The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-09-14
The Tomb of Columbus,
New York Tribune.

The Tomb of Columbus
New York Tribune.
The Spaniard has precedents for
moving the bones Of his heroes. His
patron saint underwent post-mOrten
travels Of a most astonishing sort, and
it does not seem to have entered into
the heart Of the Iberian TO protect his
rest with any Shakespearian curses. If
Columbus had foreseen how Spain,
which misused him while living,
would move his remains about the
world perhaps be would have uttered
anathemas, sure that the superstition
of his adopted countrymen would in
sure for his chain-freed limbs peace IN
disturbed. But he did not He died
in poverty at Valladolid, and then Fer
dinand, who would not give TO man
justice, gave to a corpse honOrs; and
the bones Of the great diseOverer, ten
anting one tomb after another, at last
reached the cathedral cf Havana,
where they served Spanish pride far
more than Spain did them honor.
Now, in the same spirit, Spaniards are
proposing to dig them up again to keep
them within the limits Of their shrink
ing greatness.
That scheme raises the question
Where is Columbus's fitting resting
place? Is It in the New World or the
Old? Is it in Spain or in progressive
America? Doubtless the wor ld-wide
empire Of Ferdinand and Charles Y
and Philip III was nearer the ideal Of
Columbus than any Western republic,
whether Spanish or Anglo-Saxon. He
belonged to his time and his race, and
his new world was not the world Of
religious and political freedom lie
would probably have recoiIed at the
suggestion that the hemisphere which
he opened to mankind would in 3 few
years become the stronghold Of every
thing he had been taught to regard IS
subversive of Christian civilization.
The Spain of to day would be much
more familiar soil to him than Cuba
under American supervision. And yet,
If he is conscious Of events in this
world, would he not choose to have his
tomb among those who made the aetu-
ality of this New World tenfold greater
even than his stupendous dream, rather
than among those who frittered away
the magnificent power he gave them,
aud could not even retain possession OF
his place of sepulchre? Columbus be-
longs emphatieally TO The Western
Hemisphere. He came from medise-
val Europe, and he brought many of
the ideas of medieval Europe with
him. But his heart was here. From
hare he was sent home in chains. Back
here he came in adversely, with his last
desperate thirst for discovery, and here,
after Spain had let him die miserably
in her borders, he found sepulchre, with
two continents for his monument. Ma
tions may grow rich and decay. Peo-
piles may engage in wars. Countries
may change rulers. But while the
lands which he found stand above the
sea they will be his lands beyond the
power OF any occupant to change it, be-
yond the power Of any adventurer or
msp-maker or any prevalence Of other
names to rob him of his glory. To
Ferdinand and Isabella Columbus gave
his New World, but he could not keep
them from throwing it away. Now
that it is thrown away. we may be sure
that he would say that he belonged
with the land which the Spaniards had
misused as they misused its discOverer,
rather than with the spendthrifts who
squandered his richest gains.
The tomb in Havana Cathedral is the
shrine of the Western Hemisphere.
From the capes of Labrador to the
Strait of Magellan all peoples turn to il
with reverence. While Spain held Cuba
she was the custodian of the discov-
erer's relies. When she departs a new
warden must assume charge. Watch
ers may prove unworthy, guards may
change, but the shrine IS not moved
without sacrilege. III the Cuba which
Spain robbed and oppressed for three
hundred years wss q fit grave for Co
lumbus, Cuba under civilized govern
ment will not be less so. If his bones
could rest amid Weyler's butcheries he
will sleep soundly until the arehangePs
final trumpet blast. Let him rest, then,
where the life Of a new civilization
which would not have been except fer
him will flow around him, where he
will be reekoned the pioneer in glo-
rious work with yet unfolding future,
not linked with failure and left 10
moulder with the rotting relics Of the
past.