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PERSEVERANCE

UNDER DIFFICULTIES,

AS SHOWN IN

The Lives of Great Men.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF

THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION,
APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING

CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

LONDON:

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE;

SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORIES:

77, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS;

4, ROYAL EXCHANGE; 48, PICCADILLY;

AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.

210

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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

FAR away from the shores of Europe, and separated from them by that vast tract of sea called the Atlantic Ocean, lies the Continent of America, or the New World. For many hundreds of years the existence of this country was unknown to the inhabitants of Europe. They imagined that the ocean formed the boundary of the inhabited world. No one dared to explore it on account of its great depth, the violent winds and tempests which prevailed on it, and the mighty and terrible monsters it was supposed to contain. It was looked upon with awe and wonder as an impassable barrier. And indeed it would not only have been dangerous, but impossible, for ancient mariners to venture out on it. Without knowledge, and without the smallest guide, they would soon have been lost in its immeasurable waters, or their frail ships would have been dashed to pieces by the fury of its waves. The sailors knew so little how to manage their rudely-built vessels, that they never dared to lose sight of land; and though they occasionally made long voyages for purposes of trade, they were always content to creep along the coast preferring the dangerous navigation, and the

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