The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1864-07-14
Robinson Crusoes.

ger than fiction, is no where better il.
lustralod than in the instance Of Robin
son Crusoe. A large number Of per-
sons regard the story as sxtrevagsnt,
very improbable 10 it's general character
and impossible in some of its details. =
But the fact is, that Defoe's Imagination
never rose as high as the actual truth.
He. like many other noveIists who have
introduced real circumstances INTO their
productions. was compelled to tone down
facts. lest his story should be thought
too improbable. Alexander Selkirk lie
generally given as the original of the
imaginary Crusoe. This hOnoris some
times conferred on Dampier. Between
these twoiQ supposed to rest Defoe's
source OF inspiration; but tn eQe are only
two out of very many Instances Of men
leading solitary lives on undiscovered
islands. or in uuexPlorad foreslS-under
the blazing sunsof the tropics, OF amid
the horrors ofeternal winter in the Arc,
tic Seas. N0merOus examples Of this
kind aye on record--ihey are found 10
all ages and countries; and, whether as
written narratives OF traditional story,
are invariably found to possess the same
charms which belong TO the solitary he
rO Of Juan Fernandez.
The original Robinson Crusoo appears
TO be the Chronos Of the Greeks. who,
failing to preserve a stipulated treaty
with the TitaDs, was seized and impris-
oned in cavern on o deGer Island =
This classic fable is, in all probability,
the colored picture Of some historical
laps The aslors. .aE Rhiloetnira ! =
solitary life al Lemons, 81 tue Grectan
Archipelago, is also, no doubt, the poet.
ical version Of we'll authenticated cir
cppstsace. The unfortunate hero Of
this narrative has broken his oath, and
was abandoned to his fate or desert
island; and there he remained for Ten
years, suffering the most horrible pgiYa-
tions; after which he was rescued by
Ulysses, The poetic vesture with which
the imoeinOtiye Greek clothed simple
truths and plain facts, is seen in the leg.
ends of the no less imaginative Scandi.
nayian. The stories also related Of some
Of the fathers Of the Church abandon
ed, or wrecked, or willingly selecting c
life Of gulitule ou some sea-girt rock
are further illustrations Of the universal.
ity ofthe Crusoe narratives. There was
the pious Abbot Brandon, of Bretague,
whose adventures at sea are almost as
remarkable as those of Snbad the Sailor
The object Of this voyage appears to
have been to seek out hermit, who,
thirty years before, had taken up his
ycsdence on barren rock, in the midst
Of iho sea. 1t lis unnecessary TO relate
how the hermit received his guests -
That egave them hearty welcome was
certain; but It's asserted that he elect.
cd to remain where be was "til tho day
OfjplgpeRt'
There was in the sixteenth century
legend firmly believed in by large num-
Der OF Portuguese, and which asserted
that Don Sebastian instead Of being
dead as was commonly supposed, was lea
ing a solitary life in au island ofthp sea.
There he was waiting till the hour should
arrive for his temperance in the busy
world. the intervening leisure being
spent in no other gociety than that O'
two aniabls lions.
Whom maritime enterprise was exci-
tod by the discovery Of the New World
the stories Of sailors wrecked on desert
islands, and there loadiDg lives moro or
less miserable, until they were fortunate
ly picked off by some passing vessel,
became common. There was Veno.
tian sailor, who dwelt for two years
alone on an island; GenusO, who was
picked up after spending eight years in
solitude; Two women, wrecked on The
coast Of Yucutan, lived for many years
10 solitude. There was Cslinno, one Of
the first Europeans in Mexico, who was
wrecked on an island, and compelled to
subviSt on the AeSb of the gOO.wolf; there
there was Juan Of CSrthagenp, the rival