Notable Voyagers | Page 3

of his undertaking depended greatly on
two happy errors: the imaginary extent of Asia to the east, and the
supposed smallness of the earth. A deep religious sentiment mingled
with his meditations. He looked upon himself as chosen by Heaven for
the accomplishment of its purposes, that the ends of the earth might be
brought together, and all nations and tongues united under the banner
of the Redeemer.
The enthusiastic nature of his conceptions gave an elevation to his
spirit, and dignity and eloquence to his whole demeanour. He never
spoke in doubt or hesitation, but with as much certainty as if his eyes
had beheld the promised land.
No trial or disappointment could divert him from the steady pursuit of
his object. That object, it is supposed, he meditated as early as the year
1474, though as yet it lay crude and immatured in his mind. Shortly
afterwards, in the year 1477, he made a voyage to the north of Europe,
navigating one hundred leagues beyond Thule, when he reached an
island as large as England, generally supposed to have been Iceland.
In vain he had applied to Don John the Second, who ascended the
throne of Portugal in 1481. That king was so deeply engaged in sending
out expeditions to explore the African coast that his counsellors advised
him to confine his efforts in that direction. He would, however, have
given his consent had not Columbus demanded such high and
honourable rewards as were considered inadmissible.
To his eternal disgrace the Bishop of Ceuta advised that Columbus
should be kept in suspense while a vessel was secretly dispatched in the
direction he pointed out, to ascertain if there was any truth in his story.
This was actually done, until the caravel meeting with stormy weather,
and an interminable waste of wild tumbling waves, the pilots lost
courage and returned.

Columbus, indignant at this attempt to defraud him, his wife having
died some time previously, resolved to abandon the country which had
acted so treacherously. He first sent his brother Bartholomew to make
proposals to Henry the Seventh, King of England; but that sovereign
rejected his offers, and having again made a proposal to Genoa, which,
from the reverses she had lately received, she was unable to accept, he
turned his eyes to Spain.
The great Spanish Dukes of Medina Sidonia and Medina Coeli, were at
first inclined to support him, and the latter spoke of him to Queen
Isabella, who giving a favourable reply, Columbus set off for the
Spanish Court, then at Cordova.
The sovereigns of Castile and Arragon were, however, so actively
engaged in carrying on the fierce war with the Moors of Grenada, that
they were unable to give due attention to the scheme of the navigator,
while their counsellors generally derided his proposals.
The beautiful and enlightened Isabella treated him from the first with
respect, and other friends rose up who were ready to give him support.
Wearied and discouraged by long delays, however, he had again
opened up negotiations with the King of Portugal, and had been
requested by that monarch to return there. He had also received a letter
from Henry the Seventh of England, inviting him to his Court, and
holding out promises of encouragement, when he was again summoned
to attend the Castilian Court, and a sum of money was sent him to
defray his expenses, King Ferdinand probably fearing that he would
carry his proposals to a rival monarch, and wishing to keep the matter
in suspense until he had leisure to examine it.
He accordingly repaired to the Court of Seville. While he was there two
monks arrived with a message from the Grand Soldan of Egypt,
threatening to put to death all the Christians and to destroy the Holy
Sepulchre if the Spanish sovereigns did not desist from war against
Grenada.
The menace had no effect in altering their purpose, but it aroused the

indignation of the Spanish cavaliers, and still more so that of Columbus,
and made them burn with ardent zeal once more to revive the contest of
faith on the sacred plains of Palestine. Columbus had indeed resolved,
should his projected enterprise prove successful, to devote the profits
from his anticipated discoveries to a crusade for the rescue of the Holy
Sepulchre from the power of the infidels.
During the latter part of the year 1490 Ferdinand and Isabella were
engaged in celebrating the marriage of their eldest daughter, the
Princess Isabella, with Prince Don Alonzo, heir apparent of Portugal.
Bearing these long and vexatious delays as he had before done,
Columbus supported himself chiefly by making maps and charts,
occasionally assisted from the purse of his friend Diego de Deza.
The year was passing on. Columbus was kept in a state of irritating
anxiety at