The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-04-12
THE GENESIS OF THE U. S.
another Article on the Subject by Mr.. R.
R. HOWiSOn.
REJONDER TO REPLY OF MR.. BROWN.
Documentary and Other Evidcnce-spanish
Claim 20 yIrginia-Jobn smith
and Pocahontns.
For the Times.l


Ny Rrcvrn's 'reply" TO the brief review OF
his painstaking and elaborate work which
made seems to me TO call for "rejonder."
He expresses the opinion that have failed
10 convey correct idea as to the scope Of
that work" i. g. of the Genesis" He ought TO
remember that il is not given TO us TO see
ourselves as others see u.s. nor TO see our
books as others see them. Probably no
reader has examined his work with more in
forest and attention than myself. He admits
in substance all l have asserted az TO its
scope. for he says: The work does not
claim TO be history within the usual accep-
tation Of the term"
DOCUMENTS AND OTHER EVIDENCES.
As 10 the materials for history presented in
II. he SAYS that the documents and other evil
dences. which have been printed and pub
lished in England or Europe and also printed
and published in the United States, do not
occupy more than about One-eighth OF the
work" and that he does not regard that as "a
very large part of the two volumes" But
herein he misconceives the statement made IN
my previous article, and thus misstates 1t.
The assertion made by me was this: that q
very large part Of the two volumes" Is occupied
in reprinting and republishing documents and
other evidences which have been already
works accessible 10 students of history, and
that all matters really important 10 history
contained in those documents and evidences,
had been set forth in ancient history before
the publication of the Genesis"
This statement can be verified by the simple
process Of inspection. Any careful examiner
will discover that the text and notes Of the
work contains all the documents, charters
and other forms of evidence, and that they
cover 500 pages. And of these, not less than
IL. .I.l. .fs4fI
matter which had already been printed and
published and utilized for every substantial
purpose of history. The mere fact that much
of this material had not been reprinted and re-
published in the United States is entirely unln-
portant. Very few of the larger collec-
tons of historical material, such as hak;
lurt's Voyages" Purchas' Pilgrims"
Carayons premiere Mission" and others
OF the same character have been epubishedin
the United States. But they are all accessi-
bic. being in all public and in many private
libraries Smiths General History contain
ing narratives and contributions from some
thirty or more writer's IS the only work OF the
kind that | can now recall TO memory which
has been republished in America. Ii was re-
printed and republished by DR.. John II. Rice,
in Richmond Va, and involved him in heavy
pecuniary loss
SPAIN AND VIRGINIA.
And as TO the material contained in the
Genesis. which is really new. viz: the copies
from the Spanish archives, truth demands a
repetition of the assertion that they do moth
ing but confirm the previous conclusions Of
history, and do not, in any wise charge,
modify. add to or take away from those con-
illusions. The editor of the Genesis" seems
to attribute TO this material an Influence on
history which cannot be admitted. lie makes
the following statement which ! think will
astonish any careful student of history. Il
was under the impression that the previous
idea of our historians was that Spain made no
claim 10 Virginia in the beginning"
Now George Bancroft. who has lately
one of "our historians" best known. In
his first volume of the History of the United
States" and in the edition published in 1916
Gust forty-five years before the appearance OF
the "Genesis') he tells US on pages 1916 that
when Sebastian Cabot first reported to Eng
land his discovery of New Foundland. which
lies in latitude AZ degrees north, the jealousy
of the Spanish nation was excited. and already
began to fear English rivalry i'll the New
World" And he tells us (page 69) that when
the fanatical and prosecuting Spanish leader
Melendez founded st. Augustine, in Florida,
IN 1865, he went ashore at MONDAY OF the
FESTIVAL of the Nativity of May TO take
possession Of the continent in the name
of his king The bigoted Philip III. was
proclaimed monarch of all North America.
and To the same effect are the histories of
hODeTtSpH, lTtStOlt. iINlilEs anu bhNhiit.
Spain claimed all of America (including, of
course all of Virginia. and all the islands
and seas adjacent thereto by virtue OF these
grounds of title, not one of which had any
substantial validity:
/. The discovery by Columbus Of some of
the West India Islands in 1892.
BULL OF ALEXANDER VI.
@ The arrogant bull of the Pontiff Alex
ander vi. in 1888 3. The display of the
absconding debtor Ballon. who escaped from
Hspaniola in cask and i'll September, 1913,
saw from "a lofty mountain ridge the great Pa
cific ocean. and rushing down in enthusiasm,
bearing his sword in one hand and the flag of
Spain in the other, waded up 10 his knees in
the waters of that ocean, and In the name of
his master. the King of Spain, claimed all
this vast sea with all its islands and all its adj
joining lands. Therefore. We are not surprised
at the letters of the Spanish ambassadors,
Zuniga and Nelasco, and we are quite sure
that nothing but the imbecility of her king
and her own growing decay prevented an
armed attack on the Virginia colony.
PATRIOTS IN THE WORK.
The editor of the Genesis" undertakes TO
correct my description of the 10 portraits of