Old Times in the Colonies & The Story of Liberty. Charles Carleton Coffin
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and to feel that they have made fools of themselves. Besides, this adventurer is an Italian; and they do not like to think that an Italian, and not a Spaniard, is the discoverer of a new world. The Grand Cardinal invites Columbus to a dinner. The great doctors are there. One is so envious that he cannot restrain himself from giving Columbus a little stab.
"Do you think that there is no man in Spain capable of making the discovery?" he asks.
Columbus replies by asking a question:
"Is there any one at the table who can make an egg stand on end?"
They try, but all fail.
"Can you do it?"
"Certainly."
He breaks the shell at the end, and the egg stands.
"That is the way to do it."
"Anybody can do that."
"So anybody can go to the new land, now that I have discovered it"
Very soon Columbus is sailing west again, this time with twelve ships and twelve hundred men. Thousands want to go. They take horses, pigs, cattle, and dogs, for these animals are not found in the new world. Twelve priests go to convert the Indians to the Catholic faith. He comes lo the colony, but no one is there. They find skulls, bones, decayed bodies, ruins. Those whom he left quarrelled among themselves, then separated and lived with the Indians. A powerful tribe came down one day from the mountains and killed every Spaniard, and a great many of the coast Indians. lie leaves a second colony, and sails away to the west in search
of new lands, and discovers the island of Jamaica. He finds no mountains of gold, and the adventurers are disappointed. Sickness breaks out; their provisions fail. Some of the ships turn back to Spain. Many of those who are with him are young noblemen, who, because they do not find gold, denounce Columbus as a deceiver; but he sails on,discovers new lands, and then returns to Spain. The nobles are so jealous of him that two years pass before he can get ready for another voyage. He sails once more, steering farther south, and, after sailing thirty-eight days, discovers an island with three mountain peaks, which he calls "The Trinity;" and just beyond he beholds the main-land, South America, and sails many miles along the coast This is in 1498.
He is Governor of the New World. The only settlement is that in Hayti; but the grandees are so jealous that they cannot bear to have an Italian over them. They accuse him to the king falsely, invent lies, till the king is persuaded to supersede him, and send out a vain, pompous, cruel man — Bobadilla — to be governor, who arrests Columbus, puts him in prison, rivets fetters upon his ankles, and sends him to Spain.
The captain of the ship is indignant at such treatment of the noble-hearted sailor.
"I will strike off the irons," he says.
"No; the king commanded me to submit to whatever Bobadilla should order in his name. I will not remove them. I will wear them, and keep them as memorials of my reward!"
In irons he is taken to Cadiz.
"Shame! shame!"
The people shout it, and the king strikes off the fetters.
Once more Columbus sails. He is an old man now; his beard is white, and he is not so strong as he was. He stops at Hayti, and then sails west through the Caribbean Sea, skirting the main-land, seeking ever to find a passage to India. He lands at a place where there is a delicious spring of water, and which to this day is called Columbus's Spring. His vessels are driven ashore in a storm. He is taken sick. The Indians are hostile. He needs provisions, but cannot get them from the Indiana, who are planning to attack the strangers. He must make them supply him with food. He understands astronomy, and knows that the moon will Boon be eclipsed. The Indians are superstitious, and he sends this word to the chiefs:
"The Great Spirit is offended with you, because you will not supply me with provisions."
The Indians laugh at the message.
"You will see the moon fade away. The Great Spirit will cover it up and make it all dark."
They laugh again. Night comes, and the full noon rises, round and red; but soon the Indians see a shadow creeping over it, beginning at one side.
"A dragon is eating it up!" they cry, and throw themselves upon the ground in terror.
"The Great Spirit will pardon you, and give you back the moon, if yon bring me provisions."
"We will bring them."
They come with baskets filled with yams and potatoes and fruits. So he obtains provisions, but his vessels are driven ashore in a storm, and he must die there unless a vessel shall perchance sail along the coast.
One day the sailors see two specks far away, and soon discover that they are two vessels. A fire is kindled, and those on board the ships, attracted by the smoke, sail along the shore and discover those whom they are seeking. So Columbus and his fellow-sailors are rescued from death.
Twelve years have passed since Columbus discovered San Salvador. The islands which then were a paradise, the abode of simple-hearted people, are drenched in blood. The Spaniards have had but one thought — to get gold and to gratify passion. Thousands of the Indians have been killed, other thousands carried into slavery. the Indians had no rights which the cruel men felt bound to respect.
On the 20th of May, 1506, at Valladolid, Christopher Columbus, old, in poverty, begging his bread, lies down to die. No one cares for him, but he dies calmly and peacefully. So closes the life of the man who led the way for the discovery of the future home of Liberty.
CHAPTER VII
THE NEW HOME OF LIBERTY
THE news that Christopher Columbus has discovered wonderful lands in the West reaches the old town of Bristol, in England. It was down past this town that the dust of Doctor Wicklif floated to the sea. It was a Bristol trader whose teeth were pulled out by John Lackland for refusing to give lip his money. The merchants of Bristol were enterprising men, and were sending their ships to France, to the Mediterranean, and the North Sea.
Two of the sea-captains employed by the merchants were a father and son, John and Sebastian Cabot. The father was born in Venice, a city that stands in the sea, where the people, instead of riding in carriages, glide along the water-ways in gondolas. They were brave, adventurous men, and, hearing of Columbus's discoveries, persuaded the Bristol men to fit out a fleet for the purpose of discovering a new route to the Indies. The merchants can do nothing without first obtaining permission from the king, Henry VII. There is not much liberty in England or anywhere else. The king is supreme. Henry loves money, and when the citizens of Bristol come before him with their petition, he sees an opportunity to impose conditions which possibly may bring money into his