Show I I The Relative Strength off of Truth Troth and Error II I BY Y G ORGE L L. L KNAPP 1 Truth crushed to earth will rise again The eternal years yean of or God Goil aro are hers But Hut Error wounded writhes In pain And nd dies amid his bin worshipers worshiper The first statement in this r rather mechanical rhyme is undeniably cor cor- Tru Truth t h crushed d to tu earth t will H rillo o again Ir again if you OU give Ive her hor time lime enough tl But the thc talk about the thc ea ease enso o with which error is slain Is idiotically false If Error were so 0 fragile and Truth so robust wh why there ther wouldn't h he nn any Truth would have hn wiped out outher outher her adversary lder al' al RI ages a ago o. o Hut on too contrary the thc poets poet's own word implies that Truth Is crushed to earth n again ln and and again and the only thing to lu do dothe lh the Hie crushing 1 I. I Is Error Mark tark Twain hIt has hn had hail tho the courage f to look tho matter In the thc to face c and he lie t tells us that tho principal difference d bet between between-a wern a. a c cat t and anil anda anila a Ito llo li is that the thc cat ha has hall only nino nano lives Anti Ami Mark Twain loves cats and has hall expanded tel telegrams Look back over o history for to- toa a moment moment mo mo- ment and sec lice how man many fallacies nave have crept pt Into common text books and common belief where thc they 8 securely abide In oven even n unto this hits day Their falsity fat Cal sity may have been proven a n. thousand times but hut they ther seem to mind the dem dent demonstration not at ot all Ask any American Ameri Amerl- can Rn school ho boy wh why wo we fought t the p war of 1812 with I England and who won It anti and his Ilm answer Is ready reallY Wo We 0 fought for forthe forthe the freedom of oC the thc sc seas s to make e England Eng Eng- land quit Impressing our OUI sailors s and ROll we 1 won a glorious victory Well ell his knowledge IB Is Just half true true Wo We c didgo did po go to war Avar to stop tho the nt of ot American merl an seamen But nut we didn't win On the tho contrary through h the tho greater part pan of the war we were ingloriously thrashed Our coast was blockaded el front from rom Maine alne to Georgia our capital was burned by a marauding force foice our national na na- na hymn The Star Spangled Ban than ner nor was wa written to celebrate the re repulse repulse re- re puI pulse from Baltimore of or a British force not half as numerous an OR tho garrison on onor of or that fortified city elt We c won some splendid sea Rea duels We co showed at Lake Champlain hen serious s Invasion In was attempted that tho the country simply couldn't be bc conquered But In all tho the ordinary operations of or war we seemed utterly helpless and the only real famous fa famous rn fa- victory we wc won was New V e Orleans fought after tho trea treaty o of peace had bad been signed Anti And wo we didn't secure the freedom of or orthe the tho spas Not one ono word on this subJect subject sub sub- Jeet was contained In the treaty which put an nn end to lo th the war We 0 simply dropped the matter and antI England was ready read to let lot it drop because she had put out of ot the wn way and had hadas hadas as al many man sailors as ns she he needed without stealing lInh ours You see sec the country went nt Into that war with divided councils councils coun coun- New ew England which hind had been heen the time backbone of the n Revolution lIk liked this tits second war so II ill HI that she sho talked about seceding The country was still stilla a confederacy rather than a II nation and President Madison was ns not a military military military mili mili- tary man England Ingland on tho the other otner hand had hart been ben fi lighting fighting for so many ninny years that lint she moved Nl almost automatically on the right lines and by the time we hail had shaken ourselves nn and were In good shape to deal with her t the war waso was o over VI I That Is fa an Instance of or a fallacy that thatIs Is firmly believed by the great majority major major- It ity of p In nee int country It is easy as to fi find tl fallacies that arc are accepted dby tl d by by the whole civilized world Take Tale the the glory ory of or Louis XIV for forr example HIIs He HI HeIs Heis is acclaimed as the th Grande Manar Manar- que flue and his reign Is reckoned the tho flowering time o of French Kronen genius Na Nay there thel are plenty plent of called so-called historians to declare that Louis was responsible for fOI the outburst of ot genius which Is said to have glorified his reign Yet what aro alO t toe ne facts facts' Louis XIV XI was w a cruel and remorseless tyrant In his youth he was superstitious superstitions and licentious In let his a ago e he was superstitious superstitious and ascetic but always ho lie was harrow mindol cruel selfish and anti vicious He- He sacrificed He-sacrificed a million French lives cs In wars In which France had IntI not the slightest Interest lAst wars which It if successful would have havo Increased only the vanity of or the king not the pros pros pros- verity of the nation lie JIo drew all the tho power of Franco France to n. n Bead licud In tho 1 royal Er c cg g chambers r Ho Ifs drove out n more r than 1 a million of or his bis host boat subjects merely be because because be- be cause CRuse the they differed from him In iii ro- ro lon He lie wasted w the tho finances and drained the resources oC or the tho land till tin In f fertile the peasants I Ir d Irn grass grain s and nettles to k keep crl themselves thom thom- selves alive and slept on time the ground because the tax gatherer hall hail their bed beds And Anil so o tar far from causing an n outburst j i of French genius he oe ruined It Every i great man whose whoso name has hus hc been n used to bolster up UI the glory of If louls XIV XI was born and raised cd under the freer and more moro liberal regime rc that prevailed j i h before for Louis louls took charge of ot affairs Tur Turenne and Conde amon among generals I DuQuesne n ns as a sea aea tl fighter R Racine i Mollere and Corneille among aiming literary men and anti n. n host of or artists and lesser lights had come to maturity and nd begun to win fame tame before the death of ot Mazarin Maz- Maz arin when Louis for the first time began to rule rulf And almost without exception these theo great reat men tiled tied long Ions before be- be beI I i fore the close of ot Louiss Louis's long reign reign reign- and there was none to tape take their I places The rhe la last t half haU of or the age ago of I louls XIV Is the most barren period I that France has ever cr known since she i began to ho bo France In thc tl emphatic I 1 lan language Jo of or Prince I- I Eugene Louis Louts was wa wasa a R. stage king for show sho and a chess hc s I king for 01 u use e The enormities of or his rule are open palpable notorious I Tho They can be LC proven In 20 0 minutes In nn any good library nay library nay half a dozen pa pages f 8 of or Buckles Buckle's History tory of ot Civilization I tion HOIl are enough Then thero there Is la the common belief betler that Columbus was practically alone alono In believing that toe world was round As a 0 matter of fact the educated men of oC Columbus's w f worn re rJ as well convinced convinced con con- vinced 1 of the tho rotundity of ot the earth con I as l I I the they art are U today torl There Them is i is the story till Galileo when forced to recant hi hip hilt statement t that the time n eart n moves ex exclaimed exclaimed ex- ex claimed as ho rose roo from rom hi his knees It does docs move tor for all nIl that thoU No io doubt Galileo Gallico felt like lIko saying It ft Hut But ho IH kne knew better than thon to to give Ive vent to his bis feelings If he hind hal made such a u re remark remark re- re mark and an arty any one present had heard him ho he would have havo forthwith nave have n been handed banded over ocr to the tender candor mer- mer clea cles of tho torturer That Th no Of was Wl I n n nt n t dealt with Is proof that no one heard him mako make such ouch a n. r remark m and ami tf It It was I not Hot heard beard one Is I puzzled to gue guess s how the tho fact at out that tho the exclamation I VI was s I undo made at lt all These are only simple errors that thai refused re re- fused to writhe In pain when hen wounded h by th the hand of ot accurate criticism There are plenty more In fact tact V Errors Error's Errors Error's Er- Er favorite method of oC replying to the shafts of or Truth is to repeat the thebo bo boys boas phrase Never e cr touched mo me and KO go o on il Us its fruitful wa way l An error that I Ican can c-an bo be brought Into face to o contradiction con con- on with tho the facts of dally daily life withers and dies to 10 be pure though pure though tho the process Isn't so rapid a WI as wo we might wish nut lint when a a. story appeals to I national pride and prejudice or when it I relieves rolO tho the strain on memory memon b bv by as ascribing ascribing as- as I to a n single h man the deeds of ot an anage ago age or when It strikes n a chord of ot otI I natural human fooling feeling as In the tale of ot Galileo lIIrO then that story will tIon tI live lUo on from age to age no matter h how ho false it ma may be bc Civilization hasn't t lasted long enough to test the vitality I of oC some lies Which ma may bo be only a caso case of ot art I outdoing nature after all I |