e sight of God, and the force of the
world but weakness in his presence, it was very easy, with the power of
the Almighty and of your grandparents, to break and scatter the mists
and difficulties of the enchanted ocean. Laughing with good reason at
Alcides and his inscription, they discovered the Indies which were very
populous in souls to whom the road to heaven could be shown. The Indies
are also most abundant in all kinds of inestimable treasures, with which
the heavy expenses were repaid to them, and yet remained the richest
princes in the world, and thus continued to exercise their holy and
Christian liberality until death. By reason of this most famous
navigation, and new and marvellous discovery, they amended the
inscription on the columns of Hercules, substituting "Plus ultra" for
"Ultra Gades nil"; the meaning was, and with much truth, that further on
there are many lands. So this inscription, "Plus ultra," remained on the
blazon of the arms and insignia of the Indies of Castille.

[Note 16: From the poem of Coelius Sedulius, a Christian poet who
flourished about A.D. 450. The passage is--"Hostis Herodes impie
Christum venire quod timeo? Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat
coelestia." (Note by Dr Peitschmann.)]

As there are few who are not afflicted by the accursed hunger for gold,
and as good successes are food for an enemy, the devil moved the bosoms
of some powerful princes with the desire to take part in this great
business. Alexander VI, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, considering that this
might give rise to impediments in preaching the holy evangel to the
barbarous idolaters, besides other evils which might be caused, desired
of his own proper motion, without any petition from the catholic kings,
by authority of Almighty God, to give, and he gave and conceded for
ever, the islands and main lands which were then discovered and which
might hereafter be discovered within the limits and demarcation of 180 deg.
of longitude, which is half the world, with all the dominions, rights,
jurisdictions and belongings, prohibiting the navigation and trading in
those lands from whatever cause, to the other princes, kings, and
emperors from the year 1493, to prevent many inconveniences.

But as the devil saw that this door was shut, which he had begun to open
to introduce by it dissensions and disturbances, he tried to make war by
means of the very soldiers who resisted him, who were the same
preachers. They began to make a