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IL.A.3yC.A.KTIJSrE.

CHIMSTOPHER COLUMBUS.

TKANSI.ATE1) INTO ENGLISH

IJv I. R()SS-\VE'l"HKRMAN.

SUTHERLANDS.

1887.

Entered according to the Act of the rarhainent of Canada, in the year oi
tliousriiul ci_<;ht huiulnul and eij,'lity-seven, by D, Sutiikkland, in tl
oftJC(; of the Minister or AgiicuUure.

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CIIRIST()Fllh:R COLUMBUS.

-♦♦-•-

The hand of God is not evident in the details of human
fiairs ; it is revealed in them as a whole. No sensible man
as ever denied that the great events which make up the
igtorical life of humanity are secretly bound together, and
^ranged in order by an invisible thread, suspended from the
11-powerful hand of the Sovereign Ruler of worlds, in order that
i|ey may work together for a purposed end. How can He,
'ho has given light to the eye, be blind ? How can He, who

n the yenr on*s given thought to His c-eature, be Himself unthinking?

KLANi), ill tii.^he ancients called this hidden design, this absolute and
Resistible working of God in human affairs. Destiny or Fatality ;
de moderns call it Providence, a more intelligent, more
aligious, and more paternal name.

\ In studying the history of humanity, it is impossible not to

dbognise, above and below the free action of man, the supreme

Ltd transparent action of Providence. This operation of

Providence, on the whole and on the mass, does not in any-

hang deprive our acts of liberty, in which alone consists the

norality of individuals and nations ; she apparently allows them

a move, to act, to go astray with a complete latitude of

jurpose, and of choice of good or evil in a certain sphere of

ittion and with a certain logical consequence of punishments

incurred or rewards merited ; but the grand general results of

these acts of individuals or nations belong to her and to her

done — she seems to reserve them for herself, independently of

111, for divine ends, of which we are ignorant and which she

olily allows us to see dimly when they are on the point of

attainment. Good and evil are our possession and our concern ;

but Providence makes sport of our perversities as of our virtues,

drawing from this good and evil, with the tame infallible

CHRISTOIMIKK COLUMHUS.

wisdom, the accomplishment of her desi^jn for humanity. 'I'fc>o, M
hidden but divine instrument of this Providence, when senis
deigns to make use of man for the prep ition or complcli0st to|
of a portion of her plans, is insi)iration. Inspiration is tru!)\^er
mystery of mankind, the source of which it is diHlcult to frir.edc
in man himself. reccej

It seems to come from a higher and more distant origin, anid th<
for this reason, we have also given to it a mysterious nanturopei
which is not well defined in any language : Oenius. The bir Whef
of a man of Genius is the work of Providence. Genius isirminf
gift. It is not ac(iuircd by work, it is not even attainable preads|
virtue ; it either is or is not, without it being possible for t^lcsar
very man who possesses it to give an account of its nature f Scot
of its possession. To this genius Providence sends inspiratioinden
Inspiration is to genius what the magnet is to metal. Sl|ia.
draws it, independently of all consciousness and will, to somiWhe
thing fatal and unknown, like the pole. Genius follows tljd the
inspiration that leads it on, and a moral or a material world ije irre
revealed, liehold Christopher Columbus, and the discovery «jd ini
America ! |e am

II. ¥»™ '

itwee
Columbus asi)ired in thought to the completion of the globliebanc
which seemed to him to lack one of its halves. It was tliiity c
want of harmony in terrestrial geography that troubled hin I So '
This want was ecjuully an inspiration of his time. There aimonan
ideas tliat float in the air like intellectual miasmas and whicflies o
thousands of men seem to breathe at the same momendiiity i
Every time that Providence prepares the world, unknown l | So v
itself, for some religious, moral, or political transformation, v]
can almost invariably observe this same phenomenon ;
aspiration and tendency, more or less complete, towards tl
unity of the globe by concjuest, by language, by religioi
proselytism, by navigation, by geographical discovery, or I
the multiplication of the relations of peoples amongst thei
selves, by means of the bringing nearer and the contact
these peoples, whom ways of communication, their needs ar
trade bind together in a single nation. This tendency towan
the unity of the globe, at certain epochs, is one of the mo**|lll.
clearly visible providential facts in the conclusions of history. | Or

, CMKISTOIMIER COLUMIJUS.

umanity. 'f'So, when the great eastern rivih'zati'on of India and F'-gypt
ice, when .sfms cxliauslcd by age, and (lod wishes to call Asia and the
or complctiest to a younger, brisker, and more active civihzation, Alex-
ation is trulju^er goes forth, without knowing why, from the valleys of
irticult to fi;ili(;edonia, drawing to himself the eyes and tlie auxiliaries of
feece, and the known world becomes one under the terror
nt origin, anid the glory of his name, from the Indus to the extremity of
Uerious nanturope.
Js. The bir When He wishes to prepare a vast audience for the trans-

Oenius isirming word of Christianity in the ICast and in the West, He
attainable preads the language, the dominion, the arms of Rome and
issible for t'lusar from the shores of the Persian (Uilf to the mountains
f its nature t Scotland, uniting under one mind and in one common de-
ds inspiratio|ndence Italy, (iaul, Cireat Britain, Sicily, Greece, Africa and
> metal. sAia.

will, to somTwhen He wishes, some centuries later, to snatch Arabia, Persia

s follows thid their dependencies from barbarism, and to make prevalent

erial world l|ie irresistible dogma of the unity of God over the idolatries

13 discovery «|nd indifference of these remote or corrupt parts of the world,

te arms Mahomet with the Goran and the sword ; He permits

slam to conquer, in two centuries, all the space comprised

jetween the Oxus and the Jagus, between Thibet and Mount

of the glohtjebanon, between Mount Atlas and Mount Taurus. A great

It was tluiiity of empire foreshadows a great unity of thought,
oubled hill i So with Charlemagne and the West, where his universal

There ait^onarchy prepares, on both sides of the Alps, from the con-
5 and whic^es of Scythia and Germany, the vast territory where Christi-
le momenaiiity is to receive and baptise the barbarians,
unknown i i So with the French revolution, that reform of the western world
>rmation, \\]jL the light of reason, when Napoleon, as enterprising as Alex-
>menon ; r^Jrider, marches his victorious armies over the subject continent,
towards tl ^tablishes for a moment the grand unity of France, and, thinking
by religioi mere to found his empire, in reality only sows the phrases, the
very, or I Keas, and the institutions of the revolution. So in our own
ongst thei flays, no longer in the shape of conquest, but in the form of
! contact intellectual, commercial and pacific communication between
,11 the continents and all the peoples of the globe, it is science
at becomes the universal conqueror to the profit and glory of
)f the mo^U.
o( history. % On this occasion Providence seems to have commissioned

r needs ar
ncy towar( ^

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

the genius of industry and discovery to prepare for her the mi***'' "
perfect unity of the terrestrial globe that has ever bound ^^ .
gether time, space and mankind in a closer, more comp.**/fj
and better assimilated whole. ' .

Navigation, printing, the discovery of steam, that econoni^'"*^
cal and irresistible propeller, which launches man, his armi(f^^ "
and his merchandise, ar. far and as swiftly as his thougiu ; t^"^'*^
construction of railroads, which remove mountains by pierciif^^ ^
them, and which level the whole earth ; thediscovery of the eU ^
trie telegraph, which gives to communications between the tw "''^"'1
hemispheres, the instantaneousness of lightning ; the discovci4'.'-*'Y
of balloons, which still wait for a rudder, but which will sool'" "'
open to navigation an element that is more universal and ler*^^^^^^
dangerous than the ocean ; all these nearly contemporaneoi j.'^V'
revelations of Providence through the inspiration of industrifl'f|"^
genius, are means of binding the globe together, of concentray^'
ing and contracting it within itself; means of drawing mcPJp^^
together and making them more alike. These instruments aij ^^\
so active and so evident, that it is impossible not to see in theiTP ^ 1
a final intention of Providence, a crowning effort towards thj^^^.l
unknown, and not to conclude that God is premeditating, f^>y ,11/
us and for our descendants, some design which is till concealcl ^
from our short vision, a design for the accomplishment of whic^^*^^
He takes His measures, in urging forward the world towards th"^'^® '
most powerful of unities, the unity of thought, which foretell
some great unity of action in the future.

In this way the mind of the fifteenth century was preparct
for some strange manifestation, either human or divine, whei
the great man, whose history we are about to relate, wa
born. There was an expectation of something : for the mine
of man has its presentiments.. They are the vague prediction
of realities which are drawing near.

HI.

pos
atut

In the spring of the year 1 47 1 , at mid-day, under a burning sur,
that baked the roads in Andalusia, on a hill about half a mile
from the little seaport of Palos, two strangers who were travelling
on foot, their shoes worn out by walking, their clothes, which
showed the remains of some degree of wealth, soiled by dust

CHRIHTOPHKR COLITMRUS.

for her the m<*''' foreheads bathed in perspiration, stopped and sat down

ever bound ^^'^^ ^^^ shadow of the outer porch of a little monastery,

more comp.'Jl*'*^^ Saint Mary of Rabida.

Their ap[)earance and their weariness alone begged for hos

that econotil'il'ty. The Franciscan monasteries were, at that time, the
i«in, his armi(Jps ^^* those foot travellers whom poverty forbade to approach
is thought ; t^hcr places of shelter. The group formed by the two stran-
ins by piercirf rs attracted the attention of the monks,
^ery of the elt ^^"^' ^^ them was a man who had scarcely reached the prime
2tween the t\4 ''f^» ^^^'» ^^^^ ^^">''» of fine carriage, with a noble brow, an

the discovcii**-'" ^countenance, a thoughtful look, a sweet and kindly mouth,
hich will soof '" '^^'^ '^8^^ brown in early youth, was prematurely tinged
vcrsal and leif^^^^ ^^^ temples by those v/hite locks which are hastened by
itemporaneoi#*'*-^y ^"^ misfortune. His brow was lofty ; his complexion,
^ o( industri.f •t3'"''^^ly ruddy, was pale from study and bronzed by the sun
of concentraV^^ '^^ *®** ^^^ sound of his voice was manly, sonorous and
drawing mcF"^'^'^^''"*^ *^ '^® tones of one who was wont to give utterance
struments ai*# gi^t^at thoughts. Nothing frivolous or careless was visible m
to see in thei^^ slightest gestures ; he seemed to respect himself without
t towards ihiesumption, or to observe in his actions the reserve of a pious
meditating, fo^^" '" ^ church, as if he had been in the presence of God.
till concealc'l ^ '^^ other was a child eight or ten years old. His features,
nent of whic'f ore feminine, but already accentuated by the hardships of life,
d towards thio''® ^^^^ ^ likeness to that of the first stranger, that it was
fiich foretell frpo^^'^^'^^ "ot to see in him either a son or a brother of the
ature man.

k'as prepare(l IV.

relate wi I. '^'^^^^ ^^o strangers were Christopher Columbus and his son
for the'min x^^^^" ^^^ monks, moved to curiosity and pity by the noble
• prediction t^^ ^^ ^^^ father and by the grace of the child, which were in
"Contrast to the poverty of their dress, invited them inside the

onastery to offer them the shade, bread and rest which are

e right of pilgrims.

Whilst Columbus and his son were refreshing and strengthen-
burnine sur t^^ themselves with the water, the bread, and the olives of their
half a mil r°^^^' table, the monks went to inform the Prior of the arrival
e travellij ^^ ^^^ ^^° travellers, and of the strange interest attaching to
thes whi( 1 ^^^^^^ distinguished appearance, which so strikingly contrasted
id by dust ^^^^ ^^^'' poverty.

8 CHRISTolMir.K COLUMHUS.

The Prior came down to talk to them. This superior ^ ^e ill
the monasctry of Rabida was Ju.iu IYt<«s de Marchenna, a fo/, nnf
mer confessor to (^uecn Isabella, who at that time shared wijt mi
Ferdinand the throne of Spain. $ a «i

A holy man, fond of knowledge and meditation, ho had prt|roM(|
fcrred the shelter of his rloister to the honours and intrigues «|ianc|
the court, but by this very retirement he had retained the dci|<)rc i|
respect of the court as well as great inlluence over the mind (d^platl
the (^ueen. Providence, no less than ( hance, had directed tlifp, wll
footsteps of Columbus, if she had indeed the intention of opci ■new
ing to him, by a trusty though invisible hand, the doors of th| sou^i
Privy Council and the car and heart of the Sovereigns.

The Prior welcomed the strangers, caressed the chdd, aniL^^ ^\l
en(piired kindly into the circumstances which compelled thcii^^jiy^j
to travel the devious roads of Spain on foot and to borrc .^ry,
shelter from the lowly roof of a poor and isolated monastery |^\^^. h
Columbus related his obscure life-history and unrolled his gre;it| ^y^.i
ide;iL. before th*i listening monk. 'I'hat life and those ideuAjch I
were but a hope and a conviction. What was afterwards knowiyl^^ ih
about them is at, follows : \Viie

VI. Aool:

^ent

Christopher Columbus was the eldest son of a wool-carder o*|iuUii
Genoa, to-day a very humble calling, at that time a liberal ancjn-o
almost noble profession. ^ed

In those industrial and commercial Italian republics, th j^irbo
artisans, proud of re-discovering or evolving industries, formeda gort
corporations ennobled by their art and of importance in thcfiipni 1
State. nacic(

He was born in 1436. He had two brothers, Bartholomew a^d «
and Diego, whom he sent for later on to share his labours, his ^q ih^
glory and his misfortunes ; he also had a sister younger than J^ing
his brothers ; she married a Genoese workman, and her obscu- ^[c
rity kept her for a long time removed from the splendour and T H
adversity of her brothers.

Our instincts are formed by the first sights that nature offers
to our senses in the place where we are born, particularly when

CHRISTOPirF.R COI.l'MIUfS.

• his superior ^e sights arc majestic nnd boundless as the momUains, the
irchcnna, a fo^^ -md the sea. Our imagination is the feeble imitation and
'»« shared w\f mirror of the first scenes that strike us. When Columbus
I .1 ( hild, his eyes first rested on the sky and sea of (lenoa.
"^n, he h.id prffro-iomy and navigation early drew his thoughts to these two
»d intrigues nances lying oj)en to ha view. He filled them with his fancy
ained the det'lore n«'w storking them with their continents and isles. Con-
cr the mind (|[iplative, silent, inclinetl to piety from his earliest years, he
■d directed tlup, while still a < iiild, borue by his genius into space, not only
fntion of opci ticw discovery, but to a deeper adoration. For that which
e doors of tlig sought beneath all in the divine handiwork was God.
•eigns. I -

VII.

, .. , nflis father, a man of intelligence and well-to-do in his profes-
ll'. 1* i'"''|"» ^^^^ '^^^ oppose the disposition which showed itself in the
n 1 ^t h '^""^'^'ows tastes of his son. lie sent him to I*avia to stu('y geo-
i ^^^^^^ .^xy^ geography, astronomy, astrology, the chimerical science

n V^'l'^^^*"'''yfthe time, and navigation. His mind ([uickly passed the limits
I .! ^'^ ^'^'-'•''i riiese then imi)erfect sciences. His was one of those souls
..« ?^? ^^''^i^ich always go beyond the mark where ordinary men stoi)
«'ards know.^h the cry : enough !

"When he was foui' en, he knew ill that was taught in the
ools, and returned to his family at (lenoa. His father's
entary and unintellectual profession, could not confine his
uUies. For several years he sailed on trading vessels, on
n-of-war, on voyages of adventure, which Genoese houses
ed out on the Mediterranean to dispute its waters and its
bours with the Spaniards, with the Arabs and Mahometans,
ort of perpetual crusade where trade, war and religion made,
m these sea affairs of the Italian republics, a school of com-
rce, of gain, heroism and sanctity. At once soldier, scholar
d sailor, he embarked on the vessels which his country lent
the Duke of Anjoi to conquer Naples, on the fleet which the
unger than Hjng of Naples sent to attack Tunis, and on the sciuadrons with
her obscu- ^[ch Genoa fought Spain.

Jndour and ^ He raised himself, it is said, to the command of obscure naval

eatpeditions in the military marine of his country. Hut history

Jure offers ^ses sight of him in these beginnings of his life. His destiny

larly wlien ^jfas not there ; he felt himself confined in these narrow seas and

3ol-carder or
I liberal aiu

Publics, th"v
ries, forme *
ance in thei

artholomew
labours, his

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

in these narrow enterprises. His imagination was greater thif,
his country. He meditated a conquest for humanity at la^jce'
and not for a small republic in Liguria. ihe

Itanl
VIII. Inci'

. WhI

In the intervals between these expeditions, Christopl^^gr
Col'-imbus found, in the study of his art, at once the satis fact i>|eg(
of his passion for geography and navigation, and his mod|^ gai'
livelihood. He designed, engraved and sold his marine chart]
this small trade was hardly sufficient for his existence, he rath
looked to it for the advancement of science than for gain. H
mind and intellect, continually fixed on the stars and the oceai
prosecuted in idea an end foreseen by himself alone.

A shipwreck, following a naval engagement, and the burninjon
of a galley that he commanded in the Bay of Lisbon, fixed li
house in Portugal. He threw himself into the sea to esca[
the flames, seized an oar with one hand, and, swimming t
wards the shore with the her, reached the beacn. Portugal
absorbed at that tirnx- by .he passion of maritime discovery
was a place of residence which suited with his inclinations. 11
hoped that he would find there, both opportunity and meanfy^m
of putting to sea at his pkasure ; he found in reality only tlii|ig w
ill-paid and sedentary occupation of a geographer, obscurity aii^hd
love. Going daily to the services at u convent church in Listl
bon, he conceived an attachment for a young ^ecluse, whos
beauty had struck him. She was the daughter of an Italiai
nobleman in the Portuguese service. Her father, when settim
out on a distant naval expedition, had entrusted her to the nuiv
of this convent. Attracted on her side by the thoughtful anc
majestic beauty of the young stranger, whom she saw regular!)
at the daily services of the church, she returned the love witl
which she had inspired him. As they were both in a foreigi:
country without relations or money, there was nothing to oppose
the inclination which they felt towards each other ; tney were
married, trusting to Providence and hard work, the sole dowr)
of Philippa and her lover. For the supp-^rt of his mother-in
law, his wife and himself, he continued the manufacture of maps
and globes which, on account of their perfection, were much
sought for by Portuguese sailors. The papers of his father-in

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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

was greater thr, which were given to him by his wife, and his correspon-

lumanity at la«0ce with Joscanelli, the famous Florentine geographer, fur-

jiied him, it is said, with precise knowledge concerning the

Itant Indian Ocean, and the means of correcting the first

ihciples of navigation, at that time confused and fabulous.

n While entirely wrapped up in his domestic happiness and

' th Y'^^l'^P 'SOgraphical studies, his first son was born, whom he called

and p Hbgo after his brother. His circle of friends consisted wholly

s m ^'^ "'jodi; sailors returning from distant expeditions, or dreaming of

anne cnartift^nQyyi, countries and of routes not yet traced upon the

an.

he workshop where he fashioned his maps and globes was

entre of ideas, of conjectures and projects that constantly

J , . j|L)ke to his imagination of some great discovery not yet made

ichr.« ^i:. T!"i°" ^^^ globe. His wife, the daughter and sister of sailors,

o shared in these enthusiasms. As he outlined his globes

itence, he rath

1 tot gain. }{

' and the ocea

lone.

nd tl

isbon, fixed hj

a to escajAh his fingers and marked his maps with islands and contin
ch^^'^p^'"^ ™s, a mighty void in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean im-
• " ,, ^'"PMBSsed Columbus. At that spot the earth seemed to lack the
disco ven^Ainterpoise of a continent. Rumours, vague, marvelous and
ible, spoke to sailors' imaginations, of shores dimly visible
m the summits of the Azores ; of islands, motionless or float-
which appeared in clear weather, only to disappear or to
hdraw into the distance, when rash pilots tried to approach
m. A Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, who was then looked
on as an inventor of fables, but whose truthfulness has since
n acknowledged by time, narrated to the western world the
c— .rvels 01 the continents, kingdoms and civilization of Tartary,
r to the nuH'Mdia and China, which were supposed to extend to where the
oughtful an( mo Americas lie in reality. Columbus himself hoped to find,
the extremity of the Atlantic, those lands of gold, pearls and
rrh, from which Solomon drew his riches, that Ophyr of the
ble since hidden in the cloud land of the distant and the mar-
lous. It was not a new, but a lost continent, for which he
ught. The attraction of the false led him to the true.
Following Ptolemy and the Arabian geographers, he sup-
sed, in his calculations, that the earth was a globe of wiiich
e could make the circuit. He thought this globe to be
aller than it is by some thousands of miles. He conse-
ently imagined that the extent of sea to be traversed in

clinations. H

ty and mean

eality only th.

obscurity an

church in Li,^

ecluse, whos

of an Italiai

when settini

saw regular]]
he love with
i in a foreigr
ng to oppose .1
; tney wer(
- sole down
s mother-in
:ure of maps
were mu( li
lis father-ill

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

order to reach these unknown parts of India, was less grittn
than sailors thought it, li*l

The existence or these countries seemed to him to ift^H
confirmed by the strange testimony of the captains who h^^
advanced the furthest beyond the Azores. Some had set4p'^
floating or the waves, branches of trees unknown in the wcttio
others pieces of carved wood, which had not been worked wii^
iron tools ; some, enormous firs, a single trunk hollowed int(>W^^'
canoe, which could carry eighty rowers ; others, gigantic reed^t^^
some, lastly, corpses of men, white or copper coloured, whc^"^
features resembled in nothing the Western, Asiatic, or Afric. 'It
races. ttem]

All these floating indications, from time to time, in the wal -
of ocean storms, and I know not what vague instinct th;-ii
always precedes the reality, as the shadow goes before tl ' rr. J
body when one has the sun behind him, foretold wonders t^
the common herd, and proved to Columbus the existence i5 i'
lands beyond the shores marked out by the hand of geographcj?
on the charts of the world. j' , *

Only he was convinced that these lands were but a prolongij? •
tion of Asia, filling more than a third of the circumference c^'
the globe. The extent of that circumference, then unknown t^
philosophers and geometricians, left to conjecture the extent c
ocean that had to be crossed to reach this imaginary Asia.

Some thought it incommensurable ; others imagined it to b
a kind of deep and boundless ether, in which sailors lose thei
way like u'ronauts to-day in the wastes of the firmament. Tb,
greater number, ignorant of the laws of gravitation and attrac
tion, which draw bodies towards the centre, and yet alread;
admitting the rotundity of the globe, believed that ships oi
men, carried by chance to the Antipodes, would break loos(|
from their attachment, to fail into the abysses of space.

The laws which govern the level and the movements of the
ocean were equally unknown to them. They thought of the \
sea, beyond a certain horizon, defined by islands alreadj
discovered, as a sort of liquid chaos, the enormous waves o
which rose into inaccessible mountains, hollowed into bottom
less whirlpools, rushed down from heaven in impassable cata
racii, which sucked in and swallowed up the vessels rasl
em igh to approach them. The better instructed, while ad

sec
op
C(

or<

y '

ea
on

nl
e^

u
o

CHRlSTorHKR CULUMHUS.

^> was less gritting the laws of gravitation anH n rertain level for expanses
li(iuid, thought that the rounded form of the earth gave the
' to him to :win an incline towards the Antipodes, which would carry
iptains who luips towards nameless shores, but which would never allow
Some had secfni to re-climb this slope to return to Europe. From these
^n in the wcU'ious prejudices respecting the nature, the form, the extent,
t-en worked wiHi the acclivities and declivities of the ocean, there was
hollowed intf>inied a wide-spread and mysterious terror, which a man of
I gigantic reedifestigating genius could alone approach in thought, and one
coloured, whnijniore than human audacity alone sail out to meet,
latic, or Afric; ,It was the struggle of a human soul against an element ; to

tiempt it, it needed more than man.
lie, in the wal I

le instinct th:| IX.

oes before tl v

old wonders • ♦ ^^^ unconquerable attraction which this enterprise had for
'le existence ^^ P°°^ geographer was the real tie which kept Columbus for
of '^eogranh^^^ many yeftts at Lisbon, as if in the country of his dreams.
li was the moment when Portugal, under the government of
J"t a prolonm^^" ^^'* ^*^ enlightened and enterprising prince, gave herself
rcumference ft' ^" ^ spirit of colonisation, trade, and adventure, to a
-n unknown (#<^^ession of naval attemps to bind Europe to Asia, and when
s the extent r 1^^^^ ^e Gama, the Portuguese colonist, was on tne point of
lary Asia ascovering the sea route to India by the Cape of Good

'gined it to btf °P^'

ilors lose the 1 Col^^'iibus, convmced that he would find a more open and
lament. TbW^^^ direct route by sailing straight before him to the west,
on and'attnc J^*^^"^^' ^^^^^ ^^"S solicitation, an audience of the King, to
3 yet alrea'd'l^y ^^^ plans of discovery before him, and to ask him for the
that shins 1 *^^"^ ^^ ^^^^^ accomplishment to the advantage of his king-

f break loose 1°'^^' ^°^^^ ^^ P^°^^ ^"^ SW- . *

pace. 1 ^^^ ^i"g listened to him with interest. The faith of this

tnents of th l^^'iown man in his hopes did not appear to him sufficiently
evoid of foundation to be relegated to the rank of chimeras,
lolumbus, besides his natural eloquence, possessed the elo-
uence of conviction. The King was sufficiently impressed to
ommission a council, consisting of scholars and pohticians, to
xamine the proposal of the Genoese sailor, and to report to
im on the probabilities of his enterprise. This council, which
eluded the King's confessor and some geographers whose in-

ought of the
Lnds already
>us waves
nto bottom
issable cata
vessels rasi
i, while ad

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

fluence was great at court, in proportion to the smallnes^a.

their difference from common prejudice, declared the ideas dii^

Columbus to be chimerical, and contrary to all the laws of ]) to

sics and religion. i 1>1

A second examining council, to which Columbus appealne,

with the King's permission, gave a decision more unfavouraicold

than the first. Nevertheless, by a piece of perfidy unknowi

the King, his counsellors imparted these plans to a certain c

tain, and secretly despatched a vessel without the knowledThel

of Columbus to attempt the route to Asia which he had iiiii sci'

cated. This ship, having penetrated some days' sail beyor. pre

the Azores, returned, terrified by the void and the immensi; sei

of space, half seen, and confirmed the council in its contenisiest

for the conjectures of Columbus. ciety|

lich

X. His

^ -d tul

While vainly soliciting the Portuguese Court, the unfortunaQ^jief

Columbus had lost his wife, at once his love and consolatio fjystl

and the hopeful inspiration of his dreams. His means of liv^ i\iq\

lihood, neglected for prospects of discovery, were at a low eblgja w

his creditors were eager for the fruits of his labour, they seize jje

his globes and charts, and even threatened his liberty. ManQU^ tl

years had thus been lost in waiting ; he was approaching mi(\^ei

die life ; his son was growing up ; the extremes of misery wer,|^er!

the only patrimony he saw before him, instead of the worl(^ev

he had outlined for himself. dll ol

He stole av/ay by night from Lisbon, on foot, without othe^t b'

resources than hospitality by the way, now leading his soifthe

Diego by the hand, now carrying him on his strong shoulders g^m

' he entered Spain, decided to offer to Ferdinand and Isabella[oiis

who were then on the throne, that continent which Portugafeip,

had refused. n in

It was in the prosecution of this long pilgrimage to the ever -Ju

shifting seat of the Spanish court, that he had reached the doori^cJ

of the monastery of Rabida, near Palos. He proposed to gc^a

first to the little town of Huerta, in Andalusia, where a brotheij^orl

of his wife was living, to leave his son Diego in the hands opurj

this brother-in-law, and to face alone the delays, the hazardscoui

and perhaps the incredulity of the court of Ferdinand and Isa-and

us.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

* the smallnesia. It is said that before going to Spain, he had thought it
-lared the ideasdiity, as an Itahan and a Genoese, first to offer his discov-
^1 the laws of p to Genoa, as his native country, and to the Venetian Sen-

; but these two republics, taken up by ambitions nearer
)lumbus appealne, and by more pressing rivalries, answered his solicitations
lore unfavoura'coidness and refusal,
rndy unknowr yt

5 to a certain c ^^'

\ V^? ^"°^^^(The Prior of the monastery of Rabida was better versed in
" ,"^.had inti sciences relating to navigation than pertained to a man of
ays sail beyor, profession. His monastery, which commanded a view of
i the immensi; sea, and was near the small harbour of Palos, one of the
m Its conten^siest in Andalusia, had thrown the monk constantly into the

ciety of the navigators and shipowners of this little town,

lich was entirely given up to sea affairs.

His studies, whilst he resided at the capital, and the court,
the unf ^ turned in the direction of the natural sciences and the

id con I "^'^ol>l6"is that were exercising men's minds. He was moved
J mean^ f5-° ^^^^ ^^ P^^^' ^"^' ^°°" afterward, when talking to Columbus
^ _^ „ ,^ ,h the subjects of the day, by conviction and enthusiasm for a
e at a low pI^ i i.i- • !••

yj. .1 .'^^an who seemed to him so superior to his circumstances.

ibert ^^ m'^*^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^"^ °^ *^^ emissaries of God, who are driven
Droa h' "om the thresholds of princes and cities, to which they bring
Q^ . ^"^ "^^ tiieir needy hands the invisible treasures of truth. Religion
I of th^^^ ^^'^tt4erstood genius, which is also a revelation demanding its

tne worl(Qjie,^gj.s jij^g ^j^g other. The monk felt himself drawn to be

with f 1, '^^ °^ these worshippers who share in the revelations of genius,

idin h' ° 'o* by discovery, but by faith. Providence generally sends one

h M ^^^ these believers to eminent men, to keep them from discour-
and f^^^f^g^i^snt in the face of the incredulity, harshness or persecu-

• , p^^^^'^ons of the crowd : theirs is the most sublime form of friend-

"ortugajjip^ these friends of truth misunderstood, and confidants of
, . , O impracticable future.

h H fh ^^^^ "Juan Peres, in the depths of his solitude, felt himself predes-

tne dooriB^d by heaven to introduce Columbus to the favour of Isa-

posed to gO)eila, and to become the apostle of his great design in the

[h \ ^^^^^^^^^' What he appreciated in Columbus was not only his

e nands ojpi^pose, it was himself, it was his elegance, disposition and

nH ^^^'^^^^^rage ; modesty, seriousness and eloquence ; piety, virtue

and Isa-aip sweetness ; grace, patience, and misfortune nobly borne,

€

CHRISTOPHER COLUMIJUS.

that revealed in this stranger one of those natures niarkcry tl
a thousand perfections, with the divine seal, which f()ri)m tl(
to pass l)y, and compels us to admire the uni([ue man. i

After their first conversation, the monk not only yicUh k h\
conviction to his guest, he gave him his heart, and, whal thj
rarer thing, he never witlidrew it from him. Columbus hen J
friend. aenf

XII. dlyl

dedl

Juan Peres induced Columbus to accept a shelter for shis
days, or at least a resting place for himself and his child, irepoi
humble monastery. During this short stay, the Prior tolry ol
friends in the town, who lived near Palos, of the arrivalm e
adventures of the guest who was visiting him. He invited timb
to the monastery to talk to the stranger about his conjertitver.
intentions and plans, in order to find out if his theories agnatic
with the ideas which the sailors of Palos had formed from oiaci
rience. An eminent man, who was a friend of the Prior, his
Fernandez, and Pierre de Velasco, an experienced navipighti
living at Palos, came, on the monk's invitation, to pass se^
evenings at the monastery ; they listened to Columbus,
their eyes opened by his conversation, and entered intrjolur
ideas with all the warmth of upright minds and simple he:he (
forming that first reunion where all new faiths are born iiiid, ^
firm trust of a few proselytes, in the shadow of intimacy, n, ani
tery and solitude. Every great truth begins as a secret betms fo
friends before bursting full-voiced on the world. These ch i:
friends, whom Columbus had won over to his convictionsion
the cell of a poor monk, were perhaps dearer to him thanrcd.
enthusiasm and applause of all Spain, when success had corhe
crated his forecasts. The former believed on the assurancld t
his word, the latter were to believe only on the witness ofl Iss
consummated discoveries. pos

XIII. «J"^

l88Ul

The monk, confirmed in his impressions through the tes'^WIs
of his ideas by the learning of Dr. Fernandez, and the exi*^
ence of Velasco, the sailor, became, together with these 1*** ^
warmly interested in his guest. "^

He persuaded him to leave his son under his care in ^^
monastery of Rabida, and to go to the court to offer his

nvs.

CHRISTOI'HKR COLUMIjUS.

natures markcry to Ferdinand and Isabella, soliciting from these sover-

^I» vvhich forhid the necessary assistance for the accompiishinent of his

nK^ue wan. j. Chance rendered an introduction from the humble

JOt only yicldoit both natural and powerful at the Spanish court. He had

loart, and, wlial there for a considerable time, holding the ear of the

Columbus hen as keeper of her conscience, and, since his taste for re-

aent had withdrawn him from the Palace, he had maintained

dly relations with the new confessor whom he had recom-

ded to the Queen.

a shelter for shis confessor, the controller of the consciences of kings at

nd his child, irepoclj, was Fernando de Talavera, the superior of the mon-

, the Prior tolry of the Prado, a worthy, influential, and upright man, to

ot the arrivalm every door in the Palace was open. Juan Peres handed

He mvited timbus a warm letter of recommendation for Fernando de

»ut his conjertuvera. He supplied him with a suitable outfit for his pre-

his theories ai^ation at court, a mule, a guide, a purse of sequins, and,

lormed from ^racing him at the gate of the monastery, commended him

J of the Prior, his project to the God who inspires men with great

;rienced navJLights.

on, to pass se^ XIV.

to Columbus,

I entered intrJolumbus set out for Cordova, which was then the residence
md simple hc:he court, filled with gratitude to his first and generous
is are born iiiid, who never lost sight of him or withdrew his interest in
of mtimacy, n, and to whom he afterwards invariably ascribed the origin
s a secret betvjis fortune. He went forward with that confidence of success
orld. These ch is the illusion, but also the guiding star of genius. The
us convictionsion was soon to be dissipated, and the star soon to be ob-
r to him than red.

■iccess had cofhe moment when the Genoese adventurer came to offer a
the assurancld to the crown of Spain seemed badly chosen ; Ferdinand
le witness ofl Isabella, far from thinking of the conquest of problemati-
possessions beyond unknown seas, were occupied in the re-
iquest of their own kingdom from the Spanish Moors. These
issulman conquerors of the Peninsula, after a long and pros-
rough the tes'OBs possession, saw themselves deprived one by one of the
, and the exiWWl and provinces, of which they now only held the moun-
with these A* and valleys surrounding Grenada, the capital and marvel
their empire. Ferdinand and Isabella employed all their
his care in ^W"* ^^^ their efforts, and all the resources of their two united
to offer his ii

CHKISTOl'IIKR COLUMHUS.

kingdoms to wrest this citadel of Spain from the Nig
United by a marriage of policy, which love had consul p
and a common glory rendered illustrious, one had broiini
dowry the kingdom of Arragon, the other the kingdom (,lu
tile, to this community of crowns. But, although the Kiige
Queen had thus blended their separate provinces in one i
try, they nevertheless retained a distinct and independcijh
over their heieditary kingdoms. They had their separate tl
isters and council for the special interests of their fornufo
sonal subjects. le

These councils were only united in a single governnicii
behalf of the patriotic interests common to the two crd
and to the King and Queen. Nature seemed to have en at
these two sovereigns with forms, qualities, and perfectiloi
body and mind, difterent, but nearly equal, as if to rendtci
feet in the two the reign of prestige, conquest, civilizatioj,
prosperity, for which she destined them. Ferdinand, lii
what older than Isabella, was an accomplished soldier j,
consummate politician. Before the age when a man leato
sad experience to know his fellows, he divined them. His
faults were a certain incredulity and coldness which arisi j
distrust, and which shut the heart to enthusiasm and genech
But these two virtues, which he lacked in some degrceev
supplied in his councils by the gentleness of soul and ovve
ing heart and genius of Isabella. Young, beautiful, tb
mired of all, adored by him, learned, pious without superria
eloquent, full of fire for great deeds, attracted by grealls
hopeful of great ideas, she impressed on the heart and tb i
icy of Ferdinand the heroism which springs from the so I
the marvellous which is born of the imagination. She in
he executed ; the one found her recompense in her hus
renown, the other his glory in his wife's admiration and Kej

This double reign, which was to become almost fabulmg
Spain, but waited, to be ever immortalized among all )h
the arrival of this poor stranger who came to beg admittale
the palace at Cordova, bearing the letter of a lowly nn c
his hand. h

XV.

This letter, which the Queen's confessor read with scei c
and prejudice, only opened to Columbus a long v^c«
anticipation, discouragement, and audiences refused.

MIUJS.

CHRISTOrilKK COLUMIJUS.

lin from the ^t only in retirement and leisure that men have ears for
ove had consol projects. In the ferment of business and of courts, they
3, one had broii neither the lime or the f;ood-will.

r the kingdom (•lonibus was repulsed at every door, because he was a
ilthough the Kii^r, says the historian Ovicdo, the contemporary of that
:)rovinces in one rnan, because he was poorly clad, and because he
and independcijht to courtiers and ministers no other recommendation
iad their sejjarauthe letter of a solitary Franciscan monk, who had been
ts of their forme forgotten at court.

le King and Queen did not even hear of him; Isabella's
single governintiiBor, either from contempt or indifference, com|)letely
n to the two er(J the hop^ which Juan Peres had placed in hirn. (Jolum-
jmed to have en at steadfast as certainly that awaits its time, remained at
ies, and perfectilova, in order to watch upon the spot for a more favourable
al, as if to rencl»ent. When, in long waiting, he had exhausted the small
iquest, civilizati(i5, which his friend, the Prior of Rabida, had given him,
m. Ferdinand, ijned a wrotched living by his small trade in globes and
nplished soldiery playing with the representations of a world which he
when a man leato conquer.

vined them. Hiii rough and uncomplaining existence during these many
dness which arisi allows us, in the depths of his obscurity, but a glimpse of
usiasm and genechedness, hard work, and hopes deceived,
in some degrecevertheless, young and tender of iicart, he loved and was
;s of soul and ovvcd during these years of trial ; for a second son, Ferdinand,
mg, beautiful, t born about this time of a mysterious love affair, which
us without superriage never consecrated, and the memory of which he
;tracted by grealU in his will in touching words of remorse. This illegiti-
the heart and tfe son he brought up with as much tenderness as his other
ngs from the so Diego.

ination. She in XVI.

ense in her hus

idmiralion and I'.eanwhile, his refinement and dignified presence showed
ne almost fabuliugh the disguise of his humble calling. The distinguished
zed among all )le, with whom he was occasionally brought in contact by
e to beg admittdealings in scientific instruments, received from his person
er of a lowly mi conversation an impression of astonishment and charm,
'.h, like the lightning flash, blazes forth from mean surround-
the greatness of a destiny. These business transactions
)r read with scei conversations imperceptibly gained him friends, whose
ibus a long v^W have been preserved by history to share the gratitude of
ces refused.

CHKISTOPHKK COLUMMUS.

(

1
I

I) I >

the future world ; it mentions Alonzo dc (}uintanilla, (
trollcr of the (V.ieen's Finances; (Icraldini, tutor of th<
princes, her sons ; Antonio (leraldini, Papal Nuncio
court of Ferdinand ; and, last, Mendoza, Cardinal Ar( li
of Toledo, a man of such influence that he was called iUj
King of Spain.

xvir.

•n

The Archbishop of Toledo, frightened at first In
geographical innovations which seemed, erroneously, to
diet the concei)tions of the celestial medianism contaid
the Bible, was soon reassured by the sincere and reniaie
piety of Columbus. He ceased to fear a blasphemy u e,
which exalted the works and the wisdom of (Jod. Atil
by the system and charmed by the man, he obtained le
prott?g6 an audience of his sovereigns. Columbus, after t\v( d
of waiting, appeared at this audience with the modesty k
unassuming stranger, but with the confidence of a tributarri
brings to his masters more than they can give to him. d

" In thinking of what I was," he himself wrote later, "'«
abashed by humility; but, reflecting on what I brought, is
myself the ecpial of kings ; I was no longer myself, I wac
instrument of God, chosen and marked out for the accomo
ment of a great design." e(

XVIII.

Ferdinand listened to Columbus with seriousness, Is;*
with enthusiasm. From his first look and from his first aci*
she conceived for this messenger of God an admiration r
amounted to fiinaticism, and an attraction which touched '
tenderness. Nature had endowed Columbus with the per^'
charms that captivate the eye, as well as with the elo(ji^
that persuades the mind. One would have said that sh?'
signed him to have a queen for his first apostle, and tlia
truths with which he was to enrich his age were to be wclo
and cherished in a woman's heart. Isabella was this w(^
her faithfulness to Columbus neither failed before the inc*
ence of her court, oi before his enemies, or his misforl
She believed in him from the first day, she was his proselyj

the throne and his friend till death.

MFurs.

CllKlSTUl'llKK COLUMIJUS.

dc Quintanilla,
lini, tutor of tlu
Papal Nuncio
L. Cardinal An

nand, after hearing Columbus, appointed an examining
il to tiicet at Salamanca, under the presidency of Fernando
iavcrn, I'lior of the Prado This council was composed of

he was called iIr'®*" ^'**-* ^^^^ kingdoms who were best versed in the sacred

rofane sciences. It met in this literary capital of Spr.in,

'. I)(MTiiniran monastery, where Columbus was a guest.

•riests and monks were at that time the arbiters of every-

fied at first by in Spain. Civilization had its being in the sanctuary.

erroneously, to - > were only monarchs of their actions, their thoughts be-

cchanism contai d to the P()|)e. The Infjuisition, that sacerdotal police,

incere and reiu.ued, reaciied and struck, even undor the shadow of the

a blasphemy iiiCt all that incurred the taint of heresy. The King had

)m of God. Atil to this council professors of astronomy, geography and

n, he obtained le sciences taught at Salamanca. This auditory did not

)lumbus, after l\v( date Columbus; he hoped to be judged by his peers, he

/ith the modestyidged only by those who despised him. The first time he

ence of a tributarred in the great hall of the monastery, the monks and pre-

i give to him. d men of science, convinced beforehand that every theory

elf wrote later, "^cnt beyond their knowledge or routine was but the dream

what I brought, iscased or presumptuous mind, only saw in this obscure

nger myself, I wacr an adventurer seeking a fortune from his chimeras. No

)ut for the accomondescendcd to listen to him, with the exception of two

ee monks from the monastery of St. Etienne of Salamanca,

le men and without authority, who gave themselves up in

cloister to studies which were scorned by the superior

jg.. The other examiners overwhelmed Columbus by quo-

,^(,jl from the ]iil)le, the prophets, the psalms, the gospels and

an admiration \^^^^ ^^ ^he church that pulverized beforehand, by texts

n which touched "dmittcd of no discussion, the theory of the globe and

cibus with the pcr^*^^^^ •^"^^^ impious existence of the antipodes. Lactance,

s with the elo(|iJ^^^^^'^^' ^''^^ ^'°'''"^^'y ^'^P'*^^"^^ ^'^ P^^^^^^*^ ^" ^^'*^ ^'^^P®^'
lave said that shi^^^S^ which was brought forward against Columbus,
apostle and tlia tthere anything so absurd," Lactance had said, " as the
J were to be wclo^*^ there are antipodes who have their feet opposite to
^pIU wnc fVii'c «,/-Tt**n who walk with their heels in the air and their heads
ed before the inr^°"""' ^ P^^^ ^^ ^"® world where everythmg is upside
s or his misfort ^^^^ '^^' ^^^^^ g^ow with their roots in the air and their

e'was his prosely'*^ ^" \^*^ earth."

Aiigustine had gone even further, for he had called the

O^lef in the antipodes an iniquity :

seriousness,
from his first

CHRISTOPMI.K COLUMBUS.

•' For," said he, •• that would he to suppoHC there are
that (h) not descend from Adam ; hut the Bible says
men «1( .< end honi one and the »ame parent." ^

Other learned doctors, taking a poetical mctapli< j
system of the world, <pioled to the geographer this veric
psahn where it says, (i(><l stretched the heaven over tlj
like a lent, whence it followed, according to them, that t{
must be flat.

It was in vain that Columbus answered his interrogate
a piety which did not refuse to take into account the ^
nature ; it was in vain that, respectfully following them i^
logical ground, he showed iiimself to be more religious j
orthodox than ll»ey, because he was more enthusiastic .^
works of CfOd. The thunders and lightning of his ch ^
impassioned by truth, were lost on the wilful darkness .
stubborn minds. Only a few monks seemed stirred b j
or shaken by conviction at his voice. Diego de Deza, j
of the Dominican order and a man in advance of his tn,
afterwards became Archbishop of Toledo, generously v
to combal the prejudices of the council and to lend the j
of his word and authority to Columbus. This unexpe( ^
could not overcome the indifference or obstinacy of the ^
ers. The conferences were renewed, without leading ^
conclusion. They finally flagged, harassing the truth !)).,
lays that are the last refuge of error. They were inl( ,
by a fresh war which Ferdinand and Isabella waged aga.
Moors of Grenada. Columbus, put off, saddened, scon
dismissed, sustained only by the favour of Isabella and \^
quest of Diego de Deza to his theory, i)itiably followed t,.,
and the army from camp to camp and city to city, wattj
vain for an hour's attention, which the tumult of arms pr,
him from obtaining. Meanwhile the Queen, as constar^
secret fav( ur which she bore him as fortune was uiiq
continued to have good hope of this unappreciated geij
to extend him her protection. She had a house or u^
served for Columbus at all the halting places of the cou
treasurer was charged to entertain the learned foreignct
an importunate guest who begs assistance, but as a distir^
visitor who honours the kingdom and whose services n
wish to retain.

.UMHUS.

CHRISToriIEK LOI.UMIJUS.

'^S

XIX.

idppoHC there arc
It ttie Hible ntxy ,

)arcnt. tvenil yearn pasurd l)y, during which the King of Portugal,

pociual inctaph. jjjj ^f Kngland and the King of France, having heard
igr.iplK'i^ this ver^ij ^^^^■^J. ambassadors of this wonderful nian, who held out
\c heaven over Up ^j^^ proji^i^^. ,,f ^ new world, had tempting proposals
iig to them, that n^^ Columbus to enter their service.

. ) tender gratitude which he had vowed to Isabella, and

red his "itt-'"<>K«^t y^ ^l^j^.j^ |j^^ j^^^^^. ij^-mrice Knri«|ues of Cordova, who was

other of his second son Ferdinand, caused him to reject
offers, and kept him in the suite of the court. He re-
I All empire for the young (^ueen in return for her kind-
9 him. He was present at the siege and ("onciuest of
da; he saw Hoabdil restore to lerdinand and Isabella
jyi of that capital, the palaces of the Abencerages and the
le of the Alhambra. He was in the train of the S|)anish

ito account the
f following them
)e more religious
more enthusiastK
ghtning of his el<
: wilful darknes:
seemed stirred 1

Diego de Ue/a, ,jgj^g ^j jl^gj^ triumphal entry into this last refuge of Is-

advance of his iiijj^ jl^ g^^^ beyond these ramparts and these valleys of
M J^^"^'^^^^ y ^^jda other triumphal entries into vaster possesssioLS. To

^"^ru^^ ^ ^^ ieemed little in comparison with his dreams,

s. Ihis unexpccg pgj^j,^, which followed this concjuest, in 1492, led to a
•obstinacy of the ^ meeting at Seville of the examiners of his plans, who
, without leadm^^jQ gjyg ^j^^jj. opinion to the crown. This opinion, vainly
issing the truth h)>^^ as at Salamanca, by Diego de De/a, was to reject the
Ihey were »nt(^ ^l^g Genoese adventurer, if not as impious, at least as
sabella waged ag;i,j|0,^]^ j.„^ as comi)romising the dignity of the Spanish
ff, saddened, scon ^^fiich could not authorize an enterprise on such a weak
r of Isabella and ^^^n.
)itiably followed tf^y^and, intluenced, however, by Isabella, softened the

city to city, watiji^gg yf jj^i^ resolution of the council in communicating it
tumult of arms PMumbus, whom he led to hope that, as soon as he obtained
2ueen, as constaryji possession of Spain by the final expulsion of the Moors,
; fortune was uiiquj^ would help, with ships and subsidies, that expedition
unappreciated gcicovery and conquest of which he had spoken to him for
had a house or amy years.

places of the cou XX.

learned foreign ci

ice but as a distii^tte waiting, without much hope, the ever-postponed ful-

whose services 11°^ ©^ ^he King's promises and of the more sincere desires

•aliella, Columbus tried to persuade two great Spanish

•If

1'^

^ ■

'-"^ffflBHi

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

•1)

noblemen, the dukes of Medina-Sidonia and Medina?
undertake the enterprise at their own expense, lioth <
possessed ships and harbours on the Spanish coast. 'IT
at first pleased by these prospects of glory and mariti
sessions for their houses, but they afterwards abandon >
from incredulity or indifference.

Envy was raging against Columbus even before he j
served it by success ; it persecuted him, as if by antic
and instinct, even in his expectations, for it disputed
session of what it called his chimeras.

With tears he again abandoned his endeavours. T
ness of the ministers in granting him a hearing, the c
of the monks in rejecting his ideas as scientific saeriki
empty promises and eternal postponements of the coun
him, after six years of anguish, into such a state of disc
ment that he finally relinquished all fresh solicitation i
Spanish sovereigns, and resolved to go to France and 01
empire to the King, from whom he had received soni,
tures.

Kuined in fortune, depressed in hope, worn out by \x\
and heartbroken by the i^ecessity of tearing himself awcti
the love which bound him to Beatrice, he again left Cd
on foot, if not with prospects for the future, at least ta
the moiidstery of Rabida, to find his faithful friend, Juane
He intended to take away his son Diego, whom he I13
there, to bring him back to Cordova and confide him,c
his departure for France, to the charge of Beatrice, the 1
of his natural son, Ferdinand. The two brothers, thus b
up in the care and love of the same woman, would fcs
each other the brotherly affection which was the only ]
tance that he had to leave them.

XXI. i

Tears flowed from, the eyes of the Prior, Juan Peres, vk
saw his friend knocking at the door of the monastery, c£
still more miserably clad than on the first occasion, suffil
attesting, by his threadbare clothes and the sadness of h?
the scepticism of men and the ruin of his hopes. But*
dence had hidden anew the spring of fortune for Colunl

.UMIiUS.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

onia and Medinajart of friendship. The faith of the poor monk in the

expense. ^^<^th »ind future of his protege's discoveries, instead of depress-

panish coast. Tltitated him, and charitably lent him strength in the face

giory and mariti misfortunes. He greeted his guest, lamented and con-

erwards abandon- tvith him ; but, quickly calling up all his energy and

ity, he sent to the palace for Dr. Fernandez, the former
s even before he ant of the secret of ColumI)us, for Alonzo Pinzon, a rich
nm, as if by antictor of the seaport, and Sebastian Rodriguez of Lepi, an
, for It disputed iplished pilot.

J ideas of Columbus, unrolled afresh before this little
endeavours. Tliil of friends, made the hearers more and more enthusi-
a hearing, the ob They besought him to remain and again tempt fortune,
s scientific sacrilcing for Spain, although ungrateful and incredulous, the
ments of the courof an enterprise unique in history. Pinzon promised to
ich a state of disc in the equipment of the immortal flotilla with his vessels
fresh solicitation is wealth, as soon as the Government had consented to
) to France and orize it. Juan Peres wrote no longer to the Queen's con-
had received som, but to the Queen herself, to interest her conscience as

as her glory in an enterprise w^ich would lead whole
3e, worn out by ms from idolatry to the true faith. He made earth and
taring himself awan speak for him, finding warmth and persuasion in his
e, he again left Cdh for the greatness of his country and in his friendship,
future, at least tcnbus refusing, in his discouragement, to be the bearer of
ithful friend, Juanetter to a court the delays and neglect of which he had so
>iego, whom he liy felt, the pilot Rodriguez himself undertook the com-
and confide him.on to carry it to Grenada, where the court was then stay-
of Beatrice, the i He left, accompanied by the good wishes and prayers of
o brothers, thus bionastery and of the friends of Columbus at Palos. The
woman, would fcsenth day after his departure he was seen returning in
ch was the only ph to the monastery. The Queen had read the letter of

Peres, the perusal of which had revived all her prepos-

DHS in favour of the Genoese. She immediately com-

led the venerable Prior to come to the court, and sent

to Columbus to wait at the Monastery of Rabida for the

or, Juan Peres, vk's return and the resolution of the Council.

the monastery, c^n Peres, intoxicated by his friend's success, had his mule

St occasion, suffiled without an hour's delay and set out the same night,

the sadness of h?, across the country, infested as it was by the Moors.

his hopes. Buteit that heaven protected, in his person, the great design

Qrtune for Colunh he held in trust in the person of his friend. He reached

i'l

. '1
'- III

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

his destination, and the doors of the palace opened at I
He saw the Queen, rekindling in her, by the fervency
conviction, the faith and interest which, of her own ao
had conceived for this great work. The Marchioness <
Isabella's favourite, became, from piety and enthusiast
on behalf of the protege of the saintly monk. T
womanly hearts, excited in favour of the projects of a
turer by a monk's eloquence, triumphed over the opp
the court.

Isabella sent Columbus a sum of money, taken
private treasure, to enable him to buy a mule and clo
that he might immediately come to the court. Juai
who remained with the Queen to support his friend
and deed, sent this good news and monet,'\ry assist
Rabida by a messenger, who gave the letter and the ar
Dr. Fernandez, of Palos, to be transmitted to Columbi

XXII.

Columbus, having bought a mule and taken a servan!
ed Granada, and was admitted to discuss his plans a
ditions with Ferdinand's ministers.

" An obscure and unknown man," writes an eye-i
" was then seen following the court, confounded by th
ters of the two crowns with the crowd of importunate i
ers, feeding his imagination in the corners of antecham
the pretentious project of discovering a world. Seric
and downcast in the midst of the public joy, he se
witness with indifference the completion of this cone
Grenada which filled a people and two courts with pri(
man was Christopher Columbus."

On this occasion the impediments came from Col
sure of the existence of the continent which he ofFerei
he wished, out of respect for the very greatness of
which he was about to make to the world and to his sov
to stipulate for himself and his descendants conditions
not of himself, but of his work.

In lacking legitimate pride, he would have thought
as lacking in faith in God and falling short in the digni
mission.

>LUMBUS.

CHKISTOPMEK COLUMBUS.

palace opened at 1, alone and neglected, he negotiated as the ruler of pos.
by the fervency o^ which he yet saw only in his dreams,
ch, of her own acimendicanl," said Fernandez de Talevera, the pr^^sident
I he Marchioness ^council, "makes the conditicns of a king with kings."
ety and enthusiaacted the title and privileges of admiral, the power and
aintly monk. Tl-s of viceroy of all the lands which he should add to
the projects of ajy his discoveries and perpetual tithe, for himself and his
hed over the oppcdants, of all the revenues of these possessions.

igular demands for an adventurer," cried his opponents
f money, taken fcouncil, " which would confer on him in advance the
ly a mule and clotnd of a fleet and the possession of a vice-royalty without
) the court. Juaif he succeeded in his enterprise, and which do not tie
Lipport his friend lanything if he fails, since his present poverty has nothing
d monetary assist.'*

e letter and the aiirst men were astonished by these requirements, they
tnitted to Columbiby becoming indignant ; he was offered conditions less

jsome for the crown. From the depths of his poverty

)thingness he refused all. Wearied, but not conquered by

m years of trial, from the day when he grasped his idea

ind takeri a servanainly offered it to the great powers of the world, he

liscuss his plans a have blushed to abate in anything the price of the gift

God had made him.
I, writes an eye-\ respectfully withdrew from the conferences with Ferdi-
confounded by thj commissioners and, remounting the mule which the
i of importunate p had given him, he again took, alone and destitute, the
rners of antechamo Cordova from whence he intended to go into France,
ig a world. Seric

public joy he se XXIII.

etion of this cone

^o courts with pri(bella, on learning her prot^g^'s departure, had, as it were,

jentiment of the great things which were leaving her for
s came from Colwith this man of destiny. She was indignant with the
t which he offereciissioners who, she cried, had haggled with God over the
ery greatness of of an empire, and more than all, over the price of
•rid and to his sov»ns of souls left in idolatry by their fault. The Marchion-
idants conditions e Maya, and Quintanilla, the Comptroller of the Queen's

ices, shared in and added poignancy to her remorse.
lid have thought elCing, more cool and calculating, hesitated ; at a moment
short in the dignit; thfe treasury was depleted the expense of the enterprise

him back.

ifll

CHRISTOI»HKR COLUMBUS.

" Well, then," cried Isabella, in a transport of
enthusiasm ; " I take the enterprise upon myself aloi
personal crov/n of Castile. I will put my jewels and
in pawn to provide for the expense of the equipment.'

The woman's impulse triumphed over the King's
and, by a calculation more sublime than his, acquire
treasure in riches and territory for the two kingdoii
disinterestedness inspired by enthusiasm is the true
of great souls, and the true wisdom of great politician:

The fugitive was quickly followed ; the messenger, w
Queen sent to recall him, came up with him some m:
Granada, on the bridge of Pinos, a famous defile
rocks, where Moors and Christians had often ming
blood in the waters of a torrent that separated
races.

Columbus, much affected, returned to throw hii
Isabella's feet. She obtained from King Ferdinand,
tears, the ratification of the conditions exacted by Cc
In serving the forsaken cause of this great man, she
she was serving the cause of God himself, whose na
unknown to that portion of the human race which
going to subdue to the faith. She saw the celestial k
in the acquisitions which her favourite was about to i
her empire ; wiiile Ferdinand saw in them his terrestria,
As the soldier of Christianity in Spain and conqueror
Moors, all the faithful whom he added to the belief o'
were added to the number of his subjects by the Po.
millions of men whom he was going to gather to Chr,
through the discoveries of this adventurer were given'
beforehand in full possession by the bulls of the court of
Every man who was not a Christian was, in his eyes, ri,
a slave ; every portion of humanity that was not marki
the seal of Christ was not marked with the seal of m
Rome gave them away, or bartered them in the name
spiritual sovereignty on earth and in heaven.

Ferdinand was credulous enough, and at the sam
politic enough to accept them.

The treaty between Ferdinand, Isabella, and thi
Genoese adventurer, who had arrived on foot at their
some years before, having no shelter but hospitality,

)LUMBUS.

CHRISTOPHER COLITMliUS.

a transport of * monastery, was signed in the plain of Granada on

iiI)on myself aloi .^P"^»/'^^^^- , ,, , , ,

Lit my jewels and ^^ ^^^^ °" herself alone, for the account of her
of the equipment '* JtWiK^o"i> ^^1 the expenses of the expedition. It was
over the Kin"'s ( ^* ^'"^ ^'^° ^'^^ ^^^^ ^° believe should risk the most
than his acqiiire^'^'P"^^ ' ^' ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^' ^^^ S^^''^ *^^ reward of
the two'kingdon^^®*^^^^ ^^ attached to her name before all others,
jiasm is the true ^^^' ^^^ assigned the little harbour of Palos, in
of great politician'^*' ^^ ^ centre of organisation for the expedition, and

• fh,» mf.cc*^nrror ,,/oint of dcpartufe for his squadron. The idea con-
, lilt, messenger, \v ^, ' r t^ i • ■, -n ^ % -r 1^

vith him some m * '^ monastery of Rabida, near Palos, by Juan Peres

a famous defile ^'^^^'^s ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ meeting with Columbus, returned
i had' often mini?'**^® whence it had started. The Prior of this monastery

that separated ^* *^ preside over the preparations and to see, from his

;e, the first sail of his friend spread itself to that

led to throw hii^ world which they had seen together with the eye of

King Ferdinand:"^ °^ ^^^'^•
ins exacted by Cc XXIV.

himself whose n -rous unforeseen and apparently insurmountable obstacles

imor, ».'o^« „.u.vi' 5od in the way of Isabella's favours and the accomplish-
aiuan race wnicii i-, j- j> • -kit ^' • ^l 1

saw the celestial i.Ferdmands promises. Money was wanting m the royal
ite was about to * vessels employed on more urgent expeditions were
them his terrestri *^* Spanish ports ; sailors refused to enter into any
n and conr uer ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^°"S ^^^ mysterious voyage, or deserted
d to the belief ^'^ ^ ^^ ^^^^ recruited.

ibiects bv th P ^^^^^^^^ towns, constrained by commands of the court
to gather t Ch^^ *^^ ships, hesitated to obey and unrigged the vessels
iturer we * ^ general opinion, were condemned to certain loss,
alls of th t i^*^^^*y» terror, envy, derision, avarice and even revolt

in h* ^^ ^. hundred times, in the hands of Columbus and of the
. * ^^^' !')f the court themselves, the material means of execution

•.4.U *!, 1 "l^'' sabella's favour had placed at his disposal. It seemed

itn the seal of m i. 1 • ■ ^ \^ ^ • • • .. ^v • c

ital genius, persistently striving against the genius of

"^unity, wished to separate forever these two worlds,

, he dreams of a man, who stood alone, wished to unite.

e sanit^^^g managed everything from his retreat at the mon-

.f Rabida, where his friend, Prior Juan Peres, had again

seal
them in th.«
leaven.
and at

[sabella and thi^j^ hospitality,
on toot at their ^^^ ^^^ intervention and influence of this lowly monk,
• but hospitality, ^

; (

I-
J'

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

the appointed expedition would have again failed d
all the orders of the court were either powerless or
The mcnk had recourse to his friends at Palos ; tlu
his word, his entreaties and advice.

Three brothers, rich mariners of Palos, the Ti
themselves at last penetrated by the conviction and
inspired the friend of Columbus. They thought they
voice of God in that of this aged recluse. They
joined the enterprise, furnishing the money, ecjuij
ships, then called caravelles, engaging sailors from
ports of Palos and Moguer, and, in order at the s:ii
instigate, and give an example of confidence to th(
two of the three brothers, Martin Alonzo Pinzon an
Yan6s Pinzon resolved to embark and themselves
mand of their vessels.

Thanks to this generous assistance of the Pin/
vessels, or rather three barks, the Santa Maria, the
the Nina, were ready to go to sea on Friday, the 31
1492.

XXV.

At daybreak Columbus, accompanied to the beai
Prior and the monks of Rabida who blessed his \l
the sea, embraced his son whom he left in the carl
Peres and boarded the largest of his ships, the S.il
He hoisted his pennant as admiral of an unknown c
as viceroy of an undiscovered country. The people
two ports and the coast flocked in numberless cro«
beach to be present at the departure, which popular
thought to be without return. It was a mourning f
rather than a God speed for a happy voyage ; there
of sadness than of hope, more tears than acclamation

The mothers, wives and sisters of the sailors cu
whisper this unlucky stranger who with his charmed '
beguiled the Queen's mind, and was taking in his
lives of so many men on the responsibility of a dre
umbus, followed unwillingly like all men who lead
across the line of their prejudices, entered the unknc
sound of murmurings and maledictions. It is the
things human. All that outruns humanity, even wb

:oLUMnus.

CHRISTorilKK COLUMBUS.

five again failed ddo Tts stock, be it a truth or be it a new world, makes
ther powerless or cur in complaint. Man is like the ocean, he has a
nds at Palos ; thiiy to motion and a natural gravitation towards re[)ose.

:se two contrary tendencies is born the equilibrium of
of Palos, the Pir;e : woe to him who destroys it !
e conviction and li
rhey thought they XXVI.

recluse. They

the money, ecjuij ippcarance of this flotilla, scarcely equal to a fishing or
ging sailors from expedition, was in fitting contrast, in the eyes and
n order at the saif the people, with the great destiny and the perils which

confidence to thtshly went to meet. Of the three barks, that alone was
Alonzo Pinzon an which Columbus commanded. It was a small and
c and themselves Duilt trading vessel, already old and strained by the

eas. The other two were undecked : a wave would
ance of the Pinzen enough to swamp them. But the stern and prow
Santa Maria, the barks, very high above the water like the ancient gal-
L on Friday, the 3id two halfdecks, the cavity of which gave shelter to the

n rough weather, and prevented the weight of any wave
ght ship from sinking the vessel. These barks were
'ith two masts, one amidships, the other at the stern,
^anied to the beajt of these masts carried one large square sail ; the sec-
who blessed his \trianguJar lateen sail. Long oars, used but rarely and
he left in the carfficulty, fitted in calm weather to the low bulwarks amid-
his ships, the Sai.nd could, when necessary, give the ship some headway.
i of an unknown (On these three barks, of unequal size, that Columbus
ntry. The peoplethe hundred and twenty men, who made up his crews,
n numberless cro\u

re, which popular vas the only one to embark with a calm face, a look of
was a mourning pce, and a resolute heart. For the past eighteen years,
>py voyage; there jectures had taken the shape of certainty in his mind.
; than acclamationgh on this day he had passed more than half his life, and
of the sailors citering his fifty-seventh ye^r, he looked upon the years
with his charmed 1 him as nothing ; in his eyes all his life was to come ; he
was taking in liishin him the youth of hope, and the future of immortality,
msibility of a drcP take possession of these worlds towards which he set
lU men who lead^Si he wrote and published, when boarding his ship, a for-
entered the unknc^ount of all the phases of mind and fortune that he had
ctions. It is the^nccd in the conception and execution of his design ; he
umanity, even wht^^c enumeration of all the titles, honours and commands.

i I

CHKISTOI'UKK COIAIMHUS.

with which he had just been invested by his sovcrci
future [)ossessions, invoking Christ and mankind to si'
faith and bear witness to his constancy.

" It is for that," he said, in closing this proclamali'
old and the new world, " that I condemn myself to
ness during this voyage, and until I have accompli^
things."

XXVII.

A favourable breeze, blowing off the coast of Euro;'
him gently to the Canaries, the last halting place
sailors. While giving thanks to God for these ome '
assisted in calming his crew, he would have prefci'
carried forward by a full gale of wind, beyond the ki*
frequented latitudes. He had good reason to fear,"
sight of the distant coasts of Spain should, by the ui J
able attraction's of one's country, call back the eyes a:f
of his irresolute and timid sailors, who still hesitatci
went on board. In enterprises of great moment menj
be given time for reflection, or opportunities to dr'
Columbus knew it. He longed to pass the limit'^
travelled sea, and to hold himself alone, in the secj
course and of his charts and compass, the possibility i
His impatience to lose sight of the shores of the old ?
was only too well-founded. One of his ships, the 1^
rudder of which was broken, and which was making*
the hold, compelled him to touch at the Canaries, i :'
himself, to change this vessel for another. He lost al
weeks in these ports, without being able to find a shij
for his long voyage. He was obliged to satisfy hin?
simply repairing the Pinta and giving another set of sa
Nina, his third convoy, a heavy and slow bark that de
progress. He renewed his supply of water and pr
His small undecked ships allowed him to carry foo'
hundred and twenty men for a certain number of day:

After leaving the Canaries, the appearance of the v'
Teneriffe, an eruption of which lit up the sky anc
fleeted in the sea, struck terror to the souls of hi;'
They thought they saw the flaming sword of the ui
drove the first man from Eden, prohibiting the chi

:)LUMMUS.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 5|

:ed by his sovcrciL

md mankind to s\^^ entry to forbidden lands and seas. The admiral
^cy. m ihip to ship to dispel this vulgar panic, and ;o

ig this proclam;ili*ci«ntifically to these ignorant men the physical laws
idemn myself to )hcnomenon. But the disappearance of the peak of

I have accomplh'* ^^^^ ii sank beneath the horizon, impressed them

leep a sadness as its crater had ins|)ired them with fear.

>r them the last milestone and the last lighthouse of

World. In losing sight of it, they thought they had

:he coast of Kuroi^^H^ landmarks of their course across an incomtnensur-

st halting place ^^ They felt themselves, as it were, detached from

)d for these ome* *°^ sailing in the ether of another planet. General

ould have prefer®** ®^ mind and body took hold of them. They were

id beyond the kii^^'** ^^° '^^^^ ^°^' ^^^" ^^^^^ tomb. The admiral

d reason to fear"*™^^^^ them around him on his ship, raised their

should by the ui^ *^* energy of his own, and abandoning himself, as

II back the eves a^ ®^ ^^^ unknown, to the eloquent inspiration of his
who still hesitateJ^*^^^^' ^^ ^^ ^^ '^^^ already lived in them, the lands,
reat moment men *°^ '®*^' '^^ kingdoms and riches, the vegetation and
Dportunities to dr*'®» *^^ mines of gold, the shores sanded with pearls,
o nass the limit^"^"^^ glittering with precious stones, the plains
alone in the sec:^ ^**^ spices that grew ready to his hand on the
'S the' Dossibilitv i^® ^^ ^^^^ expanse, each wave of which carried their
shores of the old f"^" ^^^^« "?^^^^^«, ^"^ J^L' -^l'''*. T^^'? pictures,
f his shins the 1*^ fascmatmg colours of their leader s rich imagina-
hich was makin"®''**^^^^ ^^^ ^^'^^."^ ^^^^^ drooping hearts ; while the
it the Canaries l^^* blowing steadily and gently from the east, seemed
Dther He lost 'al '^® impatience of the sailors. The distance alone could

„Ki^ 1^ A^^ „ 1 • rth frighten them. Columbus, to spare them a portion

able to nnd a shii ** u- u u ^ J- lu j j .. j

ed tn s t* f h' ?*^® across which he was leading them, deducted every

th ' t f •* ^** calculation of nautical miles a part of the distance
*i v» I- fK f ^ ^» ^^^ ^° deceived the imagination of his commanders
Slow DaiK tnai ae^j^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ journey. He secretly noted the true log
o vya er an I'^igjf ^lone, so that he also might alone have the know-
nim to carry too. ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ billows he had crossed and the reckonings
in number ot daj^^j^j^^^ ^^ j^^^p ^^^^^^ ^^^^ j^.^ ^.^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^^^ -^^

pearance ot the v'^^^ ^^ ^^^ steady breeze and the peaceful oscillation
; up the sky anc thought they were slowly floating on in the further
) the souls of hii^ ^^^^

; sword of the ui *^

ohibiting the chi ^

'fihil!

ClIKlSTurilKK LOIAJMIIUS.

xxviir.

He would have wished equally to conceal fror
phenomenon tlwit, two hundred leagues trotn '[\:\
founded his own knovvledgtr ; this was the v iriation
nctic needle in the compass, their last and, accord
inlidlihle guide, which itself wavered on the thrcslio
travelled liemispnete. l^'or some days he kept i
doubt to hiniselt ; but his pilots, as observant of l
as he, soon pirc^ ived these variations. Seized by i
tonisfunent, but less firm than their leader in the
resolution to set nature herself at deriance, they l
very el'Mnents were troubled or changed their laws
der land of infinite space.

The vertigo, which they supposed in nature, passe
souls. Pale from fear they told each other their do
doning the ships to the hazards of the winds and
only guides that remained to tiiem in the future. 1
tion disheartencil all the .sailors.

Columbus, who sought in vain to explain to hiinsi
tery, foi the reason of which the science of to- day
had recourse to that powerful imagination, his
compass of the mind. He invented an cxplan;iii|
deed, but specious for uncultivated minds, to a( i
variations of the magnetic needle, lie attribute
stars circling tound the pole, the movements of >
firmament the needle alleinattly followed by atlr.i
explanation, being in conformity with the astroloj;!'
of the time, satisfied the pilots, and their creduiiy
faith of the sailors. The sight of a heron and <
bird, which, on the following day, came hoverim
masts of the flotilla, efiected for tlieir senses what.
explanation had effected for their minds. These
tants of the earth could not exist on an ocean \j
plants and fresh water. They seemed to them tw(|
prove the truth of the visions of Columbus beforui
witness of their eyes. They saded with more coiUj
assurance of a bird. The mild, equal, and geni;il|
of this part of the ocean, the clearness of the sk\
rency of the waves, the play of the dolphins roiil

oI.lIMhUS.

C'HRfSTOPHF.R COLUMBUS.

mA of the air, the perfumes wluch the billows hrint{

tr Atid seem to exhale from their fo.im, the brighter

lo coiicc.il froi 'tht < onstellations and stars in the night, all seemed, in

•nmics from 'I itudcs, to till the senses with repose and the soul with

ivas the viriati' j^. Tlicy hrealhed the promise of the still invisible

last anil, act oi Xhey recalled the bright days, the well-known stars,

d (»n lint ihicslr qqu^ sprmg twilights of Andalusia.

(lays he kept I nightingale," wrote Columbus, " was alone wanting."

observant of
)ns. Seized by ;
cir leader in ili

defiance, thc\ i
anged their law;,

1 1

XXIX.

•a had begun to bear its |)resages. Unknown plants
y floated on the waves. Some, say the historians of
voyage, were marine plants that only grow in the shab
1 ■ nature uassc''* ^^^^ ^^^ shore ; others, rock-growing plants which
^ I i\ .f th't-ir (1 ^ ™**s' hiwti torn from the rocks ; others again, of river

, .1 • , •„ .,,,1 some of them, newly detached from their roots, re-
ot the wmds aiil , , , • ^ r , i i- i

, f ...jre 1* verdure of their sa[) ; one of them b )rc a livmg crab,

hat had embarked on a tuft of grass. These plants

1 :^ ♦« M„-,cg things could not have passed many days on the water
to explam to nnnN? . o • . i j j

'■ « of to d i\^y*"fi> "•" ^^*^'"y withered,
science ' ^^ ^ species that does not alight on the waves, and

maguiation, nis . ^^ ^^^^ ^ crossed the sky. Whence did it

nted an cxplan:iii ,,•:, . • -» /^ 1 1 •.. / • i i r

1 ■ 1- t n( (, "'"CTe was It going ? Could its sleeping place be far

tea mm , Further on, the ocean changed in temperature and

lie. He altnbuttu ,. . ' • i .. • lu i

'^ . , dications of varying depths : in another place, it re-

s movements ol v^. .-'*'..• .' j i 'n

'-.' , . immense marine prairies, with weed-covered billows,

tollowe )y ■ ,g jjjjjYvn by the prow and lessened their headway ;
^v\^",^'\^ ^^^^^'*'.7" ind morning, far off mists, such as those that hang
nd their credu^ty i j^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ assumed the forms of shores
of a heron ana <- ^^.^^ ^^^ ^j^^ horizon. The cry of land was on every
lay, came "<^^^'^|"'jiinbus neither wished excessively :o encourage, or to
their senses vvia .pgg ^i^^^ served his purposes in reviving the spirits of
;ir minds. ^ '^^'^^ 'nions; but he did not think he was more than three
st on an ocean \\ ^jj^^ ^^^^^ Teneriffe, and, according to his conjectures,
:emed to them two q. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^j^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ .^^ ^^^^

Columbus before t ^gj j^^^j^^^ ^^
ed with more conti

equal, and genial XXX.

harness ot the ^ >> .j-^pl j^is conjectures to himself alone, being without

the QOlpnins r i jongg^ his companions, of courage strong enough to

56 CHRisTornr.R coi.uMnus.

equal his in constancy, or reliable enmiKh to guard his secret
apprehensions. He had no conversation on this long voyage,
except with his own thoughts, the str.rs and Ood, whose conti-
dant lie felt himself to be. Almost without sleep, as he had
said in his proclamation of fircwcU to the ()ld world, he passed
his days in his cabin U thf stern, laarkin^ in characters known
lo hinjself only, the degucs, latiiudes and distances which he
thought he had crossed ; he passed his nights on the bridge, hy
the side of his pilots, studying the stars and watching the sea,
Almost constantly alone, like Moses leading the people of Clod
in the desert, impressing his companions by his thoughtful
gravity, now with rcsj)ect, now with mistrust, now with terror,
f that kept them apart from him ; isolation or remoteness which
/ is almost invariably seen in men of thought, or resolution
superior to their fellows, whether it is Lhat these inspired men
( of genius require more solitude and meditation for self com-

muning, or wliLilier ihe inferior men, whom they intimidate, do
not like to approach them, for fear of measuring themselves
with such high natures, and feeling their own littleness before
these moral grandeurs of creation.

XXXI.

Yet the land so often presaged showed itself only in the
mirages s'^en by the sailors ; each morning dissipated before the
prows of the vessel the fantastic horizons that the evening mist
had caused them to mistake for the shore.

They ever plunged forward as if in a boundless and bottom
less abyss.

Even the regularity and conrt-^noy of the east wind that
favoured their course, so that the^ had not to trim their sails
once during these man} days, was a cause of anxiety to them.
They began to believe that this wind prevailed the same forever
in this part of the great ocean that was the girdle of the globe,
and that, after bearing them so easily towards the west, it would
be an insurmountable obstacle to their return. How could
they ever come back through these contrary wind currents
except by tacking in this great expanse ? And if they were
obliged to beat back in never ending tacks to find the shores of
the old world, how would their supplies of water and provisions,

CHRfSTorMfF.R COLUMBUS.

tlready half consumed, suffice for the long months ol their re-
turn voyage? What would »avc them from the horrible pros-
pert of death from thirst and hunger in their long nlruggle with
these winds that drove them from their harbours ? Many began
to lount the number of days and of rations unecjual to the days,
to murmur against the ever deceived ol)stinacy of ilu-ir chief,
and to reproach, in whispers, a perseverance in devotion that
sacrificed the lives of a hundretl and twenty men to the mad-
ness of one.

lUit every time that the murmuring was about to develop into
sedition, Providence seemed to send them mon* convincing and
unexpected presages to change theni into hopes. So, on the
aoth .September, these favourable winds, which were alarming
in their fixedness, changed and went round to the south-west.
The sailors hailed the change, although against their course, as
a sipn of life and mobility in the elements, which a <|uiver of
wind in their sails made Known to them. In the evening, small
birds of the weaker kinds, that make their nestr, in the shrubs
and orchards at home, hovered twittering round tiie masts.
Their d*;licate wings and joyous chirpings did not betray in
them any trace of weariness or fright, as is seen in flocks of
birds when carried by a gust of wind, in spite of themselves,
far out to sea. Their songs like those which the sailors used
to hear round their yoke-elm hedges, and in the myrtles, and
orange groves of Andalusia, recalled their country to them and
invited them to neighbouring shores. They recognised the
sparrows that always nest in the eaves. Thicker and greener
grasses on the surface of the waves reproduced fields and
meadows before the reaping of the grain. Vegetation hidden
beneath the water appeared before the land, charming the eyes
of the sailors wearied of the eternal azure of the sea.

But the grasses soon became so thick that they feared their
rudder and keel would be clogged by them and that they would
be held prisoners in these rushes of the ocean, like vessels in
the north sea by the ice. So each joy turned quickly into tears :
such terror has the unknown for the soul of man ! Columbus,
like a guide seeking his course among these mysteries of the
ocean, was obliged in appearance to understand what astonished
even him, and to invent an explanation for each surprise of his
sailors.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

XXXII.

't ■

Mi'

The calms of the Equator threw them into consternation ; if
everything, even to the wind, died in these latitudes, what would
give the breeze to their sails and motion to their ships ? Sud-
denly, without wind, the sea began to swell ; they attributed it
to subterranean convulsions in its bed.

An immense whale appeared sleeping on the bosom of the
waves ; in imagination they saw monsters devouring the ships.
The undulation of the billows carried them into currents from
which they could not escape for lack of wind ; they fancied
they were approaching the cataracts of the sea, and that they
were about to be dragged into the abysses and reservoirs where
the deluge had emptied its worlds of waters.

They stood gloomily, in angry groups, at the foot of the masts;
they murmured together more openly ; they spoke of compel-
ling the pilots to put about, of throv* ing the admiral into the
sea, as a madman who only left his companions the choice be-
tween suicide and murder. Columbus, to whom their glances
and mutterings revealed these conspiracies, defied them by his
attitude or frustrated them by his confidence.

Nature came to his help with refreshing winds new-blowing
from the east, while she smoothed the sea beneath his prows.
Before the end of the day Alonzo Pinzon, who commanded the
Pinta, and who sailed near enough to the admiral to be able to
talk with him alongside, gave the first cry of " Land !" from the
summit of the poop. All the crews, taking up this cry of safety,
life and triumph, threw themselves on their knees on the decks
and burst forth with the hymn, " Glory lo God in heaven and
on the earth ! " This religious chant, the first hymn that
ascended to the Creator from the bosom of this young ocean,
rolled slowly over the waves ; when it had ceased, all climbed
to the masts, to the tops and to the l.ighest rigging of the ves-
sels to take possession with their own eyes of the shore dimly
seen by Pinzon to the south-west. Columbus alone doubted,
but he was too willing to believe, to contradict, alone, the
frenzy of his crews.

Although he only looked for the land of his expectation to-
ward the west, he allowed them to steer south during the whole
night, preferring to lose a portion of his progress to please his

''I

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

companions than to lose the passing popularity due to their
illusion, which sunrise only too (juickly dissipated. The imagi-
nary land of Pinzon had vanished with the mists of night, and
the admiral resumed the course towards the west dictated by
his visions.

XXXIII.

The ocean had again smoothed its surface, where the sun
mirrored itself, cloudless and clear, as in another sky. The
caressing waves crowned the prow with fairy foam ; the dol-
phins, now more numerous, bounded in the wake ; the whole
sea seemed full of life ; the fishes flew, sprang up and fell back
upon the decks of the vessels. Everything in nature seemed
to join with Columbus to entice with returning ho[)e his sailors
who forgot the flight of time. On the first of October they
fancied they had only made six hundred leagues beyond the
latitudes frequented by their brethren ; the secret log of the
admiral indicated eight hundred miles. Yet all the signs of
land being near at hand increased about them, but there wai;
no land visible on the horizon. Fear again took possession of
their souls. Columbus himself, beneath his apparent calmness,
was troubled by some doubt ; he feared that he had passed
through the islands of an archipelago without seeing ihem, and
that leaving behind him the extreme point of Asia which he
sought for, he was nov; astray in a third ocean. The swiftest
of his barks, the Nina, which sailed as an advance guard, on
the yth October at length hoisted her flag of discovery and
fired a shot of triumph to proclaim land to the two other ves-
sels. On drawing near, they saw that the Nina had been de-
ceived by a cloud.

The wind, on bearing it into the air, bore away their short-
lived joy that turned to consternation. Nothing so wearies the
heart of man as these alternations of counterfeit joys and bitter
deceptions, which are the sarcasms of fortune. Censure of the
admiral was again seen openly in every face. It was no longer
only their hardships and dissensions that the crews imputed to
their leader, it was their lives sacrificed without hope. They
were running short of bread and water.

Columbus, confounded by the immensity of this expanse, the
limits of which he thought he was reaching at last, abandoned

iii

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

III., 4
■ 1 '

the visionary course that he had traced upon his chart, and for
two days and two nights followed the flight of the birds, heavenly
pilots that Providence seemed to send to him at the moment
when human knowledge failed. He said to himself that the in-
stinct of these birds would not direct them all to that particular
point of the horizon if they did not see land there. But the
very birds seemed, in the eyes of the sailors, to have an under-
standing with the desert of the ocean and the deceitful stars, to
make sport of their vessels and their lives. At the e. J of the
third day, the pilots who had climbed the shrouds at the hour
when the setting sun most clearly reveals the horizon, saw it
plunge into the same waves from which it had risen in vain for
so many mornings.

They believed in the boundlessness of the waters. The de-
spair that weighed them down changed into sullen anger. Why
should they now use forbearance wirh a leader who had de-
ceived the court, and whose titles and authority, obtained un-
fairly from the confiding nature of his sovereigns, were about
to perish with his illusions ?

To follow him longer, was it not to associate in his crime ?
Did not obedience end where the world ended ? Was there
any other hope, if hope remained, than to turn their prows
towards Europe, to struggle by tacking against these winds, the
admiral's accomplices, and to chain him to the mast to be an
object for the curses of the dying if they must die, or to hand
him over to the vengeance of Spain if heaven ever permitted
them to see her harbours ?

These mutterings had become an outcry. The intrepid ad-
miral restrained them by the calmness of his face. He invoked
against the seditious an authority sacred to subjects, that of
their sovereigns with which he was invested. He even called
on heaven, now the judge between them and him. He did not
bend, he offered his life as pledge for his promises ; he asked
them only, in the tone of a prophet who sees what common men
see only through his mind, to postpone for three days their in-
credulity and their resolution to return. He made an oath, an
oath rash indeed, but politic, that if in the course of the third
day land was not visible on the horizon, he would give way to
their entreaties and take them back to Europe. The indications
that revealed the neighbourhood of islands or continents were

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

so clear in the admiral's eyes, that in begging these three days
from his mutinous crews he thought himself sure to lead them
to the goal. He tempted God in setting a period to his reve-
lation, but he had to manage men. The sailors, unwillingly,
granted him these three days, and God, who was his inspira-
tion, did not punish him for excessive hope.

XXXIV.

At sunrise, on the second day, newly uprooted rushes ap-
peared round the vessels. A plank wrought by an axe, a stick
artistically chiselled by some sharp instrument, a branch of
hawthorn in flower, and, lastly, a bird's nest hanging to a branch
broken off by the wind, filled with eggs on which the mother
was still sitting to the gentle rocking of the waves, floated in
accession on the water. The sailors took on board these
written, speaking, or living witnesses of a neighbouring land.
They were the voices of the coast confirming the word of
Columbus. Before looking on the land with their eyes, they
inferred its existence from these indications of life.

The mutinous fell oirthcir knees before the admiral, whom
they had insulted the day before : imploring him to pardon their
mistrust, and pouring forth a hymn of gratitude to God, who had
associated them with his triumph.

Night fell on these songs of the Church that hailed a New
World. The admiral ordered them to clew up the sails, to
heav/» the lead before the ships, and to sail slowly, fearing the
sh?' o>.vs and rocks, and being convinced that the first streaks
c*" a;;vi'; would reveal land under the prows of the vessels. No
one si r on this momentous night. Impatience of mind had
taken away all need of sleep from their eyes. The pilots and
sailors, hanging to the masts, to the yards, to the shrouds, com-
peted with each other in position and vigilance to be the first
to sight the new hemisphere. A prize had been promised by
the admiral to the man who should be the first to cry. Land !
if land really seen should verify his discovery. Providence,
however, reserved for Columbus himself this first look, which he
had bought at the price of twenty years of his life and so much
constancy and danger. As he was walking alone at midnight
on the poop of his vessel, piercing the darkness with his eyes,

J,;-,,

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

a glimmer of fire passed him, went out, and passed again before
his eyes, on a level with the waves. Fearing that he was deceived
by dizzini;ss, or l)y the phosphorescence of the sea, he called in
a whisper to a Spanish gentleman of Isabella's court, named
Guttierez in whom he had more faith than in his pilots. With
his hand he indicated tlie point of the horizon wherii he had
seen a fir,', and asked him if he did not perceive a light in that
quarter. Guttierez answered that he did, in fact, see a fleeting
gleam of light sparkle in that direction. Cokunbus, the further
to confirm his conviction, summoned Rodrigo Sanchez of
Segovia, another of his confidants. Sanciiez did not hesitate
anymore than Guttierez in reporting a brightness on the horizon.
But scarcely had this fire shown itself than it disappeared, to
reappear in successive emergiiigs from the ocean, whether it was
a flame of a hearth on a low beach, hidden and revealed by
turns by the undulating horizon of the great billows, or whether
it was the fioating lantern of a fishing canoe, alternately raised
on the crest and swallowed in the hollows of the wave.s. Thus
land and life appeared at the same time to Columbus and his
two friends in the form of fire, during the night of the nth to
the i2th of October, 1492.

Columbus, enjoining silence on Rodrigo and Guttierez, kept
the sight to himself, for fear of again giving fictitious joy and a
bitter deception to his crews. He lost sight of the gleam that
was now extinguished, but kept watch, Until two o'clock in the
morning, alone upon the bridge, in prayer, hoping and despair-
ing between the triumph and the retreat which the morrow was
to decide.

XXXV.

He was plunged in the agony tliat precedes mighty revela-
tions of truth, as the final agony precedes the grnnd delivery of
the soul by death, when the report of a cannon, ringing across
the ocean some hundreds of fathoms before him, burst like the
roar of a world upon his ears, making him start and fall upon
his knees on the poop. It was the cry of Land ! hurled by
the cannon, the signal agreed with the Pinta, which sailed at
the head of the fleet to take soundings and show the way. At
this report, a universal cry of Land ! burst from all the yards
and rigging of the vessels. They furled the sails and waited
for the dawn. '

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

The mystery of the ocean had spoken its first word in the
depths of the night ; the day was about to reveal it in its
entirety to their eyes. The sweetest and strangest perfumes
came in gusts to the ships, togetlier with the shadow of a coast
line, the sound of the waves upon the reefs and the wind
bl<nving from the land.

The fire seen by Columbus indicated the presence of man
and the first element of civilisation. Never did night seem
slower in unveiling the horizon ; for that horizon was for tiie
companions of Columbus and for himself a second creat'on of
God,

XXXVI.

' i

As the dawn spread upwards, the form of an island stood
out liitie by little from the sea. Its two extremities were lost
in the morning mist. Its low coast rose in an ami)hitheatre to
the summits of the hills, the dark verdure of which contrasted
with the limpid blue of the sky ; a few steps from the foam of
the waves that died away on the yellow sand, forests of
majestic trees, unknown to Europeans, stretched upward in
steps on the successive ledges of the island. Green coves and
luminou'j glades in the background let the eye half-fathom these
mysteries of solitude. They caught a glimpse of scattered
dwellings, which, from their round shape and roof« of dry
leaves, were like human bee-hives.

Smoke rose above the tree tops here and there. Groups of
men, women, and children, more astonished than frightened,
appeared half naked among the trees nearest the beach, ad-
vancing timidly and retiring by turns, while they manifested, by
their gestures and artless attitudes, as much fear as curiosity
and admiration at the sight of these ships and strangers, who
were brought to them in the night by the waves.

^.^

XXXVII.

Columbus, after a silent contemplation of this first shore, the
outpost of the land so often fashioned in his dreams and so
magnificently coloured in his imagination, found it even su-
perior to his conception. He burned with impatience to
imprint the first European foot-mark on this sand, . .nd to hoist

:;1

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

(Itl:

there, in the sign of the cross and the flag of Spain, the standard
of God's and his sovereign's conquest achieved through the
instrumentality of his genius. Jiut he restrained, both in
himself and his crews this haste to land, wishin.q; to give to this
taking possession of a new world the solemnity of what was
perhaps the greatest deed ever accomplished by a seaman, and
to call, in the absence of men, God and the angels, the sea,
the earth and the heavens as witnesses to his triumph over the
unknown. He put on all the decorations of his rank as
admiral and as viceroy of the future Empires ; he displayed his
purple cloak, and, taking in his right hand the banner em-
broidered with a cross in which the monograms of Ferdinand
and Isabella, interwoven like their kingdoms, were surmounted
by their crown, he entered his long boat and advanced towards
the beach, followed by the boats of his lieutenants, Alonzo and
Yanes Pinzon. On touching land, he fell on his knees to
consecrate, by an act of humility and adoration, the gift and
greatness ©f God in this new portion of his handiwork. He
kissed the sand, shedding tears as his forehead touched the
ground, tears of double meaning and twofold augury, that, for
the first time, moistened the clay of this hemisphere now visited
by men from ancient Europe ! Tears of joy for Columbus,
that overflowed from a proud heart in gratitude and piety!
Tears of mourning for that virgin earth, seeming to foreshadow
for it calamities, devastation and fire, steel, blood and death,
which these strangers brought to it, together with their pride,
knowledge, and dominion ! The man, indeed, shed tears ; for
the land there was the wailing to come.

XXXVIII.

"Almighty and everlasting God," said Columbus, as he
raised his forehead from the dust, in a Latin prayer that has
been preserved for us by his companions :

** O God, who, by the power of thy creating word, hast made
the firmament, the sea, and the land ! may thy name be every-
where blessed and glorified ! May thy majesty and universal
dominion be exalted from age to age, who hast permitted the
most humble of thy servants, in this division of thy kingdom
hidden from us till now, to make known and spread abroad thy
holy name,"

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

He then christened this island San Salvador, from the name
of Christ.

His lieutenants, his pilots and sailors, intoxicated with joy
and imbued with veneration, as for a god, for him who for their
benefit had penetrated beyond the visible horizon, and whom
they had insulted by their distrust on the previous day, sub-
dued by the evidence and crushed by that superiority which
prostrates man, fell at the admiral's feet, kissing his hands and
clothes and recognizing, for a moment, the sovereignty and
almost the divinity of genius. Yesterday the victims of his
steadfastness, to-day the companions of his constancy, and re-
splendent in the glory that they had just blasphemed.

Thus it is with humanity, which persecutes its leaders while
inheriting their conquests.

XXXIX.

During the ceremony of taking possession, the inhabitants of
the island at first kept at a distance, by fear, and then attracted
by that instinct of curiosity which is the first bond that draws
men together, had come nearer.

They discussed amongst themselves the marvelous sights of
this night and morning. These vessels working their sails,
their lateen and sail yards, like immense limbs folding and un-
folding at the impulse of an inward thought, had seemed to
them to be living and supernatural beings who, during the
darkness, had come down from the crystal firmament that sur-
rounded their horizon ; heavenly inhabitants floating on their
wings and alighting at pleasure on the shores of which they
were the gods. Moved by veneration at the sight of the boats
that touched their island, and of the men wearing brilliant stuffs
and armour flashing in the sun, they had at last drawn near, as
if fascinated by their omnipotence.

They adored and prayed to them with the artlessness of chil-
dren who do not suspect evil in that which charms them. The
Spaniards, examining them in their turn, were astonished at
finding in these islanders none of the physical characteristics of
form and colour of the African, Asiatic, or European races that
they were accustomed to meet. Their copper colour, their
silky hair spreading in waves over their shoulders, their eyes

i,|

• til

i:'

ii'

jr.

ClIRISTOFMIKR COLUMTiUS.

dark as their sea, their soft and delicate features, their open
and trustinK faces ; lastly, tlicir nudity, and the coloured de-
signs with whicli they dyed their limbs, revealed in them a race,
quite distinct from the human families dispersed over the ancient
hemisphere, still retaining the simplicity and charms of child
hood, forgotten for centuries in these unknown recesses of the
world, where they had retained, by very forc:e of ignoranc, the
artlessness, candour, and sweetness of early diys.

Columbus, being persuaded that this island was a peninsula
jutting out into the Indian ocean, towards which he still thought
he was sailing, wrongly gave them the name of Indians, which,
through an error in words that has outlived the sailors' error,
they have retained until their extinction.

XL.

Soon the Indians, familiarizing themselves with their guests,
showed them their springs of water, their dwellings, villages and
canoes. They brought them as tribute their nutritious fruits
and cassava bread, which replenished the Spaniards' provisions,
also some ornaments of pure gold that hung from their ears and
nostrils, or as bracelets or collars round the necks and legs of
their women. They were ignorant of trade and of the use of
money, that base but necessary adjunct to the virtue of hospi-
tality ; they received in exchange, with rapture, the most trifling
and ordinary European articles. In their eyes the novelty gave
value to everything. Rare and precious is the rule all the world
over. The Spaniards, who explored the country for gold and
precious stones, found out by signs the places from which that
metal came. The Indians pointed to the south, and the admi-
ral and his companions surmised that there was in that direc-
tion an island or a continent of India, answering by its richness
and arts to the marvelous stories of the Venetian, Marco Polo.
This land, to which they thought they were already near, was,
according to them, the fabulous island of Cipangu, or Japan,
the sovereign of which walked on floors formed of slabs of gold.
Their impatience to resume their course towards this goal of
their fancy or their greed soon made them re-embark. They
were provisioned with fresh water from the island streams, and
their decks were loaded with fruits, roots and cassavas, gifts

CHKISTUPHKk COLUMBUS.

from these poor and happy Indians, one of whom they took
with them to learn iheir language and act as interpreter.

XLT.

On rounding tlie island of San Salvador, they found them-
selves as if lost in the channels of an archipelngo coni|)oscd of
more than a hundred islands of une([ual size, but all with a
must luxuriant ap|>earance of youth, fertility, and vegetation.
They touched at the larg.st and most populous, where they
were surrountled by canoes hollowed from single trees, and
traded wich the inhabitants, giving buttons and little bells in
exchange for gold and pearls. Their sailings and stopj)ages
amid this labyrinth (j4 unknown islands was for them only a
repetition of their landing at San Salvador. The same inoffen-
sive curiosity greeted thetii everywhere. They were intoxicated
by the climate, flowers and perfumes, the colours and the plum-
ages of the strange birds, which each one of these oases offered
to their senses ; but their mind, interested in one thought
alone — the discovery of the land of gold, in what they sup-
posed to be the extreme point of Asia — rendered them less
sensible to these natural treasures, and prevented them from
suspecting the existence of a new and immense continc t, oi
which these islands were the advance guards on the ocean.
From the direction of the Indians' eyes and their signs, which
pointed to a region even more magnificent than their archi-
peliigo, Columbus sailed t(nvards the coast of Cuba, where he
landed after a pleasant run of three days, without losing sight
of the charming islands of the Bahamas that marked out his
course.

Cuba, with its terraced coasts stretching without end, backed
by mountains that cleaved the sky, with its harbours, the
mouths of its rivers, its gulfs and bays, forests and villages,
recalled to him, in even grander features, the Old World
Sicily. He remained undecided as to whether it was a
continent or an island. He cast anchor in the shady bed
of a great river, and, having landed, explored the beach,
forests, orange and palm gardens, villages and huts of the in-
habitants. A dumb dog was the only livintc thing that he
found in these dwellings, deserted at his approach. He re-

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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

embarked, and with his vessels ascended the channel of the
river which was shaded by large-leaved palms and giant trees
covered with fruit and flowers. Nature seemed to have taken
care to lavish spontaneously on these happy tribes the ele-
ments of a life of felicity without labour. Kverything recalled
the Kden of the Bible and of poetry. Harmless animals, birds
of blue and purple plumage ; parrots, wood-peckers, and hum-
ming-birdK darted from branch to branch, with cry and song,
a very haze of colour ; luminous insects dazzled the air itself ;
the sun, temjjered by the breeze from the niountains, by the
shade of the trees and by the running streams, fertilized alt
there, without parching ; the moon and the stars mirrored
themselves, during the darkness, in the bed of the stream, with
splendours and flashes of soft light that robbed night of its
terrors. A general intoxication exalted the souls and senses of
Columbus and his companions. This war, indeed a new earth,
at once more virgin and more endearing than the Old World
from which they had come.

" It is the most beauteous island," writes Colnmbus in his
notes, '* that the eye of man has ever looked upon. One would
wish to live on it forever, for neither sorrow nor death are con-
ceivable there."

The odour of spices that reached his vessels from the interior,
and the discovery of pearl-bearing oysters on the shore, per-
suaded him more and more that Cuba was a prolongation of
Asia. He fancied that behind the mountains of this island, or
this continent — for he was still uncertain whether Cuba was or
was not connected with the mainland— he would find the em-
pires, the civilization, the gold mines, and the marvels with
which enthusiastic travellers endowed Cathay and Japan. Not
being able to meet with the natives, who all fled from the coast
on the approach of the Spaniards, he sent two of his companions,
one of whom spoke Hebrew and the other Arabic, to seek
for these fabulous capitals, where he thought the sovereign of
Cathay made his residence. These envoys were laden with
presents for the natives ; they were ordered to exchange them
only for gold, the inexhaustible supply of which they thought
was in the interior of this land. The messengers returned to
the vessels without having discovered any other capital than
the huts of savages, and a nature prodigal of vegetation, per-

CHRIS lOIM IKK COLUMBUS.

tiimcs, flowers and fruits. They had succeeded, by incanr of
presents, in overcoinin)!; the shyness of some of the natives, ami
hrouyht them l)ack with iheni to the admiral. Tohacro, a
slightly intoxicating plant, ol whi<:h the inhabitants tnade small
rolls, lighting the '.muIs of them to iiihah* the smoke ; the
[.otato, a farinaceo'-.s root which turned mto reaily-madc bread
in the ashes ; nuu/c, couon spun by the women, oranges,
lemons, and the strange fruits of their orchards, were the only
treasures that they had discovered aroimd the dwellings that
were scattered, in groups, through the openings of the forests.

Disappointed in his exjx'ctalions of gold, the admiral, trusting
to the directions of the natives, whom he misunderslo )d, re-
j;rcttully ijuittcd this cnci anting abode to lurri his course to the
cast, where he still placed his fabulous Asia, lie took on board
some men and wom< n from Cuba who were bolder and more con.
tiilinij; than the others to serve him as intt-rpreters in the ncigh-
boiuuigccmntiies that he proposed U) visit, to convert them tolhe
true faith, and to offer Isabella these souls redeemed, accordifig to
him, Ly her noble enterprise. Being pt^rsuaded that Cuba, the
limits of which he had not seen, formed a portion of the conti-
nent of Asia, he sailed lor sonjc days at a short distance from
the real continent of America, without perceiving it. His ob-
stinate illusion hid from him a reality so near his prow. Mean-
while envy, which was to poison his life, had sprung into
existence in the minds of his companions on the very day
when his discoveries had crowned the dream of his whole life.

Amerigo Vespucci, an obscure Florentine, who had embarked
on one of his ships was to give his name to this world towardi
which Columbus alone had guided him. Vespucci only owed
this good fortune of his name to chance and his subse([uent
voyages with Columbus in the same latitudes. A subaltern
lieutenant, devoted to the admiral, he never sought to rob him
of this glory. A whim of fortune gave it to him, without his
ever seeking to deceive the judgment of Europe, aid custom
retained it. The name of the leader being deprived of the
honour of naming a world, the name of the subordinate pre-
vailed — a mockery of human glory, of which Columbus was
the victim, but for which Amerigo, at least, was not to blame.
Posterity may be reproached with injustice and ingratitude, but

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CnRISTOPIir.R COLUMBUS.

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the lucky Florentine sailor cannot be charged with wilful mil-
appropriation.

XLll.

Wat envy, which is horn in the hearts of men on the same
day as success, was already burning the heart of the principal
lieutenant of Columbus, Alonzo I'inzon. Commanding the Pinta,
the second ship of the s(|uadron, Pinzon, whose sails easily out
stripped the two other vessels, pretended to lose his way during
the night and disappeared from the sight of his leader. He
had resolved to profit by the discovery ot (Columbus, to discover
for himself other lands, without genius and without effort, and,
after having given them his name, to return the first to Europe
to usurp the brightness of renown and the recompenses due to
his master and his leader on the voyage. Columbus had for
some days only too clearly seen the en\y and insubordination
of trs lieutenant. Hut he owed much to Alonzo Pinzon ; with-
out him and without his encouragement and assistance at Palos,
he would never have succeeded in fitting out his shi and
getting his sailors. Gratitude had prevented him from sh-
ing the first insiil)ordinate acts of a man from whom ne had
received so much.

The tolerant, unpresuming and magnanimous disposition of
Columbus dissuaded him from all excessive harshness. Full of
impartiality and goodness, he expected goodness and impartiality
from others in return. This kindness, which Alonzo Pmzon had
taken for feebleness, encouraged him in his ingratitude. He
boldly threw himself between Columbus and the new discoveries
that he had resolved to snatch from his grasp.

XLIII.

The admiral grieved as he forecasted the crime, while affect-
ing to believe the Pinta's change of course to be involuntary ;
he sailed south-east with his two ships towards a great shadow
that he saw upon the sea, and landed upon the island of His-
paniola, since called St. Domingo. Without this cloud around
the mountains of St. Domingo, which made him put about, he
was once more in the way of finding the continent.

The American archipelago, by enticing and leading him from

CHRfSTOFHFR COLUMBUS.

iiland to Island, seemed to turn him at pleasure from the goal
to which he was so close without perceiving it.

That phantom of Asia, which had led him to the tiireshold of
America, now interposcil between America and him, to rob him
of the great reality by a chimera.

XIJV.

This new and laughing earth, fertile and vast, bathed in a
crystal atmosphere, and washed by a sea, the waves of which
bore [)erfumes, seemed to him the marvelous island, detached
from the continent of India, that he sought for across such
distances and through such perils, under the fanciful name of
the island of Cipangu. He gave it the name of Hispaniola, to
brand i* forever with the mark of the country of his adoption.
The natives, simple, gentle and hospitable, open and respectful,
hastened in a crowd to the shore, as if to meet beings of a
higher nature, whom a celestial prodigy sent to them from the
bounds of the horizon, or the dep uS of the firmament, to be
adored and served as the equals of the gods. A numerous and
happy population then covered the plains and valleys of His-
paniola, The men and women were ty[)es of strength and
beauty.

The perpetual peace that reigned among their tribes stamped
their faces with an impression of sweetness and good-will.
Their laws were only the kindly instincts of the heart, passed
into traditions and customs. One would have said a people in
its infancy, whose vices had not yet had time to develop, and
whom the promptings of an innocent nature sufficed to govern.
They understood agriculture, horticulture and as much of the
arts as is necessary for government, for the family and for the
first necessaries of life. Their fields were admirably cultivated,
their huts tasty and grouped in villages on the edge of forests of
frait trees, in the neighbourhood of rivers or springs.

Their clothing, in a warm climate which did not subject them
to the extremes of winter or summer, consisted only of ornaments
intended to beautify them, cotton stuffs, matting and girdles
sufficient to veil their nakediiess.

Their government was as simple and natural as their ideas.
It was the family enlarged by the succession of generations, but

■{'I

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

always grouped round a hereditary chief whom they called
the Cazique. The Caziques were the leaders, not the tyrants
of their iribe. Custom, an unwritten crmslitution, but inviol-
able and protecting as a divine law, ruled these petty kings. An
authority quite paternal on one side, quite filial on the other,
revolt against which seemed unknown I

The natives of Cuba, whom Columbus had embarked witd
him to serve as guides and interpreters on these seas and islands
began to understand the language of the Europeans ; they partly
understood that of the inhabitants of Hispaniola, a detached
branch of the same human family ; they thus established a
prompt and easy means of communication between Columbus
and the people whom he came to visit.

XI.V.

The so-called Indians led the Spaniards without suspicion to
their houses, offering them cassava bread, strange fruits, fishe^
and savoury roots, tame birds of magnificent plumage and
melodious song, flowers and palms, bananas and lemons, all the
gifts of the sea, the sky, the earth and the climate.

They treated them as guests and brothers, almost as gods.

" Nature," says Columbus, " is so lavish there, that property
has not created feelings of avarice or cupidity. These men seem
to live in a golden age, haj)py and peaceful in the midst of their
open and boundless gardens, which are neither surrounded by
ditches, divided by palisades, or protected by walls. They act
honestly towards each other, without laws, books or judges.
They look upon him as a wicked man who takes pleasure in
doing wrong to another. This horror of the good for the wicked
seems to sum up their whole legislation."

Their religion also was but a sentiment of inferiority, gratitude
and love to the invisible being who had been bountiful to them
in their life and happiness.

What a contrast between the state of these ha[)py peoples at
the moment when the Kurnpeans discover them to bring them
the genius of the old world, and the state into which these un
happy Indians fell a few years after this visit of their pretended
civilizers ! What a mystery of Providence is this unexpected
visit of Columbus to a new world, to which he thinks he is

CHRISTOPHER COLUMRUS.

bringing virtue and new life, iind wiiere lie is sowing, unknown
!o himself, tyranny and death 1

XLVI.

The pilot of Columbup, in endeavouring to penetrate succes-
ively into all the creeks and rver mourhs of the island, ran
aground while the admiral was asleep. The vessel, threatened
with submergence by the roaring waves, was abandoned by the
pi:ot and some of the sailors wlu*, on the pretext of taking an
anchor ashore, took flight in order to reach another shi[) by dint
of rowing, thinking that Columbus was condemned to ceitain
death.

The admiral's energy again saved, not the shij), but his com-
panions. He fought against the breakers until the dismember-
ment of the last plank, and, i)lacing his men on a raft, landed as
a shipwrecked man on that coast where he had recently landed
as a conqueror. He was so )n joined by the only vessel that
remained to him.

His shipwreck and misfortune did not cool the hospitality of
the Cazique whose guest he had been some days before. The
Cazique, named Quacanagari, the first fri^^nd and soon to be the
first victim of these strangers, shed te r.s of compassion over the
disaster of Columbus. He offered his dwellmg, h^ provisions
and his assistance, in every way, to the Sp miard^ The frag-
ments of the wreck and the riches of the Europeans, snatched
from the waves and spread on the beach, were preserved there,
as holy things, from all violation and even from all importunate
curiosity. These men who did not understand the meaning of
property amongst themselves, seemed to recognize and respect
it ill their unfortunate guests. Columbus, in his letters to
the King and Queen, showed himself to be deeply touched by
the spontaneous generosity of this people.

"There is not in the universe," he writes, "a better nation
or a better country. They love iheir neighbours as themselves ;
their speech is always kind and courteous, and a smile of web
corne is ever on their lips. They are naked, it is true, but
clothed in their seemliness and candour,"

Columbus, after establishing relations of the most intimate
and trusting hospitality with the young Cazique, received from

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CHT .STOPHER COLUMBUS.

t'l

him a present of some gold ornaments. At the sight of the
gold, the faces of the Europeans all at once showed such pas-
sionate longing, such greedy and fierce desire, that the Cazique
and his subjects were astonished and instinctively filled with
fear, as if their new friends had suddenly changed their nature
and their disposition towards them. It was only too true ; the
companions of Columbus only sought the imaginary riches of
the west, while he sought for a mysterious portion of the uni-
verse. The sight of the gold had called them back to their
covetousness ; their faces had become harsh and fierce as their
thoughts. The Cazique, on learning that this metal was the god
of the Europeans, explained to them, while pointing to the moun-
tains, that there was behind those summits, a region from which
gold came to him in abundance. Columbus no longer doubted
that he had at last traced the riches of Solomon to their source,
and, preparing everything for his speedy return to Europe in
order to announce his triumph, he built a fort in the Cazique's
village to leave a part of his companions there in safety during
his absence. He chose forty picked men amongst his officers
and sailors, and placed them under the command of Pedro de
Arana. They were directed to collect information about the
gold region, and to maintain the respect ard friendship of the
Indians for the Spaniards. He set out on his return to Europe,
laden wiihjlihe gifts of the chief and bringing back all the orna-
ments and crowns of pure gold that he had been able to procure,
during his stay, by presents or by exchange with the natives.

In coasting the windings of the island, he met his treacherous
companion, Alonzo Pinzon. On the pretext of having lost
sight of the admiral, Pinzon had taken a separate course.
Hidden in a deep inlet of the island, he had landed, and, instead
of imitating the mildness and policy of Columbus, had stained
his first steps with blood. The admiral, on finding his lieutenant,
pretended to be satisfied with his excuses, and to attribute his
desertion to the darkness of the night. He ordered Pinzon to
follow with his ship to Europe.

They again took the sea together, impatient to announce to
Spain the news of their marvelous voyage.

But the ocean, which had brought them kindly with its trade
winds, from billow to billow, to the coast of America, seemed,

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

with contrary winds and waves, to wish to drive them obstinately
from the land that they burned to see again.

Columbus, thanks to his knowledge of seamanship and the
notes of his reckonings which he had kept as a secret from his '
pilots, alone knew the course and alone estimated the distance
truly. His companions still thought themselves thousands of
leagues from Europe, when he already anticipated the nearness
of the Azores, which he soon sighted.

Terrible squalls, heaped up clouds, thunder and lightning
such as they had never seen blaze in the sky to quench itself in
the sea ; foaming mountains of wave whirling his ships, which
obeyed neither sail or rudder, for six days and nights opened
and closed the grave to himself and his companions on the
threshold of their country.

The signals, made by the two vessels in the darkness, dis-
appeared. Each one believed in the loss of the other, as eacl\
floated at the will of the never-ending storm, between the Azores
and the Spanish coast. Columbus, who did not donbt that the
Pinta was buried in the depths with Pinzon, and whose torn sails
and wave-abandoned rudder no longer guided the ship, expected
to founder every minute under one of these mountains of water
which he climbed and sunk from mth their foam. He had sacri-
ficed his life ; but he could not, without despair, sacrifice his
glory. To know that the mystery and the discovery which he
brought back to the Old World was buried with him for centuries,
so near port, was such a cruel mockery of Providence that he
could not bend even his piety to meet it. His soul rebelled
against this freak of fortune. To die at the moment when he
touched the shore of Europe but with his foot, and after having
deposited his secret and his treasure in the memory of his coun-
try, was a destiny that he accepted with joy ; but to leave a
second universe to die, so to say, with him, and to carry to the
tomb the solution, at last found, of this enigma of the globe,
which men, his brothers, would perhaps seek for in vain during
as many centuries as it had been hidden from them, was a mil-
lion deaths in one !

He only asked God, in his vows to all the sanctuaries of
Spain, to bear him, at least, to the shore with his wreckage, the
proofs of his discovery and his return. Meanwhile tempest
followed tempest, and the vessel was full of water. The bitter

■1 '

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CHKISTOFMIFR COLUMBUS.

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looks, the irritable murmurs, or sullen silence of his com-
panions reproached him with the obstinacy that had alkired or
forced them to this fatal voyage. They regarded tliis enduring
wrath of the elements as a vengeance of the ocean, because a
too daring man had robbed it of ils mystery. They spoke of
throwing him into the sea, to obtain, by a brilliant atonement,
the cahning of the waves.

XI.VII.

Columbus, heedless of tlieir wrath, and solely concerned
about the fate of his discovery, wrote several short accounts of
it on parchment ; inclosed some of them in a roll of wax, others
in cedar boxes, and threw these witnessess into the sea for
chance to carry them some day, after him, to the shore. It is
said that one of these buoys, abandoned to the winds and waves,
was tossed on the surface for three centuries and a half, in the
channel or on the strands of the sea, and that a sailor of a
European ship, while embarking ballast for his vessel, some
time ago, on the shingle of the African coast opposite Gibraltar,
picked up a petrified cocoanut and took it to his captain as a
worthless natural curiosity. The captain, on opening the nut
to find out if the kernel had withstood the lapse of time, found,
enclosed in the hollow shell, a parchment on which was
written in Gothic letters, deciphered with difficulty by a Gib-
raltar scholar, these words :

" We cannot hold out another day against the storm ; we are
between Spain and the newly discovered islands of the west.
If the caravel founders, may someone pick up this testimony 1

*' Christopher Columbus."

The ocean had kept this message for three hundred and
fifty-eight years, and only gave it up to Europe after America,
colonized, flourishing and free, was a rival of the Old Conti-
nent. A freak of fortune to inform men of what could have
remained hidden for so many centuries, if Providence had not
forbidden the waves to drown its great messenger in the person
of Columbus.

XL VI II.

On the following day there was a cry ijf Land ! It was the
Portuguese island of Santa Maria, at the extremity of the Azores.

CHRLSTOIMIKK COLUMBUS.

Columbus and his companions were driven away from it by the
jealous persecution of the Portuguese.

Again given up to the extremes of hunger and the fury of
the storm for days interminable, they only entered the mouth
of the Tagus on the 4th of March, where they at last cast
anchor in a shore that was indeed FAiropean, but was a rival
of Spain.

Columbus, being presented to the King of Portugal, gave
him an account of his discoveries without revealing his course,
for fear that prince should precede the fleets of Isabella. The
Portuguese of the court of John II., King of Portugal, advised
that king to have the famous sailor assassinated, in order to
bury with liim the secret and ihe rights of the crown of Spain
over these new countries. John H. was indignant at this base-
ness. Columbus, whom he received with honour, sent a
courier overland to his sovereigns to announce his succesj and
his speedy return by sea to Palos, where he disembarked, at
daybreak, on the 15th Marcli, in the midst of a population
intoxicated by joy and pride who advanced into the waves to
carry him ashore in triuujph. He threw himself into the arms
of his friend and protector, the humble Prior of the Monastery
of Rabida, Juan Peres, who iiad alone believed in him, and
whom one half the globe recompensed for his faith. Columbus
went in procession, barefoot, to the monastery church, to give
thanks for his safety, his glory and the conquest achieved for
Spain. A whole people followed him with blessings to the
door of that lowly monastery where, alone and on loot, with
his son, he had some years before begged the hospitality that
was extended to mendicants. Never since the beginning of the
world had a man amongst men brought to his country and pos-
terity such a conquest, with the exception of those who brought
to the earth the revelation of a creed ; and this conquest of
Columbus had so far cost humanity neither a crime, a life, a
drop of blood, nor a tear. His happiest days were those
which he passed, resting in the brightness of his hopes and
glory, at the monastery of Rabida with his host and friend, the
Prior of the monastery, and in the embraces of his sons.

XLIX.

And as if heaven had wished to fill the measure of his happi-
ness, and to avenge him on the envy that pursued him, Alonzo

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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

Pinzon, the captain of his second ship, entered on the following
day with the Pinta into the harbour of Palos, where he hoped
to arrive before his chief, and rob him of the first fruits of his
triumph. But disappointed in his guilty intention, and fearing
the punishment of his desertion, if disclosed by the admiral,
Pinzon died of despair and envy on touching land and seeing
the vessel of Columbus at anchor in the harbour. Columbus
was too generous to feel exultation, still less to seek revenge,
and the envious Nemesis of great men seemed to expire, of its
own accord, at his feet.

Isabella and Ferdinand, being informed of the return of
Columbus, and of their conquest, by the message that their
admiral had sent from Lisbon, met him at Barcelona with
ponl^ and ovations worthy of the greatness of his services. The
Spanish nobility h-rstened from all the provinces to join his
train. He made his entry as a victor and as ruler of an em-
pire to come. The Indians brought over by the squadron, as
a living proof of the existence of other human races in the
newly-discovered countries, marched at the head of the proces-
sion, their bodies painted in various colours and adorned with
necklaces of gold and pearls ; the animals and birds, the
strange plants, and the precious stones gathered on those
shores, were displayed in golden vessels and carried on the
heads of black or Moorish slaves. The hungry crowd flocked
round them ; fabulous stories pursued the steps of the officers
and the admiral's companions in renown. Columbus followed,
mounted on one of the King's horses, richly caparisoned,
escorted by a numerous cavalcade of courtiers and gentlemen.
All eyes were concentrated on this God-inspired man who had
lifted the veil of the ocean. 1 hey looked in his face for the
visible sign of his mission, and believed they saw it there.
The beauty of his features, the pensive majesty of his look, the
vigour of eternal youth joined to the gravity of years already
mature, the thought behind the deed, the strength under the
white hairs, the inner consciousness of his worth joined to the
piety towards God that had chosen him from amongst all, the
gratitude to his sovereigns who returned to him in honours
what he had brought to them in conquest's, made of Columbus

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

at this moment, say the spectators of his entry into Barcelona,
one of those heroes of prophesy and Bible liistory under whose
feet the people threw palms, in wonder and adoration. *' None
reached his level," they report ; " all acknowledged in him the
greatest and most favoured of men."

Isabella and Ferdinand received him on their throne, which
was sheltered fom the sun by a golden canopy. They rose
before him as before a messenger of God, afterwards sealing
him on a level with the throne, while they listened to his
solemn and circumstantial account of his voyage. At the end
of the recital, which the eloquence and poetry that habitually
flowed from the admiral's lips had coloured with his in-
exhaustible imagination and fired with his holy enthusiasm, the
King and Queen, moved to tears, fell on their knees and com-
menced, in an outburst of devotion, the Te Deum^ a hymn for
the greatest victory that the Almighty had ever granted to a
king.

Couriers instantly set out to bear the great news and the
victorious name of Columbus to all the courts of Europe. The
obscurity that had, till then, surrounded his life changed to a
fame and glory for his name that filled the world. Columbus
neither allowed his soul to be puffed up by these honours that
had been decreed to his person, nor his modesty to be humili-
ated by the jealousies that began to spring up around his glory.
One day, when he had been invited to the table of Ferdinand
and Isabella, one of the guests, envious of the honours granted
to the son of a wool carder, artfully asked him if he thought
that no one except himself could have discovered that other
hemisphere, in case he had not been born. Columbus did not
answer the question, for fear he should say too much or too
little of himself ; but, taking an egg between his fingers, he
turned to all the guests and requested them to make it stand
on end. No one succeeded. Columbus then crushed one end
of the egg, and, placing it on the broken oval, showed his rivals
that there was no merit in a simple idea, but yet that no one
could suspect its existence before a first inventor had given
others the proof of it : thus ascribing to the Supreme Giver of
inspiration the merit of his enterprise, while at the same time
claiming for himself alone the honour of priority. This parable
became, afterwards, the answer of every man chosen by Provi-

CIIKISTOI'IIKR COLLI M BUS.

dence to point out a road to his fellows and to be the first to
travel it, not indeed as being greater, but as being more
favoured by inspiration than his brethren.

The iionours and titles, and the future bestowal of the lands,
the discovery and concpiest of which he would go to complete,
became in his formal treaties with the court the appanage of
Columbus. He obtained the vice-royalty, the administration,
and a quarter of the riches or products, of every kind, of the
seas, islands, and continents where he should |)lant the cross of
the Church and tiie fl.ig of Spain.

Fonscca, Archdeacon of Seville, was entrusted, under the
title of " I*atriarch of India," with the prei)aration and c(|uip
ment of the new expedition that Columbus was about to kad
to greater conquests ; but, from the day of his appointment.
Fonseca became the secret riv d of the great sailor, and, as if
he had been anxious to disparage the genius that i-.e had been
commissioned to assist, while appearing to furnish Columbus
liberally with means, he raised obstacles in his |)ath. His
delays and pretexts reduced to seventeen ships the squadron
that was destined to carry the admiral back across the Atlantic.
Nevertheless, the venturesome genius of the Spaniards of this
age, the spirit of religious proselytisin, and the s|>irit of chivalry,
hurried on board the vessels a large number of monks, gen de-
men, and adventurers, who were eager, the former to carry the
truth, the latter to bring back fame and fortune, in being the
first to throw themselves into these countries that made wider
the imagination of mankind.

Workmen of all trades, farmers from every zone, domestic
animals of all kinds, seeds and plants, vine stocks and friiil
trees, sugar canes, samples of all the arts and trades of Europe,
were embarked on the trans[)orts to test the climate, fertilize
the soil, and tempt the men of these new climes, in order to ob-
tain from them gold and pearls, with the perfume and spices of
India, in exchange for things of small value in Europe. It was
the crusade of religion, of war and industry, of glory and ava
rice : for these the things of heaven, for the others the things of
earth, for all the marvelous and the unknown.

The most illustrious of these associates who embarked with
Columbus was Alonzo de Ojeda, formerly page to Isabella, the
handsomest, the most fearless, and most adventurous knight of

CHRISTOPKKR COLUMBUS.

the rourt. His soul and judgment so overflowed with daring
tluit he carried <'nthusiasin to the ver^e of tnadncss. He it
was who, one day when Isabelli had asrended to the lop of the
huge tower of Seville, called th«* (liralda, to admire its wonder-
tiil height and to look down Irom above on the streets and
houses of the city lying like an ant hill at her feet, s] rung on a
nirrow beam that projected from the battlements, and, pirouet-
ting on one foot at the extremity of this joist, performed pro-
digies of dexterity and daring over the abyss to give pleasure
to his sovereign, without the giddiness of threatening death
di'zing his eyes or terrifying his mind.

LI.

On the 25th September, 1493, the fleet left the Bay of Cadiz.
Shouts of joy all along the shore were the omens of this
second departure, which seemed destined only for a long
triumph. The two sons of Columbus accompanied their father
to the admiral's ship. He blessed them, and left them in Spain,
so that the better part of his life, at least, should remain safe
from the perils that he went to meet. Three large ships and
fourteen caravels made up the fleet. I'he ocean was crossed
as easily as on the first occasion. The fl'iet discovered Guada-
loupe on the 2nd November, passed through the midst of the
Caribbee Islands, christened this archipelago with names
borrowed from holy memories ; and, soon afterwards touching
at the point of Hispaniola (now Haiti), Columbus made sail
towards the gulf where he had built the fort and left his forty
companions. He returned full, at once, of anxiety and hope.
Might covered the shore when he cast anchor in the roadstead,
but he did not wait for daylight to ascertain the fate of his
colony. A salvo of cannons rang out upon the waves to in-
form the Spaniards of his return : but the cannon of the fort
remained dumb ; only the echo of those solitudes returned the
greeting of Europe to the New World. On the morrow, at day-
break, he saw the deserted shore, the destroyed fort, the cannon
half buried in its ruins, the bones of the Spaniards bleaching on
the sand, and even the village of the caziques abandoned.

The few nativ^es who were seen in the distance, on the edge of
the forest, seemed to hesitate to approach, as if they had been held

CHRISTOPHFR COLUMBUS.

1 1
t

\ ■

back by a feeling of remorse or by a fear of vengeance. The
caziquc, m'>re confident in his own innocence and in the jus-
tice of Colun.bus, whom he had learned to love, at last came
forward, lamenting the crimes of the Spaniards, who had taken
advantage of the hospitality of his subjects to oppress the
natives, and \vho had carried off their daughters and their
wives, reduced their hosis to slavery, and at last roused the
vengeance of his tribe.

After having killed a great number of the Indians and burned
their huts, they had been killed themselves. The burnt fort,
covering their bones, was the first monument of the contact be
tween these two human families, one of which brought slavery
and devastation to the other.

Columbus deplored the crimes of his companions and the
misfortunes of the cazique. He resolved to seek another part
of the shore to disembark and form a settlement on the coasts
of the island.

Amongst the young Indian captives from the neighbouring
islands, who were prisoners on board, Catalina, the most beauti-
ful amongst them, had charmed the eyes of a cazique who had
visited the vessel of Cokmibus. A plan of escape had been
arranged between this chief and the object of his love in the
language of signs, which the Europeans did not understand.

The night on which Columbus unfurled his sails, Catalina
and her companions, deceiving the vigilance of their tyrants,
threw themselves into the sea ; vainly pursued by the Euro-
peans' boats, they swam towards the shore, where the young
cazique had kindled a fire to guide them.

The two lovers, united by this wonderful deed of strength
and daring, took refuge in the forests from the wrath of the
Europeans.

UI.

Columbus, again landing on a virgin beach at some distance,
founded on it the town of Isabella, established friendly relations
with the natives, built, cultivated and governed the first Euro-
pean colony, the mother of so many others ; he sent armed de-
tachments to visit the plains and mountains of Hispaniola, first
treating kindly, then tempting, and finally subduing, by mild
and just laws, the different tribes of these vast territories ; he

I".

CHRISTOPHER CrlLUMRUS.

built forts and laid out roads to the different parts of his em-
pire, seeking for goUl, which was less .ibundaru than he expected
in these regions which he still confounded with India, and only
finding the inexhaustible wealth of a soil rich to prodigality and
a people as easy to bring into subjugation as to tyrannise.

He sent back the greater number of liis vessels to Spain to
ask his sovereign for fresh consignments of men, animals, tools,
and the plants and seeds necessary for the vast expanse of the
territories that he was about to subjugate to the manners, reli-
gion and arts of Europe.

But the malcontents, the ambitious and the envious were the
first to embark on his fleet, in order to sow complaints, accusa-
tions and calumnies against him.

He remained alone, attlicted by gout, suffering excruciating
pain, condemned to bodily inactivity while his mind was in
constant anxiety, beset, in his budding colony, by the rivalries,
revolts and conspiracies, the shameless debauchery and lack of
provisions among his crews.

Ever kind and magnanimous, Columbus, victorious by moral
force alone, over the turbulence of his countrymen and the
mutiny of his lieutenants, limited himself to consigning the in-
subordinate to the vessels ii' the roadstead

When he had recovered from his long illness, he went over
the island at the head of a column of jjicked men, vainly seek-
ing the gold mines of Solomon, but studying the nature and
customs of the island, and sowing evciy where, on his way,
respect and love for his name.

LIII.

He found, on his return, the same disorders, the .same insub-
ordination and the same vices. The Spaniards abused the
superstition of the natives with regard to them and the terror
with which their horses inspired them. The Indians took them
to be marvelous beings, forming one with their riders, at once
smiting, trampling on and blasting the enemies of the Europeans.
Thanks to this terror, they subjugated, chained, profaned, vio-
lated and tortured this gentle and obedient people.

Columbus again took harsh measures against the persecution
of the Indians by his companions. He wished to bring them
the faith and the arts of Europe, not the yoke, vice and death.

•if

CMKISToi'FIKK COLUMBUS.

1 1

After having re*eitabliiiiie(t lomc decree of order, he embarked
with the inli'iiti<»n of visiting the isl.ubl of Cuhi, which he had
hardly soen. He touched lliure and coastrd its nhtjre.s a loiij^r
ti.iic, without seeing the cud of the island whi< h he took to be
a contitient. lie sailed from there towards Jamaica, another
island of vast extent, the summits of which he s iw in the < louds,
Afterw inU cro.ssuig an archipelago which he called the "(Queen's
(Jardcns," from ihe richness and the perfume of the viigetation
that < loihed ihc islands, he relumed to C\\\)A and succeeded in
establishing friendly iclations with the natives.

The Indians took part, with mingled astonishment atid re
spect, in the ceremonies of I'hristiaii worship which the S[)an
iards ceh'braled in a grotlo, under the palm trees on the shore.
One of their old men approa<lu?d Oolumbus after the ceremony
and said to him in a solenm voice :

" \Vh;!t you have just done is ^ood, for it ai)p(*ars to be yotir
worship at the universal (Jod. It is said that you come to these
regions with a sirong force, and an authority superior to all re-
sistanro. If that is so, learn from nie what our ancestors tol !
our fathers, who have repeated it to us. After the souls of nnn
are separated from the body by the will of divine beings, they
go, some to a country without sun or trees, others to regions
of bnghluess and bliss, according as they have deserved well
or ill her.' below in doing got. or evil to their fellows. If ihi ,
you nuist die as we, take care that you do not work us evil, us
and thos'.* who have not done it unto you ! "

'J'his speecii of the old Indian, related by Las-Casas, proves
that the Indians had a religion almost evangelical in the si?n-
plicity and purity of its morality, a mysterious emanation, eillier
from a primitive nuture the brightness of which debauchery and
vice had not yet tarnished, or Irom an old and worn-out civiliza-
tion which had left its traces of light in their iruditions.

i.ta

LIV.

Columbus, after a long and laborious exploration, returned in
a dying state to Hispaniola. His hardships and anxieties, added
to his suffeiings an(i the weight of years which his mind did not
feel, but which weighed on his limbs, had for a moment triumph-
ed over his genius. His sailors brought him back to Isabella,

CIIRISTOIMIF.K COLUMBUS.

l>rofitrfltc and iinronsclous. Hut Providence, which hnd never
drscrlc(i him, watched over him (hiring' the Iohh of his facultiet.
He found, on waking from his stupor, his beloved brother,
llartliolomcw I'oUjinhus, at the head of his bed. Hartholomew
luul come from Kurope to llispanioKi, an if he ha(i had a warn-
ing of the peril and need in which his brother was to be placed.
He was the strength of the family, of which Diej^o, titj third
l)iother, was the gentleness, and Christopher the genius. The
vi;iour of his body ecjuallcd th»at of his mind, lie was of ath-
letic build, of the temper of iron, of robust health, of imposmg
presence, and with a voice that in its i)it(h overpowered the wind
and the sea. A sailor from his youth, a soldier and an adven-
turer all his life, endowed by nature and habits with the daring
that commands obedience, and the justice that makes discipline
light, a man as fit to rule as to fight, he was the most suitable
lieutenant for (>)lumbus in thr cxtre»"'»''ir( umstances into which
in.urhy had thrown his empire, and, above all, he was a brother
tilled with as muc'» resj)ect as affection for his leader and for
the glory of his name. The spirit of family was a guarantee to
Columbus for the fidelity of his lieutenant.

The affection between the two brothers was the best pledge
of the trust of the one and the submission of the other.

Columbus handed over the command and government to his
hrother during the long months when exhausted nature con-
dcinned him to inaction and repose, under the title of Adelan-
tado or general controller and vice-governor of the countries
under his authority.

]>artholoniew,who was a stricter administratorthon his brother,
compelled more respect, but also roused more resistance.

The rashness and perfidy of the young Spanish soldier Ojeda
stirred up wars of despair between the Indians and the colony.
This fearless adventurer having penetrated with some horsemen
to the most distant and independent parts of the island, per-
suaded one of the caziques to accompany him on his return
with a large number of Indians, in order to admire the greatness
and wealth of the Europeans.

The beguiled chief followed Ojeda. After a march of some

days and during a halt on the banks of a river, Ojeda, taking

advantage of the simplicity of the Indian chief, directed his

notice to a pair of handcuffs of polished steel, the brightness of

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

' I

*i' '

which dazzled the cazique. Ojeda told him that these fetters
were the bracelets that the European kings wore before their
subjects on days of ceremony. He inspired his guest with a
wish to put them on also, and, mounting a horse like a Spaniard,
to show himself to his Indians in these pretended accoutrements
of the sovereigns of the old world. But scarcely had the un-
fortunate cazique mounted behira the deceitful Ojeda and put
on the handcuffs, the objects of his childish vanity, than the
Spanish horsemen, starting at a gallop and dragging their pri-
soner along with them, crossed the island and brought him iu
chains to the colony, where they kept him in the fetters for
v'hicii he had innocently wished. A widespread insurrection
roused the Indians against this perfidious act of the strangers,
in whom they had first seen guests, friends, benefactors and
gods. This insurrection led to vengeance on the part of tlie
Spaniaids. They reduced the Indians to a state of slavery, and
sent four vessels, laden with the victims of their cupidity, to
Spain to make an infamous trade of them as if in human cattle,
thus making good, by the price of these slaves, the gold
wh^'^h they had expected to gather like dust in the countries
where they found only flesh and blood. The war degenerated
into a man-huut Dogs, brought from Europe and trained tu
this chase in the forests, scenting and seizing the natives and
tearing their throats, assisted the Spaniards in this inhuman
devastation of the country.

LV.

Columbus, having at last recovered from his long illness,
again took up the reins of government, and was himself carried
away by the wars that were kindled during the interregnum.
He became soldier and peace-maker, after having been a
sailor ; won decisive battles against the Indians, and made
them submissive to the yoke that was made easier to bear by
his kindness and diplomacy, imposing on them only a small
tribute in gold and the produce of their land, as a token of
allegiance rither than of submission.

The island floiirished once more under his temperate govern-
ment ; ! ut the confiding and unhappy cazique, Guanacanari,
who had been the first to welcome these visitors to his territory,

CHKISTOrHEK COLUMHUS.

ashamed and desperate at having involuntarily bten the accom-
plice in the enslavemtMit of his country, tied forever to the pre-
cipitous mountains of tiie island, and died there in freedom, so
that he might not live as a slave under the laws of those who
had taken advantage of his ])n)l)ity.

During this weakness of Columbus and these troubles in the
island, his enemies, \vorking for his disgrace at court, had poi-
soned the mind of Ferdinand against him. Isabella, who was
firmer in her admiration for this great man, vainly shielded him
with her favour. The court had sent to Hispaniola a magis-
trate invested with secret powers, which authorized him to
enquire into the alleged crimes of the viceroy, to deprive him
of his authority and to send him to Europe, if his guilt were
proved. This biased judge, whose name was Aguado, arrived
at Hispaniola while the viceroy was at the head of his troo[)s,
in the interior of the island, occupied in the pacification and
administration of the country. Forgetting the gratitude that he
owed to Columbus, who was the founder of his fortune, Aguado,
even before gathering information, pronounced Columbus guilty
and provisionally deposed from his sovereign functions. Sur-
rounded and applauded, on his landing, by the malcontents of
the colony, he sent Columbus an order to come to Isabella,
the capital town of the Spaniards, and to make acknowledgment
of his authority. Columbus, encompassed by his friends and
most devoted of his soldiers, could refuse obedience to the in-
solent command of a subordinate. He bowed, on the contrary,
to the very name of his sovereign ; went unarmed to Aguado,
and, surrendering him. entire authority, allowed him freely to
prepare the shameful action that his slanderers were entering
against him. But at the very momen' when his fortune was
thus sinking before persecution, it procured for him one of
those favours that could most readily gain him the favours of
the court.

One of his young officers, named Miguel Diaz, having killed
one of his comrades in a duel, fled, for fear of punishment, to
a wild and distant t^art of the island. The tribe that inhabited
these mountains was governed by a young Indian woman of
great beauty, the widow of a cazique. She conceived a pas-
sionate attachment for the Spanish fugitive, and married hini.
Yet Diaz, though beloved and crowned by the object of his

^i!,il

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

ii
■i:i

affection, could not forget his country or conceal the sadness
that regret for his compatriots plainly marked on his face. His
wife, while trying to obtain from him the confession of his
melancholy, learned from him that gold was the passion of
the Spaniards, and that they would come to live with him, in
these regions, if they had the hoi)e of finding the precious
metal there. The young Indian wife, delighted to retain the
presence of him she loved at this price, revealed to him the
existence of inexhaustible mines, hidden in the mountains.
The possessor of this secret, and sure of obtaining pardon
at this price, Diaz hastened to bear the intelligence of the
trensure to Cohunbus.

The viceroy's brother, Bartholomew Columbus, set out with
Diaz and an escort of troops to verify the discovery. They
arrived in a few days at a valley where the river rolled gold
with its sand, and where the rocks in its bed were incrusted
with particles of the metal. Cokmibus built a fortress in the
neighbourhood, dug out and enlarged the mines that had been
already opened in ancient times, gathering immense riches
from them for his sovereigns, and persuading himself more
and more that he had entered the fabulous land of Ophir.
Diaz, who was grateful and true to his young Indian wife, to
whom he owed his pardon, his fortune, and his happiness, had
their marriage blessed by the priests of his religion, and ruled
over his tribe in peace.

LVI.

Columbus, yielding without resistance to Aguado's orders
after this discovery, embarked with his judge to Spain. He
arrived there, after a voyage of eight months, rather as an
accused man who is being led to punishment than as a victor
who brings back his trophies. Calumny, incredulity and re-
proaches greeted him at Cadiz. S[)ain, which had expected
prodigies, saw returning from the land of its dreams only dis-
appointed adventurers, accusers and naked slaves. The un-
fortunate cazique. still fettered in Ojeda's manacles and brought
by Aguado, as a living trophy to Ferdinand and Isabella, had
died at sea, cursing his misplaced trust in the Europeans and
their treachery.

Columbus, suiting his dress to the sorrow and misery of his

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

position, went lo Burgos, where the court resided, attired as a
Franciscan and wearing only a rope as girdle for liis robe, his
head weighed down by years, by cares, by affliction ai^d white
hairs, barefoot, as one who comes, a talented suppliant, to ask
forgiveness for the glory ho had won. Isabella aiuiie received
liim with tender compassion and persisted in believing in his
honesty and his services. This constant favour on the part of
the Queen, although disguised, sustained the uilmiral against
the aspersions and accusations of the courtiers. He proposed
fiesh voyages and vaster discoveries. They consented to again
entrust him with vessels, but made him consume, in systematic
delays, tlie few years of strength that his advanced iige now left
him. The ])ious Isabella, in granting power and new titles to
Columbus, stipulated for conditions of liberty and humanity
in favour of the Indians, that were in advance of the ideas ot
her age. A woman's heart instinctively proscribed the slavery
which philosophy and religion were only to abolish four cen-
turies later.

At last Columbus, being exculpated, was able to embark and
make sail towards his new country: but hatred and envy
followed him even on board the vessel on which he was to
hoist his admiral's pennant. Breviesca, the treasurer of the
Patriarch of India, Fonseca, an enemy lo Columbus, launched
forth in insults against the admiral at the moment when the
anchor was we.^hed. Columbus, who had restrained himself
till then by power of Wi ', by patience and by the appreciation
of the vast 'mportance of his mission, for the first lime gave
way to bittei less and indignation. At this la:;: dishonour
offered him b his enemies, he came down to the level of
ordinary men U " a. moment, and, from the full height of his
soul, and with all the might of his arm, twice strengthened
by his anger, falling on his unworthy persecutor, he felled
him on the bridge, and spurned him, with contemj)t, at his
feet. Such was the farewell greeting of the jealousy of Europe
to the man whom they thought too great, or too fortunate, to
be mortal. This sudden vengeance of the admiral left fresh
resentment in Fonseca's heart and new accusations for his
enemies to profit by. The rising wind took him from the sight
of the shore, and from the insults of his countrymen.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

I
rl

'si

LVII.

Arriving this time, by another route, at the island of the
Trinity, he reconnoitercd it, named it, and, afterwards doubling
it, coasted the true shore of America near the mouth of the
Oronoco. The freshness of the sea water that he tasted in
these latitudes, should have convinced him that the river which
discharged itself into the ocean in a volume sufficient to sweeten
its waters could only come from a continent. Yet he landed
on this coast without suspecting that it was the shore of an un-
known world. He found it deserted and silent like a domain
awaiting its owners. A smoke above the vast forests in the dis-
tance, and an abandoned hut and some traces of bare feet on
the sands of the beach were all he saw of America.

All he did himself was to imprint the first foo nark there,
and to pass a single night under the sail that servv-^t him for a
tent ; but that first step should have been sufficient to give his
name to this hemisphere.

LVIII.

He set out again from the Gulf of Paria, and once more
sighted the coast of Hispaniola, after painstaking investigations
of all the neighbouring seas. His troubles of mind and body,
his long waiting in Spain, the ingratitude of his countrymen, the
coolness of Ferdinand and the hatred of his ministers, the night
watches during his voyages and the infirmities of age, had done
more to break him down than the trials of the sea.

His eyes, inflamed from sleeplessness and the study of charts
and of the sky, were affected ; his limbs, stiff and painful from
gout, refused to bear him. His mind alone was sound and his
genius, piercing the future, bore him in thought out of his
sufferings and beyond the limits of time. His brother Bar-
thclomew who had carried on the government of ihe colony in
his absence, was still his consolation and support.

He hastened to meet the admiral as soon as his lookout men
signalled a sail.

Bartholomew told his brother of the vicissitudes of Hispaniola
during his absence.

Scarcely had he completed the exploration and pacification
of the country, when the excesses of the Spaniards and the con-

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

halts
[from
Id bis
If his

Bar-

IV i>"'

men

Iniola

lation
con-

spiracies of his own lieutenants had overthrown the work of his
fortitude and wisdom. A superintendent of the colony, named
Roldan, a popular and crafty man, had formed a party for him-
self amongst the sailors and adventurers, the scum of Spain cast
upon the colony by the mother country. Together with them
he had fortified himself on the opposite coast of St. Domingo,
and had leagued himself against Bartholomew with the chiefs
of the neighbouring tribes ; he had built, or captured, fortresses
from which he defied the authority of his legitimate chief. The
Indians, witnesses of the divisions amongst their oppressors,
had profited by them to rebel and refuse the payment of tribute.
Anarchy rent the new possession, and only the heroism of Bar-
tholomew held the fragments together in his powerful hands.
Ojeda had freighted ships in Spain on his own account ; and,
cruising round and landing on the south coast of the island,
had leagued himself with Roldan.

Roldan had afterwards betrayed Ojeda and again placed him-
self under the authority of the governor.

During these quarrels in the colony, don Fernando de Guerara,
a young Spaniard of remarkable beauty, had inspired with a
violent passion the daughter of Anacoana, the widow of the
cazique, who, being carried off by Ojeda to Spain, had died as
a prisoner on the voyage.

Anacoana herself was still young, and celebrated amongst the
tribes of the island for her incomparable beauty, for her natural
genius and poetical talent, which made her the adored sybil of
her countrymen. In spite of the misfortunes of her husband,
she had conceived a great admiration and unconquerable affec-
tion for the Spaniards. The country which she ruled with her
brother was a home for these strangers. She loaded them with
hospitality, with gold and with protection in their misfortunes.
Her subjects, more civilized than the other Indian tribes, lived
in peace, rich and contented under her laws. Roldan, who
governed the part of the island that was under the sway of the
beautiful Anacoana, had been jealous of the residence and in-
fluence of Fernando de Guerara at the court of the princess.
He forbade him to marry her daughter and ordered him to em-
bark. Fernando, detained by love, had refused to obey, and
plotted against Roldan. Surprised and placed in chains in
Anacoana's house by Roldan's soldiers, he had been taken to

7?'

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

'i,

Isabella for trial. An expedition, that had left the capital of
the colony on the pretext of exploring the island, had been
received with friendly interest in Anacoana's capital. The
treacherous leader of the expedition, taking advantage of the
queen's trust and hospitality, had persuaded her to invite thirty
caziques from the south of the island to the feast which she
was preparing for the Spaniards, who had plotted the death of
their open-hearted protectress, her family, her guests and her
people, and the burning of her possessions during the dances
and banquets in which they took part. They invited Anacoana,
her daughter, the thirty chiefs and the people to watch, from a
balcony, the evolutions of their horses and a sham fight between
the cavalry and their escort. Suddenly the horsemen rush u[)on
the unarmed people, who had gathered in the square through
curiosity ; they butcher them and tread them under tiieir horses'
hoofs ; then, surrounding Anacoana's palace with a hedge of
foot soldiers to prevent the queen and her friends from leaving
it, the Spaniards had set fire to the palace, still full of the feast-
ing and festivity to which they themselves had just sat down •
they had watched with a cruelty equal to their ingratitude the
beautiful and unfortunate Anacoana, driven back into her
palace, dying in the flames, and calling down upon them the
vengeance of her gods !

This crime against hospitality, against innocence, against
sovereignty, against beauty and genius of which the celebrated
Anacoana was the symbol amongst the Indians, had thrown the
island into a state of horror and disorder, over which Columbus
could not for a long time prevail, notwithstanding all his honesty
of purpose and his diplomacy. The flames of the palace and
the blood of the queen, whose beauty dazzled them and whose
national poetry intoxicated them with love and enthusiasm,
rose up between the oppressors and the oppressed. The island
became a field of slaughter, a convict prison and a cemetery for
the unfortunate Indians. The Spaniards, as fanatical in their
proselytism as they were cruel in their a^farice, foreshadowed at
Hispaniola the crimes which were soon to depopulate Mexico.
These two races of men throttled each other in their greeting.

LIX.

While Columbus was endeavouring to separate and pacify
these two parts of the population, King Ferdinand, informed

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

by his enemies of the misfortunes of the island, attributed them
to the man who was remedying them. Columbus having asked
the court to send him a magistrate of high rank to impose, by
his judgments, the royal authority on his undisciplined com-
panions, the court sent him Bobadilla, a man of incorruptible
morals, but a fanatic of ungovernable pride. The ill-defined
authority with which he was invested by the royal decree made
him, at the same time, subordinate and superior to every other
power. On arriving at Hispaniola, and being [irejudiced against
the admiral, he insolently summoned him to appear before him'
like a culprit, and, directing chains to be brought, he commanded
the soldiers to load their general's limbs with them. The sob
diers, accustomed to love and honour their leader, now made
more venerable in their eyes by age and glory, hesitated and
stood motionless, as if they had been ordered to perform an
act of sacrilege. But Columbus, of his own accord holding
his arms for the fetters which his King had sent to him, allowed
his feet and hands to be cliained by one of his own servants, a
volunteer hangman, a low hireling in his household, called
Espinosa, whose name Las Casas has preserved as a type of
insolence and ingratitude. Columbus himself ordered his two
brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, who were still at the head
of the army corps in the interior, to submit themselves, to his
judge, without resistance or complaint. Confined in the dun-
geon of the fortress at Isabella, he resigned himself for several
months to the preliminaries of his trial, in which all who had
rebelled against him, and all his enemies, now become his
accusers and his judges, vied with each other in charging him
with the most odious and absurd accusations. Turned into an
object of public fury and derision, he heard from the depths of
his prison the ferocious jests and the jeers of his persecutors, who
came every evening to insult him in his captivity. He expected
each moment to see his executioners enter : Bot)adilla, however,
did not venture on the capital crime. He ordered the admiral
to be expelled from the colony and sent to Spain, to submit
himself to the justice, or the mercy, of the King. Alonzo de
Villego was commissioned to guard him during the voyage.
He was a kind-hearted man, obedient from a sense of soldierly
duty, but indignant and pitiful while he obeyed. Columbus,
on seeing him enter his dungeon, had no doubt that his last

i'i

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

ii
!l

hour had come. He had prepared himself for it, in the know-
ledge of his innocence and by prayer : yet his human nature
shrunk from it.

" Where are you taking me?" he asked, questioning the of-
ficer by look and word.

** To the vessels on which you are going to embark, your ex-
cellency," answered Villejo.

" To embark 1 " replied Columbus, not believing the words
that gave him back his life ; " are you not deceiving me,
Villegor'

" No, your excellency," answered the officer, " I swear, by
heaven, nothing is more true ! '*

He supported the steps of the admiral and put him on
board the vessel, crushed by the weight of his fetters and fol-
lowed by the insults of a cowardly populace.

But scarcely were the ships under sail when Villejo and An-
dreas Martin, the commanders of the vessel that had become *'ie
floating prison of their leader, approached him with respect, as
well as the whole crew, and wished to remove his irons.

Columbus, for whom these fetters were at once a proof of his
obedience to Isabella and a witness to tlie injustice of men, by
which he suffered in his body, but of which in his soul he was
proud,. thanked them, but obstinately refused to he freed from
the chains.

" No," he answered. " My sovereigns have written to me
to submit to Bobadilla. It is in their name that they iiave
loaded me with chains. I will bear them until they release me
themselves, and I will keep them afterwards," he added with a
bitter satisfaction in his services and his innocence, '* as a
monument of the reward accorded by men to my labours."

His son relates, as well as Las Casas, that Columbus was
true to this promise and he ever afterwards kept his chains
hung up before his eyes wherever he Hved, and that in his will
he gave instructions that they should be enclosed with him in
his coffin ; as if he had wished to appeal to God from the in-
justice and ingratitude of his contemporaries, and to present to
heaven the material proofs of the iniquity and cruelty of the
world.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

LX.

Party hatreds, however, do not cross the seas. The spoliation,
the captivity and the fetters of Cohimbus roused the pity and
indignation of the people of Cadiz. When they saw this old
man, who a little v'hiie before had brought an empire to his
country, himself brought back from that empire as a common
criminal to atone for his services by disgrace, their hearts re-
belled against Hobadilla.

Isabella, who was then at Granada, shed tears over this in-
dignity, ordering that his fetters should be replaced by rich
garments and his jailors by an escort of honour. She sum-
moned him to Granada. He fell at her feet and sobs of
gratitude prevented him for a long tiuje from speaking.

The King and Queen did not even deign to examine the case
against so great a defendant ; he was actpiittcd t)y their regard
for him as much as by his innocence. They kept the admiral at
their court for some time and sent another governor, named
Ovando, to replace Hobadilla.

Ovando had the good qualities that make a man of integrity,
without the greatness of soul that makes the nobleman. His
was one of those characters in which everytiiing is narrow, even
duty, and in which honesty seems a parsimony of nature. He
was the man least fitted to replace a really great man. He re-
ceived instructions from Isabella to protect the Indians and a
prohibition from selling them as slaves. The portion of the
revenues falling to Columbus by treaty, were to be sent to him
in Spain, as well as the treasures of whicii he had been des
polled by Bobadilla.

A fleet of thirty sails carried the new governor to Hispaniola.

Columbus, unconscious of old age and at rest from perse-
cution, was impatient of repose and even of the honours paid
him by his country. Vasco de Gama had just discovered the
route to India by the Cape of Good Hope. The world was
full of astonishment at and admiration for the discovery of the
Portuguese sailor. A noble rivalry troubled the mind of the
Genoese seaman. Being convinced of the rotundity of the
earth, he thought he would reach the extreme coasts of the
eastern world in sailing due west. He asked the Spanish court
for the command of a fourth expedition, and embarked at

i««

CHRISTOPHF.R COLrMItUS.

Cadi/, on the iQfh May, 1502, for the last time. IIIm brother,
llartholoniew and his son Fernando, now fourteen y^ais of
age, accompanied liim. His Heet was composed of four small
vessels that were fit lor sailing along the coast and for entering
without danger into the coves and the mouths uf rivers which
he wished to explore.

His crews were only 150 seanien all told. Although he ap-
proached his seventieth year, his green old nge had withstood
the weight of time by his njeiital vigour ; neither his painful
maladies nor the prospect of death tinned him aside from his
goal.

" Man," he said, ** is a tool that should break at its work in
the hands ot the Providence that miikes use of it for 1 1
designs. So long as the body has the power the mind should
hav<* the will."

He had decided to touch, in p.T^^ 'ng, at Hispaniola, to refii,
for which he had the authorization tlie court.

He crossed the ocean in a heavy sea, and arrived in sight of
Hispaniola with iiis masts broken, his s.iils m tatters and 'iis
shi[)s without water or provisions. His maritime knowledge
warned him of a more terrible storm than those to vhich he
had been exposed. He sent a boat to ask Governor Ovaiulo
for permission to take shelter in the bay of Isabella. Informed
by his prognostications of the dangers that the sea was about
to let loose on his coasts, Columbus, in his letter, warned
Ovando to delay the departure of a numerou;: fleet uliich was
ready to set out from Hispaniola for Spain, laden with all the
treasures of the new world. Ovando cruelly refused Columbus
the moment's refuge which he begged for in the harbour lie had
himself discovered.

He withdrew, in indignation and as an outlaw, seeking far
from the dominion of Ovando for a shelter under the remoter
cliffs of the island, where he waited for the storm he had ft)rc
told. This storm swallowed the Governor's entire fleet, the
treasures and the lives of a thousand Spaniards.

Columbus felt it even in the bay where he had taken shelter ;
he grieved over the misfortunes of his countrymen, and, leav-
ing this cruel land, he once more saw Jamaica and landed on
the continent in the bay of Honduras.

Sixty days of continuous tempest tossed him from on< cape

CMRISTOI'HKK COLUMIUJS.

to another nnd from the continent to the islands, on the un
known shores of that America, the conciuest of whi* h the storm
seemed to dispute with him!

He lost one of 'is ships with th" fifty men who manned it
at the mouth of ii rivet' which lie named the " Beach of the
Disaster." As the sea persistently closed to him the way to
that India which he still rxpcctt-d to sight he cast anchor be-
tween a delicious island .nul the continent.

BeiiiR visited hy the Indians, he embarked seven of them on
his ships in order to familiarize himself with their language
and to obtain information. 'rogcth?.'r with tliom he oasted a
land where gold and pearls were alv.mdant in the hands of the
natives. At the commencement of the year 1504, he a.-^cended
the river Veragua and sent his brother Bartholomew at the head
of sixty Spaniards to visit the villages on tlie coast and search
for the gold mines.

Hartholomew found only savages and forests. The admiral
left this river and entered another, the banks of which were
peopled by Indians who lavished gold on his crews in exchange
for the commcmest trinkets of luirope.

He believed he was at the goal of his chitneras, when he
was, in reality, at the climax of his disasters. War broke
out between this handful of Kuropeans and the numerous
people of these districts. Bartholomew Columbus knocked
down with his fist, and look captive, the most powerful
and formidable of the Indian chiefs. A village which the
companions of Columbus had built on the coasi, in order
to trade with the interior, was taken and set fire to in the
night !iy the natives : eight Spaniards, pierced by their ariows,
perished under the ruins r.f their huts. Bartholomew ralHed the
bravest and drove the hordes back into tlie f(;rests ; but the
antipathy increased on both sides in consequence of the blood
that had been shed. A crowd of Indian canoes attacked the
long boat of the squadron, as it endeavoured to ascend further
up the river : all the Europeans who manned it were killed.
During tbis furious struggle, Columbus, who was detained on
hoard nis hhip by his bodily weakness and his maladies, kept
the ca/.ique and the Indian < jiiefs prisoners on his vessel.
These chiefs, being informed of the devastation of their terri-
tory and Lhe captivity of their women, endeavoured to escape

CIIRISTOPHKR COLUMBUS.

one dark iii^lit by raising the trapdoor that closed their floating
dungeon. The crew, awakened by tlie noise, drove them back
into their prison and closed the hatch with an iron bar. The
next day, when the hatch was opened to take hcin food, they
only found their corpses : they had killed each other to a man,
in despair and to escape slavery.

I. XI.

Being soon separated by the breakers from his l)rother
iJartholontew, who was on shore with the remains of the expe-
dition, there was no way of communicating with him left to
Cokunbus, except by the courage of one of his officers who
swam through the surf to carry backwards and forwards ihc
tidings which constantly grew worse. He could neither with-
draw from his friends nor desert them in their disasters.
Uneasiness, illness, hunger and the prospect of a shipwreck,
without shelter and without witnesses, on a shore so longed for
and so fatal, conflicted in his soul with his heroic constancy and
his pious resignation to the will of Ood, of whom he felt himsclt
to be at once the messenger and the victim, lie thus described,
during his spells of wakefulness, the state of his mind :

" Worn out, I bad fallen asleep, when a voice full of sorrow
and compassion spoke to me as follows : Foolish man ! so
slow to believe and serve your God, the (iod of the universe !
Did He do more for Moses or David, His servants t From the
hour of your birth He has always taken the greatest care of you.
Since you have reached man's estate He has mad vour obscure
name ring marvelously through all the earth ; He has given you
India for a possession, that favoured partion of creation; He
has found for you the keys to the barriers of the vast ocean, till
then closed by such mighty chains. Turn towards Him and
bless His mercifulness to you. If there still remains some
great enterprise to accomplish, your age will be no obstacle to
His designs. Was not Abraham a hundred years old when he
begat Isaac, and was Sara young? Who has caused your
present afflictions : God or the world ? The promises He
made you, He has never broken ; He has never said, after
having received your services, that you had misunderstood Him.
He keeps all His promises, and surpasses them : what you an*

«KC fro,,, you, verl-li/ "•;',"';''""«• ''''"X,uiutr'
""'ci and nor u,i.i, ""■"('•"f- AM these rrii.,.p '.. ' ' '•"♦'^ four-

"'« voice Z r^""' " ''■•'"<•" >hcy ,„'''*''"?'' •"<•• '"cvit-
con.ouZ i.' '■"' '''°'"" '" "'■= '''f' -' <ill J"i,h ;'X/^,^

J.XII.

I'rov..„o„s and with .'u, . 'Companions dishearten, i " '"

re ates, " wiH, '" '""•'"■ "I's worm.eit,.„ "]'''• ."'^ ships

winds and a 1";"7 ''"''» »« a h , -JcoU • " ';,"-'"^:''' ''"••
shil's on the !,•„'>. 'I'l" '^""' "ispaniola to'r ""•; i"'"""
aground o th T "' ,'""'""S, hardy JveMm ," •'•""^"™; his

raising ten sfo" "'"' '''""'<''. "wkinl thL , 'i""' ""^"> '«■

fortress built by the ,^n ^ "^ "8'" o'' 'I"- shiowrert n < ,
visions with ,h,.\; .'""^""g'-'rs on their beirh ' ? ^"'I "'e

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

one night to the admiral's mind. He had him secretly sum-
moned to his bedside, where he was confined by gout, and
said to him :

" My Son, of all those who are here, you and I alone appre-
ciate the dangers that hold out to us but the prospect of death.
One way alone remains for us to try. One must expose him-
self to death for the sake of all, or save us all. Are you will-
ing to be he ? "

Mendez answered :

" Your excellency, I have often devoted myself for my fel-
lows ; but there are some who complain and say that your
partiality selects me when there is a brilliant action to be at-
tempted. For this reason propose to the whole crew to-morrow
the duty which you offer me, and, if no one accepts it, I will
obey you."

On the following day, the admiral did what Mendez had
requested.

All the crew, when questioned, protested against the possi-
bility of a long voyage on a log of wood, a mere plaything of
the wind and waves.

Mendez then came forward and said modestly :

" I have only one life to lose, but I am ready to risk ii in
your service and for the general safety ; I throw myselt on the
protection of God."

He set out and was lost, in the mists and foam on the hori-
zon, to the eyes of the Spaniards, whose lives he carried with
his own.

LXIII.

Meanwhile, the waiting without hope, their entire separation
from the unknown world and the excess of their misfortune
embittered his companions against the admiral, to whom they
ascribed their desolation.

Two of his favourite officers, Diego and Francisco de Porras,
whom he had treated as sons and invested with the chief com-
mands in the squadron, were tne first to promote complaints,
insults, and, soon afterwards, sedition against him. Taking
advantage of a crisis in his illness, which confined their bene-
factor to his bed, and, carrying with them half the soldiers and
sailors, they seized a portion of the provisions and arms, ex-

-«4S^^

CHRISTOPHER r^r

^«£R COLUMBUS.

^'tecJ their ar ^^^UMB Us.

„. fhey scorned his ".r " '° ''^""■n toZZ'' ^" ''^"ds
™<='- CclumbuTl '^'^''•fned '"'" with th, "''""•" '>«'^' ^'^ bod-'

fnd their comnatrinf. "^™.P'. returned tn ,,. , "'^Paniola,
fearless arm of C"ho on? '^" ^«^"els w^^e d'r '' ^^°'"'»bas

.ruif;ri ^« ™-C"o^^^ ^^'^ete Coiumhus't

•countryman. ^ '"" ^"'"Panions should h.?"'"'" ^""ation

, But, whether it was in. ^ ,• '"''"'•''' ''«

deavour to wort fk '.""edul ty, delav „

"bstruct their?eelint 'r'" °^ ^ ^'va! X';/,^, 'concealed en-

had, under variou f °^g'-afit"de, thesL7L° S'"^' "«' to

to pass by. Then R l^"' *"°'^^d tl,e'^d^lJ *," Hispaniola

,. w

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

phantom of a vessel which had come to try their creduHty or
foretell their death.

Ovando at last decided to send some ships to the admiral to
snatch him from mutiny, starvation and death. After sixteen
months of shipwreck, the admiral, borne down by years, by his
infirmities and disasters, again saw, for a fevv days, the island of
which he had made an empire, and from which ingratitude
and jealousy banished him. He passed some months there,
well received, to all appearances, in the governor's house, but
excluded from all influence in the government, seeing his ene-
mies in favour, his friends expelled or persecuted on account
of their faithfulness to him, and lamenting the ruin and
slavery of the land which he had found like I'le garden of the
world, and which he now again beheld as the tomb of his
friends, the Indians.

His personal property confiscated, his revenues wasted, his
lands dispeopled or uncultivated, left him i prey at once to
poverty, sickness and old age. At last, hurried with his broth-
er, his son, and some servants, on braid a vessel which was
returning to Europe, the implacable sea bore him from tempest
to tempest to St. Lucar, where he disembarked on the 7th
November, and whence he was carried to Seville, broken in
strength, dying in body, unconquerable in mind, and immortal
in will and hope.

LXIV.

The possessor of so many islands and continents had not a
roof to shelter his head.

" If I wish to eat or sleep," he writes to his son from Seville,
" I have to knock at the door of an inn, and I often have not
the means to pay for my supper and my night's lodging !"

His misfortunes and his poverty were less intolerable to him
than the distress of his companions and his servants, whom he
had attached to his fortunes by so many hopes, and who re-
proached him with their wretchedness and disappointment.
He wrote on their behalf to the King and Queen. But the
ungrateful Porras, the defeated rebel, who owed his life to his
magnanimity, was before him at the court and prejudiced
Ferdinand's mind against him.

" I have served your Majesties," wrote Columbus to the

the

what
sou]

God.
her Gt\

cares
J com I
vice of
^n thin
suffer,
^^■^e, bu

Such

Coiumbi

IsabeJia
hfe. D

^"firmitie
and his

'ie counted • , ^ ^"•e'i«tli r,,!,! ■"'•''' '"

!''e -as ■'„'"«!""•« ; & i; ^1' ">/^ p4 ^'^,,„^^^-"^ Of ,„■,
"""ghter. §" "■^' '"=onwhb7e f """"^ '''"d reached k'" '^^'^

a grave level w^{ 'j'^ '"'Wed i„ .u , , "'" ^^'^''ed

part of our k,nl;' ^""^ '" some off^ " "^ 'he JCimr '"''n ;
moved fr.r ; .^''°"'s. I ivisl, 1 , "^ '^'lurcl,, or ^ ^' '"^ 'o'd,

°f our heart, w ''^ S<:ave niav L? '' '" order h^ ,1 ^"^ re-
God SI ^"^'^». oursovi • *"■" ""W i^tn " '° you of

A°"' o> 'h Q e^r '"■ The fir; ' L'^ ^^' -'^ss

Ster^trr - -odrdt^i:-?^^^^ -d' a. - -

''er eeernalM'' '° ^ood and'Th' ,'""' P^^y and T""'^ ""
cares anrf ^"'^ ^"d of her C '"'^ "«' >ve can 1, "^'^''on, to

'. -«-nd ' o"Sr .°^ ''- -t^ '"Tb^°<^' "^--zr.b°'

suffer. y\ M . ^'^' that when ^); u ^^"^tendom \> '^ ^^^-

y^ ''ow sixteen years

r
I

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

old, gave, in all the grace of his youth, the promise of the solid
(lualities of the mature man.

" Love him like a brother," wrote Columbus to his eldest
son, Diego, who was then at court ; " you have no others.
Ten brothi-Ts would not be too many for you. I have had no
better friends than mine."

He begged Bartholomew to take the young man to the court
and to commend him to the care of his legitimate son, Diego.
Bartholomew left with Ferdinand for Segovia, where the court
then resided. He vainly solicited attention and justice for
Columbus. When spring had softened the air, Columbus him-
self set out for Segovia, accompanied by his brother and his
sons.

His presence annoyed the king, his poverty was a reproach
to the court. The rendering of judgment on his conduct and
the restitution of his possessions and privileges were remitted
to courtG of equity, which, without daring to deny his rights,
wore out his patience by delays ; they at the same time wore
out his life.

His jnental anxiety and the anticipation of the destitution in
which he would leave his brothers and his sons, sharpened his
bodily afflictions.

•* Your Majesty," he wrote to the King from his bed of suffer-
ing, " does not see fit to execute the promises which I received
from you and from the Queen, who is now in glory. To strive
against your will would be to strive against the wind. I have
done what I ought to do ; may God, who has ever been propi-
tious to me, do the rest in accordance with his divine justice ! "

He felt that his life, and not his firmness, was ubout to fail
him. His brother Bartholomew and his son Diego were ab-
sent, by his order, to beg the favor of Queen Juana, daughter
of Isabella, who had rctunicd from Flanders to Castile.
Physical pain and mental anguish, the knowledge of the short-
ness of his life, now too brief for him to hope for justice before
its close ; the triumphs of his enemies at court, the mockery of
the courtiers, the coldness of the King, the forebodings of his
last hour, the isolation in which the absence of his brciiiC- •la-i
son had left him in a city of forgetfulness or ingiUt'.uck' ; tht
memories of a life, one-half of which had been :iassed ir av.3!S:'
ing the hour of forrune's greatness, the other ^.itif in i>*;;v/a?lu4

J
r

hit

cor

by 1

beet

seas,

eveni

hirrtsG
to tht
heirs.
"I
fnUow
session
Castile
th., cor
post as
0^ a Urn
, -Passir
had beei
ainand,
niilUons
^^s broth
and two
^ememben

vanity

vi »^ii«-^^neU°&^'.'o,

OM Of Fden J" "* fiad rounrl ; ■''°' P'fy for .1,,. •

f J *i '"* .^^•s^»/s »ifi- «s-"t' ,r.r.™

'»^"- aten'^"!";?"d the "nut 'I! ^°<^>' and „t 'aT ™«"^'-
"" old ,„ln\"^ 5's children 'v^/e^^'^ durin^" Z "," '^e old

^ A strange s.V^f r ^ ''""^"e of a ,, "^P^^^

^y nianlcmH ^"^ ^O'" ^^is Door c ^leavenly

event of n?» ■ '^S'timate ,on n° ""^"'s. "ation, 7„^ ^'^ '""-
W»seifsl,'f,'°.^ young Fe°d,-n'!f' ''e enta ed H, "^ '" ">«
he;.. --e brother of a^C; tt^;'^'''-- "4^^^
^"'4'4"«Ster-.nsandthe,V "'^' ^"^ '^'^

"ered the mother of thif k ^""^^ ^^'s second ''^''^''

^""^ H, Beatrice C4:r.ho"^e

If
■iai,

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

he had never married, and for the desertion of whom during
his years of wandering at sea his conscience reproached him.

He charged his heir to make a handsome allowance to his
consort in the days of his obscurity, while he was struggling at
Toledo against the hardships of his early lot. He even seemed
to accuse himself of some ir gratitude or some neglect in show-
ing aftection for the object of his second love, for he added to
the be(iuest he made to her these words, which must have
weighed down his dying hand :

'* Ltt this be done for the relief of my conscience, for her
name and memory are a burden on my soul I "

Then reverting to his first country, which a second country
never blots from the heart of man, he remembered the city of
Genoa, where time had garnered all his father's house, but
where there remained to him rome aistant i elation, like the
roots which remain in the soil after the tree is felled.

"I enjoin my son Diego," he wrote, " to siippoit forever, in
the city of Genoa, a member of our family who will live there
with his wife, and to secure him a becoming livelihood, such as
is suitable to one who is related to us. I wish this kinsman to
retain His standing and nationality in that city, as a citizen ;
for I was born and came from there.

" Let my son," he adds with that chivalrous sentiment of
fealty and of subordination of self to his sovereign, which was
the second religion of the time, " let my son, in memory of me,
serve the King, the Queen and their successors, even to the
sacrifice of his possessions and his life, since, after God, it is
they who furnished with the means of making my discoveries !"

"It is indeed true," he goes on with an involuntary tone of
bitterness, resembling a reproach half stifled in his memory,
" that I came from far to make them the offer and that a long
time passed before people were willing to believe in the gift I
brought their majesties ; but that was natural, for it was a mys-
tery for all the world, and could only give rise to incredulity.
That is why I ought to share my tame with the sovereigns who
were the first to give me credence."

LXV.

Columbus then turned all his thoughts towards the Ood
whom he had always regarded as his own and true sovereign ;

i-'1--gRi-jt

^'^'^ COLUMBUS

nature and V^" "f '"« death i, ""^ mainsnri.

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T, . LXVl *"«at,on.

TVyL„ ,, ' '"■ "°"'J"eror i"f^'^ «^"{d'ng to

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

birth overcome by natural energy ; quiet but unwearied perti-
nacity in attaining his end, resignation to the will of heaven,
the struggle against events, the long and solitary deliberation
on an idea and its heroic execution in action ; intrepidity and
coolness in the face of the elements let loose in the tempest, and
in the face of death threatened by rebellion ; confidence in the
guiding star, not of a man but of humanity ; his life carelessly
thrown away without a backward glance when he threw
himself on this unknown and phantom-peopled ocean ;
a Rubicon fifteen hundred leagues across, much more
desperate than Caisar's ; indefatigable study, knowledge as
vast as the horizon of his time, the skilful but honest
handling of the hearts of men to tempt them to the truth ; de-
corum, nobility and dignity of person that revealed the great-
ness of his soul and captivated eyes and hearts alike ; speech
equal to and on a level with his thoughts ; an eloquence that
brought conviction to kings, and subdued the mutiny of his
crews ; a poetry of style that made his stories a fitting expres-
sion of the marvels of his discoveries and of the pictures of
nature , a boundless love, ardent and active for humanity even
in those distant places where she iio longer remembers those
who serve her ; the wisdom of the legislator and the serenity of
a philosopher in the government of his colonies, a fatherly pity
for the Indians, the children of the human race, whose guar-
dianship he wished to assign to the Old World, and not their
enslavement to oppressors ; forgetfulness of injuries, magnan-
imity in pardon to his enemies ; lastly, piety — that virtue whirh
contains all the others and makes them divine when it exists as
it existed in the soul of Columbus ; the constant presence of
God in his mind, integrity in his conscience, and mercy in his
heart ; gratitude in success and resignation in disaster ; every-
where and always adoration ! Such was this man.

We know of rone more complete. He embodied many men
in one. He was worthy to personify the Old World in the un-
known world on which he was to be the first to land, and to
bear to these men of another race all the virtues of the old
continent without one of its vices.

His influence on civilization was incalculable. He completed
the universe and perfected the physical unity of the globe ; which
was to advance much further than had been done until his time,

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w'l'ch Colm„h°s thn.''" """"i/'n'ty of mankind -r-i •

i'HB END