"My country, 'tis of thee!" or, The United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition (1892) (14597993549)

Identifier: mycountrytisofth00john (find matches)
Title: "My country, 'tis of thee!" or, The United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition
Year: 1892 (1890s)
Authors: Johnson, Willis Fletcher, 1857-1931 Habberton, John, 1842-1921
Subjects:
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. Y. Huber co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation



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ry South, where the rockswere red hot and the water of the ocean forever,boiling. Even to these extravagant tales Colum-bus gave some heed, but his thoughts were prin-cipally fixed on the possibility of finding a newworld far to the west. Our hero was now in theprime of life, a tall, muscular man of command-ing aspect. His light brown hair was alreadyprematurely gray, and his expression of coun-tenance was grave and scholarl3\ He was simpleand abstemious in his diet, affable and engagingin his manners and a devout Roman Catholic.But under this exterior was concealed a natureof the most ardent enthusiasm, not less energeticthan that of Peter the Hermit or Ignatius Loyola.His religious temperament led him often to theservices of the Church, and it was there that hefirst met a lady of high rank who soon afterwardbecame his wife. She was the daughter of DonBartolomeo Monis de Palestrello, an Italiancavalier, one of Prince Henrys most distin-guished oificers. The iise of his father-in-laws
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THE AGE OE DISCOVERY. 33 fine collection of maps and charts was of greatservice to Columbus, who now gave liis attentionto geographical studies more thoroughly thanever. He talked or corresponded with all thelearned men of the day. He began to tracecharts of his own, correcting the popular errorsand traditions by the aid of his own greaterknowledge and experience. Rumor, inspiredby the stories of early adventures, had studdedthe far western ocean with wondrous islands, onone of which seven Christian bishops, fleeingfrom Pagan persecution, had founded sevensplendid cities. There were tales of a loftymountainous country to be seen on clear daysfar to the westward from the Canary Islands.Plato had told of the ancient continent of Atlan-tis, which had been sunk beneath the waves ofthe ocean. Marco Polo, the Venetian adven-turer, had told of the great wealth of the EastIndies, which he said could be reached by sailingwestward from Burope. However much he discounted the more ex-travagant of