ewock, Maine, June 10, 1841. Pastor of Unity Church, Boston.
From his lecture, "The Religious Growth of Three Hundred Years."

Stand beside Columbus a moment, and consider how much and how little
there was known. It was commonly believed that the earth was flat and
was flowed round by the ocean stream. Jerusalem was the center. With the
exception of a little of Europe, a part of Asia, and a strip of North
Africa, the earth was unknown country. In these unknown parts dwelt
monsters of every conceivable description. Columbus indeed cherished the
daring dream that he might reach the eastern coast of Asia by sailing
west; but most of those who knew his dreams regarded him as crazy. And
it is now known that even he was largely impelled by his confident
expectation that he would be able to discover the Garden of Eden. The
motive of his voyage was chiefly a religious one. And, as a hint of the
kind of world in which people then lived, the famous Ponce de Leon
searched Florida in the hope of discovering the Fountain of Perpetual
Youth. At this time Copernicus and his system were unheard of. The
universe was a little three-story affair. Heaven, with God on his throne
and his celestial court about him, was only a little way overhead--just
beyond the blue dome. Hell was underneath the surface of the earth.
Volcanoes and mysterious caverns were vent-holes or gate-ways of the
pit; and devils came and went at will. Even after it was conceded that
the earth revolved, there were found writers who accounted for the
diurnal revolution by attributing it to the movements of damned souls
confined within, like restless squirrels in a revolving cage. On the
earth's surface, between heaven and hell, was man, the common
battleground of celestial and infernal hosts. At this time, of
course, there was none of our modern knowledge of the heavens, nor of
the age or structure of the earth.

[Illustration: From Harper's Weekly.

Copyright, 1892, by Harper & Brothers.

THE COLUMBUS MONUMENT, NEW YORK CITY.
Presented by the Italian Citizens.
(See page 243.)]

SENECA'S PROPHECY.

LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA, an eminent Roman stoic, philosopher, and
moralist. Born at Corduba, Spain, about 5 B. C.; committed suicide
65 A. D.

_Venient annis
Saecula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat teilus, Tethysque novos
Detegat orbes, nec sit terris
Ultima Thule._

THE TOMB IN SEVILL