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 ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BY 
 
 GEN. L. P. Di CESNOLA, 
 
 Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
 
 UNVEILING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COLUMBUS MONUMENT, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK, 
 
 OCTOBER 12th, 1893. 
 
 
 NE>?V YORK, 
 1893. 
 
 ^»<.- 
 ^J^' 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVEkED BV 
 
 GEN. L:"p."di CESNOLA. 
 
 Director of the Metropolitan Mitsemii of Art, 
 
 UNVEILING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COLUMBUS MONUMENT 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK, 
 
 OCTOBER l^TH, 18. ^>. 
 
 
 NEW YOKK, 
 1893. 
 
.C45 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 We meet to-day, under auspices most digni- 
 fied and favorable, to render our tribute of 
 commemoration to the enterprise and the man, 
 with whose ever crfowinQf fame the world has 
 rung for four now completed centuries; to 
 whom, from us Italian born among all others, 
 grateful and exalted commemoration is pecu- 
 liarly due. 
 
 We present this monument to the City of 
 New York, and we thank the City, and her 
 Department of Public Parks, for the fitting 
 and distinguished site by them selected for the 
 erection of our accepted memorial. 
 
 The countrymen of Columbus, the Italians 
 resident and citizens in the United States, 
 conscious indeed that his true monument is 
 this great land, its institutions, its prosperity, 
 its blessings, its lessons of advance for all 
 
4 
 humanity, have yet desired to testify, to at 
 least the present generation, their full and un- 
 failing sense of their great and peculiar debt. 
 
 They have procured, in contributions great 
 and small, but uniformly large in spirit, the 
 execution of this monument; and they have 
 erected and presented it in token of their 
 affection and gratitude to this great and be- 
 loved country; the country in which they have 
 found a permanent home, a more congenial 
 form of government, and better and freer 
 facilities honorably to earn their livelihood. 
 
 To this endeavor, furthermore, has been 
 given the sincerest approval and sympathy of 
 both the people and the government of our 
 native land. In glad acquiescence with our 
 request, the Italian Government appointed a 
 royal commission, comprising men of Italy of 
 highest authority in the requisite arts, who 
 carefully selected the plans for this monument 
 in all its details, entrusted its execution to 
 Gaetano Russo, who is present at this celebra- 
 tion, and who is second to none of living 
 Italian sculptors, and gave the work their 
 
5 
 active superintendence till its completion. 
 
 Still further to testify their sympathy, and as 
 a special evidence of good will towards this 
 country, the Italian Government was pleased 
 to order a vessel of its navy to convey and 
 deliver our offering at this port. It was 
 further pleased expressly to detail and send 
 the ship of war " Bausan " to participate in the 
 City's celebration; and to instruct its diplomatic 
 representatives at Washington, with its con- 
 sular officers at New York, to be present in 
 their official capacity at these ceremonies and 
 celebration. 
 
 We, indeed, can add no lustre to the name 
 of our immortal countryman. His monument is 
 the new world, and its reflex renewal of the 
 old. 
 
 Yet is it fitting that we, Italian Americans, 
 in justice to our own sense and to our own 
 hearts, should erect and inaugurate this monu- 
 ment to-day. There are, too, ever those who 
 will forget and grovel, if no care is given, by 
 precept and by visible memorial, to tell to 
 coming generations the deeds and achieve- 
 
6 
 
 ments of heroes of the past, and hand down 
 to posterity our better inheritance. 
 
 Long before Columbus' day, it had been 
 famiHar to science that the world was round; 
 in Ptolemy and Strabo were to be read the 
 identical lessons and illustrations of our ele- 
 mentary geographies of to-day; as early as the 
 eighth century a Syrian ecclesiastic had dis- 
 covered means of measuring the length of a 
 degree on the earth, and knew of the earth's 
 compression at the poles; and the isle "Atlantis" 
 itself was dimly to be discerned in hazy tradition. 
 But all had been forgotten, and the science of 
 science of the earth and sky had become heresy. 
 
 The monuments of it all lay buried in the 
 dust of libraries, and the whole inheritance 
 therein had been despised for a mess of the 
 pottage of ignorance and indolence. 
 
 The son of the wool-comber of Genoa came 
 (in 1 436-1 446) into an old world to be re-dis- 
 covered, before he could discover, if not re-dis- 
 cover, a new. At the University of Pavia he 
 doubtless laid the foundation of his mathema- 
 tical and nautical attainments; but not till after 
 
7 
 his choice of the life of a sailor, at the age of 
 fifteen, and subsequently sailing, as he says, 
 "wherever ship has sailed" — to England 
 ultima Thule or Iceland, the Greek isles, the 
 Guinea coast, did he learn from Ptolemy and 
 the other ancients the old fact that the earth 
 was round, learn to draw charts and to con- 
 struct spheres, and become the most learned, 
 as well as the most consummate, practical 
 navigator of his times. Naval battle and ship- 
 wreck, followed by chart-drawing for a liveli- 
 hood, poring over the old log-books of his 
 naval father-in-law, and talking with old sea- 
 men, opened to his views the probability of a 
 short western route to the East Indies; and 
 thenceforward his life was one of struggle and 
 toil, in which more the man of affairs and the 
 man of science, more the man of letters and 
 the oral advocate, were truly the character of 
 Columbus, than the mere educated navio-ator 
 But tremendous conflict is the price of every 
 advance for good in this world; nor in that ao-e 
 could private enterprise accomplish any great 
 work, nor surmount any very great obstacle. 
 
Nothing could be done without govermental 
 aid, and the further aid of the clerical keeper 
 of the governmental conscience. 
 
 Rejected by the Senate of his native Genoa, 
 Columbus met only treachery at the court of 
 the more enlightened John II. of Portugal, 
 who, through bad advisers, was about to steal 
 the plan of Columbus, and send an expedition 
 without the latter's knowledgfe. 
 
 Spain was tried again and again, only to 
 meet overwhelming and humiliating opposition 
 from a legion of misquoted biblical texts; al- 
 though Columbus' aims were missionary, and 
 nothing less than the discovery of the marvel- 
 ous province of Cipango and the conversion to 
 Christianity of the Grand Khan. Spain, how- 
 ever, in 1490, rejected his project as vain and 
 impracticable, and unbecoming the notice of 
 royalty. 
 
 Setting out for France, in despair, Colum- 
 bus was reduced to beg bread and water for 
 himself and his son Diego, at the monastery of 
 La Rabida at Palos; and in this extremity the 
 tide at last begins to turn. The convent 
 
9 
 guardian is Juan Perez de Marchena, an ardent 
 student of geography, and former confessor to 
 Queen Isabella. All honor to him! He wrote 
 to the Queen, who sent money to bring Colum- 
 bus back to Granada; where, though not till 
 after long, wearisome, and repeatedly broken- 
 off negotiations, and on the entreaty of Luis 
 de Santangel, Queen Isabella was induced to 
 determine on the expedition; offering to pledge, 
 we are told, her jewels, since the kingdom's 
 revenues were all but exhausted by the struggle 
 that had just ended in expelling the Moors. 
 
 All the world knows how, on Friday, the 3rd 
 of August, 1492, his decked-ship, the Santa 
 Maria, with a crew of fifty men, and his two 
 caravels, the Pinta with thirty men and the 
 Nina with twenty-four men, weighed anchor 
 and stood out for the Canary Islands; and 
 how, after discouragements amounting almost 
 to mutiny, at two in the morning of Friday, 
 the I 2th of October, 1492, the land of "Guana- 
 hani," which he named San Salvador, was 
 sighted by Roderigo de Triana, a sailor on the 
 Nina; and how, after accidents, adventures, 
 
lO 
 
 and discoveries, the Nina alone of the fleet 
 returned and arrived at Spain (having barel)' 
 escaped capture at the Azores) in March, finally 
 dropping anchor at Palos on Friday the 15th. 
 
 All the world knows, too, the honors show- 
 ered upon Columbus, and the triumphant 
 exultation of their Majesties of Spain; the 
 sending of a second expedition in 1493; with 
 colonists, adventurers, and missionaries; the 
 discoveries, the settlements, the troubles, the 
 mutinies; the sickness of the hero; the con- 
 spiracies against him; and how finally the tide 
 turned in his favor on his return — clad in the 
 humble dress of a Franciscan friar. 
 
 All the world knows, too, of his third 
 voyage, where detraction was still more power- 
 ful, and finally sent him back to Spain in 
 chains; although on this voyage he discovered 
 the continent of South America. 
 
 All the world, too, knows how detractions, 
 persecution, perils at the hands both of enemies 
 and false friends, continued to pursue him on 
 his fourth voyage, till at last, wearied out by 
 
II 
 perpetual struggles, slander and illness, at 
 Valladolid, on the 20th of May, 1506, he ended 
 a life that was troubled to the last; though in 
 honor, and leaving an imperishable name to 
 his inheritors. Whether his remains still rest 
 in San Domingo, as claimed by the archbishop 
 of that island, or whether they (and not those 
 of his son) were actually transferred thence to 
 the cathedral of Havana, as supposed and in- 
 tended about a century ago, his obsequies have 
 thrice been celebrated with all state and 
 solemnity, and his memory has ever been 
 cherished by his detractors and their descend- 
 ants, with all the zeal that belongs to the 
 generation that builds the tombs of the pro- 
 phets whom its fathers have killed. 
 
 Detraction and injury were in exceeding 
 large measure the life reward of Columbus, as 
 they are to-day of most of the great and good, 
 and of all the world's most distinguished bene- 
 factors. But in that respect this generation of 
 his countrymen does lay claim to purity of 
 heart, with a most loyal reverence and grati- 
 
12 
 
 tude toward Columbus; and toward the Amer- 
 ican republic, for the inestimable inheritance 
 which he has left us. 
 
 In the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a 
 great and noble painting by Brozik, setting 
 forth the moment when the agreement be- 
 tween Columbus and Isabella was signed and 
 sealed, the 17th of April, 1492. No painting 
 in the Museum is more popular, or more 
 deservedly so; for it tells its own vivid story, 
 and portrays this crisis in the world's history 
 in a manner that is grasped on the instant 
 by every one. The life-like presentation of 
 the Queen's understanding sympathy, quite 
 withdrawn from the jewel caskets, and wholly 
 absorbed in the exposition of Columbus — who 
 again is fired with the lofty certainty of his 
 demonstrated purpose, and glowing with the 
 assurance of finally attained appreciation; 
 while the satisfied and confident, but cautious, 
 Ferdinand still holds the pen, giving most 
 earnest heed to Columbus' words; the courtiers, 
 the Queen's father confessor (Ximenes, here 
 
13 
 
 pardonably presented as a cardinal, a little in 
 advance of the dignity itself), the chief com- 
 manders of the army and navy, and dignitaries 
 of various kind and degrees, sit in audience, 
 manifesting various thoughts or beliefs, in- 
 credulity or amazement, upon their counten- 
 ances — vivid and powerful is the scene; but 
 the popular heart leaps beyond the mere 
 estimate of art, and loves — and continually 
 testifies before that canvas its love for Colum- 
 bus and the exalted, self-sacrificing Isabella 
 who befriended him, 
 
 Isabella! But when, in time of need, or 
 effort, or sacrifice, have women been found 
 wanting? To them appeals, upon them rests, 
 the laborious, the patient, the quiet, the long 
 suffering, and the efficacious part in all the 
 world's orreat struQf2.1es; no less than in the 
 minor private ones, which bring little out-door 
 renown, but which guide and control the world 
 as surely and efficiently as the wise matron 
 rears her cradle charge to strength and virtue. 
 Scarcely ever, since the crying of the infant 
 
14 
 
 Moses touched the heart of Pharaoh's dauo-h- 
 ter, and led her to adopt and rear the infant 
 to become the saviour of the Jewish people, the 
 law-giver of the ages, and the great transmitter 
 in high antiquity of truth and religion, has a 
 woman held a place or wielded an opportunity 
 comparable with that of Isabella. We know 
 no other mother of a new world. 
 
 Yet, thank heaven, she is not alone in the 
 roll of women conspicuous for great and excel- 
 lent services to the race. Women like Zeno- 
 bia, Elisabeth of England, Victoria, and our 
 own dear beloved Margherita of Italy, have 
 exalted royalty; women like Joan of Arc and 
 Florence Nightingale have glorified, dignified 
 or mitigated one or the other aspect of war; 
 bringing victory on the one hand, or succor 
 and healing on the other; but our joy and 
 boast to-day is the host of women of our own 
 land, who, in walks of life both humble and 
 conspicuous, have ever lent, and who still do 
 ever lend. Inestimable aid to every good work, 
 religious, secular and domestic, in every grade 
 
15 
 of life, for well-being, excellence, happiness 
 and relief. 
 
 It is the woman in Isabella, not her 
 throne, nor her opportunity, that we most 
 cherish and exalt. All honor to the maids and 
 matrons of the new world, who have never 
 failed to emulate her example, or to mani- 
 fest their native queenliness. They shall pre- 
 serve, as Isabella disclosed, this our great 
 country. 
 
 Could we suppose the ages to retrocede, or 
 rather, that the deeds and the legacy of Colum- 
 bus should be blotted from the history of the 
 last four centuries, we might then obtain some 
 just idea of the event we celebrate to-day. 
 What would the old world be, with its ever-, 
 teeminor millions, swarming- in their circum- 
 scribed limits as in an over-crowded hive? 
 Where would be the world's navigation or 
 commerce, or the higher sciences upon which 
 both depend? What would be the night of 
 superstition over the crowded, struggling, per- 
 haps despairing, multitudes of the old world? 
 
i6 
 
 Where would the Ho-ht have broken forth? 
 Or rather, how would not the light that almost 
 contemporaneously broke forth in the inven- 
 tion of printing and other valuable arts, have 
 not been overborne and extinguished? What 
 would have been the fate of the reforms and 
 revolutions in the old world, in the subsequent 
 centuries? Where would freedom have found 
 a cradle, or the better germs of life and gov- 
 ernment, that budded in the old world, have 
 found a soil in which to crrow and thrive un- 
 choked by the prescriptive thorns of tyranny, 
 superstition, and want? Where would be the 
 millions who now form the vast common peo- 
 ple living in more freedom, comfort, health, 
 convenience, happiness and respectability, than 
 the world has hitherto known in any clime or 
 age? 
 
 Would not our multitudes be old-world 
 grovelers, ill-clad, uninstructed? Would not 
 some among our' millionaires be butcher's boys 
 in Germany, weary silk-weavers in France, 
 canal drivers in Holland, miners in Wales, 
 
17 
 shepherd-lads in Scotland, or peat-diggers in 
 Ireland? 
 
 Where would be our art? Where would be 
 the noble names that have adorned the bar, 
 the legislative hall, the rostra, the council or 
 the pulpit; that have illumined the bench; or 
 expounded or enforced the laws of nations to 
 a wider world? 
 
 And what would be the old world without 
 the reflex from the new, in all that develops 
 and ennobles the man or the nation; that has 
 helped it to learn that "stranger" is not a 
 synonym for "enemy," and even taught it that 
 in almost every ancient casus belli there is a 
 better resort than war? 
 
 A new world opened in freshness and 
 beauty; an old world regenerated and re- 
 juvenated; the rise of millions from bodily and 
 spiritual groveling to erect manhood; the birth 
 of newer and better nations of regenerated 
 and better men; — -these, and these, in all sober 
 prospect, to grow and spread beyond the com- 
 putation if not the imagination of man, are 
 
i8 
 what we owe to the unique genius and enter- 
 prise of Columbus; and this it is, which, in 
 words inadequate, we commemorate to-day. 
 
 God said "Let there be hght," and there 
 was light. 
 
 Long may we, and our children, and our 
 children's children, joy and prosper and live 
 gratefully in its beams! 
 

 
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