THE PENETRATION AND EXTREME ACCURACY OF COLUMBUS.
Columbus preserved, amid so many material and minute cares, which freeze the soul and contract the character, a profound and poetic sentiment of the grandeur of nature. What characterizes Columbus is the penetration and extreme accuracy with which he seizes the phenomena of the external world. He is quite as remarkable as an observer of nature as he is an intrepid navigator.
Arrived under new heavens, and in a new world, the configuration of lands, the aspect of vegetation, the habits of animals, the distribution of heat according to longitude, the pelagic currents, the variations of terrestrial magnetism—nothing escaped his sagacity. Columbus does not limit himself to collecting isolated facts, he combines them, he seeks their mutual relations to each other. He sometimes rises with boldness to the discovery of the general laws that govern the physical world.—Ibid.
A FLIGHT OF PARROTS WAS HIS GUIDING STAR.
Columbus was guided in his opinion by a flight of parrots toward the southwest. Never had the flight of birds more important consequences. It may be said to have determined the first settlements on the new continent, and its distribution between the Latin and Germanic races.—Ibid.
COLUMBUS A GIANT.
Columbus is a giant standing on the confines between mediæval and modern times, and his existence marks one of the great epochs in the history of the world.—Ibid.
THE MAJESTY OF GRAND RECOLLECTIONS.
The majesty of grand recollections seems concentered on the illustrious name of Columbus.—Ibid.