Pages of History: Essays on Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Carlisle: The New Loudon Press, 97 pp. $9.95.
This relatively short volume consists of a highly personalized preface and six chapters dealing with various aspects of the history and development of our county from the mid-eighteenth century until 1931. The author provides a well-written narrative, sprinkled with delightful anecdotes and tantalizing pieces from his wide reading and learning. An excellent example of his classical knowledge is reflected in the citation of a quote from Juvenal to reflect on the fact that the narrative ends in 1931. Mr. Heisey observes that "this side of the horizon" should be a focus oflocal history, but with wit he escapes the implication by quoting the Roman satirist, who wrote that "it saves a lot of bother to write only of men now in the cemeteries along the roadside."
One of the most successful elements in these essays is the linking of local events to larger trends in national history. In his treatment of the appearance in Mechanicsburg of the noted public speaker and politician, William Jennings Bryan, he not only reminds us of the special role of oratory before radio and television (it was for entertainment), but connects it with the values of small-town America confronting change in 1903. The author describes Colonel Bryan speaking for two hours criticizing the moral blindness reflected in our involvement in the Philippines-the first in a long line of overseas ventures that would take Cumberland County citizens all around the globe. In passing, the reviewer wishes to note a surprising gap in the author's impressive grasp of American history. He repeats the myth that Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was given "little notice." Granted that after two hours of splendid oratory by Edward Everett, the two-plus minutes speech of the President seemed too brief, but we know that many (including Everett) recognized it for what it is- a masterpiece.
On April 6, 1784, in the county courthouse in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the Board of Trustees of the fledgling Dickinson College met and asked two of its members, John Dickinson and Benjamin Rush, to devise a seal for the college.