If equally deviant from the truth

Rummaging around amongst the electronic texts of Gutenberg or Internet Archive, there is a mass of books from ages past to be found, waiting to have the electronic dust blown off them and to be reread.

In looking for John Adams' letters, I came across, quite by accident, Hero Tales from American History by those old stalwarts and friends, Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt. I did not know of its existence and I am looking forward to reading it.

Hero Tales was published in 1895 as a children's book to teach character and virtue. Roosevelt was at the time President of the New York City Police Board and Lodge was a Senator.

Thinking about this find, it prompts the thought that there are ebbs and flows in history and the pendulum swings from side to side.

Hero Tales from American History is clearly of that time when the leaders of our country rejoiced in our history and lionized our citizen heroes. Without a doubt, truth was not always well-served, indeed, to some extent, sacrificed to a good tale, well told. You can't help but have a little 21st century cynical smirk as you read these one-sided stories of courage and sacrifice and glory. But you also can't help but cast aside that jadedness either. A good story is always a good story. Yes, its nice to have a larger context, and a more balanced one, than is present in Hero Tales but it is also nice to give oneself up to positivity.

It is a relief compared to our leading lights today who never miss an opportunity to point out the moral failings of past heroes. Who want to focus on the manifest ways in which ancient people failed to behave as if they were modern, exquisitely sensitive denizens of the 21st century faculty lounge. But it also prompts the thought that these modern critics are no more accurate than those older boosters. Truth is being equally sacrificed in both cases, just on different sides of the ledger. The older enthusiasts focused on the positive and ignored the blight, the modern critics focus on the blight and ignore the positive.

If equally deviant from the truth, I know which I prefer.