The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-10-12
: DMisoo,,v,se.ry M ,,,s. or An, A,n srica, III : {,

ber 12) is the annfyersary OF tho discovery
OF America by christopher Columbus.
3s1 years ago. to day. the world.seeking
Genoese Earst set foot on the shores Of
the new world. The story OF the con.
oeption in his mind of new land. or an
outjutting portion of the Asiatio oonti-
nent, his earnest brooding over it and
perseverance against all discouragemepts
in testing it, arc told with all the interest
and grace OF styis wh;oh 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 abstruae calcula-
tions. He argued that wherever there
was sea, there must be earth both to cor.
respond to it and to bound it.. It could
not extend indefinitely. Earth was not
only beneath the waters. bnt must
somewhere appear upon the surfaces in
continents and islands, az o just and ne
cessary eIuipoise. Meeting disappoint-
ment everywhere else, he finally enlisted
the interest of Ferdinand and Isabella
OF Spain, and, after due preparations,
boldly sailed away over % trackless
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
cheered as it became 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 greut antiquity"
America, was 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 small aeet in Virginia, 100 years
or 30 afterwards, the claims of CoIum-
bus are In no manner affected thereby.
He philosophically = reasoned out for him
self the existence Of land at the point
toward which he sailed, and trusted him
self in crazy craft, to the wild waves
OF an uncharted ocean, with the strong
faith OF great moral hero. The diff.
culties which he encountered and over
came, add to the greatness OF the enter
prise, and as We now Gan SEQ it, to the
reputation of the man. Obstacles pre-
sented by prejudice and superstition
we're even greater than those of
strictly material character. But he rose
triumphant over all, and gave 20 the old
world an unknown. yet twin sister, born
at the same chaotic birth, laved by the
same multitndinous waters and famed
by the same far-reaching gales. It il
meet that such discovery aud such u
day should be ftly commemoratedA Ere
the lapse Of four centuries from the 18th
OF October, 1892, when Columbus first
act foot on the soil of San Salvador, the
1naN "ALCu do 0'SCOSeCeu uHS 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
gnine dreams Of even the sanguine Co.
lnmbus. giving material veriication to
the Masters assertion: 'rhe 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
next century wanes, tho tides of popu-
lation. setting i'll from the far T. ,st and
the far West us they now do, will make
North and South America, with their ad-
jacent isles, not only the most populous,
but tho most prosperous aud powerful
Of tue great divisions Of the globe."
"a Little Learning Is Dangerous
Thing"
The Union Herald, of Friday last, has
treated its readers to learned (?> essay
on Westminster Abbey, in the course OF