The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-02-28
TIE DrscovEpr or AMERICA.
Com.ents Upon Mr.. John Ftshe's Rejection
OF the Norsemep.

day night. Fob. ~. on Columbus and the Dis
covery Of America" Tho whole matter Of tho
Morse discovery Of America. and their scttle-
mcnt OF "Vinand." and its effect upon subse-
duent discoveries. was brushed away by Mr..
Fiske with sneer His statement was that.
since recent Investigations had pretty definite
~ fixed tho location Of Vinland." certain mon
had run the limos back making II appear to
have some sort OF connection with the Column
ban discovery: but the matter was not in any
way connected with tho Influences which de-
termined the mind OF Columbus
The facts Of the Morse discovery and set,le-
ments are not disputed. but. like tho discov.
cry OF Mexico by Chinese Buddhists A. u. 45S.
the fnct is left to stand out by itself IA being
n thing Of no influence beyond tho fact. The
uniairness Of Mr.. Fiskc in this regard was as
apparent as tho craftsmanship OF IL political
stump speech. fIlow long Is personal. party.
national. race. or class prejudice going 10
roign supreme over the writing Of history!
How long. o Lord. how long
1t is not disputed that the deep interest
taken in navigation in tho fifteenth century
was prompted 10y commercial gnin. That it
was mn age OF discovery was an accident: the
spirit OF discovery cut very little figure. When
the Turks got possession of Constnntinop!o 1t
meant simply that Il new route 70 India must
vas commercial is everywhere concedei
learned inteeisst iakenia all geographical in:
Roger Bacon collected all that had been said
by the aancents relative 70 Transatlantic coun
lsn 20 Be- s 81 se 81 nsa @ s
sphercity Of tho earth was not questioned BY
!hc learned Florence was Il centre Ot gcogranh-
ical and astronomical learning. Just as Harvard
University seems To- Re centre of historical
Subsequent discovery Of Amarca ia Mi. nnI
tav cTrenined and maps p pr and p p,bl
1S4 f. the T"r F;s hy Adam a Of Bremen il
fury b. and thai Of Ptaiemy had bee rey f
and ,! was being added 70 b. ne learned i the
tho thirteenth century wer.s creating s,,ch .,
sensation. why were the, works d, Adam Of
RsIn s5y os adn w Of Bremen
ates fully the results Of the voyas"s " q" Of IL"
Northmon. describes vinlnnd. and says that
Tpsii l,ish9p & yinlaad; and ii IIsi bishann
we're IN Tie vatican oFh ' Hs an Gresn
land. and Iceland was furnished from The Vat
Mr Tisko states HAT tEs great astronomers
equatorial circumierenre of lilo earth vas
within 10 miles 81 Correct. furnished ID Colnm nm.
Se is sS tnt Sc ot"st 81
witt, Toscaneii MS to ths distance. averring
5 b Tho %er mileage WAS
Columbus was banking on the Adam Of Bre.
msn map in tLS hands z Martin Plnzon: INC
much less than that estimated by 'roseaneI}.
and Columbus adhered to the Morse chart.
seems to be fair and lust that, notwitbstand.
inE the recent criticisms. lie believes the state
I mSn,s q &c sop GSi3mhss relative e is
quotes from this SON to prove that Coiumbns
trst conceived the idea OF iining a western
Casllc e, moihns rrctiral could si4sS So d W,
, an to tho throns Of n' pp pHnos1 until M
1881. Very well but This same son SAYS that
in tho III can time. that Is in I477. Columbus
that he did SO. Having conceived his western
irip in i474. is it possibl. that the, works OF
it Is true that. owing to - the IL Black
Death which had had 50 50 far ds,ponuIated Norway
vas gone. there had been no COMMUNICATED
with Willard since Ia4l. But Iceland was
get the Eads ana thu
mythoosy and faith that M las given nal names Ns'i to
edge Of Vinland from the Icelandic mini. and
there Columbus could learn all that was
Morse The sagas which Prof. Raiu published
in 1887. telling the whole story were in en-
istence and fresh in the minds Of the learned
men Of Iceland in i477. This was why Coi,lm.
bus figured differently from Toscaneli AZ to
distance 1t was from positive knowled &c that
Coum bus spoke with s,ch confidence Of sue.
cess when he aldressed Ferdinand and lisa.
bella: it was from this knowedse that Te
land was not seen in three days. and d scover-
thought Vinland was Asia goes without saw
ing: hut that the VOYAGES of the Norsemeu.
the settlement of Ninland the works III Adam
Of bremen. CoIumhus's own trip to Iceland.
and the records Of the Vatican lad no in flu
enc. upon the, matter Of the 'iirst
fair minded student OF history can make.
surely il tho cotere Of wise men collected at
represents. them TO be. and there, ia no doubt
on this point, 1t was strange and inc XcllsabIe
oversg lt in them not to know o! the works of
Il man like Adam Of Bremen. Twice had II
Pope OF Rome been allied upon to take cOical
action relative to lands beyond the Atlantic
Ocean. Once in 1l12. as stated above, by the
appointment OF Cpsi and upou another occa-
sion, in tile eighth century an Irish priest
named Virgil WAS accused before Pope Zach