HIS RETURN IN DISGRACE.
[Æt. 64; 1500]
On the 23d of August, 1500, two ships arrived at San Domingo, commanded
by Don Francisco de Bobadilla, who had been sent out by the Spanish
monarchs as a commissioner to investigate the state of the colony. The
enemies of Columbus had at last succeeded in prejudicing Ferdinand and
Isabella against him. Ojeda, the returned colonists, Roldan’s rebels,
and the letters of Roldan himself, all agreed in representing the
Admiral as a new kind of fiend, with Italian improvements, for whom no
punishment could be sufficiently severe.
Ferdinand calculated the total amount of gold which Columbus had either
carried or sent to Spain, and, finding it smaller than he had expected,
could no longer conceal his conviction that Columbus was a cruel,
tyrannical, and wicked man. Isabella had hitherto believed in the
Admiral, and had steadily stood by him while under fire, but in face
of the evidence which had latterly been submitted to her, and in view
of the cargo of slaves that had been sent from Hispaniola to Spain in
spite of her orders, she was compelled to admit that an investigation
should be made, and sanctioned the appointment of Bobadilla, with the
understanding that he would let no guilty man escape.
The average historian is always very indignant with the monarchs for
sending Bobadilla to San Domingo, and regards that act as a wanton
persecution of a great and good man. But the cold and sceptical
inquirer will ask how it happened that every person who came under the
Admiral’s authority, with the exception of his two brothers, invariably
made complaints against him. It is true that the majority of the
colonists were men whose word was unworthy of credit, but had Columbus
been a just and able ruler, surely some one outside of his own family
would have spoken favorably of him. We need not suppose that he was
responsible for the chills and fever which harassed the colonists, or
that he originated all the hurricanes and earthquakes that visited the
island; but there is sufficient reason to believe that he was not well
fitted to win the obedience or respect of the colonists, and in the
circumstances we may restrain our indignation at the appointment of the
investigating commissioner.
Ferdinand and Isabella evidently had confidence in the judgment and
integrity of Bobadilla, for they gave him three or four different
commissions, with authority to use any or all of them, as he might see
fit. As the event proved, he was unworthy of this confidence; but it
would not be fair to accuse the monarchs of deliberate cruelty because
they overrated their commissioner’s intelligence.
Bobadilla arrived at San Domingo just after the suppression of Mexica’s
rebellion, and while Columbus was still absent at Fort Concepcion. As
he entered the river he saw two gibbets decorated with rebel corpses,
and the sight was not adapted to remove the impression, which he
undoubtedly had, that Columbus was cruel and tyrannical.
His first act was to publish a proclamation that he had come to redress
grievances, and that every one in San Domingo who had any cause of
complaint against Columbus or his brothers should at once speak out,
or ever after hold his peace. The entire population, with the solitary
exception of those who were locked up in jail, at once hastened to
Bobadilla and told their grievances.
The commissioner, appalled at the flood of accusation which he had
set loose, strengthened his mind by attending mass, and then caused
his commission appointing him to inquire into the late rebellion to
be read. This having been done, he demanded that Don Diego Columbus,
who was in command of San Domingo, should surrender to him Guevara
and the other rebel prisoners. Don Diego said that he held the
prisoners subject to the Admiral’s order, and must therefore decline to
surrender them. Bobadilla next produced a second commission appointing
him Governor of the New World, and remarked that perhaps Don Diego
would now condescend to give up the prisoners. Don Diego conceded
that the commission was a very pretty one, especially in point of
seals and ribands, but maintained that his brother had a better one,
and that, on the whole, he must decline to recognize Bobadilla as
Governor. Exasperated by this obstinacy, Bobadilla now produced a third
commission, ordering the Admiral and his brothers to surrender all
the forts, public buildings, and public property to him, and forcibly
argued that since Guevara was in a fort, the surrender of the fort
would include the surrender of Guevara, in accordance with the axiom
that the greater includes the less. Don Diego calmly insisted that
this was not a case in which mathematics were concerned, and that he
proposed to obey the Admiral’s orders, no matter if Bobadilla should
keep on producing new commissions at the rate of sixty a minute for the
rest of his natural life.
Bobadilla, finding that Don Diego’s obstinacy was proof against
everything, went to the fort and called on the commander to give up his
prisoners, and when the commander refused, broke into the fort, at the
head of the delighted colonists, and seized on Guevara and his rebel
companions. He then took possession of all the property and private
papers belonging to the Admiral, and, moving into his house, proceeded
to assume the duties of Governor and investigator.
Columbus, when he heard of these proceedings, was somewhat astonished,
and remarked to his friends that he feared this Bobadilla was a little
rash and impolitic. He wrote to him, welcoming him to the island, and
suggesting that it would be well if he were to draw it mild--or words
to that effect. In reply, Bobadilla sent him an order to appear before
him at once, and enclosed a letter from the sovereigns, ordering
Columbus to obey the combined Governor and Commissioner in all things.
Being wholly without means of resistance, Columbus perceived that
magnanimity was what posterity would expect of him, and therefore
immediately went to San Domingo and presented himself before Bobadilla.
[Æt. 64; 1500]
That amiable and delicate person received the Admiral as if he were
an Italian brigand for whom a reward of $25,000 had been offered,
and ordered him and his brother, Don Diego, to be put in irons. As
a striking instance of the irony of fate, it may be mentioned that
the man who placed the irons on Columbus was his former cook, whose
self-respect had often been wounded when his master complained that the
maccaroni was burned or that the roast pork was insufficiently cooked.
Now the cook had his revenge, and we can imagine with what zest he
remarked, after the fetters were riveted, that he hoped that for once
the Admiral would admit that the job was well done, and would notice
the rare pleasure with which his ex-cook had performed it, whatever
might have been that humble but honest individual’s previous sins in
respect to pork and maccaroni. Undoubtedly he said something of the
kind, for a man who could put chains on Columbus was surely bad enough
to make puns without shame or remorse. At the command of Bobadilla,
Columbus wrote to Don Bartholomew, who was in Xaragua, inviting him
to come and share the fetters of his illustrious brother and the
well-meaning Don Diego--which the Adelentado accordingly did.
Having the entire Columbus family thus safely in his power, Bobadilla
proceeded to take testimony against them, with all the enthusiasm of
a partisan Senate committee preparing material for a Presidential
campaign. There was no lack of testimony. The colonists made affidavits
with a wealth of imagination and fervency of zeal which a professional
detective employed to furnish evidence in an Indiana divorce case
might emulate but could not surpass. Columbus was accused of nearly
all modern and ancient crimes, from stealing pearls and gold-dust up
to the crowning infamy of requiring Spanish gentlemen to work. It was
conclusively shown that he was the worst man then living, with the
possible exception of the Adelentado, and that Guevara and the other
rebels were patent, direct-acting saints, who deserved every possible
honor. Having made up an effective campaign document from this mass of
brilliant testimony, Bobadilla sent it, together with Columbus and his
two brothers, to Spain.
Don Alonzo de Villejo, who commanded the vessel on board of which was
the fallen Admiral, was a gallant sailor, and, as soon as the ship was
safely out of the harbor, said, in the strongest seafaring language,
that he would consent to the immediate condemnation of his personal
eyes if the Admiral should wear those doubly condemned chains another
moment. But Columbus courteously and firmly refused to be liberated.
He said the chains had been put on him by order of the King and
Queen, and that the King and Queen would have to take them off, or
he would wear them to his dying day, and serve them right. This was
a stout-hearted resolution, but, perhaps just to gratify Villejo,
Columbus consented now and then to slip one wrist out of his fetters,
which he must have found very inconvenient when he was engaged in
writing letters.
The voyage was uneventful, and in the early part of October the ship
reached Cadiz and Columbus was delivered to the local authorities.
The moment it was known that he had been brought home in irons he
became immensely popular, as indeed the man who made so unexpected and
brilliant a sensation deserved to be. Everybody said it was an outrage,
and that Bobadilla was clearly the beast spoken of in the Apocalypse.
Columbus did not venture to write to the Queen, but he wrote a long
and eloquent account of his bad treatment to one of the ladies of
the court, who he knew would instantly read it to Isabella. That
estimable sovereign was greatly shocked, and Ferdinand felt that, as
a prudent husband, he must share his wife’s indignation. The royal
pair immediately wrote a letter expressing the warmest sympathy for
Columbus, inviting him to court, and enclosing a check for nearly
$8500 to pay his travelling expenses and enable him to buy a few clean
collars and other necessaries.
[Æt. 64–66; 1500–2]
The Admiral, taking off his chains and putting them in his trunk
as souvenirs of royal favor, went to Granada, where the court was
then held, and being admitted to the royal presence fell at the feet
of Isabella, which he appears to have carefully distinguished from
Ferdinand’s feet, and burst into tears. The monarchs personally raised
him up, in spite of his weight, and Isabella told him it was a perfect
shame, and that Bobadilla’s conduct was quite too awfully horrid.
Ferdinand behaved very properly, and agreed with Isabella that all
the rights and honors of Columbus should be restored to him, and that
he could feel perfectly easy as to the future. Bobadilla’s elaborate
campaign document was tossed aside with as little attention as if it
had been a Patent Office Report, and his attempt to fire the royal
Spanish heart was a complete failure.
Columbus now expected that he would be directed to return immediately
to San Domingo, and to send Bobadilla home in disgrace; but the
monarchs delayed to issue the desired orders. Ferdinand had evidently
made up his mind to do nothing of the sort. He considered himself a
deeply injured king. In the confident expectation that Columbus would
be drowned, he had consented to grant him unprecedented honors and
privileges, in the improbable contingency of the discovery of a new
road to Asia or a new continent. Columbus had meanly taken advantage
of this to discover a continent and innumerable islands, and had, as
Ferdinand felt, cheated him out of a splendid title and a handsome
revenue. Now that Columbus had temporarily lost these ill-gotten
advantages, Ferdinand did not think it necessary to restore them. He
therefore informed the Admiral that it would be best for him to remain
in Spain for, say, ten years, until things could be made pleasant for
him in Hispaniola. In the mean time Don Nicholas de Ovando would be
sent out to supersede Bobadilla and to ascertain what damages Columbus
and his brothers had sustained, so that full payment could be made.
He assured the Admiral that everything should be arranged to his
satisfaction, and that he should lose nothing by remaining in Spain.
[Æt. 64–66; 1500–2]
There is no reason to suppose that Columbus was deceived by the King’s
attenuated explanation, but he could not well find fault with it.
De Ovando sailed for San Domingo with a fleet of thirty vessels and
twenty-five hundred men. Columbus took lodgings in Granada, and to
employ his time resolved to attend to the little matter of recovering
the Holy Sepulchre, a duty which he had long neglected and had
recently bequeathed to his son. He drew up a long memorial, urging the
King and Queen to organize a new crusade for the capture of Jerusalem.
He demonstrated to his own satisfaction that he had been born in order
to discover a new world and to redeem the Holy Sepulchre. He had
fulfilled the first of these duties, and was now ready for the second.
All that he required was an army and a sufficient supply of money.
Ferdinand did not embrace the suggestion with much enthusiasm. He said
he would see about it, and hinted that as crusading was an expensive
business, it might be well to ascertain whether the Sultan would be
willing to look at the matter from a business point of view and make
some arrangement in regard to the Holy Sepulchre which would settle the
matter in an amicable and inexpensive way.
[Æt. 64–66; 1502]
The crusading scheme being a failure, the Admiral devised a new plan of
exploration. He wrote another memorial, setting forth the advantages
of discovering the Panama Canal. He admitted that either China had
been moved, or else it lay farther west of Spain than he had at first
supposed. At any rate, it had become clear to his mind that there was a
continent which blocked up the direct route to China, and that the only
way to get through this obstacle was to discover a canal _à niveau_,
cutting the Isthmus of Panama. He had not the least doubt that the
canal was there, and that he could find it with perfect ease were he to
be supplied with ships and men, and were a proper reward to be offered
for its discovery. Now that he had time for reflection, he was inclined
to think the market had latterly been overstocked with new countries--a
result which he had feared when the sovereigns so injudiciously--if he
might be allowed the expression--gave to everybody the privilege of
exploration. In regard to the Panama Canal, however, he was confident
that it would meet a great public want, and that its discovery would
be warmly applauded by everybody, with the possible exception of the
inhabitants of Bohemia, who, although they had no commerce, might
insist that the canal should not be discovered unless the discoverer
would agree to present it to them.
The plan pleased Ferdinand and Isabella. A fleet of four ships was
ordered to be made ready, and Columbus was authorized to take with him
his brother Don Bartholomew and his personal son, Diego. The monarchs
also wrote Columbus a letter, in which they said many pleasant and
inexpensive things, and promised him the restoration of all his rights.
He was now so enfeebled by age and hardship that it seemed safe to
promise him anything, provided the promises were not to be fulfilled
until after his return from his intended voyage.