The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1908-07-25
WHO DISCOVERED AMERICA?
New York Correspondent Takes Elk
ception to Oswald Crawford's
Conclusion.


Editor The Intermountain Catholic.
Salt Lake. Utah.
Dear Sir:-In glancing over your col
umns l see that the prolific and versa =
tile Mr.. Oswald Crawford has resus-
! citated the myth of st. Brendan's dis
COvery of America. and is endeayOring
| to prOlOng its precariOus existence by
injecting into its enfeebled limbs the
vigorous fluid which pOurs from his
ever-ready pen. I fear that, for once.
Mr.. Crawfords enthusiasm has led him
to espOuse cause which his scholar
ship should tell him is hopeless. and
his experience should convince him is
inane. Perhaps it is due to mistaken
loyalty to the soil of the shamrock, but
even so it is more commendable than
logical.
1 yield to none in my veneration of
the land which has produced a Robert
Emmett and Daniel O'Connell. but I
cannot but feel that an unthinking allie
glance to immaterial and super-senti-
mental crOchets. merely because they
reflect some indirect and shadowy cred
it on Ireland. weakeus. rather than
helps the strength of Irishmen on really
great issues. If the world in general
discovers that an Irshman is just as
positive and just as stubborn i'm de-
Tending some mythical and prehistoric
exploration as In protecting his present
liberties it is apt to lose its respect for
both.
Consequently, I wish to register my
protest against Mr.. Crawford's cOnclu-
sions, not because l am unduly skepti-
cal, but because as an educated and, /
hope. intelligent reader of history. l
cannot but accept as final the decision
of those historians and photographers
whose work in all departments of re-
search has stamped them as able and
impartial. And with a few exceptions.
Mr.. Crawford will find that their testi-
mOny is against him.
Alexander Won Humboldt PescheI
Kretschmer, Beauvais and Honorius of
Augsburg. unite in declaring that the
chances of st. Brendans' discovery of
America are highly improbable. and the
consensus of modern thought is equally
against it.
Mr.. Crawford. at the beginning Of
his article, cites the Catholic Encyclo-
pedia," declaring. quite rightly. I think.
that it is an excellent and sadly needed
publication. The photographers sub
joined to the various articles in the en-
cyclopedia prove that its conclusions
are drawn from ancient authorities as
we'll as contemporaneous research, and,
so far as l can see, the tone is per-
fectly impartial.
Therefore. what the Catholic Ency-
clopedia has to say on the subject
should command the sincere students
attention, especially when one consid-
ers that, because of Ireland's great in
fuence on Catholicity. a Catholic pub
LEGATION must ever have a particularly
warm spot in it's heart for the things
of Ireland. Let us see what the en-
cyclopedia says.
In the article on 'Pre-Columbian
Discovery of America" which Mr..
Crawford has apparently overlooked, |
Father Joseph Fischer, S. j.. than
whom there is no greater authority,
states that "Of all the alleged discov-
cries of America before the time of Co
lumbus, only the bold voyages of ex-
ploration of the fearless Vikings to
Greenland and the American mainland
can be considered historically certain
Although there is an inherent PROBABLE
ity for the fact of other pre-COumbian
discoveries of America, all accounts of
such discoveries (Phoenician, Irish, |
Welsh, Chinese) rest on testimony too /
vague or too unreliable to justify !
serious defense of them" And again, |
The worship of the cross practiced in /
Mexico and Central America does not /
prove the Characterization of pre-Co- /
lumbar America either by st. Thomas, |
the Apostle, or by Irish monks, or by |
the Mortimer. This is clearly proved |
by the fact that the cross is found as a
symbol among pre-Christian
peoples
Father Fisher, it will be remem bered.
Is the discoverer of the "Carta Marina"
Of 1916, the first large marine map ever
printed, and was selected by the editors
Of the encyclopedia, 1 am informed, as
the most representative authority in
the world, on such subjects as the one
at issue
No, whichever way Mr.. Crawford
turns, he Will be met, I fear, with an
array of authorities who will refuse to
permit fanciful legends without founda-
ion and without truth to have the
weight of historical documents. Per-
maps, as he intimates. he nay have
some new and hitherto undiscovered Il
proof of his assertions. No one will Il
De more pleased to read them than my
self. But until he can adduce proof, II
ZEAL proof. mind you. not hazy myth, II
n defense of his theories, the honest |.
observers will be obliged to cleave to II
he conservatism of real authority. II
sincerely. STANLEY QUINN. II
New York, July 10, 1908.
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