UC-NRLF B H blM 735 P S 1122 B35 055 1893 MAIN IRST FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AGO IBRAR OF THK UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. T I KT ( > K Accessions Nosfz+t, frit-. <"- /,;. No. 1 ^, ^ UP olumbian FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AGO R Colilnqbiari Poen\ for tl^e CJ^ildreri ^1]0 ^ere Unable : ; ; to attend ti^e World s Fair. : : : BY MflRY W. BRENDER. [ILLUSTRATED] PRICE riPTY CENTS, OTSEGO, MICH. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR: 1893 COPYRIGHTED, 1893 BY MARY W. BRENDER ALL KIOHTS KESEKVE1) ?< n PREFACE. THE OBJECT of the writer in preparing the contents of this booklet, was a sketch of the most interesting incidents of the discovery of America, both Columbian and Ante- Col^mbian, convenient for the childish mind to retain. The writer does not claim for this work even ordinary literary perfection, but an easy mental preparation for the increasing archeolical interest in our country. It was intended to be ready for sale at the Columbian Exposi tion, but was unavoidably delayed. Its late appearance is owing to the influence of certain friends of the writer who insist that it is sufficiently instructive to guarantee a reasonable intirest from friends of children in search of useful reading; hence it is submitted for publication. Very sincerely, THE AUTHORESS. DEDICATION : TO MY DEAR LITTLE NIECE AND NEPHEW, THIS LITTLE BOOK I DEDICATE, WITH BEST WISHES. THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTORY MY DEAR YOUNG READERS: I have a little niece and nephew who wished very much to attend the great World s Fair at Chicago, but were told by their parents that, although kind people had taken a great deal of pains to have things nicely arranged for those children who should come, it would not be a wise plan to take children where there would be such great crowds of people; so, as they could not see the White City built for the World s Colum bian Exposition, to please them I promised to write a little story about the great man in whose honor the great Fair was held. Soon I was reminded of the many, many children in our country who would never see any of the beautiful sights of the great Fair at Jackson Park, and said, "I will write my story for all of the little children who must stay at home." If you like this little story, look at the frontispiece, and remember that if it had not been for these two little ones, I would never have thought of writing it. My object in writing this is: 7 >> 0? T First, to interest you in the early history of our country, and other people who have been a blessing to the world. Trying to understand intelligent people s minds enlightens our own minds, and leads to nobler life. Just now everybody is more especially interested in the discovery of America. We wonder if Christopher Columbus ever had an idea that some day in a great country like ours, children would everywhere be talking and reading and studying so much about him? It seems he was very fond of his own little children, of whom two only, grew up to be men. We think too, he must have been kind to his little sister and brothers, of whom he was the eldest; for we are told by some that as soon as he was able, he earned money to help his father educate his younger brothers. This was good of him, much better than if he had been selfish, thinking only of himself, spending his time idly. His father was a poor man but he managed to send his child ren to school. As there were no public schools then, it was ;i much harder task for parents, than now-a-days. We think little Christopher must have improved his time well at school, and studied and read a great deal out of school too. We don t believe he spent much time on silly, use less reading, or when he grew up he would never have had some of the wisest scholars among his friends and ac quaintances. It seems he felt always that God meant for him to do something wise and useful for the world. He lived in a time when people had not studied out so many things about science as they now know. You now laugh to think people ever believed the world flat. But it was so. Only ci very few of the wisest people believed that it might 8 possibly be round. Columbus truly believed that it was round and that he could prove it so. He was not afraid of the unknown sea as most seamen were. It is said some seamen driven by storms had accidently drifted on to unknown land in the west. But it is not said that many of them ever ventured back again. And their stories about land were always forgotten again. It need ed a man who could unite the ideas of learned people with courage and patience. Columbus did not expect by sailing west to find a new country, but an old one; and by so doing prove the world was round. When he found America he supposed he had found Asia, and proved the world a sphere. He did not quite prove the world was round but his courage inspired other seamen to keep on trying and sailing until about thirty years later a ship of Ferdinand Magellan did sail around the world for the first time in a three years voyage, 1519-1522. Some writers tell us that Columbus was not always a good man; but we cannot believe that he was not, for he was a good boy and we have always believed that good boys and girls would become good men and women. We are told that he died like a Christian, at peace with God; andj with] a bad conscience we don t think this could have been. If he did do wrong it is very sad that such a great life should be blotted by sins that will not hide themselves anymore than his great deeds. Learn from this dear young friends to keep your lives pure and free from all sin. Secondly, I wish to help you become, in time, ac quainted with the ideas some people have of the very, very early history of our country. I do not expect you to understand the whole of this little story at once. I wish you to ask those who do understand, a great many ques tions and be guided into useful reading. Thirdly, I hope it will set you early to thinking about living to some wise and useful purpose, as God may direct. Whether it be in a great or humble sphere, let it be that which you feel pleases God, and by so doing be come a blessing. It requires a great deal of diligence and patience united with courage and pluck just such as Columbus had, to live to a noble purpose. Columbus reminds us of Abraham when the Lord told him to go out and find a country, that he would show him. He did not know where he was going, or what was before him but he tried to live to the high purpose that God wished him to, when he said to him "thou shalt be a blessing." Jose- phus tells us that Abraham was a man of enlightened ideas and taught the world many wise and good things. Columbus to became a blessing when he lived to prove a wise idea, and gave science and learning such a strong push ahead that the world never can go back to, at least one old ignorant notion, And too he found a new coun try, for people to settle and build up with happy homes and all privileges of a free Christian country. Let us all try to take good care of our country, continually building up its government on principles of righteousness and jus tice. And in whatever station let the world be the better for our lives. That this little booklet may inspire you to live to an eternal purpose and become a blessing to hu manity is the wish of Sincerely yours, MARY IV. B RENDER. 10 Columbian, OR CHAPTER I. How learned people s minds have changed, tis found, Since Columbus first said the world was round. Now they jeer a child who only doubts that, Then wise men jeered him, and declared it must be fiat, Nor yet so big by half. Close quarters we think it would have been For youngsters of our day, If they had had their say, Or if brave Isabella had been as hard to win Four hundred years ago. 13 The Old World was then so full of people At every step they d almost touch and jostle; Now imagine our splendid mountain peaks And valleys, rushing rivers and pretty creeks, Sunny plains and smiling lakes. And our own dear shade tree with shout and stir, From stately southern palm to northern fir, Hill, orchard, park and lawn Where the children skip like fawn, All hidden in the bosom of the sea as they were Four hundred years ago. u What would we little Americans with busy hands And roaming feet find to do in other lands? Would there be room for us where like hay-shocks they pile The roses of Asia or lilies of the Nile; The yule-logs fetch with holly and mistletoe; Or cull dainty for-get-me-not to strow In the blue rolling Danube? A coral island then was hardly known So like a fairy land Bright shells on sunny strand, Built as twere on a solid procious stone, Four hundred years ago. Think how the mitres, crowns and turbans, Of mikados, rajahs popes and sultans, Would tip and fall about, And czars, and shahs, and kings, and kaisers storm, If every boy and girl Began to skip and whirl, For then they could not make them all conform; And sometimes they stirred the world to such commotion It never returned to its old-fashioned notion: Like Luther s pleaching and Gutenberg s printing press, Or our Franklin who dignified labor though less- Four hundred years ago. 15 Who can say how we children would have fared, If our First Columbian had not more dared To do than others did. Can we suppose among the men across the sea, Another could be found To believe the world was round, And been as brave and patient as he, Four hundred years ago ? People talked, of a round world and lost Atlantis In ancient times, for a wise old priest of Sais Told Solon and Plato Learned from him and taught his scholars and Jew And Arab and oriental astronomers knew. Until the "Dark Ages" when learning was forgot, And men dared not say what they thought. But when again learning, like an angel of light, Spread her radiant wings over the world s dark night, This was one of the truths that first began to dawn, Great scholars and travelers with knowledge drawn 16 From much study argued so, like Mandeville, And those Venetians, and Tosconelli. But still, Though land far in the west, Brave seamen may have seen twas forgotten, and there was need, To prove such logic true, One to reason and dare too, And to purpose unite wisdom with heroic deed, Four hnndred years ago. Well may doughty youngsters his example prize, The first of Columbian youth to rise Above his birth. The poor wool-comber s son Worked and studied and his title well won, Grand Admiral of the Ocean. And now from every land grand men and women vie, To honor him for deeds that will not die; And with all that s fine and rare Hold in his name a great fair, In Chicago, queen of the great lakes close by. Did that poor boy dream of honor so high, Four hundred years ago? Of his father, humbly toiling til his day s work was done, And his truly Roman mother teaching a blue-eyed son, As our own dear mothers now admonishing : "Always do right, then you need fear nothing," !8 We think with tcnderest love, And wish they could have seen the fair White City, That should some day be built across the sea, To honor the child that listened at their knee. 19 Yet grown up folks forget they once were small and say "It s not a place for children to be in the way;" When we d much like to celebrate in that great town, With all those fine people of renown, October twenty-first ; And help to praise Columbus in our way Of Eighteen-ninety-two, For being so grand and true And wise to find our dear America, Four hundred years ago. But all the schools of this great land Shall stand a truly patriotic band, And wave their starry flags; And in new rhyme and song be told: How one a brother kind, And son of dutiful mind, Became the greatest of sailors bold, With mind that did reason as well as dare, And as a sage could argue with men of learning rare, Four hundred years ago. And that boys are little men we will play, Who can build three ships Columbia Day; And the girls, little ladies, Who in gowns of white, with such pretty air Their bottles dash on the bows and declare, Their names: Columbus own flag-ship, The Santa Maria, Then Pinta and Nina; Not sailed nor rigged in best equip, Four hundred years ago. But first from land to land one must beg, And by some trick stand up an egg For wise Salamanca men; The states of Europe try from great to least, Persuade the king, persuade the priest, 21 With help from kind brother Bartholomew And timely friend Pizon ; From perfidous king John, Til good queen Isabella the story knew, Four hundred years ago. Favored by good Deza and Medina-Celli; Encouraged by Fernan dez and Toscanelli; While unmindful of banditti cohort. Rode friar Juan by night, to plead at court, Where Santangel helped with Quin- tanilla; And beautiful Beatriz, fair Beatriz of Moya Sat near and begged the queen. But who of us would be seen, 22 As those naughty children in the streets to scoff And call an old man "crazy explorer" and laugh, Four hundred years ago. One must be a queen to pawn her jewels or value high; While on the road to France a messenger must fly, And overtake Columbus at the old Pinos bridge, Traveling, discouraged, toward the mountain ridge. CHAPTER II. And soon now a hundred and twenty men, Ninety sailors, a lad, three priests and gentlemen, Have bid a sad adieu, As off from Palos, August morning third, They leave dear Sunny Spain" With dreadful doubts of land or gain. Well sped those men who sailed that day westward And won freedom for science and God s Word, Four hundred years ago. 24 When we reach the islands a while we cruise, But rough men our captain shall not abuse With threats of mutiny. We ll dodge sorry king John s fleet; and punish worse, The wicked owners who broke the Pinta with purpose; And the crew that sulked when far out from land; And from the Canaries, Let us bring some birdies, For perhaps Columbus did though so grand For Diego and baby Ferdinand, Four hundred years ago. 25 Until the stoutest hearts with fear shall quail, Westward we will sail, and sail, and sail, For days, and days, and days ; And now to have some fun let us pretend To see great meteors fall, And dancing goblins tall, And birds that swooped whole ships with every tar, From keel to deck and sail and topmost spar, Where sailors fancied the world did end, Four hundred years ago. Get mistaken next in the Sargossa Sea, When little Nina fired and cried: "land for me!" At a mirage in the west. Then the sailors with courage quite aslack, Declared: "we re surely lost and will turn back." 27 The earnest man compelled now with cowards to temporize Submits all the veiled mysteries of the western skies; With his new great problem of the world; for three days To win ; then prays God to show his penetrating gaze, The first faint gleam of hope, And soon saw a floating branch and a dear little bird; And then the seamen knew, That land they soon would view, And list to the sweetest bird-song ever heard, Four hundred years ago. Soon, a welcome fire-light glimmered, to gree o o o Eager watchers from that lonely little fleet. Not one did sleep that long glad night. Now flash! now bang ! now hark aright ! Twas Pinta s gun that roared. Land ! land ! wildly shout; land ! land Boom ! bang ! boom ! bang ! How they shouted, how they sang, How they praised God at San Salvador land! Four hundred years ago. land ! bang ! 28 29 In the light of that bright October morn, To them it seemed a new world born, And they all kissed the earth. First, in richest robes with banner unfurled, Straight to God a prayer sent like incense smoke uncurled, Then to Ferdinand and Isabella, Of Arragon and Castilla, Columbus gave a gift of half the world: Four hundred years ago. The men who once with terror uttered threats, Blushed now with shame and sharp regrets, For doubting a leader so wise; And begged at Columbus feet forgiveness; While he forgave with more than manly goodness, As only noble souls will do. We ll think of his mother s, and Felipa s grave, And lonely Beatriz at home so brave, And some token for them bring: f i - v 31 Though our books only tell, of land, and gold, And the Indian band From the new island-strand, Whom he brought on his winged sea-horses bold, "With eyes of lightning and voices of thunder," The ships that filled the Indian with wonder, Four hundred years ago ? CHAPTER III Those who stood by might have seen then and now, The Admiral stroke his hand across a puzzled brow: What land was this he d found? Somewhere, in this sea seven bishops built seven cities, Tis said, when they fled from the dark-skinned enimies, Of Roderic of Spain: 32 And their ver-blooming and fruitful Antilles, Might they not be, the garden of the Hesperides, Whose golden apples, an cient Tyre bought and sold; beyond Ophir, whence was broght the gold, Solomon s beautiful temple ? For And where was it St. Brendan f r seven years regaled, When westward with fourteen brave monks he sailed, From Tralee in Kerry, to a beautiful land, And people wild, who learned from his pious band, The faith of God, and called him " Quetzacoatl, Rare and precious"-- with crosses on his mantle: And before now a thousand years, Returned to tell the astonished people of Erin, Of his voyage and the strange land where he had been. S3 Or as the scalds have sung in some wild saga, Of Thor, and Odin, and the Vikings of Norway, And mixed with superstition, some truth, perhaps, Of the Vinland of bold Leif, son of Eric the Red. Where Tyker found sweet grapes; and Kaslsefne, who wed The noble Gudrid, may have built some mantled tower For his lonely lady and their darling baby Snorr, Half those thousand years ago. And the storm-driven mariner hath told many a tale, Of the secrets that slip Old Chronos in a gale; From the fair Atlantis, Pytheas found and lost again; to years less antique, When Are Marson and the Champion of Brodovik, Found Irland-it-Mikla and the White Man s land; And the Zeno brothers still later their Es-to-ti-land; And wild Basques, stockfish on a bluffy strand. Of isles good and bad the sea had yet to reveal, Talked Cousin, and Dieppe, and Skolno and Costareal, And other seamen as bold. Like that fabulous isle wrapped in perennial sun shine, Where sleep ing saints undisturbed in a cave recline, With eyes ever on the sea; And nothing to employ but dreams of immortal youth, As time and the waves roll by, though in truth, 35 Saints would better be doing for the kingdom they pray, Than lazily dreaming their time away, And their " Saints Land of Promise," no fable of old, Should be of the western sea, which Barintus told, Longer ago than all. But a story that more than all perplexes me, Is that of some stray ranger of the Eastern Sea: How Huwi Shan, of Cathay, Who aimlessly traveled with his Budhist band Till he reached around the sea a goodly land, Long centuries ago, they called Fusang. Forty thousand li east across that sea so the story goes The great Kahn then sent his ships. But who knows, |; For if truth, there should be such legend in Spain, Or Italy. Or, does there yet lie land in the main ? ^ Then it may not be a fable, that beneath this sea of darkness, Sank long, long ago, the great and wonderful Atlantis, Like a drowning world, with awful quaking throes: While the memory of her ships and mighty heroes, 36 Eden-like gardens and splendid cities, And ladies fair, are told as mythical stones Of the gods of younger nations. 37 But fable and fact alike we must pass by, With hope that future years, the truth may sift; and rely On later research, received as more authentic fame; For this new world, fair as a babe, must have a name. Since I find palm, and spice, and gum across this sea, And other explorers, east by land, found the same to be, In India and Cathay, Though, I find not yet, the splendors of which I ve read, The ancient poets and philosophers have said, That this earth, like the stars, shall some day prove round, And the east, and the west, together shall be bound: Linked with grand thought like this, Marco Polo s Indies Of the East, seem Indies of the West, and thus agrees, That latest name is best. 38 CHAPTER IV When again Columbus returned to Spain The people praised and praised until he forgot the pain Of eighteen years of scorn. But not faithful friends nor what they had done, Nor loved ones, nor convent Where once he d begged, sad spent, Food and drink for his fainting son, Four hundred years ago. No care-worn clouds darken his noble brow, While every one calls him a great man now- Greater than the great duke, Medinacelli; Greater, some thought, than scholars like Toscanelli, Or friends at court, or Palos, or Rabida. Greater, surely, than scoffers at Salamanca. 39 Into his eye steals sadness only, When he thinks of good Felipa, who died, And his two little child ren at her side. It may be, too, he wished his parents could have known How rich the fruit of seed their toiling hands had sown. Where cnce at Isabella s feet he humbly sued Her royal favor, he kneels in gratitude, To kiss her sovereign hand. Then sails again with gladder heart, and ships of gayer sheen To build a town in the name of his honored queen. They made him a duke and a viceroy, everything So great, he was all but a king. The great and small for his favor plied, Until good Queen Isabella died. Then evil hearts so long Grown jealous, sought some stain to fling, That should bring blame and shame, And rob his splendid name, And poisoned the brain of the Spanish king, Four hundred years ago. 40 And though the lands and the glory he won was Spain s, The king s envoy sent him to prison in chains, And broke so great a heart; Till good people who saw cried: " What a wrong!" And conscience pricked the ting, For doing so mean a thing, Until he opened the doors of the prison again; Though not his royal heart to the saddened man, Whose heart could never-more grow strong, Four hundred years ago. Ah, let us now play no funny antic, For when last he sailed the stormy Atlantic, His saddest troubles o ertook him. Traitor, and storm, and shipwreck, and famine s gnaw, Drove deepest their shafts of pain when he saw Young Ferdinand at Sir Christopher s Cove, So bravely bearing his trials for love, Of his dear, scorned old father. Though foes unite to thwart his noblest plan, And sad in heart, the gray-haired old man Still triumphs, and bestows on his ungrateful king, The last best lands he found. With such offering, 41 To rewin the royal favor, and promises made, Vainly hoped; till his life-boat anchor weighed Off coast a better world. So poor now again, and old, at Valladolid, When the death angel came To call the great man s name, And showed him in heaven how great was his deed. Ah, should Amerigo have won his rightful mead, So long ere the bloom of his patient seed - Four hundred years ago? A few true friends the mighty soul regret, As fell the sleep, that selfish hearts no more can fret, On those keen blue eyes so often dimmed by tears, In the troubled life of seventy years. 4 All that I could I have done. To God, who hath ever helped in worst need, I now must Leave all," he said, with the Christian s holy trust; And on his failing breath, Sinking fast into death, i Floated, like a truce o er the sea, these words of sacred writ: " Into thy hands, O Lord, my spirit I commit." And from a clay of noblest mold the soul had flit,- Four hundred years ago? And he who was Viceroy of the Indies, And Grand Admiral of the Ocean Seas, Duke of Veragua, Marquis of Jamaica, And the great Discoverer of America; Yet to be the inspiration Of every Columbian son; Was laid to rest in an unnoticed grave, The friendly fathers of San Francisco gave, Neath old Castillian skies. 43 We hear of few who were so nobly born, That could o erlook the foil Of years of patient toil, And in distress express no vengeful scorn, Four hundred years ago. CHAPTER V. But when the angels bore his spirit to the skies, Did they explain some vision of his dying eyes, Of the happy millions who should bless, His land redeemed from wilderness, To be a home of the free, Where great and small may plead the right, And work out their plans by truth s purer light? 44 Life lit with new hopes, in a happy dream To the New world flowed. steady ns the ocean stream And bore on its tide some health, some wealth to find, And some who of bigotry had bitterly pined, And some for better homes; And some, who had sinned, by shame oppressed, Sought their lives to renew, With the sweet breath they drew, From" the fresh, untainted land of the West, Four hundred years ago. Others, with impulse like his own earnest heart, Came, urged by loving desire to impart Some hope of Jesus love; HIV B Or about the world some new grand thought Like he, Copernicus, and Galileo taught, And burning with noble zeal The new truth to reveal; Yet oft, by king on throne and priest in hood, Prevented in those dark days from doing that good, Four hundred years ago. Unscared by spectral fancies that o er waves play and leap, O er the ocean no more a trackless deep, Far and wide the freighted vessels sweep, From continent to continent. To West no more the mariner casts an empty look, For teaming cities rise To greet his anxious eyes, With way plain as our toy- boat on the brook, Frets not as he o er a perplexing log-book, Four hundred years ago. 46 CHAPTER VI. King Ferdinand, later repenting neglect so ill, Sent men to bring his ashes to beautiful Seville, And build a monument. And Santa Maria de la Antigua, Gave up the noblest dead that in her transepts lay. Were La Cuevas aves and pater nosters farther heard Or could Carthissian friars lifeless dust safer guard; Or were the banks of Gaudalquiver, Fairer than Douro s side, To satisfy the noble pride, Of those who shed the affectionate tear, Or owned with kindred love the dust upon that bier, Four hundred years ago? 47 But his ashes, like his questful spirit, Neath Andulusian skies albeit, Were not forever to rest. A new king, with honor greater than we can tell, Sent them across the sea, he once had dared so well, To sleep at San Domingo, Where the soft sea winds blow, And the waves had born his craft on their restless swell, Four hundred years ago. Born with that spirit he brought to the West, The people, grateful now, will not let him rest, Till his guerdon, like his quest, is won. When two centuries and a half had rolled, With the tides of ebb and flow; With greater pomp and show, Than would have pleased his foes of old, He was brought to proud Havana, to he Beneath a new cathedral, quaint and high, Now called gray and old; Where the sea moans and surges below, Now sweep the winds wild above it; Now sigh like a sad, gentle spirit. He saw the same star-light and sun-glow, Four hundred years ago. His guerdon we children will some time win, Which to him so long denied has been, And build our monument Greater than built that fickle king of the Cid. We ll write Columbia, Cross false America, And unmake the mistake St. Die s careless schoolmen did Four hundred years ago. We 11 build our country up with honest character, And noble minds, nor let the soulless transactor, Hide behind some cunning law, a wily scheme, 49 To rob and crush our fellow- men; and wi h witty theme Dazzle men to see wrong as right. Then grateful hearts as living stones on duty bent, Shall be the memorial, And our signs armorial, To the first heroe of our continent, Four hundred years ago. The names of Felipa and Beatriz, Those good wives, let us write close to his, And near his honored queen, Her maid of honor, Beatriz of Moya; And plainest, the sainted mother, Susana, Though long she d slept in death; And througli ages, dark or bright, of our country, Let this fair, faithful band Of earnest women stand, Honored on the pages of its history, Four hundred years ago. As he did, we 11 pass his foes without a fret, And not one friend ungratefully forget; Thank Genoa for parents who taught the piety, And honest toil that shaped life s future dignity; 50 And for her brave sons, from whom he learned so early To dare the ocean wave. For those true men, who could reason though bigots did rage, Thank Spain, and the wise, brave queen, Who raised her grandest Palladin, From his humble station to adorn the world s heroic page, As the forerunner of liberty s brightest age, Four hundred years ago. Of that imputed stain, when for glittering gold, They say his fellow-men, he bound and cruelly sold, We ll rid his honored name. 51 Gold! delusive gold! men cried for gold till cherished pursuit; He must yield and bring on him this vile repute. When earth refused to reveal the idol dust, They sold her children to satisfy that lust, What would Columbus do? There s none so great, That must not sometimes yield to unlucky fate: Above the king compelled; Below the underling rebelled; And hoping to appease their common greed, Perchance, united will forced some unholy deed, Four hundred years ago. If true, sins he had that must be confessed; We hope that had he done as pleased him best, They never would have been, so we let them rest, For we are sorry for him. When those who write about our hero brave, Would make us think he sometimes was a cruel knave, We wish they would explain, How prone to cause others pain, They find those who, as nobly bear the filial part; And kept for foes as patient, forgiving heart, Four hundred years ago. And Genoa s humble child we honor now, And love to trace upon that patient brow, The truth it bore within. With sublime patience his divine call obeying, Against oppression s laws, Worked out his noble cause, And taught the world, oft disheartened, little murmuring, To live to an eternal purpose "BE A BLESSING." Four hundred years ago. EXPLANATORY NOTES. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Was born at 27 Vicco Ponticello street, Genoa, Italy, 1436; died at Valladolid, Spain, May 20, 1506; buried first, in the Franciscan Convent of Santa Maria de la Anti gua at Val.; removed to La Cuevas, in Seville, 1513; to San Do mingo, 1536; and supposed to have been removed to Havana, 1795. On his first and second voyages to America he discovered the West Indies; third, the continent of South America at mouth of Orinoco; fourth, North America at Honduras. FERDINAND MAGELLAN A Portuguese navigator, who set out with three ships and 234 men to circumnavigate the world; he reached the Phillipine Islands, where he was killed by the natives; two of his ships were wrecked, but one, with only fifteen men, finally accomplished the first voyage around the world, 1519-1522. JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS An eminent Jewish historian and patriot, born at Jerusalem A. D. 37; died, 100. ISABELLA Queen of Castile, Spain. FERDINAND King of Arragon, Spain. OLD WORLD Eastern continent. ROSES OF ASIA Are grown in fields; Asia is the home of the rose; perfumes are there made from them. LILIES OF THE NILE Are renowned; perfumes are extracted from them. YULE-LOG A large piece of log burned in the fire-place at Christmas-tide in England; Holly is an evergreen shrub with bright red berries; Mistletoe, a parasitic plant growing on the oak. DANUBE A river of Germany; the forget-me-not grows wild and in great abundance on its banks; it here received its name. CORAL ISLANDS Were not much known until seamen had learned to venture out on the ocean. MIKADO Sovereign of Japan; Shah of Persia; Sultan of Turkey; Czar of Russia; Kaiser of Germany; Rajah, a Prince of India. CONFORM When people adhere to established creeds they are said to conform; when they embrace new ideas they usually do not 54 conform; about 400 years ago a great Reformation spread over Europe. LUTHER, MARTIN Was a great preacher of Germany; born at Eisleben November 10, 1483; died at Eisleben February 18, 1546. GUTENBERG, JOHANN Born at Mainz, Germany, 1400; died at Mainz February 24, 1478; invented printing press, 1450. FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN Born January 17, 1706, at Boston, Mass.; died April 17, 1770; first discoverer of the principles utilizing elec tricity; he was a very practical man, of simple habits, and empha sized the dignity of labor. ATLANTIS Said by the ancients to be a large island of the At lantic Ocean, destroyed by the earthquake. SAIS An ancient city of Egypt at mouth of the Nile. SOLON B, C. 594; an ancient Greek patriot, philosopher and law-giver. PLATO B. C. 420; a Greek philosopher and patriot. DARK AGES, OR MIDDLE AGES The period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the revival of learning. VENETIAN TRAVELERS Morco Polo and his two brothers returned to their native city, Venice, 1595, after more than twenty years of travel; Nicolo Conti, another celebrated Venetian traveler of later date. TOSCANELLI, PAULO A physician of Florence, who believed and argued the rotundity of the earth in Columbus time. MANDEVILLE, SIR JOHN An English scholar, who returned to England after many years of travel, in 1322. WOOL-COMBER Columbus father, Domenico Columbus; his mother was Susana Fontanarossa. ROMAN MOTHER Columbus family were of old Roman descent; Columbus had blue eyes and yellow or reddish hair when a boy. WHITE CITY The Columbian Exposition buildings of 1892. COLUMBIA DAY October 21; America was discovered October 12, O. S., but when the calendar was corrected it brought the day 21. THEIR NAMES The three ships of Columbus were named Santa Maria, Capt. Pero Alonso Nino; Pinta, Martin Alonso Pinzon; Nina, Vincente Yanez Pinzon; they were not very good ships, nor in best equipment. SALAMANCA Was the seat of a University of Spain; the King and Queen referred Columbus to the doctors there; they ridiculed the idea of the sphericity of the earth, and asked him to stand up an egg. BARTHOLOMEW Columbus had three brothers, Giovanni, Bar tholomew, Giocomi or Diego, and a sister Bianchinetta. 55 PINZON MARTIN ALONZO of Palos, helped Columbus in securing boats and men for his first voyage, and lent him money also; he afterward was not so friendly. KING JOHN Of Portugal, sent Columbus to explain his theory before his wise men, who declared he must be crazy; the King sent Columbus off, then he sent ships to find the country he had talked of; but the men were afraid to go very far, and returned to ridicule Columbus. M EI NA -CELLI Was a powerful Duke of Southern Spain and friend of Columbus. JUAN PEREZ DE LA MARCHEA Prior of the Monastery of La Rabida and friend of Columbus. DEZA, DIEGO DE Friend and patron of Columbus at the court; tutor of the royal children. BANDITTI The country was infested with robbers through which Father Juan rode by night to reach the court and plead for Columbus. SANTANGEL, Luis DE Treasurer of Arragon. QUINTANILLA, ALONZO DE Treasurer of Castile. BEATRIZ OF MOYA- Maid of honor to Isabella. CRAZY EXPLORER Columbus was often ridiculed in the streets, even by children. JEWELS It is said Isabella offered to pawn her jewels to raise the money to furnish the expense of the voyage; Spain had carried on a long war and the treasury was nearly exhausted. ROAD TO FRANCE Not the direct road from Northern Spain, but from Granada to Cordova; he had received a last refusal from the King and Queen, and he was on his way to see his children first at Cordova, and then going to France. PINOS BRIDGE, OR BRIDGE OF PINES The Queen s messenger overtook Columbus just across this bridge, six miles out of Granada. PALOS A seaport of Southwestern Spain, where the fleet set sail on the first voyage, August 3, old style, or August 14, modern time. CANARIES Columbus did not set out directly west, but cruised among the islands; Canaries, or Dog Islands, is the home of the canary bird. BROKE, PINTA The rudder of the Pinta was broken, and it was suspected that the owners, who sailed with them, did it with a pur pose to have an excuse to return. DIEGO AND FERDINAND Columbus sons. METEOR S FALL A meteor fell into the sea ahead of the ships and it frightened the sailors; goblins are imaginary beings of all 56 kinds which superstitious people believe in; we hope every child knows better than to believe such things now. WORLD END People used to suppose the world had an end, just as a field has. SARGOSSA SEA Places in the sea where seaweed grows; floating grass is also accumulated by the ocean currents; in the distance it appears like land. MIRAGE An illusion in the air; Columbus men thought they saw a large, beautiful city. THREE DAYS The crew became at last so mutinous that Co lumbus was obliged to make a condition with them that if they did not find land in three days he would return. PINTA S GUN It is said that Rodrigo de Triana, a sailor on the Pinta, first shouted "Land! " and the Pinta fired the first salute. SAN SALVADOR (OR HOLY SAVIOR) Where Columbus first landed; the natives called it Guanahani, or Cat Island. FELIPA MONIZ DE PALESTRELLO First wife of Columbus; she and the two youngest children died at Funchal; she was the mother of Diego. BEATRIZ ENRIQUEZ Second wife of Columbus; was the mother of Ferdinand. WINGED SEA-HORSES The Indians supposed the ships to be sea monsters, with eyes of lightning and voices of thunder. SEVEN BISHOPS Are said to have fled from the Moors when they overcame King Roderic, in the seventh century; they sailed in a boat westward until they reached lovely islands, where they built seven cities; are supposed to be the Antilles. HESPERIDES, OR DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA Are supposed, also, to be the Antilles; the ancients told many fanciful stories about them. GOLDEN APPLES Oranges and lemons. TYRE An old city of Asia on the Mediterranean Sea; her men were great seamen, and some suppose they must have reached America in the long voyages of three years with King Solomon s men, spoken of in the Bible. OPHIR Some think may have been Mexico, Central America or Peru. ST. BRANDEN Was an Irish monk, who set out with fourteen monks to find a legendary "Isle of the Blessed" of which he had read; they came to a beautiful land answering to the description of the West Indies or Mexico, where he lived seven years and then returned, in the fifth century; the Irish monks used to have crosses worked on their mantles. 57 QUETZACOATL Was a Mexican hero or divinity, so long ago people cannot make out just what his people did think of him; some think he was St. Branden, others St. Thomas, of the Bible. ERIN A name for Ireland. SKALDS Old Norwegian poets and minstrels. SAGA A song of the skalds. THOR AND ODIN Were old Norwegian deities. VIKINGS Brave sea captains, a sort of noble. VINLAND Supposed to be New England; named so by the Norsemen. ERIC THE RED An old Viking; he named Greenland. MANTLED TOWER There is an old tower at Newport, R. I. sup posed to have been built by Norsemen. LEIF ERICSON Was the son of Eric the Red; he is said to have discovered America in the year 1000. TYRKER A German sailor who came with Leif Ericson; he found the grapes, after which Vinland was named. KARLSEFNE, THORWALD A Viking who came from Greenland to Vinland, and did much for the new colony. GUDRID Was the widow of Thorstein Ericson; she married Karlsefne and came to Vinland, where their son Snorr was born; she was a kind, intelligent and spirited woman. SNORR Was the son of Karlsefne and Gudrid, and was the first Norse child born in Vinland; it is said that he is one of the ances tors of the sculptor, Thorwaldsen. "OLD CHRONOS" A very old name of the Atlantic Ocean. PYTHEAS An ancient mariner, who thought he found Atlantis, but lost it again. ARE MARSON A Norse or Irish sailor. CHAMPION OF BRODOVIK An Irish sailor. IRLAND IT MIKLA, OR GREAT IRELAND Supposed to be the Carolinas. WHITE MAN S LAND, OR HUITRAMANIA Supposed to be Geor gia and Florida. ZENO, NICOLO And his brother, Venetian gentlemen, of wealth, who sailed on the Atlantic and were driven in a storm to a strange land called Es-to-ti-land. BASQUES A brave people of Northern Spain; they were brave seamen, and some of them claim to have reached a bluffy country where stockfish, or codfish, abound, which they called Stoxfixia; supposed to be Newfoundland. Cousis, DIEPPE, SKOLNO AND COSTAREAL Were brave seamen who sailed the Atlantic, and are said to have been, at different 58 times, driven on to strange land; Skolno was a Pole, in the service of the Danes, sent out as an explorer. BARINTUS Was an old monk; it is supposed his story was only a myth. EASTER SEA Pacific Ocean, east of Cathay. CATHAY China. Hwui SHAN A Buddhist monk, with five other monks, sup posed to have wandered to America in the fifth century; Buddhist monks travel aimlessly, without an objective point; Hwui Shan is said to have come by way of the Aleutian Islands. FUSANG Supposed to be Mexico. Li A Chinese mile. SEA OF DARKNESS The Atlantic Ocean; it is said after Atlantis was destroyed it became so turbid and muddy that it was impossi ble to navigate it. QUAKING THROES It is said Atlantis was destroyed by terrible earthquakes; some think that it was the same as the deluge in the Bible. EDEN-LIKE GARDENS Some think the Garden of Eden may have been located on Atlantis. GODS OF YOUNGER NATIONS Some think the deities of the East ern nations were only the Kings and Queens of Atlantis; younger nations, as they grew, heard of their exploits and called them gods. MARCO POLO S INDIES OF THE EAST Columbus thought he had reached the East Indies by sailing west, so he called the land West Indies. EIGHTEEN YEARS It is said Columbus was eighteen years pro curing aid and the permission to develop his plans of a western voyage; during this time he suffered much scorn and ridicule. BUILT A TOWN On his second voyage Columbus founded the town of Isabella, on St. Domingo. KING S ENVOY On his third voyage Bobadilla was sent to look after the affairs of Columbus, and brought him back in chains. LAST HE SAILED Columbus made four voyages to America: First, from Palos, August 3d, 1492; second, from Cadiz, Septem ber 25, 1493; third, from San Lucar, May 30, 1498; on this voyage he discovered South America, at the mouth of the Orinoco; fourth, from Cadiz, May n, 1502; on this voyage the Governor of St. Do mingo refused even in an approaching storm; shelter to his boats in the harbor of the very town Columbus had built, although his boats were badly damaged, he continued his explorations, and dis covered North America at Honduras. Later he was totally ship wrecked. , 59 SIR CHRISTOPHER S COVE, JAMAICA where Columbus was ship wrecked on his last voyage; the crew endured extreme hardships; after long delay the Governor of St. Domingo consented to help them back to Spain. YOUNG FERDINAND Columbus son, about twelve years of age, accompanied his father on his last voyage. VALLADOLID A town on the Douro, in Old Castile, Spain; Co lumbus died here and was buried in the Franciscan Convent of Santa Maria de la Antigua. AMERIGO VESPUCIO A Florentine merchant who sailed to Amer ica, and wrote such a glowing description of the country that the scholars of St. Die began calling it after his name; some say he was a friend of Columbus, and had no intention that he should be robbed of this honor. OLD CASTILLIAN Old Castile, a province of Spain. To IMPART It is said one of Columbus great objects was to establish the Christian religion in the country he should find. NEW WORLD Western continent. COPERNICUS A great German philosopher who lived from 1473 to 1543; he taught that the earth was only like some stars, and be longed to a system of planets moving around the sun, but he dared not teach it right out, for it was called heresy. GALILEO An Italian philosopher, 1564-1642, who invented the telescope, microscope, thermometer and clock: he taught that the world moved, and was made to take it back, but he stamped his foot on the floor and said, "It does move, nevertheless." LOG-BOOK A record of the ship s course; Columbus did no: have as perfect ways of determining the ship s course as seamen now have, and it perplexed him a good deal out on the high sea. SEVILLE A beautiful city of Southern Spain, in Andalusia, on the Guadalquivir. LA CUEVAS A Carthusian monastery of Seville, to which the remains of Columbus were removed from Santa Maria de la Antigua. AVE AND PATER-NOSTER Are formal prayers of the Roman Cath olic Church. GUADALQUIVIR A river of Andalusia, in Southern Spain. DOURO A river of Castile, Spain. ANDALUSIA A province of Southern Spain. SAN DOMINGO A city of St. Domingo, West Indies. HAVANA A city of Cuba, West Indies. KING OF THE CID The ancient Spaniards were called Cids. ST. DIE A small town in the domain of Duke Rene, in the Varges Mountains, France; Duke Rene was fond of educated peo- 60 pie; he befriended and gave a home to a great scholar by the name of Walter Lud, who drew about him other scholars; Walter Lud, with the help of Duke Rene, established here a flourishing school. Amerigo wrote a letter, with the interesting account of the New World to his friend Giocoiido, then in Paris; here Giocondo met Mathias Ringmann, and told him about Amerigo s letter; Ringmann became a teacher in the St. Die school; here he met Walter Waldseemuller, a geographer and map-maker, and he wrote up a book and drew a map, calling the New World Amer ica. It seems careless of those scholars to make such a mistake, but I suppose it was with them as it is with a great many people now in the country and small towns, who love learning, but do not always have the privilege of informing themselves correctly. GENOA A city of Italy, where Columbus was born and reared; it was called Genoa the Superb; many of her citizens were brave seamen, and among them Columbus acquired his first knowledge of the sea. PALLADIN A knight or great man of Spain. IMPUTED STAIN It is said Columbus sold the Indians for slaves; it was very wrong if he did; we think his enemies have slandered him a great deal. CHERISHED PURSUIT It is said the men Columbus had with him were so anxious to find gold that he was obliged often to turn from his exploring, and search for gold; the King and people at home in Spain expected gold, for Columbus supposed he had found Cathay and India, where other travelers said it abounded. When they could not find gold that is, not enough to satisfy them they thought to increase their profits by selling the Indians for slaves. We do not believe Columbus wished it as much as some writers say, but, as rulers now-a-days must let something go on that can not very well be helped, when many people wish it. We have read that he did not allow the slaves to be treated unkindly when he was able to prevent it. We are sorry that such wicked things ever could have happened about our country, or the man to whose pa tience and bravery we are indebted so much for our happy homes and country. BE A BLESSING In the twelfth chapter of Genesis we read that God told Abraham to go and find a country which he should show him, and said, "And thou shalt be a blessing." (Second verse.) I suppose he meant by that, Abraham should live to a good, high purpose and the world would be better for his having lived, and that mankind should receive a blessing from his life. The Bible tells us Abraham was a very patient man, and Josephus says he 61 U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIE