Departure of Columbus for San Domingo.--His Return to Spain.

The arrival at Jamaica of the two vessels under the command of Salcedo had

caused a joyful reverse in the situation of Columbus. He hastened to leave

the wreck in which he had been so long immured, and hoisting his flag on

board of one of the ships, felt as if the career of enterprise and glory

were once more open to him. The late partisans of Porras, when they heard

of the arrival of the ships, came wistful and abject to the harbor,

doubting how far they might trust to the magnanimity of a man whom they

had so greatly injured, and who had now an opportunity of vengeance. The

generous mind, however, never harbors revenge in the hour of returning

prosperity; but feels noble satisfaction in sharing its happiness even

with its enemies. Columbus forgot, in his present felicity, all that he

had suffered from these men; he ceased to consider them enemies, now that

they had lost the power to injure; and he not only fulfilled all that he

had promised them, by taking them on board the ships, but relieved their

necessities from his own purse, until their return to Spain; and

afterwards took unwearied pains to recommend them to the bounty of the

sovereigns. Francisco Porras alone continued a prisoner, to be tried by

the tribunals of his country.

Oviedo assures us that the Indians wept when they beheld the departure of

the Spaniards; still considering them as beings from the skies. From the

admiral, it is true, they had experienced nothing but just and gentle

treatment, and continual benefits; and the idea of his immediate influence

with the Deity, manifested on the memorable occasion of the eclipse, may

have made them consider him as more than human, and his presence as

propitious to their island; but it is not easy to believe that a lawless

gang like that of Porras, could have been ranging for months among their

villages, without giving cause for the greatest joy at their departure.

On the 28th of June the vessels set sail for San Domingo. The adverse

winds and currents which had opposed Columbus throughout this ill-starred

expedition, still continued to harass him. After a weary struggle of

several weeks, he reached, on the 3d of August, the little island of

Beata, on the coast of Hispaniola. Between this place and San Domingo the

currents are so violent, that vessels are often detained months, waiting

for sufficient wind to enable them to stem the stream. Hence Columbus

dispatched a letter by land to Ovando, to inform him of his approach, and

to remove certain absurd suspicions of his views, which he had learnt from

Salcedo were still entertained by the governor; who feared his arrival in

the island might produce factions and disturbances. In this letter he

expresses, with his usual warmth and simplicity, the joy he felt at his,

deliverance, which was so great, he says, that, since the arrival of Diego

de Salcedo with succor, he had scarcely been able to sleep. The letter had

barely time to precede the writer, for, a favorable wind springing up, the

vessels again made sail, and, on the 13th of August, anchored in the

harbor of San Domingo.

If it is the lot of prosperity to awaken envy and excite detraction, it is

certainly the lot of misfortune to atone for a multitude of faults. San

Domingo had been the very hot-bed of sedition against Columbus in the day

of his power; he had been hurried from it in ignominious chains, amidst

the shouts and taunts of the triumphant rabble; he had been excluded from

its harbor, when, as commander of a squadron, he craved shelter from an

impending tempest; but now that he arrived in its waters, a broken-down

and shipwrecked man, all past hostility was overpowered by the popular

sense of his late disasters. There was a momentary burst of enthusiasm in

his favor; what had been denied to his merits was granted to his

misfortunes; and even the envious, appeased by his present reverses,

seemed to forgive him for having once been so triumphant.

The governor and principal inhabitants came forth to meet him, and

received him with signal distinction. He was lodged as a guest in the

house of Ovando, who treated him with the utmost courtesy and attention.

The governor was a shrewd and discreet man, and much of a courtier; but

there were causes of jealousy and distrust between him and Columbus too

deep to permit of cordial intercourse. The admiral and his son Fernando

always pronounced the civility of Ovando overstrained and hypocritical;

intended to obliterate the remembrance of past neglect, and to conceal

lurking enmity. While he professed the utmost friendship and sympathy for

the admiral, he set at liberty the traitor Porras, who was still a

prisoner, to be taken to Spain for trial. He also talked of punishing

those of the admiral's people who had taken arms in his defence, and in

the affray at Jamaica had killed several of the mutineers. These

circumstances were loudly complained of by Columbus; but, in fact, they

rose out of a question of jurisdiction between him and the governor. Their

powers were so undefined as to clash with each other, and they were both

disposed to be extremely punctilious. Ovando assumed a right to take

cognizance of all transactions at Jamaica; as happening within the limits

of his government, which included all the islands and Terra Firma.

Columbus, on the other hand, asserted the absolute command, and the

jurisdiction both civil and criminal given to him by the sovereigns, over

all persons who sailed in his expedition, from the time of departure until

their return to Spain. To prove this, he produced his letter of

instructions. The governor heard him with great courtesy and a smiling

countenance; but observed, that the letter of instructions gave him no

authority within the bounds of his government. [221] He relinquished the

idea, however, of investigating the conduct of the followers of Columbus,

and sent Porras to Spain, to be examined by the board which had charge of

the affairs of the Indies.

The sojourn of Columbus at San Domingo was but little calculated to yield

him satisfaction. He was grieved at the desolation of the island by the

oppressive treatment of the natives, and the horrible massacre which had

been perpetrated by Ovando and his agents. He had fondly hoped, at one

time, to render the natives civilized, industrious, and tributary subjects

to the crown, and to derive from their well-regulated labor a great and

steady revenue. How different had been the event! The five great tribes

which peopled the mountains and the valleys at the time of the discovery,

and rendered, by their mingled towns and villages and tracts of

cultivation, the rich levels of the Vegas so many "painted gardens," had

almost all passed away, and the native princes had perished chiefly by

violent or ignominious deaths. Columbus regarded the affairs of the island

with a different eye from Ovando. He had a paternal feeling for its

prosperity, and his fortunes were implicated in its judicious management.

He complained, in subsequent letters to the sovereigns, that all the

public affairs were ill conducted; that the ore collected lay unguarded in

large quantities in houses slightly built and thatched, inviting

depredation; that Ovando was unpopular, the people were dissolute, and the

property of the crown and the security of the island in continual risk

from mutiny and sedition. [222] While he saw all this, he had no power to

interfere, and any observation or remonstrance on his part was ill

received by the governor.

He found his own immediate concerns in great confusion. His rents and dues

were either uncollected, or he could not obtain a clear account and a full

liquidation of them. Whatever he could collect was appropriated to the

fitting out of the vessels which were to convey himself and his crews to

Spain. He accuses Ovando, in his subsequent letters, of having neglected,

if not sacrificed, his interests during his long absence, and of having

impeded those who were appointed to attend to his concerns. That he had

some grounds for these complaints would appear from two letters still

extant, [223] written by Queen Isabella to Ovando, on the 27th of

November, 1503, in which she informs him of the complaint of Alonzo

Sanchez de Carvajal, that he was impeded in collecting the rents of the

admiral; and expressly commands Ovando to observe the capitulations

granted to Columbus; to respect his agents, and to facilitate, instead

of obstructing, his concerns. These letters, while they imply ungenerous

conduct on the part of the governor towards his illustrious predecessor,

evince likewise the personal interest taken by Isabella in the affairs of

Columbus, during his absence. She had, in fact, signified her displeasure

at his being excluded from the port of San Domingo, when he applied there

for succor for his squadron, and for shelter from a storm; and had

censured Ovando for not taking his advice and detaining the fleet of

Bobadilla, by which it would have escaped its disastrous fate. [224] And

here it may be observed, that the sanguinary acts of Ovando towards the

natives, in particular the massacre at Xaragua, and the execution of the

unfortunate Anacaona, awakened equal horror and indignation in Isabella;

she was languishing on her death-bed when she received the intelligence,

and with her dying breath she exacted a promise from King Ferdinand that

Ovando should immediately be recalled from his government. The promise

was tardily and reluctantly fulfilled, after an interval of about four

years, and not until induced by other circumstances; for Ovando

contrived to propitiate the monarch, by forcing a revenue from the

island.

The continual misunderstandings between the admiral and the governor,

though always qualified on the part of the latter with great complaisance,

induced Columbus to hasten as much as possible his departure from the

island. The ship in which he had returned from Jamaica was repaired and

fitted out, and put under the command of the Adelantado; another vessel

was freighted, in which Columbus embarked with his son and his domestics.

The greater part of his late crews remained at San Domingo; as they were

in great poverty, he relieved their necessities from his own purse, and

advanced the funds necessary for the voyage home of those who chose to

return. Many thus relieved by his generosity had been among the most

violent of the rebels.

On the 12th of September, he set sail; but had scarcely left the harbor

when, in a sudden squall, the mast of his ship was carried away. He

immediately went with his family on board of the vessel commanded by the

Adelantado, and, sending back the damaged ship to port, continued on his

course. Throughout the voyage he experienced the most tempestuous weather.

In one storm the mainmast was sprung in four places. He was confined to

his bed at the time by the gout; by his advice, however, and the activity

of the Adelantado, the damage was skillfully repaired; the mast was

shortened; the weak parts were fortified by wood taken from the castles or

cabins which the vessels in those days carried on the prow and stern; and

the whole was well secured by cords. They were still more damaged in a

succeeding tempest; in which the ship sprung her foremast. In this

crippled state they had to traverse seven hundred leagues of a stormy

ocean. Fortune continued to persecute Columbus to the end of this, his

last and most disastrous expedition. For several weeks he was

tempest-tossed--suffering at the same time the most excruciating pains

from his malady--until, on the seventh day of November, his crazy and

shattered bark anchored in the harbor of San Lucar. Hence he had himself

conveyed to Seville, where he hoped to enjoy repose of mind and body, and

to recruit his health after such a long series of fatigues, anxieties,

and hardships. [225]

Chapter II.

Illness of Columbus at Seville.--Application to the Crown for a

Restitution of His Honors.--Death of Isabella.

[1504.]

Broken by age and infirmities, and worn down by the toils and hardships of

his recent expedition, Columbus had looked forward to Seville as to a

haven of rest, where he might repose awhile from his troubles. Care and

sorrow, however, followed him by sea and land. In varying the scene he but

varied the nature of his distress. "Wearisome days and nights" were

appointed to him for the remainder of his life; and the very margin of his

grave was destined to be strewed with thorns.

On arriving at Seville, he found all his affairs in confusion. Ever since

he had been sent home in chains from San Domingo, when his house and

effects had been taken possession of by Bobadilla, his rents and dues had

never been properly collected; and such as had been gathered had been

retained in the hands of the governor Ovando. "I have much vexation from

the governor," says he, in a letter to his son Diego. [226] "All tell me

that I have there eleven or twelve thousand castellanos; and I have not

received a quarto. ... I know well, that, since my departure, he must have

received upwards of five thousand castellanos." He entreated that a letter

might be written by the king, commanding the payment of these arrears

without delay; for his agents would not venture even to speak to Ovando on

the subject, unless empowered by a letter from the sovereign.

Columbus was not of a mercenary spirit; but his rank and situation

required large expenditure. The world thought him in the possession of

sources of inexhaustible wealth; but, as yet, those sources had furnished

him but precarious and scanty streams. His last voyage had exhausted his

finances, and involved him in perplexities. All that he had been able to

collect of the money due to him in Hispaniola, to the amount of twelve

hundred castellanos, had been expended in bringing home many of his late

crew, who were in distress; and for the greater part of the sum the crown

remained his debtor. While struggling to obtain his mere pecuniary dues,

he was absolutely suffering a degree of penury. He repeatedly urges the

necessity of economy to his son Diego, until he can obtain a restitution

of his property, and the payment of his arrears. "I receive nothing of the

revenue due to me," says he, in one letter; "I live by borrowing." "Little

have I profited," he adds, in another, "by twenty years of service, with

such toils and perils; since, at present, I do not own a roof in Spain. If

I desire to eat or sleep, I have no resort but an inn; and, for the most

times, have not wherewithal to pay my bill."

Yet in the midst of these personal distresses, he was more solicitous for

the payment of his seamen than of himself. He wrote strongly and

repeatedly to the sovereigns, entreating the discharge of their arrears,

and urged his son Diego, who was at court, to exert himself in their

behalf. "They are poor," said he, "and it is now nearly three years since

they left their homes. They have endured infinite toils and perils, and

they bring invaluable tidings, for which their majesties ought to give

thanks to God and rejoice." Notwithstanding his generous solicitude for

these men, he knew several of them to have been his enemies; nay, that

some of them were at this very time disposed to do him harm rather than

good; such was the magnanimity of his spirit and his forgiving

disposition.

The same zeal, also, for the interests of his sovereigns, which had ever

actuated his loyal mind, mingled with his other causes of solicitude. He

represented in his letter to the king, the mismanagement of the royal

rents in Hispaniola, under the administration of Ovando. Immense

quantities of ore lay unprotected in slightly-built houses, and liable to

depredations. It required a person of vigor, and one who had an individual

interest in the property of the island, to restore its affairs to order,

and draw from it the immense revenues which it was capable of yielding;

and Columbus plainly intimated that he was the proper person.

In fact, as to himself, it was not so much pecuniary indemnification that

he sought, as the restoration of his offices and dignities. He regarded

them as the trophies of his illustrious achievements; he had received the

royal promise that he should be reinstated in them; and he felt that as

long as they were withheld, a tacit censure rested upon his name. Had he

not been proudly impatient on this subject, he would have belied the

loftiest part of his character; for he who can be indifferent to the

wreath of triumph, is deficient in the noble ambition which incites to

glorious deeds.

The unsatisfactory replies received to his letters disquieted his mind. He

knew that he had active enemies at court ready to turn all things to his

disadvantage, and felt the importance of being there in person to defeat

their machinations: but his infirmities detained him at Seville. He made

an attempt to set forth on the journey, but the severity of the winter and

the virulence of his malady obliged him to relinquish it in despair. All

that he could do was to reiterate his letters to the sovereigns, and to

entreat the intervention of his few but faithful friends. He feared the

disastrous occurrences of the last voyage might be represented to his

prejudice. The great object of the expedition, the discovery of a strait

opening from the Caribbean to a southern sea, had failed. The secondary

object, the acquisition of gold, had not been completed. He had discovered

the gold mines of Veragua, it is true; but he had brought home no

treasure; because, as he said, in one of his letters, "I would not rob nor

outrage the country; since reason requires that it should be settled, and

then the gold may be procured without violence."

He was especially apprehensive that the violent scenes in the island of

Jamaica might, by the perversity of his enemies, and the effrontery of the

delinquents, be wrested into matters of accusation against him, as had

been the case with the rebellion of Roldan. Porras, the ringleader of the

late faction, had been sent home by Ovando, to appear before the board of

the Indies; but without any written process, setting forth the offences

charged against him. While at Jamaica, Columbus had ordered an inquest of

the affair to be taken; but the notary of the squadron who took it, and

the papers which he drew up, were on board of the ship in which the

admiral had sailed from Hispaniola, but which had put back dismasted. No

cognizance of the case, therefore, was taken by the council of the Indies;

and Porras went at large, armed with the power and the disposition to do

mischief. Being related to Morales, the royal treasurer, he had access to

people in place, and an opportunity of enlisting their opinions and

prejudices on his side. Columbus wrote to Morales, inclosing a copy of the

petition which the rebels had sent to him when in Jamaica, in which they

acknowledged their culpability, and implored his forgiveness; and he

entreated the treasurer not to be swayed by the representations of his

relative, nor to pronounce an opinion unfavorable to him, until he had an

opportunity of being heard.

The faithful and indefatigable Diego Mendez was at this time at the court,

as well as Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, and an active friend of Columbus

named Geronimo. They could bear the most important testimony as to his

conduct, and he wrote to his son Diego to call upon them for their good

offices. "I trust," said he, "that the truth and diligence of Diego Mendez

will be of as much avail as the lies of Porras." Nothing can surpass the

affecting earnestness and simplicity of the general declaration of

loyalty, contained in one of his letters. "I have served their majesties,"

says he, "with as much zeal and diligence as if it had been to gain

Paradise; and if I have failed in any thing, it has been because my

knowledge and powers went no further."

While reading these touching appeals, we can scarcely realize the fact,

that the dejected individual thus wearily and vainly applying for

unquestionable rights, and pleading almost like a culprit, in cases

wherein he had been flagrantly injured, was the same who but a few years

previously had been received at this very court with almost regal honors,

and idolized as a national benefactor; that this, in a word, was Columbus,

the discoverer of the New World; broken in health, and impoverished in his

old days by his very discoveries.

At length the caravel bringing the official proceedings relative to the

brothers Porras arrived at the Algarves, in Portugal, and Columbus looked

forward with hope that all matters would soon be placed in a proper light.

His anxiety to get to court became every day more intense. A litter was

provided to convey him thither, and was actually at the door, but the

inclemency of the weather and his increasing infirmities obliged him again

to abandon the journey. His resource of letter-writing began to fail him:

he could only write at night, for in the daytime the severity of his

malady deprived him of the use of his hands. The tidings from the court

were every day more and more adverse to his hopes; the intrigues of his

enemies were prevailing; the cold-hearted Ferdinand treated all his

applications with indifference; the generous Isabella lay dangerously ill.

On her justice and magnanimity he still relied for the full restoration of

his rights, and the redress of all his grievances. "May it please the Holy

Trinity," says he, "to restore our sovereign queen to health; for by her

will every thing be adjusted which is now in confusion." Alas! while

writing that letter, his noble benefactress was a corpse!

The health of Isabella had long been undermined by the shocks of repeated

domestic calamities. The death of her only son, the prince Juan; of her

beloved daughter and bosom friend, the princess Isabella; and of her

grandson and prospective heir, the prince Miguel, had been three cruel

wounds to a heart full of the tenderest sensibility. To these was added

the constant grief caused by the evident infirmity of intellect of her

daughter Juana, and the domestic unhappiness of that princess with her

husband, the archduke Philip. The desolation which walks through palaces

admits not the familiar sympathies and sweet consolations which alleviate

the sorrows of common life. Isabella pined in state, amidst the obsequious

homages of a court, surrounded by the trophies of a glorious and

successful reign, and placed at the summit of earthly grandeur. A deep and

incurable melancholy settled upon her, which undermined her constitution,

and gave a fatal acuteness to her bodily maladies. After four months of

illness, she died on the 2eth of November, 1504, at Medina del Campo, in

the fifty-fourth year of her age; but long before her eyes closed upon the

world, her heart had closed on all its pomps and vanities. "Let my body,"

said she in her will, "be interred in the monastery of San Francisco,

which is in the Alhambra of the city of Granada, in a low sepulchre,

without any monument except a plain stone, with the inscription cut on it.

But I desire and command, that if the king, my lord, should choose a

sepulchre in any church or monastery in any other part or place of these

my kingdoms, my body be transported thither, and buried beside the body of

his highness; so that the union we have enjoyed while living, and which,

through the mercy of God, we hope our souls will experience in heaven, may

be represented by our bodies in the earth." [227]

Such was one of several passages in the will of this admirable woman,

which bespoke the chastened humility of her heart; and in which, as has

been well observed, the affections of conjugal love were delicately

entwined with piety, and with the most tender melancholy. [228] She

was one of the purest spirits that ever ruled over the destinies of a

nation. Had she been spared, her benignant vigilance would have prevented

many a scene of horror in the colonization of the New World, and might

have softened the lot of its native inhabitants. As it is, her fair name

will ever shine with celestial radiance in the dawning of its history.

The news of the death of Isabella reached Columbus when he was writing a

letter to his son Diego. He notices it in a postscript or memorandum,

written in the haste and brevity of the moment, but in beautifully

touching and mournful terms. "A memorial," he writes, "for thee, my dear

son Diego, of what is at present to be done. The principal thing is to

commend affectionately, and with great devotion, the soul of the queen our

sovereign to God. Her life was always catholic and holy, and prompt to all

things in his holy service: for this reason we may rest assured that she

is received into his glory, and beyond the cares of this rough and weary

world. The next thing is to watch and labor in all matters for the service

of our sovereign the king, and to endeavor to alleviate his grief. His

majesty is the head of Christendom. Remember the proverb which says, when

the head suffers all the members suffer. Therefore all good Christians

should pray for his health and long life; and we, who are in his employ,

ought more than others to do this with all study and diligence."

[229]

It is impossible to read this mournful letter without being moved by the

simply eloquent yet artless language in which Columbus expresses his

tenderness for the memory of his benefactress, his weariness under the

gathering cares and ills of life, and his persevering and enduring loyalty

towards the sovereign who was so ungratefully neglecting him. It is in

these unstudied and confidential letters that we read the heart of

Columbus.

Chapter III.

Columbus Arrives at Court.--Fruitless Application to the King for Redress.

[1505.]

The death of Isabella was a fatal blow to the fortunes of Columbus. While

she lived, he had every thing to anticipate from her high sense of

justice, her regard for her royal word, her gratitude for his services,

and her admiration of his character. With her illness, however, his

interests had languished, and when she died, he was left to the justice

and generosity of Ferdinand!

During the remainder of the winter and a part of the spring, he continued

at Seville, detained by painful illness, and endeavoring to obtain redress

from the government by ineffectual letters. His brother the Adelantado,

who supported him with his accustomed fondness and devotion through all

his trials, proceeded to court to attend to his interests, taking with him

the admiral's younger son Fernando, then aged about seventeen. The latter,

the affectionate father repeatedly represents to his son Diego as a man in

understanding and conduct, though but a stripling in years; and inculcates

the strongest fraternal attachment, alluding to his own brethren with one

of those simply eloquent and affecting expressions which stamp his heart

upon his letters. "To thy brother conduct thyself as the elder brother

should unto the younger. Thou hast no other, and I praise God that this is

such a one as thou dost need. Ten brothers would not be too many for thee.

Never have I found a better friend to right or left, than my brothers."

Among the persons whom Columbus employed at this time in his missions to

the court, was Amerigo Vespucci. He describes him as a worthy but

unfortunate man, who had not profited as much as he deserved by his

undertakings, and who had always been disposed to render him service. His

object in employing him appears to have been to prove the value of his

last voyage, and that he had been in the most opulent parts of the New

World; Vespucci having since touched upon the same coast, in a voyage with

Alonzo de Ojeda.

One circumstance occured at this time which shed a gleam of hope and

consolation over his gloomy prospects. Diego de Deza, who had been for

some time bishop of Palencia, was expected at court. This was the same

worthy friar who had aided him to advocate his theory before the board of

learned men at Salamanca, and had assisted him with his purse when making

his proposals to the Spanish court. He had just been promoted and made

archbishop of Seville, but had not yet been installed in office. Columbus

directs his son Diego to intrust his interests to this worthy prelate.

"Two things," says he, "require particular attention. Ascertain whether

the queen, who is now with God, has said any thing concerning me in her

testament, and stimulate the bishop of Palencia, he who was the cause that

their highnesses obtained possession of the Indies, who induced me to

remain in Castile when I was on the road to leave it." [230] In another

letter he says, "If the bishop of Palencia has arrived, or should arrive,

tell him how much I have been gratified by his prosperity, and that if I

come, I shall lodge with his grace, even though he should not invite me,

for we must return to our ancient fraternal affection."

The incessant applications of Columbus, both by letter and by the

intervention of friends, appear to have been listened to with cool

indifference. No compliance was yielded to his requests, and no deference

was paid to his opinions, on various points concerning which he interested

himself. New instructions were sent out to Ovando, but not a word of their

purport was mentioned to the admiral. It was proposed to send out three

bishops, and he entreated in vain to be heard previous to their election.

In short, he was not in any way consulted in the affairs of the New World.

He felt deeply this neglect, and became every day more impatient of his

absence from court. To enable himself to perform the journey with more

ease, he applied for permission to use a mule, a royal ordinance having

prohibited the employment of those animals under the saddle, in

consequence of their universal use having occasioned a decline in the

breed of horses. A royal permission was accordingly granted to Columbus,

in consideration that his age and infirmities incapacitated him from

riding on horse-back; but it was a considerable time before the state of

his health would permit him to avail himself of that privilege.

The foregoing particulars, gleaned from letters of Columbus recently

discovered, show the real state of his affairs, and the mental and bodily

affliction sustained by him during his winter's residence at Seville, on

his return from his last disastrous voyage. He has generally been

represented as reposing there from his toils and troubles. Never was

honorable repose more merited, more desired, and less enjoyed.

It was not until the month of May that he was able, in company with his

brother the Adelantado, to accomplish his journey to court, at that time

held at Segovia. He, who but a few years before had entered the city of

Barcelona in triumph, attended by the nobility and chivalry of Spain, and

hailed with rapture by the multitude, now arrived within the gates of

Segovia, a wayworn, melancholy, and neglected man; oppressed more by

sorrow than even by his years and infirmities. When he presented himself

at court, he met with none of that distinguished attention, that cordial

kindness, that cherishing sympathy, which his unparalleled services and

his recent sufferings had merited. [231]

The selfish Ferdinand had lost sight of his past services, in what

appeared to him the inconvenience of his present demands. He received him

with many professions of kindness: but with those cold ineffectual smiles,

which pass like wintry sunshine over the countenance, and convey no warmth

to the heart.

The admiral now gave a particular account of his late voyage; describing

the great tract of Terra Firma, which he had explored, and the riches of

the province of Veragua. He related also the disasters sustained in the

island of Jamaica; the insurrection of the Porras and their band; and all

the other griefs and troubles of this unfortunate expedition. He had but a

cold-hearted auditor in the king; and the benignant Isabella was no more

at hand to soothe him with a smile of kindness, or a tear of sympathy. "I

know not," gays the venerable Las Casas, "what could cause this dislike

and this want of princely countenance in the king, towards one who had

rendered him such pre-eminent benefits; unless it was that his mind was

swayed by the false testimonies which had been brought against the

admiral; of which I have been enabled to learn something from persons much

in favor with the sovereign." [232]

After a few days had elapsed, Columbus urged his suit in form; reminding

the king of all that he had done, and all that had been promised him under

the royal word and seal, and supplicating that the restitutions and

indemnifications which had been so frequently solicited, might be awarded

to him; offering in return to serve his majesty devotedly for the short

time he had yet to live; and trusting, from what he felt within him, and

from what he thought he knew with certainty, to render services which

should surpass all that he had yet performed a hundred-fold. The king, in

reply, acknowledged the greatness of his merits, and the importance of his

services, but observed, that, for the more satisfactory adjustment of his

claims, it would be advisable to refer all points in dispute to the

decision of some discreet and able person. The admiral immediately

proposed as arbiter his friend the archbishop of Seville, Don Diego de

Deza, one of the most able and upright men about the court, devotedly

loyal, high in the confidence of the king, and one who had always taken

great interest in the affairs of the New World. The king consented to the

arbitration, but artfully extended it to questions which he knew would

never be put at issue by Columbus; among these was his claim to the

restoration of his office of viceroy. To this Columbus objected with

becoming spirit, as compromising a right which was too clearly defined and

solemnly established to be put for a moment in dispute. It was the

question of rents and revenues alone, he observed, which he was willing to

submit to the decision of a learned man, not that of the government of the

Indies. As the monarch persisted, however, in embracing both questions in

the arbitration, the proposed measure was never carried into effect.

It was, in fact, on the subject of his dignities alone that Columbus was

tenacious; all other matters he considered of minor importance. In a

conversation with the king he absolutely disavowed all wish of entering

into any suit or pleading as to his pecuniary dues; on the contrary, he

offered to put all his privileges and writings into the hands of his

sovereign, and to receive out of the dues arising from them, whatever his

majesty might think proper to award. All that he claimed without

qualification or reserve, were his official dignities, assured to him

under the royal seal with all the solemnity of a treaty. He entreated, at

all events, that these matters might speedily be decided, so that he might

be released from a state of miserable suspense, and enabled to retire to

some quiet corner, in search of that tranquillity and repose necessary to

his fatigues and his infirmities.

To this frank appeal to his justice and generosity, Ferdinand replied with

many courteous expressions, and with those general evasive promises, which

beguile the ear of the court applicant, but convey no comfort to his

heart. "As far as actions went," observes Las Casas, "the king not merely

showed him no signs of favor, but, on the contrary, discountenanced him as

much as possible; yet he was never wanting in complimentary expressions."

Many months were passed by Columbus in unavailing solicitation, during

which he continued to receive outward demonstrations of respect from the

king, and due attention from cardinal Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo, and

other principal personages; but he had learned to appreciate and distrust

the hollow civilities of a court. His claims were referred to a tribunal,

called "The council of the discharges of the conscience of the deceased

queen, and of the king." This is a kind of tribunal, commonly known by the

name of the Junta de Descargos, composed of persons nominated by the

sovereign, to superintend the accomplishment of the last will of his

predecessor, and the discharge of his debts. Two consultations were held

by this body, but nothing was determined. The wishes of the king were too

well known to be thwarted. "It was believed," says Las Casas, "that if the

king could have done so with a safe conscience, and without detriment to

his fame, he would have respected few or none of the privileges which he

and the queen had conceded to the admiral, and which had been so justly

merited." [Footonte: Las Caaas, Hist. Ind., lib. ii. cap. 37.]

Columbus still flattered himself that, his claims being of such

importance, and touching a question of sovereignty, the adjustment of them

might be only postponed by the king until he could consult with his

daughter Juana, who had succeeded to her mother as queen of Castile, and

who, was daily expected from Flanders, with her husband, king Philip. He

endeavored, therefore, to bear his delays with patience; but he had no

longer the physical strength and glorious anticipations which once

sustained him through his long application at this court. Life itself was

drawing to a close.

He was once more confined to his bed by a tormenting attack of the gout,

aggravated by the sorrows and disappointments which preyed upon his heart.

From this couch of anguish he addressed one more appeal to the justice of

the king. He no longer petitioned for himself: it was for his son Diego.

Nor did he dwell upon his pecuniary dues; it was the honorable trophies of

his services which he wished to secure and perpetuate in his family. He

entreated that his son Diego might be appointed, in his place, to the

government of which he had been so wrongfully deprived. "This," he said,

"is a matter which concerns my honor; as to all the rest, do as your

majesty may think proper; give or withhold, as may be most for your

interest, and I shall be content. I believe the anxiety caused by the

delay of this affair is the principal cause of my ill health." A petition

to the same purpose was presented at the same time by his son Diego,

offering to take with him such persons for counselors as the king should

appoint, and to be guided by their advice.

These petitions were treated by Ferdinand with his usual professions and

evasions. "The more applications were made to him," observes Las Casas,

"the more favorably did he reply; but still he delayed, hoping, by

exhausting their patience, to induce them to wave their privileges, and

accept in place thereof titles and estates in Castile." Columbus rejected

all propositions of the kind with indignation, as calculated to compromise

those titles which were the trophies of his achievements. He saw, however,

that all further hope of redress from Ferdinand was vain. From the bed to

which he was confined, he addressed a letter to his constant friend Diego

de Deza, expressive of his despair. "It appears that his majesty does not

think fit to fulfill that which he, with the queen, who is now in glory,

promised me by word and seal. For me to contend for the contrary, would be

to contend with the wind. I have done all that I could do. I leave the

rest to God, whom I have ever found propitious to me in my necessities."

[233]

The cold and calculating Ferdinand beheld this illustrious man sinking

under infirmity of body, heightened by that deferred hope which "maketh

the heart sick." A little more delay, a little more disappointment, and a

little longer infliction of ingratitude, and this loyal and generous heart

would cease to beat: he should then be delivered from the just claims of a

well-tried servant, who, in ceasing to be useful, was considered by him to

have become importunate.

Chapter IV.

Death of Columbus.

In the midst of illness and despondency, when both life and hope were

expiring in the bosom of Columbus, a new gleam was awakened and blazed up

for the moment with characteristic fervor. He heard with joy of the

landing of king Philip and queen Juana, who had just arrived from Flanders

to take possession of their throne of Castile. In the daughter of Isabella

he trusted once more to find a patroness and a friend. King Ferdinand and

all the court repaired to Laredo to receive the youthful sovereigns.

Columbus would gladly have done the same, but he was confined to his bed

by a severe return of his malady; neither in his painful and helpless

situation could he dispense with the aid and ministry of his son Diego.

His brother, the Adelantado, therefore, his main dependence in all

emergencies, was sent to represent him, and to present his homage and

congratulations. Columbus wrote by him to the new king and queen,

expressing his grief at being prevented by illness from coming in person

to manifest his devotion, but begging to be considered among the most

faithful of their subjects. He expressed a hope that he should receive at

their hands the restitution of his honors and estates, and assured them,

that, though cruelly tortured at present by disease, he would yet be able

to render them services, the like of which had never been witnessed.

Such was the last sally of his sanguine and unconquerable spirit; which,

disregarding age and infirmities, and all past sorrows and

disappointments, spoke from his dying bed with all the confidence of

youthful hope; and talked of still greater enterprises, as if he had a

long and vigorous life before him. The Adelantado took leave of his

brother, whom he was never to behold again, and set out on his mission to

the new sovereigns. He experienced the most gracious reception. The claims

of the admiral were treated with great attention by the young king and

queen, and flattering hopes were given of a speedy and prosperous

termination to his suit.

In the meantime the cares and troubles of Columbus were drawing to a

close. The momentary fire which had reanimated him was soon quenched by

accumulating infirmities. Immediately after the departure of the

Adelantado, his illness increased in violence. His last voyage had

shattered beyond repair a frame already worn and wasted by a life of

hardship; and continual anxieties robbed him of that sweet repose so

necessary to recruit the weariness and debility of age. The cold

ingratitude of his sovereign chilled his heart. The continued suspension

of his honors, and the enmity and defamation experienced at every turn,

seemed to throw a shadow over that glory which had been the great object

of his ambition. This shadow, it is true, could be but of transient

duration; but it is difficult for the most illustrious man to look beyond

the present cloud which may obscure his fame, and anticipate its permanent

lustre in the admiration of posterity.

Being admonished by failing strength and increasing sufferings that his

end was approaching, he prepared to leave his affairs in order for the

benefit of his successors.

It is said that on the 4th of May he wrote an informal testamentary

codicil on the blank page of a little breviary, given him by Pope

Alexander VI. In this he bequeathed that book to the republic of Genoa,

which he also appointed successor to his privileges and dignities, on the

extinction of his male line. He directed likewise the erection of an

hospital in that city with the produce of his possessions in Italy. The

authenticity of this document is questioned, and has become a point of

warm contest among commentators. It is not, however, of much importance.

The paper is such as might readily have been written by a person like

Columbus in the paroxysm of disease, when he imagined his end suddenly

approaching, and shows the affection with which his thoughts were bent on

his native city. It is termed among commentators a military codicil,

because testamentary dispositions of this kind are executed by the soldier

at the point of death, without the usual formalities required by the civil

law. About two weeks afterwards, on the eve of his death, he executed a

final and regularly authenticated codicil, in which he bequeathed his

dignities and estates with better judgment.

In these last and awful moments, when the soul has but a brief space in

which to make up its accounts between heaven and earth, all dissimulation

is at an end, and we read unequivocal evidences of character. The last

codicil of Columbus, made at the very verge of the grave, is stamped with

his ruling passion and his benignant virtues. He repeats and enforces

several clauses of his original testament, constituting his sou Diego his

universal heir. The entailed inheritance, or mayorazgo, in case he died

without male issue, was to go to his brother Don Fernando, and from him,

in like case, to pass to his uncle Don Bartholomew, descending always to

the nearest male heir; in failure of which it was to pass to the female

nearest in lineage to the admiral. He enjoined upon whoever should inherit

his estate never to alienate or diminish it, but to endeavor by all means

to augment its prosperity and importance. He likewise enjoined upon his

heirs to be prompt and devoted at all times, with person and estate, to

serve their sovereign and promote the Christian faith. He ordered that Don

Diego should devote one tenth of the revenues which might arise from his

estate, when it came to be productive, to the relief of indigent relatives

and of other persons in necessity; that, out of the remainder, he should

yield certain yearly proportions to his brother Don Fernando, and his

uncles Don Bartholomew and Don Diego; and that the part allotted to Don

Fernando should be settled upon him and his male heirs in an entailed and

unalienable inheritance. Having thus provided for the maintenance and

perpetuity of his family and dignities, he ordered that Don Diego, when

his estates should be sufficiently productive, should erect a chapel in

the island of Hispaniola, which God had given to him so marvelously, at

the town of Conception, in the Vega, where masses should be daily

performed for the repose of the souls of himself, his father, his mother,

his wife, and of all who died in the faith. Another clause recommends to

the care of Don Diego, Beatrix Enriquez, the mother of his natural son

Fernando. His connection with her had never been sanctioned by matrimony,

and either this circumstance, or some neglect of her, seems to have

awakened deep compunction in his dying moments. He orders Don Diego to

provide for her respectable maintenance; "and let this be done," he adds,

"for the discharge of my conscience, for it weighs heavy on my soul."

[234] Finally, he noted with his own hand several minute sums, to be paid

to persons at different and distant places, without their being told

whence they received them. These appear to have been trivial debts of

conscience, or rewards for petty services received in times long past.

Among them is one of half a mark of silver to a poor Jew, who lived at

the gate of the Jewry, in the city of Lisbon. These minute provisions

evince the scrupulous attention to justice in all his dealings, and that

love of punctuality in the fulfillment of duties, for which he was

remarked. In the same spirit, he gave much advice to his son Diego, as

to the conduct of his affairs, enjoining upon him to take every month an

account with his own hand of the expenses of his household, and to sign

it with his name; for a want of regularity in this, he observed, lost

both property and servants, and turned the last into enemies. His dying

bequests were made in presence of a few faithful followers and servants,

and among them we find the name of Bartholomeo Fiesco, who had

accompanied Diego Mendez in the perilous voyage in a canoe from Jamaica

to Hispaniola.

Having thus scrupulously attended to all the claims of affection, loyalty,

and justice upon earth, Columbus turned his thoughts to heaven; and having

received the holy sacrament, and performed all the pious offices of a

devout Christian, he expired with great resignation, on the day of

ascension, the 20th of May, 1506, being about seventy years of age.

[235] His last words were, "_In manus tuas Domine, commendo spiritum

meum:_" Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. [236]

His body was deposited in the convent of St. Francisco, and his obsequies

were celebrated with funereal pomp at Valladolid, in the parochial church

of Santa Maria de la Antigua. His remains were transported afterwards, in

1513, to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas of Seville, to the chapel

of St. Ann or of Santo Christo, in which chapel were likewise deposited

those of his son Don Diego, who died in the village of Montalban, on the

23d of February, 1526. In the year 1536 the bodies of Columbus and his son

Diego were removed to Hispaniola, and interred in the principal chapel of

the cathedral of the city of San Domingo; but even here they did not rest

in quiet, having since been again disinterred and conveyed to the Havanna,

in the island of Cuba.

We are told that Ferdinand, after the death of Columbus, showed a sense of

his merits by ordering a monument to be erected to his memory, on which

was inscribed the motto already cited, which had formerly been granted to

him by the sovereigns: A Castilla y a Leon nuevo mundo dio Colon (_To

Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world_). However great an honor a

monument may be for a subject to receive, it is certainly but a cheap

reward for a sovereign to bestow. As to the motto inscribed upon it, it

remains engraved in the memory of mankind, more indelibly than in brass or

marble; a record of the great debt of gratitude due to the discoverer,

which the monarch had so faithlessly neglected to discharge.

Attempts have been made in recent days, by loyal Spanish writers, to

vindicate the conduct of Ferdinand towards Columbus. They were doubtless

well intended, but they have been futile, nor is their failure to be

regretted. To screen such injustice in so eminent a character from the

reprobation of mankind, is to deprive history of one of its most important

uses. Let the ingratitude of Ferdinand stand recorded in its full extent,

and endure throughout all time. The dark shadow which it casts upon his

brilliant renown, will be a lesson to all rulers, teaching thein what is

important to their own fame in their treatment of illustrious men.

Chapter V.

Observations on the Character of Columbus.

In narrating the story of Columbus, it has been the endeavor of the author

to place him in a clear and familiar point of view; for this purpose he

has rejected no circumstance, however trivial, which appeared to evolve

some point of character; and he has sought all kinds of collateral facts

which might throw light upon his views and motives. With this view also he

has detailed many facts hitherto passed over in silence, or vaguely

noticed by historians, probably because they might be deemed instances of

error or misconduct on the part of Columbus; but he who paints a great man

merely in great and heroic traits, though he may produce a fine picture,

will never present a faithful portrait. Great men are compounds of great

and little qualities. Indeed, much of their greatness arises from their

mastery over the imperfections of their nature, and, their noblest actions

are sometimes struck forth by the collision of their merits and their

defects.

In Columbus was singularly combined the practical and the poetical. His

mind had grasped all kinds of knowledge, whether procured by study or

observation, which bore upon his theories; impatient of the scanty aliment

of the day, "his impetuous ardor," as has well been observed, "threw him

into the study of the fathers of the church; the Arabian Jews, and the

ancient geographers;" while his daring but irregular genius, bursting from

the limits of imperfect science, bore him to conclusions far beyond the

intellectual vision of his contemporaries. If some of his conclusions were

erroneous, they were at least ingenious and splendid; and their error

resulted from the clouds which still hung over his peculiar path of

enterprise. His own discoveries enlightened the ignorance of the age;

guided conjecture to certainty, and dispelled that very darkness with

which he had been obliged to struggle.

In the progress of his discoveries he has been remarked for the extreme

sagacity and the admirable justness with which he seized upon the

phenomena of the exterior world. The variations, for instance, of

terrestrial magnetism, the direction of currents, the groupings of marine

plants, fixing one of the grand climacteric divisions of the ocean, the

temperatures changing not solely with the distance to the equator, but

also with the difference of meridians: these and similar phenomena, as

they broke upon him, were discerned with wonderful quickness of

perception, and made to contribute important principles to the stock of

general knowledge. This lucidity of spirit, this quick convertibility of

facts to principles, distinguish him from the dawn to the close of his

sublime enterprise, insomuch that, with all the sallying ardor of his

imagination, his ultimate success has been admirably characterized as a

"conquest of reflection." [237]

It has been said that mercenary views mingled with the ambition of

Columbus, and that his stipulations with the Spanish court were selfish

and avaricious. The charge is inconsiderate and unjust. He aimed at

dignity and wealth in the same lofty spirit in which he sought renown;

they were to be part and parcel of his achievement, and palpable evidence

of its success; they were to arise from the territories he should

discover, and be commensurate in importance. No condition could be more

just. He asked nothing of the sovereigns but a command of the countries he

hoped to give them, and a share of the profits to support the dignity of

his command. If there should be no country discovered, his stipulated

viceroyalty would be of no avail; and if no revenues should be produced,

his labor and peril would produce no gain. If his command and revenues

ultimately proved magnificent, it was from the magnificence of the regions

he had attached to the Castilian crown. What monarch would not rejoice to

gain empire on such conditions? But he did not risk merely a loss of

labor, and a disappointment of ambition, in the enterprise;--on his

motives being questioned, he voluntarily undertook, and, with the

assistance of his coadjutors, actually defrayed, one-eighth of the whole

charge of the first expedition.

It was, in fact, this rare union already noticed, of the practical man of

business with the poetical projector, which enabled him to carry his grand

enterprises into effect through so many difficulties; but the pecuniary

calculations and cares, which gave feasibility to his schemes, were never

suffered to chill the glowing aspirations of his soul. The gains that

promised to arise from his discoveries, he intended to appropriate in the

same princely and pious spirit in which they were demanded. He

contemplated works and achievements of benevolence and religion; vast

contributions for the relief of the poor of his native city; the

foundation of churches, where masses should be said for the souls of the

departed; and armies for the recovery of the holy sepulchre in Palestine.

Thus his ambition was truly noble and lofty; instinct with high thought

and prone to generous deed.

In the discharge of his office he maintained the state and ceremonial of a

viceroy, and was tenacious of his rank and privileges; not from a mere

vulgar love of titles, but because he prized them as testimonials and

trophies of his achievements: these he jealously cherished as his great

rewards. In his repeated applications to the king, he insisted merely on

the restitution of his dignities. As to his pecuniary dues and all

questions relative to mere revenue, he offered to leave them to

arbitration or even to the absolute disposition of the monarch; but not so

his official dignities; "these things," said he nobly, "affect my honor."

In his testament, he enjoined on his son Diego, and whoever after him

should inherit his estates, whatever dignities and titles might afterwards

be granted by the king, always to sign himself simply "the admiral," by

way of perpetuating in the family its real source of greatness.

His conduct was characterized by the grandeur of his views, and the

magnanimity of his spirit. Instead of scouring the newly-found countries,

like a grasping adventurer eager only for immediate gain, as was too

generally the case with contemporary discoverers, he sought to ascertain

their soil and productions, their rivers and harbors: he was desirous of

colonizing and cultivating them; of conciliating and civilizing the

natives; of building cities; introducing the useful arts; subjecting every

thing to the control of law, order, and religion; and thus of founding

regular and prosperous empires. In this glorious plan he was constantly

defeated by the dissolute rabble which it was his misfortune to command;

with whom all law was tyranny, and all order restraint. They interrupted

all useful works by their seditions; provoked the peaceful Indians to

hostility; and after they had thus drawn down misery and warfare upon

their own heads, and overwhelmed Columbus with the ruins of the edifice he

was building, they charged him with being the cause of the confusion.

Well would it have been for Spain had those who followed in the track of

Columbus possessed his sound policy and liberal views. The New World, in

such cases, would have been settled by pacific colonists, and civilized by

enlightened legislators; instead of being overrun by desperate

adventurers, and desolated by avaricious conquerors.

Columbus was a man of quick sensibility, liable to great excitement, to

sudden and strong impressions, and powerful impulses. He was naturally

irritable and impetuous, and keenly sensible to injury and injustice; yet

the quickness of his temper was counteracted by the benevolence and

generosity of his heart. The magnanimity of his nature shone forth through

all the troubles of his stormy career. Though continually outraged in his

dignity, and braved in the exercise of his command; though foiled in his

plans, and endangered in his person by the seditions of turbulent and

worthless men, and that too at times when suffering under anxiety of mind

and anguish of body sufficient to exasperate the most patient, yet he

restrained his valiant and indignant spirit, by the strong powers of his

mind, and brought himself to forbear, and reason, and even to supplicate:

nor should we fail to notice how free he was from all feeling of revenge,

how ready to forgive and forget, on the least signs of repentance and

atonement. He has been extolled for his skill in controlling others; but

far greater praise is due to him for his firmness in governing himself.

His natural benignity made him accessible to all kinds of pleasurable

sensations from external objects. In his letters and journals, instead of

detailing circumstances with the technical precision of a mere navigator,

he notices the beauties of nature with the enthusiasm of a poet or a

painter. As he coasts the shores of the New World, the reader participates

in the enjoyment with which he describes, in his imperfect but picturesque

Spanish, the varied objects around him; the blandness of the temperature,

the purity of the atmosphere, the fragrance of the air, "full of dew and

sweetness," the verdure of the forests, the magnificence of the trees, the

grandeur of the mountains, and the limpidity and freshness of the running

streams. New delight springs up for him in every scene. He extols each new

discovery as more beautiful than the last, and each as the most beautiful

in the world; until, with his simple earnestness, he tells the sovereigns,

that, having spoken so highly of the preceding islands, he fears that they

will not credit him, when he declares that the one he is actually

describing surpasses them all in excellence.

In the same ardent and unstudied way he expresses his emotions on various

occasions, readily affected by impulses of joy or grief, of pleasure or

indignation. When surrounded and overwhelmed by the ingratitude and

violence of worthless men, he often, in the retirement of his cabin, gave

way to bursts of sorrow, and relieved his overladen heart by sighs and

groans. When he returned in chains to Spain, and came into the presence

of Isabella, instead of continuing the lofty pride with which he had

hitherto sustained his injuries, he was touched with grief and tenderness

at her sympathy, and burst forth into sobs and tears.

He was devoutly pious; religion mingled with the whole course of his

thoughts and actions, and shone forth in his most private and unstudied

writings. Whenever he made any great discovery, he celebrated it by solemn

thanks to God. The voice of prayer and melody of praise rose from his

ships when they first beheld the New World, and his first action on

landing was to prostrate himself upon the earth and return thanksgivings.

Every evening, the _Salve Regina_, and other vesper hymns, were

chanted by his crew and masses were performed in the beautiful groves

bordering the wild shores of this heathen land. All his great enterprises

were undertaken in the name of the Holy Trinity, and he partook of the

communion previous to embarkation. He was a firm believer in the efficacy

of vows and penances and pilgrimages, and resorted to them in times of

difficulty and danger. The religion thus deeply seated in his soul

diffused a sober dignity and benign composure over his whole demeanor. His

language was pure and guarded, and free from all imprecations, oaths, and

other irreverent expressions.

It cannot be denied, however, that his piety was mingled with

superstition, and darkened by the bigotry of the age. He evidently

concurred in the opinion, that all nations which did not acknowledge the

Christian faith were destitute of natural rights; that the sternest

measures might be used for their conversion, and the severest punishments

inflicted upon their obstinacy in unbelief. In this spirit of bigotry he

considered himself justified in making captives of the Indians, and

transporting them to Spain to have them taught the doctrines of

Christianity, and in selling them for slaves if they pretended to resist

his invasions. In so doing he sinned against the natural goodness of his

character, and against the feelings which he had originally entertained

and expressed towards this gentle hospitable people; but he was goaded on

by the mercenary impatience of the crown, and by the sneers of his enemies

at the unprofitable result of his enterprises. It is but justice to his

character to observe, that the enslavement of the Indians thus taken in

battle was at first openly countenanced by the crown, and that, when the

question of right came to be discussed at the entreaty of the queen,

several of the most distinguished jurists and theologians advocated the

practice; so that the question was finally settled in favor of the Indians

solely by the humanity of Isabella. As the venerable bishop Las Casas

observes, where the most learned men have doubted, it is not surprising

that an unlearned mariner should err.

These remarks, in palliation of the conduct of Columbus, are required by

candor. It is proper to show him in connection with the age in which he

lived, lest the errors of the times should be considered as his individual

faults. It is not the intention of the author, however, to justify

Columbus on a point where it is inexcusable to err. Let it remain a blot

on his illustrious name, and let others derive a lesson from it.

We have already hinted at a peculiar trait in his rich and varied

character; that ardent and enthusiastic imagination which threw a

magnificence over his whole course of thought. Herrera intimates that he

had a talent for poetry, and some slight traces of it are on record in the

book of prophecies which he presented to the Catholic sovereigns. But his

poetical temperament is discernible throughout all his writings and in all

his actions. It spread a golden and glorious world around him, and tinged

every thing with its own gorgeous colors. It betrayed him into visionary

speculations, which subjected him to the sneers and cavilings of men of

cooler and safer but more groveling minds. Such were the conjectures

formed on the coast of Paria about the form of the earth, and the

situation of the terrestrial paradise; about the mines of Ophir in

Hispaniola, and the Aurea Chersonesus in Veragua; and such was the heroic

scheme of a crusade for the recovery of the holy sepulchre. It mingled

with his religion, and filled his mind with solemn and visionary

meditations on mystic passages of the Scriptures, and the shadowy portents

of the prophecies. It exalted his office in his eyes, and made him

conceive himself an agent sent forth upon a sublime and awful mission,

subject to impulses and supernatural intimations from the Deity; such as

the voice which he imagined spoke to him in comfort amidst the troubles of

Hispaniola, and in the silence of the night on the disastrous coast of

Veragua.

He was decidedly a visionary, but a visionary of an uncommon and

successful kind. The manner in which his ardent, imaginative, and

mercurial nature was controlled by a powerful judgment, and directed by an

acute sagacity, is the most extraordinary feature in his character. Thus

governed, his imagination, instead of exhausting itself in idle flights,

lent aid to his judgment, and enabled him to form conclusions at which

common minds could never have arrived, nay, which they could not perceive

when pointed out.

To his intellectual vision it was given to read the signs of the times,

and to trace, in the conjectures and reveries of past ages, the

indications of an unknown world; as soothsayers were said to read

predictions in the stars, and to foretell events from the visions of the

night. "His soul," observes a Spanish writer, "was superior to the age in

which he lived. For him was reserved the great enterprise of traversing

that sea which had given rise to so many fables, and of deciphering the

mystery of his time." [238]

With all the visionary fervor of his imagination, its fondest dreams fell

short of the reality. He died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his

discovery. Until his last breath he entertained the idea that he had

merely opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and had

discovered some of the wild regions of the East. He supposed Hispaniola to

be the ancient Ophir which had been visited by the ships of Solomon, and

that Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. What visions of

glory would have broken upon his mind could he have known that he had

indeed discovered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world in

magnitude, and separated by two vast oceans from all the earth hitherto

known by civilized man! And how would his magnanimous spirit have been

consoled, amidst the afflictions of age and the cares of penury, the

neglect of a fickle public, and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could

he have anticipated the splendid empires which were to spread over the

beautiful world he had discovered; and the nations, and tongues, and

languages which were to fill its lands with his renown, and revere and

bless his name to the latest posterity!

Appendix:

Containing Illustrations and Documents.

No. I.

Transportation of the Remains of Columbus from St. Domingo to the Havana.

At the termination of a war between France and Spain, in 1795, all the

Spanish possessions in the island of Hispaniola were ceded to France, by

the 9th article of the treaty of peace. To assist in the accomplishment of

this cession, a Spanish squadron was dispatched to the island at the

appointed time, commanded by Don Gabriel de Aristizabal, lieutenant-general

of the royal armada. On the 11th December, 1795, that commander wrote to

the field-marshal and governor, Don Joaquin Garcia, resident at St.

Domingo, that, being informed that the remains of the celebrated admiral

Don Christopher Columbus lay in the cathedral of that city, he felt it

incumbent on him as a Spaniard, and as commander-in-chief of his majesty's

squadron of operations, to solicit the translation of the ashes of that

hero to the island of Cuba, which had likewise been discovered by him, and

where he had first planted the standard of the cross. He expressed a desire

that this should be done officially, and with great care and formality,

that it might not remain in the power of any one, by a careless

transportation of these honored remains, to lose a relic, connected with

an event which formed the most glorious epoch of Spanish history, and that

it might be manifested to all nations, that Spaniards, notwithstanding the

lapse of ages, never ceased to pay all honors to the remains of that

"worthy and adventurous general of the seas;" nor abandoned them, when the

various public bodies, representing the Spanish dominion, emigrated from

the island. As he had not time, without great inconvenience, to consult

the sovereign on this subject, he had recourse to the governor, as royal

vice-patron of the island, hoping that his solicitation might be granted,

and the remains of the admiral exhumed and conveyed to the island of Cuba,

in the ship San Lorenzo.

The generous wishes of this high-minded Spaniard met with warm concurrence

on the part of the governor. He informed him in reply, that the duke of

Veraguas, lineal successor of Columbus, had manifested the same

solicitude, and had sent directions that the necessary measures should be

taken at his expense; and had at the same time expressed a wish that the

bones of the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew Columbus, should likewise be

exhumed; transmitting inscriptions to be put upon the sepulchres of both.

He added, that although the king had given no orders on the subject, yet

the proposition being so accordant with the grateful feelings of the

Spanish nation, and meeting with the concurrence of all the authorities of

the island, he was ready on his part to carry it into execution. The

commandant-general Aristizabal then made a similar communication to the

archbishop of Cuba, Don Fernando Portillo y Torres, whose metropolis was

then the city of St. Domingo, hoping to receive his countenance and aid in

this pious undertaking. The reply of the archbishop was couched in terms

of high courtesy towards the gallant commander, and deep reverence for the

memory of Columbus, and expressed a zeal in rendering this tribute of

gratitude and respect to the remains of one who had done so much for the

glory of the nation.

The persons empowered to act for the duke of Veraguas, the venerable dean

and chapter of the cathedral, and all the other persons and authorities to

whom Don Gabriel de Aristizabal made similar communications, manifested

the same eagerness to assist in the performance of this solemn and

affecting rite.

The worthy commander Aristizabal, having taken all these preparatory steps

with great form and punctilio, so as that the ceremony should be performed

in a public and striking manner, suitable to the fame of Columbus, the

whole was carried into eflect with becoming pomp and solemnity.

On the 20th December, 1795, the most distinguished persons of the place,

the dignitaries of the church, and civil and military officers, assembled

in the metropolitan cathedral. In the presence of this august assemblage,

a small vault was opened above the chancel, in the principal wall on the

right side of the high altar. Within were found the fragments of a leaden

coffin, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould, evidently the remains

of a human body. These were carefully collected and put into a case of

gilded lead, about half an ell in length and breadth, and a third in

height, secured by an iron lock, the key of which was delivered to the

archbishop. The case was inclosed in a coffin covered with black velvet,

and ornamented with lace and fringe of gold. The whole was then placed in

a temporary tomb or mansoleum.

On the following day, there was another grand convocation at the

cathedral, when the vigils and masses for the dead were solemnly chanted

by the archbishop, accompanied by the commandant-general of the armada,

the Dominican and Franciscan friars, and the friars of the order of Mercy,

together with the rest of the distinguished assemblage. After this a

funeral sermon was preached, by the archbishop.

On the same day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the coffin was

transported to the ship with the utmost state and ceremony, with a civil,

religious, add military procession, banners wrapped in mourning, chants

and responses, and discharges of artillery. The most distinguished persons

of the several orders took turn to support the coffin. The key was taken

with great formality from the hands of the archbishop by the governor, and

given into the hands of the commander of the armada, to be delivered by

him to the governor of the Havana, to be held in deposit until the

pleasure of the king should be known. The coffin was received on board of

a brigantine called the Discoverer, which, with all the other shipping,

displayed mourning signals, and saluted the remains with the honors paid

to an admiral.

From the port of St. Domingo the coffin was conveyed to the bay of Ocoa

and there transferred to the ship San Lorenzo. It was accompanied by a

portrait of Columbus, sent from Spain by the duke of Veraguas, to be

suspended close by the place where the remains of his illustrious ancestor

should be deposited.

The ship immediately made sail and arrived at Havana in Cuba, on the 15th

of January, 1796. Here the same deep feeling of reverence to the memory of

the discoverer was evinced. The principal authorities repaired on board of

the ship, accompanied by the superior naval and military officers. Every

thing was conducted with the same circumstantial and solemn ceremonial.

The remains were removed with great reverence, and placed in a felucca, in

which they were conveyed to land in the midst of a procession of three

columns of feluccas and boats in the royal service, all properly

decorated, containing distinguished military and ministerial officers. Two

feluccas followed, in one of which was a marine guard of honor, with

mourning banners and muffled drums; and in the other were the

commandant-general, the principal minister of marine, and the military

staff. In passing the vessels of war in the harbor, they all paid the

honors due to an admiral and captain-general of the navy. On arriving at

the mole, the remains were met by the governor of the island, accompanied

by the generals and the military staff. The coffin was then conveyed

between files of soldiery which lined the streets to the obelisk, in the

place of arms, where it was received in a hearse prepared for the purpose.

Here the remains were formally delivered to the governor and

captain-general of the island, the key given up to him, the coffin opened

and examined, and the safe transportation of its contents authenticated.

This ceremony being concluded, it was conveyed in grand procession and

with the utmost pomp to the cathedral. Masses and the solemn ceremonies

of the dead were performed by the bishop, and the mortal remains of

Columbus deposited with great reverence in the wall on the right side of

the grand altar. "All these honors and ceremonies," says the document,

from whence this notice is digested, [239] "were attended by the

ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries, the public bodies and all the

nobility and gentry of Havana, in proof of the high estimation and

respectful remembrance in which they held the hero who had discovered the

New World, and had been the first to plant the standard of the cross on

that island."

This is the last occasion that the Spanish nation has had to testify its

feelings towards the memory of Columbus, and it is with deep satisfaction

that the author of this work has been able to cite at large a ceremonial

so solemn, affecting, and noble in its details, and so honorable to the

national character.

When we read of the remains of Columbus, thus conveyed from the port of

St. Domingo, after an interval of nearly three hundred years, as sacred

national relics, with civic and military pomp, and high religious

ceremonial; the most dignified and illustrious men striving who most

should pay them reverence; we cannot but reflect that it was from this

very port lie was carried off loaded with ignominious chains, blasted

apparently in fame and fortune, and followed by the revilings of the

rabble. Such honors, it is true, are nothing to the dead, nor can they

atone to the heart, now dust and ashes, for all the wrongs and sorrows it

may have suffered; but they speak volumes of comfort to the illustrious,

yet slandered and persecuted living, encouraging them bravely to bear with

present injuries, by showing them how true merit outlives all calumny, and

receives its glorious reward in the admiration of after ages.

No. II.

Notice of the Descendants of Columbus.

On the death of Columbus his son Diego succeeded to his rights, as

viceroy and governor of the New World, according to the express

capitulations between the sovereigns and his father. He appears by the

general consent of historians to have been a man of great integrity, of

respectable talents, and of a frank and generous nature. Herrera speaks

repeatedly of the gentleness and urbanity of his manners, and pronounces

him of a noble disposition and without deceit. This absence of all guile

frequently laid him open to the stratagems of crafty men, grown old in

deception, who rendered his life a continued series of embarrassments; but

the probity of his character, with the irresistible power of truth, bore

him through difficulties in which more politic and subtle men would have

been entangled and completely lost.

Immediately after the death of the admiral, Don Diego came forward as

lineal successor, and urged the restitution of the family offices and

privileges, which had been suspended during the latter years of his

father's life. If the cold and wary Ferdinand, however, could forget his

obligations of gratitude and justice to Columbus, he had less difficulty

in turning a deaf ear to the solicitations of his son. For two years Don

Diego pressed his suit with fruitless diligence. He felt the apparent

distrust of the monarch the more sensibly, from having been brought up

under his eye, as a page in the royal household, where his character ought

to be well known and appreciated. At length, on the return of Ferdinand

from Naples in 1508, he put to him a direct question, with the frankness

attributed to his character. He demanded "why his majesty would not grant

to him as a favor, that which was his right, and why he hesitated to

confide in the fidelity of one who had been reared in his house."

Ferdinand replied that he could fully confide in him, but could not repose

so great a trust at a venture in his children and successors. To this Don

Diego rejoined, that it was contrary to all justice and reason to make him

suffer for the sins of his children who might never be born. [240]

Still, though he had reason and justice on his side, the young admiral

found it impossible to bring the wary monarch to a compliance. Finding all

appeal to all his ideas of equity or sentiments of generosity in vain, he

solicited permission to pursue his claim in the ordinary course of law.

The king could not refuse so reasonable a request, and Don Diego commenced

a process against king Ferdinand before the council of the Indies, founded

on the repeated capitulations between the crown and his father, and

embracing all the dignities and immunities ceded by them.

One ground of opposition to these claims was, that if the capitulation,

made by the sovereigns in 1492, had granted a perpetual viceroyalty to the

admiral and his heirs, such grant could not stand; being contrary to the

interest of the state, and to an express law promulgated in Toledo in

1480; wherein it was ordained that no office, involving the administration

of justice, should be given in perpetuity; that therefore, the viceroyalty

granted to the admiral could only have been for his life; and that even

during that term it had justly been taken from him for his misconduct.

That such concessions were contrary to the inherent prerogatives of the

crown, of which the government could not divest itself. To this Don Diego

replied, that as to the validity of the capitulation, it was a binding

contract, and none of its privileges ought to be restricted. That as by

royal schedules dated in Villa Franca, June 2d, 1506, and Almazan, Aug.

28, 1507, it had been ordered that he, Don Diego, should receive the

tenths, so equally ought the other privileges to be accorded to him. As to

the allegation that his lather had been deprived of his viceroyalty for

his demerits, it was contrary to all truth. It had been audacity on the

part of Bobadilla to send him a prisoner to Spain in 1500, and contrary to

the will and command of the sovereigns, as was proved by their letter,

dated from Valencia de la Torre in 1502, in which they expressed grief at

his arrest, and assured him that it should be redressed, and his

privileges guarded entire to himself and his children. [241]

This memorable suit was commenced in 1508, and continued for several

years. In the course of it the claims of Don Diego were disputed,

likewise, on the plea that his father was not the original discoverer of

Terra Firma, but only subsequently of certain portions of it. This,

however, was completely controverted by overwhelming testimony. The claims

of Don Diego were minutely discussed and rigidly examined; and the

unanimous decision of the council of the Indies in his favor, while it

reflected honor on the justice and independence of that body, silenced

many petty cavilers at the fair fame of Columbus. [242] Notwithstanding

this decision, the wily monarch wanted neither means nor pretexts to delay

the ceding of such vast powers, so repugnant to his cautious policy. The

young admiral was finally indebted for his success in this suit to

previous success attained in a suit of a different nature. He had become

enamored of Doña Maria de Toledo, daughter of Fernando de Toledo, grand

commander of Leon, and niece to Don Fadrique de Toledo, the celebrated

duke of Alva, chief favorite of the king. This was aspiring to a high

connection. The father and uncle of the lady were the most powerful

grandees of the proud kingdom of Spain, and cousins german to Ferdinand.

The glory, however, which Columbus had left behind, rested upon his

children, and the claims of Don Diego, recently confirmed by the council,

involved dignities and wealth sufficient to raise him to a level with the

loftiest alliance. He found no difficulty in obtaining the hand of the

lady, and thus was the foreign family of Columbus ingrafted on one of the

proudest races of Spain. The natural consequences followed. Diego had

secured that magical power called "connections;" and the favor of

Ferdinand, which had been so long withheld from him, as the son of

Columbus, shone upon him, though coldly, as the nephew of the duke of

Alva. The father and uncle of his bride succeeded, though with great

difficulty, in conquering the repugnance of the monarch, and after all he

but granted in part the justice they required. He ceded to Don Diego

merely the dignities and powers enjoyed by Nicholas de Ovando, who was

recalled; and he cautiously withheld the title of viceroy.

The recall of Ovando was not merely a measure to make room for Don Diego;

it was the tardy performance of a promise made to Isabella on her

death-bed. The expiring queen had demanded it as a punishment for the

massacre of her poor Indian subjects at Xaragua, and the cruel and

ignominious execution of the female cacique Anacaona. Thus retribution was

continually going its rounds in the checkered destinies of this island,

which has ever presented a little epitome of human history; its errors and

crimes, and consequent disasters.

In complying with the request of the queen, however, Ferdinand was

favorable towards Ovando. He did not feel the same generous sympathies

with his late consort, and, however Ovando had sinned against humanity in

his treatment of the Indians, he had been a vigilant officer, and his very

oppressions had in general proved profitable to the crown. Ferdinand

directed that the fleet which took out the new governor should return

under the command of Ovando, and that he should retain undisturbed

enjoyment of any property or Indian slaves that might be found in his

possession. Some have represented Ovando as a man far from mercenary; that

the wealth wrung from the miseries of the natives was for his sovereign,

not for himself; and it is intimated that one secret cause of his disgrace

was his having made an enemy of the all-powerful and unforgiving Fonseca.

[243]

The new admiral embarked at St. Lucar, June 9, 1509, with his wife, his

brother Don Fernando, who was now grown to man's estate, and had been well

educated, and his two uncles, Don Bartholomew and Don Diego. They were

accompanied by a numerous retinue of cavaliers, with their wives, and of

young ladies of rank and family, more distinguished, it is hinted, for

high blood than large fortune, and who were sent out to find wealthy

husbands in the New World. [244]

Though the king had not granted Don Diego the dignity of viceroy, the

title was generally given to him by courtesy, and his wife was universally

addressed by that of vice-queen.

Don Diego commenced his rule with a degree of splendor hitherto unknown in

the colony. The vice-queen, who was a lady of great desert, surrounded by

the noble cavaliers and the young ladies of family who had come in her

retinue, established a sort of court, which threw a degree of lustre over

the half savage island. The young ladies were soon married to the

wealthiest colonists, and contributed greatly to soften those rude manners

which had grown up in a state of society hitherto destitute of the

salutary restraint and pleasing decorum produced by female influence.

Don Diego had considered his appointment in the light of a vice-royalty,

but the king soon took measures which showed that he admitted of no such

pretension. Without any reference to Don Diego, he divided the coast of

Darien into two great provinces, separated by an imaginary line running

through the Gulf of Uraba, appointing Alonzo de Ojeda governor of the

eastern province, which he called New Andalusia, and Diego de Nicuessa

governor of the western province, which included the rich coast of

Veragua, and which he called Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile. Had the

monarch been swayed by principles of justice and gratitude, the settlement

of this coast would have been given to the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew

Columbus, who had assisted in the discovery of the country, and, together

with his brother the admiral, had suffered so greatly in the enterprise.

Even his superior abilities for the task should have pointed him out to

the policy of the monarch; but the cautious and [245] calculating

Ferdinand knew the lofty spirit of the Adelantado, and that he would be

disposed to demand high and dignified terms. He passed him by, therefore,

and preferred more eager and accommodating adventurers.

Don Diego was greatly aggrieved at this measure, thus adopted without his

participation or knowledge. He justly considered it an infringement of the

capitulations granted and repeatedly confirmed to his father and his

heirs. He had further vexations and difficulties with respect to the

government of the island of St. Juan, or Porto Rico, which was conquered

and settled about this time; but after a variety of cross purposes, the

officers whom he appointed were ultimately recognized by the crown.

Like his father, he had to contend with malignant factions in his

government; for the enemies of the father transferred their enmity to the

son. There was one Miguel Pasamonte, the king's treasurer, who became his

avowed enemy, under the support and chiefly at the instigation of the

bishop Fonseca, who continued to the son the implacable hostility which he

had manifested to the father. A variety of trivial circumstances

contributed to embroil him with some of the petty officers of the colony,

and there was a remnant of the followers of Bohian who arrayed themselves

against him. [246]

Two factions soon arose in the island; one of the admiral, the other of

the treasurer Pasamonte. The latter affected to call themselves the party

of the king. They gave all possible molestation to Don Diego, and sent

home the most virulent and absurd misrepresentations of his conduct. Among

others, they represented a large house with many windows which he was

building, as intended for a fortress, and asserted that he had a design to

make himself sovereign of the island. King Ferdinand, who was now

advancing in years, had devolved the affairs of the Indies in a great

measure on Fonseca,[247] who had superintended them from the

first, and he was greatly guided by the advice of that prelate, which was

not likely to be favorable to the descendants of Columbus. The complaints

from the colonies were so artfully enforced, therefore, that he

established in 1510 a sovereign court at St. Domingo, called the royal

audience, to which an appeal might be made from all sentences of the

admiral, even in cases reserved hitherto exclusively for the crown. Don

Diego considered this a suspicious and injurious measure intended to

demolish his authority.

Frank, open, and unsuspicious, the young admiral was not formed for a

contest with the crafty politicians arrayed against him, who were ready

and adroit in seizing upon his slightest errors, and magnifying them into

crimes. Difficulties were multiplied in his path which it was out of his

power to overcome. He had entered upon office full of magnanimous

intentions; determined to put an end to oppression, and correct all

abuses; all good men therefore had rejoiced at his appointment; but he

soon found that he had overrated his strength, and undervalued the

difficulties awaiting him. He calculated from his own good heart, but he

had no idea of the wicked hearts of others. He was opposed to the

repartimientos of Indians, that source of all kinds of inhumanity; but he

found all the men of wealth in the colony, and most of the important

persons of the court, interested in maintaining them. He perceived that

the attempt to abolish them would be dangerous, and the result

questionable: at the same time this abuse was a source of immense profit

to himself. Self-interest, therefore, combined with other considerations,

and what at first appeared difficult, seemed presently impracticable. The

repartimientos continued in the state in which he found them, excepting

that he removed such of the superintendents as had been cruel and

oppressive, and substituted men of his own appointment, who probably

proved equally worthless. His friends were disappointed, his enemies

encouraged; a hue and cry was raised against him by the friends of those

he had displaced; and it was even said that if Ovando had not died about

this time, he would have been sent out to supplant Don Diego.

The subjugation and settlement of the island of Cuba in 1510, was a

fortunate event in the administration of the present admiral. He

congratulated king Ferdinand on having acquired the largest and most

beautiful island in the world without losing a single man. The

intelligence was highly acceptable to the king; but it was accompanied by

a great number of complaints against the admiral. Little affection as

Ferdinand felt for Don Diego, he was still aware that most of these

representations were false, and had their origin in the jealousy and envy

of his enemies. He judged it expedient, however, in 1512, to send out Don

Bartholomew Columbus with minute instructions to his nephew the admiral.

Don Bartholomew still retained the office of Adelantado of the Indies;

although Ferdinand, through selfish motives, detained him in Spain, while

he employed inferior men in voyages of discovery. He now added to his

appointments the property and government of the little island of Mona

during life, and assigned him a repartimiento of two hundred Indians, with

the superintendence of the mines which might be discovered in Cuba; an

office which proved very lucrative. [248]

Among the instructions given by the king to Don Diego, he directed that,

in consequence of the representations of the Dominican friars, the labor

of the natives should be reduced to one-third; that negro slaves should be

procured from Guinea as a relief to the Indians; [249] and that Carib

slaves should be branded on the leg, to prevent other Indians from being

confounded with them and subjected to harsh treatment. [250]

The two governors, Ojeda and Nicuessa, whom the king had appointed to

colonize and command at the Isthmus of Darien, in Terra Firma, having

failed in their undertaking, the sovereign, in 1514, wrote to Hispaniola,

permitting the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew, if so inclined, to take charge

of settling the coast of Veragua, and to govern that country under the

admiral Don Diego, conformably to his privileges. Had the king consulted

his own interest, and the deference due to the talents and services of the

Adelantado, this measure would have been taken at an earlier date. It was

now too late: illness prevented Don Bartholomew from executing the

enterprise; and his active and toilsome life was drawing to a close.

Many calumnies having been sent home to Spain by Pasamonte and other

enemies of Don Diego, and various measures being taken by government,

which he conceived derogatory to his dignity, and injurious to his

privileges, he requested and obtained permission to repair to court, that

he might explain and vindicate his conduct. He departed, accordingly, on

April 9th, 1515, leaving the Adelantado with the vice-queen, Dofia Maria.

He was received with great honor by the king; and he merited such a

reception. He had succeeded in every enterprise he had undertaken or

directed. The pearl fishery had been successfully established on the coast

of Cubagua; the islands of Cuba and of Jamaica had been subjected and

brought under cultivation without bloodshed; his conduct as governor had

been upright; and he had only excited the representations made against

him, by endeavoring to lessen the oppression of the natives. The king

ordered that all processes against him in the court of appeal and

elsewhere, for damages done to individuals in regulating the

repartimientos, should be discontinued, and the cases sent to himself for

consideration. But with all these favors, as the admiral claimed a share

of the profits of the provinces of Castilla del Oro, saying that it was

discovered by his father, as the names of its places, such as Nombre de

Dios, Porto Bello, and el Retrete, plainly proved, the king ordered that

interrogatories should be made among the mariners who had sailed with

Christopher Columbus, in the hope of proving that he had not discovered

the coast of Darien nor the Gulf of Uraba. "Thus," adds Herrera, "Don

Diego was always involved in litigations with the fiscal, so that he might

truly say that he was heir to the troubles of his father." [251]

Not long after the departure of Don Diego from St. Domingo, his uncle, Don

Bartholomew, ended his active and laborious life. No particulars are given

of his death, nor is there mention made of his age, which must have been

advanced. King Ferdinand is said to have expressed great concern at the

event, for he had a high opinion of the character and talents of the

Adelantado: "a man," says Herrera, "of not less worth than his brother the

admiral, and who, if he had been employed, would have given great proofs

of it; for he was an excellent seaman, valiant and of great heart."

[252] Charlevoix attributes the inaction in which Don Bartholomew had been

suffered to remain for several years, to the jealousy and parsimony of the

king. He found the house already too powerful, and the Adelantado, had he

discovered Mexico, was a man to make as good conditions as had been made

by the admiral his brother. [253] It was said, observed Herrera, that the

king rather preferred to employ him in his European affairs, though it

could only have been to divert him from other objects. On his death the

king resumed to himself the island of Mona, which he had given to him for

life, and transferred his repartimiento of two hundred Indians to the

vice-queen Doña Maria.

While the admiral Don Diego was pressing for an audience in his

vindication at court, King Ferdinand died on the 23d January, 1516. His

grandson and successor, Prince Charles, afterwards the emperor Charles V.,

was in Flanders. The government rested for a time with Cardinal Ximenes,

who would not undertake to decide on the representations and claims of the

admiral. It was not until 1520 that he obtained from the emperor Charles

V. a recognition of his innocence of all the charges against him. The

emperor, finding that what Pasamonte and his party had written were

notorious calumnies, ordered Don Diego to resume his charge, although the

process with the fiscal was still pending, and that Pasamonte should be

written to, requesting him to forget all past passions and differences and

to enter into amicable relations with Don Diego. Among other acts of

indemnification he acknowledged his right to exercise his office of

viceroy and governor in the island of Hispaniola, and in all parts

discovered by his father. [254] His authority was, however, much

diminished by new regulations, and a supervisor appointed over him with

the right to give information to the council against him, but with no

other powers. Don Diego sailed in the beginning of September, 1520, and

on his arrival at St. Domingo, finding that several of the governors,

presuming on his long absence, had arrogated to themselves independence,

and had abused their powers, he immediately sent persons to supersede

them, and demanded an account of their administration. This made him a

host of active and powerful enemies both in the colonies and in Spain.

Considerable changes had taken place in the island of Hispaniola, during

the absence of the admiral. The mines had fallen into neglect, the

cultivation of the sugar-cane having been found a more certain source of

wealth. It became a by-word in Spain that the magnificent palaces erected

by Charles V. at Madrid and Toledo were built of the sugar of Hispaniola.

Slaves had been imported in great numbers from Africa, being found more

serviceable in the culture of the cane than the feeble Indians. The

treatment of the poor negroes was cruel in the extreme; and they seem to

have had no advocates even among the humane. The slavery of the Indians

had been founded on the right of the strong; but it was thought that the

negroes, from their color, were born to slavery; and that from being

bought and sold in their own country, it was their natural condition.

Though a patient and enduring race, the barbarities inflated on them at

length roused them to revenge, and on the 27th December, 1522, there was

the first African revolt in Hispaniola. It began in a sugar plantation of

the admiral Don Diego, where about twenty slaves, joined by an equal

number from a neighboring plantation, got possession of arms, rose on

their superintendents, massacred them, and sallied forth upon the country.

It was their intention to pillage certain plantations, to kill the whites,

reinforce themselves by freeing their countrymen, and either to possess

themselves of the town of Agua, or to escape to the mountains.

Don Diego set out from St. Domingo in search of the rebels, followed by

several of the principal inhabitants. On the second day he stopped on the

banks of the river Nizao to rest his party and suffer reinforcements to

overtake him. Here one Melchor de Castro, who accompanied the admiral,

learnt that the negroes had ravaged his plantation, sacked his house,

killed one of his men, and carried off his Indian slaves. Without asking

leave of the admiral, he departed in the night with two companions,

visited his plantation, found all in confusion, and, pursuing the negroes,

sent to the admiral for aid. Eight horsemen were hastily dispatched to his

assistance, armed with bucklers and lances, and having six of the infantry

mounted behind them. De Castro had three horsemen beside this

reinforcement, and at the head of this little band overtook the negroes at

break of day. The insurgents put themselves in battle array, armed with

stones and Indian spears, and uttering loud shouts and outcries. The

Spanish horsemen braced their bucklers, couched their lances, and charged

them at full speed. The negroes were soon routed, and fled to the rocks,

leaving six dead and several wounded. De Castro also was wounded in the

arm. The admiral coming up, assisted in the pursuit of the fugitives. As

fast as they were taken they were hanged on the nearest trees, and

remained suspended as spectacles of terror to their countrymen. This

prompt severity checked all further attempts at revolt among the African

slaves. [255]

In the meantime the various enemies whom Don Diego had created, both in

the colonies and in Spain, were actively and successfully employed. His

old antagonist, the treasurer Pasnmonte, had charged him with usurping

almost all the powers of the royal audience, and with having given to the

royal declaration, re-establishing him in his office of viceroy, an extent

never intended by the sovereign. These representations had weight at

court, and in 1523 Don Diego received a most severe letter from the

council of the Indies, charging him with the various abuses and excesses

alleged against him, and commanding him, on pain of forfeiting all his

privileges and titles, to revoke the innovations he had made, and restore

things to their former state. To prevent any plea of ignorance of this

mandate, the royal audience was enjoined to promulgate it and to call upon

all persons to conform to it, and to see that it was properly obeyed. The

admiral received also a letter from the council, informing him that Jus

presence was necessary in Spain, to give information of the foregoing

matters, and advice relative to the reformation of various abuses, and to

the treatment and preservation of the Indians; he was requested,

therefore, to repair to court without waiting for further orders.

[256]

Don Diego understood this to be a peremptory recall, and obeyed

accordingly. On his arrival in Spain, he immediately presented himself

before the court at Victoria, with the frank and fearless spirit of an

upright man, and pleaded his cause so well, that the sovereign and council

acknowledged his innocence on all the points of accusation. He convinced

them, moreover, of the exactitude with which he had discharged his duties;

of his zeal for the public good, and the glory of the crown; and that all

the representations against him rose from the jealousy and enmity of

Pasaraonte and other royal oflicers in the colonies, who were impatient of

any superior authority in the island to restrain them.

Having completely established his innocence, and exposed the calumnies of

his enemies, Don Diego trusted that he would soon obtain justice as to all

his claims. As these, however, involved a participation in the profits of

vast and richly productive provinces, he experienced the delays and

difficulties usual with such demands, for it is only when justice costs

nothing that it is readily rendered. His earnest solicitations at length

obtained an order from the emperor, that a commission should be formed,

composed of the grand chancellor, the friar Loyasa, confessor to the

emperor, and president of the royal council of the Indies, and a number of

other distinguished personages. They were to inquire into the various

points in dispute between the admiral and the fiscal, and into the

proceedings which had taken place in the council of the Indies, with the

power of determining what justice required in the case. The affair,

however, was protracted to such a length, and accompanied by so many

toils, vexations, and disappointments, that the unfortunate Diego, like

his father, died in the pursuit. For two years he had followed the court

from city to city, during its migrations from Victoria to Burgos,

Valladolid, Madrid, and Toledo. In the winter of 1525, the emperor set out

from Toledo for Seville. The admiral undertook to follow him, though his

constitution was broken by fatigue and vexation, and he was wasting under

the attack of a slow fever. Oviedo, the historian, saw him at Toledo two

days before his departure, and joined with his friends in endeavoring to

dissuade him from a journey in such a state of health, and at such a

season. Their persuasions were in vain. Don Diego was not aware of the

extent of his malady: he told them that he should repair to Seville by the

church of our Lady of Guadaloupe, to offer up his devotions at that

shrine; and he trusted, through the intercession of the mother of God,

soon to be restored to health. [257] He accordingly left Toledo in a

litter on the 21st of February, 1526, having previously confessed and

taken the communion, and arrived the same day at Montalvan, distant about

six leagues. There his illness increased to such a degree that he saw his

end approaching. He employed the following day in arranging the affairs

of his conscience, and expired on February 23d, being little more than

fifty years of age, his premature death having been hastened by the

griefs and troubles he had experienced. "He was worn out," says Herrera,

"by following up his claims, and defending himself from the calumnies of

his competitors, who, with many stratagems and devices, sought to obscure

the glory of the father and the virtue of the son." [258]

We have seen how the discovery of the New World rendered the residue of

the life of Columbus a tissue of wrongs, hardships, and afflictions, and

how the jealousy and enmity he had awakened were inherited by his son. It

remains to show briefly in what degree the anticipations of perpetuity,

wealth, and honor to his family were fulfilled.

When Don Diego Columbus died, his wife and family were at St. Domingo. He

left two sons, Luis and Christopher, and three daughters, Maria, who

afterwards married Don Sancho de Cardono; Juana, who married Don Luis de

Cneva; and Isabella, who married Don George of Portugal, count of Gelves.

He had also a natural son named Christopher. [259]

After the death of Don Diego, his noble-spirited vice queen, left with a

number of young children, endeavored to assert and maintain the rights of

the family. Understanding that, according to the privileges accorded to

Christopher Columbus, they had a just claim to the vice-royalty of the

province of Veragua, as having been discovered by him, she demanded a

license from the royal audience of Hispaniola, to recruit men and fit out

an armada to colonize that country. This the audience refused, and sent

information of the demand to the emperor. He replied, that the vice-queen

should be kept in suspense until the justice of her claim could be

ascertained; as, although he had at various times given commissions to

different persons to examine the doubts and objections which had been

opposed by the fiscal, no decision had ever been made.[260] The

enterprise thus contemplated by the vice-queen was never carried into

effect.

Shortly afterwards she sailed for Spain, to protect the claim of her

eldest son, Don Luis, then six years of age. Charles V. was absent, but

she was most graciously received by the empress. The title of admiral of

the Indies was immediately conferred on her son, Don Luis, and the emperor

augmented his revenues, and conferred other favors on the family. Charles

V., however, could never be prevailed on to give Don Luis the title of

viceroy, although that dignity had been decreed to his father, a few years

previous to his death, as an hereditary right.[261]

In 1538, the young admiral, Don Luis, then about eighteen years of age,

was at court, having instituted proceedings before the proper tribunals,

for the recovery of the viceroyalty. Two years afterwards the suit was

settled by arbitration, his uncle Don Fernando, and Cardinal Loyasa,

president of the council of the Indies, being umpires. By a compromise Don

Luis was declared captain-general of Hispaniola, but with such limitations

that it was little better than a bare title. Don Luis sailed for

Hispaniola, but did not remain there long. He found his dignities and

privileges mere sources of vexation, and finally entered into a

compromise, which relieved himself and gratified the emperor. He gave up

all pretensions to the viceroyalty of the New World, receiving in its

stead the titles of Duke of Veragua and Marquis of Jamaica. [262] He

commuted also the claim to the tenth of the produce of the Indies for a

pension of one thousand doubloons of gold.[263]

Don Luis did not long enjoy the substitution of a certain, though

moderate, revenue for a magnificent but unproductive claim. He died

shortly afterwards, leaving no other male issue than an illegitimate son,

named Christopher. He left two daughters by his wife, Doña Maria de

Mosquera, one named Phillippa, and the other Maria, which last became a

nun in the convent of St. Quirce, at Valladolid.

Don Luis, having no legitimate son, was succeeded by his nephew Diego, son

to his brother Christopher. A litigation took place between this young

heir and his cousin Phillippa, daughter of the late Don Luis. The convent

of St. Quirce also put in a claim, on behalf of its inmate, Doña Maria,

who had taken the veil. Christopher, natural son to Don Luis, likewise

became a prosecutor in the suit, but was set aside on account of his

illegitimacy. Don Diego and his cousin Phillippa soon thought it better to

join claims and persons in wedlock, than to pursue a tedious contest. They

were married, and their union was happy, though not fruitful. Diego died

without issue in 1578, and with him the legitimate male line of Columbus

became extinct.

One of the most important lawsuits that the world has ever witnessed now

arose for the estates and dignities descended from the great discoverer.

Don Diego had two sisters, Francisca and Maria, the former of whom, and

the children of the latter, advanced their several claims. To these

parties was added Bernard Colombo of Cogoleto, who claimed as lineal

descendant from Bartholomew Columbus, the Adelantado, brother to the

discoverer. He was, however, pronounced ineligible, as the Adelantado had

no acknowledged, and certainly no legitimate, offspring.

Baldassar, or Balthazar, Colombo, of the house of Cuccaro and Conzano, in

the dukedom of Montferrat, in Piedmont, was an active and persevering

claimant. He came from Italy into Spain, where he devoted himself for many

years to the prosecution of this suit. He produced a genealogical tree of

his family, in which was contained one Domenico Colombo, lord of Cuccaro,

whom he maintained to be the identical father of Christopher Columbus, the

admiral. He proved that this Domenico was living at the requisite era, and

produced many witnesses who had heard that the navigator was born in the

castle of Cuccaro; whence, it was added, he and his two brothers had

eloped at an early age, and had never returned. [264] A monk is also

mentioned among the witnesses, who made oath that Christopher and his

brothers were born in that castle of Cuccaro. This testimony was

afterwards withdrawn by the prosecutor; as it was found that the monk's

recollection must have extended back considerably upward of a century.

[265] The claim of Balthazar was negatived. His proofs that Christopher

Columbus was a native of Cuccaro were rejected, as only hearsay, or

traditionary evidence. His ancestor Domenico, it appeared from his own

showing, died in 1456; whereas it was established that Domenico, the

father of the admiral, was living upwards of thirty years after that

date.

The cause was finally decided by the council of the Indies, on the 2d

December, 1608. The male line was declared to be extinct. Don Nuño or

Nugno Gelves de Portugallo was put in possession, and became duke of

Veragua. He was grandson to Isabella, third daughter of Don Diego (son of

the discoverer) by his vice-queen, Doña Maria de Toledo. The descendants

of the two elder sisters of Isabella had a prior claim, but their lines

became extinct previous to this decision of the suit. The Isabella just

named had married Don George of Portugal, count of Gelves. "Thus," says

Charlevoix, "the dignities and wealth of Columbus passed into a branch of

the Portuguese house of Braganza, established in Spain, of which the heirs

are entitled _De Portugallo, Colon, Duke de Veragua, Marques de la

Jamaica, y Almirante de las Indias_." [Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming.,

tom. i. lib. vi. p. 447.]

The suit of Balthazar Colombo of Cuccaro was rejected under three

different forms, by the council of the Indies; and his application for an

allowance of support, under the legacy of Columbus, in favor of poor

relations, was also refused; although the other parties had assented to

the demand. [266] He died in Spain, where he had resided many years in

prosecution of this suit. His son returned to Italy, persisting in the

validity of his claim: he said that it was in vain to seek justice in

Spain; they were too much interested to keep those dignities and estates

among themselves; but he gave out that he had received twelve thousand

doubloons of gold in compromise from the other parties. Spotorno, under

sanction of Ignazio de Giovanni, a learned canon, treats this assertion

as a bravado, to cover his defeat, being contradicted by his evident

poverty. [267] The family of Cuccaro, however, still maintain their

right, and express great veneration for the memory of their illustrious

ancestor, the admiral; and travelers occasionally visit their old castle

in Piedmont with great reverence, as the birthplace of the discoverer of

the New World.

No. III.

Fernando Columbus.

Fernando Columbus (or Colon, as he is called in Spain), the natural son

and historian of the admiral, was born in Cordova. There is an uncertainty

about the exact time of his birth. According to his epitaph, it must have

been on the 28th September, 1488; but according to his original papers

preserved in the library of the cathedral of Seville, and which were

examined by Don Diego Ortiz de Zuñiga, historian of that city, it would

appear to have been on the 29th of August, 1487. His mother, Doña Beatrix

Enriquez, was of a respectable family, but was never married to the

admiral, as has been stated by some of his biographers.

Early in 1494, Fernando was carried to court, together with his elder

brother Diego, by his uncle Don Bartholomew, to enter the royal household

in quality of page to the prince Don Juan, son and heir to Ferdinand and

Isabella. He and his brother remained in this situation until the death of

the prince; when they were taken by Queen Isabella as pages into her own

service. Their education, of course, was well attended to, and Fernando in

after-life gave proofs of being a learned man.

In the year 1502, at the tender age of thirteen or fourteen years,

Fernando accompanied his father in his fourth voyage of discovery, and

encountered all its singular and varied hardships with a fortitude that is

mentioned with praise and admiration by the admiral.

After the death of his father, it would appear that Fernando made two

voyages to the New World. He accompanied the emperor Charles V. also, to

Italy, Flanders, and Germany; and according to Zuffiga (Anales de Seville

de 1539, No. 3), traveled over all Europe and a part of Africa and Asia.

Possessing talents, judgment, and industry, these opportunities were not

lost upon him, and he acquired much information in geography, navigation,

and natural history. Being of a studious habit, and fond of books, he

formed a select, yet copious, library, of more than twenty thousand

volumes, in print and in manuscript. With the sanction of the emperor

Charles V., he undertook to establish an academy and college of

mathematics at Seville; and for this purpose commenced the construction of

a sumptuous edifice, without the walls of the city, facing the

Guadalquiver, in the place where the monastery of San Laureano is now

situated. His constitution, however, had been broken by the sufferings he

had experienced in his travels and voyages, and a premature death

prevented the completion of his plan of the academy, and broke off other

useful labors. He died in Seville on the 12th of July, 1539, at the age,

according to his epitaph, of fifty years, nine months, and fourteen days.

He left no issue, and was never married. His body was interred, according

to his request, in the cathedral of Seville. He bequeathed his valuable

library to the same establishment.