A Genoese knight shall first the idea seize
And, full of faith, the untracked abyss explore.
No raving winds, inhospitable seas,
Thwart planets, dubious calms, or billows' roar,
Nor whatso'er of risk or toil may more
Terrific show or furiously assail,
Shall make that mighty mind of his give o'er
The wonderful adventure, or avail
In close Abyla's bounds his spirit to impale.
XXXII.
'Tis thou, Columbus, in new zones and skies,
That to the wind thy happy sails must raise,
Till fame shall scarce pursue thee with her eyes,
Though she a thousand eyes and wings displays;
Let her of Bacchus and Alcides praise
The savage feats, and do thy glory wrong
With a few whispers tossed to after days;
These shall suffice to make thy memory long
In history's page endure, or some divinest song.
NOAH AND COLUMBUS.
Emma Hart Willard, an American teacher and educational writer. Born at Berlin, Conn., 1787; died, 1870.
Since the time when Noah left the ark to set his foot upon a recovered world, a landing so sublime as that of Columbus had never occurred.
A GRAND PROPHETIC VISION.
The Rev. Elhanan Winchester, an American divine. Born at Brookline, Mass., 1751; died, 1797. From an oration delivered in London, October 12, 1792, the 300th anniversary of the landing of Columbus in the New World. The orator, previous to a call to a pastorate in London, had lived many years in America, being at one time pastor of a large church in the city of Philadelphia. This oration should be prized, so to speak, for its "ancient simplicity." It is a relic of the style used in addresses one hundred years ago.
I have for some years had it upon my mind that if Providence preserved my life to the close of the third century from the discovery of America by Columbus, that I would celebrate that great event by a public discourse upon the occasion.
And although I sincerely wish that some superior genius would take up the subject and treat it with the attention that it deserves, yet, conscious as I am of my own inability, I am persuaded that America has not a warmer friend in the world than myself.