Transcriber’s Note: Italics are indicated by _underscores_, boldface by
=equals signs=.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
His Life and His Work
[Illustration: THE LOTTO PORTRAIT OF COLUMBUS.]
“MAKERS OF AMERICA”
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
His Life and His Work
BY
CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, LL.D.
PRESIDENT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1892
_Copyright, 1892_,
BY DODD, MEAD AND CO.
_All rights reserved._
University Press:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.
TO
J. J. HAGERMAN,
_Nobleman and Friend_,
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
In this little volume I have made an attempt to present in popular form
the results of the latest researches in regard to the life and work of
Columbus.
While constant use has been made of the original authorities, it has
been my effort to interpret the conflicting statements with which
these sources abound, in the spirit of modern criticism. The principal
authorities used have been the Letters and the Journal of Columbus,
the History of the Admiral purporting to be by his son Fernando, the
histories of the time by Las Casas, Bernaldez, Oviedo, Peter Martyr,
and Herrera, and the invaluable collection of documents by Navarrete.
Of the greatest importance are the writings of Columbus and Las Casas.
As will appear in the course of the volume, the writings of the Admiral
abound in passages that are contradictory or irreconcilable. In the
interpretation of conflicting statements, assistance has been received
from the numerous writings of Henry Harrisse. The researches of this
acute critic in the manuscript records, as well as in the published
writings of Italy and Spain, make his works indispensable to a correct
understanding of the age of Columbus.
I have not, however, been able to adopt without reservation his views
in regard to the work attributed to the son of the Admiral. The
force of Harrisse’s reasoning is unquestionable; but, as it seems to
me, there is internal evidence that the author of the book, whether
Fernando or not, had unusual opportunities for knowledge in regard to
the matters about which he wrote. While, therefore, I have used the
work with great caution, I have not felt justified in rejecting it as
altogether spurious.
The reader will not go far in the perusal of this volume without
perceiving that I have endeavoured to emancipate myself from the
thraldom of that uncritical admiration in which it has been fashionable
to hold the Discoverer, ever since Washington Irving threw over the
subject the romantic and bewitching charm of his literary skill. Irving
revealed the spirit with which he wrote when he decried what he was
pleased to call “that pernicious erudition which busies itself with
undermining the pedestals of our national monuments.” Irving’s was
not the spirit of modern scholarship. We should seek the truth at
whatever hazard. While directed by this motive in the course of all my
investigations into the life and work of Columbus, I have tried, on the
one hand, to avoid the common error of bringing him to the bar of the
present age for trial, and, on the other, not to shrink from judging
him in accordance with those canons of justice which are applicable
alike to all time.
C. K. A.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY,
March 10, 1892.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGES
CHAPTER I. EARLY YEARS. [1446-1484] 1-33
Genoa, 1.--Place of Birth, 2.--Time of Birth, 4.--Family, 6.
--Early Studies, 7.--Early Maritime Experience, 9.--Piratical
Expeditions, 10.--Voyage to Africa, 11.--Voyage to Iceland, 12.--
Experience as Bookseller and Mapmaker, 14.--Removal to Portugal, 16.
--Marriage, 17.--Children, 19.--Commercial Speculation, 21.--
Extent of his Experience, 21.--Theory of the Sphericity of the Earth,
23.--Progress of the Idea, 25.--Cardinal d’Ailly’s _Imago Mundi_,
27.--Causes of Delay, 27.--Discoveries by the Norsemen, 28.--
Toscanelli’s Letters, 29.--General Approaches to the Discovery, 32.
CHAPTER II. ATTEMPTS TO SECURE ASSISTANCE. [1484-1492] 34-73
Necessity of Assistance, 34.--Improbability that he applied to Genoa
and Venice, 35.--Applications to Portugal, England, and France,
36.--Attitude of Portugal, 37.--Departure of Columbus for Spain,
41.--Course after reaching Spain, 43.--Condition of Spain, 44.
--Inquisition, 44.--Plague, 45.--Debasement of the Coin, 45.
--War against the Moors, 46.--Support of Columbus, 47.--First
Encouragement, 48.--Audience at Salamanca, 49.--Nature of the
Discussion, 52.--Friendliness of Deza, 53.--Result, 53.--Delays,
53.--Occupations of the Court, 54.--Thought of going elsewhere,
55.--Summons to a New Conference, 56.--Stipends of Money, 57.--
Visit to Portugal, 57.--Visit to Medina Celi, 58.--Opinions of
Scientific Men, 60.--Disgust of Columbus, 61.--Visit to La Rabida,
62.--Service of Perez, 63.--Favourable Inclination of the Court,
64.--Inadmissible Terms demanded, 65.--Story of the Jewels, 67.--
Successful Representations, 67.--Columbus secures his Commission, 68.
--Misfortune of these Extraordinary Powers, 70.--Survey of Sources of
Assistance, 72.
CHAPTER III. THE FIRST VOYAGE. [Aug. 3, 1492--March 15, 1493] 74-128
Crew for the First Voyage, 74.--The Vessels, 76.--Setting sail, 77.
--Columbus’s Diary and Letters, 77.--Repairs of the “Pinta,” 79.--
Traditions of the Islanders, 80.--On the Voyage, 82.--Report of
Land, 84.--Indications, 84.--Probable Truth concerning a Mutinous
Spirit, 85.--Columbus reports a Light, 86.--Discovery of Land,
October 12, 87.--The Place of Landing, 88.--Cronau’s Investigations,
89.--Riding Rocks, 91.--The People, 92.--Explorations, 93.--
Cuba, 94.--San Domingo, 94.--Shipwreck, 95.--La Navidad, 96.
--Spirit of the Natives, 97.--Sail for Home, 98.--Spirit of
the Discoverer, 98.--Quest for Gold, 99.--Slender Foundation of
Promises, 100.--Attitude of Columbus toward his Crew and toward the
Natives, 100.--Testimony of Las Casas, 104.--Final Departure, 105.
--The Caribs, 106.--Salt-pits, 107.--Return of the “Pinta,” 107.
--Last of the Bahamas, 108.--Furious Storms, 108.--Precautions,
109.--Pilgrimages promised, 110.--The Azores, 110.--Lisbon, 111.
--Couriers sent to announce Discoveries, 111.--Claims of Portugal,
112.--Treaty of 1479, 112.--Treatment by the King of Portugal,
114.--Reaches Palos, March 15, 1493, 115.--Arrival of the “Pinta,”
115.--Sad end of Pinzon, 116.--Reception of Columbus at Barcelona,
118.--Renewal of Authority, 120.--Unwarranted Promises, 121.--
Resolves to retake Jerusalem, 121.--Hostility of Old Nobility, 121.
--Announcement to the Pope, 122.--Bull of Demarcation, 123.--
Preparation for a Second Voyage, 124.--Policy of Confiscation, 125.--
Diplomatic Controversy with Portugal, 126.--Triumph of Spain, 128.--
Removal of Line of Demarcation, 128.
CHAPTER IV. THE SECOND VOYAGE. [Sept. 25, 1493-June 11, 1496] 129-170
Character of the Crew, 129.--The Grand Canary, 130.--The Caribbees,
130.--Warlike Character of the Natives, 131.--Sailing for La
Navidad, 133.--Gloomy Forebodings, 135.--Total Loss of the Colony,
135.--Causes of the Disaster, 136.--The Domain of Caonabo, 137.--
Final Conflict, 138.--Visit to the Admiral’s Ship by the Cacique, 138.
--Treachery, 139.--Founding of Isabella, 140.--Defective Character
of the Colonists, 140.--Illness of Columbus, 141.--General Purpose,
141.--The Expedition of Ojeda, 141.--Report of Columbus, 142.--
Dishonest Contractors, 143.--Proposal of Columbus concerning Slaves,
144.--Mining Hopes, 147.--Peculiarities of the Natives, 148.--
Prevailing Distresses, 151.--Columbus visits Cuba, 152.--Oath of
Sailors, 154.--Other Discoveries, 155.--Illness of the Admiral, 155.
--Margarite, 156.--General Condition of the Colony, 158.--Capture
of Caonabo, 158.--Enforcement of Tribute, 160.--Repartimientos, 161.
--Desperate Situation, 162.--Mutiny, 164.--Father Boyle, 165.--
The Adelantado, 165.--Investigation of Agnado, 167.--Decision of the
Admiral to return, 169.
CHAPTER V. THE THIRD VOYAGE. [May 30, 1498-October 1500] 171-204
Arrival Home, 171.--Reception by the Monarchs, 172.--Delay in
fitting out the Third Expedition, 174.--Sailing of the Fleet, 177.
--Discovery of the Mainland, 178.--Geographical Delusions, 180.--
Condition of Affairs at San Domingo, 183.--Bartholomew’s Expedition to
Xaragua, 185.--Desperate Situation, 187.--Roldan’s Revolt, 188.--
Temporary Agreement, 191.--Return of Ojeda, 193.--Cargo of Slaves,
194.--Charges against Columbus, 199.--Arrival of Bobadilla, 200.--
Bobadilla assumes Authority, 201.--Charges against Columbus, 202.--
Arrest of Columbus, 203.--Columbus sent Home in Chains, 204.
CHAPTER VI. THE FOURTH VOYAGE. [May 9, 1502-Nov. 7, 1504] 205-234
Reception by the Public, 205.--Attitude of the Monarchs, 206.--
Speech of the Queen, 207.--The Letter of Columbus, 210.--Character
of the Settlers, 211.--Gradual Opening of the Islands to other
Navigators, 212.--General Maritime Activity, 213.--Policy of
Ferdinand, 215.--Appointment of Ovando, 215.--Character of the
Fourth Crew, 216.--The Crusade, 218.--Activity of the Portuguese,
218.--Sets sail on Fourth Voyage, 219.--Tries to land at San
Domingo, 220.--Successive Storms, 221.--Desires of the Admiral, 223.
--Reaches the Mainland, 225.--At Darien, 226.--Gold of Varagua,
226.--Attacked by Natives, 227.--Failure to found a Colony, 227.
--Two Vessels reach Jamaica, 228.--Wreck of the Vessels, 229.--
Starvation impending, 229.--Letter to the King, 230.--Departure of
Mendez, 231.--Strategy of Columbus, 232.--Attitude of Ovando, 233.
--A Year of Delays, 234.--Return to San Domingo and Spain, 234.
CHAPTER VII. LAST DAYS.--DEATH, CHARACTER. [1504-1506] 235-257
Columbus at Seville, 235.--His Letters, 236.--His Complaints, 237.
--Americus Vespucius, 237.--Columbus’s Last Will, 238.--Death, at
Valladolid, 239.--Uncertainty as to Place of Burial, 239.--Removal
to Seville, 239.--Removal to San Domingo, 239.--Controversy as to
Place of the Remains at present, 240.--Tradition, 240.--Removal
in 1796, 241.--Discoveries in 1877, 241.--The Inscriptions, 242.
--The Casket Plate, 242.--Formal Inspection, 244.--Charge of
Forgery, 245.--Basis of the Charge, 246.--Investigations of Cronau
in 1891, 246.--Conclusion reached, 247.--Personal Appearance of
the Admiral, 248.--The Portraits, 249.--The Lotto Portrait, 250.
--Final Estimate of Columbus’s Character, 251.--His Attitude toward
the Moral Ideas of his Age, 252.--His Attitude toward Slavery, 253.
--His Beginning of the Spanish Policy, 254.--His Powers and his
Responsibilities, 255.--His Purposes, 256.--Results, 257.
INDEX 259
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS.
At the northwest corner of the Italian peninsula the coast-line, as it
approaches the French border, bends around to the west in such a way as
to form a kind of rounded angle, which, according to the fertile fancy
of the Greeks, resembles the human knee. It was probably in recognition
of this geographical peculiarity that the hamlet established at this
point received some centuries before the Christian era the name which
has since been evolved into Genoa. The situation is not only one of
the most picturesque in Europe, but it is peculiarly adapted to the
development of a small maritime city. For many miles it is the only
point at which Nature has afforded a good opportunity for a harbor.
Its geographical relations with the region of the Alps and the plains
of northern Italy seem to have designated it as the natural point
where a common desire for gain should bring into profitable relations
the trading propensities of the people along the shores of the
Mediterranean. During nearly two thousand years the situation was made
all the more favourable by the ease with which it might be defended;
for the range of mountains, which encircles it at a distance of only
a few miles, made it easy for the inhabitants to protect themselves
against the assaults of their enemies.
The favouring conditions thus afforded gave to Genoa early in the
Christian era a commercial prestige of some importance. The turbulence
of the Middle Ages made rapidity of growth quite impossible; but in the
time of the Crusades this picturesque city received a large share of
that impulse which gave so much life to Venice and the other maritime
towns of Italy. Like other cities of its kind, it was filled with
seafaring men. It is easy to believe that the boys who grew up in Genoa
during the centuries of the Crusades and immediately after, had their
imaginations and memories filled to overflowing with accounts of such
wonderful adventures as those which, about that time, found expression
in the writings of Marco Polo and John de Mandeville. The tales of
seafaring adventurers always have a wonderful attraction for boys; and
we can well imagine that the yarns spun by the returning sailors of
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries had an altogether peculiar and
exceptional fascination.
It was probably in this city of Genoa that Christopher Columbus was
born. It is certain that his parents lived there at the middle of the
fifteenth century. Whether his father had been in Genoa very many years
is doubtful; for there is one bit of record that seems to indicate
his moving into the city at some time between 1448 and 1451. That
the ancestors of the family had lived in that vicinity ever since
the twelfth or thirteenth century may be regarded as certain. But
beyond this fact very little rests upon strict historical evidence.
This uncertainty, springing as it does from the fact that the name
Columbus appears very often in the records of northern Italy during the
century before the birth of Christopher, has brought into controversy
a multitude of importunate claimants. If a kind of selfish pride was
indicated by the fact that--
“Seven cities claimed the Homer dead,
In which the living Homer begged his bread,”--
the same characteristic of human nature was shown in northern Italy
in more than twofold measure; for no less than sixteen Italian towns
have tried to lift themselves into greater importance by setting up a
claim to the distinction of having been the birthplace of the Great
Discoverer. But these several claims have not succeeded in producing
any conclusive evidence. The question is still in some doubt. At
least twice in his writings Columbus speaks of himself as having been
born at Genoa; and he was generally recognized as a Genoese by his
contemporaries. But his parents seem to have been somewhat migratory in
their habits. The records show that the father of Christopher was the
owner of some property in several of the towns along the foot of the
Alps. Besides his other estates, which for the most part came from his
wife, he had a house in one of the suburbs of the city of Genoa, and
also one in the city itself. Within a few years the Marquis Marcello
Staglieno, a learned Genoese antiquary, has established the fact that
No. 37 Vico Dritto Ponticello in Genoa was owned by Dominico Columbus,
the father of Christopher, during the early years of Christopher’s
life. But it has not yet been shown by any documentary evidence that
he ever lived there. The ownership of this house, and of one in the
suburbs, establishes a very strong probability that in one of them
Christopher Columbus was born. It cannot be said, however, that the
exact spot has been determined with certainty; and in view of the
conflicting evidence, Genoa is to be regarded as the place of his birth
only in that broad sense which would include a considerable number of
the surrounding dependencies. Bernaldez, Peter Martyr, Oviedo, and Las
Casas speak of his birthplace as being, not the city, but the province
of Genoa.
The original authorities, moreover, are as conflicting in regard to
time as in regard to place. The most definite statement we have is that
of Bernaldez, the contemporary and friend as well as the historian
of the discoverer. Columbus at one time was an inmate of the house
of Bernaldez, and hence it would seem that the historian had good
opportunities for ascertaining the truth. But the information he
gives in regard to the date of Columbus’s birth is only inferential,
and is far from satisfactory. He says that the Admiral died in 1506,
“at the age of seventy, a little more or a little less.” This is the
statement which has led Humboldt, Navarrete, and Irving, as well as
other careful writers, to believe that the date of his birth should be
fixed at 1436. But the acceptance of this date is involved in serious
difficulties. The discoverer, it is true, nowhere tells us his exact
age; but frequently in his writings he not only mentions the number
of years he had followed the sea, but he says he began his nautical
career at the age of fourteen. These several statements, put together,
point very definitely and consistently to a date nearly or quite ten
years later than that indicated by Bernaldez. It cannot be claimed
that the statements of Columbus are so exact as to be absolutely free
from doubt; but in the absence of any record of his birth, they are at
least entitled to careful consideration. In a letter written in 1503
the Admiral says that he was thirty-eight when he entered the service
of Spain. As he first went to Spain in 1484 or 1485, we are obliged to
infer that the service he referred to began either in that year or at
a later period. This would indicate that he was born in 1446 or later.
In 1501, moreover, he wrote that it was forty years since at the age
of fourteen he entered upon a seafaring life. This, too, would point
to about 1447 as the date of his birth. These, and other statements of
a similar nature, are at least enough to justify the inquiry whether
the error is probably with Columbus or with Bernaldez. In the case of
the historian, the very phrase “seventy, a little more or a little
less,” carries with it an implication of uncertainty. It seemed to
imply that the author judged of the age of Columbus simply from his
appearance. Now, there is abundant evidence that the superabounding
anxieties and perplexities of his career had the natural effect of
making him prematurely old. We have the statement of his son that his
hair was gray at the age of thirty; and it is easy to believe that the
perplexing vicissitudes of his career deepened and intensified the
evidences of age with unnatural rapidity. If, as we have so often and
so justly heard, it is anxiety and perplexity that bring on premature
age and decay, surely Columbus of all men must have been old long
before he reached the goal of threescore and ten. In view of all these
facts, it is probable that the conjecture of Bernaldez was incorrect,
though very naturally so, and that the date indicated by the figures
of Columbus himself is the one that is entitled to most credence. But
all we can say on the subject is that Christopher Columbus was probably
born in or about the year 1446. Harrisse, who has scrutinized all the
evidence with characteristic acumen, has reached the conclusion that
Columbus was born between the 25th of March, 1446, and the 20th of
March, 1447.
He was the eldest son of Dominico Columbus and Susannah Fontanarossa,
his wife. The other children were Bartholomew and Giacomo, or, as the
Spanish call it, Diego, and a sister, of whom nothing of importance
is known. The kith and kin of the family for some generations devoted
themselves to the humble vocation of wool-combers. The property of the
family, of which at the time Columbus was born there was barely enough
for a modest competency, appears to have come chiefly from the mother.
That the father was a man of exceptional energy, is evinced by the
vigour with which he undertook and carried on the various enterprises
with which he was connected. In his business, however, he was only
moderately prosperous; and so the family was obliged to content itself
with a small income.
The early life of Columbus is still quite thickly enshrouded with
uncertainty. His education included a reading knowledge of Latin, but
his training could have been neither comprehensive nor thorough. Many
of the historians, resting upon the statement of Fernando Columbus,
assert that he spent a year in the study of cosmogony at the University
of Pavia. But the statement is inherently improbable, and rests
upon evidence that is altogether inadequate. His father was not in
condition to send him to the university without inconvenience. It was
the custom of those times for the son to be trained for the vocation
of the father. Such a training the young Christopher had, and a formal
knowledge of geography, or cosmogony, as the study was then more
generally called, would not have added much to his chances of business
success. If he went to the university at all, he must have concluded
his studies before he was fourteen. Pavia at the time afforded no
special advantages for the prosecution of this study,--indeed, it
cannot now be discovered that it possessed any advantages whatever.
On the contrary, that celebrated university was devoted with singular
exclusiveness to the teaching of philosophy, law, and medicine. There
is no evidence in the records of the university that Columbus was
ever there. The explorer himself, though he often refers to his early
studies, nowhere intimates that he was ever at the university. It was
not till more than fifty years after the death of Columbus that his son
made the statement on which all subsequent assertions on the subject
rest for authority. That the explorer was ever at the university is
overwhelmingly improbable.
We know, however, from the best of evidence that he early became
interested in geographical studies. His father’s business does not seem
to have been very prosperous,--at least, we find him about this time
selling out his little property in Genoa and establishing himself at
Savona. Meantime, the youthful Christopher found himself yielding to
the strong current which in those years carried so many of the Genoese
into a life of maritime adventure. If our conjecture in regard to
the time of his birth is correct, it was about 1460 when he took his
first voyage. From that initiative experience for about ten years,
that is to say until 1470, we have only glimpses here and there of the
events of his life. Nor can we regard the details of this experience
as important, except as they throw light upon the development of his
intelligence and character. Fortunately for this purpose evidence
is not altogether wanting. Bits of information have been picked up
here and there, which, though it is impossible to weave them very
confidently into a connected whole, still show, in a general way, the
nature of the training he received during those important years.
If we condense into a useful form all that is positively known of
his life during the ten years from the time he was fourteen until he
was twenty-four, we shall perhaps conclude that there are only three
results that are worthy of note.
The first is the fact that he had considerable maritime experience
of a very turbulent nature. There is some reason to believe that he
accompanied the unsuccessful expedition of John of Anjou against Naples
in 1459. However this may have been, it is certain that he joined
several of the expeditions of the celebrated corsairs bearing the same
family name of Columbus. Modern eulogists of the great discoverer
have hesitated to write the ugly word which indicates the nature of
the business in which these much-dreaded fleets were engaged; but
the state papers of the time uniformly refer to the elder of these
commanders as “the Pirate Columbus.” To the younger they also refer in
no more complimentary terms. Fernando Columbus is authority for the
statement that his father accompanied the celebrated expedition that
fought the great battle off Cape St. Vincent. But the statement is a
curious illustration of the necessity of accepting the assurances of
this historian with extreme caution. He says that it was by escaping
from the wreck of the fleet that his father came for the first time to
his new home in Portugal. Now, we know that the battle alluded to did
not take place until 1485, the year after Columbus left Portugal and
went to Spain; and as he was otherwise occupied ever after he reached
Spanish soil, it is not possible that the young navigator was even with
the fleet during the engagement. We know, moreover, that he moved to
Lisbon before 1473.
But the evidence is conclusive that the Admiral had accompanied the
piratical fleets on several former expeditions. The records of Venice
show that a decree was passed against the elder pirate Columbus,
July 20, 1469, and another against the younger on the 17th of March,
1470. Although these fulminations did not put an end to this peculiar
warfare, they are of interest in this connnection as showing the school
in which Columbus received a considerable part of his early nautical
training and experience.
There may be some doubt as to how much importance should be attached
to the circumstantial statement of Fernando in regard to his father’s
connection with these celebrated freebooters. The narrative certainly
contains some irreconcilable contradictions; but although Fernando may
have been mistaken in the details, he can hardly have been mistaken
in the fact that his father accompanied several of these expeditions.
A matter of that kind could hardly fail to have been talked about in
the presence of the children. The boys may have received erroneous
impressions in reference to details. As time went on, it was naturally
easy for events with which the father was definitely connected to
become confused with those with which he had nothing whatever to do.
But the great fact of his connection with the fleet, of his experience
on the piratical ships, can hardly have been an invention of the son.
There were two pirates by the name of Columbus,--the younger being,
according to one authority, the son, according to another, the nephew
of the elder. Fernando gives us to understand distinctly that his
father was engaged in the service of both. He moreover considers this
so much a matter of pride that he endeavours to establish the fact
of a relationship between the two families. The nature of the school
in which the young Columbus received a part of his training may be
inferred by the fact that the younger of the corsairs in the course of
a few years captured as many as eighty fleets,--a part of them in the
Mediterranean, and a part in the open sea. During a large portion of
the latter half of the fifteenth century, these daring corsairs were
the dread of every fleet against whom they were employed.
There is also evidence of another schooling of a somewhat similar
nature. During the fifteenth century the Portuguese were engaged in
the slave-trade on the coast of Africa; and we are told that Columbus
sailed several times with them to the coast of Guinea as if he had been
one of them.
It must have been during this period also that the events occurred
which Columbus described in a letter written to one of the Spanish
monarchs in 1495. He says,--
“King René (whom God has taken to himself) sent me to Tunis to
capture the galley ‘Fernandina.’ Arriving at the island of San
Pedro in Sardinia, I learned that there were two ships and a
caracca with the galley, which so alarmed the crew that they
resolved to proceed no farther, but to go to Marseilles for
another vessel and a larger crew. Upon which, being unable to
force their inclinations, I apparently yielded to their wish,
and, having first changed the points of the compass, spread all
sail (for it was evening), and at daybreak we were within the
cape of Carthagena, when all believed for a certainty that we
were nearing Marseilles.”
This incident shows that the schooling had given him a full competency
of intrepidity. It also shows that the ethics of the school had had
the natural effect of relieving him of all unnecessary scruples of
conscience.
Another voyage of a very different nature was probably made at a little
later period. Unfortunately we are indebted for our knowledge of it
entirely to Fernando. This is the celebrated voyage to the north, of
which so much has been made in setting up the claim that Columbus was
indebted for his idea of America to information obtained in Iceland.
It would be a great satisfaction to know just what occurred in the
course of that voyage; but this now seems impossible. The only record
we have of the event is that contained in a letter of Columbus quoted
by Fernando. The letter is not now known to be in existence; but the
event alluded to seems to have taken place in the year 1477, about four
or five years after Columbus went to Lisbon, and seven years before he
went to Spain.
Columbus is quoted as saying that he “sailed one hundred leagues
beyond the island of Tile, the south part of which was distant from
the equinoctial line seventy-three leagues, and not sixty-three, as
some have asserted; neither does it lie within the line which includes
the west of that referred to by Ptolemy, but is much more westerly.
To this island, which is as large as England, the English, especially
from Bristol, came with their merchandise. At the time he was there,
the sea was not frozen, but the tides were so great as to rise and fall
twenty-six fathoms.”
Nothing more is known of this voyage than is contained in this letter;
but notwithstanding the gross inaccuracies of the statement, it seems
sufficient ground for believing that Columbus visited Iceland, or at
least went beyond it. The size of the island indicates that it could
have been no other. Whether he landed there, and if so, whether he
obtained from the natives any knowledge of the continent lying far to
the west and southwest, must, perhaps, forever be a matter of mere
conjecture. It is, however, hardly probable that in the year 1477
Columbus would go to Iceland without making inquiries in regard to
lands lying beyond. The Icelanders had long been the great explorers of
the north. As we shall presently see, Columbus had already received the
famous letter of Toscanelli, in which the practicability of reaching
Asia by sailing due west was fully set forth; and we know in other
ways that the mind of Columbus was already fully imbued with the idea
of the westward voyage of discovery. It is certain, moreover, that the
Icelanders could have given him considerable valuable information. The
voyages that had been made by the Norwegians from time to time during
the eleventh and twelfth centuries must have been known at least by the
more intelligent of the people of Iceland. It seems highly improbable,
moreover, that Columbus, already thirsting for more geographical
knowledge, would visit such an island without availing himself of every
opportunity of securing further information.
But on the other hand, we must not exaggerate the importance of this
conjecture. There is no evidence whatever that he even landed. In all
of the writings of Columbus there is nowhere any hint of any knowledge
gained from these sources; and this very important truth should not
be lost sight of in the weighing of probabilities. In view of all the
facts, it seems hardly possible that Columbus can have gained from this
expedition anything more than at best a somewhat vague confirmation of
the ideas and purposes that had already taken definite shape in his
mind.
Another fact worthy of note during these earlier years was his
vocation during the intervals between his voyages. He seems to have
interlarded his more or less piratical expeditions on the sea with
the gentle experiences of a bookseller and map-maker on the land. The
art of printing had but recently been invented, and few books had
been issued from the press; but there was some trade in books for all
that. There is abundant evidence that this youthful enthusiast, at the
period of his life between fifteen and twenty-four, availed himself
of whatever knowledge came in his way in regard to the subject that
was beginning to fill and monopolize his mind. During the fifteenth
century, as hereafter we shall have occasion to see, a large number of
books on geography became generally known. Many of the classics, after
lying dormant for a thousand years, sprang suddenly into life; and it
is quite within the scope of a reasonable historical imagination to
conjecture that, even during his years at Genoa, many of the leisure
hours of what could hardly have been a very absorbing vocation as
a bookseller were spent in gaining such knowledge as was possible
concerning the shape and size of the earth. It would be out of place
in this connection to consider details; it is enough to know that even
in his earliest writings on the subject, he alluded freely to the
geographical writers whose works he had read.
At some time between 1470 and 1473, Columbus changed his abode from
Genoa to Lisbon. There were two facts that made this transfer of his
activities both natural and beneficial. The first was that during the
early part of the fifteenth century Portugal had placed herself far in
advance of other nations, by her maritime expeditions and achievements.
Prince Henry, with a courage and enterprise that have secured for him
imperishable renown, had pushed out the boundaries of geographical
knowledge, and had awakened an enthusiastic zeal for further
discoveries. The fleets of Portugal had made themselves at length
familiar with the west coast of Africa; and the bugbear of a tropical
sea whose slimy depths were supposed to make navigation impossible,
had been dispelled. The interest of every geographical explorer had
been aroused and excited. Lisbon was the centre of this new ferment.
The second consideration of importance was the fact that Bartholomew, a
younger brother of Columbus, had established himself at the Portuguese
capital as a maker and publisher of maps and charts. For the products
of this handicraft there had been created an active demand. Nothing was
more natural, then, than that this young enthusiast, in whom there were
already welling up all kinds of maritime ambitions, should remove to
that centre of geographical knowledge and interest, and ally himself
with his brother in so congenial and promising a vocation.
It was during the years between 1473 and 1484 that a large part of the
maritime experiences of Columbus already adverted to took place. The
most of them, perhaps all of them, occurred after Columbus established
himself at Lisbon. But unfortunately, there is no contemporaneous
evidence to show the course of his life. In the records of the time we
find his name here and there in connection with such events as those we
have already mentioned; but, as yet, it is impossible to weave these
scattered statements into a connected narrative that will bear the test
of critical examination. We are obliged, therefore, to be content with
mere glimpses of individual events and experiences.
If we have judged correctly as to the year of the Admiral’s birth, he
was about twenty-six or seven when he took up his abode in Lisbon.
Not long after this change of residence, but in what year we cannot
ascertain, an event took place which must have had an important
influence, not only on his private life, but also on the development
of his maritime plans. It was at about this time that he was married;
but when, under what circumstances, and with whom, are questions which,
notwithstanding all that has been written on the subject, cannot now
be confidently determined. Following the statement of Fernando, it has
been customary for historians to say that Columbus married the daughter
of an old navigator of Porto Santo, Perestrello by name, to whom Prince
Henry had given the governorship of the island in recognition of
explorations and discoveries on the coast of Africa. But like so many
other of the statements of Fernando, this turns out on examination to
be extremely improbable. Harrisse is entitled to the credit of having
traced the history of the Perestrello family, and of having found
the names of the daughters, and even of their husbands. Not only is
the name Columbus lacking in these lists, but it contains no one of
the three sisters of Columbus’s wife. This, it is true, is negative
evidence only, but it is quite enough to shake our confidence in the
statement of Fernando. Of positive evidence there is none whatever.
The first mention of his having been married at all occurs in a letter
presently to be quoted; and the second was in the clause of his will
providing for the saying of masses for his soul and for the souls of
his father, mother, and wife. This document bears date of Aug. 25,
1505, and contains no mention of his wife’s name. A name first appears
eighteen years later, in the will of Diego, who calls himself the son
of Christopher Columbus and his wife Donna Philippa Moñiz. Elsewhere in
the same will he refers to himself as the son of Felipa Muñiz, the wife
of Columbus, whose ashes repose in the monastery of Carmen at Lisbon.
It is possible that Moñiz, or Muñiz, was not the father’s name; but the
giving of the maiden name alone in such a connection was not usual at
that time, and therefore, in the absence of other evidence, it would
seem improbable that the name given was the surname of the father. It
was not until nearly fifty years later that the narrative of Fernando
first mentions the name of Perestrello. Las Casas and other later
writers have done nothing but copy the statement of Fernando, without
further investigation. The matter would be of trifling significance
but for the fact that later historians have magnified this supposed
marriage into a matter of considerable professional importance. Las
Casas tells us that he had learned from Diego Columbus that the Admiral
and his wife lived for some time with the widow of Perestrello at
Porto Santo, and that “all the papers, charts, journals, and maritime
instruments” of the old navigators were placed at his disposal. But all
the evidence of this fact now obtainable consists simply of repetitions
of this statement. The most careful search of all the records has
failed to discover a scrap of testimony that Columbus ever lived at
Porto Santo or on any of the other islands off the coast of Africa.
Harrisse has devoted more than thirty octavo pages to a very critical
examination of all the evidence on the marriage of Columbus; but he
is unable to reach any other positive conclusion than that very many
of the early statements in regard to the matter cannot possibly be
correct. As the result of his investigations, he inclines to the belief
that the story of the Admiral’s living at Porto Santo and profiting
by the maritime possessions and experiences of Perestrello must be
abandoned. Beyond the fact that the Admiral’s wife bore the name of
Philippa Moñiz, nothing on the subject can be regarded as absolutely
known. It seems probable that Columbus was not married till after 1474;
but the exact date cannot be established.
As we shall not have occasion to refer to Columbus’s married life
again, one fact more should here be noted. Fernando asserts that his
father left Portugal in 1484 on account of the grief he experienced at
the death of his wife. That the statement was incorrect, is shown by a
letter, still in existence, in the handwriting of the Admiral himself.
This letter, which was written to Donna Juanna de la Torre, a noble
lady at the Spanish court, for the purpose of presenting his cause and
arguing it with the evident expectation that his plea would reach the
attention of the sovereigns, finally uses these words:--
“I beg you to take into consideration all I have written, and how
I came from afar to serve these princes,--_abandoning wife and
children, whom for this reason I never afterward saw_.”
This lamentable recital, written sixteen years after Columbus left
Portugal for Spain, and at least nine years after he presented himself
with his son Diego at La Rabida, leaves upon our minds the inevitable
inference that when he fled from Portugal in 1484, he left behind him
a wife and at least two children. Of his legitimate offspring, his
heir and successor Diego is the only one of whom any record has been
preserved. As we shall hereafter have occasion to note, Columbus left
Portugal, not only in poverty, but under circumstances which made it
imprudent for him to return. We are obliged to infer that his wife and
children were left in indigence. Neither in the numerous writings of
Columbus nor in any of the records of the time is there any allusion to
the death of the wife or of the children. No letter that passed between
husband and wife has ever been found. It remains only to add, on the
subject of his conjugal life, that Fernando, the historian, was the
natural son of Columbus by a Spanish woman, Beatriz Enriquez by name,
and was born on the 15th of August, 1488.
Of the current life of Columbus at Lisbon we know very little. He seems
to have been a skilful draughtsman and map-maker,--at least, in one
of his letters to the Spanish king he says that God had endowed him
with “ingenuity and manual skill in designing spheres and inscribing
upon them in the proper places cities, rivers and mountains, isles and
ports.” Las Casas and Lopez de Gomera both assure us that Columbus made
use of his skill as a means of livelihood.
There is also evidence that he was engaged to some extent in commercial
enterprise or speculation. In his will he ordered considerable sums
paid to the heirs of certain noble and rich Genoese established in
Lisbon in 1482,--giving specific direction that they should not be
informed from whom the money came. We know that he left Portugal
secretly, and that the king, when inviting him to return, assured him
immunity from civil and criminal prosecution. It has been plausibly
conjectured that in the course of his commercial transactions he had
incurred debts to his rich countrymen which he had never paid, and
that at the last moment his conscience demanded absolution from these
obligations.
Though the occasion of such debts is purely hypothetical, it is not
difficult to conjecture how they may have occurred. In the fifteenth
century the commercial enterprise and opportunities of Lisbon attracted
thither a large number of wealthy Florentine and Genoese merchants. We
are informed that they were engaged in various commercial ventures; and
nothing could be more natural than that they should be ready to avail
themselves of the maritime skill of their young countryman. In the
journal of Columbus, under the date of Dec. 21, 1492, he wrote:--
“I have navigated the sea during twenty-three years, without
noteworthy interruption; I have seen all the Levant and the
Ponent; what is called the Northern Way,--that is England; and I
have sailed to Guinea.”
As there is no other evidence that he went to England, it is probable
that the allusion here is to that northern voyage, which, as we have
already seen, had had the seas about Iceland as its destination. Though
it is not easy to conjecture how the phrase, “twenty-three years
without noteworthy interruption,” is to be reconciled with what we
elsewhere learn of the years just before 1492, yet it is not difficult
to understand how all the voyages referred to may have been made
during that period. Before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by
Bartholomew Diaz in December of 1487, the remotest navigable sea was
not far away. To visit the North, the West, or the South was not an
enterprise of long duration; and the mariner who had explored the Black
Sea, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic from the equator to Iceland and
the Baltic, might well claim to be familiar with all the seas that were
navigable to a European.
Such were the most important of the experiences, which, so far as we
can now know, gave form and fibre to the character of Columbus. If the
years were full of turbulent experiences, it is evident that they were
also years full of absorbing thought.
Soon after Columbus reached Lisbon, even if not before, he became
possessed with the great idea that important discoveries could be made
by sailing due west. Was the idea original with him? Was such a notion
entertained by others? These questions, on which so much of the credit
of Columbus depends, can only be answered after we take at least a
brief survey of the geographical knowledge of the time.
It will perhaps never be known who first propounded the theory of the
sphericity of the earth; but we are certain that it was systematically
taught by the Pythagoreans of southern Italy in the sixth century
before Christ. With the writings of Pythagoras, Plato was familiar,
and perhaps it was from this bold western speculator that the great
Athenian philosopher received the impression that finally ripened into
an unquestioning belief. Pythagoras believed the earth to be a sphere,
and his views and theories are set forth in two of Plato’s works.
But it was the great successor of Plato who was to have the credit of
giving these views systematic form. In a treatise “On the Heavens”
Aristotle gave a formal summary of the grounds leading to a belief in
the earth’s sphericity.
Greece bequeathed this doctrine to Rome, where it was specifically
taught by Pliny and Hyginus, and was referred to with seeming approval
by Cicero and Ovid. From the literature of Rome it passed into many of
the school-books of the Middle Ages.
The Greeks and Romans were fertile as speculators, but as navigators
they really did very little. Not until the last days of the Republic
did the existence of lands beyond the sea become generally known.
It was in the time of Sulla that Sertorius brought back the curious
story that, when on an expedition to Bætica, he fell in with certain
sailors, who declared that they had just returned from the Atlantic
islands, which they described as distant ten thousand stadia, or
about twelve hundred and fifty miles, from Africa, and as having a
wonderful flora and a still more wonderful climate. It was not until
a few years later that the Canaries became known as the Fortunate
Islands. Notwithstanding all that had been done by the Tyrians and
Carthaginians, Pliny refers to the Pillars of Hercules as the limit of
navigation.
No systematic effort to extend the boundaries of geographical knowledge
can be attributed to the Romans. There was no international competition
in trade, for the reason that Rome had come to be self-reliant, and,
in theory at least, to possess everything that was of value. Interest
therefore was purely speculative. There was no compass; there were none
but small ships.
Added to this, it must be said that there was a general and vivid
horror of the western ocean. Pindar declared that no one, however
brave, could pass beyond Gades; “for only a god,” he said, “might
voyage in those waters.”
The views of the Romans were set forth in somewhat systematic form by
Strabo and Pomponius Mela. The work of Mela, written during the first
half of the first century, had considerable influence throughout the
Middle Ages. The first edition was printed in 1471 at Milan, and this
was followed by editions at Venice in 1478 and 1482.
Of far greater importance were the writings of Ptolemy. Near the end
of the second century he not only brought together in systematic form
the ideas of those who had gone before him, but he elaborated and set
forth a system of his own. His work thus became a great source of
geographical information throughout the twelve centuries that were
to follow. The book, however, scarcely had any popular significance
before the fifteenth century; for until that time it was locked up
within the mysteries of the Greek language. But in 1409, a version in
Latin disseminated his views throughout Europe.
In one respect the theories of Ptolemy were exceptionally important
in their bearing upon the western discoveries. It was his belief that
the further extension of geographical knowledge was to be obtained by
pushing the lines of investigation toward the west rather than toward
the north or toward the south. It is of significance in the life of
Columbus that the first edition of Ptolemy was printed in 1475, and
that several other editions were issued from the press before 1492.
It is also of interest to note that the views promulgated by the
Alexandrian geographer were essentially the views held and advocated by
Columbus.
The theologians generally rejected the idea of sphericity. There were,
however, some very notable exceptions. The doctrine was positively
taught by Saint Isadore of Seville, and was somewhat elaborately
set forth by the Venerable Bede. Of still more importance was the
unquestioning acceptance of this doctrine by that great protagonist
of the faith, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, and
Dante seem also, in a more or less definite form, to have accepted the
same doctrine.
In any account, however brief, of the early years of Columbus, a
statement should also be made concerning some of the explorers who had
performed an important part in pushing out the boundaries of knowledge.
One of the most remarkable of these was John de Mandeville. It is very
properly the fashion to regard this audacious romancer as one of the
most unscrupulous of all explorers. It is certain that he did not see
a quarter or perhaps even a tenth part of the things which he affects
to describe. But in spite of all these characteristics, there is one
passage in the book that can hardly fail to have made a deep impression
on the mind of Columbus. In this remarkable passage the author relates,
in the quaint language of the time, how he himself came to the
conclusion that the earth was a sphere. His words are,--
“In the north the south lodestar is not seen; and in the south,
the north is not seen.... By which say you certainly that men may
environ all the earth, as well under as above, and turn again to
his country, and always find men as well as in this country....
For ye witten well that they that turn toward the antarctic,
be straight feet against feet of them that dwell under the
transmontayne, as well as we and they that dwell under us be feet
against feet.”
Of still more importance in shaping directly or indirectly the opinions
of Columbus was the great work of Marco Polo. This Venetian traveller,
after spending many years in China and Japan, and having the best of
opportunities for observation, published the great work on which his
reputation as a traveller and writer is founded. He not only described
with considerable minuteness the countries which he visited, but he
pictured, though with gross exaggerations, the great wealth of many
of the eastern cities. Columbus supposed that these regions, still in
the hands of infidels, could be reached by sailing westward across the
Atlantic.
But there was another book that had more influence upon Columbus than
all the others; and this was the “Imago Mundi” of Cardinal d’Ailly.
It was a kind of encyclopædia of geographical knowledge, in which the
author had endeavoured to bring together all the prevailing views in
regard to the form of the earth. In the copy of this remarkable book,
still preserved in the Columbian Library at Seville, there are still to
be seen numerous marginal annotations by Columbus himself. These notes
make us absolutely certain that the navigator studied very carefully
and early became familiar with the beliefs of all the geographical
writers of antiquity and of the Middle Ages.
It is natural to ask the question why, if the earth was known to be
spherical, and if the compass was already in existence, voyages of
discovery were so long delayed? If one looks at the geographical works
of the time, one sees everywhere taught the notion that the unknown
regions were peopled with monsters ready to devour any who approached.
One of the pictures in the Nuremberg Chronicle, for illustration,
represents the Atlantic as filled with monsters so huge as to be
able and ready to lift any ship easily upon its back and dash it to
destruction. The Arabs believed and taught that in the torrid zone the
moisture was so much sucked up by the heat of the sun that the residue
was impervious to the passage of ships. Popular credulity everywhere
seemed to gain the mastery over science. The early Anglo-Saxon scholars
believed that the earth was a globe; but in spite of all their
teaching, we find in an early Anglo-Saxon tract, intended to convey
abstruse information in the form of a dialogue, the following question
and answer:--
“_Question_: Tell me, my son, why the sun is so red in the
evening?
“_Answer_: Because it looketh down upon hell.”
It must be conceded that this doctrine was sufficiently discouraging to
western navigation.
It should not, however, be forgotten that while views concerning
the sphericity of the earth were gradually making their impression,
geographical knowledge was extending itself through the efforts of
explorers. The boldest adventurers were gradually pressing their way
into the far north. The inhabitants of Iceland--perhaps from their
geographical isolation--were especially adventurous. Within the present
century the evidence has been made complete that America was visited
and explored in the eleventh century, and that accounts of these
explorations in detail became a part of the national literature. But
Iceland was so isolated from the rest of Europe that these explorations
seem to have made no impression, even if they were at all known. The
first allusion to the discovery of America by the Scandinavians ever
printed was that of Adam von Bremen, in his work issued from the
press at Copenhagen in 1579. Although the work had been in manuscript
for centuries, there is no evidence that these explorations made any
impression upon the literature or knowledge of the time. If Columbus
visited Iceland, it is probable that he became acquainted with the
traditions of these western voyages. It is of course possible that
he obtained positive information from the stories that may have been
current among the seafaring men of Iceland in the fifteenth century.
But the matter is left in doubt by the fact that no such knowledge
was ever revealed by Columbus after his return; and it hardly seems
probable that he would have kept such an item of information locked up
in his own brain at a time when he was trying to bring every argument
to bear upon the Portuguese and Spanish courts.
While these numerous intellectual purveyors were bringing to the mind
of Columbus their varied stores of information, an event occurred which
must have had a powerful influence in shaping and intensifying his
purpose.
In the year 1474 there was living at Florence the venerable astronomer
and geographer Toscanelli. This eminent savant, now seventy-eight years
of age, after having enjoyed the honours of connection with nearly all
the learned societies of that day, had been greatly interested in the
recently published book of Marco Polo. From the account given by this
Venetian traveller, Toscanelli had arrived at certain interesting
views in regard to the size of the earth. He had satisfied himself that
the open water between western Europe and eastern Asia could be crossed
in a voyage of not more than three thousand miles. The letters of
Toscanelli have been preserved, and they form a most interesting part
of the history of this period. We cannot quote from them at any length,
but the importance of the correspondence is sufficient to justify a
concise statement of the particular significance of the letters.
In the first place, in one of the letters, dated in 1474, Toscanelli
says that he had already written to the king of Portugal, urging upon
him the practicability of reaching Japan and China by sailing directly
west. He had accompanied this statement, moreover, with a map showing
what, in his opinion, would be found in the course of the proposed
voyage. Unfortunately, the original map of Toscanelli, so far as we
know, has not been preserved. Copies of it, which we may presume to
be substantially accurate, however, enable us to form a sufficient
impression as to the general nature of his geographical views. He had
no conception of another continent. On the contrary, he believed that
the eastern part of Asia, excepting as it was fringed with Cipango
(Japan) and other islands, presented its broad and hospitable front to
any navigator bold enough to sail two or three thousand miles directly
west from Portugal or Spain. These beliefs are important, because they
are the identical ones afterward held by Columbus, not only at the time
of his first voyage, but also even until the day of his death.
Another fact indicated in the Toscanelli letters is the desire
expressed by Columbus, showing clearly that as early as 1474, three
years before the reputed visit to Iceland, he had formed a definite
purpose, if possible, to visit and explore the unknown regions of the
east by sailing west.
Another peculiarity of Toscanelli’s letters relates to the wealth of
the countries to be explored. On this point he not only refers to Marco
Polo, but also speaks of the descriptions given by an ambassador in the
time of Pope Eugenius IV. He says: “I was a great deal in his company,
and he gave me descriptions of the munificence of his king, and of the
immense rivers in that territory, which contained, as he stated, two
hundred cities with marble bridges upon the banks of a single stream.”
“The city of Quinsay,” Toscanelli continues, “is thirty-five leagues in
circuit, and it contains ten large marble bridges, built upon immense
columns of singular magnificence.” Of Cipango, he says: “This island
possesses such an abundance of precious stones and metals that the
temples and royal palaces are covered with plates of gold.”
We have now seen--briefly, it is true, but perhaps with sufficient
fulness--how Columbus in various ways had received his education. If
called upon to sum up the impressions that he had gained in the course
of his experience at Genoa and Lisbon before 1484, the result would
be something like the following: First, he acquired a very definite
and positive belief in the sphericity of the earth. Secondly, through
Toscanelli, Cardinal d’Ailly, and others, he had likewise received an
equally definite and positive impression that the size of the earth
was much less than it actually is. His belief was that Japan would be
reached by sailing west a distance not greater than the distance which
actually intervenes between Portugal and the eastern coasts of America.
In the third place, these beliefs were confirmed by certain vague
reports of sailors that had been driven to the far west, and by such
articles as had been thrown by the waters upon the islands lying west
of Portugal and northern Africa.
What may be called the approaches to the discovery of America were, in
their general characteristics, not unlike those which have generally
preceded other great discoveries and inventions. Seldom in the history
of the human race has the conception and the consummation of a great
discovery been the product of a single brain. The final achievement
is ordinarily only the culminating act of the more logical mind and
the more dauntless courage. Such was the case with Columbus. The
more one becomes familiar with the thought and the enterprise of the
fifteenth century, the more clearly one sees how impossible it would
have been for America to have long remained undiscovered, even if
there had been no Columbus. We shall hereafter see how a Portuguese
fleet, in the year 1500, when sailing for Good Hope, and with no
thought of a western continent, was driven by storms to the coast of
Brazil. But none of these facts should detract from the credit of
Columbus. The great man of such a time is the one who shows that he
knows the law of development, and, bringing all possible knowledge to
his service, works, with a lofty courage and an unflagging persistency
and enthusiasm, for the object of his devotion in accordance with the
strict laws of historical sequence. Such was the method of Columbus.
Others, perhaps, were as familiar with all the geographical facts and
theories with which he had so long been storing his mind; others even
saw as clearly the conclusions to which these facts and theories so
distinctly pointed: but he alone, of all the men of his generation,
was possessed with the lofty enthusiasm, the ardent prescience, the
unhasting and unresting courage, that were the harbingers of glorious
success.