The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume III Part 19

Columbus, at this time, was so much crippled by the gout, to which he had been long subject, that he was unable to undertake a journey to Segovia, where the court was, during the winter. He lost no time, however, in laying his situation before the king through his son Diego, who was attached to the royal household. He urged his past services, the original terms of the capitulation made with him, their infringement in almost every particular, and his own necessitous condition. But Ferdinand was too busily occupied with his own concerns, at this crisis, to give much heed to those of Columbus, who repeatedly complains of the inattention shown to his application. [4] At length, on the approach of a milder season, the admiral, having obtained a dispensation in his favor from the ordinance prohibiting the use of mules, was able by easy journeys to reach Segovia, and present himself before the monarch. [5]

He was received with all the outward marks of courtesy and regard by Ferdinand, who a.s.sured him that "he fully estimated his important services, and, far from stinting his recompense to the precise terms of the capitulation, intended to confer more ample favors on him in Castile."

[6]

These fair words, however, were not seconded by actions. The king probably had no serious thoughts of reinstating the admiral in his government. His successor, Ovando, was high in the royal favor. His rule, however objectionable as regards the Indians, was every way acceptable to the Spanish colonists; [7] and even his oppression of the poor natives was so far favorable to his cause, that it enabled him to pour much larger sums into the royal coffers, than had been gleaned by his more humane predecessor. [8]

The events of the last voyage, moreover, had probably not tended to dispel any distrust, which the king previously entertained of the admiral's capacity for government. His men had been in a state of perpetual insubordination; while his letter to the sovereigns, written under distressing circ.u.mstances, indeed, from Jamaica, exhibited such a deep coloring of despondency, and occasionally such wild and visionary projects, as might almost suggest the suspicion of a temporary alienation of mind. [9]

But whatever reasons may have operated to postpone Columbus's restoration to power, it was the grossest injustice to withhold from him the revenues secured by the original contract with the crown. According to his own statement, he was so far from receiving his share of the remittances made by Ovando, that he was obliged to borrow money, and had actually incurred a heavy debt for his necessary expenses. [10] The truth was, that, as the resources of the new countries began to develop themselves more abundantly, Ferdinand felt greater reluctance to comply with the letter of the original capitulation; he now considered the compensation as too vast and altogether disproportioned to the services of any subject; and at length was so ungenerous as to propose that the admiral should relinquish his claims, in consideration of other estates and dignities to be a.s.signed him in Castile. [11] It argued less knowledge of character, than the king usually showed, that he should have thought the man, who had broken off all negotiations on the threshold of a dubious enterprise, rather than abate one t.i.ttle of his demands, would consent to such abatement when the success of that enterprise was so gloriously established.

What a.s.sistance Columbus actually received from the crown at this time, or whether he received any, does not appear. He continued to reside with the court, and accompanied it in its removal to Valladolid. He no doubt enjoyed the public consideration due to his high repute and extraordinary achievements; though by the monarch he might be regarded in the unwelcome light of a creditor, whose claims were too just to be disavowed, and too large to be satisfied.

With spirits broken by this unthankful requital of his services, and with a const.i.tution impaired by a life of unmitigated hards.h.i.+p, Columbus's health now rapidly sunk under the severe and reiterated attacks of his disorder. On the arrival of Philip and Joanna, he addressed a letter to them, through his brother Bartholomew, in which he lamented the infirmities which prevented him from paying his respects in person, and made a tender of his future services. The communication was graciously received, but Columbus did not survive to behold the young sovereigns.

[12]

His mental vigor, however, was not impaired by the ravages of disease, and on the 19th of May, 1506, he executed a codicil, confirming certain testamentary dispositions formerly made, with special reference to the entail of his estates and dignities, manifesting, in his latest act, the same solicitude he had shown through life, to perpetuate an honorable name. Having completed these arrangements with perfect composure, he expired on the following day, being that of our Lord's ascension, with little apparent suffering, and in the most Christian spirit of resignation. [13] His remains, first deposited in the convent of St.

Francis at Valladolid, were, six years later, removed to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas at Seville, where a costly monument was raised over them by King Ferdinand, with the memorable inscription,

"A Castilla y a Leon Nuevo mundo dio Colon;"

"the like of which," says his son Ferdinand, with as much truth as simplicity, "was never recorded of any man in ancient or modern times."

[14] From this spot his body was transported, in the year 1536, to the island of St. Domingo, the proper theatre of his discoveries; and, on the cession of that island to the French, in 1795, was again removed to Cuba, where his ashes now quietly repose in the cathedral church of its capital.

[15]

There is considerable uncertainty as to Columbus's age, though it seems probable it was not far from seventy at the time of his death. [16] His person has been minutely described by his son. He was tall and well made, his head large, with an aquiline nose, small light-blue or grayish eyes, a fresh complexion and red hair, though incessant toil and exposure had bronzed the former, and bleached the latter, before the age of thirty. He had a majestic presence, with much dignity, and at the same time affability of manner. He was fluent, even eloquent in discourse; generally temperate in deportment, but sometimes hurried by a too lively sensibility into a sally of pa.s.sion. [17] He was abstemious in his diet, indulged little in amus.e.m.e.nts of any kind, and, in truth, seemed too much absorbed by the great cause to which he had consecrated his life, to allow scope for the lower pursuits and pleasures, which engage ordinary men. Indeed, his imagination, by feeding too exclusively on this lofty theme, acquired an unnatural exaltation, which raised him too much above the sober realities of existence, leading him to spurn at difficulties, which in the end proved insurmountable, and to color the future with those rainbow tints, which too often melted into air.

This exalted state of the imagination was the result in part, no doubt, of the peculiar circ.u.mstances of his life. For the glorious enterprise which he had achieved almost justified the conviction of his acting under the influence of some higher inspiration than mere human reason, and led his devout mind to discern intimations respecting himself in the dark and mysterious annunciations of sacred prophecy. [18]

That the romantic coloring of his mind, however, was natural to him, and not purely the growth of circ.u.mstances, is evident from the chimerical speculations, in which he seriously indulged before the accomplishment of his great discoveries. His scheme of a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was most deliberately meditated, and strenuously avowed from the very first date of his proposals to the Spanish government. His enthusiastic communications on the subject must have provoked a smile from a pontiff like Alexander the Sixth; [19] and may suggest some apology for the tardiness, with which his more rational projects were accredited by the Castilian government. But these visionary fancies never clouded his judgment in matters relating to his great undertaking; and it is curious to observe the prophetic accuracy, with which he discerned, not only the existence, but the eventual resources of the western world; as is sufficiently evinced by his precautions, to the very last, to secure the full fruits of them, unimpaired, to his posterity.

Whatever were the defects of his mental const.i.tution, the finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single blemish in his moral character. His correspondence breathes the sentiment of devoted loyalty to his sovereigns. His conduct habitually displayed the utmost solicitude for the interests of his followers. He expended almost his last maravedi in restoring his unfortunate crew to their native land. His dealings were regulated by the nicest principles of honor and justice. His last communication to the sovereigns from the Indies remonstrates against the use of violent measures in order to extract gold from the natives, as a thing equally scandalous and impolitic. [20] The grand object to which he dedicated himself seemed to expand his whole soul, and raised it above the petty s.h.i.+fts and artifices, by which great ends are sometimes sought to be compa.s.sed. There are some men, in whom rare virtues have been closely allied, if not to positive vice, to degrading weakness. Columbus's character presented no such humiliating incongruity. Whether we contemplate it in its public or private relations, in all its features it wears the same n.o.ble aspect. It was in perfect harmony with the grandeur of his plans, and their results, more stupendous than those which Heaven has permitted any other mortal to achieve. [21]

FOOTNOTES

[1] Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 3, lib. 4.--Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 14.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88- 108.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 2-12; lib. 6, cap. 1-13.--Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. pp. 282-325.

The best authorities for the fourth voyage are the relations of Mendez and Porras, both engaged in it; and above all the admiral's own letter to the sovereigns from Jamaica. They are all collected in the first volume of Navarrete. (Ubi supra.) Whatever cloud may be thrown over the early part of Columbus's career, there is abundant light on every step of his path after the commencement of his great enterprise.

[2] Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108.

[3] Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 341.

[4] See his interesting correspondence with his son Diego; now printed for the first time by Senor Navarrete from the original MSS. in the duke of Veragua's possession. Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 338 et seq.

[5] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 14.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108.

For an account of this ordinance see Part II. Chapter 3, note 12, of this History.

[6] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 14.

[7] Ibid., dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 12.

[8] Ibid., dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 12; lib. 6, cap. 16-18.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14.

[9] This doc.u.ment exhibits a medley, in which sober narrative and sound reasoning are strangely blended with crazy dreams, doleful lamentation, and wild schemes for the recovery of Jerusalem, the conversion of the Grand Khan, etc. Vagaries like these, which come occasionally like clouds over his soul, to shut out the light of reason, cannot fail to fill the mind of the reader, as they doubtless did those of the sovereigns at the time, with mingled sentiments of wonder and compa.s.sion. See Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 296.

[10] Ibid., p. 338.

[11] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 14.

[12] Navarrete has given the letter, Coleccion de Viages, tom. iii. p.

530.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, ubi supra.

[13] Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 429.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 131.-- Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom, ii., Doc. Dipl., 158.

[14] Hist. del Almirante, ubi supra.

The following eulogium of Paolo Giovio is a pleasing tribute to the deserts of the great navigator, showing the high estimation in which he was held, abroad as well as at home, by the enlightened of his own day.

"Incomparabilis Liguribus honos, eximium Italiae decus, et praefulgidum jubar seculo nostro nasceretur, quod priscorum heroum, Herculis, et Liberi patris famam obscuraret. Quorum memoriam grata olim mortalitas aeternis literarum monumentis coelo consecrarit." Elogia Virorum Ill.u.s.t., lib. 4, p. 123.

[15] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., 177.

On the left of the grand altar of this stately edifice, is a bust of Columbus, placed in a niche in the wall, and near it a silver urn, containing all that now remains of the ill.u.s.trious voyager. See Abbot's "Letters from Cuba," a work of much interest and information, with the requisite allowance for the inaccuracies of a posthumous publication.

[16] The various theories respecting the date of Columbus's birth cover a range of twenty years, from 1436 to 1456. There are st.u.r.dy objections to either of the hypotheses; and the historian will find it easier to cut the knot than to unravel it. Comp. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i.

Intr., sec. 54.--Munoz, Hist. del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 12.--Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, pp. 12, 25.--Irving, Life of Columbus, vol. iv.

book 18, chap. 4.

[17] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 3.--Novi Orbis Hist., lib.

1, cap. 14.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 15.

[18] See the extracts from Columbus's book of Prophecies, (apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom, ii., Doc. Dipl., no. 140,) as still existing in the Bibliotheca Colombina at Seville.

[19] See his epistle to the most selfish and sensual of the successors of St. Peter, in Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom, ii., Doc. Dipl., no.

145.

[20] "El oro, bien que segun informacion el sea mucho, no me parescio bien ni servicio de vuestras Altezas de se le tomar por via de robo. La buena orden evitara escandolo y mala fama," etc. Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 310.

[21] Columbus left two sons, Fernando and Diego. The former, illegitimate, inherited his father's genius, says a Castilian writer, and the latter, his honors and estates. (Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1506.) Fernando, besides other works now lost, left a valuable memoir of his father, often cited in this history. He was a person of rather uncommon literary attainments, and ama.s.sed a library, in his extensive travels, of 20,000 volumes, perhaps the largest private collection in Europe at that day.

(Ibid., ano 1539.) Diego did not succeed to his father's dignities, till he had obtained a judgment in his favor against the crown from the Council of the Indies, an act highly honorable to that tribunal, and showing that the independence of the courts of justice, the greatest bulwark of civil liberty, was well maintained under King Ferdinand. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., nos. 163, 164; tom. iii., Supl. Col.

Dipl., no. 69.) The young _admiral_ subsequently married a lady of the great Toledo family, niece of the duke of Alva. (Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 8.) This alliance with one of the most ancient branches of the haughty aristocracy of Castile, proves the extraordinary consideration, which Columbus must have attained during his own lifetime. A new opposition was made by Charles V. to the succession of Diego's son; and the latter, discouraged by the prospect of this interminable litigation with the crown, prudently consented to commute his claims, too vast and indefinite for any subject to enforce, for specific honors and revenues in Castile. The t.i.tles of Duke of Veragua and Marquis of Jamaica, derived from the places visited by the admiral in his last voyage, still distinguish the family, whose proudest t.i.tle, above all that monarchs can confer, is, to have descended from Columbus. Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, p. 123.

CHAPTER XIX.