The Irish standard., 1900-02-24

than his own, would never have been
able to behead a king and still main
tain his power and influence over
great nation.
The age of Columbus was the Rem
aissance, the time which inspired the
great masters, and greatest OF them all
was Christopher Columbus. He was
greater than an epoch. To measure
him, consider how poor would have
been the world without the name of
this wonderful Genoese. Stern in soul,
resolute in action, grand in character,
he was the type of the era which he
ushered in. Humanity had lost its IT,
ties and he re-established them. He
threw open the gates of the new world,
where there was freedom from the en-
vironments of the past.
Had Napoleon never lived there
would not have been any material
change i'll the world from what is to-
day, yet without Columbus the tenden-
cies of all modern life would have been
along different paths. Caesar and Ma
poleon may live in the grandeur OF
their achievements, but in the fore
ground Of eternal history stands Co.
lumbus, towering above them all, the
greatest admiral of the seas. No one
is to be compared with him. He has
no fellows. He stands alone Travel
ing disappointed from court to court, a
prince in beggar's robe, he was yet
undaunted, for he knew that genius
wings its flights where malice enters
not in The air which he breathed was
charged with the electricity of new
thought.
The aim OF the Renaissance was to
quicken life, to make the miser time
give up his buried treasure. 1t was
the transition period of our race, the
fermentation of new thought, loosen
ing from the bonds of the traditions of
the past. Feudalism was crumbling
into a myth in the shaping OF great
nationality. The map Of the mind was
being remodeled, and new kingdoms OF
knowledge were being opened In
such all age lived Columbus.
He was dreamer, seeker after
truth, a man of action, man of faith;
but, greater than all Of these, he was
man OF character. The influence
which was greatest upon him was the
memory of that ancient creed; it made
of him man of the cross, new cru-
sader. To look at him from any single
standpoint would be to belittle him. 1t
was faith that spurred him on, and it is
this that gives Columbus Our chief re-
gard
There are two methods of arriving
at truth. One is by authority, and the
other by experience. The first is ruled
by the tomb and nodded from the dust
of the dead. Columbus arrived at truth
by experience What is the history of
the uplifting of our race but the eff
forts Of such dreamers as Columbus?
He was led on by faith, he drank deep
of the cup of sorrow, from the wine OF
which man is made immortal. The
world is timorous of ideas, and must
needs have them quarantined lest it be-
come infected with progress. Satisfac-
ton is the worst state in which man
can be.
The speaker dwelt upon the strug-
giles of the great voyager in his efforts
to convince men of the practicability
OF his dreams and of his theories. He
who gave to men a new world was
himself homeless, he said. The turn
ing point in his career was when, at
the age of thirty-seven, he went to Lis
bon, the boiling point of the worlds
greatness, where he met men whose
minds were turned toward the future
and the West. Here he studied the
art of navigation, he became a linguist
and scholar. Here he became a
seeker after knowledge. From worlds
conquered he reached out after worlds
unconquered. He then set out jour-
neying from court to court, stricken
with the palsy of grief at repeated fail
ures, but hope returned again, and faith
once more lighted his path.
After all, it was faith which discov-
cred America. 1t was that which sent
Columbus, fearless, across the trackless
Atlantic. He was firm and tenacious
OF purpose; he laughed in the face of
difficulties; but he would never have
been able to succeed save for his
strength of character. Columbus was
great in life, but he was still greater
after death. His influence still lives
and achieves triumphs. Without him
our republic would not have been.
Here has been tested the political sys-
tenn which seemed impossible, here the
problem of self-government has been
solved; here liberty, which, after years
OF strife and struggle, has won immor-
tai victory. Serfs have become sov-
ereigns, the people kings, and the re-
suits of the discoveries have become
the wonder and the amazement of the
world. The moral effect OF our expert
ment in government has been the in
spiration and the hope of every people
of every cline.