spondence of Columbus and Toscanelli, or even of the relations between the Florentine and Alfonso V. The custodian of the Royal Archives who wrote the biography of Alfonso evidently knew nothing of such relations. There is not even the slightest evidence that the king was at all interested in the project of westward navigation to India. Moreover, except for Toscanelli's alleged letter addressed to him, we should never have heard of such a person as Fernam Martins. He is quite unknown to the chronicles and other writings of the time. We have a list of the Lisbon canons about 1480, but there is no Fernam Martins in it. There was at the Portuguese court a Martyns called Estevam, but he was not a canon. This very fact points toward a forgery, in which just such an inaccuracy would be more than likely to occur. Furthermore, among all the archives of Italy, including the papers and correspondence left by Toscanelli, there is not a shred of evidence that the geographer had any relations whatever with the Portuguese court, or with Columbus. Although the geographer's Florentine friends made frequent mention of him in their writings, and of his scientific views and interests, they at no time credit him with having any correspondence with Portuguese royalty, or with the discoverer of the new lands in the West.

Still there remains the letter preserved by Las Casas, and found in the Latin form by M. Harrisse. Does not its existence invalidate, or at least render irrelevant, all the considerations which have just been noted? If it is what it purports to be, it unquestionably does. If the letter is a genuine translation of an authenticated document, the oppon

ents of the Toscanelli theory have little left upon which to stand. Conversely, if it can be proved a forgery the view represented by Mr. Vignaud and his school must be voted a complete triumph. The entire issue thus narrows itself to a controversy regarding the authenticity of a single document a few hundred words in length.

As a result of scrutinizing comparison of the fly-leaf copy attributed to Columbus with writing known to be that of the discoverer, scholars who adhere to the traditional view declare that its authenticity is left without a shadow of a doubt. But there are those who are almost equally sure that the handwriting is not that of Columbus at all. Without entering into details the essential points in the new school's view are (1) that the letter attributed to Toscanelli comprises nothing more or less than the cosmographical system worked out by Columbus himself after his first voyage of discovery in 1492; (2) that it represents a forgery in the interest of the discoverer's good name and fame, an attempt to invest his enterprises with the renown of the great Florentine, probably the work of Bartholomew Columbus with the complicity of Las Casas, and (3) that the Latin text discovered by M. Harrissee in the Historia Rerum was the work of Bartholomew, who is known to have written a hand very similar to the discoverer's, and to have been the author of numerous notes intermingled on the margins of this and other books with those written by his brother. Every point in this chain of argument is more or less conclusively fortified with evidence, and if the half of what is affirmed be accepted as true, not only are

Bartholomew Columbus and Las Casas shown up in a pretty bad light but the illustrious Florentine geographer is completely eliminated from the annals of American history.

What the outcome of the controversy will be cannot be predicted with any degree of confidence. It is quite possible that new and decisive. evidence on the one side or the other will yet be discovered, and the scale of debate be turned accordingly. For it must be confessed that, while the critics have succeeded in undermining the old representation of the subject to such an extent that it now appears very untrustworthy, they have nevertheless failed thus far to make out so clear a case on the new basis as to command instant and complete agreement on the part of cautious students. The facts which, despite all uncertainties, may be taken as permanently settled are (1)

Columbus drew his geographical ideas from a great variety of sources, not from Toscanelli or any other one person; (2) such of these. sources as the discoverer expressly mentions contain more than enough information and suggestions to piece out such a geographical system as Columbus appears to have had before the first voyage in 1492; and (3) if Columbus actually received such a chart as that which has hitherto passed under Toscanelli's name, he manifestly showed no disposition to be guided by it in his crossing of the Atlantic. The meaning of all this is that, whatever the conclusion which may be arrived at regarding the authenticity of the alleged correspondence, Toscanelli can no longer be represented with justice as the teacher and inspirer of the Genoan, or in any real sense as the ultimate patron of the discovery of America.

B

"TH

HIS is a glorious sunset," a visitor in Yarmouth once remarked to a native of the place. The man addressed gave a grudging glance toward the panorama of the heavens, radiant in violet, rose, and amber, and returned succinctly, "Don't think much o' em, seen too many of 'em."

But while this lack of appreciation is by no means common among the natives of Cape Cod, they perhaps by reason of lifelong association fail to see the quaint and picturesque charm in the towns and villages around them, which to visitors from other parts of the country is as distinctly characteristic as are the beautiful sunsets. Much might be written of Provincetown, so many of whose inhabitants are of foreign birth or parentage; of Hyannis with its fine harbor and attractive streets and the claim of being the only Cape town which now shows a steady growth; or of picturesque little Wellfleet, made famous by Marconi and his wireless telegraphy.

But each of these is, in a sense, an exception.

A town more nearly typical of Cape Cod villages as a whole, in past enterprise and present passivity, is Yarmouth; which, like the. grandmother she is, after having sent her offspring out into all parts of the world, has settled down to the enjoyment of a serene old age. The earliest mention of this vicinity in history comes under the date of 1622 when, there being a dearth of food at Plymouth, Governor Bradford with a company of men sailed around the Cape and after stops at other places, bought at Nauset and Mattachiest (Yarmouth) twentyeight hogsheads of beans and corn. The following year Miles Standish came to Mattachiest or Mattacheese to buy corn of the natives, and being forced to lodge in the Indian houses became convinced that there was a desire to kill him on the part of the Indians. Here also "some trifles were missed." These were only a few beads, but the little captain

with his usual intrepidity demanded restitution, which the sachem caused to be made, and then ordered more corn to be given the visitors by way of recompense.

In 1637 liberty was granted Mr. Stephen Hopkins to erect a house at Mattacheese and cut hay there to winter his cattle, provided that he should not withdraw from the town of Plymouth. Others soon followed in his footsteps and the permanent settlement of Yarmouth was made in 1639, and by October of that year so well established was the town that the court ordered "a pair of stocks and a pound to be erected."

Among the most prominent men of this period were Anthony Thacher, John Crow (Crowell), and Thomas Howes; descendants of whom, bearing the same names, may still be found within a few miles of this early settlement. The first of these, Antony Thacher (as he spelled his own name), was a man of education and refinement, for in records still in existence he is mentioned as curate for his brother, the Rev. Peter Thacher, rector of St. Edmunds, Salisbury, England, from 1631 to 1634. He had been with the colony at Leyden, and is said to have had almost as many adventures by land and sea as the hero of the Odyssey. In the "Swan Song of Parson Avery," the poet Whittier had told of the shipwreck off Cape Ann on the night of August 14, 1635, when twenty-one out of twenty-three persons were drov ned, the two escaping being Anthony Thacher and his wife. Mr. Thacher's letter to his brother Peter, written a few days after the wreck; is remarkable for unaffected pathos and Christian faith. It begins:

"I must turn my drowned pen and shaking hand to indite the story of such sad

news as never before this happened in New England. There was a league of perpetual friendship between my cousin Avery and myself, never to forsake each other to the death, but to be partakers of each other's misery or welfare, as also of habitation in the same place. Now upon our arrival in New England, there was an offer made unto us. My cousin Avery was invited to Marblehead to be their pastor in due time; there being no church planted there as yet, but a town appointed to set up the trade of fishing. Because many there (the most being fishermen) were something loose and remiss in their behavior, my cousin Avery was unwilling to go thither, and so refusing, we went to Newbury, intending there to sit down. But being solicited so often, both by the men of the place and by the magistrates, and by Mr. Cotton, and most of the ministers, who alleged what a benefit we might be to the people there, and also to the country and commonwealth, at length we embraced it, and thither consented to go. They of Marblehead forthwith sent a pinnace for us and our goods. We embarked at Ipswich, August 11, 1635, with our families and substance, bound for Marblehead, we being in all twenty-three souls, vis: eleven in my cousin's family, seven in mine, and one Mr. William Elliot sometime of New Sarum, and four mariners."

After a vivid description of the storm and shipwreck, and the casting ashore of himself and wife upon an island, where provisions and articles of clothing were also washed ashore, Mr. Thacher's letter thus concludes:

"Thus the Lord sent us some clothes to put on, and food to sustain our new lives, which we had lately given unto us, and means also to make a fire for in an hour I had some gunpowder, which to mine own (and since to other men's) admiration was dry. So taking a piece of my wife's neckcloth, which I dried in the sun, I struck a fire, and so dried and warmed our wet bodies, and then skinned the goat, and having found a small brass pot we boiled some of her. Our drink was brackish water. Bread we had none. There we remained until Monday following, when about three of the clock in the afternoon, in a boat that came that way, we went off that desolate island which I named after my name 'Thacher's Woe,' and the

rock Avery, his fall,' to the end that their fall and loss and mine own, might be had in perpetual remembrance. In the isle lieth buried the body of my cousin's eldest daughter, whom I found dead on the shore. On the Tuesday following, in the afternoon, we arrived at Marblehead."

Colonial

In the Massachusetts Records, under date of September 3, 1635, is the following:

"It is ordered that there shall be fforty marks given to Mr. Thacher out of the treasury towards his greate losses."

And under date of March 9, 1636-7:

"Mr. Anthony Thacher had granted him the small land at the head of Cape Ann (vpon wch hee was pserved from shipwrack) as his pp inheritance."

And Thacher's Island still bears his name.

From Marblehead Mr. Thacher went to Mattacheese (Yarmouth) and built a house-in which he died -near the salt marsh on the north shore of the town, and in the vicinity of that built by Stephen Hopkins. For eleven years Mr. Thacher represented the town of Yarmouth in the General Court at Plymouth. John, a son of Anthony, also held several public offices, being for nearly twenty years a member of the Provincial Council. He also held the rank of Colonel, and at his death in Yarmouth was buried with military honors. John Thacher Thacher married Rebecca Winslow, a niece of the first Governor Winslow, and the Thacher Genealogy furnishes this interesting anecdote concerning this couple:

"On his return to Yarmouth with his bride and company, they stopped at the house of Colonel Gorham, at Barnstable (town adjoining Yarmouth). In the merry conversation with the newly married couple, an infant was introduced, about three weeks old, and it was observed to Mr. Thacher that it was born on such a

night, he replied that it was the very night he was married; and taking the child in his arms, presented her to his bride saying, ‘Here, my dear, is a little lady born on the same night that we were married. I wish you would kiss it as I intend to have her for my second wife.' 'I will, my dear,' she replied, to please you, but I hope it will be a long time before you have that pleasure.' So taking the babe she pressed it to her lips, and gave it a kiss. This jesting prediction was eventually verified. Mr. Thacher's wife died, and the child, Lydia Gorham, arriving at mature age actually became his wife, January 1, 1684, O. S.

"Tradition also furnishes the following anecdote concerning the manner of obtaining the second wife. After the death of his first wife, John, while riding in Barnstable, saw a horse belonging to his son Peter tied to a tree in front of Colonel Gorham's residence, and as a thoughtful parent is inclined, he went in to see what his son was doing, and found that he had advanced considerably in a suit with Miss Lydia, whom the father had prophetically declared would be his second wife; and whether it was on account of that prophecy, or that he had had his attention called to the girl before, he took Peter aside and offered him ten pounds, old tenor, and a yoke of black steers, if he would resign his

claims.

As to whether Peter was satisfied with this transaction, tradition sayeth not; but it was the father and not the son who married Miss Lydia.

Besides Mattacheese, the old township included Hockanom, Nobscusset, and Sursuit, (North and East Dennis); to which latter location Richard Sears of Leyden and Plymouth led a company in 1643, and many sons and daughters of Yarmouth today are proud to trace their ancestry back to "Richard the Pilgrim." In the ancient cemetery, not far from the site of the first dwellings erected, the descendants of Richard Sears have raised a fine granite monument to his memory.

In common with all New England, at this period the church took precedence of the town; indeed no set