predatory warfare in which, during the fifteenth century, the maritime states of Italy were constantly involved, either with the infidels or with each other.

In 1470, he was led by accident to Lisbon, at that time the great centre of maritime enterprise. An attachment to a lady whom he finally married, detained him and caused him to settle in that city, and from this period, the interesting and authentic portion of his history may be said to commence. It may be remarked, without any disparagement to Columbus, that his marriage appears in a great measure to have determined his future fortunes. His wife was the daughter of Bartolomeo Monis de Palestrello, who had been one of the most distinguished navigators under Prince Henry of Portugal, and his papers, charts, journals and memorandums now came into the possesion of his son-in-law. Columbus also sailed occasionally in the Portuguese expeditions to the coast of Guinea, and made one voyage northwards to or beyond the island of Iceland. These occurrences were all preparing him for bolder undertakings, and, as if to keep alive the spirit of naval enterprise, he resided for some time in the recently discovered island of Porto Santo, where his wife inherited some property.

"In their Island residence too, they must have been frequently visited by the voyagers going to and from Guinea. Living thus surrounded by the stir and bustle of discovery, communing with persons who had risen by it to fortune and honour, and voyaging in the very tracks of its recent triumphs, the ardent mind of Columbus kindled up with enthusiasm in the cause. It was a period of general excitement to all who were connected with maritime life, or who resided in the vicinity of the ocean. The recent discoveries had inflamed their imaginations, and had filled them with visions of other islands, of greater wealth and beauty, yet to be discovered in the boundless wastes of the Atlantic. The opinions and fancies of the ancients on the subject, were again put into circulation. The story of Antilla, a great island in the ocean, discovered by the Carthaginians, was frequently cited; and Plato's imaginary Atalantis once more found firm believers. Many thought that the Canaries and Azores were but wrecks which had survived its submersion, and that other and larger tracts of that drowned land might yet exist, in remoter parts of the Atlantic." Vol. i. p. 30.

But Columbus, though possessing an ardent imagination, was not a mere visionary. He studied and became acquainted with all that had been written by the ancients or discovered by the moderns, in his favourite sciences. He corresponded with some of the ablest cosmographers of the age, and he collected care fully, even the vague reports of the adventurers of the day; but while he availed himself of all of these resources, the principles

on which he framed his hypothesis, were strictly scientific. Besides the authority of ancient writers, and the reports of navigators, on which, according to the statement of his son, he partly formed his plan of discovery, his principal argument was derived from the "Nature of Things."

"He set down as a fundamental and established principle, that the earth was a terraqueous sphere or globe, which might be travelled round from east to west, and that men stood foot to foot, when on opposite points. The circumference from east to west, at the equator, Columbus divided, according to Ptolemy, into twenty-four hours of fifteen degrees each, making 360 degrees. Of these, he imagined, comparing the globe of Ptolemy with the earlier map of Marinus Tyrius, that fifteen hours had been known to the Ancients, extending from the Straits of Gibraltar, or rather from the Canary Islands, to the City of Thine, in Asia, a place set down as at the eastern limits of the known world. The Portuguese had advanced the western frontier by the discovery of the Azores and Cape de Verd Islands, equal to one hour more. There remained, according to the estimation of Columbus, eight hours, or one third of the circumference of the earth, unknown and unexplored. This space might, in a great measure, be filled up by the eastern region of Asia, which might extend so far as nearly to surround the globe, and to approach the western shores of Europe and Africa. The tract of ocean intervening between these continents, he observes, would be less than might at first be supposed, if the opinion of Alfranganus, the Arabian, were admitted, who gave to the earth a smaller circumference, by diminishing the size of the degrees, than did other cosmographers; a theory to which Columbus seems, at times, to have given faith. Granting these premises, it was manifest, that by pursuing a direct course, from east to west, a navigator would arrive at the extremity of Asia, and discover any intervening land." p. 34.

In these calculations, there was evidently much error, but the observations of astronomy were then too imperfect to rectify ancient opinions. It was reserved for the discoveries of Columbus himself and his successors, to correct the mistakes of cosmographers, and their imperfect theories respecting the superficial extent of the earth.

One accidental coincidence merits, perhaps, a brief notice. Columbus was so firmly persuaded, not only of the justness of his theoretical opinions, but of the accuracy of his calculations, that on leaving Gomera on his first great voyage of discovery, he gave instructions to the commanders of his Caravels, that in case of separation, they should, after they had sailed seven hundred leagues, shorten sail every night, and look out constantly for land. It was, perhaps, fortunate for his progress, that at the outset of his voyage, he had announced the remote VOL. II. NO. 3. 2

point at which he expected to find land. It prevented his mariners and companions from adding to their other complaints, reproaches for mistaken predictions, and reconciled them in some measure, to the distance they actually traversed. It was equally fortunate that, before he had sailed 1000 leagues, and before the seamen were aware that their progress had exceeded 700 leagues for he was in the habit of deducting daily in the open journal of the voyage, some miles from the distance actually run-land, though at several thousand miles from the islands he was sanguinely expecting to reach, burst upon their anxious and almost agonizing gaze.

"It is singular how much the success of this great undertaking depended upon two happy errors, the imaginary extent of Asia to the east, and the supposed smallness of the earth-both errors of the most learned and profound philosophers; but, without which, Columbus would hardly have ventured upon his enterprise. As to the idea of finding land by sailing directly to the west, familiarity has rendered it so simple and obvious, as to diminish with some the merits of the first conception, and the hardihood of the first attempt. But in those days, as has well been observed, the circumference of the earth was yet unknown; no one could tell whether the ocean were not of immense extent, impossible to be traversed; nor were the laws of specific gravity and of central gravitation ascertained, by which, granting the rotundity of the earth, the possibility of making the tour of it would be manifest.* The practicability, therefore, of finding land by sailing to the west, was one of those mysteries of nature which are considered incredible while matters of mere speculation, but the simplest things imaginable when they have once been ascertained.

"When Columbus had formed his theory, it is singular the firmness with which it became fixed in his mind, and the effect it produced upon his character and conduct. He never spoke in doubt or hesitation, but with as much certainty as if his eyes had beheld the promised land. No trial nor disappointment could afterwards divert him from the steady pursuit of his object. A due religious sentiment mingled with his meditations, and gave them, at times, a tinge of superstition, but it was of a sublime and lofty kind. He looked upon himself as standing in the hand of Heaven, chosen from among men for the accomplishment of its high purpose. He read, as he supposed, his contemplated discovery foretold in holy writ, and shadowed forth darkly in the mystic revelations of the prophets. The ends of the earth were to be brought together, and all nations and tongues and languages united under the banners of the Redeemer. This was to be the triumphant consummation of his enterprise, bringing the remote and unknown regions of the earth into communion with Christian Europe; carrying the light of the true faith into benighted and Pagan lands, and gathering their countless nations under the holy dominion of the church.

Malte-Brun Geographie Universelle

"The enthusiastic nature of his conceptions gave an elevation to his spirit, and a dignity and loftiness to his whole demeanour. He conferred with sovereigns almost with a feeling of equality. His views were princely and unbounded; his proposed discovery was of empires; his conditions were proportionally magnificent; nor would he ever, even after long delays, repeated disappointments, and under the pressure of actual penury, abate what appeared to be extravagant demands for a mere possible discovery." pp. 38-39.

We have multiplied these extracts for the purpose of exhibiting the circumstances by which Columbus was gradually prepared for the great purpose which he finally accomplished. We could with pleasure extend our quotations, for this portion of his history is full of interest, but we must pass on to other

scenes.

When Columbus became fully persuaded of the practicability of reaching India by steering to the west, he made known his projects and offered his services to John II. King of Portugal, in whose dominions he had resided many years. The moment, however, was not favourable; the offer was coldly received, and when he discovered that a vessel, as we have already stated, had been privately despatched to ascertain the truth of his theory, furnished with the plans and documents which he himself had prepared for the information of the Court, he indignantly left the country.

It was at the close of the year 1484, that Columbus retired from Portugal, and no trace remains of his movements in the following year. It has been conjectured that he went to Genoa to visit his father who was still living, and to offer his services to his native city. Early in 1486, he is found at the convent of Santa Maria de Rabida, near Palos, and as it has been remarked, he who went about soliciting monarchs to accept from his hands a world, was obliged almost to beg for charity on his extraordinary pilgrimage. It should be added, that in the Prior of that Convent, to which he accidentally applied to obtain lodging and bread and water for his young son, he found one, who, in all the subsequent periods of his life, proved his most zealous and persevering friend.

From La Rabida, Columbus, bearing the strong recommendations of Fray Juan Perez, proceeded to Cordova, where the sovereigns of Spain were residing, intending to submit to them his plans and the proffer of his services. He found it difficult, however, to obtain a hearing. He followed the Court from the city to the camp, from province to province; he was referred, from time to time, to commissioners, to ministers, to councils, until the monarchs were gravely informed, "That the scheme

proposed was vain and impossible, and that it did not become such great princes to engage in an enterprise of the kind on such weak grounds as had been advanced."

From the interesting account given by Mr. Irving, of his appearance before the learned men assembled in the University of Salamanca, we can only give two brief extracts.

"Several of the objections opposed by this learned body, have been handed down to us, and have provoked many a sneer at the expense of the University of Salamanca, but they are proofs not so much of the peculiar deficiency of that institution, as of the imperfect state of science at the time, and the manner in which knowledge, though rapidly extending, was still impeded in its progress by monastic bigotry. All subjects were still contemplated through the obscure medium of those ages, when the lights of antiquity were trampled out, and faith was left to fill the place of inquiry. Bewildered in a maze of religious controversy, mankind had retraced their steps, and receded from the boundary line of ancient knowledge. Thus, at the very threshold of the discussion, instead of geographical objections, Columbus was assailed with citations from the Bible and the Testament, the book of Genesis, the psalms of David, the orations of the Prophets, the epistles of the Apostles, and the gospels of the Evangelists. To these were added, the expositions of the various Saints and reverend commentators, St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine, St. Jerome and St. Gregory, St. Basil and St. Ambrose, and Lactantius Firmianus, a redoubted champion of the faith. Doctrinal points were mixed up with philosophical discussions, and a mathematical demonstration was allowed no weight, if it appeared to clash with a text of scripture, or a commentary of one of the fathers. Thus, the possibility of antipodes, in the southern hemisphere, an opinion so generally maintained by the wisest of the ancients, as to be pronounced by Pliny, the great contest between the learned and the ignorant, became a stumbling block with some of the sages of Salámanca. Several of them stoutly contradicted this fundamental position of Columbus, supporting themselves by quotations from Lactantius and St. Augustine, who were considered in those days, as almost evangelical authority.* But though these writers were men of consummate erudition, and two of the greatest luminaries of what has been called the golden age of ecclesiastical learning, yet their writings were calculated to perpetuate darkness in respect to the sciences." p. 75-76.

"When Columbus took his stand before this learned body, he had appeared the plain and simple navigator, somewhat daunted, perhaps, by the greatness of his task and the august nature of his auditory. But he had a degree of superstitious feeling which gave him a confidence on the execution of what he considered his great errand, and he was of an ardent temperament which became heated in action by its own generous fires. Las Casas, and others of his contemporaries, have spo

The first book printed in Europe, contained the Divine Institutions of Lactantius Firmianus, and the book of the City of God, by the divine Doctor St. Augustine.-Hist. Pontif. 1. vi. c. 13.