History of Spain, Mariana recognizes in Columbus no merit of discovery or initiation. In his estimation, the Discovery was a collective work. He says: "With what good fortune and prodigious success these intrepid men traversed the boundless space of the ocean." After having mentioned the infamous calumny of the pretended pilot who died at the house of Columbus, and by the latter despoiled of his glory, he relates that by the aid of charts pilfered from the deceased, Columbus recognized "all the coasts that are between the two poles, from the Strait of Magellan to Cape de Vacallao," and that thus he traversed more than five thousand leagues.[1] The author of another General History of Spain, Ferreras, assigns the discovery of the New World to Americus Vespuccius, whom he confounds with the fabulous pilot, always dead, at Columbus's house, and pretends that it was by means of the notes and charts of Americus that Columbus started on his enterprise.[2]
In our own days there is manifested a movement of reparative justice and friendliness for the fame of Columbus. Pains are taken to honor him. The portraits, the statues of the hero are multiplied. Several cities raise monuments to him. Books and periodicals tend to popularize his biography. Still, never was his glory in greater danger than at the present day. Notwithstanding the rectitude of his intentions, Columbus remains unavoidably unappreciated. The worst of obscurities, — that which is produced by a false literature, — separates us from him. Historic error has condensed its darkness around his memory. This supercilious and pedantic error we know intimately. We have found out the secret of his birth, followed his footsteps from the cradle, noted the dates of his first movements, and apprehended the cause of his success, and of the credit which it knew how to obtain.
