Columbian Islands, because, he says, many foreign nations might interpret this latter name to mean the Isles of Doves, and therefore it is better to preserve the original name of the great discoverer. Columbus, however, was the discoverer's family name, and it is thus curiously allegorized, or as the Methodists would say, improved by his son Fernando,.. in a manner which might have delighted Mr. Shandy. "His name and surname were not without some mystery. We may instance many names which were given by secret impulse, to denote the effects those persons were to produce, as in. his is foretold and expressed the wonder he performed. For if we look upon the common surname of his ancestors, we may say he was true Columbus, or Columba, for as much as he conveyed the grace of the Holy Ghost into that new world which he discovered, shewing those people who knew him not, which was God's beloved Son, as the Holy Ghost did in the figure
