Chapter 7

Edward Everett Hale, inOverland 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.

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 heardThe 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 thenThy sunken eye's unearthly lightTo him is welcome as the sightOf sky and stars to prison'd men;Thy grasp is welcome as the handOf brother in a foreign land;Thy summons welcome as the cryThat told the Indian isles were nighTo 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.

Murat Halstead, an American journalist. Born at Ross, Ohio, September 2, 1829. From "Genoa—the Home of Columbus," a paper inCosmopolitan, 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 bowtheir 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.

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 usedwill 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.

Edward J. Harding, in the ChicagoTribune, 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-famedCome 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'dReverberate far away?

IV.Our errand here to-dayHath warrant fair, ye say;We come with you to consecrateA hero's, ay a prophet's monument;Yet needs he none, who was so great;Vainly they build in Cuba's isle afarHis sepulcher beside the sapphire sea;He hath for cenotaph a continent,For funeral wreaths, the forests waving free,And round his grave go ceaselesslyThe 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 cameTo grace a prophet's fame.V.Beauteous upon the waters were the wingsThat bore glad tidings o'er the leaping waveOf sweet Hesperian isles, more bland and fairThan 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 wideA sun-pursuing highway did prepareFor those true-hearted exiles fewThe 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 waveLike tropic plumage, gules and gold;These ample halls, wherein ye viewWhate'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 religiouslyWe cherish here his memory.VI.Yet sure, the adventurous GenoeseDid never in his most enlightened hoursForecast the high, the immortal destiniesOf this dear land of ours.Nay, could ye call him hither from his tomb,Think ye that he would mark with soul elateA kingless people, a schismatic State,Nor on his work invoke perpetual doom?Though the whole Sacred College o'er and o'erPronounce him sainted, prophet was he noneWho to Cathaia's legendary shoreDeemed that his bark a path had won.In sooth, our Western pioneerWas all as prescient as heWho cried, "The desert shall exult,The wild shall blossom as the rose,"And to a passing rich resultThrough summer heats and winter snowsToiling 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 codeUpon the emblazoned walls of historyWe 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 chainWith shock on mighty shock we smote,Whereby with clearer gaze we scanThe 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 beforeHewing in twain the door,To thralls of custom and of circumstanceWe preach deliverance.O self-imprisoned ones, be free! be free!These fetters frail, by doting ages wroughtOf 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 averseLet 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 fireA stranger born—though honoring as a sireThe land that binds me with a closer tieThan hers that bore me—should from sullen throatSend forth a raven's ominous noteUpon a day of jubilee.Yet signs of coming ill I see,Which Heaven avert! Nay, rather let me deemThat like a bright and broadening streamFed by a hundred affluents, each a riverFar-sprung and full, Columbia's life shall flowBy level meads majestically slow,Blessing and blest forever!

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.

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 theirappreciation 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 whereofI 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.John W. Foster,Secretary of State.

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.

PORTRAIT OF COLUMBUS, BY SIR ANTONIO MORO.PORTRAIT OF COLUMBUS, BY SIR ANTONIO MORO.Used by Washington Irving to illustrate his "Life of Columbus." From the original in the possession of Mr. C. F. Gunther of Chicago.(See pages52and113.)

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.

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.

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 WeltEine ganze Welt geschenktUnd sie heisst America.Nicht befreien könnt'er unsAus dem orden ErdenkerkerDoch er wusst ihn zu erweiternUnd die Kette zu verlängern(Translation.)Some have given much already,But this man he has presentedTo the world an entire world,With the name America.He could not set us free, outOf the dreary, earthly prison,But he knew how to enlarge itAnd to lengthen our chain.

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—maybe compared with thatblush of dawnwhich 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fernando Herrera, Spanish poet, 1534-1597.Many sighed and wept, and every hour seemed a year.

Fernando Herrera, Spanish poet, 1534-1597.

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

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 aninstinctto search over unexplored seas for unknown lands.

Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, BaronVon 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.

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.

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 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 seems concentered on the illustrious name of Columbus.—Ibid.

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.

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.

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 hasbeen admirably characterized as a "conquest of reflection."—Ibid.

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 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.

From theSacred Heart Reviewof 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 theSacred Heart Reviewof 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. TheReviewentered 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 theReview, and asking certain concessions in return:

"Boston, Mass., October 7, 1891."Hon. Fco. Leonte Vazques,Dominican Consul-general, "New York City."Sir: TheSacred Heart Reviewof 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'Brienand others in behalf of theSacred Heart Review Monument Committee."

"Boston, Mass., October 7, 1891.

"Hon. Fco. Leonte Vazques,Dominican Consul-general, "New York City.

"Sir: TheSacred Heart Reviewof 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'Brienand others in behalf of theSacred 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 theSacred Heart Reviewof 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 theSacred Heart Reviewof 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.

"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 theSacred Heart Reviewof 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 theSacred Heart Reviewof 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.

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