Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-10-28
nrst VISION OF the New world the fulnllment

nrst vision OF the New World the fulhIlment
Of b 3 faith.
To secure the means to test the truth of his
speculations, this poor and unknown dreamer
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 30 great in power, or line
age, or learning that he could accomplish
either. Unaided and acne he succeeded in
arousing the jealousies of sovereigns and df-
viding the councils of the ecclesiastics.
4 Will command your feet and discover for
you new realms, but only on condition that
you confer on me hereditary nobility. the adj
miralty of the ocean,, and the vice royalty and
one-tenth the revenues Of the New World, -
were his naughty terms to King John of Portu-
gal. After ten years of disappointment and
poverty, subsisting most of the time upon the
charity of the enlightened monk Of the Con-
vent of Ribida, who was his unfaltering
friend, he stood before the throne of Ferdi.
nand and Isabella, and rising to imperial
dignity in his rags, embodied the same royal
conditions in his petition. 49,.
The capture Of Granada, tie 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 promlsA and do
minion of Ell Dorado and CathaJ, divided
with the Moslem surrender, the attention, of
sovereigns and bishops. France IND England
indicated a desire to hear his theories, and see
his maps, while he was still a suppliant at the
gates of the camp of CASTLE and Aragon, the
sport of its courtiers and the scott Of its con-
lessons. His unshakable faith, that Chris
topher Columbus was commissioned from
heaven, both by his name and by divine COM
mand to carry Christ across the sea-" to new
continents and pagan peoples, lifted him 40
far above the discourugements of an empty
purse and a contemptuous court that he was
proof against the rebuffs Of fortune and
friends.
TO conquer the prcjudices If the clergy. to
win the approval anu financial support of the
state, to venture upon that unknown ocean.
which, according to the beliefs of the age, was
peopled with demons and savage beasts of
frightful shape, and from which there was no
possibility OF return, required the zeal o.
Peter the Hermit, the chivalric courage of the
Cid. and the ina 4~ination of Dante. Columbus
belonged to that high order of crarks, who
confidently walk where angels fear TO tread. ~
and often become the benefactors of their
country, or their kind.
1t was g happy omen of the position which
woman was to hold in America, that tho only
person who comprehended the majestic SCOPE
If his plans, and che invincible quality of his
genius, was the able and gracious queen of
CASTLE. Isabella alone, of all the dienitaries
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 poster
ity pays homage to her wisdom and faith.
The overthrow of the Mahommedan power
In Spain would have BEEN a forgotten scene
in one of the innumerable acts in the grand
dramao of history, had not Isabella conferred
Immortality upon herself, her husband and
their dual crown by her recognition of Col
umbus. The devout spirit Of the queen and
the high purpose of the explorer inspired the
voyage. subdued the mutinous crew. and pre-
vojl1H nvo~ thn - a 0srr utou~,o rl.--
with the divine radiance of religion aud hui
mainly, the degrading search for gold, and
the horrors Of its quest, which filled the frat
century Of conquest with every form of lust
and greed.
The mighty soul Of the great admiral was
undaunted by the ingratitude Of princes, and
the hostility of the people. " Imprisonment
and neglect. He died as he was securing the
means and preparing a campaign for the res
cue of the holy sepnlchre at Jerusalem from
the intidel. He did not know wat time has
revealed. that while the mission of the cru
sades, of Godfrey and Bouillon and Richari
OF the Lion Heart was a 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 tomb Of the Saviour was a
narrow and empty vault, precious only for it's
NJ -mories of the supreme tragedy of the CEN
turtles, but the new continent was to b. the
AoAAO uLu map v AC living OOu.
The rulers of The Old World began with mar
titioning the New. 10 them the discovery
was expansion of empire and grandeur to Va
throne. vast territories, whose properties
and possibilities were little understood and
whose extent was greater than the kingdom
of the sovereigns, were the gifts to court fo-
vorites and the prizes Of royal approval. But
individual intelligence and independent con-
science found here haven and refuge, They
were the passengers on the caravels of Col.
umbus and he was unconsciously making for
the port of civil and religious liberty.
Thinkers, who believe men capable of higher
destinies and ,arger responsibilities, and Nous
people who preferred the Bible to that union
of church and state in which each serves the
other for the temporal benefit of both. fled IN
these distant and hospitable lands from tntol-
cradle and hopeless oppression at home. II
required three hundred years, for the peonle
| thus happily situal ed, 10 understand thar
own powers and resources, and to break bonds
which were still reverned. OF loved. no matter
how deeply they wounded, or how hard thew
CALLED.
The nations of Europe were so comnle+a,v
absorbed in dynastic difficulties and devastat.
ing wars with diplomacy and smhitions that
they neither needed , or heard of the growing
democratic spirit and intelligence in their
American colonies. To them these provinces
were sources of revenue, and they never
dreamed that they were also schools of liberty.
That 1t exhaus; ed three centuries under the
most favorable conditions for the evolution of
freedom on this continent. demonstrates the
tremendous strength of custom and hereditv
when sanctioned and s~anctfed by religion.
The very chains which fettered became in
extricably interviewer with the habits Of life.
the associations of childhood, the tenderest.
ties of the family, and the sacred offices of the
church from the cradle to the grave. 1t clearly
proves that If the people of the Old World and
their descendants had not possessed the oppor-
tunity afforded by The new for their emancipa.
ton, and mankind had never experienced and
learned the American example. instead of liy-
ing In the light and glory of nineteenth CEN
fury conditions, they would still be struggling
with MEDIEVAL problems. =.
The :orthern continent was divided BE-
tween England, France and Spain, and the
southern between Spain and Portugal, France
wanting the capacity for colonization, which
still characterizes her, gave up her western
possessions and left tho English, who have
the genius of universal empire, masters of
North America. The development of the ex-
pertinent In the English domain makes this
sdy memorable. 1t is due to tho wisdom and
courage, the faith and virtue of the inhabit-
ants of this territory that government of the
people. for the people and by The people was
| fnauQurated. and has hec0ma n tr;unphon mt