Evening journal., 1911-03-11
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Novel That Froude
Did Not Write
By "HoIIand."

In the early seventies OF the last
century James Anthony Froude visited
the United States. The interest oc-
casioned by the coming Of this distin-
guished English historian, this master
of English style and Of descriptive
writing, and educator, was surpassed
only by the interest caused by the
visits here of Dickens and Thackeray,
and, possibly, of Tyndall, who was not
only one of the foremost men of sci
ence Of his time, but also a very popu-
lar lecturer upon scientific subjects.
Professor Froude, to call him by his
scholastic title. although he preferred
the simpler title of Mr., met the popu-
lar idea respecting the personal char
acteristics of a cultivated Englishman.
His complexion was Of pink tint, al-
most like that OF lad, indicating per-
feet health. He wore the conventional
muttonchop side-whiskeTs. He was
about six feet tall. although a little
stopped at the shoulders. His clothes
fitted him perfectly. When he took any
one of re long walks of which he was
so fond when in the United States, be
was accustomed TO wear a suit of
rough gray Scotch mixture, and It be-
Upon his return TO New York after
his visit TO New Haven, Conn, where
he spent several days. Mr.. Froude
spoke Of the inspiration which he mad
received there for a romance which, he
thought, could be made as interesting
and as powerful as any Of the histor-
ical romances written in the English
tongue, excepting those of Scott.
wont m Nauf Davof, r,o rfIt 70, frff
Yale College, with some of whose pro-
fessors have had a pleasant ac-
quaintance." said Mr.. Froude to his
American friend, the late Parke Cod
win, who, as editor>of Putnams Mag
azine In the fifties, had become well
acquainted with Froude, but I also
wanted to look at the burial places of
the three regicides, Dixwell, Goffe and
Whalley, who l knew were buried at
New Haven. and | was especially an
xious 10 visit the cave in which Goffe
and Whalley were secreted at the time
the agents of King Charles IL were
searching for them in order to sppre-
hend them, take them to England, and
put them to death. was taken to the
little plot of ground within a stones
throw of Yale where there still remain
the multilated headstones which mark
the graves of COTE and his son-in-law,
Whalley; a modern monument has
been erected there to the memory Of
Dixwell. Then / took a walk OF some
five or six miles to a mountain beyond
the confines of the city, and was shown
the cave In which COTE and Whalley
were secreted learned enough to as
sure me that the tradition is no myth;
those two regicides, or judges Of
Charles /. who pronounced the
penalty of death upon him
were actually secreted there. became
interested. The story of their wander
ings, their hiding places, and the mi
raculous appearance of Gofie at a
time Of great danger because of the
advance of Indians, seemed to me TO
furnish the basis of an exceedingly in
teresting romance, of which, of course,
the background would be Ne Long
| Parliament, the sentence Of death upon
| Charles l, the restoration, by which
/ Charles II became king and the flight
OF the regicides to save their lives
| There is also, the possibility Of por-
traying the life in Connecticut of those
who first made settlement and after
wards created a government there
have now another romance in mind
the scene OF which is laid In Ireland
and when ! have finished it / hope
shall be able to take up the romance
of the regicides who escaped to Amer
ica."
Professor Froude departed for Eng
land, still enthusiastic over this pro-
ject He did complete and publish his
Irish romance years later, but whether
he ever mapped out the romance Of the
regicides none Of his American friends
was able to tell.
Copyright. 1911, by E. j. Edwards. All
Rights Reserved)