Thanks
to Edward Everett Hale,
For
his just and stirring tale
Of
Columbus, patient, grand,
Father
of this noble land.
Thanks
to him who brought us new
Light
upon that wand’ring crew;
Gave
us nobler thoughts of him
Who
passed o’er the ocean brim
From
the royal court of Spain
And
discerned this fruitful main.
Unjust
critics of to-day
Try
to turn our thoughts away
From
the good Columbus had
And
expose the harsh and bad.
Make
him out a pirate bold
Skimming
seas for shining gold.
But
this student, earnest, true,
Holds
to us a better view.
Hale
and hearty, grand old man,
Hear
and greet him when you can!
At
the Beach Guild, Camb’port, May 10, ’92. Prospect St. Church.
Copy
sent to Mr. Hale by Rev. D.N. Beach
Pub.
in Cam. Press.
Edward Everett Hale (April 3, 1822 –
June 10, 1909) was an American author, historian and Unitarian minister.
Hale was licensed to preach as a Unitarian minister in 1842 by
the Boston Association of Ministers. In 1846 he became pastor of the Church of
the Unity in Worcester, Massachusetts. Hale left the Unity Church in 1856
to become pastor at the South Congregational Church, Boston, where he served
until 1899.
Hale first
came to notice as a writer in 1859, when he contributed the short story
"My Double and How He Undid Me" to the Atlantic Monthly. He soon
published other stories in the same periodical. His best known work was "The
Man Without a Country", published in the Atlantic in 1863 and
intended to strengthen support for the Union cause in the North. As in
some of his other non-romantic tales, he employed a minute realism which led
his readers to suppose the narrative a record of fact. These two stories and
such others as "The Rag-Man and the Rag-Woman" and "The Skeleton
in the Closet", gave him a prominent position among short-story writers of
19th century America. His short story "The Brick Moon", serialized in
the Atlantic Monthly, is the first known fictional description of an artificial satellite.
It was possibly an influence on the novel The Begum's Fortune by Jules
Verne. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1865.
The Life Of Christopher
Columbus From His Own Letters And Journals And Other Documents Of His
Time.
By Edward Everett Hale,
“[This Was Originally
Done On The 400th Anniversary Of 1492, As Was The Great Columbian Exposition In
Chicago. Interesting how our heroes have all been de-canonized in the interest
of Political Correctitude]”
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