The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-11-04

THE v
His words were delivered with al
impetuous eloquence that is difficult t.
describe, and being in the italian mus
have lost much of their force whel
filtered through even so accomplished
an interpreter as Father Farrelly.
WHAT THE VATICAN LIBRARY
DISCLOSED REGARDING TIKI
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF AMER
ICA
Mr.. Haywood and the librarian of the
Vatican began their search at once
and 1900 volumes of manuscript, writ
ten partly on parchment and partly OF
paper in the archives of the Holy See
were searched with great care. These
represented the papal registers or let
ter books. and contain all of the letters
received and issued by the popes anG
other high officers of the Vatican from
the time of Innocent III in 1893 to the
LIST of January. 1893. All the records OF
the Vatican prior to that date were
| destroyed by fire about the beginning
of the thirteenth century.
The examination of these records
disclosed several documents of great
interest and Importance, but did not
show proof of any knowledge on the
part of the church that voyages were
made from the eastern to the western
continents prior to the memorable
cruise of Columbus in 1892. It was
demonstrated, however, by numerous
! letters addressed to and written by
the several popes that a bishopric of
the Catholic church existed in Green
| land at the date when these records
| began; that is the year 1893. Accord
! ing to the theories of Scandinavian
scholars, the Norwegians discovered
| and occupied what is now New Eng
land the latter part of the tenth cen
fury, and it is known that in 1855 a
bishop was sent to Greenland.
This was the first bishopric estab-
lished in America, and the correspond
ence which was discovered, and of
which fac SMILES were exhibited in
the convent of La Rabida at the
Worlds Fair, was conducted between
that bishop and his successors and the
several popes. These letters contain
interesting information regarding the
condition of Greenland in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, and show that
America helped to furnish money for
the crusade.
On the 18th of February, 1906, Pope
Innocent III addressed letter to the
bishop of Gardar, in Greenland, giving
him some instructions concerning the
management of affairs in that distant
country, and in 1876 Pope John XXI
calls upon the, diocese of Gardar to
furnish its share of the funds neces-
sary to pay the expense of rescuing
the holy sepulcher from the infidels.
The archbishop in reply informed the
pope that it would take him five years
to visit the inaccessible and unknown
country to the westward which formed
part of his diocese; that 1t furnished
no convenience for transportation or
shelter; that he would have to live out
of doors and subsist upon such food as
he could gather. and that even with all
hardships and difficulties it would be
impossible to collect tithes of any value
because the people were savages with
no fixed abiding place, given up to bar
barous rites and excuses, and having
no property whatsoever. But the pope
persistently called for contributions.
He was then informed that the people
could offer nothing whatever for the
expense of the crusade but the skins
of animals and the teeth and soper of
whales. and the good bishop adds that
the people are so poor and so deprived
of the ordinary food and necessaries
of life that they do net raise even
wheat and grapes enough to furnish
bread and wine for the celebration of
the eucharist.
In another letter the bishop of
Greenland tells of the invasion of his
country by the heather, who killed or
carried into slavery nearly all the in
habitantS of certain section of the
territory, burned their inhabitants and
buildings and left only nine churches
in the diocese which were in the least
accessible region. Some Of the cap
tives, having escaped and returned to
their own country, begged him to ap-
ply to the pope to provide them with
priests and means for restoring their
churches.
Pope Nicholas Y, who received this
letter, empowered the neighboring
bishop of Iceland TO supply the pious
desires of the Greenlanders. 1t seems,
however, from subsequent records that
this letter of Nicholas did not reach
its destination or at least failed to eff
feet its purpose, for in 1892, just about
the time Columbus was setting out
upon his voyage, the Greenlanders
themselves addressed a petition to
Pope Innocent VIII, setting forth that
for about eighty years, since the
heather invasion, they had been en-
tirely deprived of priests and places to
worship. AS a consequence many had
lost their faith, and to them who We're
the only memorial of Chris
tan worship remaining was chalice
in which nearly one hundred years be-
fore priest had consecrated the
blessed sacrament; and it is related in
the petition that once every year this
holy and venerable relic was exposed
to the view Of tn people.
There were several other letters of
equal interest discovered and pro-
duced, including some correspondence
between the pope and Ferdinand and
Isabella concerning the discoveries of
Columbus, the letter of the pontiff
the famous bull Of de-,
which divided the New
World between the Spaniards and the
There was also a letter |
from Pope julius II, recommending
Bartholomew, the brother, and Diego. |
the son of Columbus, to the kindest
OF King Ferdinand, who !
had fled from Spain and was then liv-
ng in Naples.
There were also the instructions
given to the first missionaries sent to |
The Ny.y World, and the credentials of |
The first bishop who was established at |
Darien.
The fac-siniles of these documents