ABSTRACT
WHEN Christopher Columbus, worn out with years of hardship, anxiety, and cruel neglect, was dead, Ferdinand of Spain ordered a magnificent monument to be prepared, on which was inscribed: A CASTILLA Y. A, LEON NUEVO MUNDO DIO COLON. (To Castile and Leon, Columbus gave a new world.) Yet it was not to Spain alone, but to mankind the New World was given. For though prior to the brilliant discoveries of Columbus at the close of the fifteenth century, the inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere were ignorant of the vast continent of America, there can be little doubt that in coming ages its history is destined to surpass in interest that of most other portions of the globe.
