The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1862-11-21
Mount Plate.

tain called Mount Plate. 1t is one of the
most wild and gloomy eminences to be found
upon the globe, black with sepulchral fires.
and inaccessible scathed rocks and
fathom,ess CULTS. The carrion vulture, the
most ill-omened of birds, scars and screams
as it breasts the storms which sweep these
solitudes.
There is a tradition among the peasantry
who dwell at the base of this mountain, that
Pontius Plate, having surrendered our Sa-
viour to his murderers, and washed his hands
in unavaiing averment that he would have no
share in the iniquity he SO wickedly permitted
here,a heaven-scathed vagabond, closed his in
famous life. The legend says that after years
of remorse and despair,the guilty Roman gov
ernorp rplunged,a self-murderer,into the stormy,
icy lake, which occupies the summit of the
mount.
But the vexed spirit, even in death, could
find no rest. 1t continues to haunt the place.
A spectral form is seen. it is said, often to
emerge from the lake (which goes through the
act of washing and wringing its hands, in
memory of that hour Of weakness and guilt
when he " washed his hands before the multi
tude, saying | am innocent of the blood of
this just person; see We to it." The hideous
apparltlon seems to convulse even nature it.
self Dense clouds Of mist rise over the In
ferna Lake, SO called, and wrap the whole
summit Of the mountain in midnight gloom
From the bosom Of the cloud the shrieks ofthe
wretch, ,scourged by the lashes of fends, pierce
the air, and storm bursts forth which rends
the forest and skaters the rocks with unearthly
power.
The simple peasants in the vale below, the
untutored children of superstition, gaze upon
these phenomena with spirit of awe which
the cultured mind can with difficulty appre-
hend. They make the sign of the cross, fall
upon their knees in ,and shudderin con.
templating these evidences of divine retribu-
ton. I he influence which the truth blending
with this superstition mus: exert upon the mind
of an imaginative, e,unlettered peasant boy.musl
be vast. One would expect to find in the mids,
of these Anime valleys. prayerful and sim
fearing race.
The popular mind must be kept in igno
rance in order that superstition may be in
vested with power. An educated people viii
see no spectral apparition in the wreathing
forms of mst-will hear no shliek of tiend.
in the wailing of the storm. They will no.
believe that the tears of Christ are in thi:
vial, that this rusty iron spike was one which
pierced our Saviour-that his holse of Lo
rctto was the home of Mary. borne by angels
through the air from Palestine to Italy
Therefore the masses must be kept in igno
rance, that they may be controlled by the en-
ergies Of superstition.
An'educatcd people cannot have their soul
thus nurtured. But how abundant is th
nourishment afforded to the soul by the simple
Yet sublime revelations of Gods Word. Wha
can the imagination fancy surprising tn
themes of Death, Resurrection, Judgmen,
Heaven, Hell, Eternity. The more highly tn
minds caltiyated,the more thoroughly does
appreciate and feel the power of these revela
: tons. Pure religion and intellectual cul,ur
are the hand-maids IF each other Congyego
toRalid.