Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-22

stitious and full Of .sszs, drcsdins every sdd~d
mile Of the voy&gs, aud alarmed st the prevalent
east Winds wh'ck ;h.y thought would never per-
nit them 20 sail bach 20 Scan 90 that Columbus.
on . contrary bead wind springing MP. thsnked
God with all the fervcncy % biz pious soul
Pursue his career In his batter expeditions. ham
pered by the mutinous vagntoBds whom tate
had thrust upon him followers. many 70
them desperadoes jnst out of iRiL See his
bafsed ondcavors TO maintain order aud dis-
eipline among such q crew. 60 RESTRAIN their
oesses. curb their lswless acts % violence. ana
secure some semblsnce 81 deceney IN their
conduct toward the natives. MANY q them.
we read, were given over O. tdleue- aud
sloth that they actually made the islanders
beasts Of burden 20 carry them on thetr bAcks-
IL is most unhappy fact that the
missionaries OF the cross often
eompanied BY bands Of miscrcant. Who
santonly broke every commandment In The
necslogue, and trampled upon every preccPt q
the Gospel See him In his last voyage beating
about the rocks and shoals Of an unknown
archipelago, overtaken by West lndla hurri-
Cares, almost engulfed in wAie-spOuis. Sud
aing under bare poles amid re-ilous hreaksrs,
onnaed BY lightning. deafencd by Incc.sAut
Ieals 81 thunder his crazy little carayels tossed
about like oocklesheils In the raging waves. his
snchors lost, hls worm-eaten vessels n fuL u
hoies As q honegcomb, two caravels abandoned
ana the two remaining run on shore st Jamaica.
where columbus built huts on their decks 20
shei'er ms forlorn crew. Sec him stranded
mere. pressed by hunger and want visited hy
sickness and almost blindness. burning with
fever under the willing blazing heat Of the
tropics. desolsie forsaken, infirm and old.
There he lay whole wear without relief, tu
The cup OF his misery was full.
TRIED rs TnE STANDARD or ms AoE.
IL Columbus was sometimes harrh aud cruel.
we are 20 remember that he lived in al age
when the most cruel aud barbarous punish
ments we're common. There numerous
stances Of his clemency both 10 the natives aud
20 his revolted Spaniards. and he more than
once )eopardized his own life by sTAriug theirs.
Among treacherous aud yindictive noe. many
Of whom were continually plotting for hi- over
throw, the admiral. endowed with fun power
over the lives and acts of hi- followers, ~s-
compelled TO make examples Of the worst many
Of whom we're criminals released fr"m shs
prisons Of Spain. Like other fighter. he met
treachery With trescbery. cruelty with craclty.
He had never learned 60 love his enemies. nor
90 turn his cheek for the second blow. show
the man invested with absolute power. la that
or any former age, who abused n l"-- fut
into one scale the few mutinous and dcsp,tsts
conspirators whom he caused 20 he cxccuted.
and add TO them all the savage abongines whom
he eNteruniuated mostly IN self-d-fence; put
into the other the ten thousand th' istiHn
heretios burned alive by the lnquisition In les
than twenty wears of the same reign. under
the fcndish direction Of 1oauemAdA, and by
the implicit sanction of Ferdinand aud lsabsila,
and then say-Which was the WORST The very
year Of his great discovery a ROYAL cdict
banished all the jews in Spain Who
would not ALLURE their religion. under penalty
Of death. No less than 100000 Of that race
were thus driven from their homes 60 for"Ign
lands. Try him by the moral standards not q
our humane aud enlightened age. hut by tho-e
OF his own. Compared with the deeds II dark
ness that were done by Boballlia and DVsudo.
f1s n rpftlgts.I him The ~
Columbus appears. even at it, worst. 10 have
been mid and merclful By the side 81 tbs
atrocities and cruel nRssacrcs perlsetfHt-d
under Cortes in Mexico and rizarro IN Peru,
the few deeds of blood under Columbus mp
pear slight indeed. While We have no right to
eEtenUate his errors and his abuses. W have -
little right TO hold him 20 = standard nowhere
. set up in his day. In iiBe ard"r 81 hI- zeal for
hat hc deemed the Christian faith. Columbus
committed many glaring mistakes and error-;
! but what oyer-goalous apostle or reformer has
failed TO do the samey lie had strong pa--
mons, they say: he kicked and cuffed n fellow
who had excited his indignation. 30 did
George Washington that paragon of men
( whose monument. a. has been said. there Is no
marble white enough 10 build. He was q
fGnatic-g .anted-and Peter the Hermit.
and Savonarola. and Martin Luther. and George
/ Fox, and Oliver Cromwell, and William Lloyd
Garrison-all fanatics. We who admire
the great admiral do not thereby
/ Freely admitting all his enormous fAiung-. We
VIII not lie about him: but will do
, utmost TO comprehend him We have no quar-
/ rel with the depreciators o. the great dis
coverer; i. is not that they belittle Columbus 10
l. that they belittle IN Columbus the unmeas-
ured might of the genius Of man.
If we are 10 wait for our mon OF daring and
of progress till the advent OF the perfect man
That taultlsss monster which the world meter saw"
we shall wait long indeed. even IL we do not
postpone for ages the onward progress of man
kind.
The age Of Columbus took him be uss-all
full of human imperfections and frailties-but
| full also to oyerfowing with n great idea: and
with a Will. perseverance,, q coas;ancy and
| faith sublime as fairly 90 Conquer every
obstacle. after a weary struggle OF eighteen
wears, and 20 carry forward his afdaous enter
] prise to triumphant success. That :he great
d,scoycrer failed N governor and ad-
ministrator makes nothing against hir merit as
a discoyerer. That his light at last went down
/ in darkness: that the world he discovered
brought nothing to Spain but disappointment
and Dead Sea ashes; that he dragged out
/ miserable old age in rotten and unseaworthy
ships lying Ill for months in the torrid heats II
/ the West Indies. racked with eNcruciatng pain
and IN absolute pcnCry and want all Tins but
adds point 70 q career so fun OF paradox that We
may almost pardon him for believing in
miracles. After much glory and much
fame. his life darkened down 10 it, dreary and
pathetic close. His ardent soul wen; az
last where wicked governments cesse from
troubling, and weary mariners are at rect.
On the 10th OF May, l506. worn out
by disease, anaieiies and iaborr. the
great discoverer launched forth on his last
voyage OF discovery, across the border Of that
unknown land whose boundaries are hid from
mortal ken. In the fine elegiac verre OF shakes
peare may we say of him:
Pear no more the heat Of the sun
Nor the furious winters rtrss.
thou thy worldly task has. done.
Home art gone. aud ta'en tbs ~aeeal
Fear more ihe lishtnin- flash,
Nortae "a dreaded thunder stone;
Fear not Sian her. censure rash,
Thou hast finished by ana moanG
quiet contamination have,
And renowned be thy grave"
His place among the immortals is secure nv
the power Of the unconquerable mind with
which nature had endowed him. he achieved a
fame 10 imperis liable that neither the arrows u
malice, nor the shafts of envy, nor the kseue-t
pens of critics, nor the assaults Of icon, lasts
can avail TO destroy il.
Columbus in the Churc,e-.
Services appropriate to Columbus day were
held in the First Congregational Church last