New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-09-14
COIrMBCs AND TIE JEWS.

From The Jewish Chronicle.
Exactly 400 years ago the little cnrave that carried
restward ever westward, ia the hope OF rehshs .ne
Fast Indies by a westerly passage We an hhpn NV
result ne OF ,bn mediterranean had remained what Il
had been 10 the writer's OF the Mie thc 'Irht
GeGes ROM EgP r Of the deep blue WSves Of
10 reat Sea, Unless within sight OF then' na'l1h
had e hope Of pasnHg tpa rods al that So FAR
from It's being advantage for county TO p" nJ
dered by The treat sew aSa wasI,s for nation
to be kept away from The Atlantic y IL The Atiantc
which Is nowadays the S S e be a Sords e y the
Atlantic The discovery 81 America made ms mncn
difference to history as sudden change III ths nS
the globe would have made. such c hahpe en- ~
European politics must have especially affected the
Jews scattered AS they have always been over tns
,raDsfsrred from the Empire to Spain. The leading
nations Of Europe from the point Of view on n'Ih ,
existed. After Columbus's discovery the chlef lead
ers of civilization. became spain Franc" ana hnss nn
nened that whereas up To l402 the jews held their
own In science and literature Win any o, the a Gas
tbeIr contributors 10 the worlds thought wp but
mediocre in quality ana "1ten hDon me 1sxiiS 6story
eject OF the d'%s sy b oi AfSa pS would not
have been hut for the Intolerance OF the hauehs
into whose hands Se % Of the pTe % wSeh
lions fought England expelled her Jews almost ef
aG zoo %, years Srr1 m@ that put foot upon
The new world to bc touched by the European. huge
hand o, exies shook the dust Of Spain from on their
weary foot and sought fields for their Intelligence
and enterprsc. Unfortunately tho new fields they
sought mainly parts Of the world that have never
advanced since, owing to the revolution In their po
sition caused by Coluntbus's discovery. Morocco
T1nIs and Turkey were the chief asylums sought by
inc Spanish Jews who did not show In their choice
any OF the prophetic instincts Of their race Columbus
made the superiority Of the scphardl relic OF the
past Tho hogemony Of Isrpel fcil TO Poland; and
Judaism was 10 mean chiefly Irpul and Shulchnn
ArcH for the 300 years SO far cannot be SAID
that Columbus Is n name 10 be remembered with
special gratitude BY men Of Jewish blood and faith
nv directing the worlds commerce and civilization
from lands where Jews lived In numbers to countries
whence they had been ousted he unwittingly de-
prIvod them Of the choice Of sharing In the world =
ciyIIizIng work II might have been far different
both for Spain and for the Jews II the latter had not
been expelled from the Iberinn Peninsula just when
their financial and organizing ability would have
been most effective. As II was most OF the trade OF
the New World fell into the hands OF the Jewish ex-
lies. But IT would have been carried on In Tar ar
fcrent manner II the Grads Carvajals and Da Costa
had conducted these openly from Spain instead OF
by crypioJews residing In that country al peril 0f
their lives. But IL is useless nquring what
might have been. The fact remains that Spain I'D
exile the highest minds OF Judaism Just as the New
World began affect European commerce, politics ana
culture, and the Jews were TINS shut out from the
higher life Of Europe for nearly three centuries.