lumbus that when the war should be concluded, they would treat with him on the subject. On receiving it, he repaired from Cordova to the court at Seville, but obtained no more favourable reply. Still he was reluctant to abandon Spain. At the convent of La Rabida was his son Diego, and in Cordova resided Beatrix Enriquez, and his infant son Fernando.* Columbus now looked round among the rich and powerful nobility of Spain. His first application was to the Duke of Medina Sidonia; his second to the Duke of Medina Celi. Neither would embark in the undertaking, but the latter advised Columbus to apply once more to the Spanish monarchs, and gave him a letter for Queen Isabella. Averse to the idea of again returning to wait upon the court, Columbus determined to comply with an invitation from the King of France to repair to Paris.† "Full of this resolution, he departed for the convent of La Rabida, to seek his eldest son Diego, who still remained under the care of his zealous friend Juan Perez, intending to leave him, with his other son, at Cordova. "When the worthy prior beheld Columbus once more arrive at the gate of his convent, humble in garb and poor in purse as when he first applied there, and found that seven years solicitation at the court had ended in poverty and disappointment, he was greatly moved; but when, on further conversation, he found that the voyager was on the point of abandoning Spain, to seek for patronage in the court of France, and that so important an enterprize was about to be lost forever to the country, the patriotism of the good Irving's Columbus, vol. 1, p. 59 to 63. † Id. p. 63 to 65. friar took the alarm and inspired his ardent spirit with new zeal. He sent in all haste for his scientific intimate and adviser, Garcia Fernandez, the physician of the neighbouring town, and they had further consultations on the scheme of Columbus. He called in, also, to their councils, one Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the head of a family of wealthy and distinguished navigators of Palos, who were celebrated for their practical experience, and their adventurous expeditions. Pinzon gave the plan of Columbus his decided approbation, offering to engage in it with purse and person, and to bear the expenses of Columbus in a renewed application to the court. "Friar Juan Perez was confirmed in his faith by the concurrence of his learned and his practical counsellors. He had once been confessor to the queen, and knew that she was always accessible to persons of his sacred calling. He proposed to write to her immediately on the subject, and entreated Columbus to delay his journey until an answer could be received. The latter was easily persuaded, for he felt as if in leaving Spain he was again abandoning his home. He was also reluctant to renew, in another court, the vexations and disappointments he had experienced in Spain and Portugal. "Having agreed to remain, the little council at the convent cast round their eyes for an ambassador to depart upon this momentous mission. They chose one Sebastian Rodriguez, a pilot of Lepe, one of the most shrewd and important personages in this maritime neighbourhood. The queen was at this time at Santa Fé, the military city which had been built in the Vega before Granada, after the conflagration of the royal camp. The honest pilot acquitted himself faithfully, expeditiously and successfully, in his embassy. He found access to the benignant princess, and delivered the epistle of the friar. Isabella had already been favourably disposed to the proposition of Columbus; and had been further influenced by the correspondence of the Duke of Medina Celi. She wrote in reply to Juan Perez, thanking him for his timely services, and requesting that he would repair immediately to the court, leaving Christopher Columbus in confident hope, until he should hear further from her. This royal letter was brought back by the pilot, at the end of fourteen days, and spread great joy in the little junto at the convent. No sooner did the warmhearted friar receive it, than he saddled his mule, and departed privately before midnight for the court. He journeyed through the conquered countries of the Moors, and rode into the newly erected city of Santa Fé, where the Sovereigns were superintending the close investment of the capital of Granada. "The sacred office of Juan Perez gained him a ready entrance in a court distinguished for religious zeal; and, once admitted to the presence of the queen, his former relation, as father confessor, gave him great freedom of counsel. He pleaded the cause of Columbus with characteristic enthusiasm, speaking, from actual knowledge, of his honourable motives, his professional knowledge and experience, and his perfect capacity to fulfil the undertaking; he represented the solid principles upon which the enterprise was founded; the advantages that must attend its success; and the glory it must shed upon the Spanish crown. "It is probable that Isabella had never heard the proposition urged with such honest zeal and impressive eloquence. Being naturally more sanguine and susceptible than the king, and more open to warm and generous impulses, she was moved by the representations of Juan Perez, which were warmly seconded by her favourite the Marchioness of Moya, who entered into the affair with a woman's disinterested enthusiasm.* The queen requested that Columbus might be again sent to her; and with the kind considerate * Retrato del Buen Vassallo, L. 2, cap. 16. ness which characterized her, bethinking herself of his poverty and his humble plight, ordered that twenty thousand maravedis* in florins, should be forwarded to him, to bear his travelling expenses, to provide him with a mule for his journey, and to furnish him with decent raiment, that he might make a respectable appearance at the court. "The worthy friar lost no time in communicating the result of his mission; he transmitted the money, and a letter, by the hands of an inhabitant of Palos, to the physician Garcia Fernandez, who delivered them to Columbus. The latter complied with the instructions conveyed in the epistle. He exchanged his threadbare garb for one more suited to the sphere of a court, and purchasing a mule, set out once more, reanimated by hope, for the camp before Granada."t Columbus arrived in time to witness the memorable surrender of Granada to the Spanish arms. The monarchs could now attend to his proposals. He required that he should be invested with the title and privileges of admiral and viceroy over the countries he should discover, with one tenth of all gains, either by trade or conquest. One of the courtiers observing that by this arrangement he would secure the honour of a command, without any loss in case of failure, Columbus replied by offering to furnish an eighth of the cost, on condition of enjoying an eighth of the profits. His terms, however, were pronounced inadmissible. Others were offered him, but he decided to abandon Spain forever, rather than compromise his * Or seventy-two dollars-equivalent to two hundred and sixteen dollars of the present day. Most of the particulars of this second visit of Columbus to the convent of La Rabida, are from the testimony rendered by Garcia Fernandez in the law suit between Diego, the son of Columbus, and the crown. demands. Mounting his mule, he sallied forth from Santa Fé in the beginning of February 1492 on his way to Cordova, whence he intended to depart immediately for France. His departure was greatly deplored by a few friends who were zealous believers in his theory. One of these was Luis de St. Angel, receiver of the ecclesiastical revenues in Aragon. Obtaining an audience of the queen, he vindicated the judgment of Columbus, and the soundness and practicability of his plans. Isabella declared in favour of the enterprise. The king was averse to the measure when the royal finances were drained by the war. But the queen of Castile undertook it for her own crown, and expressed herself willing to pledge her private jewels to raise the necessary funds. St. Angel assured her there would be no need of this.* Columbus had reached the bridge of Pinos about two leagues from Granada, at the foot of the mountain of Elvira, when he was overtaken by a courier from the queen. On being told of the promise she had given, he hastened back with alacrity to Santa Fé, and had from her an immediate audience. A perfect understanding was now had with the sovereigns. The stipulations were signed by them on the 17th of April 1492, a commission was issued to Columbus on the 30th of that month, and the queen on the 8th of May appointed his son Diego page to Prince Juan, the heir apparent, with an allowance for his support. Columbus took leave of the court on the 12th of May, and set out for Palos de Moguer in Andalusia, the port from which the armament was to be fitted out. He * Irving's Columbus, vol. 1, p. 67 to 71. |