84 Timehri. 



led to a policy of conquests, the movement to westernize Asia, and 

 to assimilate Oriental habits of life to those of the West. This attempt 

 still continues today, and it is yet to be proved whether the East will 

 allow itself to be assimilated by the West. 



Turning now to the Atlantic route, Toscanelli of Florence was the 

 first to revive the idea of seeking the east by sailing west, but by over- 

 estimating the breadth of Asia, he brought its eastern shore to where the 

 western coast of America really is. For many years tradition had 

 believed that somewhere west of the Pillars of Hercules was a land of 

 mystery, perhaps the fabled Garden of the Hesperides, or perhaps the 

 great continent Atlantis which Plato told of. It was known by many 

 names. Men from Iceland called it Vineland ; others called it 

 Antilha, from which the modern name of Antilles is derived : some early 

 maps have it as an island off the west coast of Ireland marked Brazil. 

 The chart of Toscanelli, though incorrect, fell into the hands of a man of 

 great determination, Christopher Columbus, who set sail in 1492. Seek- 

 ing Asia, he found America. He was greatly upset, and hoped that he 

 had made a mistake, as his idea was to find an open way to India. He 

 returned again and discovered more of America. He died a disappointed 

 mao, and the g^at continent was named after a less famous person — 

 Amerigo Vespucci. The final step was taken in 1522 by Magellan, who 

 sailed through the straits named after him, crossed the Pacific and rounded 

 the Cape, the name of which he changed to Good Hope, and so back to 

 Spain. 



It can readily be understood that the results of this world-wide dis- 

 covery were themselves of world-wide importance, and it would be 

 impossible to mention them all. Their immediate effect can, however, be 

 seen on politics, religion and thought. Politically the Emperor and the 

 Pope claimed authority over the inhabited world, but things got rather 

 complicated when a huge continent was discovered to exist and to be 

 inhabited, which neither Emperor nor Pope had ever heard of. The dis- 

 covery of America may therefore be looked upon as having tended towards 

 shattering the power of both Emperor and Pope, and to have given rise 

 to the coming system of nationalities. The centre of political gravity 

 was shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and the Powers which 

 were to monopolize international politics were those which faced west- 

 wards — Spain. France and England. The Church had always claimed 

 the position of universal teacher, and had banned progress and investiga- 

 tion in natural science with the result that when the New World was 

 discovered and the globe circumnavigated, a reaction set in against the 

 Church — and then unorthcdoxy found a haven of refuge in emigration. 



The incentive to thought of this discovery was enormous and three at 

 any rate of the greatest writers were directly inspired by it. Sir Thomae 

 More, whose " Utopia." written in 1516, pictured an ideal state of society 

 in an imaginary island ; Montaigne who sang of the simple life of the 

 American savage ; and Francis Bacon, who has been called the " Founder 

 of modern physical geography.'' In politics, religion and thought, the future 



