Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-10-27

cross raised on San Sal
c. NJ DEPEw. vador was opportunity.
But for the first, Columbus would never have
sailed, but for the second, there would have
been no place for the planting, the nurture and
the expansion of civil and religious liberty.
The anarchy and chaos which followed the
breaking up Of the Roman empire necessarily
produced the feudal system The people pre-
ferring slavery to humiliation by robber chiefs,
became the vaSSalS of territorial lords The
reign Of physical force is one of perpetual
struggle for the mastery. Power which rests
upon the sword neither shares nor limits its
authority. The king destroyed the lords, and
the monarchy succeeded feudaliSm- Neither OF
these ms titutions considered consulted the
people. They had no part, but to suffer or die
in this mighty strife of masters for the mas
terry. But the throne by its broader view and
greater resources, made possible the cOnStruc-
ton of the highways of freedom Under its
banner races could unite and petty principafl-
ties be merged, law substituted for brute force,
and right for might It founded and endowed
universities, and encouraged commerce 1t
conceded no political privileges but uncon-
sciously prepared it's subjects to demand them.
Absolutism in the state, and bigoted intoler-
ance in the church, shackled popular unrest
and imprisoned thought and enterprise in the
fifteenth century. The divine right of kings
stamped out the faintest glimmer of revolt
against tyranny; and the problems of science,
whether of the skies or of the earth, whether OF
astronomy geography, were solved or sub
merged by ecclesiastical DEGREES. The dungeon
was ready for the philosopher who proclaimed
the truths of the solar SYSTEM the navigator
who would prove the sphericity Of the earth.
An English Gladstone, or French Gambetta,
or a German Bismarck. an italian Garibaldi,
or a Spanish CASTELAR,. would have been thought
monsters, and their deaths at the stake, or on
the scaffold, and under the anathemas OF the
church. would have received the praise and ap
proval of kings and mobiles, of priests and peo-
pies. Reason had no seat in spiritual or tenn
poral realms Punishment the incentive
to patriotism. and piety was held possible by
SSiO of
. the writhing victim on the rack. were believed
eflcacious in saving his soul from fires eternal
beyond the grave For all that humanity to-
day cheriSheS as its best heritage and choicest
gifts, there was neither thought nor hope
Neither realism nor romance furnishes a
more striking and picturesque figure than that
of Christopher Columbus. The mystery about
his origin heightens the charm Of his story.
That he came from among the toilers Of his
time is in harmony with the struggles OF our
period
The perils of the sea in his youth upon the
rich argosies of Genoa, or in the service Of the
licensed rovers who made them their prey, had
developed skillful navigator and intrepid
mariner They had given him glimpse of the
possibilities OF the unknown, beyond the high
ways of travel, which reused an unquenchable
thirst for adventure and research. The study
of the narratives of previous explorers, and
diligent queStiOningS of the daring spirits who
had ventured far toward the tabled west, grad
ually evolved q theory, which became in his
q
others with his passionate beliefs The words,
'that is lie," written by him on the margin of
nearly every page of a volume OF the travels Of
Marco Polo which is still 10 be found in a
Genoese library, illustrate the skepticism of
his beginning and the first vision OF the new
world the fulflment of his faith
To secure the means to test the truth of his
| specula tions, this poor unknown dreamer. must
| win the support of kings and overcome the hos
| tflity of the church. He never doubted his
ability to do both, though he knew of no man
! living who was great in power, or lineage, or
| learning that he could accomplish either. After
| ten years of disappointment and poverty, sub
sisting most of the time upon the charity of the
enlightened monk of the convent of Ribida. who
| was his unfaltering friend, he stood before the
| throne of Ferdinand and Isabella His unshak-
| able faith, that Christopher Columbus was
| commissioned from Heaven. both by his name
! and by Divine command to carry Christ across
|. the sea- to new continents and pagan peoples
! lifted him so far above the diSCouragementS Of
| an empty purse and contemptuouS court that
| he proof against the rebufs of fortune or
OF friends. To conquer the preiUdiceS Of the
clergy, to win the approval and financial sup
! port of the state, to venture upon that unknown
ocean, which, according TO the beliefs of the
| age, peopled with demons and savage
| beasts of frightful shape. and from which there
| was no possibility of return. required the zeal
! of Peter the Hermit, the chivalric courage of
| the Cid and the imagination of Dante Column
| bus belonged to that high order of cranks, who
| confidently walk where angels fear to tread"
and often become the benefactorS of their coun-
| try. or their kind.
The mighty soul of the great Columbus was
| undaunted by the ingratitude OF princes, and
| the hostility of the people. by imprisonment
and neglect He died he securing means
and preparing campaign for the rescue of the
holy sepulchre at Jerusalem from the infideL
He did not know what time has revealed, that
while the mission OF the crusadeS OF Godfrey
of Bouillon and Richard OF the Lion Heart was
bloody and fruitless romance the discovery
of America was the salvation of the world. The
one was the symbol, the other the spirit the
one death the other life The town Of the
Saviour was a narrow and empty vault precious
only for its memories OF the supreme TRACED y
of the centuries, but the new continent was to
be the home and temple OF the living God
The development of the colonial: experiment
| in English domain makes this day m emorable.
| 1t is due to the wisdom and courage, the faith
| and virtue Of the Inhabitants of this territory
that government of the people, for the people and
| by the people WAS fnauguFated, and has be come q
triumphant success The Puritan settled IN
| New England and the Cavalier in the south
| They represented the opposites OF spiritual and
temporal life and opinions The processes OF
| liberty hbcralized the one and elevated the
| other. Washington and Adams were the new
| types Their union in common cause gave
| the world republic both stable and free II
| possessed conservatism without bigotry, and
| liberty without license It founded institutions
| strong enough to resist revolution, and elastic
| enough for indefinite extension 70 meet the re-
| quirements in governments OF ever charging
| areas OF population, and the needs OF progress
| and growth
The Mayfower, with the Pilgrims and q
| Dutch ship laden with African slaves, were on
| the ocean at the same time, the one ailing FOL
Massachusetts and the other for Virginia This
| company OF saints and first cargo of slaves
1 represented the forces which were to peril and
| rescue free government The SLAYER was the
| product OF the commercial spirit of Great Brit
| ain. and the greed of the times to stimulat e
| production in the colonies The men who wrote
| In the ca bin of the Mayfiower the first charter
| OF freedom. government OF just land equal
| laws were q little band of Protestants agains,
every form of injustice and tyranny The
! heaven of their principles made possible the
| declaration of independence, liberated The
| slaves, and founded the free commemorative
which form the republic Of the United States
!
| The time has arrived for both closer union.
| and greater dis lance between the old world
| and the new The former indiscriminate wei
come to prairies, and the present invitation
to these palaces of art and industry, mark the
passing period Unmatched and unhealthy i'm
migration can no longer be permitted 10 our
shores We must have national quarantine
against disease pauperisrn and crime We do
not want candidates for our hospitals, our poor
houses or our laiis We cannot admit those
WIG come TO undermine our institutions, and