Show I 1 COLUMBUS it is quite impossible without special study to comprehend the real grandeur of the courage and genius displayed by columbus in his discovery of the western continent he lived in an age of bigotry superstition and ign ignorance orande men were afraid of venturing beyond the old landmark land mark lest they might be swallowed by indescribable mor monsters usters or be precipitated off the earth into the bottomless cataracts of the ocean they had small faith in the earths rotundity and they felt that it was tempting provi dence to their own destruction to venture upon the wonderful voyage proposed by columbus rulers heard his schemes then quietly laid them aside as the chimera of ot a dreamer kept in suspense from year to year his youth was wasted and the fresh ardor of life well nigh lost poverty obscurity neglect and contempt were his daily portion the very school children pointed mockingly at their heads as he passed them in the streets implying that something was wrong with him in that region when at last he received a favorable hearing at the court of spain it was the warm enthusiastic soul of a high minded woman urged by another of her sex who gave him credence ferdinand looked upon the scheme with coldness and distrust though believing in it sufficiently to prevent its being laid at the feet of an any other sovereign isabell isabela aa however enlisted enlisted her soul in the enterprise and when the discovery was ultimately accomplished she exerted her utmost power for the benefit and protection of the poor overtaxed persecuted natives she endea endeavored vorea also to tb fulfil fulfill the contract of the crown and to make adequate returns of gratitude to the discoverer who had triumphantly laid the prodigious prize of a new world at the feet of the government though at the sacrifice of a lifes ease and personal comfort columbus had endured every species of neglect and indignity before he at length received the small fleet with which he made his celebrated voyage when on the seas he found himself surrounded by a menacing mutinous and really frightened crew they felt as men who had bade their last farewell to the shores of the livin living gand and loved ones and were approaching the terrible yawning cataracts that were to plunge them upon the shores ot of eternity insolence insubordination dinati di oft threats and scowling slander muttered around him and in every corner of his vessel but he stood there as he had stood before the council at before the king and courtiers in the splendid spanish court and before the lofty eye of isabella in the midst of the magnificent triumph at granada as he stood among his little knot of humble friends at La alone yet full of innate dignity and commanding power born of earnest conviction and manly unselfish zeal for a cause to which he firmly believed himself commissioned of god he felt himself the appointed instrument through whom the ends of the world were to te ke brought together that they might all be brought under the banner of christ the chivalry of the crusades the ardor of the cross against the crescent still lingered in his breast and burned with the lambent purity of the coming reformation rather than the lurid n mes of the inquisition and he beheld in the magnificent realms of india which he was to reach by sailing aeo westward t ward the means of redeeming the holy H oly A sepulchre in which princes r inces and the armies of centuries had failed ailed to this end he looked with an anxious eye for the wealth of the orient when gladdened by the discovery 0 of f land his first act was to kneel and kiss the soil and offer thanks thanksgiving div ing to the almighty rising he un unfurled f the banner of spain and took possession of the land in the name of his sovereigns and the cross his return to spain and re reappearance appearance at the court remind one of of a roman triumph in the procession the gray haired hero lent a dignity as he rode in in the van that made an impression of pathetic gravity upon the thousands of behold beholders eis who crowded the very roofs of the houses to catch a sight of the wonderful genius now madman mad man adventurer u upstart p start parasite no longer the sovereigns received him standing in a pavilion raised specially for the occasion ard and having listened with breathless attention ao to his wonderful story knelt unanimously with the assembled multitudes while thanksgivings and te deams were chanted by the choir this was a day of royal favor and universal praise of columbus the tidings were soon carried from one country to another by traders caravans and travelers in almost every country mass and rejoicings rejo icings were celebrating the name of him whose towering genius and almost un precedent perseverance had shed so great a blessing and glory upon the world his days of fame and happiness were of short duration his companions in the second voyage consisted largely of cavaliere cavaliers cava liers lieis adventurers and hi dalgos gold was their object in the new lands but not the gold that comes of honest labor disappointed and embittered at not finding it in ready nuggets to their han ds they resumed to spam spain and infused a spirit of depreciation in their friends they were replaced by outlaws and mendicants mendi cants criminals and the general scum of spanish society were to form the subjects of the governor ai a the germ of the future colony th T outcome was natural rebellion defiant J of law and authority idleness ciceu piousness demoralization the slue sui festiona gest Fest ions given to the sovereigns g columbus were full of sagacity an alto wisdom the orders he gave for m alj government of the island were full fu llyl 3 judgment and civil leadership but wh could lead a body of ignorant besotted becotte i 1 outlaws out laws and retain a reputation f statesmanship intriguers Intrigue rs at con court whose envy could not brook the dav tavor showered upon a stranger intriguers intrigue rs rr ru 3 I 1 he colony whose deftness colored th thel obstreperousness with apparent justi ar ignorance avarice idleness licentious I 1 ness ingratitude envy the material hl 11 had to mold surely columbus was glad to rest it stands spaniards in ban hand alao it try I 1 endeavor to throw off their own i gratitude by accusing columbus of inefficiency in government let arneri cans or the world challenge ernil castelar to disprove our counter char charge of spanish perfidy intrigue int and in inar grata 1 envy and ingratitude destroyed C boj lum lumbus bus in this world but he had bu build ilde ai better than he knew pheonix lik like name has arisen from the ashes to 1 it was consigned by envious detract detractor and is to day honored as but few hav h ra been he ele was sent to spain in chelin chain he was maligned and robbed and ill children were despoiled he died i alon alay in poverty and afflicted but to day kvame 14 shines with unrivaled lustre w chii dij the great ones of his generation are v vve nigh forgotten while lewe we proudly s r his name grow brighter tet and bright we also note that those of his malilion malacio mali cion persecutors grow darker and darker ar er i the midnight of oblivion and ignominy no a columbus was a hero let him h in reap y just reward of well earned gratitude sto an worldwide world wide admiration for his nob noah deeds may his heroism be preserve preserve to our nation untouched uninjured khe b poisoned shafts ot of small elvio souls who would rob humanity of ever eve moment that stands upon a higher than themselves we can b detest with chauncey M depew als ith spirit li r it of incredulous inquiry w whid doubts 1 abts everything and destroys all li 11 ness of her heroes es which has been the f of heroism through all thes the centuries it is this spirit that woul destroy our columbus with r eride pride and gratitude we see that the 4 has as not been successful and that to d jg the worm world gives honor and gratitude ani glory where they are due RUBY LAMONT utah nov aoth |