Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-10-08
ctIAprEn YYIi


SOJOURN or COLUMBUS AT BARCELONA.
The Joy occasioned by the great dis
covery Of Columbus was not confined to
Spain; the tidings were spread fir ana
wide by the communications of elnbas-
sadors, the correspondence Of the learned,
the negotiations Of merchants, and the
reports Of travellers, and the whole civil
lied world was filed with wonder and
delight. How gratifying would it have
been had the press at that time, as at
present, poured forth its daily tide Of
speculation on every passing occurrence
With what eagerness should we seek to
know the first ideas and emotions Of the
public on an event 50 unlocked for and
sublinel Even the first announcements
Of it by contemporary writer's. though
brief and incidental, derive interest from
being written at the time. and from
showing the casual way in which such
great tidings were conveyed about the
world Allegretto Allegretti, in his an
nails of Sienna for 1893, mentions it as
just made known there hy the letters of
their merchants who were in Spain and
The news was brought to Genoa by
the return Of her ambassadors. Francisco
Marchesi and Giovanni Antonio Grim
aldi, and was recorded among the tri-
umphant events Of the year; for the re-
public, though she may have slighted
the opportunity Of making herself mis-
tress Of the discovery. has ever since
been tenacious Of the glory Of having
given birth to the discoverer The It'd
ings were soon carried tn England.
which as yet was but d maritime power
Of inferior importance. They caused,
however, much wonder IN London, and
great talk and admiration Id the court
Of Henry VII, where the discovery was
pronounced "a thing more divine than
human" We have this on the author
ity Of Sebastian Cabot himself, the fu-
ture discoverer Of the northern continent
Of America, who was in London at the
time and was inspired by the event with
a generous spirit Of emulation
Every member Of civilized society, in
fact, rejoiced III the occurrence as one
in which he was more or less interested.
To some it opened new and unbounded
field of inquiry; to others. cf enterprise,
and every one awaited with intense
eagerness the further development of
this unknown world. still covered with
mystery, the partial glimIses Of which
were SO full Of wonder we have brief
testimony Of the emotions Of the learned
in a letter, written al the time, by Peter
Martyr to his friend Poinponious Lac
tus. 'sYou tell me. my amiable Pom
ponius, he writes. that you leaped for
Joy, and that your delight was mingled
with tears, when you read my epistle,
certifying to you the hitherto hidden
world Of the antipodes You have felt
and acted as became man eminent for
learning, for can conceive no ;ulment
more delicious than snch tidings to
cultivated and ingenious mind. feel
wonderful exultntion Of spirits when
converse with Intelligent men who have
returned from these regions Il is like
an accession Of wealth to miseT. Our
minds, soiled and debased by the com
mon concerns of life AND the vices Of So
ciety, become elevated and ameliorated
by contemplating such glorious events
Notwithstanding this universal en-
thusiasm, however no one WIS aware
of the real Importance of the discovery.
No one had an idea that this was a
totally distinct portion of the globe.
separated BY oceans from the ancient
world The opinion Of Columbus was
universally adopted that Cuba was the
end Of the Asiatic continent, and that
the adjacent islands were in the Indian
seas. This agreed with the opinions Of
the ancients, heretofore cited, about the
moderate distance from Spain to the ex-
tremity Of India. sailing westwardly
The parrots were also thought to resem-
Bile those described by Phny us abound
ing Id the remote parts Of Asia The
lands, therefore, which Columbus had
visited were called the West Indies, and
as ho seemed to have entered upon