'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."
'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 theSacred 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 Parade la Celebracion del Centenario."
"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 Parade la Celebracion del Centenario."
TOSCANELLI'S MAPTOSCANELLI'S MAPView larger image
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. DuceHic. post. oppidum. constitutumPrimum. in. mundo. novo. templumChristo. Deo. dicaruntEphemeris. BostoniensisCui. a. sacro. corde. est. nomenSub. auspice. civium. BostoniæNe. rei. tantæ. memoria. unquam. delabaturHæc. 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 dedicatedTo Christ our LordIn the new world.A Boston paper, called theSacred 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 theReviewtrouble 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 theTe Deum Laudamusand theGloria 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-fiveyears 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 theJesu 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 theReview, 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 withgratitude 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 theIndependent, 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 theReviewto 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.
The daring mariner shall urge far o'erThe western wave, a smooth and level plain,Albeit the earth is fashioned like a wheel.
Samuel Jefferson, a British author. From his epic poem, "Columbus," published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago.[43]
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 singShall my devoted lyre awake each string!Columbus! Hero! Would my song could tellHow great thy worth! No praise can overswellThe grandeur of thy deeds! Thine eagle eyePierced through the clouds of ages to descryFrom empyrean heights where thou didst soarWith 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 aspiredTo 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.
Annie Fellows Johnston.From a poem published inHarper's Weekly, June 25, 1892.[44]
Annie Fellows Johnston.From a poem published inHarper's Weekly, June 25, 1892.[44]
More than the compass to the marinerWast thou, Felipa, to his dauntless soul.Through adverse winds that threatened wreck, and nightsOf rayless gloom, thou pointed ever toThe north star of his great ambition. HeWho once has lost an Eden, or has gainedA paradise by Eve's sweet influence,Alone can know how strong a spell lies inThe witchery of a woman's beckoning hand.And thou didst draw him, tidelike, higher still,Felipa, whispering the lessons learnedFrom thy courageous father, till the floodOf his ambition burst all barriers,And swept him onward to his longed-for goal.Before the jewels of a Spanish queenBuilt fleets to waft him on his untried way,Thou gavest thy wealth of wifely sympathyTo build the lofty purpose of his soul.And now the centuries have cycled by,Till thou art all forgotten by the throngThat lauds the great Pathfinder of the deep.It matters not, in that infinitudeOf space where thou dost guide thy spirit barkTo undiscovered lands, supremely fair.If to this little planet thou couldst turnAnd 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 turnTo lay thy tribute also at his feet.
John S. Kennedy, an American author.
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.
Moses King, an American geographer of the nineteenth century.
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.
Was it by the coarse law of demand and supply that aColumbus was haunted by the ghost of a round planet at the time when the New World was needed for the interests of civilization?—Ibid.
Arthur G. Knight, in his "Life of Columbus."
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.
Lucius Lactantius, an eminent Christian author, 260-325 A. D.
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 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 chisela 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 noblefigure 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.
Alphonse Lamartine, the learned French writer and politician. Born at Macon, 1792; died, 1869. From "Life of Columbus."
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 parwith 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 aCivilizer.
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—theSPIRITUAL 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.
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."
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 smiteWith prickly seconds, or less tolerablyWith 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 mutinyCalm 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 drawnYea, 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 fledI saw my Judas needle shake his headAnd flout the Pole that, East, he lord confessed!God! if this West should own some other Pole,And with his tangled ways perplex my soulUntil the maze grow mortal, and I dieWhere 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 crewAgainst thyself, thyself far overfewTo front yon multitudes of rebel scheming?'Come, ye wild twenty years of heavenly dreaming!Come, ye wild weeks, since first this canvas drewOut of vexed Palos ere the dawn was blue,O'er milky waves about the bows full-creaming!Come, set me round with many faithful spearsOf confident remembrance—how I crushedCat-lived rebellions, pitfalled treasons, hushedScared 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, beforeWe 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 bandOf level clouds had aped a silver strand;So when we heard the orchard-bird's small song,And all the people cried, 'A hellish throngTo 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 dieIn 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 absentlyReturns, 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!'"
Eugene Lawrence, an American historical writer. Born in New York, 1823. From "The Mystery of Columbus," inHarper's Magazine, May, 1892.[46]
Eugene Lawrence, an American historical writer. Born in New York, 1823. From "The Mystery of Columbus," inHarper's Magazine, May, 1892.[46]
In Columbus the passion for gold raged with a violence seldom known. He dreamed of golden palaces, heaps oftreasure, 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."
STATUE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN THE MARIÑOL (MINISTRY OF THE COLONIES), MADRID, SPAIN.STATUE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN THE MARIÑOL (MINISTRY OF THE COLONIES), MADRID, SPAIN.Sculptor, Señor J. Samartin.
Pope Leo XIII., the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. From a letter in ChicagoInter Ocean, 1892.
Pope Leo XIII., the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. From a letter in ChicagoInter 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.
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 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.
The following is the text of the letter addressed by Leo XIII. to the archbishops and bishops of Spain, Italy, and the two Americas on the subject of Christopher Columbus.
LETTER OF OUR VERY HOLY FATHER, LEO XIII., POPE BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE, TO THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS OF SPAIN, ITALY, AND OF THE TWO AMERICAS, UPON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.To the Archbishops and Bishops of Spain and Italy, and of the two Americas. Leo XIII., Pope.Venerable Brothers, Greeting and Apostolic Benediction:From the end of the fifteenth century, since a man from Liguria first landed, under the auspices of God, on the transatlantic shores, humanity has been strongly inclined to celebrate with gratitude the recollection of this event. It would certainly not be an easy matter to find a more worthy cause to touch their hearts and to inflame their zeal. The event, in effect, is such in itself that no other epoch has seen a grander and more beautiful one accomplished by man.As to who accomplished it, there are few who can be compared to him in greatness of soul and genius. By his work a new world flashed forth from the unexplored ocean, thousands upon thousands of mortals were returned to the common society of the human race, led from their barbarous life to peacefulness and civilization, and, which is ofmuch more importance, recalled from perdition to eternal life by the bestowal of the gifts which Jesus Christ brought to the world.Europe, astonished alike by the novelty and the prodigiousness of this unexpected event, understood little by little, in due course of time, what she owed to Columbus, when, by sending colonies to America, by frequent communications, by exchange of services, by the resources confided to the sea and received in return, there was discovered an accession of the most favorable nature possible to the knowledge of nature, to the reciprocal abundance of riches, with the result that the prestige of Europe increased enormously.Therefore, it would not be fitting, amid these numerous testimonials on honor, and in these concerts of felicitations, that the Church should maintain complete silence, since, in accordance with her character and her institution, she willingly approves and endeavors to favor all that appears, wherever it is, to be worthy of honor and praise. Undoubtedly she receives particular and supreme honors to the virtues pre-eminent in regard to morality, inasmuch as they are united to the eternal salvation of souls; nevertheless, she does not despise the rest, neither does she abstain from esteeming them as they deserve; it is even her habit to favor with all her power and to always have in honor those who have well merited of human society and who have passed to posterity.Certainly, God is admirable in His saints, but the vestiges of His divine virtues appear as imprinted in those in whom shines a superior force of soul and mind, for this elevation of heart and this spark of genius could only come from God, their author and protector.It is in addition an entirely special reason for which we believe we should commemorate in a grateful spirit thisimmortal event. It is that Columbus is one of us. When one considers with what motive above all he undertook the plan of exploring the dark sea, and with what object he endeavored to realize this plan, one can not doubt that the Catholic faith superlatively inspired the enterprise and its execution, so that by this title, also, humanity is not a little indebted to the Church.There are without doubt many men of hardihood and full of experience who, before Christopher Columbus and after him, explored with persevering efforts unknown lands across seas still more unknown. Their memory is celebrated, and will be so by the renown and the recollection of their good deeds, seeing that they have extended the frontiers of science and of civilization, and that not at the price of slight efforts, but with an exalted ardor of spirit, and often through extreme perils. It is not the less true that there is a great difference between them and him of whom we speak.The eminently distinctive point in Columbus is, that in crossing the immense expanses of the ocean he followed an object more grand and more elevated than the others. This does not say, doubtless, that he was not in any way influenced by the very praiseworthy desire to be master of science, to well deserve the approval of society, or that he despised the glory whose stimulant is ordinarily more sensitive to elevated minds, or that he was not at all looking to his own personal interests. But above all these human reasons, that of religion was uppermost by a great deal in him, and it was this, without any doubt, which sustained his spirit and his will, and which frequently, in the midst of extreme difficulties, filled him with consolation. He learned in reality that his plan, his resolution profoundly carved in his heart, was to open access to the gospel in new lands and in new seas.This may seem hardly probable to those who, concentrating all their care, all their thoughts, in the present nature of things, as it is perceived by the senses, refuse to look upon greater benefits. But, on the other hand, it is the characteristic of eminent minds to prefer to elevate themselves higher, for they are better disposed than all others to seize the impulses and the inspirations of the divine faith. Certainly, Columbus had united the study of nature to the study of religion, and he had conformed his mind to the precepts intimately drawn from the Catholic faith.It is thus that, having learned by astronomy and ancient documents that beyond the limits of the known world there were, in addition, toward the west, large tracts of territory unexplored up to that time by anybody, he considered in his mind the immense multitude of those who were plunged in lamentable darkness, subject to insensate rites and to the superstitions of senseless divinities. He considered that they miserably led a savage life, with ferocious customs; that, more miserably still, they were wanting in all notion of the most important things, and that they were plunged in ignorance of the only true God.Thus, in considering this in himself, he aimed first of all to propagate the name of Christianity and the benefits of Christian charity in the West. As a fact, as soon as he presented himself to the sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, he explained the cause for which they were not to fear taking a warm interest in the enterprise, as their glory would increase to the point of becoming immortal if they decided to carry the name and the doctrine of Jesus Christ into such distant regions. And when, not long afterward, his prayers were granted, he called to witness that he wished to obtain from God that these sovereigns, sustained by His help and His mercy, should persevere in causing the gospel to penetrate upon new shores and in new lands.He conceived in the same manner the plan of asking Alexander VI. for apostolic men, by a letter in which these words are found: "I hope that it will some day be given to me with the help of God to propagate afar the very holy name of Jesus Christ and his gospel." Also can one imagine him all filled with joy when he wrote to Raphael Sanchez, the first who from the Indies had returned to Lisbon, that immortal actions of grace must be rendered to God in that he had deigned to cause to prosper the enterprise so well, and that Jesus Christ could rejoice and triumph upon earth and in heaven for the coming salvation of innumerable people who previously had been going to their ruin. That, if Columbus also asks of Ferdinand and Isabella to permit only Catholic Christians to go to the New World, there to accelerate trade with the natives, he supports this motive by the fact that by his enterprise and efforts he has not sought for anything else than the glory and the development of the Christian religion.This was what was perfectly known to Isabella, who, better than any other person, had penetrated the mind of such a great man; much more, it appears that this same plan was fully adopted by this very pious woman of great heart and manly mind. She bore witness, in effect, of Columbus, that in courageously giving himself up to the vast ocean, he realized, for the divine glory, a most signal enterprise; and to Columbus himself, when he had happily returned, she wrote that she esteemed as having been highly employed the resources which she had consecrated and which she would still consecrate to the expeditions in the Indies, in view of the fact that the propagation of Catholicism would result from them.Also, if he had not inspired himself from a cause superior to human interests, where then would he have drawn the constancy and the strength of soul to support what hewas obliged to the end to endure and to submit to; that is to say, the unpropitious advice of the learned people, the repulses of princes, the tempests of the furious ocean, the continual watches, during which he more than once risked losing his sight.To that add the combats sustained against the barbarians; the infidelities of his friends, of his companions; the villainous conspiracies, the perfidiousness of the envious, the calumnies of the traducers, the chains with which, after all, though innocent, he was loaded. It was inevitable that a man overwhelmed with a burden of trials so great and so intense would have succumbed had he not sustained himself by the consciousness of fulfilling a very noble enterprise, which he conjectured would be glorious for the Christian name and salutary for an infinite multitude.And the enterprise so carried out is admirably illustrated by the events of that time. In effect, Columbus discovered America at about the period when a great tempest was going to unchain itself against the Church. Inasmuch as it is permitted by the course of events to appreciate the ways of divine Providence, it really seems that the man for whom the Liguria honors herself was destined by special plan of God to compensate Catholicism for the injury which it was going to suffer in Europe.To call the Indian race to Christianity, this was, without doubt, the mission and the work of the Church in this mission. From the beginning, she continued to fulfill it with an uninterrupted course of charity, and she still continues it, having advanced herself recently so far as the extremities of Patagonia.Thus, when compelled by the Portuguese, by the Genoese, to leave without having obtained any result, he went to Spain. He matured the grand plan of the projected discovery in the midst of the walls of a convent, with theknowledge of and with the advice of a monk of the Order of St. Francis d'Assisi, after seven years had revolved. When at last he goes to dare the ocean, he takes care that the expedition shall comply with the acts of spiritual expiation; he prays to the Queen of Heaven to assist the enterprise and to direct its course, and before giving the order to make sail he invokes the august divine Trinity. Then, once fairly at sea, while the waters agitate themselves, while the crew murmurs, he maintains, under God's care, a calm constancy of mind.His plan manifests itself in the very names which he imposes on the new islands, and each time that he is called upon to land upon one of them he worships the Almighty God, and only takes possession of it in the name of Jesus Christ. At whatever coast he approaches he has nothing more as his first idea than the planting on the shore of the sacred sign of the cross; and the divine name of the Redeemer, which he had sung so frequently on the open sea to the sound of the murmuring waves—he is the first to make it reverberate in the new islands in the same way. When he institutes the Spanish colony he causes it to be commenced by the construction of a temple, where he first provides that the popular fêtes shall be celebrated by august ceremonies.Here, then, is what Columbus aimed at and what he accomplished when he went in search, over so great an expanse of sea and of land, of regions up to that time unexplored and uncultivated, but whose civilization, renown, and riches were to rapidly attain that immense development which we see to-day.In all this, the magnitude of the event, the efficacy and the variety of the benefits which have resulted from it, tend assuredly to celebrate he, who was the author of it, by a grateful remembrance and by all sorts of testimonials ofhonor; but, in the first place, we must recognize and venerate particularly the divine project, to which the discoverer of the New World was subservient and which he knowingly obeyed.In order to celebrate worthily and in a manner suitable to the truth of the facts the solemn anniversary of Columbus, the sacredness of religion must be united to the splendor of the civil pomp. This is why, as previously, at the first announcement of the event, public actions of grace were rendered to the providence of the immortal God, upon the example which the Supreme Pontiff gave; the same also now, in celebrating the recollection of the auspicious event, we esteem that we must do as much.We decree to this effect, that the day of October 12th, or the following Sunday, if the respective diocesan bishops judge it to be opportune, that, after the office of the day, the solemn mass of the very Holy Trinity shall be celebrated in the cathedral and collegial churches of Spain, Italy, and the two Americas. In addition to these countries, we hope that, upon the initiative of the bishops, as much may be done in the others, for it is fitting that all should concur in celebrating with piety and gratitude an event which has been profitable to all.In the meanwhile, as a pledge of the celestial favors and in testimony of our fraternal good-will, we affectionately accord in the Lord the Apostolic benediction to you, venerable brothers, to your clergy, and to your people.Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, July 16th of the year 1892, the fifteenth of our Pontificate.Leo XIII.,Pope.
LETTER OF OUR VERY HOLY FATHER, LEO XIII., POPE BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE, TO THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS OF SPAIN, ITALY, AND OF THE TWO AMERICAS, UPON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
To the Archbishops and Bishops of Spain and Italy, and of the two Americas. Leo XIII., Pope.
Venerable Brothers, Greeting and Apostolic Benediction:From the end of the fifteenth century, since a man from Liguria first landed, under the auspices of God, on the transatlantic shores, humanity has been strongly inclined to celebrate with gratitude the recollection of this event. It would certainly not be an easy matter to find a more worthy cause to touch their hearts and to inflame their zeal. The event, in effect, is such in itself that no other epoch has seen a grander and more beautiful one accomplished by man.
As to who accomplished it, there are few who can be compared to him in greatness of soul and genius. By his work a new world flashed forth from the unexplored ocean, thousands upon thousands of mortals were returned to the common society of the human race, led from their barbarous life to peacefulness and civilization, and, which is ofmuch more importance, recalled from perdition to eternal life by the bestowal of the gifts which Jesus Christ brought to the world.
Europe, astonished alike by the novelty and the prodigiousness of this unexpected event, understood little by little, in due course of time, what she owed to Columbus, when, by sending colonies to America, by frequent communications, by exchange of services, by the resources confided to the sea and received in return, there was discovered an accession of the most favorable nature possible to the knowledge of nature, to the reciprocal abundance of riches, with the result that the prestige of Europe increased enormously.
Therefore, it would not be fitting, amid these numerous testimonials on honor, and in these concerts of felicitations, that the Church should maintain complete silence, since, in accordance with her character and her institution, she willingly approves and endeavors to favor all that appears, wherever it is, to be worthy of honor and praise. Undoubtedly she receives particular and supreme honors to the virtues pre-eminent in regard to morality, inasmuch as they are united to the eternal salvation of souls; nevertheless, she does not despise the rest, neither does she abstain from esteeming them as they deserve; it is even her habit to favor with all her power and to always have in honor those who have well merited of human society and who have passed to posterity.
Certainly, God is admirable in His saints, but the vestiges of His divine virtues appear as imprinted in those in whom shines a superior force of soul and mind, for this elevation of heart and this spark of genius could only come from God, their author and protector.
It is in addition an entirely special reason for which we believe we should commemorate in a grateful spirit thisimmortal event. It is that Columbus is one of us. When one considers with what motive above all he undertook the plan of exploring the dark sea, and with what object he endeavored to realize this plan, one can not doubt that the Catholic faith superlatively inspired the enterprise and its execution, so that by this title, also, humanity is not a little indebted to the Church.
There are without doubt many men of hardihood and full of experience who, before Christopher Columbus and after him, explored with persevering efforts unknown lands across seas still more unknown. Their memory is celebrated, and will be so by the renown and the recollection of their good deeds, seeing that they have extended the frontiers of science and of civilization, and that not at the price of slight efforts, but with an exalted ardor of spirit, and often through extreme perils. It is not the less true that there is a great difference between them and him of whom we speak.
The eminently distinctive point in Columbus is, that in crossing the immense expanses of the ocean he followed an object more grand and more elevated than the others. This does not say, doubtless, that he was not in any way influenced by the very praiseworthy desire to be master of science, to well deserve the approval of society, or that he despised the glory whose stimulant is ordinarily more sensitive to elevated minds, or that he was not at all looking to his own personal interests. But above all these human reasons, that of religion was uppermost by a great deal in him, and it was this, without any doubt, which sustained his spirit and his will, and which frequently, in the midst of extreme difficulties, filled him with consolation. He learned in reality that his plan, his resolution profoundly carved in his heart, was to open access to the gospel in new lands and in new seas.
This may seem hardly probable to those who, concentrating all their care, all their thoughts, in the present nature of things, as it is perceived by the senses, refuse to look upon greater benefits. But, on the other hand, it is the characteristic of eminent minds to prefer to elevate themselves higher, for they are better disposed than all others to seize the impulses and the inspirations of the divine faith. Certainly, Columbus had united the study of nature to the study of religion, and he had conformed his mind to the precepts intimately drawn from the Catholic faith.
It is thus that, having learned by astronomy and ancient documents that beyond the limits of the known world there were, in addition, toward the west, large tracts of territory unexplored up to that time by anybody, he considered in his mind the immense multitude of those who were plunged in lamentable darkness, subject to insensate rites and to the superstitions of senseless divinities. He considered that they miserably led a savage life, with ferocious customs; that, more miserably still, they were wanting in all notion of the most important things, and that they were plunged in ignorance of the only true God.
Thus, in considering this in himself, he aimed first of all to propagate the name of Christianity and the benefits of Christian charity in the West. As a fact, as soon as he presented himself to the sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, he explained the cause for which they were not to fear taking a warm interest in the enterprise, as their glory would increase to the point of becoming immortal if they decided to carry the name and the doctrine of Jesus Christ into such distant regions. And when, not long afterward, his prayers were granted, he called to witness that he wished to obtain from God that these sovereigns, sustained by His help and His mercy, should persevere in causing the gospel to penetrate upon new shores and in new lands.
He conceived in the same manner the plan of asking Alexander VI. for apostolic men, by a letter in which these words are found: "I hope that it will some day be given to me with the help of God to propagate afar the very holy name of Jesus Christ and his gospel." Also can one imagine him all filled with joy when he wrote to Raphael Sanchez, the first who from the Indies had returned to Lisbon, that immortal actions of grace must be rendered to God in that he had deigned to cause to prosper the enterprise so well, and that Jesus Christ could rejoice and triumph upon earth and in heaven for the coming salvation of innumerable people who previously had been going to their ruin. That, if Columbus also asks of Ferdinand and Isabella to permit only Catholic Christians to go to the New World, there to accelerate trade with the natives, he supports this motive by the fact that by his enterprise and efforts he has not sought for anything else than the glory and the development of the Christian religion.
This was what was perfectly known to Isabella, who, better than any other person, had penetrated the mind of such a great man; much more, it appears that this same plan was fully adopted by this very pious woman of great heart and manly mind. She bore witness, in effect, of Columbus, that in courageously giving himself up to the vast ocean, he realized, for the divine glory, a most signal enterprise; and to Columbus himself, when he had happily returned, she wrote that she esteemed as having been highly employed the resources which she had consecrated and which she would still consecrate to the expeditions in the Indies, in view of the fact that the propagation of Catholicism would result from them.
Also, if he had not inspired himself from a cause superior to human interests, where then would he have drawn the constancy and the strength of soul to support what hewas obliged to the end to endure and to submit to; that is to say, the unpropitious advice of the learned people, the repulses of princes, the tempests of the furious ocean, the continual watches, during which he more than once risked losing his sight.
To that add the combats sustained against the barbarians; the infidelities of his friends, of his companions; the villainous conspiracies, the perfidiousness of the envious, the calumnies of the traducers, the chains with which, after all, though innocent, he was loaded. It was inevitable that a man overwhelmed with a burden of trials so great and so intense would have succumbed had he not sustained himself by the consciousness of fulfilling a very noble enterprise, which he conjectured would be glorious for the Christian name and salutary for an infinite multitude.
And the enterprise so carried out is admirably illustrated by the events of that time. In effect, Columbus discovered America at about the period when a great tempest was going to unchain itself against the Church. Inasmuch as it is permitted by the course of events to appreciate the ways of divine Providence, it really seems that the man for whom the Liguria honors herself was destined by special plan of God to compensate Catholicism for the injury which it was going to suffer in Europe.
To call the Indian race to Christianity, this was, without doubt, the mission and the work of the Church in this mission. From the beginning, she continued to fulfill it with an uninterrupted course of charity, and she still continues it, having advanced herself recently so far as the extremities of Patagonia.
Thus, when compelled by the Portuguese, by the Genoese, to leave without having obtained any result, he went to Spain. He matured the grand plan of the projected discovery in the midst of the walls of a convent, with theknowledge of and with the advice of a monk of the Order of St. Francis d'Assisi, after seven years had revolved. When at last he goes to dare the ocean, he takes care that the expedition shall comply with the acts of spiritual expiation; he prays to the Queen of Heaven to assist the enterprise and to direct its course, and before giving the order to make sail he invokes the august divine Trinity. Then, once fairly at sea, while the waters agitate themselves, while the crew murmurs, he maintains, under God's care, a calm constancy of mind.
His plan manifests itself in the very names which he imposes on the new islands, and each time that he is called upon to land upon one of them he worships the Almighty God, and only takes possession of it in the name of Jesus Christ. At whatever coast he approaches he has nothing more as his first idea than the planting on the shore of the sacred sign of the cross; and the divine name of the Redeemer, which he had sung so frequently on the open sea to the sound of the murmuring waves—he is the first to make it reverberate in the new islands in the same way. When he institutes the Spanish colony he causes it to be commenced by the construction of a temple, where he first provides that the popular fêtes shall be celebrated by august ceremonies.
Here, then, is what Columbus aimed at and what he accomplished when he went in search, over so great an expanse of sea and of land, of regions up to that time unexplored and uncultivated, but whose civilization, renown, and riches were to rapidly attain that immense development which we see to-day.
In all this, the magnitude of the event, the efficacy and the variety of the benefits which have resulted from it, tend assuredly to celebrate he, who was the author of it, by a grateful remembrance and by all sorts of testimonials ofhonor; but, in the first place, we must recognize and venerate particularly the divine project, to which the discoverer of the New World was subservient and which he knowingly obeyed.
In order to celebrate worthily and in a manner suitable to the truth of the facts the solemn anniversary of Columbus, the sacredness of religion must be united to the splendor of the civil pomp. This is why, as previously, at the first announcement of the event, public actions of grace were rendered to the providence of the immortal God, upon the example which the Supreme Pontiff gave; the same also now, in celebrating the recollection of the auspicious event, we esteem that we must do as much.
We decree to this effect, that the day of October 12th, or the following Sunday, if the respective diocesan bishops judge it to be opportune, that, after the office of the day, the solemn mass of the very Holy Trinity shall be celebrated in the cathedral and collegial churches of Spain, Italy, and the two Americas. In addition to these countries, we hope that, upon the initiative of the bishops, as much may be done in the others, for it is fitting that all should concur in celebrating with piety and gratitude an event which has been profitable to all.
In the meanwhile, as a pledge of the celestial favors and in testimony of our fraternal good-will, we affectionately accord in the Lord the Apostolic benediction to you, venerable brothers, to your clergy, and to your people.
Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, July 16th of the year 1892, the fifteenth of our Pontificate.
Leo XIII.,Pope.