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

A MEMORIAL TO COLUMBUS AT OLD ISABELLA.

From the _Sacred Heart Review_ of Boston, Mass.

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

"BOSTON, MASS., October 7, 1891.

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

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

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

"_