remarks: u Suppose these discoveries to be authentic, they 
could hardly have escaped the attention of Columbus, who 
himself had navigated the Arctic seas, but whose mind dwelt 
with such intense fondness upon his favorite idea of finding a 
passage to the East Indies across the western ocean, that he 
might have neglected these indications of another continent in 
the direction pursued by earlier adventurers. ... At all 
events there is not the slightest reason to believe that the illus¬ 
trious Genoese was acquainted with the discovery of North 
America by the Northmen before his own time, however well 
authenticated that fact now appears to be by the Icelandic 
records. The colony established by them probably perished in 
the same manner as the ancient establishments at Greenland. 
Some faint traces of its existence may be found in the relations 
of the Jesuit missionaries respecting a native tribe in the dis¬ 
trict of Gaspe, near the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, who 
are said to have attained a degree of civilization, to have wor¬ 
shipped the sun and observed the position of the stars; they 
also revered the symbol of the cross before the arrival of the 
French missionaries, .which, according to their traditions, had 
been taught them by a venerable person who cured, by this 
means, a terrible epidemic that once raged among them.” 
The invention and use of the mariner’s compass has developed 
important discoveries and explorations. In 1797, Cabot, in a 
British vessel, made a direct voyage to Newfoundland, from 
which he brought a good return in fish, oil and fur. This voyage 
created an intense excitement in Europe, and stimulated the 
merchants to maritime adventure in the new world. 
The lone, barren island of Newfoundland, indented with bays, 
coves and arms, affords congenial resort for fish. To this El 
Dorado the adventurous spirits of the old world directed their 
best energies. On this sterile island the first European settle¬ 
ment in America was planted; the first church on our continent 
was built on this rock, and the first white child put in an ap¬ 
pearance there. Bacon directed the first flash of his genius to 
this colony. Baltimore laid down here the foundation of uni¬ 
versal brotherhood; the first civil court from which went forth 
the imperishable safeguards of the great charter was located on 
this “ lone barren isle.” About one hundred years before the 
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the city of St. Johns was 
founded, and became the entrepot of the period. One thousand 
