The Spaniards during the past week have been keeping, at
Huelva, the four-hundredth anniversary of the depstimre of Columbus on his voyage of discovery. The chief feature of the fetes has been the caravel 'Santa Maria,' an exact model of the ship in which Columbus crossed the Atlantic. After the ceremonies are completed, she is actually to sail to America, in order to be exhibited at the Chicago Exhibition. She will reach the inland capital of the West by means of the St. Lawrence, and the canals which form the water-way between the great lakes and the river. No one will, of course, deny that Columbus conferred great benefits upon mankind by his discovery ; but, at the same time, it is difficult to say in what his contribution to the welfare of the world consists. Would the discovery of a new continent now do much for mankind except by postponing the pressure of population ?
