200 A Century of Science 



forest life had long ago been made the theme of 

 novels and poems, such as they were; I wonder 

 how many people of to-day remember even the 

 names of such books as " Yonnondio " or " Ka- 

 baosa " ? All such work was thrown into the shade 

 by that of Fenimore Cooper, whose genius, though 

 limited, was undeniable. But when we mention 

 Cooper we are brought at once by contrast to the 

 secret of Parkman's power. It has long been 

 recognized that Cooper's Indians are more or less 

 unreal; just such creatures never existed any- 

 where. When Corneille and Racine put ancient 

 Greeks or Romans on the stage they dressed them 

 in velvet and gold lace, flowing wigs and high 

 buckled shoes, and made them talk like Louis 

 XIV.'s courtiers ; in seventeenth-century drama- 

 tists the historical sense was lacking. In the next 

 age it was not much better. When Rousseau had 

 occasion to philosophize about men in a state of 

 nature he invented the Noble Savage, an insuffer- 

 able creature whom any real savage would justly 

 loathe and despise. The noble savage has figured 

 extensively in modern literature, and has left his 

 mark upon Cooper's pleasant pages as well as 

 upon many a chapter of serious history. But you 

 cannot introduce unreal Indians as factors in the 

 development of a narrative without throwing a 



