The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-10-21
HOW CHRISTOPHER DID IT
Continued From Fifth Page.

Continued From Fifth Page.
land he failed utterly, was removed and
finally died in obscurity.
Columbus died in the belief that he
had opened the way to the East. In this
he was mistaken, but he had done a
greater thing, in that he had opened the
way to the West.
Hon. George #. Talbot
next spoke of the character Of Column
bus. He said that this is an age of re-
view and criticism, when all the old he
roes are summoned anew to prove their
titles to greatness. The old stories of
Bruce, Tell and John Smith are doubt
ed, and in the REORGANIZATION Columbus
himself has suffered. Justin Winsor,
who has published one of the best books
on Columbus, tells lis that up to mi ddle
life Columbus was a Mediterranean pi-
rate. By his marriage he obtained the
advantage of some maps of an
old Portuguese navigator. He was
superstitious. quarrelsome and de-
sirous only of gold. Towards the ma
tives he had only the feeling of slave
holder, and began the system which de-
populated the West Indies.
What have we to say to all these
charges? Perhaps, like the lawyers, we
had better ssconfess and avoid. For in
history we must deal with the Columbus
of history. But tonight we are dealing
with an entirely different man. We are
celebrating the deeds of the apotheosized
Columbus, the man TRANSPORTED by his
!. |. I.
fame, and we honor him, not for his
character, but for what he did for us. /
am aware of the great faults of Column
bus. He had not the bravery of Bayard,
the craftsmanship of Charles ", the pi-
ETY. of Fenelon; but he discovered new
world. 1t was true that some denied
him this glory, but such denial was not
based on any good foundation. His was
the only discovery that had results.
In conclusion. Mr.. Talbot read poem
descriptive of the discovery.
Some Portraits of Columbus.
The next on the programme was the
paper by Rev. DIR. Henry H. Burrage.
DR.. Burrage's paper was on Some
Portraits Of Columbus" with especial
reference to the Yanez portrait in the
National Library in Madrid. The por-
trait of the Duke of Veragua, a lineal
descendant of Columbus, calls the m ost
authentic portrait of Columbus. The
story was told of the formation of the
celebrated collection of portraits with
which Paolo Gionio, who was % years
villa on Lake Como. In this collection
portrait Of GoJ,1pol,1c Giopio
wrote work entitled Elogia Virorum
Illustriam, which was published in 1861.
In 1875 new edition appeared in which
wood cuts of portraits in the Gionian
gallery were introduced. Re-
ferring to that of Columbus,
Justin Winsor says that of any
picture is to beregarded as authentic,
this is. About the middle of the six
teenth century, the Duke of Tuscany
sent an artist to copy the Gionian por-
traits. Vasari, in his Lives of Painters,
published in 1868, says that the artist
had completed at that time $50 portraits.
These were taken to Florence and ar
ranged in the museum there. In Vasa-
ri's list of these portraits that of Column
bus was sixth in a collection of s'heroic
men," having place between Vespucius
and Magellan. This portrait is the now
CClCOIdJCo lOlCuIluc pOIGIdlU VI OOluul-
bus, copy of which was secured by
Thomas Jefferson when he was minister
to France. Jefferson's copy many years
ago came into the possession of the Mas
sachusetts Historical Society. The por-
traits of the Gionian gallery remained
unscattered until the close of the eight
zenith century. Some have thought that
a search about Como would bring to
light the original Gionian Columbus.
There are those, however, who hold that
the Yanez Columbus. in the National Lii
brary at Madrid, is the last Gionian por-
trait. An account of the restoration Of
this portrait in recent years was given.
General Lucius Fairchild, who preceded
Hannibal Hamlin as minister to Spain,
became SO much interested in this por-
trait that he had it copied by Hernandez
of Madrid, and on his return to this
country he presented the portrait to the
Wisconsin Historical Society Mr.. Ham
became interested in the Yanez portrait,
and also had copy made, which he pre-
sented to Colby University on his return
from Spain.
This copy, loaned by the University,
was exhibited.
Hon. Joseph Williamson
of Belfast, presented paper on the
''Burial Place of Columbus History
does not reveal many particulars of the
death or burial of Columbus. He wished
to be buried in Santo Domingo, and ul-
timately his remains were carried there
and deposited in the cathedral, where
they were the care of the bishops for
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