The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1892-10-26

SNWN p" ~
HENRY wATTERSON
God on the highway God In the winds and
waves, and God in all our heartsl
Chauncey Depew's Address.
This day belongs not TO America, but to the
world. The results of the event it commence
rates are the heritage OF the people OF every
race and cline. We celebrate the emancipa-
ton OF man. The preparation was the work of
almost countless centuries the realization was
the revelation of one. The cross on Calvary
was hope; the cross raised on san Salvador was
opportunity. But for the first. Columbus
would never have sailed; but for the second
there would have been no place for the plant
ing, the nurture and the expansion of civil and
religious liberty. Ancient history f. dreary
record of unstable civilizations. Each reached
The Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian, Grecian and
Roman Empires were proofs OF the possible
ties and limitations OF man for conquest and
intellectual development. Their destruction in
volved a sum of misery and relapse which made
their creation rather a curse than a blessing.
God always has in training some command
ing genius for the control OF great crises in
the affairs OF nations and peoples. The num-
Der Of these leaders are less than the centu-
ries, but their lives are the history Of human
progress. Though Cesar and Charlemagne,
and Hildebrand. and Luther, and William the
Conqueror and Oliver Cromwell, and all the
epoch makers prepared Europe for the event.
and contributed to the result, the lights which
illumine our armament to-day are Columbus
the discoverer, Washington the founder, and
Lincoln the savior
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. Forty-four authentic portraits
of him have descended to us, and no two of
them are the counterfeits of the same person.
Each represents character as distinct as its
canvas. Strength ana weakness intellectual
ity and stupidity, high moral purpose and
fprOCitV lcpntiOngnpgg
dreamer and the miser, the pirate and the
puritan, are the types from which we may
select our hero We Gi smiss the painter. and
piercing with the clarified vision of the dawn
of the twentieth century, the veil of four hun
dred years, we construct our Columbus.
The perils of the sea in bis youth upon the
rich argoses of Genoa, or In the service Of the
licensed rovers who made them their prey,
had developed skillful navigator and intrepid
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,
gradually evolved theory. which became in
hts mind so fixed fact that he could inspire
others with his own passionate beliefs. The
words, that is q lie," written by him on the
the travels of Marco Polo Which is still to be
found in Genoese library, illustrate the
skepticism OF his beginning, and the first
vision of the New World the fulfllment of his
faith.
To secure the means to test the truth Of his
speculations, this poor and unknown Gre mer,
must win the support of kings and overcome
the hostility of the church. He never doubted
his ability to do both, though he knew OF no
man living who was so great in power, or line
age, or learning that he could accomplish
either. Unaided and alone he succeeded in
arousing the jealousies of sovereigns, and di-
viding the councils OF the ecclesiastics Il will
command your fleet and discover for you new
realms, but only on condition that you confer
on me hereditary nobility, the Admiralty of
the Ocean, and the Vice Royalty and one tenth
the revenues of the New Wor d." were his
naughty terms TO King John OF Portugal At
ter ten years of disappointment and poverty,
subsistlng most of the time upon the charity OF
the enlightened monk of the Convent of Ri
bida, who was his unfaltering friend, he stood
before the throne of Ferdinand and Isabella,
and rising to imperial dignity in his rags, en-
bodied the same royal conditions in his petit
tion. The capture of Granada, the expulsion
Of Islam from Europe, and the triumph of the
Cross, aroused the admiration and devotion OF
Christendom. But this proud beggar holding
in his grasp the potential promise and domn-
ion of Eldorada and Cathay, divided with the
Moslem surrender the attention OF sovereigns
and bishops. France and England indicated
desire to hear his theories, and see his maps,
while he was still suppliant at the gates OF
the camp of CASTLE and Aragon, the sport of its
courtiers, and the scoff of its colfessors. His
unshakeable 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
people, lifted him so far above the discourage
ments of an empty purse and acontemptuous
court that he was proof against the rebuffs of
fortune or Of friends. To conquer the preju-
dtces of the clergy, to win the approval and
financial support Of the state, to venture upon
that unknown ocean which, according to the
belief of the age, was peopled with demons
and savage beasts OF frightful shape, and from
which there was no possibility of return re-
quired the zeal of Peter the Hermit the chiyal-
rio courage of the Cid, and the Imagination OF
Dante. Columbus belonged to that high order
of cranks who confidently walk where angels
tread" often become hppptap-
tors OF their country or their kind.
III was happy omen of the position which
women was to hold in America, that the only
person who comprehended the males tic scope
OF his plans and the invincible qualities OF
his genius was the able and gracious Queen of
CASTLE. Isabella, alone of all the dignitaries
OF that age, shares with Columbus the honors
OF his great achievement. She arrayed her
Kingdom and her private fortune behind the
enthusiasm of this mystic mariner and pos
terity pays homage to her wisdom and faith.
The rulers of the old world began with par
titioning the new. The northern continent
was divided between England. france ana
Spain, and the southern between spain ana
Portugal. France wanting the capacity ior
colonization, which still characterizes ne. the
gave up her western possessions anu ieIo
English, who have the genius OF un Tta
empire. masters of North America. Fn nc
velopment OF the experiment ln onp it
domain makes this day menioIaui' tho
il due TO tie wisdom ana couEa1e, ' nS
faith and virtue OF the lnha .P.I 1oonle
this territory that i've pbe people was nau
ourated and has become a triumphant success:
The Puritan settled in New al" the op
OaNaiiei 20 w.. aniritual and temporal life ana !
Pp0 0s;niies OF THE of liberty bsraized
the one anu o, the new types Their union |
ana aa ss,non cause gave the world republic |
i,a,h table and free. 1t possessed conserya.
. Do.n s,vyitbout bigotry, and liberty without |
tlsln Tt founded institutions strong enough |
i resist revolution and elastic enough for
i;uodetnito extension to meet the requirements
Of
,,,opnIation, and the needs of progress and
growth. Ia. A. pu-,s, ~,
r,,,tcb shin laden with African slaves were on |
he ocean at the same time. the one sailing for |
Massaohusetts and the other for Virginia.
nd he forcea which VIC 20 /