If Historians
themselves have differed (and still differ)! may it not be pleaded
on behalf of the Historical Novelist that he also must be judged
according to the possibilities of his time? For, while he may have
too readily adopted false conceptions in the past, there is no
necessity why, in the future, he also--profiting by the growth of
Critical investigation--should not have due regard, in the working
out of his Historical background, for all the latest "results."
And, I would further add, even though it be true that Scott and
others have misled us in certain directions, this does not prevent
our acknowledgment that, given their aspect of a particular period,
it was only fitting that the scheme of their novels should be in
harmony with it. If "Bloody Mary" was a cruel hypocrite, then our
reading of her period will be influenced by that real (or supposed)
fact; but, if further investigation reverses this severe judgment
on the woman herself, then, in Heaven's name, let us mould our
general conception afresh. The fountains of Romance show no sign
of running dry, and, though we may look in vain at the moment for a
genius of the very highest type, the Future has possibilities
within it which the greatest literary pessimist among us cannot
wholly deny.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40