Chapter 1

But to turn to the more pleasing side, great has been the good fortune of the land of freedom on this ill-starred day. On Friday, August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from the port of Palos on his great voyage of discovery. On Friday, October 12, 1492, he discovered land; on Friday, January 4, 1493, he sailed on his return voyage to Spain. On Friday, March 14, 1493, he arrived at Palos, Spain, in safety. On Friday, November 22, 1493, he arrived at Española on his second voyage to America. On Friday, June 12, 1494, he discovered the mainland of America. On Friday, March 5, 1496, Henry VIII. gave John Cabot his commission to pursue the discovery of America. On Friday, September 7, 1565, Melendez founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest town in the United States. On Friday, November 10, 1620, the Mayflower, with the Pilgrim Fathers, reached the harbor of Provincetown. On Friday, December 22, 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock. On Friday, February 22, 1732, George Washington was born. On Friday, June 16, 1755, Bunker Hill was seized and fortified. On Friday, October 17, 1777, Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga. On Friday, September 22, 1780, Benedict Arnold's treason was discovered. On Friday, September 19, 1791, Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. On Friday, July 7, 1776, a motion was made by John Adams that "the United States are and ought to be independent." On Friday, July 13, 1866, the Great Eastern steamship sailed from Valentia, Ireland, with the second and successful Atlantic cable, and completed the laying of this link of our civilization at Heart's Content, Newfoundland, on Friday, July 27, 1866. In Spanish history it is noteworthy that on Friday the Christians under Ferdinand and Isabella had won Granada from the Moors. On a Friday, also, the First Crusaders, under Geoffrey de Bouillon, took Jerusalem.

A PREVIOUS DISCOVERY.

PAUL GAFFAREL. Summarized from "Les Découvreurs Français du XIVme au XVIme Siècle," published at Paris in 1888.

Jean Cousin, in 1488, sailed from Dieppe, then the great commercial and naval port of France, and bore out to sea, to avoid the storms so prevalent in the Bay of Biscay. Arrived at the latitude of the Azores, he was carried westward by a current, and came to an unknown country near the mouth of an immense river. He took possession of the continent, but, as he had not sufficient crew nor material resources adequate for founding a settlement, he re-embarked. Instead of returning directly to Dieppe, he took a southeasterly direction--that is, toward South Africa--discovered the cape which has since retained the name of Cap des Aiguilles (Cape Agulhas, the southern point of Africa), went north by the Congo and Guinea, and returned to Dieppe in 1489. Cousin's lieutenant was a Castilian, Pinzon by name, who was jealous of his captain, and caused him considerable trouble on the Gold Coast. On Cousin's complaint, the admiralty declared him unfit to serve in the marine of Dieppe. Pinzon then retired to Genoa, and afterward to Castille. Every circumstance tends toward the belief that this is the same Pinzon to whom Columbus afterward intrusted the command of the Pinta.

GENIUS TRAVELS EAST TO WEST.

The Abbé FERNANDO GALIANI, an Italian political economist. Born at Chieti, on the Abruzzi, 1728; died at Naples, 1787.

For five thousand years genius has turned opposite to the diurnal motion, and traveled from east to west.

OBSERVATION LIKE COLUMBUS.

The Rev. CUNNINGHAM GEIKIE, D. D., a noted English clergyman. Born at Edinborough, October 26, 1826.

Reading should be a Columbus voyage, in which nothing passes without note and speculation; the Sargasso Sea, mistaken for the New Indies; the branch with the fresh berries; the carved pole; the currents; the color of the water; the birds; the odor of the land; the butterflies; the moving light on the shore.

THE GENOA INSCRIPTION.

The following inscription is placed upon Columbus' house, No. 37, in the Vico Dritto Ponticello, Genoa, Italy:

_NVLLA. DOMVS. TITVLO. DIGNIOR. HAEIC. PATERNIS. IN. AEDIBVS. CHRISTOPHVS. COLVMBVS. PRIMAQVE. JVVENTAM. TRANSEGIT._

(No house deserved better an inscription. This is the paternal home of Christopher Columbus, where he passed his childhood and youth.)

THE GENOA STATUE.

"Genoa and Venice," writes Mr. Oscar Browning, in _Picturesque Europe_, "have much in common--both republics, both aristocracies, both commercial, both powerful maritime states; yet, while the Doge of Venice remains to us as the embodiment of stately and majestic pre-eminence, we scarcely remember, or have forgotten, that there ever was a Doge of Genoa. This surely can not be because Shakspere did not write of the Bank of St. George or because Genoa has no Rialto. It must be rather because, while Genoa devoted herself to the pursuits of riches and magnificence, Venice fought the battle of Europe against barbarism, and recorded her triumphs in works of art which will live forever. * * * Genoa has no such annals and no such art. As we wander along the narrow streets we see the courtyards of many palaces, the marble stairs, the graceful _loggia_, the terraces and the arches of which stand out against an Italian sky; but we look in vain for the magnificence of public halls, where the brush of Tintoretto or Carpaccio decorated the assembly-room of the rulers of the East or the chapter-house of a charitable fraternity."

The artistic monument of Columbus, situated in the Piazza Acquaverde, facing the railway station, consists of a marble statue fitly embowered amid tropical palms, and is composed of a huge quadrangular pedestal, at the angles of which are seated allegorical figures of Religion, Geography, Strength, and Wisdom. Resting on this pedestal is a large cylindrical pedestal decorated with three ships' prows, on which stands a colossal figure of Columbus, his left hand resting on an anchor. At his feet, in a half-sitting, half-kneeling posture, is an allegorical figure of America in the act of adoring a crucifix, which she holds in her right hand. The four bas-reliefs on the sides of the pedestal represent the most important events in the life of the great discoverer: (1) Columbus before the Council of Salamanca; (2) Columbus taking formal possession of the New World; (3) his flattering reception at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella; (4) Columbus in chains. It is as well that this, the saddest of episodes, should be remembered, because great actions are as often as not emphasized by martyrdom.

The first stone of the monument was laid September 27, 1846, and the completed statue formally dedicated in 1862. It bears the laconic but expressive dedication: "_A Cristoforo Colombo, La Patria_" (The Nation to Christopher Columbus).

Genoa claims, with the largest presumption of truth, that Christopher Columbus was born there. The best of historical and antiquarian research tends to show that in a house, No. 37, in the Vico Dritto Ponticello, lived Domenico Colombo, the father of Christopher, and that in this house the Great Admiral was born. In 1887 the Genoese municipality bought the house, and an inscription has been placed over the door. To give the exact date of Christopher's birth is, however, difficult, but it is believed to have occurred sometime between March 15, 1446, and March 20, 1447.

Whether Columbus was actually a native of Genoa or of Cogoletto--the latter is a sequestered little town a few miles west of the former--must ever remain a matter of conjecture. True enough, the house in which his father followed the trade of a wool-carder in Genoa is eagerly pointed out to a stranger; but the inscription on the marble tablet over the entrance does not state that the future discoverer was really born in it. This stands in a narrow alley designated the Vico di Morcento, near the prison of San Andrea.

On the other hand, the little town hall at Cogoletto contains a portrait of Columbus, more than 300 years old, whose frame is completely covered with the names of enthusiastic travelers. The room in which he is believed to have been born resembles a cellar rather than aught else; while the broken pavement shows how visitors have at various times taken up the bricks to preserve as relics. As if this undoubted evidence of hero worship were insufficient, the old woman in charge of the place hastens to relate how a party of Americans one day lifted the original door off its hinges and carried it bodily away between them.

As all the world knows, Columbus died at Valladolid on the 20th of May, 1506. It has always been a matter of intense regret to the Genoese that his body should have been permitted to be shipped across the seas to its first resting-place in San Domingo. More fortunate, however, were they in securing the remains of their modern kinsman and national patriot, Mazzini.

On the 29th of May, 1892, under the auspices of Ligurian Gymnastic Society Cristofore Columbo, a bronze wreath was placed at the base of the Columbus monument.

The Ligurian Gymnastic Society Cristofore Columbo is an association which cultivates athletic exercises, music, and, above all, patriotism and charity. To awaken popular interest in the coming exhibition, the society had a bronze wreath made by the well-known sculptor Burlando, and fitting ceremonies took place, with a procession through the streets, before affixing the wreath at the base of the monument. The wreath, which weighed some 500 pounds, was carried by a figure representing Genoa seated on a triumphal car. There were 7,000 members of the society present, with not less than fifty bands of music. The ceremonies, beginning at 10 A. M., were concluded at 4 P. M. The last act was a hymn, sung by 2,000 voices, with superb effect. Then, by means of machinery, the bronze crown was put in its proper position. Never was Genoa in a gayer humor, nor could the day have been more propitious. The streets were decorated with flowers and banners. There were representatives from Rome, Florence, Milan, Turin, Venice, Naples, Leghorn, Palermo, and visitors from all parts of Europe and America. In the evening only did the festivities close with a grand dinner given by the Genoese municipality.

In this, the glorification of the grand old city of Liguria, was united that of its most memorable man, Christopher Columbus, for that mediæval feeling, when cities had almost individual personalities, is still a civic sense alive in Genoa. She rejoices in the illustrious men born within her walls with a sentiment akin to that of a mother for her son.

In an artistic sense, nothing could have been more complete than this festival. Throwing the eye upward, beyond the figure of Columbus, the frame is perfect. The slanting ways leading up to the handsome houses on the background are wonderfully effective.

Genoa is rich in the relics of Columbus. In the city hall of Genoa is, among other relics, a mosaic portrait of the Admiral, somewhat modified from the De Bry's Columbus. Genoa is fortunate in possessing a number of authentic letters of Columbus, and these are preserved in a marble custodia, surmounted by a head of Columbus. In the pillar which forms the pedestal there is a bronze door, and the precious Columbus documents have been placed there.

GERMANY AND COLUMBUS.

The Geographical Society of Germany will shortly publish a volume commemorative of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, which will, it is said, be one of the most elaborate publications ever issued by the society. Dr. Konrad Kretschmer, the editor of the forthcoming work, has visited all the principal libraries of Italy in search of material, and has had access to many rare manuscripts hitherto unused. The memorial volume will contain forty-five maps relating to the discovery of America, thirty-one of which are said to have never been published. Emperor William has contributed 15,000 marks toward the expenses of publication, etc., and the work will undoubtedly be a most valuable contribution to the early history of America. It is expected that it will leave the government printing office early in August.

GERMANY'S EXHIBIT OF RARITIES.

Germany proposes to loan a collection of Columbus rarities to the United States Government for exhibition at the Chicago Exposition, as will be seen by a communication to the State Department from Consul-general Edwards at Berlin. In his document, Mr. Edwards says:

The German government, appreciating the fact that no time is to be lost in this matter, has begun to carry its generous and friendly proposals into practical operation by instituting a thorough search in the various galleries, museums, and libraries throughout Germany for works of art, objects, and rarities which are in any way identified with the Columbus period, and which the German government believes would be likely to be of general interest to the authorities of the World's Columbian Exposition as well as the visitors at that great show.

Among other works of art the German government consents to loan Pludderman's celebrated painting, "The Discovery of America by Columbus." Under the laws of Germany, as well as under the rules and regulations of the National Gallery, no person is permitted to lithograph, photograph, or make any sort of a copy of any picture or other work of art in the care or custody of any national gallery, in case when the artist has not been dead for a period of thirty years, without having first obtained the written permission of the legal representative of the deceased artist, coupled with the consent of the National Gallery authorities. Pludderman not having been dead thirty years, I have given assurances that this regulation will be observed by the United States Government.

THE REASON FOR SAILORS' SUPERSTITIONS.

His Eminence JAMES GIBBONS, D.D., a celebrated American ecclesiastic. Born in Baltimore, Md., July 23, 1834.

There is but a plank between a sailor and eternity, and perhaps the realization of that fact may have something to do with the superstition lurking in his nature.

ONCE THE PILLARS OF HERCULES WERE THE END OF THE WORLD.

WILLIAM GIBSON.

Thus opening on that glooming sea, Well seemed these walls[39] the ends of earth; Death and a dark eternity Sublimely symboled forth!

Ere to one eagle soul was given The will, the wings, that deep to brave; In the sun's path to find a heaven, A New World--o'er the wave.

Retraced the path Columbus trod, Our course was from the setting sun; While all the visible works of God, Though various else had one.

NEW LIGHT ON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

From the Glasgow _Times_.

The discovery by the Superintendent of the Military Archives at Madrid of documents probably setting at rest the doubts that formerly existed as to the birthplace of Columbus, must have awakened new interest in the history of the most renowned discoverer of the past. It is to be noted, however, that the documents only affirm tradition, for Genoa has always been the Admiral's accredited birthplace. But if the discovery should lead to nothing but a more careful investigation of the records of his later history it will have been of use.

The character of Columbus has been greatly misunderstood, and his 600 biographers have in turn invested him with the glory of the religious hero and the contumely of the ill-tempered and crack-brained adventurer. An impartial critic must admit, indeed, that he was something of both, though more of the hero than the adventurer, and that his biographers have erred considerably in what Mr. R. L. Stevenson would call their "point of view."

Educated, as it is supposed, in the local schools of Genoa, and for a short period at the University of Pavia, the youthful Columbus must have come in close contact with the scholars of the day. Naturally of a religious temperament, the piety of the learned would early impress him, and to this may possibly be attributed the feeling that he had been divinely selected, which remained with him until his death.

There is little doubt that he began his career as a sailor, at the age of fourteen, with the sole object of plunder. The Indies were the constant attraction for the natives of Venice and Genoa; the Mediterranean and the Adriatic were filled with treasure ships. In these circumstances it is not to be wondered that the sea possessed a wonderful fascination for the youth of those towns. This opulence was the constant envy of Spain and Portugal, and Columbus was soon attracted to the latter country by the desire of Prince Henry to discover a southern route to the Indies. It was while in Portugal that he began to believe that his mission on earth was to be the discoverer of a new route to the land of gold--"the white man's god." For two years he resided in Lisbon, from time to time making short voyages, but for the most part engaged drawing maps to procure himself a living. Here he married, here his son Diego was born, and here his wife, who died at an early age, was buried.

Toscanelli at this time advanced the theory that the earth was round, and Columbus at once entered into correspondence with him on the subject, and was greatly impressed with the views of the Florentine scientist, both as to the sphericity of the world and the wonders of the Asiatic region. Heresy-hunting was then a favorite pastime, and Columbus in accepting these theories ran no small risk of losing his life. Portugal and France in turn rejected his offers to add to their dependencies by his discoveries; and, though his brother found many in England willing to give him the necessary ships to start on his adventures, Spain, after much importuning on the part of the explorer, forestalled our own country.

Then followed his four eventful voyages with all their varying fortunes, and his death, when over seventy years of age, in a wretched condition of poverty. The ready consideration of theories, not only dangerous but so astounding in their character as to throw discredit on those who advanced them, shows him to have been a man of intellectual courage. Humility was another trait of his character, and in all his life it can not be said that he acted in any but an honest and straightforward manner toward his fellow-men.

It is true, no doubt, that his recognition of slavery somewhat dims his reputation. He sold many Indians as slaves, but it should be remembered that slavery prevailed at the time, and it was only on his second voyage, when hard pressed for means to reimburse the Spanish treasury for the immense expense of the expedition, that he resorted to the barter in human flesh. Indeed, his friendly relations with the natives show that, as a rule, he must have treated them in the kindly manner which characterized all his actions.

Throughout the reverses of his long career, whether received with sneers, lauded as a benefactor of his country, put in chains by crafty fellow-subjects, or defrauded, by an unscrupulous prince, of the profit of his discoveries, he continued a man of an eminently lovable character, kind to his family, his servants, and even his enemies. Americans are to do honor at the Columbian Exhibition to the name of him who, though not the first white man to land on the shores of the New World, was the first to colonize its fertile islands. Not only America, but the whole world, may emulate his virtues with advantage; for, even now, justice and mercy, courage and meekness, do not always abide together.

SECRET.

FRANK B. GOODRICH, an American author of several popular books. Born in Boston, 1826. From his "History of the Sea."

John II. of Portugal applied for an increase of power, and obtained a grant of all the lands which his navigators could discover in sailing _from west to east_. The grand idea of sailing from east to west--one which implied a knowledge of the sphericity of the globe--had not yet, to outward appearance, penetrated the brain of either pope or layman. One Christopher Columbus, however, was already brooding over it in secret and in silence.

THE PERIOD.

FRANÇOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT, a distinguished French statesman and historian. Born at Nîmes, October 4, 1787; died September 12, 1874. From his "History of Civilization" (5 vols., 1845).

The period in question was also one of the most remarkable for the display of physical activity among men. It was a period of voyages, travels, enterprises, discoveries, and inventions of every kind. It was the time of the great Portuguese expedition along the coast of Africa; of the discovery of the new passage to India, by Vasco de Gama; of the discovery of America, by Christopher Columbus; of the wonderful extension of European commerce. A thousand new inventions started up; others already known, but confined within a narrow sphere, became popular and in general use. Gunpowder changed the system of war; the compass changed the system of navigation. Painting in oil was invented, and filled Europe with masterpieces of art. Engraving on copper, invented in 1406, multiplied and diffused them. Paper made of linen became common. Finally, between 1436 and 1452, was invented printing--printing, the theme of so many declamations and commonplaces, but to whose merits and effect no commonplaces or declamations will ever be able to do justice.

MORNING TRIUMPHANT.

Rev. F. W. GUNSAULUS, D. D., an American divine and able pulpit orator; at present, pastor of Plymouth Church, Chicago. From "New Testament and Liberty."

Look again! It has become so light now that it is easy to see. Yonder in the West a man has been pleading before courts, praying to God, thinking, and dreaming. His brave heart sends forth hot tears, but it will not fail. The genius of God has seized him. The Holy Ghost has touched him as the spirit of liberty. Humanity cries through him for more room. Emperors will not hear. But he gains one ear, at last, and with the mariner's needle set out for the unknown. Civilization has always walked by faith and not by sight. And do not forget to note, that, in that log-book, the first mark is, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." On! brave man, on! over wastes of ocean, in the midst of scorn, through hate, rage, mutiny, even death--and despair, worse than death. On! there is an America on the other side to balance. Cheerless nights, sad days, nights dark with woe, days hideous with the form of death, weeks sobbing with pity; but in that heart is He whose name is written in the log-book. "Land ahead!" And Columbus has discovered a continent. Humanity has another world. Light from the four corners of heaven. Glory touching firmament and planet. It is morning! Triumphant, beautiful dawn!

TENDENCY.

ARNOLD HENRY GUYOT, Ph. D., LL. D., a meritorious writer on physical geography. Born near Neufchâtel, Switzerland, 1807. Professor of geology and physical geography at Princeton College from 1855 until his death, February 8, 1884. From "Earth and Man" (1849).

As the plant is made for the animal, as the vegetable world is made for the animal world, America is made for the man of the Old World. The man of the Old World sets out upon his way. Leaving the highlands of Asia, he descends from station to station toward Europe. Each of his steps is marked by a new civilization superior to the preceding, by a greater power of development. Arrived at the Atlantic, he pauses on the shore of this unknown ocean, the bounds of which he knows not, and turns upon his footprints for an instant; then recommences his adventurous career westward as in the earliest ages.

NEW LIFE.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE, D. D., a celebrated American author. Born in Boston, Mass., April 3, 1822. From an article, "Christopher Columbus," in the _Independent_, June 2, 1892.

What the world owes to him and to Isabella, who made his work possible, it is impossible in few words to say. The moment was one when Europe needed America as never before. She had new life, given by the fall of Constantinople, by the invention of printing, by the expulsion of the Moors; there was new life even seething in the first heats of the Reformation; and Europe must break her bonds, else she would die. Her outlet was found in America. Here it is that that Power who orders history could try, on a fit scale, the great experiments of the new life. Thus it was ordered, let us say reverently, that South America should show what the Catholic church could do in the line of civilizing a desert, and that North America should show what the coming church of the future could do. To us it is interesting to remember that Columbus personally led the first discovery of South America, and that he made the first effort for a colony on our half of the continent. Of these two experiments the North America of to-day and South America of to-day are the issue.

TRIUMPH OF AN IDEA.

The life of Columbus is an illustration constantly brought for the success which God gives to those who, having conceived of a great idea, bravely determine to carry it through. His singleness of purpose, his determination to succeed, have been cited for four centuries, and will be cited for centuries more among the noblest illustrations which history has given of success wrought out by the courage of one man.--_Ibid._

THE EAST LONGED FOR THE WEST.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE, in _Overland Monthly Magazine_. An article on "A Visit to Palos."

Lord Houghton, following Freiligrath, has sung to us how the

Palm tree dreameth of the pine, The pine tree of the palm;

and in his delicate imaginings the dream is of two continents--ocean parted--each of which longs for the other. Strange enough, as one pushes along the steep ascent from the landing at Rábida, up the high bluff on which the convent stands, the palm tree and the pine grow together, as in token of the dream of the great discoverer, who was to unite the continents.

LIFE FOR LIBERTY.

FITZ-GREENE HALLECK, a noted American poet. Born in Guilford, Conn., July 8, 1790; died November 19, 1867.

Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word, And in its hollow tones are heard The thanks of millions yet to be. Come when his task of fame is wrought, Come with her laurel-leaf, blood-bought, Come in her crowning hour, and then Thy sunken eye's unearthly light To him is welcome as the sight Of sky and stars to prison'd men; Thy grasp is welcome as the hand Of brother in a foreign land; Thy summons welcome as the cry That told the Indian isles were nigh To the world-seeking Genoese, When the land wind, from woods of palm, And orange groves, and fields of balm, Blew o'er the Haytian seas.

GENOA.

MURAT HALSTEAD, an American journalist. Born at Ross, Ohio, September 2, 1829. From "Genoa--the Home of Columbus," a paper in _Cosmopolitan_, May, 1892.

The Italian coast all around the Gulf of Genoa is mountainous, and the mountains crowd each other almost into the sea. Land that can be built upon or cultivated is scarce, and the narrow strips that are possible are on the sunny southern slopes. The air is delicious. The orange trees in December lean over the garden walls, heavy with golden spheres, and the grass is green on the hills, and when a light snow falls the roses blush through the soft veil of lace, and are modest but not ashamed, as they bow their heads. The mountains are like a wall of iron against the world, and from them issues a little river whose waters are pure as the dew, until the washerwomen use them and spread clothing on the wide spaces of clean gravel to dry. The harbor is easily defended, and with the same expensive equipment would be strong as Gibraltar. It is in this isolation that the individuality of Genoa, stamped upon so many chapters of world-famous history, grew. There is so little room for a city that the buildings are necessarily lofty. The streets are narrow and steep. The pavements are blocks of stone that would average from two to three feet in length, one foot in width, and of unknown depth. Evidently they are not constructed for any temporary purpose, but to endure forever. When, for a profound reason, a paving-stone is taken up it is speedily replaced, with the closest attention to exact restoration, and then it is again a rock of ages.

THE CELEBRATION AT HAMBURG.

Among the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, that of the city of Hamburg, in Germany, will occupy a prominent place. On October 1st an exhibition will be opened at which objects will be on view that bear on the history of the act of discovery, on the condition of geographical science of the time, and on the conditions of the inhabitants of America at the time of the discovery. Side by side with these will be exhibited whatever can show the condition of America at the present time. On the date of the discovery of the little Island of Guanahani--that is, October 12th--the celebration proper will take place. The exercises will consist of songs and music and a goodly array of speeches. In the evening, tableaux and processions will be performed in the largest hall of the city. The scenery, costumes, and implements used will all be got up as they were at the time of the discovery, so as to furnish a real representation of the age of Columbus.

SEEKER AND SEER--A RHYME FOR THE DEDICATION OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

EDWARD J. HARDING, in the Chicago _Tribune_, September 17, 1892.

I.

What came ye forth to see? Why from the sunward regions of the palm, And piney headlands by the northern main, From Holland's watery ways, and parching Spain, From pleasant France and storied Italy, From India's patience, and from Egypt's calm, To this far city of a soil new-famed Come ye in festal guise to-day, Charged with no fatal "gifts of Greece," Nor Punic treaties double-tongued, But proffering hands of amity, And speaking messages of peace, With drum-beats ushered, and with shouts acclaimed, While cannon-echoes lusty-lung'd Reverberate far away?

* * * * *

IV.

Our errand here to-day Hath warrant fair, ye say; We come with you to consecrate A hero's, ay a prophet's monument; Yet needs he none, who was so great; Vainly they build in Cuba's isle afar His sepulcher beside the sapphire sea; He hath for cenotaph a continent, For funeral wreaths, the forests waving free, And round his grave go ceaselessly The morning and the evening star. Yet is it fit that ye should praise him best, For ye his true descendants are, A spirit-begotten progeny; Wherefore to thee, fair city of the West, From elder lands we gladly came To grace a prophet's fame.

V.

Beauteous upon the waters were the wings That bore glad tidings o'er the leaping wave Of sweet Hesperian isles, more bland and fair Than lover's looks or bard's imaginings; And blest was he, the hero brave, Who first the tyrannous deeps defied, And o'er the wilderness of waters wide A sun-pursuing highway did prepare For those true-hearted exiles few The house of Liberty that reared anew. Nor fails he here of honor due. These goodly structures ye behold, These towering piles in order brave, From whose tall crests the pennons wave Like tropic plumage, gules and gold; These ample halls, wherein ye view Whate'er is fairest wrought and best-- South with North vying, East with West, And arts of yore with science new-- Bear witness for us how religiously We cherish here his memory.

VI.

Yet sure, the adventurous Genoese Did never in his most enlightened hours Forecast the high, the immortal destinies Of this dear land of ours. Nay, could ye call him hither from his tomb, Think ye that he would mark with soul elate A kingless people, a schismatic State, Nor on his work invoke perpetual doom? Though the whole Sacred College o'er and o'er Pronounce him sainted, prophet was he none Who to Cathaia's legendary shore Deemed that his bark a path had won. In sooth, our Western pioneer Was all as prescient as he Who cried, "The desert shall exult, The wild shall blossom as the rose," And to a passing rich result Through summer heats and winter snows Toiling to prove himself a seer, Accomplished his own prophecy. Lo, here a greater far than he, A prophet nation hath its dwelling, With multitudinous voice foretelling, "Man shall be free!"

VII.

Hellas for Beauty, Rome for Order, stood, And Israel for the Good; Our message to the world is Liberty; Not the rude freedom of anarchic hordes, But reasoned kindness, whose benignant code Upon the emblazoned walls of history We carved with our good swords, And crimsoned with our blood. Last, from our eye we plucked the obscuring mote, (Not without tears expelled, and sharpest pain,) From swarthy limbs the galling chain With shock on mighty shock we smote, Whereby with clearer gaze we scan The heaven-writ message that we bear for man. Not ours to give, as erst the Genoese, Of a new world the keys; But of the prison-world ye knew before Hewing in twain the door, To thralls of custom and of circumstance We preach deliverance. O self-imprisoned ones, be free! be free! These fetters frail, by doting ages wrought Of basest metals--fantasy and fear, And ignorance dull, and fond credulity-- Have moldered, lo! this many a year; See, at a touch they part, and fall to naught! Yours is the heirship of the universe, Would ye but claim it, nor from eyes averse Let fall the tears of needless misery; Deign to be free!

VIII.

The prophets perish, but their word endures; The word abides, the prophets pass away; Far be the hour when Hellas' fate is yours, O Nation of the newer day! Unmeet it were that I, Who sit beside your hospitable fire A stranger born--though honoring as a sire The land that binds me with a closer tie Than hers that bore me--should from sullen throat Send forth a raven's ominous note Upon a day of jubilee. Yet signs of coming ill I see, Which Heaven avert! Nay, rather let me deem That like a bright and broadening stream Fed by a hundred affluents, each a river Far-sprung and full, Columbia's life shall flow By level meads majestically slow, Blessing and blest forever!

THE JESUIT GEOGRAPHER.

JEAN HARDOUIN, a French Jesuit. Born at Quimper, 1646; died, 1729.

The rotation of the earth is due to the efforts of the damned to escape from their central fire. Climbing up the walls of hell, they cause the earth to revolve as a squirrel its cage.

COLUMBUS DAY.

_By the President of the United States of America. A proclamation:_

WHEREAS, By a joint resolution, approved June 29, 1892, it was resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, "That the President of the United States be authorized and directed to issue a proclamation recommending to the people the observance in all their localities of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, on the 21st day of October, 1892, by public demonstration and by suitable exercises in their schools and other places of assembly."

Now, THEREFORE, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of America, in pursuance of the aforesaid joint resolution, do hereby appoint Friday, October 21, 1892, the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, as a general holiday for the people of the United States. On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.

Columbus stood in his age as the pioneer of progress and enlightenment. The system of universal education is in our age the most prominent and salutary feature of the spirit of enlightenment, and it is peculiarly appropriate that the schools be made by the people the center of the day's demonstration. Let the national flag float over every school-house in the country, and the exercises be such as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duties of American citizenship.

In the churches and in the other places of assembly of the people, let there be expressions of gratitude to Divine Providence for the devout faith of the discoverer, and for the Divine care and guidance which has directed our history and so abundantly blessed our people.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and seventeenth.

BENJAMIN HARRISON.

~~~~~ By the President. {L. S.} ~~~~~ JOHN W. FOSTER, _Secretary of State_.

THE ADMIRATION OF A CAREFUL CRITIC.

HENRY HARRISSE, a celebrated Columbian critic, in his erudite and valuable work, "Columbus and the Bank of St. George."

Nor must you believe that I am inclined to lessen the merits of the great Genoese or fail to admire him. But my admiration is the result of reflection, and not a blind hero-worship. Columbus removed out of the range of mere speculation the idea that beyond the Atlantic Ocean lands existed and could be reached by sea, made of the notion a fixed fact, and linked forever the two worlds. That event, which is unquestionably the greatest of modern times, secures to Columbus a place in the pantheon dedicated to the worthies whose courageous deeds mankind will always admire.

But our gratitude must not carry us beyond the limits of an equitable appreciation. Indiscriminate praise works mischief and injustice. When tender souls represent Columbus as being constantly the laughing-stock of all, and leading a life of misery and abandonment in Spain, they do injustice to Deza, to Cabrera, to Quintanilla, to Mendoza, to Beatrice de Bobadilla, to Medina-Celi, to Ferdinand and Isabella, and probably a host of others who upheld him as much as they could from the start. When blind admirers imagine that the belief in the existence of transatlantic countries rushed out of Columbus' cogitations, complete, unaided, and alone, just as Minerva sprang in full armor from the head of Jupiter, they disregard the efforts of numerous thinkers who, from Aristotle and Roger Bacon to Toscanelli, evolved and matured the thought, until Columbus came to realize it. When dramatists, poets, and romancers expatiate upon the supposed spontaneous or independent character of the discovery of America, and ascribe the achievement exclusively to the genius of a single man, they adopt a theory which is discouraging and untrue.

No man is, or ever was, ahead of his times. No human efforts are, or ever were, disconnected from a long chain of previous exertions; and this applies to all the walks of life. When a great event occurs, in science as in history, the hero who seems to have caused it is only the embodiment and resulting force of the meditations, trials, and endeavors of numberless generations of fellow-workers, conscious and unconscious, known and unknown.

When this solemn truth shall have been duly instilled into the minds of men, we will no longer see them live in the constant expectation of Messiahs and providential beings destined to accomplish, as by a sort of miracle, the infinite and irresistible work of civilization. They will rely exclusively upon the concentrated efforts of the whole race, and cherish the encouraging thought that, however imperceptible and insignificant their individual contributions may seem to be, these form a part of the whole, and finally redound to the happiness and progress of mankind.

THE CARE OF THE NEW WORLD.

DAVID HARTLEY, a celebrated English physician and philosopher. Born at Armley, near Leeds, 1705; died, 1757.

Those who have the first care of this New World will probably give it such directions and inherent influences as may guide and control its course and revolutions for ages to come.

THE TRIBUTE OF HEINRICH HEINE.

HEINRICH HEINE. Born December 12, 1799, in the Bolkerstrasse at Dusseldorf; died in Paris, February 17, 1856.

Mancher hat schon viel gegeben, Aber jener hat der Welt Eine ganze Welt geschenkt Und sie heisst America.

Nicht befreien könnt'er uns Aus dem orden Erdenkerker Doch er wusst ihn zu erweitern Und die Kette zu verlängern

(_Translation._)

Some have given much already, But this man he has presented To the world an entire world, With the name America.

He could not set us free, out Of the dreary, earthly prison, But he knew how to enlarge it And to lengthen our chain.

COLUMBUS' AIM NOT MERELY SECULAR.

GEORGE WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL, one of the most eminent philosophers of the German school of metaphysics. Born at Stuttgart in 1770; died in Berlin, 1831. From his "Philosophy of History."

A leading feature demanding our notice in determining the character of this period, might be mentioned that urging of the spirit outward, that desire on the part of man to become acquainted with his world. The chivalrous spirit of the maritime heroes of Portugal and Spain opened a new way to the East Indies and discovered America. This progressive step also involved no transgression of the limits of ecclesiastical principles or feeling. The aim of Columbus was by no means a merely secular one; it presented also a distinctly religious aspect; the treasures of those rich Indian lands which awaited his discovery were destined, in his intention, to be expended in a new crusade, and the heathen inhabitants of the countries themselves were to be converted to Christianity. The recognition of the spherical figure of the earth led man to perceive that it offered him a definite and limited object, and navigation had been benefited by the new-found instrumentality of the magnet, enabling it to be something better than mere coasting; thus technical appliances make their appearance when a need for them is experienced.

These events--the so-called revival of learning, the flourishing of the fine arts, and the discovery of America--may be compared with that _blush of dawn_ which after long storms first betokens the return of a bright and glorious day. This day is the day of universality, which breaks upon the world after the long, eventful, and terrible night of the Middle Ages.

THE BELIEF OF COLUMBUS.

SIR ARTHUR HELPS, a popular English essayist and historian. Born, 1813; died, March 7, 1875. From his "Life of Columbus" (1869).

Columbus believed the world to be a sphere; he underestimated its size; he overestimated the size of the Asiatic continent. The farther that continent extended to the east, the nearer it came round to Spain.

SPECULATION.

It has always been a favorite speculation with historians, and, indeed, with all thinking men, to consider what would have happened from a slight change of circumstances in the course of things which led to great events. This may be an idle and a useless speculation, but it is an inevitable one. Never was there such a field for this kind of speculation as in the voyages, especially the first one, of Columbus. * * * The gentlest breeze carried with it the destinies of future empires. * * * Had some breeze big with the fate of nations carried Columbus northward, it would hardly have been left for the English, more than a century afterward, to found those colonies which have proved to be the seeds of the greatest nation that the world is likely to behold.--_Ibid._

RELIGION TURNS TO FREEDOM'S LAND.

GEORGE HERBERT, an English poet. Born at Montgomery, Wales, 1593; died, 1632.

Religion stands on tiptoe in our land, Ready to pass to the American strand.

THE PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF COLUMBUS.

ANTONIO HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, an eminent Spanish historian. Born at Cuellar in 1549; died, 1625.

Columbus was tall of stature, with a long and imposing visage. His nose was aquiline; his eyes blue; his complexion clear, and having a tendency to a glowing red; the beard and hair red in his youth, but his fatigues early turned them white.

AN INCIDENT OF THE VOYAGE.

FERNANDO HERRERA, Spanish poet, 1534-1597.

Many sighed and wept, and every hour seemed a year.

THE EFFECT OF THE DISCOVERY.

C. W. HODGIN, professor of history in Earlham College, Indiana. From "Preparation for the Discovery of America."

The discovery of America by Columbus stands out in history as an event of supreme importance, both because of its value in itself and because of its reflex action upon Europe. It swept away the hideous monsters and frightful apparitions with which a superstitious imagination had peopled the unknown Atlantic, and removed at once and forever the fancied dangers in the way of its navigation. It destroyed the old patristic geography and practically demonstrated the rotundity of the earth. It overthrew the old ideas of science and gave a new meaning to the Baconian method of investigation. It revolutionized the commerce of the world, and greatly stimulated the intellect of Europe, already awakening from the long torpor of the Dark Ages. It opened the doors of a new world, through which the oppressed and overcrowded population of the Old World might enter and make homes, build states, and develop a higher ideal of freedom than the world had before conceived.

But this event did not come to pass by accident, neither was it the result of a single cause. It was the culmination of a series of events, each of which had a tendency, more or less marked, to concentrate into the close of the fifteenth century the results of an _instinct_ to search over unexplored seas for unknown lands.

COLUMBUS THE FIRST DISCOVERER.

FRIEDRICH HEINRICH ALEXANDER, Baron VON HUMBOLDT, the illustrious traveler, naturalist, and cosmographer. Born in Berlin, September 14, 1769; died there May 6, 1859. He has been well termed "The Modern Aristotle."

To say the truth, Vespucci shone only by reflection from an age of glory. When compared with Columbus, Sebastian Cabot, Bartolomé Dias, and Da Gama, his place is an inferior one.

The majesty of great memories seems concentrated in the name of Christopher Columbus. It is the originality of his vast idea, the largeness and fertility of his genius, and the courage which bore up against a long series of misfortunes, which have exalted the Admiral high above all his contemporaries.

THE PENETRATION AND EXTREME ACCURACY OF COLUMBUS.

Columbus preserved, amid so many material and minute cares, which freeze the soul and contract the character, a profound and poetic sentiment of the grandeur of nature. What characterizes Columbus is the penetration and extreme accuracy with which he seizes the phenomena of the external world. He is quite as remarkable as an observer of nature as he is an intrepid navigator.

Arrived under new heavens, and in a new world, the configuration of lands, the aspect of vegetation, the habits of animals, the distribution of heat according to longitude, the pelagic currents, the variations of terrestrial magnetism--nothing escaped his sagacity. Columbus does not limit himself to collecting isolated facts, he combines them, he seeks their mutual relations to each other. He sometimes rises with boldness to the discovery of the general laws that govern the physical world.--_Ibid._

A FLIGHT OF PARROTS WAS HIS GUIDING STAR.

Columbus was guided in his opinion by a flight of parrots toward the southwest. Never had the flight of birds more important consequences. It may be said to have determined the first settlements on the new continent, and its distribution between the Latin and Germanic races.--_Ibid._

COLUMBUS A GIANT.

Columbus is a giant standing on the confines between mediæval and modern times, and his existence marks one of the great epochs in the history of the world.--_Ibid._

THE MAJESTY OF GRAND RECOLLECTIONS.

The majesty of grand recollections seems concentered on the illustrious name of Columbus.--_Ibid._

RELIGION.

JOHN FLETCHER HURST, D. D., LL.D., a noted American Methodist bishop. Born near Salem, Md., August 17, 1834. From his "Short History of the Church in the United States." Copyright, 1889. By permission of Messrs. Harper & Brothers, Publishers.

When Columbus discovered the little West India Island of San Salvador, and raised upon the shore the cross, he dedicated it and the lands beyond to the sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabella. The "_Gloria in Excelsis_" was sung by the discoverer and his weary crew with as much fervor as it had ever been chanted in the cathedrals of Spain. The faith was Roman Catholic. On his second voyage, in 1494, Columbus took with him a vicar apostolic and twelve priests, and on the island of Haiti erected the first chapel in the western world.[40] The success of Columbus in discovering a new world in the West awakened a wild enthusiasm throughout Europe. Visions of gold inflamed the minds alike of rulers, knights, and adventurers. To discover and gather treasures, and organize vast missionary undertakings, became the mania of the times. No European country which possessed a strip of seaboard escaped the delirium.

ARMA VIRUMQUE CANO.

WASHINGTON IRVING, one of the most distinguished American authors and humorists. Born in New York City, April 3, 1783. Died at Sunnyside on the Hudson, N. Y., November 28, 1859. From his "History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" (4 vols., 1828). "This is one of those works," says Alexander H. Everett, "which are at the same time the delight of readers and the despair of critics. It is as nearly perfect as any work well can be."

It is my object to relate the deeds and fortunes of the mariner who first had the judgment to divine, and the intrepidity to brave, the mysteries of the perilous deep; and who, by his hardy genius, his inflexible constancy, and his heroic courage, brought the ends of the earth into communication with each other. The narrative of his troubled life is the link which connects the history of the Old World with that of the New.

To his intellectual vision it was given to read the signs of the times in the conjectures and reveries of the past ages, the indications of an unknown world, as soothsayers were said to read predictions in the stars, and to foretell events from the visions of the night.

PRACTICAL AND POETICAL.

He who paints a great man merely in great and heroic traits, though he may produce a fine picture, will never present a faithful portrait. Great men are compounds of great and little qualities. Indeed, much of their greatness arises from their mastery over the imperfections of their nature, and their noblest actions are sometimes struck forth by the collision of their merits and their defects.

In Columbus were singularly combined the practical and the poetical. His mind had grasped all kinds of knowledge, whether procured by study or observation, which bore upon his theories; impatient of the scanty aliment of the day, "his impetuous ardor threw him into the study of the fathers of the Church, the Arabian Jews, and the ancient geographers"; while his daring but irregular genius, bursting from the limits of imperfect science, bore him to conclusions far beyond the intellectual vision of his contemporaries. If some of his conclusions were erroneous, they were at least ingenious and splendid; and their error resulted from the clouds which still hung over his peculiar path of enterprise. His own discoveries enlightened the ignorance of the age, guided conjecture to certainty, and dispelled that very darkness with which he had been obliged to struggle.

In the progress of his discoveries, he has been remarked for the extreme sagacity and the admirable justness with which he seized upon the phenomena of the exterior world. As they broke upon him, these phenomena were discerned with wonderful quickness of perception, and made to contribute important principles to the stock of general knowledge. This lucidity of spirit, this quick convertibility of facts to principles, distinguish him from the dawn to the close of his sublime enterprise, insomuch that, with all the sallying ardor of his imagination, his ultimate success has been admirably characterized as a "conquest of reflection."--_Ibid._

A VISIT TO PALOS.

I can not express to you what were my feelings on treading the shore which had once been animated by the bustle of departure, and whose sands had been printed by the last footstep of Columbus. The solemn and sublime nature of the event that had followed, together with the fate and fortunes of those concerned in it, filled the mind with vague yet melancholy ideas. It was like viewing the silent and empty stage of some great drama when all the actors had departed. The very aspect of the landscape, so tranquilly beautiful, had an effect upon me, and as I paced the deserted shore by the side of a descendant of one of the discoverers I felt my heart swelling with emotion and my eyes filling with tears.--_Ibid._

COLUMBUS AT SALAMANCA.

Columbus appeared in a most unfavorable light before a select assembly--an obscure navigator, a member of no learned institution, destitute of all the trappings and circumstances which sometimes give oracular authority to dullness, and depending on the mere force of natural genius.

Some of the junta entertained the popular notion that he was an adventurer, or at best a visionary; and others had that morbid impatience which any innovation upon established doctrine is apt to produce in systematic minds. What a striking spectacle must the hall of the old convent have presented at this memorable conference! A simple mariner standing forth in the midst of an imposing array of professors, friars, and dignitaries of the Church, maintaining his theory with natural eloquence, and, as it were, pleading the cause of the New World.--_Ibid._

A MEMORIAL TO COLUMBUS AT OLD ISABELLA.

From the _Sacred Heart Review_ of Boston, Mass.

Early in September, 1891, the proposition of erecting a monument to Columbus on the site of his first settlement in the New World, at Old Isabella, in Santo Domingo, was first broached to the _Sacred Heart Review_ of Boston by Mr. Thomas H. Cummings of that city. As the first house built by Columbus in the settlement was a church, it was suggested that such a monument would indeed fitly commemorate the starting-point and rise of Christian civilization in America. The _Review_ entered heartily into the project, and steps were at once taken to secure a suitable plot of ground for the site of the monument. Plans were also drawn of a monument whose estimated cost would be from $3,000 to $5,000. A design which included a granite plinth and ball three feet in diameter, surmounting a pyramid of coral and limestone twenty feet high,[41] was transmitted, through the Dominican consul-general at New York to the Dominican government in Santo Domingo. Accompanying this plan was a petition, of which the following is a copy, setting forth the purpose of the _Review_, and asking certain concessions in return:

"BOSTON, MASS., October 7, 1891.

"HON. FCO. LEONTE VAZQUES, _Dominican Consul-general_, "_New York City_.

"SIR: The _Sacred Heart Review_ of Boston is anxious to mark the spot with a suitable monument where Christian civilization took its rise in the New World, commonly known as Ancienne Isabelle, on the Island of Santo Domingo. We therefore beg the favor of your good offices with the Dominican government for the following concessions:

"_First._ Free entrance of party and material for monument at ports of Puerto Plata or Monte Christi, and right of transportation for same to Isabella free of all coast expense and duties.

"_Second._ Grant of suitable plot, not to contain more than 100 × 100 square yards, the present owner, Mr. C. S. Passailique of New York having already signified his willingness to concede same to us, so far as his rights under the Dominican government allowed him to do so.

"_Third._ The right of perpetual care of monument, with access to and permission to care for same at all times.

"_Fourth._ Would the government grant official protection to same; i. e., allow its representatives to aid and protect in every reasonable way the success of the enterprise, and when built guard same as public property, without assuming any legal liability therefor?

"Finally, in case that we find a vessel sailing to one of said ports above named willing to take the monument to Isabella, would government concede this favor--allowing vessel to make coast service free of governmental duties?"

"In exchange for above concessions on the part of the Dominican government, the undersigned hereby agree to erect, at their expense, and free of all charge to said government, a granite monument, according to plan herewith inclosed; estimated cost to be from $3,000 to $5,000.

"Awaiting the favor of an early reply, and begging you to accept the assurance of our highest respect and esteem, we have the honor to be,

"Very respectfully yours,

"Rev. JOHN O'BRIEN and others in behalf of the Sacred Heart Review Monument Committee."

In reply to the above petition was received an official document, in Spanish, of which the following is a literal translation:

"ULISES HEUREAUX, _Division General-in-Chief of the National Army, Pacificator of the Nation, and Constitutional President of the Republic_:

"In view of the petition presented to the government by the directors of the _Sacred Heart Review_ of Boston, United States of America, dated October 7, 1891, and considering that the object of the petitioners is to commemorate a historical fact of great importance, viz.: the establishment of the Christian religion in the New World by the erection of its first temple--an event so closely identified with Santo Domingo, and by its nature and results eminently American, indeed world-wide, in its scope--therefore the point of departure for Christian civilization in the western hemisphere, whose principal products were apostles like Cordoba, Las Casas, and others, defending energetically and resolutely the rights of the oppressed inhabitants of America, and themselves the real founders of modern democracy, be it

"_Resolved_, Article 1. That it is granted to the _Sacred Heart Review_ of Boston, United States of America, permission to erect a monument on the site of the ruins of Old Isabella, in the district of Puerto Plata, whose purpose shall be to commemorate the site whereon was built the first Catholic church in the New World. This monument shall be of stone, and wholly conformable to the plan presented. It shall be erected within a plot of ground that shall not exceed 10,000 square yards, and shall be at all times solidly and carefully inclosed. If the site chosen belongs to the state, said state concedes its proprietary rights to the petitioners while the monument stands. If the site belongs to private individuals, an understanding must be reached with them to secure possession.

"Article 2. The builders of said monument will have perpetual control and ownership, and they assume the obligation of caring for and preserving it in good condition. If the builders, as a society, cease to exist, the property will revert to the municipality to which belongs Old Isabella, and on them will revert the obligation to preserve it in perfect repair.

"Article 3. The monument will be considered as public property, and the local authorities will give it the protection which the law allows to property of that class. * * * But on no condition and in no way could the government incur any responsibility of damage that might come to the monument situated in such a remote and exposed location.

"Article 4. We declare free from municipal and coast duties the materials and tools necessary for the construction of said monument, and if it is introduced in a ship carrying only this as a cargo, it will be permitted to said ship to make voyage from Monte Christi or Puerto Plata without paying any of said coast imposts. In view of these concessions the monument committee will present to the mayor of the city a detailed statement of the material and tools needed, so that this officer can accept or reject them as he sees fit.

"Article 5. Wherefore the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Interior, and other officers of the Cabinet are charged with the execution of the present resolution.

"Given at the National Palace of Santo Domingo, Capital of the Republic, on the twenty-fifth day of November, 1891, forty-eighth year of independence and the twenty-ninth of the restoration.

(Signed) "ULISES HEUREAUX, _President_. "W. FIGUEREO, _Minister of Interior and Police_. "IGNACIO M. GONZALES, _Minister of Finance and Commerce_. "SANCHEZ, _Minister of State_.

'Copy exactly conforming to the original given at Santo Domingo, November 28, 1891.

"RAFAEL Y. RODRIGUEZ, "_Official Mayor and Minister of Public Works and Foreign Affairs._"

With these concessions in hand, a committee, consisting of Capt. Nathan Appleton and Thomas H. Cummings, was appointed to go to Washington and secure recognition from the United States Government for the enterprise. The committee was everywhere favorably received, and returned with assurances of co-operation and support. Hon. W. E. Curtis, head of the Bureau of Latin Republics in the State Department, was added to the general monument committee.

Meanwhile the _Sacred Heart Review_, through Dr. Charles H. Hall of Boston, a member of the monument committee, put itself in communication with the leading citizens of Puerto Plata, requesting them to use every effort to locate the exact site of the ancient church, and make a suitable clearing for the monument, at its expense.

In answer to this communication, a committee of prominent citizens was organized at Puerto Plata, to co-operate with the Boston Columbus Memorial Committee. The following extract is taken from a local paper, _El Porvenir_, announcing the organization of this committee:

"On Saturday last, a meeting was held in this city (Puerto Plata) for the purpose of choosing a committee which should take part in the celebration. Those present unanimously resolved that such a body be immediately formed under the title of, 'Committee in Charge of the Centennial Celebration.'

"This committee then proceeded to the election of a board of management, composed of a president, vice-president, secretary, and four directors. The following gentlemen were elected to fill the above offices in the order as named: Gen. Imbert, Dr. Llenas, Gen. Juan Guarrido, Presbitero Don Wenceslao Ruiz, Don José Thomás Jimenez, Don Pedro M. Villalon, and Don José Castellanos.

"To further the object for which it was organized, the board counts upon the co-operation of such government officials and corporations of the republic as may be inclined to take part in this great apotheosis in preparation, to glorify throughout the whole world the work and name of the famous discoverer.

"As this is the disinterested purpose for which the above-mentioned committee was formed, we do not doubt that the public, convinced that it is its duty to contribute in a suitable manner to the proposed celebration, will respond to the idea with enthusiasm, seeing in it only the desire which has guided its projectors--that of contributing their share to the glorification of the immortal navigator."

The following official communication was received from this committee:

"PUERTO DE PLATA, March 19, 1892.

"Dr. CHARLES H. HALL, _Member Boston Columbus Memorial Committee, Boston, Mass., U. S. A._

"DEAR SIR: We have the honor of acquainting you that there exists in this city a committee for the celebration of the quadro-centennial whose purpose is to co-operate, to the extent of its ability, in celebrating here the memorable event.

"This committee has learned with the greatest satisfaction that it is proposed to erect a monument, on the site of Isabella, over the ruins of the first Catholic church in the New World. Here, also, we have had the same idea, and we rejoice that what we were unable to accomplish through lack of material means, you have brought to a consummation. And therefore we offer you our co-operation, and beg your acceptance of our services in any direction in which you may find them useful. With sentiments of high regard, we remain,

"Your very obedient servants,

"S. IMBERT, _President_. "JUAN GUARRIDO, _Secretary_.

_Direction_, GEN. IMBERT, _President de la "Junta Para de la Celebracion del Centenario._"

The statue consists of a bronze figure of Columbus eight feet two inches high, including the plinth, mounted on a pyramid of coral and limestone twelve feet high, and which, in its turn, is crowned by a capstone of dressed granite, on which the statue will rest.[42] The figure represents Columbus in an attitude of thanksgiving to God, and pointing, on the globe near his right hand, to the site of the first settlement in the New World. The statue and pedestal were made from designs drawn at the Massachusetts State Normal Art School by Mr. R. Andrew, under the direction of Prof. George Jepson, and the statue was modeled by Alois Buyens of Ghent.

The plaster cast of the monument, which has now been on exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston for some time, has been removed to the foundry at Chicopee for casting. In a few months it will be transformed into enduring bronze, and the Columbus monument will no longer be a growing thought but a living reality. To say it has stood the critical test of art connoisseurs in the Boston public is to say but little; for, from every quarter, comments on the work of the sculptor have been highly commendatory--the bold and vigorous treatment of the Flemish school, of which Mr. Buyens is a disciple, being something of a novelty in these parts, and well calculated to strike the popular fancy, which always admires strength, especially when combined with gracefulness and high art. Not a few of the best critics have pronounced it superior to the average of similar statues to be found in and around Boston, and all unite in declaring it to be unquestionably a work of art, and one meriting great praise.

A recent communication from United States Consul Simpson, at Puerto Plata, announces that he has lately visited Isabella, in the interest of the monument. He made a careful survey of the site of the ancient town, and cleared the grounds of the trees and masses of trailing vines that encumbered the ruins, and after a thorough examination, assisted by the people of the neighborhood, he found the remains of the first church.

Other communications have been received from the Dominican government approving of the change of plan, substituting the statue for the simple stone monument, and offering the memorial committee the hospitalities of the island. And so the work goes on.

The monument, when erected, will commemorate two things--the establishment of Christianity and the rise of civilization in the New World. On the spot where it will stand Columbus built the first church 400 years ago.

One bronze relief shows the great discoverer in the fore-ground on bended knees with a trowel in his hand, laying the corner-stone. On the right, sits an ideal female figure, representing Mother Church, fostering a little Indian child, and pointing with uplifted hand to the cross, the emblem of man's salvation. Crouching Indians are at her feet, listening with astonishment to the strange story, while on the left of the cross are monks with bowed heads and lighted tapers, and in the distance are Spanish cavaliers and hidalgos.

The conception is thoroughly Catholic, Christian, simple, and artistic; it tells its own story with a pathos and directness not often found in works of this kind.

The second tablet is more ideal and more severely classical than the first. The genius of civilization, bearing gifts, is carried in a chariot drawn by prancing horses. The Admiral, at the horses' heads, with one hand points the way for her to follow, while with the other he hands the reins to Columbia, the impersonation of the New World. An Indian at the chariot wheels stoops to gather the gifts of civilization as they fall from the cornucopia borne by the goddess. And thus is told in enduring bronze, by the genius of the artist, the symbolic story of the introduction of civilization to the New World.

Upon the face of the pedestal, a third tablet bears the inscription which was written at the instance of Very Rev. Dr. Charles B. Rex, president of the Brighton Theological Seminary. Mgr. Schroeder, the author, interprets the meaning of the whole, in terse rhythmical Latin sentences, after the Roman lapidary style:

_Anno. claudente. sæculum XV._ _Ex. quo. coloni. Christiani. Columbo. Duce_ _Hic. post. oppidum. constitutum_ _Primum. in. mundo. novo. templum_ _Christo. Deo. dicarunt_ _Ephemeris. Bostoniensis_ _Cui. a. sacro. corde. est. nomen_ _Sub. auspice. civium. Bostoniæ_ _Ne. rei. tantæ. memoria. unquam. delabatur_ _Hæc. marmori. commendavit._ _A. D. MDCCCLXXXXII._

(_Translation of the Inscription._)

Toward the close of the fifteenth century, Christian colonists, under the leadership of Columbus, Here on this spot built the first settlement, And the first church dedicated To Christ our Lord In the new world. A Boston paper, called the _Sacred Heart Review_, Under the auspices of the citizens of Boston, That the memory of so great an event might not be forgotten, Hath erected this monument, A. D. 1892.

The question is sometimes asked why are Catholics specially interested, and why should the _Review_ trouble itself to erect this monument. The answer is this: We wish to locate the spot with some distinctive mark where civilization was first planted and where Christianity reared its first altar on this soil, 400 years ago. By this public act of commemoration we hope to direct public attention to this modest birthplace of our Mother Church, which stands to-day deserted and unhonored like a pauper's grave, a monument of shame to the carelessness and indifference of millions of American Catholics.

Why should we be specially interested? Because here on this spot the Catholic church first saw the light of day in America; here the first important act of the white man was the celebration of the holy mass, the supreme act of Catholic worship; here the first instrument of civilization that pierced the virgin soil was a cross, and here the first Catholic anthems resounding through the forest primeval, and vying in sweetness and melody with the song of birds, were the _Te Deum Laudamus_ and the _Gloria in Excelsis_. Sculptured marble and engraved stone we have in abundance, and tablets without number bear record to deeds and historical events of far less importance than this. For, mark well what these ruins and this monument stand for.

One hundred and twenty-six years before the Congregationalist church landed on Plymouth Rock, 110 years before the Anglican church came to Jamestown, and thirty-five years before the word Protestant was invented, this church was erected, and the gospel announced to the New World by zealous missionaries of the Catholic faith. No other denomination of Christians in America can claim priority or even equal duration with us in point of time. No other can show through all the centuries of history such generous self-sacrifice and heroic missionary efforts. No other has endured such misrepresentation and bitter persecution for justice's sake. If her history here is a valuable heritage, we to whom it has descended are in duty bound to keep it alive in the memory and hearts of her children. We have recently celebrated the centennial of the Church in the United States; but, for a still greater reason, we should now prepare to celebrate the quadro-centennial of the Church in America. And this is why Catholics should be specially interested in this monument. Columbus himself was a deeply religious man. He observed rigorously the fasts and ceremonies of the Church, reciting daily the entire canonical office. He began everything he wrote with the _Jesu cum Maria sit nobis in via_ (May Jesus and Mary be always with us). And as Irving, his biographer, says, his piety did not consist in mere forms, but partook of that lofty and solemn enthusiasm which characterized his whole life. In his letter to his sovereigns announcing his discovery he indulges in no egotism, but simply asks "Spain to exhibit a holy joy, for Christ rejoices on earth as in heaven seeing the future redemption of souls." And so his religion bursts out and seems to pervade everything he touches. With such a man to commemorate and honor, there is special reason why Catholics, and the _Review_, which represents them, should busy themselves with erecting a Columbus monument.

But the name and fame and beneficent work of Columbus belong to the whole Christian world. While Catholics with gratitude recall his fortitude and heroism, and thank God, who inspired him with a firm faith and a burning charity for God and man, yet Protestants no less than Catholics share in the fruit of his work, and, we are glad to say, vie with Catholics in proclaiming and honoring his exalted character, his courage, fortitude, and the beneficent work he accomplished for mankind. Hence Dr. Edward Everett Hale, in his recent article on Columbus in the _Independent_, voices the sentiment of every thoughtful, intelligent Protestant when he says, "No wonder that the world of America loves and honors the hero whose faith and courage called America into being. No wonder that she celebrates the beginning of a new century with such tributes of pride and hope as the world has never seen before." It is this same becoming sentiment of gratitude which has prompted so many worthy Protestants to enroll their names on the list of gentlemen who are helping the _Review_ to mark and honor the spot Columbus chose for the first Christian settlement on this continent.

Thus, so long as the bronze endures, the world will know that we venerate the character and achievements of Columbus, and the spot where Christian civilization took its rise in the New World.

FROM THE ITALIAN.

The daring mariner shall urge far o'er The western wave, a smooth and level plain, Albeit the earth is fashioned like a wheel.

SEARCHER OF THE OCEAN.

SAMUEL JEFFERSON, a British author. From his epic poem, "Columbus," published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago.[43]

Thou searcher of the ocean, thee to sing Shall my devoted lyre awake each string! Columbus! Hero! Would my song could tell How great thy worth! No praise can overswell The grandeur of thy deeds! Thine eagle eye Pierced through the clouds of ages to descry From empyrean heights where thou didst soar With bright imagination winged by lore-- The signs of continents as yet unknown; Across the deep thy keen-eyed glance was thrown; Thou, with prevailing longing, still aspired To reach the goal thy ardent soul desired; Thy heavenward soaring spirit, bold, elate, Scorned long delay and conquered chance and fate; Thy valor followed thy far-searching eyes, Until success crowned thy bold emprize.

FELIPA, WIFE OF COLUMBUS.

ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON. From a poem published in _Harper's Weekly_, June 25, 1892.[44]

More than the compass to the mariner Wast thou, Felipa, to his dauntless soul. Through adverse winds that threatened wreck, and nights Of rayless gloom, thou pointed ever to The north star of his great ambition. He Who once has lost an Eden, or has gained A paradise by Eve's sweet influence, Alone can know how strong a spell lies in The witchery of a woman's beckoning hand. And thou didst draw him, tidelike, higher still, Felipa, whispering the lessons learned From thy courageous father, till the flood Of his ambition burst all barriers, And swept him onward to his longed-for goal.

Before the jewels of a Spanish queen Built fleets to waft him on his untried way, Thou gavest thy wealth of wifely sympathy To build the lofty purpose of his soul. And now the centuries have cycled by, Till thou art all forgotten by the throng That lauds the great Pathfinder of the deep. It matters not, in that infinitude Of space where thou dost guide thy spirit bark To undiscovered lands, supremely fair. If to this little planet thou couldst turn And voyage, wraithlike, to its cloud-hung rim, Thou wouldst not care for praise. And if, perchance, Some hand held out to thee a laurel bough, Thou wouldst not claim one leaf, but fondly turn To lay thy tribute also at his feet.

INCREASING INTEREST IN COLUMBUS.

JOHN S. KENNEDY, an American author.

The near approach of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America has revived in all parts of the civilized world great interest in everything concerning that memorable event and the perilous voyage of the great navigator whom it has immortalized.

THE MECCA OF THE NATION.

MOSES KING, an American geographer of the nineteenth century.

I have read somewhere that in the northeastern part of Havana stands, facing an open square, a brown stone church, blackened by age, and dignified by the name of "cathedral." It is visited by every American, because within its walls lies buried all that remains of the great discoverer, Columbus.

THE CAUSE OF THE DISCOVERY.

Was it by the coarse law of demand and supply that a Columbus was haunted by the ghost of a round planet at the time when the New World was needed for the interests of civilization?--_Ibid._

MAGNANIMITY.

ARTHUR G. KNIGHT, in his "Life of Columbus."

Through all the slow martyrdom of long delays and bitter disappointments, he never faltered in his lofty purpose; in the hour of triumph he was self-possessed and unassuming; under cruel persecution he was patient and forgiving. For almost unexampled services he certainly received a poor reward on earth.

THE IDEAS OF THE ANCIENTS.

LUCIUS LACTANTIUS, an eminent Christian author, 260-325 A. D.

Is there any one so foolish as to believe that there are antipodes with their feet opposite to ours; that there is a part of the world in which all things are topsy-turvy, where the trees grow with their branches downward, and where it rains, hails, and snows upward?

THE LAKE FRONT PARK STATUE OF COLUMBUS.

The World's Fair city is a close competitor with the historic cities of the Old World for the grandest monument to Columbus and the fittest location for it. At Barcelona, on the Paseo Colon, seaward, a snowy marble Admiral looks toward the Shadowy Sea. At Genoa, 'mid the palms of the Piazza Acquaverde, a noble representation of the noblest Genoese faces the fitful gusts of the Mediterranean and fondly guards an Indian maid. A lofty but rude cairn marks the Admiral's first footprints on the shores of the wreck-strewn Bahamas, and many a monument or encomiastic inscription denotes spots sacred to the history of his indomitable resolve. These all commemorate, as it were, but the inception of the great discovery. It remains for Chicago to perpetuate the results, and most fitly to place an heroic figure of the first Admiral viewing, and in full view of all.

On the Lake Front Park, in full view of the ceaseless commercial activity of the Great Lakes, and close by the hum of the hive of human industry, grandly will a bronze Columbus face the blasts from Michigan's bosom. There the greatest navigator stands,

Calm, his prescience verified,

proudly through the ages watching the full fruits of that first and fateful voyage over the waves of the seas of mystery, to found a nation where Freedom alone should be supreme. Just where the big monument will be located on Lake Front Park has not been decided, but a site south of the Auditorium, midway between the Illinois Central tracks and Michigan Boulevard, will perhaps be chosen. The statue proper will be twenty feet high. It will be of bronze, mounted on a massive granite pedestal, of thirty feet in height, and will serve for all time as a memorial of the Exposition.

The chosen artist, out of the many who submitted designs, was Mr. Howard Kretschmar, a Chicago sculptor of rare power and artistic talent.

The massive figure of Columbus is represented at the moment the land, and the glorious future of his great discovery, burst upon his delighted gaze. No ascetic monk, no curled cavalier, looks down from the pedestal. The apocryphal portraits of Europe may peer out of their frames in this guise, but it has been the artist's aim here to chisel _a man, not a monk; and a noble man_, rather than a cringing courtier. Above the massive pedestal of simple design, which bears the terse legend, "Erected by the World's Columbian Exposition, A. D. 1893," stands the noble figure of the Noah of our nation. The open doublet discloses the massive proportions of a more than well-knit man. The left hand, pressed to the bosom, indicates the tension of his feelings, and the outstretched hand but further intensifies the dawning and gradually o'erwhelming sense of the future, the possibilities of his grand discovery. One of the noblest conceptions in bronze upon this continent is Mr. Howard Kretschmar's "Columbus," and of it may Chicago well be proud.

COLUMBUS THE CIVILIZER.

ALPHONSE LAMARTINE, the learned French writer and politician. Born at Macon, 1792; died, 1869. From "Life of Columbus."

All the characteristics of a truly great man are united in Columbus. Genius, labor, patience, obscurity of origin, overcome by energy of will; mild but persisting firmness, resignation toward heaven, struggle against the world; long conception of the idea in solitude, heroic execution of it in action; intrepidity and coolness in storms, fearlessness of death in civil strife; confidence in the destiny--not of an individual, but of the human race; a life risked without hesitation or retrospect in venturing into the unknown and phantom-peopled ocean, 1,500 leagues across, and on which the first step no more allowed of second thoughts than Cæsar's passage of the Rubicon; untiring study, knowledge as extensive as the science of his day, skillful but honorable management of courts to persuade them to truth; propriety of demeanor, nobleness, and dignity in outward bearing, which afford proof of greatness of mind and attracts eyes and hearts; language adapted to the grandeur of his thoughts; eloquence which could convince kings and quell the mutiny of crews; a natural poetry of style, which placed his narrative on a par with the wonders of his discoveries and the marvels of nature; an immense, ardent, and enduring love for the human race, piercing even into that distant future in which humanity forgets those that do it service; legislative wisdom and philosophic mildness in the government of his colonies; paternal compassion for those Indians, infants of humanity, whom he wished to give over to the guardianship--not to the tyranny and oppression--of the Old World; forgetfulness of injury and magnanimous forgiveness of his enemies; and lastly, piety, that virtue which includes and exalts all other virtues, when it exists as it did in the mind of Columbus--the constant presence of God in the soul, of justice in the conscience, of mercy in the heart, of gratitude in success, of resignation in reverses, of worship always and everywhere.

Such was the man. We know of none more perfect. He contains several impersonations within himself. He was worthy to represent the ancient world before that unknown continent on which he was the first to set foot, and carry to these men of a new race all the virtues, without any of the vices, of the elder hemisphere. So great was his influence on the destiny of the earth, that none more than he ever deserved the name of a _Civilizer_.

His influence in civilization was immeasurable. He completed the world. He realized the physical unity of the globe. He advanced, far beyond all that had been done before his time, the work of God--the SPIRITUAL UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. This work, in which Columbus had so largely assisted, was indeed too great to be worthily rewarded even by affixing his name to the fourth continent. America bears not that name, but the human race, drawn together and cemented by him, will spread his renown over the whole earth.

THE PSALM OF THE WEST.

SIDNEY LANIER, an American poet of considerable talent. Born at Macon, Ga., February 3, 1842; died at Lynn, N. C., September 8, 1881. From his "Psalm of the West."[45] Lanier was the author of the "Centennial Ode."

Santa Maria, well thou tremblest down the wave, Thy Pinta far abow, thy Niña nigh astern; Columbus stands in the night alone, and, passing grave, Yearns o'er the sea as tones o'er under-silence yearn. Heartens his heart as friend befriends his friend less brave, Makes burn the faiths that cool, and cools the doubts that burn.

"'Twixt this and dawn, three hours my soul will smite With prickly seconds, or less tolerably With dull-blade minutes flatwise slapping me. Wait, heart! Time moves. Thou lithe young Western Night, Just-crowned King, slow riding to thy right, Would God that I might straddle mutiny Calm as thou sitt'st yon never-managed sea, Balk'st with his balking, fliest with his flight, Giv'st supple to his rearings and his falls, Nor dropp'st one coronal star about thy brow, Whilst ever dayward thou art steadfast drawn Yea, would I rode these mad contentious brawls, No damage taking from their If and How, Nor no result save galloping to my Dawn.

"My Dawn? my Dawn? How if it never break? How if this West by other Wests is pierced. And these by vacant Wests and Wests increased-- One pain of space, with hollow ache on ache, Throbbing and ceasing not for Christ's own sake? Big, perilous theorem, hard for king and priest; 'Pursue the West but long enough, 'tis East!' Oh, if this watery world no turning take; Oh, if for all my logic, all my dreams, Provings of that which is by that which seems, Fears, hopes, chills, heats, hastes, patiences, droughts, tears, Wife-grievings, slights on love, embezzled years, Hates, treaties, scorns, upliftings, loss, and gain, This earth, no sphere, be all one sickening plain.

"Or, haply, how if this contrarious West, That me by turns hath starved, by turns hath fed, Embraced, disgraced, beat back, solicited, Have no fixed heart of law within his breast; Or with some different rhythm doth e'er contest, Nature in the East? Why, 'tis but three weeks fled I saw my Judas needle shake his head And flout the Pole that, East, he lord confessed! God! if this West should own some other Pole, And with his tangled ways perplex my soul Until the maze grow mortal, and I die Where distraught Nature clean hath gone astray, On earth some other wit than Time's at play, Some other God than mine above the sky!

"Now speaks mine other heart with cheerier seeming; 'Ho, Admiral! o'er-defalking to thine crew Against thyself, thyself far overfew To front yon multitudes of rebel scheming?' Come, ye wild twenty years of heavenly dreaming! Come, ye wild weeks, since first this canvas drew Out of vexed Palos ere the dawn was blue, O'er milky waves about the bows full-creaming! Come, set me round with many faithful spears Of confident remembrance--how I crushed Cat-lived rebellions, pitfalled treasons, hushed Scared husbands' heart-break cries on distant wives, Made cowards blush at whining for their lives; Watered my parching souls and dried their tears.

"Ere we Gomera cleared, a coward cried: 'Turn, turn; here be three caravels ahead, From Portugal, to take us; we are dead!' 'Hold westward, pilot,' calmly I replied. So when the last land down the horizon died, 'Go back, go back,' they prayed, 'our hearts are lead.' 'Friends, we are bound into the West,' I said. Then passed the wreck of a mast upon our side. 'See (so they wept) God's warning! Admiral, turn!' 'Steersman,' I said, 'hold straight into the West.' Then down the night we saw the meteor burn. So do the very heavens in fire protest. 'Good Admiral, put about! O Spain, dear Spain!' 'Hold straight into the West,' I said again.

"Next drive we o'er the slimy-weeded sea, 'Lo! here beneath,' another coward cries, 'The cursed land of sunk Atlantis lies; This slime will suck us down--turn while thou'rt free!' 'But no!' I said, 'freedom bears West for me!' Yet when the long-time stagnant winds arise, And day by day the keel to westward flies, My Good my people's Ill doth come to be; Ever the winds into the west do blow; Never a ship, once turned, might homeward go; Meanwhile we speed into the lonesome main. 'For Christ's sake, parley, Admiral! Turn, before We sail outside all bounds of help from pain.' 'Our help is in the West,' I said once more.

"So when there came a mighty cry of Land! And we clomb up and saw, and shouted strong '_Salve Regina!_' all the ropes along, But knew at morn how that a counterfeit band Of level clouds had aped a silver strand; So when we heard the orchard-bird's small song, And all the people cried, 'A hellish throng To tempt us onward, by the Devil planned, Yea, all from hell--keen heron, fresh green weeds, Pelican, tunny-fish, fair tapering reeds, Lie-telling lands that ever shine and die In clouds of nothing round the empty sky. 'Tired Admiral, get thee from this hell, and rest!' 'Steersman,' I said, 'hold straight into the West.'

* * * * *

"I marvel how mine eye, ranging the Night, From its big circling ever absently Returns, thou large, low star, to fix on thee. Maria! Star? No star; a Light, a Light! Wouldst leap ashore, Heart? Yonder burns a Light! 'Pedro Gutierrez, wake! come up to me. I prithee stand and gaze about the sea; What seest?' 'Admiral, like as land--a Light!' 'Well, Sanchez of Segovia come and try; What seest?' 'Admiral, naught but sea and sky!' 'Well, but I saw it. Wait, the Pinta's gun! Why, look! 'tis dawn! the land is clear; 'tis done! Two dawns do break at once from Time's full hand-- God's East--mine, West! Good friends, behold my Land!'"

PASSION FOR GOLD.

EUGENE LAWRENCE, an American historical writer. Born in New York, 1823. From "The Mystery of Columbus," in _Harper's Magazine_, May, 1892.[46]

In Columbus the passion for gold raged with a violence seldom known. He dreamed of golden palaces, heaps of treasure, and mines teeming with endless wealth. His cry was everywhere for gold. Every moment, in his fierce avarice, he would fancy himself on the brink of boundless opulence; he was always about to seize the treasures of the East, painted by Marco Polo and Mandeville. "Gold," he wrote to the King and Queen, "is the most valuable thing in the world; it rescues souls from purgatory and restores them to the joys of paradise."

THE TRIBUTE AND TESTIMONY OF THE POPE.

POPE LEO XIII., the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. From a letter in Chicago _Inter Ocean_, 1892.

While we see on all sides the preparations that are eagerly being made for the celebration of the Columbian quadri-centenary feasts in memory of a man most illustrious, and deserving of Christianity and all cultured humanity, we hear with great pleasure that the United States has, among other nations, entered this competition of praise in such a manner as befits both the vastness and richness of the country and the memory of the man so great as he to whom these honors are being shown. The success of this effort will surely be another proof of the great spirit and active energy of this people, who undertake enormous and difficult tasks with such great and happy dealing. It is a testimony of honor and gratitude to that immortal man of whom we have spoken, who, desirous of finding a road by which the light and truth and all the adornments of civil culture might be carried to the most distant parts of the world, could neither be deterred by dangers nor wearied by labors, until, having in a certain manner renewed the bonds between two parts of the human race so long separated, he bestowed upon both such great benefits that he in justice must be said to have few equals or a superior.

COLUMBUS THE GLORY OF CATHOLICISM.

The Pope held a reception at the Vatican on the occasion of the festival of his patron saint, St. Joachim. In an address he referred to Columbus as the glory of Catholicism, and thanked the donors of the new Church of St. Joachim for commemorating his jubilee.

THE POPE REVIEWS THE LIFE OF THE DISCOVERER.

The following is the text of the letter addressed by Leo XIII. to the archbishops and bishops of Spain, Italy, and the two Americas on the subject of Christopher Columbus.

LETTER OF OUR VERY HOLY FATHER, LEO XIII., POPE BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE, TO THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS OF SPAIN, ITALY, AND OF THE TWO AMERICAS, UPON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

_To the Archbishops and Bishops of Spain and Italy, and of the two Americas. Leo XIII., Pope._

VENERABLE BROTHERS, GREETING AND APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION: From the end of the fifteenth century, since a man from Liguria first landed, under the auspices of God, on the transatlantic shores, humanity has been strongly inclined to celebrate with gratitude the recollection of this event. It would certainly not be an easy matter to find a more worthy cause to touch their hearts and to inflame their zeal. The event, in effect, is such in itself that no other epoch has seen a grander and more beautiful one accomplished by man.

As to who accomplished it, there are few who can be compared to him in greatness of soul and genius. By his work a new world flashed forth from the unexplored ocean, thousands upon thousands of mortals were returned to the common society of the human race, led from their barbarous life to peacefulness and civilization, and, which is of much more importance, recalled from perdition to eternal life by the bestowal of the gifts which Jesus Christ brought to the world.

Europe, astonished alike by the novelty and the prodigiousness of this unexpected event, understood little by little, in due course of time, what she owed to Columbus, when, by sending colonies to America, by frequent communications, by exchange of services, by the resources confided to the sea and received in return, there was discovered an accession of the most favorable nature possible to the knowledge of nature, to the reciprocal abundance of riches, with the result that the prestige of Europe increased enormously.

Therefore, it would not be fitting, amid these numerous testimonials on honor, and in these concerts of felicitations, that the Church should maintain complete silence, since, in accordance with her character and her institution, she willingly approves and endeavors to favor all that appears, wherever it is, to be worthy of honor and praise. Undoubtedly she receives particular and supreme honors to the virtues pre-eminent in regard to morality, inasmuch as they are united to the eternal salvation of souls; nevertheless, she does not despise the rest, neither does she abstain from esteeming them as they deserve; it is even her habit to favor with all her power and to always have in honor those who have well merited of human society and who have passed to posterity.

Certainly, God is admirable in His saints, but the vestiges of His divine virtues appear as imprinted in those in whom shines a superior force of soul and mind, for this elevation of heart and this spark of genius could only come from God, their author and protector.

It is in addition an entirely special reason for which we believe we should commemorate in a grateful spirit this immortal event. It is that Columbus is one of us. When one considers with what motive above all he undertook the plan of exploring the dark sea, and with what object he endeavored to realize this plan, one can not doubt that the Catholic faith superlatively inspired the enterprise and its execution, so that by this title, also, humanity is not a little indebted to the Church.

There are without doubt many men of hardihood and full of experience who, before Christopher Columbus and after him, explored with persevering efforts unknown lands across seas still more unknown. Their memory is celebrated, and will be so by the renown and the recollection of their good deeds, seeing that they have extended the frontiers of science and of civilization, and that not at the price of slight efforts, but with an exalted ardor of spirit, and often through extreme perils. It is not the less true that there is a great difference between them and him of whom we speak.

The eminently distinctive point in Columbus is, that in crossing the immense expanses of the ocean he followed an object more grand and more elevated than the others. This does not say, doubtless, that he was not in any way influenced by the very praiseworthy desire to be master of science, to well deserve the approval of society, or that he despised the glory whose stimulant is ordinarily more sensitive to elevated minds, or that he was not at all looking to his own personal interests. But above all these human reasons, that of religion was uppermost by a great deal in him, and it was this, without any doubt, which sustained his spirit and his will, and which frequently, in the midst of extreme difficulties, filled him with consolation. He learned in reality that his plan, his resolution profoundly carved in his heart, was to open access to the gospel in new lands and in new seas.

This may seem hardly probable to those who, concentrating all their care, all their thoughts, in the present nature of things, as it is perceived by the senses, refuse to look upon greater benefits. But, on the other hand, it is the characteristic of eminent minds to prefer to elevate themselves higher, for they are better disposed than all others to seize the impulses and the inspirations of the divine faith. Certainly, Columbus had united the study of nature to the study of religion, and he had conformed his mind to the precepts intimately drawn from the Catholic faith.

It is thus that, having learned by astronomy and ancient documents that beyond the limits of the known world there were, in addition, toward the west, large tracts of territory unexplored up to that time by anybody, he considered in his mind the immense multitude of those who were plunged in lamentable darkness, subject to insensate rites and to the superstitions of senseless divinities. He considered that they miserably led a savage life, with ferocious customs; that, more miserably still, they were wanting in all notion of the most important things, and that they were plunged in ignorance of the only true God.

Thus, in considering this in himself, he aimed first of all to propagate the name of Christianity and the benefits of Christian charity in the West. As a fact, as soon as he presented himself to the sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, he explained the cause for which they were not to fear taking a warm interest in the enterprise, as their glory would increase to the point of becoming immortal if they decided to carry the name and the doctrine of Jesus Christ into such distant regions. And when, not long afterward, his prayers were granted, he called to witness that he wished to obtain from God that these sovereigns, sustained by His help and His mercy, should persevere in causing the gospel to penetrate upon new shores and in new lands.

He conceived in the same manner the plan of asking Alexander VI. for apostolic men, by a letter in which these words are found: "I hope that it will some day be given to me with the help of God to propagate afar the very holy name of Jesus Christ and his gospel." Also can one imagine him all filled with joy when he wrote to Raphael Sanchez, the first who from the Indies had returned to Lisbon, that immortal actions of grace must be rendered to God in that he had deigned to cause to prosper the enterprise so well, and that Jesus Christ could rejoice and triumph upon earth and in heaven for the coming salvation of innumerable people who previously had been going to their ruin. That, if Columbus also asks of Ferdinand and Isabella to permit only Catholic Christians to go to the New World, there to accelerate trade with the natives, he supports this motive by the fact that by his enterprise and efforts he has not sought for anything else than the glory and the development of the Christian religion.

This was what was perfectly known to Isabella, who, better than any other person, had penetrated the mind of such a great man; much more, it appears that this same plan was fully adopted by this very pious woman of great heart and manly mind. She bore witness, in effect, of Columbus, that in courageously giving himself up to the vast ocean, he realized, for the divine glory, a most signal enterprise; and to Columbus himself, when he had happily returned, she wrote that she esteemed as having been highly employed the resources which she had consecrated and which she would still consecrate to the expeditions in the Indies, in view of the fact that the propagation of Catholicism would result from them.

Also, if he had not inspired himself from a cause superior to human interests, where then would he have drawn the constancy and the strength of soul to support what he was obliged to the end to endure and to submit to; that is to say, the unpropitious advice of the learned people, the repulses of princes, the tempests of the furious ocean, the continual watches, during which he more than once risked losing his sight.

To that add the combats sustained against the barbarians; the infidelities of his friends, of his companions; the villainous conspiracies, the perfidiousness of the envious, the calumnies of the traducers, the chains with which, after all, though innocent, he was loaded. It was inevitable that a man overwhelmed with a burden of trials so great and so intense would have succumbed had he not sustained himself by the consciousness of fulfilling a very noble enterprise, which he conjectured would be glorious for the Christian name and salutary for an infinite multitude.

And the enterprise so carried out is admirably illustrated by the events of that time. In effect, Columbus discovered America at about the period when a great tempest was going to unchain itself against the Church. Inasmuch as it is permitted by the course of events to appreciate the ways of divine Providence, it really seems that the man for whom the Liguria honors herself was destined by special plan of God to compensate Catholicism for the injury which it was going to suffer in Europe.

To call the Indian race to Christianity, this was, without doubt, the mission and the work of the Church in this mission. From the beginning, she continued to fulfill it with an uninterrupted course of charity, and she still continues it, having advanced herself recently so far as the extremities of Patagonia.

Thus, when compelled by the Portuguese, by the Genoese, to leave without having obtained any result, he went to Spain. He matured the grand plan of the projected discovery in the midst of the walls of a convent, with the knowledge of and with the advice of a monk of the Order of St. Francis d'Assisi, after seven years had revolved. When at last he goes to dare the ocean, he takes care that the expedition shall comply with the acts of spiritual expiation; he prays to the Queen of Heaven to assist the enterprise and to direct its course, and before giving the order to make sail he invokes the august divine Trinity. Then, once fairly at sea, while the waters agitate themselves, while the crew murmurs, he maintains, under God's care, a calm constancy of mind.

His plan manifests itself in the very names which he imposes on the new islands, and each time that he is called upon to land upon one of them he worships the Almighty God, and only takes possession of it in the name of Jesus Christ. At whatever coast he approaches he has nothing more as his first idea than the planting on the shore of the sacred sign of the cross; and the divine name of the Redeemer, which he had sung so frequently on the open sea to the sound of the murmuring waves--he is the first to make it reverberate in the new islands in the same way. When he institutes the Spanish colony he causes it to be commenced by the construction of a temple, where he first provides that the popular fêtes shall be celebrated by august ceremonies.

Here, then, is what Columbus aimed at and what he accomplished when he went in search, over so great an expanse of sea and of land, of regions up to that time unexplored and uncultivated, but whose civilization, renown, and riches were to rapidly attain that immense development which we see to-day.

In all this, the magnitude of the event, the efficacy and the variety of the benefits which have resulted from it, tend assuredly to celebrate he, who was the author of it, by a grateful remembrance and by all sorts of testimonials of honor; but, in the first place, we must recognize and venerate particularly the divine project, to which the discoverer of the New World was subservient and which he knowingly obeyed.

In order to celebrate worthily and in a manner suitable to the truth of the facts the solemn anniversary of Columbus, the sacredness of religion must be united to the splendor of the civil pomp. This is why, as previously, at the first announcement of the event, public actions of grace were rendered to the providence of the immortal God, upon the example which the Supreme Pontiff gave; the same also now, in celebrating the recollection of the auspicious event, we esteem that we must do as much.

We decree to this effect, that the day of October 12th, or the following Sunday, if the respective diocesan bishops judge it to be opportune, that, after the office of the day, the solemn mass of the very Holy Trinity shall be celebrated in the cathedral and collegial churches of Spain, Italy, and the two Americas. In addition to these countries, we hope that, upon the initiative of the bishops, as much may be done in the others, for it is fitting that all should concur in celebrating with piety and gratitude an event which has been profitable to all.

In the meanwhile, as a pledge of the celestial favors and in testimony of our fraternal good-will, we affectionately accord in the Lord the Apostolic benediction to you, venerable brothers, to your clergy, and to your people.

Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, July 16th of the year 1892, the fifteenth of our Pontificate.

LEO XIII., _Pope_.

TO SPAIN.

CAPEL LOFFT.

O generous nation! to whose noble boast, Illustrious Spain, the providence of Heaven A radiant sky of vivid power hath given, A land of flowers, of fruits, profuse; an host Of ardent spirits; when deprest the most, By great, enthusiastic impulse driven To deeds of highest daring.

WRAPPED IN A VISION GLORIOUS.

The Rev. JOHN LORD, LL. D., a popular American lecturer and Congregational minister. Born in Portsmouth, N. H., December 27, 1810.

Wrapped up in those glorious visions which come only to a man of superlative genius, and which make him insensible to heat and cold and scanty fare, even to reproach and scorn, this intrepid soul, inspired by a great and original idea, wandered from city to city, and country to country, and court to court, to present the certain greatness and wealth of any state that would embark in his enterprise. But all were alike cynical, cold, unbelieving, and even insulting. He opposes overwhelming universal and overpowering ideas. To have surmounted these amid such protracted opposition and discouragment constitutes his greatness; and finally to prove his position by absolute experiment and hazardous enterprise makes him one of the greatest of human benefactors, whose fame will last through all the generations of men. And as I survey that lonely, abstracted, disappointed, and derided man--poor and unimportant; so harassed by debt that his creditors seized even his maps and charts; obliged to fly from one country to another to escape imprisonment; without even listeners and still less friends, and yet with ever-increasing faith in his cause; utterly unconquerable; alone in opposition to all the world--I think I see the most persistent man of enterprise that I have read of in history. Critics ambitious to say something new may rake out slanders from the archives of enemies and discover faults which derogate from the character we have been taught to admire and venerate; they may even point out spots, which we can not disprove, in that sun of glorious brightness which shed its beneficent rays over a century of darkness--but this we know, that whatever may be the force of detraction, his fame has been steadily increasing, even on the admission of his slanderers, for three centuries, and that he now shines as a fixed star in the constellation of the great lights of modern times, not only because he succeeded in crossing the ocean when once embarked on it, but for surmounting the moral difficulties which lay in his way before he could embark upon it, and for being finally instrumental in conferring the greatest boon that our world has received from any mortal man since Noah entered into the ark.

BY THE GRACE OF GOD HE WAS WHAT HE WAS.

ROSSELY DE LORGUES, a Catholic biographer.

Columbus did not owe his great celebrity to his genius or conscience, but only to his vocation, to his faith, and to the Divine grace.

IN HONOR OF COLUMBUS.

Archbishop Janssens of New Orleans has issued a letter to his diocese directing a general observance of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. The opening paragraph reads:

"Christopher Columbus was a sincere and devout Catholic; his remarkable voyage was made possible by the intercession of a holy monk and by the patronage and liberality of the pious Queen Isabella. The cross of Christ, the emblem of our holy religion, was planted on America's virgin soil, and the _Te Deum_ and the holy mass were the first religious services held on the same. It is, therefore, just and proper that this great event and festival should be celebrated in a religious as well as a civil manner."

The Pope having set the Julian date of October 12th for the celebration, and the President October 21st, the archbishop directs that exercises be held on both these days--the first of a religious character, the second