The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1853-06-29

this monarch and 10 that monarch III,
gift u hemisphere. the great Disco
serer touches upon partial success
lie succeeds. not 10 enlisting the sym,
pathy Of his countrymen at Genoa and
Venice for a brave brother sailor; moi
in giving new direction to the spirit
Of maritime adventure which had 50
long prevailed in Porsugal; not in a.
wakening the ecommercial thrift u Hen
~ the Seventh or the pious ambition
Of the Catholic king. Ills sorrosful
perseverance touched the heart Of no
bic princes. worthy the throne which
she adorned. The new world, which
was just eseaping'the subtle kingcraft
rof Ferdinand. was saved to Spain by
the womanly compassion Of Isabella.
Ii is truly melancholy, however. to
contemplate the wretched equipment.
for which the most powerful princess
in Christendom was ready TO pledge
her jewels. Floating castles win soon
be lifted out to convey the miserable
natives Of Africa to the golden shores
OF America; towering gaIleons will be
dispatched to bring home the guilty
treasures to Spain; but three small ves-
sells, one OF which was without deck,
and neither Of them. probably, exceed
ing the capacity Of pilot boat-and
even these impressed into the public
seryice-composed the expedition fit
ted out under royal patronage. 10 real>
ize that magnificent conception in
which the creative mind Of Columbus
had planted the germs of New World.
No chapter OF romance equals the
interest Of this expedition. The most
fascinating Of the works Of fiction,
which have issued from the modern
press, have to my taste no attraction
compared with the pages in which the
first voyage Of Columbus is described
by Robertson. and still more by our
own Irving and Prescott, the last two
enjoying the advantage over the great
Scottish historian Of possessing the
latelv discovered journals and letters
of Columbus himself. The departure
from Palos, where a few years before
he had begged morsel Of bread and a
cup Of water for his way worn child
his final farewell to the Old World
at the Canalies,-h:s entrance upon the
trade winds which then for the first
time filled Europen sail,-thc porten-
tous variation Of the needle, never be-
fore observed-the fearful course west
ward and westward day after day ant
night after night over the unknown
ocean,-the mutinous and ill-appease,
crew ;-at length the tokens Of land,-
the cloud>banks ON the western hori
zon.-the logs of drift wood.-the fresl
shrub floating with its leaves and ber
ries.-the flocks Of land birds, -th,
shoals Of fish that inhabit shallow water
the indescribable smell of the shore,-
the mysterious presentiment that eve
goes before great eyent,-and finally
on that ever memorable night of the
l2th Of October 1899. the muving ligh
seen by the sleepless eye Of the dis
coverer himself. from the deck of tn,
Santa Maria. and in the morning tn,
real undoubted land, swelling up from
the bosom of the deep. with its plains
and hills, and forests, and rocks. ant
. streams, and strange, new races 0
men, these are incidents which in tn,
authentic history of the discovery o
our Continent excels the specious won
ders of romance, as much as gold eX
cells tinsil, or the sun in the heayen
outshines the flickering taper.
/ But it is no part Of my purpose t
dwell upon this interesting narrative
or to follow out this most wonderful o
MISUNDERSTANDING, as ii soon did, int
a tale of sorrow tor Columbus himself
and before long ending in one of tn
most frighttul tragedies in the annal
of the world. Such seems to be tn
: law Of humanity; that events the mos
desirable, and achievements the mos
important should, either in their IN
+. ception or progress, be mixed up wit
| disasters, crimes, and sorrows, which
. makes the heart sick to record.
: The discovery of America, | nee
I hardly say, produced vast extensio
e of the Territory Of the Power. unde
!. whose auspices the discovery wa
q made. In contemplating this poln
a we encounter.one Of the most 'errlb
: mysteries in the histury Of our rae
Extension of territory" YOU are re;
! dy to exclaim how could Spain az
q guire any territory by the fact. that
! navigator. sailing under her patronag
1 had landed upon one or two islant
b near the Continent of America, an
b coasted for hundred miles along ]
: shores? These shores and islands al
!, not a desert ON which Columbus, like
! Robson sCrusoe Of a higher order, b;
!. landed and taken possession. The
e are occupied and settled -crowde
!. even with inhabitants subject to Il
t government Of their native chiefs an
i neither BY Inheritance, colonizatio
nor. as yet, BY conquest, has any h
6 man being in Europe right toruIe ov'
them. or to posssss.a square loot