RELIGION.
John Fletcher Hurst, D. D., LL.D., a noted American Methodist bishop. Born near Salem, Md., August 17, 1834. From his "Short History of the Church in the United States." Copyright, 1889. By permission of Messrs. Harper & Brothers, Publishers.
When Columbus discovered the little West India Island of San Salvador, and raised upon the shore the cross, he dedicated it and the lands beyond to the sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabella. The "Gloria in Excelsis" was sung by the discoverer and his weary crew with as much fervor as it had ever been chanted in the cathedrals of Spain. The faith was Roman Catholic. On his second voyage, in 1494, Columbus took with him a vicar apostolic and twelve priests, and on the island of Haiti erected the first chapel in the western world.[40] The success of Columbus in discovering a new world in the West awakened a wild enthusiasm throughout Europe. Visions of gold inflamed the minds alike of rulers, knights, and adventurers. To discover and gather treasures, and organize vast missionary undertakings, became the mania of the times. No European country which possessed a strip of seaboard escaped the delirium.