The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-11-14

q ltANNlfF nON AAEAu AAbHC " AolA IiAdCN
along the coasts of Africa, and thence be
yond to unknown worlds. And as in tn,
ancient, so in the modern great adventure
was n womanly soul the guide and inspira
ton but Phillipa the fair and noble mothe
inspired for nobler objects. than did the beau
tiful wltching maiden Medea. Yet, in any
case, haPpiest and most fortunate, are all the
worlds men of mark and of great deeds, whC
have been blessed and guided by the inspir
alton of some faithful, loving soul of woman
In the refinement of her nature are not only
Sanctities, but heroisms, too much overcloud'
ed in men by the dominance of their passions
and happy is he, who has a great work In the
world, If he can have 1T consecrated by the
love of a woman.
HELP FROM ENGLAND.
Among the host of heroes that came to
adventure under the standard of the gallant
Prince, there appeared a plain bluff Eng
lishman named John Coffin, who was moth
ing more than a tallow chandler of Cheap
side, London but he came with five well
appointed ships filed with armed partisans
and all provided by his own long purse. He
came to respond to the appeal of the noble
Prince, the cousin of his King Henry w.
being inspired by memories of the lovely
Il IllCcSS II nllllpdt WllOln ne u seen upon
her p%alfrey grace the streets of London
When the sagacious King Joao saw the
force and means that had sprung up TO re-
spond to the enthusiasm and heroic purpose
of Prince Henry, and especially when he
saw the substantial ships, of the Englishman
cast anchor in the Tagus, with the banner of
the Prince ut their mainmaSts, he felt that
the enterprise had assumed a proportion
which deserved the serious consideration of
himself and of his government; and which
IL was important that he as King should con-
troll and direct. And thus as usual would
conservative caution step in, as it does every
where, 10 reap the fruits of the enthusiasm
and enterprise of genius. And the old fogy-
ism of the Court of Lisbon was glad to avail
itself of the success of ar enterprise, which
its cautious spirit had led it TO condemn.
But Joao was a true Prince, who denied not
to his son and his associates the full need
of glory, which their enterprise deserved.
He Joined his armies TO the enterprise, and
soon the Tagus beheld a great feet. on
board of which was a great army ready to
sail for the coast of Africa.
Queen Phillipa lay on a bed of sickness,
whilst the fleet, being detained by contrary
winds, was awaiting an opportunity to de-
part. Her faithful warrior boy was watch
ing by the bedside of his precious mother,
and she was encouraging him to leave her
to go on his great enterprise. BY and by, a
gust shook the easements, and she enquired,
g What wind is that blowing so hard, which
now shakes the chamber 2" 1.-The north
wind" said her servants. "That is the
right wind she replied ; and then, address
ing her dear heroic son, she urged him not
to neglect his great enterprise, even for her
ooIo Sho ,1lI him thof he urar,II call on
St. James Day, then some eight days dis
glorious enterprise, and would open up new
ways for the Cross of Christ, and for bring
ing great glory and power to his country.
All her words were fulfilled. She was
indeed a prophetic voice for the glory of
Portugal, and deserving of mention along
with her great son among the prophetic
voices to be honored by America. And it
would seem that she inherited the spirit from
her brave father,-that Gaunt OF Lancaster,
who says in Shakespeare
"Methinks 1 am a prophet new inspir'd;"
And then gives utterance TO his glorious
eulogy of England. She passed away
without Witnessing any of the glories of her
illustrious son. The chroniclers of Portu-
guese history all speak of her with enthusi-
asm,-not only of the nobility of her char
acter, but of the great beauty of her person,
whic she preserved unto her latest days,
along with a t~ranscendent sweetness and
serenity of disposition. She was the idol of
the people, and her royal husband found it
necessary in order to win popular approval
of any public act, to let it be known that it
met the appreciation of Queen Phillipa.s
CAPTURE OF CEUTA IN l4l5.
The expedition sailed on the day mention
ed by the Queen. When the feet arrived
at Ceufa, Henry was the first man TO leap
ashore and after three days of terrible
storm and siege of one of the strongest fort
resses of those times, and after forty thou
sand human carcasses had encumbered the
streets of the Moorish city, Prince Henry
was hailed as a conqueror, about the same
time that his cousin Harry of England won
his great victory of Agincourt. He, standing
amid the gore and debris of n sacked citadel,
was honored by various titles given 10 him
by his father and the King then caused 10
be proclaimed, that the Prince should ever
after be hailed by his countrymen by the
title Of
HEN THE LLUSTRIOUs."
But though this great Prince had proven
himself a warrior, and a captain OF the hrst
class, like his royal father, the hero of Alju-
barotta like his grandfather the Lord High
Admiral; like his great uncle the Black
Prince and like his uncle Henry ". and
his cousin Harry V. of England. Yet war
and conquest and the destruction of his fell
low men, was no passion with him, as with
all his distinguished warlike and princely
relatives. The capture of Ceuta was not
for him an opening TO farther conquest but
simply a gateway by which he might enter
a new pathway of discovery leading into and
throughout Africa. Having established the
freedom of Mediterranean waters for Portu-
: walsingham in his History of England says that