Evening star., 1922-10-01

cisely one of those of whom 1t is
claimed that they are going to spring
a new Columbus sensation along these
lines in the year 1928. Had it not
been for the war DIR. kayserlins
would have been taken up and made
famous. on the food Of interest ex-
cited by De La Riega's discoveries at
Pontevedra. AS it was, the forgotten
book remained forgotten until now.
or the same mysterious interest
~ is an enigmatic oil painting dis
covered in Belgium by the Ger.
man armies. Their best experts
agree that it is a Flemish-Spanish
work. dating shortly after 1892.
The painter Is unknown. The sub
ject is unknown. Like Melchisedec,
out descent or known history. the
three fine Semitic faces bear above
them, on a banner, tho words Of
Icaiah Ill, in the Latin vulgate:
And there shall come forth a rod out
Of the stem Of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out Of his roots"
Obviously. they are portraits. OBJ
viously. the parties sat to commem-
crate some joint hope, undertaking.
adventure or success. Soma see in
the left-hand figure a thinly disguised
portrait Of Columbus. Who are the
two others-generous .dreamers, prts-
oners Of promise from out the little
book of DR.. Kayserling? Next year
we may know. Today we are assur-
ed that their inward gaze was to-
ward 1.-The isles"-America-
Surely the isles await for me. and
the ships of Tarshish first to brins
thy sons from far" usaieh 6o.s.)
+ *x
0NE thing is certain. Tarshish was
~ the bay of the present Rio Tinto
copper mines on the coast of Spain
at Huelva. So, when Columbus sailed
into the western ocean from Palos,
Just across the Tinto river, his heart
thrilled with mystic certainty that
his three caravels were "the ships of
Tarshish first" of Hebrew prophecy!
During forty years." he says in the
beginning ofthis strange book Of the
prophecies, completed in 1902. God
guided my researches and showed me
that the discovery of the isles was
possible. 1t was predicted, and the
predictions of the prophets were real
lied. So will be realized all the
others. to the delivery of the Holy
City and the end Of the worId!"
The misfortune of this strange
book is, at the same time. its haunting
interest. 1t has never been printed
but once in full, by de Lollis, in. tha
"Raccolta Colombiana." So. 1t exists
only in Grabbed Spanish. in mighty
few libraries!
It's subtitle names the avowed
life ambition Of Columbus-"On the
Recovery of the Holy City Of Jeru-
salem and the Discovery Of the Isles"
and involves the secret one ascribed
by Prof. Kirk. Truly, in such case.
he was obliged to use wary discretion.
Like DR.. Rabelais, in his time. he
would have to envelop his true mean
ing. But there is more. The original
is a manuscript folio in the Colombine
Library at Seville, containing but
seventy leaves. Leaves %, then S3
to IS, then SO to 7s are brutally torn
out, nobody knows by whom or
when, but Henry vignaud, tells me
that "they were already missing in
the seventeenth century," and in the
present light Of things 1t Is pretty
clear that they lacked the approval
Of the orthodox, after the hand Of
Columbus had written them!
The ripper, in fact, condemned two
leaves Of section VII. containing the
most interesting extracts from an
Interpretation Of the Rabbi Samuel Of
Fec. translated from the Arabic, 70
that we can only guess how that
great man explained. The isles shall
await upon me, and on mine arm
shall they trust" in context with the
thrilling promise to America: And
to the isles he shall repay recon-
pense!" tIsaiah, So. 49,.
yXToRsE yet. beside the deleter
w works the "rewrits man." The
book proper, in Columbus hand
writing. begins with . bouaust.' Of
prophecies from Isaiah. Ezekiel,