Crusoe in New York, and other talesHale, Edward Everett
General
Crusoe in New York, and other tales
Hale, Edward Everett
New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Short stories, American; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
Far back in the period of mythical history in the East two brothers,
men of spirit, tact, shrewdness, and literary culture, conducted at the
same time two monthly magazines. The offices of publication were so far
from each other, and the "constituencies" were so different, that the
two journals did not in the least interfere with each other. Those were
in the happy days when there were no mails; and each magazine had its
own staff and its own contributors, the one set skilled in the language
and literature of Tartary, and the other in those of India. Though the
two brothers loved each other, they seldom exchanged letters, and the
chosen contributors of one journal never sent articles to the other.
One of these magazines, called the "Friend of the City," in their queer
Eastern way, was published at Delhi. The other, called the "King of the
Age," was published at Samarcand. Each of them achieved great
popularity, and, by virtue of its popularity, great power. At Delhi, in
particular, the editor became the real controlling power in the city,
and in what we call the kingdom. Not but what there was some kind of a
sachem or mikado, who in after ages would have been called a sultan or
an emperor, who did not edit the magazine, but was kept for or by his
sins in a certain prison, which he called a palace, which stood where
Shah Jehan long after built his magnificent abode. But this poor dog of
a mikado had nothing to do with the real government. He had to put his
seal to a good many documents, and he had to settle a horrible mess of
quarrels among his servants and harem people every day; and sometimes
he had the bore of turning out in the hot sun, with umbrellas and
elephants and bands of music, and so on, to receive some foreign
embassy. This he called reigning, and a very stupid life it was, and
very hard work did it bring upon him. But all the fun of command, all
the real disposition of the forces of Delhi and that country, and all
the comfort of life which comes from success and the "joy of eventful
living," these came, not to this poor shah, mogul, sultan, emperor, or
sachem, or whatever you choose to call him, but to the editor of the
"Friend of the City." He drove his span of horses when he chose and as
he chose, he sent the army where he chose when he chose, and he
dictated the terms of the treaties with the foreign powers. All this he
did because he had a large subscription list and he edited well.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account