tinent. He regarded the distance between Spain and Jamaica as a
third part of the circumference of the globe, and announced, "The earth
is by no means as large as is popularly supposed."

The extension of the world by a new continent had no place in his
conceptions, and the greatness of his achievement would have been
lessened in his eyes if he had been permitted to discover a second vast
ocean beyond that which he had traversed, for he would have seen that he
had but half accomplished his object, the connection of Europe with the
East.

PETRARCH'S TRIBUTE.

FRANCESCO PETRARCH, Italian poet. Born at Arezzo, in Tuscany, July
20, 1304; died at Arqua, near Padua, July 19, 1374.

The daylight hastening with winged steps,
Perchance to gladden the expectant eyes
Of far-off nations in a world remote.

COLUMBUS A VOLUMINOUS WRITER.

BARNET PHILLIPS, in _Harper's Weekly_, June 25, 1892, on "The
Columbus Festival at Genoa."[52]

It can not be questioned but that Christopher Columbus was a voluminous
writer. Mr. Justin Winsor, who has made careful researches, says that
"ninety-seven distinct pieces of writing by the hand of Columbus either
exist or are known to have existed. Of such, whether memoirs, relations,
or letters, sixty-four are preserved in their entirety." Columbus seems
to have written all his letters in Spanish. Genoa is fortunate in
possessing a number of authentic letters, and these are preserved in a
marble custodia, surmounted by a head of Columbus. In the pillar which
forms the pedestal there is a bronze door, and the precious Columbus
documents have been placed there. (See p. 54, _ante_.)

HIS LIFE WAS A PATH OF THORNS.

ROBERT POLLOK, a Scottish poet of some note. Born at Muirhouse,
Renfrewshire, 1798; died near Southampton, September, 1827.

Oh, who can tell what days, what nights, he spent,
Of tideless, waveless, sailless, shoreless woe!
And who can tell how many glorious once,
To him, of brilliant promise full--wasted,
And pined, and vanished from the earth!

UNWEPT, UNHONORED, AND UNSUNG.

W. F. POOLE, LL. D., Librarian of the Newberry Library, Chicago.
From "Christopher Columbus," in _The Dial_ for April, 1892.
Published by _The Dial_ Company, Chicago.

It had been well for the reputation of Columbus if he had died in 1493,
when he returned from his first voyage. He had found a pathway to a land
beyond the western ocean;