Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-22

and that the sru1 rsma,ns Of Columbus still
rest At Santo Domingo. The movement to
canontze the great discoverer has been cham
p;oned with more zeal thai discretion by some
over-srdent churchmen. while the too-evfden,
human frsilties OF he proposed candidate for
the honors OF sainthood have inspired an abund-
ant caution in the councils Of the Vatican
On subject franght with SO much Inherent
difficulty, contradictory evidence, and eunf,c,
Of opinion, be 10 on the safest ground who can
didly holds HE judgment In reserve In the
light OF the keenlv sifted evidence which mod
ern critical study has brought to bear, the laud-
atory judgments Of Irving and Prescott, rem
dered fifty year, ago, cannot stand wholly sp-
proved
Neither can q discerning reader accept the
fulsome laudations o: bis principal French
biograpner, Roselly de Lorgues whose rhetori-
cal panegyrics and pious eulosies place its
author in the front rank Of the canouizers.
PRr-coLuMBIAS prscovERIEs
On She other hand, those who have taken the
unfsvorable view Of Columbus have done
their utmost to divest him Of most OF the honors
which the general voice of history has assigned
him as Americas great disooyerer. The estab-
hshed fact that parts of North America were
seen centuries before, though no settlement nor
continuity OF intercourse ensued, has been ased
TO discredit him, though he was undeniably the
pioneer who set out with a plan TO discover
and did discover by design. what others found
only by accident His geographical ideas were
derived, they say, from Behaim and Toscanelli;
his nautical skill from PinScn. his certainty Of
hnding new lands from Aonso Sanchez. his
courage and daring from some Of his fellow
voyssers.
We are pointed TO his double reckoning on
the first voyage. bv which BE- deceived his
sailors as to their true distance from SPAIN, as
evidence Of false nature. He IL charged with
ambition, cupidity and arrogance In demand
ing titles, dignities and money as fruits Of his
oiseover1es. lie was. we told. a fanatic a
visionary, t.rsls, buccaneer a liar and a
slave trader. He was proud. cruel and vim
dictive.
Amid contradictory juGsmeatsand the bias az
partisan zeal the bewiidar-d reader is some
what In the position of the Juror who. after
hearing manv Witnesses swearing 10 facts
which are denied under oath bv others.
listens TO the learned counsel aunihiia;ing each
Others arguments, and concludes his per-
pleNlty. perhaps. by siding with the last speaker
But the true course in matters Of historical iudr-
ment is &c weigh each item of evidence and 70
accept nothing that is not proven. The method
OF education or of habit is to take everything
for granted the method of science is Go take
nothing for granted. The attitude Of the sin
cere student Of history is equally repuguaut
10 panegyric on the one hand or to detraction
On the other. Whilo be must admit all ia. facts
WITHOUT gloss or concealment. he must IT.
terpret every act in due relation TO the char
acter ana environment q The actor.
FES PORTRAITS OF CoLUM3Us
What manner of man. then. was this Column
bus, with whose name the trump Of fame has
been busy so long? As to his person, we have
no verified portrait, while the thirty or more
OF hAeuesses claiming 20 represent his features
present irrccuncilable differences. But here il
The description OF him gwen by Eerrera: ''Co-
iumbus was Rail OF stature. long visaged. of
majestic aspect his nose hooked. his ewes gray.
OF a clear complexion. somewhat rudy. He
was witty and pleasant, well spoken and elo-
quent, moderately grave. nffabie t. strangers,
% his own family mild Hls Couyersat ton was
discreet which gained him the afIec ton Il
those be had 20 deal vIth. and has presence
attracted respect having an ai- Of authority
ami grandeur. lie was a man Of uuaaunted
courage and hish thoughts. patient. uumoved
IN the many troubles and universities that
attended nina, ever rciyi,iS on the Divine Prov
idence.'
Gomara desert him "a "a man Of good
n'lght, strong iin3aed. with a long csantcuaIcc.
fresh and rosy ia aspect. someWh given to
anger, hardy In exposure to fatigGes."
BenzoEi says that Columbu, was "a man Of
exalted intellect, Of pleasant and ingenious
couateaance."
Bernaldez, the historian of Ferdinand and
ihabeiia. who knew him intimately in his later
years. says ''he was a Enan of very lofty eeuius
2 .
With these personal characteristics Columbus
united a restless spirit firm will. and a singu-
larly enthusiastic temperament The latter
! faculty gave him consuming zeal for his
undertakings. which was as rare as il proved
ultimately successful in COMPRISING his great
discovery. He Was discouraged by 10 rebuffs
would take no denials. His motto seemed to be
never to despair, and never 20 let 90. His
spiritual nature was as remarkable as his In
iellectuaL Here his imagination was the pre-
dominant faculty. He firmly believed himself
divinely commissioned TO find out the Indies.
and to bring their inhabitants into the fold Of
the true faith. He had early vowed to devote
the profits of his enterprise, il successful. to
rescue the tomb of Christ from the infidels
Himself deyout son of the church. he fer
veIAly believed that he had miraculous aid on
many perilous occasions of his lie.
Humble before God, he was sufficiently proud
and independent before men. He insisted
upon conditions which the naughty sovereigns
OF Spain deemed exacting, but tine high
views and the tenacity OF Columbus car
ried the day, and his own terms were granted
at last. He never forgot. in all his Subsequent
trials and humiliations. that he was a Spanish
admiral and viceroy of the Indies.
RECENT UNAVOIDABLE CRITICISMS.
The most unfavorable judgments of the char
acter and acts of Columbus have proceeded
from later critical writers, not so well gifted
WIN VI into character
with talent for criticism pure and simple
His latest biographer. Justin Minsor. has dealt
with Columbus far more harshly than any of
his predecessors. While he gives him grudg-
ing praise for his success he reitera.es the cap-
tious criticism that he biundered upon America
while in search for Asia as if. indeed the merit
were less great of discovering new world. than
of extending the boundaries of the old. He
admits no paliiations FOR the seventies of CO.
lumbus toward the sayages. and charges upon
him all the cruelties of which the age was 70
fruitful. lie sees in the lofty enthusiasm of the
discoyerer little but the yagaries of a dis
ordered brain. he charges him with a mercen-
arv spirit, aud looks upon his devotion of the
ultimate profits of his enterprise TO recovery of
the holy sepalcher from the Moslems as
chlmera. He charges upon Columbus the
whole guilt of the slavery of the Indians, aud
contrasts it with the broad humanity of Las
Casas, apparently forgetting that the good
bishop of Chiapas himself favored enslRving
the Africans-as if the slavery of the blacks
were less cruel and unjust than the slavery of
the copper colored. He sees in the fervent re-
ligious utterances of Columbus nothing more
than "pious WITNESSES" and denounces hum for
Unsuitable greed" ignoring the great object
which the admiral had in view. and his
dying bequest OF one-tenth of his estate TO
Genoa TO reduce the taxes paid by all men on
the necessaries OF life. He styles the somewhat
extrayagant language sometimes used by CO.
lumbus his moods Of Authorization. 4" and finds
in his frequent appeals TO hen ven only ..capfinr