terprise, he at length set sail from Spain on the 3d of August 1492, and on the 12th of October following landed on San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands. After cruising for some time among this cluster, believed by him to be part of the great archipelago mentioned by Marco Polo, he discovered the island of Cuba, which he concluded to be a portion of the continent of Asia. He next visited the beautiful island of Hayti or St Domingo, and, having loaded his vessels with specimens of the inhabitants and productions of this new country, returned to Europe. In his third voyage, Columbus discovered the continent of America, and looked upon it as the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients,-the peninsula of Malacca in modern maps. As he sailed along its shores, he received tidings of a great water situated to the south, and, conceiving that it must be connected with the Gulf of Mexico, determined to search for the strait or channel of communication. His last voyage was dedicated to this fruitless attempt; and he died in the firm conviction that this southern sea was the Indian Ocean, and that the lands he had visited belonged to the eastern boundary of Asia. How very far did he under-estimate the grandeur of his achievements! He thought that he had found but a new path to countries known of old, while he had in truth discovered a continent hitherto unimagined, yet rivalling the ancient world in extent. Who will not share in the regret which has been so eloquently expressed, that the gloom, the penury, and disappointment which overcast his latter years, were visited by none of those bright and consoling hopes which would have flowed from the revelation of the future glory of "the splendid empires which were

to spread over the beautiful world he had discovered; and the nations, and tongues, and languages, which were to fill its lands with his renown, and to revere and bless his name to the latest posterity!"* To secure the possession of the vast countries discovered by Columbus, the King of Spain applied for the sanction of the Pope. Martin V. and other pontiffs had granted to Portugal all the countries which it might discover from Cape Bojador and Cape Nun to the Indies; and the Portuguese monarch now complained that his neighbour in visiting America had violated the rights conferred on him by the Holy Father. While this complaint was undergoing investigation, the court of Castile exerted its influence with Pope Alexander VI.; and on the 4th of May 1493, a Bull was issued, which most materially influenced the future course of maritime discovery. By this important document, the head of the Catholic Church, "with the plenitude of apostolic power, by the authority of God Omnipotent granted to him through blessed Peter, and of the vicarship of Jesus Christ, which he exercises upon earth," assigned to the Spanish sovereigns "all the islands and main-lands, with all their dominions, cities, castles, places, and towns, and with all their rights, jurisdictions, and appurtenances, discovered, and which shall be discovered," to the west of an ideal line drawn from pole to pole, at the distance of a hundred leagues westward of the Azores. Thus did Spain at once acquire an empire far more extensive than that

66

History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, by Washington Irving, vol. iv. p. 61,-an admirable book, in which industry of research, elegance and loftiness of thought and diction, have combined to rear a work, which, surpassing all others on the subject, will itself probably never be surpassed.

which seven centuries of warfare obtained for the Romans!"* This munificent grant was accompanied with one important injunction: Alexander adjured the sovereigns" by the holy obedience which you owe us, that you appoint to the said main-lands and islands upright men and fearing God, learned, skilful, and expert in instructing the foresaid natives and inhabitants in the Catholic faith, and in teaching them good morals, employing for that purpose all requisite diligence." The terrors of Divine wrath were thundered against those who should infringe the papal grant. "Let no person presume with rash boldness to contravene this our donation, decree, inhibition, and will. For if any person presumes to do so, be it known to him that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul."+ Even by orthodox princes, however, these threatenings were held light. As has been remarked by Purchas, "the Portugalls

Memoir of Columbus, by D. G. B. Spotorno, Professor of Eloquence in the University of Genoa, published in "Memorials of Columbus, or a Collection of authentic Documents of that celebrated Navigator, now first published from the original Manuscripts, by order of the Decurions of Genoa. Translated from the Spanish and Italian.' London, 1823. 8vo.

The original Bull may be consulted in Purchas, vol. i. p. 13-15. A translation from a copy exhibiting some variations, but of no great consequence, is inserted in the "Memorials of Columbus" above quoted, document xxxvii. p. 172-183. This last has been followed in the quotations given in the present work. The copy in Purchas is accompanied by a chapter of " Animadversions on the said Bull of Pope Alexander," which cannot fail to gratify the curious in abuse and invective, in which it will scarcely yield the palm to any of the "flytings" of our earlier Scottish poets, or to the controversial writings of Scaliger, Milton, or Salmasius. In one sentence Alexander is called "Heire of all the Vices of all the Popes,"" the Plague-sore into that Chayre of Pestylence," "the Monster of Men, or indeed rather an incarnate Devill," so necessary did Purchas consider it "not to suffer this Bull to passe unbaited!"

regarded them not; and not the Bull, but other compromise stayed them from open hostilitie." By an agreement between the two nations of the Peninsula, concluded in 1494, it was covenanted, that the line of partition described in the ecclesiastical document should be extended 270 leagues farther to the west, and that all beyond this boundary should belong to Castile, and all to the eastward to Portugal.* Thus their territories were defined with sufficient certainty on one side of the globe; but the limits on the other were left perfectly vague, and became a fertile subject of dispute.

Meantime, the Portuguese had achieved the grand object which they had so long laboured to attain. In 1486, Bartholomew Diaz reached the southern extremity of Africa, which he named the Cape of Storms; but the Portuguese monarch gave it the more auspicious title of Good Hope. Eleven years after, Vasco de Gama doubled this dreaded promontory, and conducted a fleet to the rich shores of India,- -an event which was destined to exercise on the career of American discovery more than an indirect influence, powerful as that was. The vast

*

This agreement (sometimes called the treaty of Tordesillas) was concluded on 7th June, but was not subscribed by Ferdinand till 2d July 1493, and by John not till 27th February 1494. It was confirmed by a Bull in 1506. The late Admiral Burney, whose work we will have occasion so often to mention with respect, writes of this agreement," At the instance of the Portuguese, with the consent of the Pope, in 1494 the line of partition was by agreement removed 270 leagues more to the west, that it might accord with their possessions in the Brazils. -Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea, vol. i. p. 4. It is impossible to admit the existence of the motive here assigned; for Brazil was not discovered by Cabral until six years after the date of the agree ment.-Purchas, vol. i. p. 30. Robertson's Hist. of America, book ii. Irving's Columbus, iii. 147, and authorities there quoted. -It is proper to mention that Burney is by no means singular in this mistake.

treasures which Portugal drew from countries where the harvest of the adventurer was prepared before he visited the field, mightily inflamed the avidity of Spain, and breathed a new spirit of ardour into her enterprises. Nor did the former kingdom fail to contribute her exertions towards extending the knowledge of the new continent. In the year 1500, the second expedition which was fitted out for India, under the command of Pedro Alvarez de Cabral, standing westward to clear the shores of Africa, discovered the coast of Brazil, and took possession of it in name of the Portuguese crown. It has been well observed by an eminent writer on this subject," that Columbus' discovery of the New World was the effort of an active genius, enlightened by science, guided by experience, and acting upon a regular plan, executed with no less courage than perseverance. But from this adventure of the Portuguese, it appears that chance might have accomplished that great design which it is now the pride of human reason to have formed and perfected. If the sagacity of Columbus had not conducted mankind to America, Cabral, by a fortunate accident, might have led them a few years later to the knowledge of that extensive continent."*

We have seen that even Portugal yielded but a scanty deference to the right which the Pope had usurped of bestowing the world at his will; and England was still less inclined to acquiesce in such an as

* Robertson's History of America, book ii. Care must be taken not to overvalue the merits of Cabral. It should be recollected that his discovery was the result of chance; and farther, that Brazil had been visited some months previously by Diego Lepe, and still earlier by Vicente Yanez Pinzon, who was the first to cross the equator in the Atlantic.