"Columbus Received on his Return in Madrid". R. Balaca
He saw Relief thro' deadly dungeons grope; foes turn to brothers ; black despair to hope ;and cannon rust along the grass-grown slope; and rot the gallows rope. He saw the babes on Labor's cottage floor — the bright walls hung with luxury more and more,and Comfort, radiant with abundant store, wave welcome at the door. He saw the myriad spindles flutter round the myriad mill-wheels shake the solid ground, the myriad homes where jocund. joy is found, and love is throned and crowned. He saw exalted ignorance under ban though panoplied in force since Science,consecrated,led the van, the providence of man.
The pictures came, and paled and passed away. And then the admiral turned as from a trance his lion face aglow, his luminous eyes lit with mysterious fire from hidden suns : "Now, Martin, to thy waiting helm again ; haste to the Pinta. Fill her sagging sails, for on my soul hath dawned a wondrous sight. Lo ! thro' this segment of the watery world uprose a hemisphere of glorious life, a realm of golden grain and fragrant fruits, and men and women wise and masterful, who dwelt in peace in rural cottages and splendid cities bursting into bloom — great lotus blossoms on a flowery sea ; and Happiness was there and bright-winged Hope — high Aspiration, soaring to the stars. And then methought, O Martin, thro' the storm a million faces turned on me and smiled.
Now we go forward, forward; Fear, avaunt! I will abate no atom of my dream , though all the devils of the underworld hiss in the sails and grapple to the keel. Haste to the Pinta! Westward keep her prow, for I have had a vision full of light; keep her prow westward in the sunset's wake from this hour hence, and let no man look back."
Then from the Pinta's foretop fell a cry, a trumpet song: "Light-ho! Light-ho! Light-ho!"
（This text is a digital copy of a book, "Franklin Edson Belden：Historic Men and Scenes". This book, published in 1898, is already in the public domain.）