The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-10-12
Dlscoveirry Of AneEica.

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Az our readers may not remember It.
We will inform them that today pcte-
ber 12) is the anniversary Of the discovery
OF America by Christopher Columbus.
3s1 years ago. to day, the world.seeki1g
Genoese first set foot on the shores Of
the new world. The story of the con.
oepti0n in his mind of new land, or an
outiutting portion or the Asiatio oonii.
nent, his earnest brooding over it and
perseverance against all discouragemepts
In testing it, are told with all the interest
and grace OF style which Washington
Irving so fully commanded. In the
prosecution Of his purpose, he adapted
his arguments to The comprehension of
his hearers, using small as great, simple
illustrations as well as abstruse calcuia-
lions. He argued that wherever there
was sea. there must pc earth both to COR
respond to it and to bound it. It could
not extend indefinitely. Earth was not
only beneath the waters, but must
somewhere appear upon the surface in
continents and islands, as o just and me-
oessary equipoise. Meeting disappoint-
ment everywhere else, he finally enlisted
the interest Of Ferdinand and Isabella
OF Spain, and. after due preparations,
boldly sailed away over the traokless
ocean. The voyage was not very long,
but his crew became dissatisfied at the
hopeless prospect. But ho managed to
quiet their apprehensions and to inspire
them with his own hopes. They were
oheered as it becaAa certain that they
were approaching land, of which proofs
OF hoatiag timber, weeds, birds, &C.,
were presented to their eyes. The
green shores of the Bahamas at last rose
to view, and 'that great antiquity"
America, vas discovered, or re.disco-
vered, as the case may have been. It
was grand day in the worlds history,
discovery whose consequences are be-
yond the powers of calculation to count
or imagination to conjecture. Below.
We copy some thoughts appropriate to
them from the Courier Journal:
whether it be true or not, that the
ancient Norsemen visited this country
IN the eleventh century, or that the oele-
brated Welsh Prince. Madoc, landed
with a small aeet in Virginia, 100 years
or 80 afterwards, the claims of Colum-
bus are IN no manner affected thereby.
He philosophicully reasoned out for him
self the existence Of land at the point
n oY6 ,ph ho,
self In crazy craft, to the wild waves
OF an uncharted ocean, with the strong
faith OF great moral hero. The diff.
oulties which he encountered and over
came, add to the greatness of the enter
prise, and as we now can see il. to the
reputation OF the man. Obstacles pre-
sented by prejudice and superstition
were even greater than those of
strictly material character. But he rose
triumphant over all, and gave to the old
world an unknown, yet twin sister, born
at the same chaotic birth, laved by the
same multitudinous waters and famed
by the same far-reaohing gales. It is
meet that such discovery aud such n
day should be ftly commemoratedA Ere
the lapse of four centuries from the 18th
OF October, 1892, when Columbus first
set foot on the soil Of San Salvador, the
land which he discovered has become
the Land Of Promise to the very ends
OF earth. In its rapidly increasing
population and the development of re-.
sources. it has outstripped the most san
guine dreams Of even the sanguine Co.
lnmbns, giving material verification to
the Masters assertion: The last shall
be first. The new world has become
the peer of the old in civilization, and
has far outstripped her in all those Gle
ments Of material advancement which
make life enjoyable. To Columbus aud
his discovery all this is due. Before the
ne1t century wanes, tho tides of popu-
iatlon. setting in from the far T. ,st and
the far West as they now do. will mako
North and South America, with their ad-
laceut isles. not only the most popu!ous,
but tho most prosperous aud powerful
of the great divisions Of the globe"
ga Little Learning is Dangerous
Thing"
The Union- Herald, of Friday last. has
treated its readers to learned f?l essay
on Wasf 4, or hbo~ -, a.