Amos Huntingdon | Page 7

replied; "and I will do so if you like, and my example
shall be that of one who combined both natural and moral courage. My
moral hero is Christopher Columbus."
"A regular brick of a man, I allow; but, dear aunt, pray go on."
"Well, then, I have always had a special admiration for Columbus
because of his noble and unwavering moral courage. Just think of what
he had to contend with. It was enough to daunt the stoutest heart and
wear out the most enduring patience. Convinced that somewhere across
the ocean to the west there must be a new and undiscovered world, and
that it would be the most glorious of enterprises to find that new world
and plant the standard of the Cross among its people, he never wavered
in his one all-absorbing purpose of voyaging to those unknown shores
and winning them for Christ. And yet, from the very first, he met with
every possible discouragement, and had obstacle upon obstacle piled up
in his path. He was laughed to scorn as a half-mad enthusiast;
denounced as a blasphemer and gainsayer of Scripture truth; cried
down as an ignoramus, unworthy of the slightest attention from men of
science; tantalised by half promises; wearied by vexatious delays: and
yet never did his courage fail nor his purpose waver. At last, after years
of hope deferred and anxieties which made him grey while still in the
prime of life, he was permitted to set sail on what was generally
believed to be a desperate crusade, with no probable issue but death.
And just picture him to yourself, Walter, as he set out on that voyage
amidst the sullen murmurs and tears of the people. His ships were three
`caravels,' as they were called,--that is, something the same as our
coasting colliers, or barges,--and there was no deck in two of them.
Besides, they were crazy, leaky, and scarcely seaworthy; and the crews
numbered only one hundred and twenty men, most of them pressed,
and all hating the service. Nevertheless, he ventured with these into an

ocean without any known shore; and on he went with one fixed,
unalterable purpose, and that was to sail westward, westward, westward
till he came to land. Days and weeks went by, but no land was seen.
Provisions ran short, and every day's course made return home more
hopeless. But still his mind never changed; still he plunged on across
that trackless waste of waters. The men mutinied--and one can hardly
blame them; but he subdued them by his force of character,--they saw
in his eye that which told them that their leader was no common man,
but one who would die rather than abandon his marvellous enterprise.
And you remember the end? The very day after the mutiny, a branch of
thorn with berries on it floats by them. They are all excitement. Then a
small board appears; then a rudely-carved stick; then at night Columbus
sees a light, and next day lands on the shores of his new world, after a
voyage of more than two months over seas hitherto unexplored by man,
and in vessels which nothing but a special providence could have kept
from foundering in the mighty waters. The man who could carry out
such a purpose in the teeth of such overwhelming opposition,
discouragement, and difficulty, may well claim our admiration for
courage of the highest and noblest order."
No one spoke for a moment, and then Mr Huntingdon said, "Well, Kate,
Columbus was a brave man, no doubt, and deserves the best you can
say of him; and I think I see what you mean, from his case, about the
greatness and superiority of moral courage."
"I am glad, Walter, that I have satisfied you on that point," was her
reply. "You see there was no sudden excitement to call out or sustain
his courage. It was the bravery of principle, not of mere impulse. It was
so grand because it stood the strain, a daily-increasing strain, of
troubles, trials, and hindrances, which kept multiplying in front of him
every day and hour as he pressed forward; and it never for a moment
gave way under that strain."
"It was grand indeed, aunt," said Walter. "I am afraid my courage
would have oozed out of every part of me before I had been a week on
board one of those caravels. So all honour to Christopher Columbus
and moral courage."

That same morning, when Miss Huntingdon was at work in her own
private sitting-room, there came a knock at the door, followed by the
head of Walter peeping round it.
"May I come in, auntie? I've a favour to ask of you."
"Come in, dear boy."
"Well, Aunt Kate, I've been thinking over what you said at breakfast