The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume II Part 35

(Vida de Ximenez, p. 120.)

Ferdinand Columbus remarks with some _navete_, that "the Indians were so obedient from their fear of the admiral, and at the same time so desirous to oblige him, that they voluntarily became Christians!" Hist. del Almirante, cap. 84.

[25] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 7.--Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., no. 134.

Las Casas observes, that "so great was the queen's indignation at the admiral's misconduct in this particular, that nothing but the consideration of his great public services saved him from immediate disgrace." Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 306.

[26] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., nos. 127-130.

The original commission to Bobadilla was dated March 21st, and May 21st, 1499; the execution of it, however, was delayed until July, 1500, in the hope, doubtless, of obtaining such tidings from Hispaniola as should obviate the necessity of a measure so prejudicial to the admiral.

[27] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 86.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 7.--Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib.

7.--Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. 23.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 10.--Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 12.

[28] Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 12.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 15.

Ferdinand Columbus tells us, that his father kept the fetters in which he was brought home, hanging up in an apartment of his house, as a perpetual memorial of national ingrat.i.tude, and, when he died, ordered them to be buried in the same grave with himself. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 86.

[29] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 7.--Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 7.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 86, 87.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. I, lib. 4, cap. 8-10.--Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 12.

[30] Oviedo, Hist. Gen. de las Ind., p. 1, lib. 3, cap. 6.--Las Casas, lib. 2, cap. 6, apud Navarrete, tom. i., introd., p. 99.

[31] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 86.

[32] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 4, cap. 11.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 87.--Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 12.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 385.

[33] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11-13.--Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., nos. 138,144.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 87.

[34] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1.

[35] The high devotional feeling of Columbus led him to trace out allusions in Scripture to the various circ.u.mstances and scenes of his adventurous life. Thus he believed his great discovery announced in the Apocalypse, and in Isaiah; he identified, as I have before stated, the mines of Hispaniola with those which furnished Solomon with materials for his temple; he fancied that he had determined the actual locality of the garden of Eden in the newly discovered region of Paria. But his greatest extravagance was his project of a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. This he cherished from the first hour of his discovery, pressing it in the most urgent manner on the sovereigns, and making actual provision for it in his testament. This was a flight, however, beyond the spirit even of this romantic age, and probably received as little serious attention from the queen, as from her more cool and calculating husband.

Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 6.--Tercer, Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 259.--tom. ii., Doc.

Dipl., no. 140.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 15.

[36] Another example was the injudicious punishment of delinquents by diminis.h.i.+ng their regular allowance of food, a measure so obnoxious as to call for the interference of the sovereigns, who prohibited it altogether.

(Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., 97.) Herrera, who must be admitted to have been in no degree insensible to the merits of Columbus, closes his account of the various accusations urged against him and his brothers, with the remark, that, "with every allowance for calumny, they must be confessed not to have governed the Castilians with the moderation that they ought to have done." Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 9.

[37] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14.--Fernando Colon, Hist.

del Almirante, cap. 88.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1.-- Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., cap. 14.

[38] It would be going out of our way to investigate the pretensions of Amerigo Vespucci to the honor of first discovering the South American continent. The reader will find them displayed with perspicuity and candor by Mr. Irving, in his "Life of Columbus." (Appendix, No. 9.) Few will be disposed to contest the author's conclusion respecting their fallacy, though all may not have the same charity as he, in tracing its possible origin to an editorial blunder, instead of wilful fabrication on the part of Vespucci; in which light, indeed, it seems to have been regarded by the two most ancient and honest historians of the event, Las Casas and Herrera.

Mr. Irving's conclusions, however, have since been confirmed, in the fullest manner, by M. de Humboldt, in the fifth volume of his "Geographie du Nouveau Continent," published in 1839, a year after the preceding portion of this note was first printed; in which he has a.s.sembled a ma.s.s of testimony, suggesting the most favorable impressions of Vespucci's innocence of the various charges brought against him.

Since the appearance of Mr. Irving's work, Senor Navarrete has published the third volume of his "Coleccion de Viages y Descubrimientos," etc., containing, among other things, the original letters recording Vespucci's American voyages, ill.u.s.trated by all the authorities and facts, that could come within the scope of his indefatigable researches. The whole weight of evidence leads irresistibly to the conviction, that Columbus is ent.i.tled to the glory of being the original discoverer of the southern continent, as well as islands, of the western hemisphere. (Coleccion de Viages, tom.

iii. pp. 183-334.)

In addition to the preceding writers, the American reader will find the claims of Vespucci discussed, with much ingenuity and careful examination of authorities, by Mr. Cus.h.i.+ng, in his "Reminiscences of Spain," vol. ii.

pp. 210 et seq.

[39] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 87.--Herrera notices this letter, written, he says, "con tanta humanidad, que parecia extraordinaria de lo que usavan con otros, y no sin razon, pues jamas nadie les hizo tal servicio," Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1.

Among other instances of the queen's personal regard for Columbus, may be noticed her receiving his two sons, Diego and Fernando, as her own pages, on the death of Prince John, in whose service they had formerly been.

(Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., 125.)

By an ordinance of 1593, we find Diego Colon made _contino_ of the royal household, with an annual salary of 50,000 maravedies. Ibid., Doc.

Dipl., no. 150.

[40] Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 10.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88.--Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., cap. 12.--Herrera, Indias Occidentals, lib. 5, cap. 2.

CHAPTER IX.

SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.

Careful Provision for the Colonies.--License for Private Voyages.-- Important Papal Concessions.--The Queen's Zeal for Conversion.--Immediate Profits from the Discoveries.--Their Moral Consequences.--Their Geographical Extent.

A consideration of the colonial policy pursued during Isabella's lifetime has been hitherto deferred to avoid breaking the narrative of Columbus's personal adventures. I shall now endeavor to present the reader with a brief outline of it, as far as can be collected from imperfect and scanty materials; for, however incomplete in itself, it becomes important as containing the germ of the gigantic system developed in later ages.

Ferdinand and Isabella manifested from the first an eager and enlightened curiosity in reference to their new acquisitions, constantly interrogating the admiral minutely as to their soil and climate, their various vegetable and mineral products, and especially the character of the uncivilized races who inhabited them. They paid the greatest deference to his suggestions, as before remarked, and liberally supplied the infant settlement with whatever could contribute to its nourishment and permanent prosperity. [1] Through their provident attention, in a very few years after its discovery, the island of Hispaniola was in possession of the most important domestic animals, as well as fruits and vegetables of the Old World, some of which have since continued to furnish the staple of a far more lucrative commerce than was ever antic.i.p.ated from its gold mines.

[2]

Emigration to the new countries was encouraged by the liberal tenor of the royal ordinances pa.s.sed from time to time. The settlers in Hispaniola were to have their pa.s.sage free; to be excused from taxes; to have the absolute property of such plantations on the island as they should engage to cultivate for four years; and they were furnished with a gratuitous supply of grain and stock for their farms. All exports and imports were exempted from duty; a striking contrast to the narrow policy of later ages. Five hundred persons, including scientific men and artisans of every description, were sent out and maintained at the expense of government. To provide for the greater security and quiet of the island, Ovando was authorized to gather the residents into towns, which were endowed with the privileges appertaining to similar corporations in the mother country; and a number of married men, with their families, were encouraged to establish themselves in them, with the view of giving greater solidity and permanence to the settlement. [3]

With these wise provisions were mingled others savoring too strongly of the illiberal spirit of the age. Such were those prohibiting Jews, Moors, or indeed any but Castilians, for whom the discovery was considered exclusively to have been made, from inhabiting, or even visiting, the New World. The government kept a most jealous eye upon what it regarded as its own peculiar perquisites, reserving to itself the exclusive possession of all minerals, dyewoods, and precious stones, that should be discovered; and although private persons were allowed to search for gold, they were subjected to the exorbitant tax of two-thirds, subsequently reduced to one-fifth, of all they should obtain, for the crown. [4]

The measure which contributed more effectually than any other, at this period, to the progress of discovery and colonization, was the license granted, under certain regulations, in 1495, for voyages undertaken by private individuals. No use was made of this permission until some years later, in 1499. The spirit of enterprise had flagged, and the nation had experienced something like disappointment on contrasting the meagre results of their own discoveries with the dazzling successes of the Portuguese, who had struck at once into the very heart of the jewelled east. The report of the admiral's third voyage, however, and the beautiful specimens of pearls which he sent home from the coast of Paria, revived the cupidity of the nation. Private adventurers now proposed to avail themselves of the license already granted, and to follow up the track of discovery on their own account. The government, drained by its late heavy expenditures, and jealous of the spirit of maritime adventure beginning to show itself in the other nations of Europe, [5] willingly acquiesced in a measure, which, while it opened a wide field of enterprise for its subjects, secured to itself all the substantial benefits of discovery, without any of the burdens.

The s.h.i.+ps fitted out under the general license were required to reserve one-tenth of their tonnage for the crown, as well as two-thirds of all the gold, and ten per cent. of all other commodities which they should procure. The government promoted these expeditions by a bounty on all vessels of six hundred tons and upwards, engaged in them. [6]

With this encouragement the more wealthy merchants of Seville, Cadiz, and Palos, the old theatre of nautical enterprise, freighted and sent out little squadrons of three or four vessels each, which they intrusted to the experienced mariners, who had accompanied Columbus in his first voyage, or since followed in his footsteps. They held in general the same course pursued by the admiral on his last expedition, exploring the coasts of the great southern continent. Some of the adventurers returned with such rich freights of gold, pearls, and other precious commodities, as well compensated the fatigues and perils of the voyage. But the greater number were obliged to content themselves with the more enduring but barren honors of discovery. [7]

The active spirit of enterprise now awakened, and the more enlarged commercial relations with the new colonies, required a more perfect organization of the department for Indian affairs, the earliest vestiges of which have been already noticed in a preceding chapter. [8] By an ordinance dated at Alcala, January 20th, 1503, it was provided that a board should be established, consisting of three functionaries, with the t.i.tles of treasurer, factor, and comptroller. Their permanent residence was a.s.signed in the old alcazar of Seville, where they were to meet every day for the despatch of business. The board was expected to make itself thoroughly acquainted with whatever concerned the colonies, and to afford the government all information, that could be obtained, affecting their interests and commercial prosperity. It was empowered to grant licenses under the regular conditions, to provide for the equipment of fleets, to determine their destination, and furnish them instructions on sailing. All merchandise for exportation was to be deposited in the alcazar, where the return cargoes were to be received, and contracts made for their sale.

Similar authority was given to it over the trade with the Barbary coast and the Canary Islands. Its supervision was to extend in like manner over all vessels which might take their departure from the port of Cadiz, as well as from Seville. With these powers were combined others of a purely judicial character, authorizing them to take cognizance of questions arising out of particular voyages, and of the colonial trade in general.

In this latter capacity they were to be a.s.sisted by the advice of two jurists, maintained by a regular salary from the government. [9]

Such were the extensive powers intrusted to the famous _Casa de Contratacion_, or House of Trade, on this its first definite organization; and, although its authority was subsequently somewhat circ.u.mscribed by the appellate jurisdiction of the Council of the Indies, it has always continued the great organ by which the commercial transactions with the colonies have been conducted and controlled.

The Spanish government, while thus securing to itself the more easy and exclusive management of the colonial trade, by confining it within one narrow channel, discovered the most admirable foresight in providing for its absolute supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs, where alone it could be contested. By a bull of Alexander the Sixth, dated November 16th, 1501, the sovereigns were empowered to receive all the t.i.thes in the colonial dominions. [10] Another bull, of Pope Julius the Second, July 28th, 1508, granted them the right of collating to all benefices, of whatever description, in the colonies, subject only to the approbation of the Holy See. By these two concessions, the Spanish crown was placed at once at the head of the church in its transatlantic dominions, with the absolute disposal of all its dignities and emoluments. [11]

It has excited the admiration of more than one historian, that Ferdinand and Isabella, with their reverence for the Catholic church, should have had the courage to a.s.sume an att.i.tude of such entire independence of its spiritual chief. [12] But whoever has studied their reign, will regard this measure as perfectly conformable to their habitual policy, which never suffered a zeal for religion, or a blind deference to the church, to compromise in any degree the independence of the crown. It is much more astonis.h.i.+ng, that pontiffs could be found content to divest themselves of such important prerogatives. It was deviating widely from the subtle and tenacious spirit of their predecessors; and, as the consequences came to be more fully disclosed, furnished ample subject of regret to those who succeeded them.

Such is a brief summary of the princ.i.p.al regulations adopted by Ferdinand and Isabella for the administration of the colonies. Many of their peculiarities, including most of their defects, are to be referred to the peculiar circ.u.mstances under which the discovery of the New World was effected. Unlike the settlements on the comparatively sterile sh.o.r.es of North America, which were permitted to devise laws accommodated to their necessities, and to gather strength in the habitual exercise of political functions, the Spanish colonies were from the very first checked and controlled by the over-legislation of the parent country. The original project of discovery had been entered into with indefinite expectations of gain. The verification of Columbus's theory of the existence of land in the west gave popular credit to his conjecture, that that land was the far-famed Indies. The specimens of gold and other precious commodities found there, served to maintain the delusion. The Spanish government regarded the expedition as its own private adventure, to whose benefits it had exclusive pretensions. Hence those jealous regulations for securing to itself a monopoly of the most obvious sources of profit, the dyewoods and precious metals.

These impolitic provisions were relieved by others better suited to the permanent interests of the colony. Such was the bounty offered in various ways on the occupation and culture of land; the erection of munic.i.p.alities; the right of inter-colonial traffic, and of exporting and importing merchandise of every description free of duty. [13] These and similar laws show that the government, far from regarding the colonies merely as a foreign acquisition to be sacrificed to the interests of the mother country, as at a later period, was disposed to legislate for them on more generous principles, as an integral portion of the monarchy.

Some of the measures, even, of a less liberal tenor, may be excused, as sufficiently accommodated to existing circ.u.mstances. No regulation, for example, was found eventually more mischievous in its operation than that which confined the colonial trade to the single port of Seville, instead of permitting it to find a free vent in the thousand avenues naturally opened in every part of the kingdom; to say nothing of the grievous monopolies and exactions, for which this concentration of a mighty traffic on so small a point was found, in later times, to afford unbounded facility. But the colonial trade was too limited in its extent, under Ferdinand and Isabella, to involve such consequences. It was chiefly confined to a few wealthy seaports of Andalusia, from the vicinity of which the first adventurers had sallied forth on their career of discovery. It was no inconvenience to them to have a common port of entry, so central and accessible as Seville, which, moreover, by this arrangement became a great mart for European trade, thus affording a convenient market to the country for effecting its commercial exchanges with every quarter of Christendom. [14] It was only when laws, adapted to the incipient stages of commerce, were perpetuated to a period when that commerce had swelled to such gigantic dimensions as to embrace every quarter of the empire, that their gross impolicy became manifest.