THE NAME AMERICA. 661 



to account for the position taken by Jean Basin and the whole Vosgian 

 Gj'iunasinm, that Vespucci was the discoverer of the New World, a 

 posi tion wliicli can not have been taken lightly and without the knowledge 

 and consent of King Rene. It was well known that Cristoforo Colombo 

 was the discoverer ; and the members of the Vosgian Gymnasium can 

 not have ignored the fact, because the first voyage of Colombo had been 

 published not only in Paris, but also in Strasburg in 1497 ; and Ring- 

 man, who had inhabited Paris and had been twice in Italy, must have 

 been well acquainted with all the history of the first vo^'age of 

 Colombo. 



The reference of the discovery of the New World to Vespucci by the 

 Vosgian Gymnasium of St. Die in 1^07 is a very suspicious act, which 

 can not be explained, except that a conspiracy existed after the death 

 of Colombo to reduce, and even obliterate, the great celebrity attached 

 to his memory, and that Vespucci was a party to, or at least helped 

 secretly, the undertaking. The members of the Vosgian Gymnasium 

 were not in a position to decide so bluntly', as they did, th;it Vespucci 

 was the discoverer of the New World ; and it is impossible to explain 

 the position they have taken, without supposing that they had recourse 

 to underhand influences, and a special desire to create a rival and an 

 adversary to Colombo. 



The second letter of Vespucci is written in a very careful way, in 

 order to escape all associations with any of the other navigators. He 

 has taken a special care not to name a single commander or chief of 

 the expeditions in which he was engaged, and any one not well 

 acquainted with all the first voyages to the New World will easily be 

 deceived, and be led to believe that he was in command himself. As I 

 have said before, his two published letters are the work of a very 

 shrewd man, a tan fino in Italian. It is unique in maritime voyages 

 that a man who was a subordinate does not give the name of the chief 

 of his expeditions. That he may have passed over one of those names 

 may be understood and regarded as a forgetful ness of no great conse- 

 quence, but that all four are i»assed silently over is a case of willful 

 negligence. 



Vespucci certainly addressed the manuscripts of his voyages to the 

 Kings of Spain and Portugal, to a Medicis and to the Perpetual Gon- 

 falonier of Florence ; and it is reasonable and natural to suppose that 

 he did send them also to King Rene, Due of Lorraine. The other sup- 

 position, that King Rene received the French translation of the four 

 navigations of Vespucci from another source can not be accepted, unless 

 it was proved by authentic facts and documents, which is not the case. 



Humboldt says : " Vespucci was in correspondence with Rene II" * 

 Unhappily nothing has been found yet in the archives of Lorraine on 

 the subject, and we are reduced to probabilities and inductions. 

 * Exauien Critique, Vol. IV, p. 107. 



