Chapter VI: Preface (6)

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.