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 dedicated To Christ our Lord In the new world. A Boston paper, called the _Sacred 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 the _Review_ trouble 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 the _Te Deum Laudamus_ and the _Gloria 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.