Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-16
...u. M.snus and His Auteuaton,

.u.r+us Masnus and His Auteuaton.
.,hertus Nagnus possessed = wonder
ALnowledge of chemistry, natural
fni :,asonhy and medicine, His spare
t;me, when freed from the onerous du-
.;ns Of lecturer, was taken up with ex-
uue ~ in these sciences. So well
gta1 he succeed in these things, and such
o. a results did he often obtain,
mt mt the common people feared him,
tn Ia oven among the learned it was
a , abroad that he was in secret
oo1lusion with the dark powers. He
otudied the nature of the many diseases
81 w-hich mankind is heir, and in conse-
o,ence was often able to effect cures
.qrhen the physicians art had failed.
%his was ascribed to his power of magic
and many of the simple people looked
mon him with terror. Even the brothers
II the convent feared to enter his dread
Workshop, and crossed themselves de-
vo,,tly when obliged to enter within its
,nystsrious precincts. History is full of
iogends about his wonderful power in
m%echanics, and represents him to us as
not only surprising the lowlier classes,
INIT as astounding the educated by his
co%ntriyances. Even Thomas of Aquin
;s related to have been terror-stricken
NV what he saw within the hidden
Sanctuary of his master. It is is said
That one day Thomas, whose curiosity
led him to observe his masters work,
nrofited by his absence to examine the
interior of his labratory. Strange ami
mails which he had never before seen,
instruments artistically made, vessels of
most curious shape, were there exposed.
THOMAS establishment increased in pro-
nortion as he looked around. Something
drew him toward the corner of the room.
A scarlet curtain, reaching in long and
close folds to the ground, seemed to
hint to conceal an object. He approached,
and timidly drawing aside the curtain,
found himself face to face with a beau
tiful maiden. He wished to fly, but felt
himself detained by magical force, and
was compelled, in spite of himself, to
gaze on the enchanting figure of a
Young girl. The more he gazed, the
more it shone before his eyes, the greater
became his confusion. But this was not
all. The strange form addressed to him
the triple salutation: "Salve, salve,
salve."e Frightened beyond measure,
Thomas imagined that the prince of
hell was sporting with him. In the fear
and uneasiness that possessed him he
strove to defend himself as best he could
against the tempter. He seized a stick
which was near him, and, exclaiming:
.Begone, Satan!" struck the imaginary
demon repeated blows, till the automa-
ton, (for it was nothing else) broke in
pieces. Then, seized with terror, he
turned to fly from the room, when he
was met at the door by Albert. The
master, seeing what had happened in
his absence, and that the fruit of his
long application was annihilated, cried
aloud in grief: 80 Thomas, Thomas!
what have you done? In n instant
you have destroyed the labor of thirty
years!" 1t would appear that Albert
had made an automaton capable of pro-
%nouncing certain phrases and of walking
across a roo while sweeping it. This
was the demon which terrified Thomas
and which occupied the thoughts of the
inventive Albert. A host of other ira
ditions have been handed down concern
ing him, many of them even %ludicrous,
but which fortunately have been denied
by his earliest biographers. For in
stance, he is said to have transported
the daughter of the King of France
through the hair to Cologne. Another
states that he rode to Rome on the back
of the devil to absolve the Pope from
some peccadillo into which he had
fallen. Another tells us that he ira
versed the globe with Alexander the
Great. Yet from these relics we may
well gather the impression which Albert
must have left upon his age, since legend
and fable and poetry all combine to
weave a historic garland for him. How
ever, although he excelled in sciences
and arts, in metaphysics and philoso-
ply, the grandest claim which he has
to our love and generation comes from
the fact that while first in letters, he was
also first among his peers in virtue
The Catholic World.