Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 985-1015. THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. 985-1015. A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BEFORE THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, APRIL 24, 1888. BY THE REV. EDMUND F. SLAFTER, D. D., A CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY, HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN, ETC., ETC. CONCORD, N. H.: PRIVATELY PRINTED. 1891. REPRINTED FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. DISCOURSE. On the 29th day of October, 1887, a statue erected to the memory of Leif, the son of Erik, the discoverer of America, was unveiled in the city of Boston, in the presence of a large assembly of citizens. The statue is of bronze, a little larger than life-size, and represents the explorer standing upon the prow of his ship, shading his eyes with his hand, and gazing towards the west. This monument[1] suggests the subject to which I wish to call your attention, viz., the story of the discovery of this continent by the Scandinavians nearly nine hundred years ago. I must here ask your indulgence for the statement of a few preliminary historical facts in order that we may have a clear understanding of this discovery. About the middle of the ninth century, Harald Haarfager, or the fair-haired, came to the throne of Norway. He was a young and handsome prince, endowed with great energy of will and many personal attractions. It is related that he fell in love with a beautiful princess. His addresses were, however, coolly rejected with the declaration that when he became king of Norway in reality, and not merely in name, she would give him both her heart and her hand. This admonition was not disregarded by the young king. The thirty-one principalities into which Norway was at that time divided were in a few years subjugated, and the petty chieftains or princes who ruled over them became obedient to the royal authority. The despotic rule, however, of the king was so irritating and oppressive that many of them sought homes of greater freedom in the inhospitable islands of the northern seas. Among the rest, Iceland, having been discovered a short time before, was colonized by them. This event occurred about the year 874. Notwithstanding the severity of the climate and the sterility of the soil, the colony rapidly increased in numbers and wealth, and an active commerce sprung up with the mother country, and was successfully maintained. At the end of a century, they had pushed their explorations still farther, and Greenland was discovered, and a colony was planted there, which continued to flourish for a long period.