
with strict impartia lily.
The point is that Tell and his apple
are gone forev:,l. and there is not even
a ghost to console W. After this you
are not surprised to be robbed of Brown
ing'S Pied Piper, of course. he has to 60
he is far too interesting 70 be real
He traces from Orpheus and Apollo ano
old Sanscrit wind lengends: he is a type
of the power of music, of the mysterious
wall 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
Bishop Hattie a Fake.
Then there was Bishop Hattie. People
used to believe in him once and Long
fellow with a vivid touch brought him
miss him from their minds. Tradition
got hold of the wrong man, besides
which the old Mouse Tower is only an
ancient toll house for collecting dues.
The tale about the devouring mice has
been told of several persons Hattie was
really a good man and has been sorely
maligned. The story is found in AuS-
tria and Bavaria. in Poland. in Scandi-
navia. In this case it is possible that
some occurrence really happened like
that related in the legend; but it should
not attach to the Bishop of Bingen.
May Doubt Nelson.
People have suffered many other de-