The sun., 1901-10-06

Genoese Ia this literary crime, 30 Tar as
q guilty knowledee u concerned. there are
enumarafss, tending 70 prove he had no
actual part IN its comm.s-ion, though ur-
gus~tionsbiy h was perpetrased In his own
| interests
Mr. vixnaud's belief h that the fraud
was committed without CohImbu-'e con-
sent. and that so soon as he knew of IL he
| sought its suppression. Nevertheless, hr
| visnaud admits that II Il can be proved
Columbus copied the bogus letter his COM
plicity In the act " established.
Throughout his work Mr.. Visnand speaks
| 81 Columbus with respect and even with
sympathy. II h evidently only with re-
luctance he has TO admit that the discoverer
Of America more than once acted In q man
ner which renders y possible 70 suspect
him 81 this deception. Columbus care
fully concealed the meenne~- of his origin.
his constant aim being 20 create the Inn
prt--ion that his family belonged TO the
bsiter class. although u h now well esiab-
lishsd that he was OF very humble extrac-
tion. Abiding 60 q couple Of famous sea
men Of the same name. lie boasted that he
was not the first Admiral OF his family II
has been discovered that the men In ques-
tion not only were not OF his parcntage. but
were not even of hi. nationality Tor the one
was a Greek and the other frenchman
He asserted that he had served under King
Rene Of Anjou. modern critics prove that
he did not Again, he was fond OF referring
20 the many voyages he had made during
his youth 10 distant seas Well-ascertained
facts about hi- early life render the-e state
ments wholly incredible.
Until lately these utterances and Others
quite as question able have been but u ghtly
touohed upon 10y modern authors. who
have shown a dispoeition 10 attribute them
merely 20 inncc-n' vanity. But they APP
pear under quite another light now that
there are many good reasons 20 believe
that the letter upon which rests the as
sumption that Columbus's great discovery
Wa the result Of his own senius is bogus
one They NAV well now be considered
as part and parcel Of deliber ately laid
scheme To conceal the real Incentive which
induced Columbus 10 undertake his famous
voyage In his summing up Mr. Nignaud
declines 60 bring IN verdict OF guilty
against the illustriou- 0enoe-e. he contents
himself With tho Scotch verdict. mot
proven but adds. a. a rider, that II IL e.
tahlished beyond doubt that Columbus dis
covery was due 20 positive Information.
a fact which he and his son and hiographcr
carefully concsalssl from the public.
The real culprit. the actual author OF the
fraud. Mr. vignaud believes. Wa the Ad-
mirars brother, Bartholomew Columbus
The book must be read In order To appre-
ri ate fully the clear. close reasoning by
which the author arrives at this oonclu-
sion. Indeed. the work throughout is
masterpiece 81 criticism In which there IL
absolutely no, a trace OF bias. One can
see Mr Vgnaud fully realiyed the i'm
portance Of the step he has taken In run.
ming counter 10 the generally accepted
view a view sanctioned by nearly all dead
authorities ~ well as by the whole living
school of Commhlsts II II not lightly he
enters the lists TO tilt against such re-
nowned champions a. Markham. harri--e
and Fisks The latter, slas. has not hved
20 read q work he would have been one
~ the first 10 appreciate, even though he
might not have accepted its conclusions.
FOR, even when demonstr attng the fallacies
into which the late learned author occa-
sionally slipped. Mr. Ngnaud does so In a
manner none hut the most chrli-h could
re-en, Mr. vignaud fully expected Mr.
Fiske would still be alive whsn this work
wa pubh-hed and that no keener critic
Of it, criticisms could be found. lie has
therefor. been most guarded IN all hls
statements. he supports them oy Ne'sh
81 argument that carries conVict'On, ana
" here any lOophole lies open Tor contrary
view he do.- not hesitate TO say 10 frankly.
Briefly summarized. this work may he
divided into the case Tor Columbus ana
the case against him. 80 far ~ the authen-
ticty of the documents In question Is con-
cerned.
In favor of their authenticity we have
the evidence OF tA- Casas, the hr~t
who ever mentioned the Io-canelh cor
respondence. which he publi-hei In ms
Hisfor,d begun In 1927 and finished IA lass.
the Historic. attributed TO Ferdinand Col.
umbu-. contained an Italian translation oi
th. correspondence. "A copy OF the e'teI
10 Martins has t-en found written on ths
fy-lesf of book which certainly b"lohgri
10 Columbus, In a hand closely r''-emhhng
his In 1894 Duke Hercules Este made
inquiries la Florence as to whether los
caneli had had any communication WIN
Columbus, and finally We have We taci
that the cosmographical ideas eHI fets-''I
in the letter 70 Martins are Identical
4 ,l f..lttfVl.tas hlnanlf held Against
their au,henticity arr -et the following
facts. The original documents numerous
enough, tho-e that r-Inaiii"d IN itay ~
w.Y A. tho-. s.nt To Portugal no longer
exist and have never been seen uS any
person
The fir, alleged correspondent ~ Ios-
canelli Fernam Martins. Canon oi LisbCn'
and confidential counsellor oi hlns At
fon-o V. l. absolutely unknown No tta'o
~ h.- ever having existed can ahyNn'r"
l.. found Paolo. the physician. .. los-
canelh. Is likewise unknown 20 all The fot-
tugtIese II his day He II mentioned bv none
Of them nor does his name appear lh any
Portuguese document. ,,.
The project for crossing we A''hhuc
ne suggested In the letter 10 Martins was
ss unknown Ia Portugal a. Toscanelh anu
Martins themselves No Portuguc-e author
or document Of the time alludes 70 "
The contemporary Italian authors, most
81 them either To-canslll personal Trends
little asihe Portuguese OF th" corre-Isriin-
.nce their townSnan may have had either
with Martins or Columbus. Not one OF
them knew be- Interested himself In the
route To the Indies. vet several OF them
wrote works whore mention of such iAc'
should necessarily occur. Not lt'" D'af-
ing on this project has been found among
ro-oanelli's papers.
Columbus, who was anything but rev.
iccnt, Who'll had collected and annoiated
with care all the Information dealing with
attempts at discoveries toward the West,
and on th. existence Of new lands m that
direction. never made the most distant
allusion 20 ro-canelli or 20 the letters and
map- he Is credited with having resolved
frofn him H. does not spIcar even 20 have
leen aware that therr was AZ Florence
an ASTRONOMER of that nam"
The latin text of the copy OF th" letter
10 Martins. which II alleged by some ,o te
the original text, Is written In a'rpctous
Latin The bluudcts u contains arr not
such a. copyi-t would have made who
rad A CORRECT text hefore him; they are
hlunders of the actual author OF IN" letter
Las Ca-as who j. the first Ia mention this
c,'rrcspondence ~ he was the first 'o tran
-rrile II - only knew II Ia spanish trans
latiou He neither Say- how he learned
Tn-canell had relations with Martins and
Columbus, nor Nho mat" the translation
ha gives, nor who communicated 20 him
that correspondence though he does allow
4, 49, 10 H|a ~