Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-14
FERDINAND AND COLUMBUS.
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riding in q cable car next to the King d
Spain. His Majesty, like Haroun al Raschid
was travelling, ''dfsguised as a gentleman
He did not appear greatly different from
other mortals. He put on no Imperial airs
He paid5 cents for his fare like the rest o
us, and grumbled within himself like the
rest of us, at the two extra pennies. The
King was dressed like business man and q
Pittsburger In fact, his royal vestn,ents
| with his crown and his sceptre, were packed
| away, so he whispered to me in confidence
in a brown paper parcel. which he carefully
| carried under his arm. After all, it Is the
clothes that make the king. Nobody stands
in any awe of Il king in q derby hat
The name of my friend, the King of Spain,
| was Ferdinand He was that Ferdinand
who has come down in a somewhat undigni
| fed attitude along the staircase Of history
rs the husband of Isabella. Ferdinane was
here in Pittsburg in attendance upon the
National Pageant" He was present, with
all his good clothes on, in that opening
| scene where Christopher Columbus asks
| leave land money! of the sovereigns OF
| Spain to go and discover America. He had
no respect for Christopher Columbus, and
| was quite disgusted when Isabella declared
| that he should be helped in his scheme for
| the discovery of America, even if she had to
pawn her jewels.
Where Kings and Queens Are Good.
-TARLEAUx and pictures have a great
advantage over real life. They represent
things as they ought to be. Christopher
| Columbus ought to have been hero.
Isabella ought to have pawned her jewels.
The fact is, however, that Isabella not only
/ did not send her rings and bracelets to the
shop Of the three balls, but she never prom
ised to do so. More than that, even had she
| oh civ n nm i'm r n q
promise she wonld not have hesitated to
break 1t. no, not for a single minute. Queen
Isabella, of CASTLE. told lies. Sir Arthur
Helps, always eager to find some good side
to everything. says Of Isabella: Perhaps
there is hardly any great parsonage whose
name and authority are found in connection
with so much that is strikingly evil, all of it
done, or rather assented to, upon the high
est and purest motives!' Mr.. Justin Win
sor agrees with this opinion up to che word
'tevil." He thinks that the less said about
Isabella's motives the better.
King Ferdinand, ip Mr.. Winsor's pages,
was rather decent sort of king as kings
went in the fifteenth century. Kings, it ap-
pears were rather disreputable characters
about that time. "He did not extort money;
he only extorted agonized confessions. He
said masses, and prayed equally we'll for
Gods benediction on evil as on good things
He made promises and then got the papal
dispensation to break them. He juggled in
state policy as his mind changed, and he
worked his craft very readily. Machiavelh
would have liked this in him, and indeed he
was a good scholar of an existing school,
which counted the act Of outwitting better
than the arts OF honesty: and perhaps the
world is not loftier in the purposes Of state
craft to-day" Mr.. Winsor does not live in
Pennsylvania.
A Debt That Should Be Honored.
Bur Christopher Columbus-this un-
fortunate adventurer fares worst of all. We
are all interested just now in Christopher
Columbus. 1t is true that he will not appear
in the National Pageant which the United
States of America is preparing Mt Chicago
with anything like the prominence that he
had here in Pittsburg on Friday and Satur
day of last week. The Columbian Exposi-
tion is in danger of leaving Columbus out.
The nation will obscure the man. The hero
who set red mark in the history books
under the date of 1892 will not come in for
any enthusiastic laudatfon. Nevertheless. we
are in debt to Christopher Columbus. And
it is proper that at this time of day we should
interest ourselves in him and learn what
ever can be learned about him.
I have been reading Mr.. Justin Winsor's
book, Christopher Columbus, and How He
Received and Impaired the Spirit of Dis
covery." 1t is timely, exhaustive, interest
ing. 1t is crammed full of pictures. All the
old portraits of the Admiral, all the old
maps and globes, the old geographical
guesses at the world, are set down here in
generous profnsion. The book Is a library
and picture gallery at the same time. One
of the most interesting features of modern
study is the way in which old treasures
f, Hnhf rjy,fc hi
den relics. buried buildings, are every now
and then appearing out Of the long past
like communicative ghosts. Nobody can
tell what will be found next. The mummy
of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the account
that Aristotle wrote Of the Con stitution Of
Athens, tho Teaching. of the Twelve
Apostles and o hundred other curiosfties
and precious things long accounted lost have
been looked up.
History Constantly Revised.
VERY little in history can be called
final. The his tories even Of ancient Greece
and Rome need to be rewritten every year
or two to keep them up to date. When
Irving and Prescott wrote about Col umbus,
so or 20 years ago, needs almost as much re-
vision rs the ideas that Columbus had about
the land he found on this side of the ocean,
Mr. Winsor shows again and again where
these two most picturesque and charming
writers err. Mr.. Winsor is not himself
either picturesque or a charming writer
He makes no effort after felicities of style.
Prescott and Irving are much more delight
full to read. Mr.. Winsor's strength lies in
his straight forward. clear, well arranged
and thoroughly considered presentation of
all the facts. Columbus discovered America.
winsor, for English readers, has discovered
Columbus.
~ of tho ,,,,o- .h;., ,z. o.,
is the small amount of really accurate and |
unquestioned information there is about |
him. A man who lived in the end of the |
fifteenth century, who wrote innumerable |
letters, and whose biography was composed !
by his own son, ought to be pretty fairly |
known. Unfortunately, Columbus and his |
son were the vaguest and most unsatisfac- |
tory of writers. The consequence Is that |
the number of things we know not concern
ing Christopher Columbus is large. Nobody |
knows when the Admiral was born, nor |
where he was born. nor what he looked |
like, nor what his name was. As many cities
fight over the honor of his nativity as dis
puted over blind Homer. Mr.. Winsor gives
seven portraits, as unlike one from another
as the portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots As
for his name, the Admiral, like Shakespeare
followed the privilege of genius, and spelled |
his name according to his changing frame OF
mind When he was sick he spelled 1t one
way; when he got better he spelled it an
other; when he was successful he changed
it, when he was unlucky, depressed or mo.
humble he made another varia-
ton in his name; after he had been at
church, or had said his prayers, he had still
another sort of signature.
Columbus of the Earth Earthy.
INDEED, there almost seem to have been