More than the compass to the mariner Wast thou, Felipa, to his dauntless soul. Through adverse winds that threatened wreck, and nights Of rayless gloom, thou pointed ever to The north star of his great ambition. He Who once has lost an Eden, or has gained A paradise by Eve's sweet influence, Alone can know how strong a spell lies in The witchery of a woman's beckoning hand. And thou didst draw him, tidelike, higher still, Felipa, whispering the lessons learned From thy courageous father, till the flood Of his ambition burst all barriers, And swept him onward to his longed-for goal. Before the jewels of a Spanish queen Built fleets to waft him on his untried way, Thou gavest thy wealth of wifely sympathy To build the lofty purpose of his soul. And now the centuries have cycled by, Till thou art all forgotten by the throng That lauds the great Pathfinder of the deep. It matters not, in that infinitude Of space where thou dost guide thy spirit bark To undiscovered lands, supremely fair. If to this little planet thou couldst turn And 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 turn To lay thy tribute also at his feet. INCREASING INTEREST IN COLUMBUS. 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. THE MECCA OF THE NATION. 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. THE CAUSE OF THE DISCOVERY. Was it by the coarse law of demand and supply that a Columbus was haunted by the ghost of a round planet at the time when the New World was needed for the interests of civilization?--_Ibid._ MAGNANIMITY. 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. THE IDEAS OF THE ANCIENTS. LUCIUS LACTANTIUS, an eminent Christian author, 260-325 A. D.