ploration of Abyssinia, in Malabar millions of natives were converted by St. Francis Xavier and other Jesuits, and at a later time (1599) the old Christian Church of India united with Rome. All of these consequences, and a multitude that cannot be even enumerated, resulted from the great exploring and colonizing movements set on foot by Prince Henry the Navigator. A few words concerning his character and the motives which sustained him in his grand ambition will conclude this summary of Portuguese triumphs.

When in their progress southward Portuguese navigators passed Cape Bojador an account of their discoveries was promptly conveyed to the Pope. The approval of these enterprises was solicited, and Henry, forseeing that many voyages would follow, prayed for a "concession in perpetuity to the crown of Portugal of whatever lands might be discovered beyond Cape Bojador to the Indies inclusive," especially submitting to His Holiness that "the salvation of the natives was the principal object of his labors." The Holy Father promptly complied with the Prince's petition. A bull then issued was afterward confirmed by Popes Nicholas V and Sixtus IV. The limit of each expedition was appropriately marked by a stone cross, and the navigator who erected it farthest south was invariably rewarded by the generosity of Henry. Notwithstanding

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the approbation of the Church and the inducements of the Prince, it required more than fifty years for the mariners of that day to creep southward along the five thousand miles of African coast. As he repeatedly states in his letters, it was neither the wish to extend the dominions of Portugal nor the desire to engage in profitable trade with the natives of Africa that sustained for a lifetime his noble efforts. Though not indifferent to the advantages which his country derived from those discoveries, Prince Henry's great anxiety was to confer on the heathen the blessings of Christianity.

CHAPTER VII.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE AND THEORY OF COLUMBUS.

Genesis of the Project of Columbus.

Thus far this essay has been considering a few of the landmarks of history. Concerning their large outlines there is little disagreement. Even in the field of Norse achievement there is much unanimity. It is mainly in the details that the authorities differ. Now we enter a zone in which there is much speculation. Here seem fewer resting-places for the careful student. Objective facts are easy to record and to examine; the operations of the human mind are not so. Our problem is nothing less than to describe the genesis of the grand project of Columbus. Its elements may be stated, but precisely how his intellect turned into shape the mass of facts collected by his industry, we shall probably never know. Indeed, we seldom know much about beginnings. When, for instance, we believe that we have at last traced to the place of its origin some beautiful literary expression, a little re

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search discovers it farther away, more dim, perhaps, but scarcely less elegant. Greater perseverance will enable us to locate it in a region still more distant, but it is not often that we discover the native land of beauty. The project of Columbus, however, possessed none of the conventional characteristics of literature, nor was it to be worked out by the art of the engineer, who, by a succession of improvements upon a familiar contrivance, constructs a machine novel in design and charged with new functions.

After glancing at the slight sketch of Portuguese achievement, given in the preceding section, the reader will not be surprised to find Christopher Columbus trying his fortunes. amongst a people already renowned in colonization and discovery. It appears to have been sometime between 1471 and 1476, when the maritime activity of Portugal was approaching its zenith, and just before the navigators of that nation accomplished their greatest exploits, that he arrived in Lisbon. Diego Cam had not yet. reached the mouth of the Congo, while the epoch-making voyage of Bartholomew Diaz was at least a decade in the future.

The Youth of Columbus.

From the moment of his birth until the hour

of his death almost every important event in the career of Columbus has been a battleground for historians. Many different dates have been assigned for his birth, and various places have competed for that honor. The rank of his family and even its identity have been disputed. Neither the manner nor the extent of his education has been shown with any degree of certainty. Even after he had ceased to be obscure the same ill-fortune attended him. Indeed, one of the most interesting events of his entire career, the equipment of that memorable expedition which discovered America, is not yet known in all its important details. It is not improbable that some day it will be. Finally there exists a little doubt as to the present resting-place of his remains. Columbus is not, however, the only illustrious person about whom we should like to be better informed. The fact that Shakespeare, unchallenged monarch in the realm. of letters, is believed to have been educated in the grammar school at Stratford fails for many to explain his undoubted superiority in eloquence and poetry. Notwithstanding all this doubt concerning Columbus many facts have been well established by the researches of four centuries.

From the information now in our possession it appears that Christopher Columbus, the great