appointment that he saw the sun-flooded waters of the Bahama Sea and the purple splendors of the Antilles. There is scarcely an adjective in the picturesque report of Columbus in regard to this sea and these islands that is not now as appropriate and fitting as in the days when its glowing words delighted Isabella 400 years ago. WHEN HISTORY DOES THEE WRONG. GEORGE GORDON Noel, Lord BYRON, one of England's famous poets. Born in London, January 22, 1788; died at Missolonghi, Greece, April 19, 1824. Teems not each ditty with the glorious tale? Ah! such, alas, the hero's amplest fate. When granite molders and when records fail, * Pride! bend thine eye from heaven to thine estate, Can volume, pillar, pile, preserve thee great? CABOT'S CONTEMPORANEOUS UTTERANCE. SEBASTIAN CABOT, a navigator of great eminence. Born at Bristol, England, about 1477. Discovered the mainland of North America. Died about 1557. When newes were brought that Don Christopher Colonus, the Genoese, had discovered the coasts of India, whereof was great talke in all the Court of King Henry the VII. who then raigned, * * * all men with great admiration affirmed it to be a thing more divine than humane to saile by the West into the Easte, where the spices growe, by a chart that was never before knowen. THE CAPITULATIONS OF SANTA FÉ-AGREEMENT OF COLUMBUS WITH FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. Sir ARTHUR HELPS. From "The Life of Columbus." [See other extracts, post, sub nomine HELPS.] 1. Christopher Columbus wishes to be made Admiral of the seas and countries which he is about to discover. He desires to hold this dignity during his life, and that it should descend to his heirs. This request is granted by the King and Queen. 2. Christopher Columbus wishes to be made Viceroy of all the continents and islands. Granted by the King and Queen. 3. He wishes to have a share amounting to a tenth part of the profits of all merchandise-be it pearls, jewels, or any other thing-that may be found, gained, bought, or exported from the countries which he is to dis cover. Granted by the King and Queen. 4. He wishes, in his quality of Admiral, to be made sole judge of all mercantile matters that may be the occasion of dispute in the countries which he is to discover. Granted by the King and Queen, on condition that this jurisdiction should belong to the office of Admiral, as held by Don Enriques and other Admirals. 5. Christopher Columbus wishes to have the right to contribute the eighth part of the expenses of all ships which traffic with the new countries, and in return to earn the eighth part of the profits. Granted by the King and Queen. Santa Fé, in the Vega of Granada, April 17, 1492. COLUMBUS, THE SEA-KING. THOMAS CARLYLE, "the Sage of Chelsea," celebrated English philosophic writer. Born at Ecclefechan, Scotland, December 4, 1795; died at Cheyne walk, Chelsea, London, February 5, 1881. From Past and Present." Brave Sea-captain, Norse Sea-king, Columbus, my hero, royalest Sea-king of all! it is no friendly environment this of thine, in the waste deep waters; around thee, mutinous, discouraged souls; behind thee, disgrace and ruin; before thee, the unpenetrated veil of Night. Brother, these wild water-mountains, bounding from their deep basin-ten miles deep, I am told-are not entirely there on thy behalf! Meseems they have other work than floating thee forward; and the huge winds that sweep from Ursa Major to the Tropics and Equator, dancing their giant waltz through the kingdoms of Chaos and Immensity, they care little about filling rightly or filling wrongly the small shoulder-ofmutton sails in this cockle-skiff of thine. Thou art not among articulate-speaking friends, my brother; thou art among immeasurable dumb monsters, tumbling, howling, wide as the world here. Secret, far off, invisible to all hearts but thine, there lies a help in them; see how thou wilt get at that. Patiently thou wilt wait till the mad southwester spend itself, saving thyself by dextrous science. of defense the while; valiantly, with swift decision, wilt thou strike in, when the favoring east, the Possible, springs up. Mutiny of men thou wilt entirely repress; weakness, despondency, thou wilt cheerily encourage; thou wilt swallow down complaint, unreason, weariness, weakness of others and thyself. There shall be a depth of silence in thee deeper than this sea, which is but ten miles deep; a silence unsoundable, known to God only. Thou shalt be a great man. Yes, my World-soldier, thou wilt have to be greater than this tumultuous, unmeasured world here around thee; thou, in thy strong soul, as with wrestler's arms, shalt embrace it, harness it down, and make it bear thee on-to new Americas. OUTBOUND. BLISS CARMAN, from a poem in the Century Magazine, 1892. * A lonely sail in the vast sea-room, I have put out for the port of gloom. The voyage is far on the trackless tide, The fading gulls, as they dip and veer, The great winds come, and the heaving sea, The cry of her heart is lone and wild, Beautiful, weariless mother of mine, In the drift of doom I am here, I am thine. Beyond the fathom of hope or fear, From bourn to bourn of the dusk I steer. Swept on in the wake of the stars, in the stream THE TRIBUTES OF THE PHOENIX OF THE AGES. LOPE DE VEGA CARPIO, a celebrated Spanish poet and dramatist. Born at Madrid, November 25, 1562; died, 1635.97 27 Lope de Vega has been variously termed the "Center of Fame," the Darling of Fortune,” and the “* Phoenix of the Ages,” by his admiring compatriots. His was a most fertile brain; his a most fecund pen. A single day sufficed to compose a versified drama. * Copyright 1892 and by permission of the author. |