The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-08-12
TIE NAME AMERICA.
Ii Noble Origin apd appropriate slsnin,
ennse-Intsrasnnr Ratts of HIslory.

~ Noble Origin and appropriate rishm
Notwithstanding Facts Of Hilt0ly'
Mr.. Morllon Emery Of Charleston,
South Carolina, in q letter to the New
York Tribune, says:
In yesterdays Tribune you say that at
The four hundredth anniversary Of the
discovery Of Columbus there ought 70 be
room for q protest against the wrong
which was done him by calling this
country after another name; and you
quote from Mr., Charles Godfrey Leland
some lines In which he applies the
epithet Gharlatan and liar 10 Amerigo
Vespucci. The writer submits that this
is not the language TO use toward q great
historical character; 1t lacks the ele'
ments Of justice, dignity and good taste
They might with equal truth and Justice
be applied to Columbus himself, had
the continent received his name, for Y
is a historical fact that the New. World
was discovered 500 years before him BY
Left, the SON OF Eric the Red, and II
there 10 10 be any protest in the matter
OF name It would be well to have II
made in behalf OF the bold and daring
Icelander whose glorious achievement
was shrouded In the gloom Of an 10y
cline for centuries, 10 be restored To- life,
10 be Tepeated by Columbus, inspired,
doubtless, thereto by the traditions OF q
Western world which he learned in Ice
land on his voyage TO that country.
Amerigo Yespucci had no part In the
bestowal OF his name on the new world,
1t was the act Of q body of learned men,
Columbus always believed that the
country he had discovered was o part oil
AsIai but the dls|cerningand Comprehen'
siye mind Of VespuCCiithought different
ly;he believed II to be- separate conti'
nent. His written description ofthe coun'
try, It's people, climate and productions,
convinced the learned men OF Europe
that his views were correct,
The suggestion Of America as a proper
name for the new continent came from
Matthias Ringman, the poet and the
professors Of the College OF ST, Die, In
Lorraine, among the YOsges Mountains,
In q corner OF France, They put forth
q little work In 1907, entitlo1 "Cosmo-
graphiae Introductis, In which 1t was
suggested that the Southern Continent
should be called America, after a man,
as Europe and Asia had been named
after women. In tho course Of time the
name came to be applied 10 both CONT:
nents. It would be impossible to add
to the glory OF Columbus, even II the
Old World as well as tho New should be
renamed after him II might add to the
glory OF Lief to rGchristen North Amer
lea after him; priority Of discovery GER
tainly rests with him. Columbus never
visited It's maiTta land. =,
Since the country as a whole could
not be named after both Of them, what
more appropriate name than America
could lave been selected? Surely the
people OF the United States have no rea'
son To complain. Made up as they are
mostly Of the Teutonlc race, English,
scandinavian aAd Germanic, the domin.
ant race OF the world, they should re.
joiCe to know that they have a National
name that fifty expresses their political
condition. It is their boast that each
and every man lisa born sovereign, and
this very fact the name America signifies,
for II was the name OF q Gothic king In
tho fourth century. Dixon in his "sir
Nanus," says "Emmery A%rmanaricks
Gothic; Most exalted or universal
ruler-the forenane Of the Italian Yes.
ppCci was also u corruption Of name oil
q King Of the Cloths In the fourth cen
tury.
Another author, NJ. A. Lowe, "Patro'
nymica Britannica" says: "From the
personal name Emeric, or Almericus,
equivalent 10 the italian Amerigo, Latin.
lied Americus, whence the name Of the
great Western Continent"
And lastly, Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary, among English names, page
1910, says: Emery, Emmery, Emory
Powerful, rich. Lat, AlmeriCus; It.,
Amerigo; Fr., Emeri."
The first man Of the name in England
was a Baron who fought under William
the Conqueror at Hastings. His name
stands recorded on the roll Of Battle
Abbey as Danny, in both lists, that OIL
Stowe and that Of Holllngswortb, spelt
in English as pronounced in Norman
French.
No better, no more glorious name than
that which signifies erich, powerful,
most exalted and universal ruler could
destiny have bestowed upon the people
OF this country, Mr.. Charles Godfrey
Leland, and all the rest Of the p~oetasters
TO the contrary Notwithstanding.