The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1855-03-21
I'll strlln ND
The Voyage of st. Brendan.

The legend of ST. Brcndan has been
well called " the Odyssey of the Monks =
The holy navigator Left the green shore
Of Erin, putting forth boldly across the
unknown western ocean. Many aud va
rious adventures he encountered He
came TO an island, the groves of which
were Inhabited by strange birds Of white
plumage. singing tie psalms Of David
with human voice. These birds were
the fallen angels who had not rartal;en
decidedly the treason of Satan. bot re
maincd il cowardly neutrality. But
they were not. like tie same "cattivo
coro,' in Dantc's poem, larasscd iuto ac.
tivity by cloud of wasrs. They were
left even free from trouble during the
jrecE, but on SuHHdgS they were obliged
to put on each surpl;ce Of white feath-
ers and to sing the church services all
day long 1t Was an irksome rule of
Sabbath observance. hy which they must
atone for their failure Of practical duty.
The bell found by St Brcndan was an.
other island, desolatc and rugged sur
rounded and ovcIhung with lurid smoke
and fog; lie heard the mighty noise of
hammers on n forge. where evil souls
were beaten as mallcablc iron. One Of
the gigantic blacksmi,hs. or Cyclopos.
" full Of darkness and Of ffe toge,her.n
tried blow at St Brcndau.who parricd
it with the cross. The whole gang Of
them came with fury aud attempted to
burn the island; one hurled lis rcd-hot
hammer into the sea, making the water
boil. Btendan c,capod them and went
on he found q lonely man, helpless and
vciled. seated on stone with his fever
scorchcd, face kindly famed by curtain
shaken in the wind. 1t was Judas The
clomency of the Saviour allowed lis be-
trayer.uron Sundays and holilays,a = short
respite from the cruel devils. aud few
hours reposc in the solitude. Dante,
less compassionate. fixes him in the very
teeth of Satan, and in the frozen lake.
too where the cold must keep ones teeth
moving St. Hrcndan saw, moreover,
the abode Of Lc7iathan and his satcl.
lics,' and volcanic mountain shot forth
flames Of c2uliation, every time a wicked
soul was tossed into its crater. lie saw
purgatory; but the Fortunate Tslea. the
pleasant retreat Of Gods owu fayori,cs.
spoken of so fondly by the poets Of
henthcn Greece. aud confounded by him
with the Eden of Adams innocence, he
WAS not allowed to enter but. like Moses.
to view afar the land Of promise.
This fable became not the amusement
Of cloister and Of market lace it in.
va1cd G osraph.cal science When tho dis
coyery of the western hemisphere had
stimulated the love Of romantic enter
prise in regions known. men would sail
in quest of heaven, as Of FL Dorado
We are told that in the sixteenth centu.
ry, in the lifetime Of Luther, Spectators
ruined themselves in fitting out cxpedi.
tions to the Isle Of st Rrendan: and in
the treaty 10y Which Portugal ccded the
Canarics, this fancicd locality is mentian-
ed as 'lhc island not yet found" But
we remember q mnre anomalous instance
of this confusion of mythical with geo
graphical localities The received opinion
being, that this earth was not a globe
but pcar-shapod, and that the topcrirg
summit Of the earth elevated into Durcr
atmosphere, aud more near to the sun,
was the site Of the primcyal Eden
notion which determines the cosmical
plan Of the middle division of the "Divina
Commedia, 1T came into the mind ol
Columns, cnthusia site ard dcyout as il
was saeacious, to conjecture that, when
lie sailed towards tic coast Of South
America. and IN certain latitudes expe
rienced lighter and milder air, he was
ascending the cone which was believed
to eliminate on the opposite side OF the
earth, at point the precise aniipodes Of
Jerusalem, and that he would speedily
discover the long-lost Paradise. But VIC
are told cfa fact that appears even
more significant of the revolution, which
few generations have effected, in all oul
habits and ideas. Scarcely more than a
century ago, reckoned from this age ot
ocean-spurning steamships and infalliblC
American packets, in the year 1921, q
vessel quilted Spanish port the purpose
OF seeking. to the westward Of the Ca
narles. once more, the Fortunate Isles o.
antiquity, the marvellous Isles of 50
Brentlan !-Idifs Magazine