Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-16
#istetlaneous Grading.
AN AMERICAN HISTORY FAKER
Parson Weems GIorified Our Revolu-
tion, but He Was a Cheerful Liar.

: Parson Weems Glorified Our Revolu'
tion, but He Was Cheerful Liar.
1t Is the Fourth of July-this year
last year, next year. any year. A hun
, dred million patriots and near patriots
born of Mayflower stock or born OF
Magyar hunger for American oppor-
tunities, recall the familiar picture OF
! 1876 years ago.
u A weak, almost helpless people, hem
med between the oak-ribbed power OF
Britain on the sea and the whetted
scalping knives Of the savages on thei
land. Patient, meek, long suffering,
starved and oppressed until Christian
humility can bear no more, the handful
of patriots rise In their might. In
thunder tones the voice Of freedom
of one Of their provincial leaders-they
hurl defiance in their oppressor's
teeth; starve, freeze. perish of wounds
and privation; yet never falter, never
quail, until at last their hateful foe
giant among the giant nations Of the
earth, draws back in horror and dread
Of their sublime prowess and AFFECTED
ly acknowledge the justice Of their holy
cause.
That's the vision Fourth Of July con-
jures up. phrased in strictly appropri-
ate style, isn't It?
Well, the real truth is a sad story.
But sad as 1t is, every ear Is making its
verify more evident, as every year
makes 1t more evident that the vision,
like the style Of its description, belongs
to the utterly unreliable brain and the
fire-alarm pen of the first American
popular historian, Rev. Mason L.
Weems, book peddler, fiddler, faker
and the more cheerful old liar who ever
came down the pike in dire need Of
earning dollar.
| For a good many years the intelli-
gent patriots Of the United States,
| guided by some emphatic hints given
by honest historians, have had their
doubts about the cruel expressions Of
the British and the meek forbearance
of the patriots every little while some
American author Of high standing for
moral courage and cold facts, like
Owen Wister, would drop overheard
into the ocean Of conflicting state
ments and bob up, gasping from the
muck Of reality he had struck under
the surface of sublime humility and
ed all the history, Americans, as a
whole ever knew. There was even one
secretary Of war in the United States
who explained that the militia Of the
Revolution included so many deserters
that it was q miracle there was any
revolution at ALL
This year the historical facts Of that
| portentous conflict reached the stage OF
study before the American Philosophi
cal society, which may be rated among
the most conservative and dignifed
scientific bodies in the world.
| Sidney G. Fisher, In an elaborate
study Of the actual conditions attend
ing the Revolution, found that the max
ing Of myths about II began almost be-
fore the Revolution did, which Is about
thousand years or so ahead Of myth
making In other lands. This shows
not only what an enterprising people
Americans are, but also In what rever-
ence they hold their finest liars.
When he got all through he hadn't
the smallest hope to express thai his
countrymen will ever forsake the fc-
tion and believe the facts. The origf--
nal lying was done at a time OF such
necessity, 1t stood so long ~"
| time, it has been so ingrained and In
born in the very convolutions of th'
American brain. that the millions yet
unborn will be prepared to fight hard
er in defense of the lying legends than
others have fought for the sake of the
truth.
| Yet the reasons for the myths now
reverenced were perfectly simple and
natural.
| Though there was a large loyalist
party" explained Mr.. Fisher. "in some
places large majority, 1t was so COM
pletely defeated, hunted down, terror
lied and driven out of the country,
scattered in Canada and various other
British possessions, that, to use a vul-
garism. they never opened their heads
again. Only in recent times has any
one had the face to collect their evil
dence and arguments from the original
sources and publish them. The sue
cessful party In America ignored them,
to make 1t appear that the revolution
was q great, spontaneous uprising Of
! the whole American people without
faction or disagreement among them
selves. In England. strangely enough,
they were suspected Of being half r"-
bells and were treated as somewhat
contemplate objects Of charity, or at
best, as mere provincials.
| I'm the second place." added Mr..
Fisher, I'VE were long a very disunit-
ed people. Our writer's and able men
struggled to build up a nation and give
dignity and respect to everything; to
make no damaging admissions, to let
no smallest fact creep out that might
be taken advantage Of. 1t was too
much to expect that they should de-
| scribe the factions and turmoil Of the
| Revolution as they really were; the
military absurdity of the British Gen
eral Howe. letting 1t go by default; the
cruelty and prosecutions inflicted on
the loyalists and their large numbers.
So they described revolution that
never happened and never could hap
pen, a whoop- and -hurrah boys revolu-
ton, all spontaneous, all united, mer-
| ciful, noble, perfect; all virtue and
grand ideas on one side, all vice, wick
edness, effeteness and degeneration on
the other"
| With which candid preface Mr.. Fish
or reviewed one life of Washington.
which furnished a pedestal of divinity
for the national hero and left him so
much of a demigod and so little OF a
man that most Of him, the real him.
has evaporated until the full-blooded'
human, intelligibly great Washington Is
as much of a mummy as any Pharaoh
who ever stank Of bitumen. 1t was
rlyo nraQi6ant