belief that the opinions heretofore entertained of the geography of the earth were erroneous and untenable, and concluded that a large portion of the western hemisphere must be composed of land, as well as water. The aim of all navigators at this period was to discover a new and more expeditious route to the East Indies than that which had been hitherto pursued around the Cape of Good Hope. Columbus calculated that if land existed in the western waters, it must be connected with these islands, and consequently supposed that by sailing in a westerly direction a new route to India might be discovered. These opinions were received with great distrust; they were regarded not only as extraordinary, but as preposterous and chimerical, and a mind less capable of conceiving and comprehending great designs would have shrunk at once from the hostility, and even ridicule which the proclamation of them arrayed against their author. But Columbus was so fully persuaded that they were correct and true, that he resolved at once to put them to the test of actual experiment. Not possessing the means himself, he found it necessary to interest some one of the opulent powers of Europe in favor of his designs.*

The trade with the East Indies had been, hitherto, principally monopolized by VENICE and GENOA, and they had thereby acquired a degree of grandeur and greatness which moved the envy of all Europe. The balance of power between these two rival states, however, had long preponderated on the side of Venice, while the maritime strength of Genoa was in a weakened and declining condition. As we have already seen Genoa was the place of his nativity, and Columbus

* Robertson.

resolved that she should first reap the benefit to be derived from his speculations and adventures. He accordingly applied to her senate for their patronage, but his application was rejected, and his proposals and schemes were treated as wild and chimerical. Not at all daunted by this ruthless repulse he applied to John II. of Portugal. In a country already alive with the spirit of adventure, where he had long resided, in whose service he had been employed, where his personal worth and professional attainments were well known, he had every reason to look for a favorable listening to his views. His application was entertained by the crown, who directed his counsellors to investigate his proposals. They received him with jealousy and distrust. Having obtained from him a full exposition of his views, they put him off with an evasive answer, and then sought to deprive him of the honor to be won, by advising the king to fit out a secret expedition. But the designs of the monarch and his evil-minded counsellors were frustrated by the unskilfulness, the ignorance, and the cowardice, of those to whose management the expedition was entrusted.

Again and so treacherously baffled in his aims, Columbus indignantly repaired to the crown of Spain, while at the same time he despatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII. of England to negociate with that sovereign. Spain was at this period involved in a war with the Moors, and her court could not find leisure at once to listen to his proposals. In the mean time, by his personal address and his intelligence, he succeeded in winning to his views many men of rank, through whose influence the crown was induced to appoint a council of judges to examine into them.

Here he was doomed to encounter a countless

variety of vexations and discouragements. He found ignorance, prejudice, and the more narrow and intolerant spirit of monastic bigotry arrayed against him. Superadded to these sources of vexation, he could hear nothing of the mission he had contrived to the crown of England. It seems that his brother Bartholomew had been captured by pirates on his voyage thither, and it was long after his release was effected, before he was in a situation to present himself before the crown. When he appeared he was received and heard by Henry with the greatest favor. But Columbus, receiving no intelligence of the result of his mission, and wearied and disgusted by the treatment himself was receiving from the court of Spain, now resolved to visit Henry of England in person. In making his preparations to do so he placed his children under the care of Juan Perez, who presided over the monastery of Rabida near Palos. Perez was a man of excellent character and great erudition, and was in great favor with Isabella. He became much interested in the speculations of Columbus, investigated them carefully, and had the utmost confidence in their success. He therefore urged him to suspend his purpose of leaving the country until he himself should solicit her majesty to reconsider the proposals made by him. Perez addressed a letter to her, for this purpose, urging that the subject well merited her most serious attention. In reply Isabella sent for Perez to come to SANTA FE, where the court was then residing on account of the siege of Grenada, in order that she might confer with him on the subject more particularly. The result was that Columbus was not only requested to abandon his purpose of visiting England, but was invited to court. To him this unexpected favor seemed like a ray from heaven. It dissipated his despondency and reinspired

his hopes, while it also revived the confidence of his personal friends. On his arrival at SANTA FE, he proposed that a small squadron should be fitted out under his command-that he should be appointed hereditary Admiral and Viceroy of all the seas and islands which might be discovered by him, and that one-tenth of the revenues accruing should be settled irrevocably upon himself and his descendants. He offered to advance

one-eight of the sum necessary to carry out his designs, on condition that he should receive a proportionate share of the benefits resulting from the expedition,-and that if the project failed, or proved fruitless, he would ask no compensation or reward of any kind.*

Such were the liberal proposals of Columbus. But Ferdinand was less sanguine than his royal consort, and looked upon the proposed enterprize as futile, pronounced the claims of Columbus extravagant and unwarrantable; while he also urged that the funds required for the expedition were beyond the ability of the Crown to furnish from its now nearly exhausted and famished treasury. Isabella yielded to these suggestions of the King and his counsellors, and Columbus, again disappointed, withdrew in the greatest despondency. ALONZO DE QUINTILLA, comptroller of the finances of CASTILE, and LUIS DE SANTANGEL, receiver of the ecclesiastical revenues in ARRAGON, were the warm friends and zealous patrons of Columbus. Through them he became acquainted with other men of rank and affluence who had already actively interested themselves in seeking to promote his wishes. As their opulence furnished them with the means of doing so, he now applied to them to aid him with funds to carry on the proposed enterprise, but their reverence for their

*Winterbotham. Robertson.

Sovereign, and their high notions of loyalty, alone prevented them from embarking in a scheme which the Crown had discountenanced. Five years had thus passed away in fruitless and harrassing negociations for patronage, since Columbus first projected those great enterprises which afterwards led to such brilliant achievements. But a mind like his could not be compelled to forego the completion of its darling purposes, while there was yet another power from which he might hope to obtain the necessary patronage and assistance. He now again resolved to proceed to the court of Henry VII. of England, who was reputed to be the most opu lent and sagacious prince in all Europe.

CHAPTER IV.

IT is at once instructive and interesting to observe by what a singularly slight instrumentality, oftentimes, great revolutions are originated and accomplished; and how not only the direct, but also the collateral causes set in operation by great events, forward the plans of the Omniscient. Incidents, seemingly the most trivial and unimportant, have a momentous bearing upon our characters and condition. They affect the purposes and aims of individuals, and through them, in their nearer or more remote sequences, the destinies of nations and of mankind. While moving in the sphere of their immediate influence we may not note their operation, but after the flight of years, when we come to look back upon the record of experience, we feel how much they have contributed to give to our career its complex