But we must fill in the picture. A statue will not do, for it, after all, is lifeless. A motto will not do, for it is only a phrase, an inscription. A photograph on which you have written a date or the record of a happy meeting with some friend is very interesting indeed, and helps you to call him to mind. But in reality the photograph merely suggests to you your friend and your happy times together. Your friend has many moods, now sad, now gay. Your friend looks different at different times. The history of your friendship has many events in it, and all these go together, a thousand details, to make up your own idea, "this is my friend." So it is with America. History and legend, the knowledge of past events, must acquaint us with our country as with our friend. Infinite variety of mood she has, now stern and grave like her mountains, now placid like her vast expanse of prairie or her waving fields of grain; now laughing like the waters in the sunlight, or beautiful in anger as mighty storms sweep hill and plain. And infinite, again, are her activities— great factories and mills, lofty office buildings filled with workers, trains speeding like mighty shuttles through vast distances, farms filled with growing food for a world. All these you must bring into your picture, and more, for infinite, also, are the ideals and hopes that go to make up this many-sided personality that we name Our Country. The selections that follow will help you to make this picture that is to be more than a statue or a photograph. Some of them are little views, snapshots of our nation's childhood. Others are pictures of various scenes and legends of America. Some show the spirit of laughter in America; still others give a few pictures of America at work; and at the end are some expressions of love for our country that sum up what America means to patriotic citizens. All will help, but they are only an imperfect and brief introduction to a subject that is going to interest you all through your life: What is America to me, and what can I do to make her happy? To us it is given to behold in its full splendor what Columbus, like another Moses on the borders of the Land of Promise, could only discern in dim and distant outlines. And, therefore, with Italy, the land of his birth; with Spain, the land of his adoption; 6 with the other nations of the globe who are debtors to his daring, we gladly swell the universal chorus in his honor of praise and of thanksgiving. In 1792 the ocean separated us by a journey of seventy days from Europe; our self-government was looked upon as a problem 10 still to be solved; at home, facilities of travel and of intercommunication were yet to be provided. More than this, the unworthy innuendoes, the base as well as baseless charges that sought to tarnish the fair fame of Columbus, had not been removed by patient historical research and critical acumen. For15 tunately, these clouds that gathered around the exploits of the great discoverer have been almost entirely dispelled, thanks espe cially to the initiative of a son of our Empire State, the immortal Washington Irving. I beg to present Columbus as a man of science and a man of faith. As a scientist, considering the time in which he lived, he 5 eminently deserves our respect. Both in theory and in practice he was one of the best geographers and cosmographers of the age. According to reliable historians, before he set out to discover new seas, he had navigated the whole extent of those already known. Moreover, he had studied so many authors and to such advantage that Alexander von Humboldt affirmed: "When we consider his life we must feel astonishment at the extent of his literary acquaintance." 10 Columbus took nothing for granted. While he bowed reverently to the teachings of his faith, he brushed away as cobwebs 15 certain interpretations of Scripture more fanciful than real, and calmly maintained that the Word of God cannot be in conflict with scientific truth. The project of bearing Christ over the waters sank deeply into his heart. Time and again he alludes to it as the main object of his researches and the aim of his labors. 20 Other motives of action undoubtedly he had, but they were a means to an end. Moreover, may we not reasonably assume that the great navigator, after all, was a willing instrument in the hands of God? The old order was changing. Three great inventions, already 25 beginning to exert a most potent influence, were destined to revolutionize the world-the printing press, which led to the revival of learning; the use of gunpowder, which changed the methods of warfare; the mariner's compass, which permitted the sailor to tempt boldly even unknown seas. 30 These three great factors of civilization, each in its own way, so stimulated human thought that the discovery of America was plainly in the designs of that Providence which "reacheth from end to end mightily and ordereth all things sweetly." NOTES AND QUESTIONS Biography. Michael Augustine Corrigan (1839-1902) was born in Newark, New Jersey. He was a distinguished Prelate and became Archbishop of New York. This selection is taken from a Columbus Day address he gave in Chicago in 1892. Discussion. 1. Explain the comparison found in the second line 2. What claims does the author make for Columbus as a scientific man? 3. What great inventions occurred previous to Columbus's voyage that affected his discovery of America? 4. Do you think the spirit of adventure had something to do with Columbus's discovery? 5. How does the time it took Columbus to cross the ocean compare with the time required now? 6. What motto of an American city mentioned on page 295 expresses the spirit of Columbus in his voyage of discovery? 7. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: facilities; Empire State; cosmographer; potent. 8. Pronounce: exploit; geographer. Phrases for Study unworthy innuendoes, 297, 11 critical acumen, 297, 14 old order was changing, 298, 24 factors of civilization, 298, 30 Class Reading. Bring to class and read "The Tomb of Christopher Columbus," Welch (in St. Nicholas, October, 1920). A Suggested Problem. Prepare a program for "Columbus Day" exercises in your school. Select the three best programs. THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS FELICIA HEMANS The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, 5 And the heavy night hung dark When a band of exiles moored their bark 10 Not as the conqueror comes, They, the true-hearted, came; Not with the roll of the stirring drums, And the trumpet that sings of fame; 5 Not as the flying come, In silence and in fear; They shook the depths of the desert gloom With their hymns of lofty cheer. Amidst the storm they sang, And the stars heard and the sea; And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free! The ocean eagle soared From his nest by the white wave's foam; 15 And the rocking pines of the forest roaredThis was their welcome home! 20 There were men with hoary hair Why had they come to wither there, There was woman's fearless eye, 25 What sought they thus afar? The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? |