I think that historians belittle Columbus when they would excite our pity for his misfortunes.  They insult the dignity of all struggling souls, and make utilitarians of all benefactors, and give false views of success.  Few benefactors, on the whole, were ever more richly rewarded than he.  He died Admiral of the Seas, a grandee of Spain,—­having bishops for his eulogists and princes for his mourners,—­the founder of an illustrious house, whose name and memory gave glory even to the Spanish throne.  And even if he had not been rewarded with material gains, it was enough to feel that he had conferred a benefit on the world which could scarcely be appreciated in his lifetime,—­a benefit so transcendent that its results could be seen only by future generations.  Who could adequately pay him for his services; who could estimate the value of his gift?  What though they load him to-day with honors, or cast him tomorrow into chains?—­that is the fate of all immortal benefactors since our world began.  His great soul should have soared beyond vulgar rewards.  In the loftiness of his self-consciousness he should have accepted, without a murmur, whatever fortune awaited him.  Had he merely given to civilization a new style of buttons, or an improved envelope, or a punch for a railway conductor, or a spring for a carriage, or a mining tool, or a screw, or revolver, or reaper, the inventors of which have “seen millions in them,” and been cheated out of his gains, he might have whimpered over his wrongs.  How few benefactors have received even as much as he; for he won dignities, admiration, and undying fame.  We scarcely know the names of many who have made grand bequests.  Who invented the mariner’s compass?  Who gave the lyre to primeval ages, or the blacksmith’s forge, or the letters of the alphabet, or the arch in architecture, or glass for windows?  Who solved the first problem of geometry?  Who first sang the odes which Homer incorporated with the Iliad?  Who first turned up the earth with a plough?  Who first used the weaver’s shuttle?  Who devised the cathedrals of the Middle Ages?  Who gave the keel to ships?  Who was the first that raised bread by yeast?  Who invented chimneys?  But all ages will know that Columbus discovered America; and his monuments are in every land, and his greatness is painted by the ablest historians.

But I will not enlarge on the rewards Columbus received, or the ingratitude which succeeded them, by force of envy or from the disappointment of worldly men in not realizing all the gold that he promised.  Let me allude to the results of his discovery.

The first we notice was the marvellous stimulus to maritime adventures.  Europe was inflamed with a desire to extend geographical knowledge, or add new countries to the realms of European sovereigns.