The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1853-06-29
THE DISCOVERY AND COLOMBIA,
.. Tl0N or AMERICA. !
A LECTURE

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effse Historical .Soeiefy:
Although appear before you at the
season at which the various religious,
mural and philanthropic societies usu.
ally hold their annual meetings. to dis.
cuss the stirring topics Of the day.
need not say to you that the proprie-
ties Of this occasion require. me to alb
stain from such subjects; and to select
theme falling. to some extent at
least, within the province Of an histo.
rical society. spropose accordingly.
this evening. to attempt asketch Of the
history Of the'diseovery and coloniza.
tion Of America. and Of emigration to
the United States. can Of course Of
fer YOU. within the limits of single
address. but most superficial view Of
so vast a subject; but | have thought
that even sketch would suggest I'M
portant trains Of reflection TO thought
ful minds. Words written or spoken
are at best but kind Of short hand. 10
be filed up BY the reader or hearer.
! shall be grati6ed if. after honoring
my hasty sketch with your attention.
YOU shall deem il worth filling up from
your own stores Of knowledge and
thought. You will forgive me. if. in
the attempt to give a certain complete
ness to the narrative. l.may be led to
glance at few facts, which. however
interesting. may seem to YOU too fami-
liar for repetition.
In the last quarter Of the fifteenth
century. an Italian mariner, citizen
Of the little Republic of Genoa. who
had hitherto gained a livelihood as a
pilot in the commercial marine Of diffe.
rent countries, made his appearance
successively at various Courts in the
South and West Of Europe. soliciting
patronage and aid for bold and novel
project in navigation. The State Of
the times was in some degree favorable
to the adventure. Several conspiring
causes. and especially the invention
Of the art Of printing. had produced a
general revival of intelligence. Still,
however, the state of things then pre-
valling. in this respect, was very dlfie'
rent from what we witness in the mid
die Of the nineteenth. century. On the
part Of the great mass of mankind,
there was but little improvement ovel
the darkness Of the middle ages. The
new culture centered in the Convent
the Court, and the University-place,
essentially distrus,iul of bold novelties
The idea Of reaching the East BY a voy'
age round the African Continent had be
tgun to assume consistency; but tn.
'i,astly more significant idea, that the
earth is globe, and capable of being
circumnavigated, had by no means be-
come incorporated into the genera
intelligence Of the age. The Portu
gese navigators felt themselves saf,
as they crept along the African coast
venturlng each voyage a few leagues
further; doubling new headland as
cending some before unexplored river
holding palaver with some new trib'
of the native races but to turn tn,
prows Of their vessels boldly to th'
est.-to embark upon an ocean no
known, in the popular geography o
the day, to have an outer shore, t
pass that bourne from which no travel
ler had ever returned, and from whicl
experience had not taught that any ira
weller could return, ahd thus to reacl
the East by sailing in Western di
rectlon,-this was conception whicl
no human being is known to hav
formed before Columbus, and whicl
he proposed to the governments of lta
Ily, of Spain, Of Portugal, and of Eng
land, aud for long time without sue
cess. The state of science was ne
such as to enable men to dicriminat
between the Improbable and the absur,
They looked upon Columbus as we di
thirty years ago upon Captain Symme
But the ilIustrlous adventurer pei
severed. Sorrow and disappointmer
: clou,l.d his spirits, but did not shak
c his faith nor suhdue his will. His wei
{ instructed Imagination had taken fir
|. hold of the idea that the earth is
f sphere. What seemed to the multi
tude even of the educated of that da
a doubtful and somewhat mystical tn,
: ory; what appeared to the uninforme
:. mass a monstrous parodox, contradic
: cd by every step we take on the broa
) !, fiat earth which we daily tread beneat
: our feet. that great and fruitful trut
of revealed itself to the serene INTEL
gence of Columbus as practical fac
ON which he was willing to stake a
: he had, character and life. And it d
serves ever to be borne in mind, as ii
most illustrious example Of the col
p necuon Of scientific theory with gre,
practical results, that the discovery
America, with all its mumentous cons,
auenc 9 to mankind. is owing to Il
d,.t nct concpntlon Of Columbus of tn