Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia Part 7

_French_--The Colbert, Duperre, Courbet, Devastation, Redoubtable, Indomptable, Milan, Condor, Falcon, the dispatch boat Coulevrine, and six torpedo boats.

_German_--The imperial vessel Kaiser.

_Italian_--The royal vessels Etna, Salta, Goito, Vesuvius, Archimedes, Tripoli, Folgore, Castellfidardo, Lepanto, and Italia.

_Portuguese_--The Vasco da Gama.

_Russian_--The Vestruch and Zabiaca.

_Spanish_--The Numancia, Navarra, Gerona, Castilla, Blanca, Destructor, Pilar, and Piles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT.

The monument was cast in the workshops of A. Wohlgemuth, engineer and constructor of Barcelona, and was made in eight pieces, the base weighing 31-1/2 tons. The first section, 22-1/2 tons; the second, 24-1/2 tons; the third, 23-1/2 tons; the fourth, 23-1/8 tons; the capital, 29-1/2 tons; the templete, 13-1/2 tons; the globe, 15-1/2 tons; the bronze ornaments, 13-1/2 tons; the statue of Columbus, 41 tons; the pedestal of the column, 31-1/2 tons; the total weight of bronze employed in the column being 210-1/2 tons; its height, 198 feet.

The total cost of the monument amounted to 1,000,000 pesetas. Of these, 350,000 were collected by public subscription, and the remaining 650,000 pesetas were contributed by the city of Barcelona.

The monument is 198 feet in height, and is ascended by means of an hydraulic elevator; five or six persons have room to stand on the platform. On the side facing the sea there opens a staircase of a single flight, which leads to a small resting room richly ornamented, and lit by a skylight, which contains the elevator. The grand and beautiful city of Barcelona, the busiest center of industry, commerce, and shipping, and mart of the arts and sciences, is not likely to leave in oblivion he who enriched the Old World with a new one, opening new arteries of trade which immensely augmented its renowned commercial existence; and less is it likely to forget that the citizens of Barcelona who were contemporaneous with Columbus were among the first to greet the unknown mariner when he returned from America, for the first time, with the enthusiasm which his colossal discovery evoked.

If for this alone, in one of her most charming squares, in full view of the ocean whose bounds the immortal sailor fixed and discovered, they have raised his statue upon a monument higher than the most celebrated ones of the earth. This statue, constructed under the supervision of the artist Don Cayetano Buigas, is composed of a base one meter in height and twenty meters wide, and of three sections. The first part is a circular section, eighteen meters in diameter, ten feet in height; it is composed of carved stone with interspersed bas-reliefs in bronze, representing episodes in the life of Columbus.

The second story takes the form of a cross, and is of the height of thirty-three feet, being of carved stone decorated with bronzes. On the arms of the cross are four female figures, representing Catalonia, Aragon, Castille, and Leon, and in the angles of the same are figures of Father Boyle, Santangel, Margarite and Ferrer de Blanes.

On the sides of the cross are grouped eight medallions of bronze, on which are placed the busts of Isabella I., Ferdinand V., Father Juan Flores, Andres de Cabrera, Padre Juan de la Marchena, the Marchioness of Moya, Martin Pinzon, and his brother, Vicente Yanez Pinzon.

This section upholds the third part of the monument, which takes the form of an immense globe, on top of which stands the statue of Columbus, a n.o.ble conception of a great artist, grandly pointing toward the conquered confines of the Mysterious Sea.[29]

LEGEND OF A WESTERN LAND.

Rev. SABINE BARING-GOULD, vicar of Looe Trenchard, Devonshire, England. Born at Exeter, England, 1834. An antiquarian, archaeological and historical writer, no mean poet, and a novelist.

From his "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages."

According to a Keltic legend, in former days there lived in Skerr a Druid of renown. He sat with his face to the west on the sh.o.r.e, his eye following the declining sun, and he blamed the careless billows which tumbled between him and the distant Isle of Green. One day, as he sat musing on a rock, a storm arose on the sea; a cloud, under whose squally skirts the foaming waters tossed, rushed suddenly into the bay, and from its dark womb emerged a boat with white sails bent to the wind and banks of gleaming oars on either side. But it was dest.i.tute of mariners, itself seeming to live and move. An unusual terror seized on the aged Druid; he heard a voice call, "Arise, and see the Green Isle of those who have pa.s.sed away!" Then he entered the vessel. Immediately the wind shifted, the cloud enveloped him, and in the bosom of the vapor he sailed away. Seven days gleamed on him through the mist; on the eighth, the waves rolled violently, the vessel pitched, and darkness thickened around him, when suddenly he heard a cry, "The Isle! the Isle!" The clouds parted before him, the waves abated, the wind died away, and the vessel rushed into dazzling light. Before his eyes lay the Isle of the Departed, basking in golden light. Its hills sloped green and tufted with beauteous trees to the sh.o.r.e, the mountain tops were enveloped in bright and transparent clouds, from which gushed limpid streams, which, wandering down the steep hill-sides with pleasant harp-like murmur emptied themselves into the twinkling blue bays. The valleys were open and free to the ocean; trees loaded with leaves, which scarcely waved to the light breeze, were scattered on the green declivities and rising ground; all was calm and bright; the pure sun of autumn shone from his blue sky on the fields; he hastened not to the west for repose, nor was he seen to rise in the east, but hung as a golden lamp, ever illumining the Fortunate Isles.

LEGEND OF A WESTERN ISLAND.

There is a Phoenician legend that a large island was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, several days' sail from the coast of Africa. This island abounded in all manner of riches. The soil was exceedingly fertile; the scenery was diversified by rivers, mountains, and forests. It was the custom of the inhabitants to retire during the summer to magnificent country houses, which stood in the midst of beautiful gardens. Fish and game were found in great abundance, the climate was delicious, and the trees bore fruit at all seasons of the year.--_Ibid._

COLUMBUS AN IDEAL COMMANDER.

JOEL BARLOW, American poet, patriot, and politician. Born at Reading, Conn., 1755; died near Cracow, in Poland, 1812. From the introduction to "Columbiad" (1807).

Every talent requisite for governing, soothing, and tempering the pa.s.sions of men is conspicuous in the conduct of Columbus on the occasion of the mutiny of his crew. The dignity and affability of his manners, his surprising knowledge and experience in naval affairs, his unwearied and minute attention to the duties of his command, gave him a great ascendancy over the minds of his men, and inspired that degree of confidence which would have maintained his authority in almost any circ.u.mstances.

MAN'S INGRAt.i.tUDE.

Long had the sage, the first who dared to brave The unknown dangers of the western wave; Who taught mankind where future empires lay In these confines of descending day; With cares o'erwhelmed, in life's distressing gloom, Wish'd from a thankless world a peaceful tomb, While kings and nations, envious of his name, Enjoyed his toils and triumphed o'er his fame, And gave the chief, from promised empire hurl'd, Chains for a crown, a prison for a world.

--_Barlow_, "Columbus" (1787).

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 28: By permission of Messrs. D. Appleton & Co.]

[Footnote 29: For the above interesting particulars, and for the artistic ill.u.s.tration of this beautiful statue, the compiler desires to record his sincere obligations to the courteous kindness of Mr. William G. Williams of Rutherford, N. J.]

"ONLY THE ACTIONS OF THE JUST."

Ages unborn shall bless the happy day When thy bold streamers steer'd the trackless way.

O'er these delightful realms thy sons shall tread, And following millions trace the path you led.

Behold yon isles, where first the flag unfurled Waved peaceful triumph o'er the new-found world.

Where, aw'd to silence, savage bands gave place, And hail'd with joy the sun-descended race.

--_Barlow_, "The Vision of Columbus,"

a poem in nine books (1787).

QUEEN ISABELLA'S DEATH.

Truth leaves the world and Isabella dies.

--_Ibid._

COLUMBUS' CHAINS HIS CROWN.

I sing the mariner who first unfurl'd An eastern banner o'er the western world, And taught mankind where future empires lay In these fair confines of descending day; Who swayed a moment, with vicarious power, Iberia's scepter on the new-found sh.o.r.e; Then saw the paths his virtuous steps had trod Pursued by avarice and defiled with blood; The tribes he fostered with paternal toil s.n.a.t.c.hed from his hand and slaughtered for their spoil.

Slaves, kings, adventurers, envious of his name, Enjoyed his labors and purloined his fame, And gave the viceroy, from his high seat hurl'd, Chains for a crown, a prison for a world.

--_Barlow_, The "Columbiad," Book I; lines 1-14.

PROPHETIC VISIONS URGED COLUMBUS ON.

The bliss of unborn nations warm'd his breast, Repaid his toils, and sooth'd his soul to rest; Thus o'er thy subject wave shall thou behold Far happier realms their future charms unfold, In n.o.bler pomp another Pisgah rise, Beneath whose foot thy new-found Canaan lies.

There, rapt in vision, hail my favorite clime And taste the blessings of remotest time.

--_Barlow_, The "Columbiad," Book 1; lines 176-184.

COLUMBUS, THE PATHFINDER OF THE SHADOWY SEA.