COLUMBUS, or Congregation of St Columbus, a society of regular canons, w ’ lio formerly had one hundred abbeys or monasteries in the British isles.

Columbus, Christopher, the celebrated navigator and discoverer of the western world, was born in the city of Genoa, about the year 1446. Although several illustrious families have contended for his alliance to them, his father Domenicoand his ancestors appear to have followed the trade of woolcombers or carders, and were of humble though reputable origin. Columbus received his education at the university of Padua, and, having evinced an early passion for the sea, entered into nautical life at the age of fourteen. The first voyage in which we have any authentic accounts of his being engaged, was a warlike expedition fitted out at Genoa in 1459, when, associated with hardy and daring adventurers, he acquired so much distinction as to be intrusted with a separate command. After this, it is supposed, he was employed in various commercial, pious, and predatory expeditions against the Mahömme-dans and Venetians, in company with a famous corsair of his own name and family, and acquired reputation and experience in his profession. His son Fernando relates, that in an engagement off the coast of Portugal with four Venetian galleys, returning richly laden from Flanders, the vessel on board which he served, and one of the Venetian ships to which it was grappled, took fire. Columbus threw himself into the sea, seized an oar which was floating near him, and by this means, and his dexterity in swimming, reached the shore, although two leagues distant. Proceeding thereafter to Lisbon, he was induced.to take up his residence in that capital.

Columbus became acquainted in Lisbon with the most eminent men in science and maritime art, whom the encouragement of Prince Henry of Portugal had attracted around him. At this period (anno 1470) he was in the vigour of manhood, of an engaging appearance, grave, courteous, and affable in his deportment, moderate and simple in his diet and apparel, eloquent in discourse, possessing high magnanimity, and a temper which, though irritable, was under the control of a gentle and enthusiastic piety. Here he married Doña Felipa, daughter of Bartolomeo Moñìs de Palestrello, an Italian cavalier lately deceased, and a distinguished navigator, who had discovered and colonized the island of Porto Santo. Having obtained possession of the journals and charts of this sea captain, and also bearing accounts of his voyages from his widow, Columbus was seized with an irresistible desire of visiting unknown regions. In order to indulge it, he made a voyage to Madeira, and continued during several years to trade with that island, the Canaries, Azores, the settlements in Guinea, and the other places which the Portuguese had discovered on the continent of Africa. By the experience acquired in such a number of voyages, Columbus became one of the most skilful navigators in Europe.

At the commencement of the fifteenth century the intelligence of Europe, and particularly of Portugal, was directed in seeking everywhere for the “scattered lights of geographical knowledge.” The lofty and enterprising mind of Prince Henry, matured by diligent researches and laborious investigation, conceived the idea of the circumnavigation of Africa; and under his auspices the Cape of Good Hope was doubled, and the commerce of the East thrown open to maritime adventure. At this period, whilst invention and skill were well nigh exhausted in the projection and accomplishment of this eventful discovery, the existence of the western world was never dreamt of; the Atlantic Ocean was regarded with awe and wonder, “ 'seeming,” says Washington Irving, “to bound the world as with a chaos, into which conjecture could not penetrate, and enterprise feared to adventure.” The danger and tediousness of the voyage by Africa first set Columbus to ruminate whether a shorter and more direct passage to the East Indies could not be found out; and after long consideration, he became thoroughly convinced that, by sailing across the Atlantic in a westwardly direction, new countries, probably forming a part of the vast continent of India, would infallibly be discovered. He was led to this conviction by the theories of the ancients and the discoveries of the moderns, aided by his own experience and the advancement of science. Adopting as a fundamental principle, that the earth was a terraqueous globe, traversable round from east to west, he acquired a notion of its true figure. His eminent biographer, Washington Irving, relates, that “he divided the circumference from east to west at the equator, according to Ptolemy, into twenty-four hours, of fifteen degrees each, making three hundred and sixty degrees. Of these he imagined, comparing the globe of Ptolemy with the earlier map of Marinus of Tyre, that fifteen hours had been known to the ancients, extending from the Canary or Fortunate Islands, to the city of Thinae, in Asia, the western and eastern extremities of the known world. The Portuguese had advanced the western frontier one hour more by the discovery of the Azores and Cape de Verde Islands; still [7:7:131]about eight hours, or one third of the circumference of the earth, remained to be explored. This space he imagined to be occupied in a great measure by the eastern regions of Asia, which might extend so far as to approach the western shores of Europe and Africa. A navigator, therefore, by pursuing a direct course from east to west, must arrive at the extremity of Asia, or discover any intervening land. The great obstacle to be apprehended was from the tract of ocean that might intervene; but this could not be very wide, if the opinion of Alfraganus the Arabian were admitted, who, by diminishing the size of the degrees, gave to the earth a smaller circumference than was assigned to it by other cosmographers; a theory to which Columbus seems generally to have given much faith. He was fortified also by the opinion of Aristotle, Seneca, Pliny, and Strabo, who considered the ocean as but of moderate breadth, so that one might pass from Cadiz westward to the Indies in a few days.”

Columbus received a decided confirmation of his theory in 1474, not only from Paolo Toscanelli, one of the ablest cosmographers of the day, and from the narrative of Marco Polo, a Venetian traveller, whose map proved of great assistance to our navigator in his first voyage of discovery; but also from the observations of several more modern navigators. Martin Vicenti, a Portuguese pilot, proceeding farther westward than usual, found a piece of artificially carved timber floating on the sea, and, as it was wafted by a westerly wind, conjectured that it might have come from some unknown land in that direction. Pedro Correo, the brother-in-law of Columbus, found a similar piece of wood on Porto Santo; and had also seen canes of an enormous size floating upon the waves, which resembled those described by Ptolemy as growing in India. After a course of westwardly winds, trees torn up by the roots were often driven upon the coast of the Azores; and at one time the dead bodies of two men, with singular features, different from those of any known race of people, were cast upon the island of Flores.

On these grounds Columbus formed the vast and daring enterprise which was destined to hand down his name to posterity with unfading honour; and, firmly established in a belief of the successful result of his projects, “he never,” says Irving, “spoke in doubt or hesitation; but with as much certainty as if his eyes had beheld the promised land. A deep religious sentiment also mingled with his thoughts, and gave them at times a tinge of superstition, but 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 prophecies. The ends of the earth were to be brought together, and all nations, and tongues, and languages, united under the banners of the Redeemer.”

The disturbed state of Portugal under Alphonso retarded the progress of discovery. The compass, though in general use, had not gained that reliance which induced mariners fearlessly to brave the dangers of the deep; and the project of a voyage through boundless wastes appeared extravagant and impracticable. Nothing daunted, however, by these disheartening symptoms, Columbus pursued his favourite schemes with ardour, and longed to put them into execution. So perilous an adventure was not, however, to be attempted without the patronage of some sovereign power.; and John II. of Portugal having at this juncture ascended the throne, and being favourably inclined to the cause of discovery, Columbus made his proposals, which were graciously received by the monarch, and referred to a learned junto, consisting of Roderigo and Joseph, two physicians, and Diego - Ortiz, bishop of Ceuta, all men of learning and science. Unfortunately, however, these were the persons who had been the chief directors of the Portuguese navigations, and had advised to search for a passage to India by an opposite course to that which Columbus recommended as shorter and more certain. They could not therefore approve of his proposal without submitting to the double mortification of condemning their own theory and of acknowledging his superiority. The result of their conferences therefore was, that they recommended the king to fit out a caravel privately, and attempt the proposed discovery by the designated route, which they ascertained from charts and details craftily obtained from Columbus. John, in an evil hour, had the weakness to adopt this perfidious counsel. The caravel departed, but the pilots had neither the genius nor fortitude of Columbus; their courage failed, and putting back to the Cape de Verde Islands, they returned from thence to Lisbon, execrating the project as extravagant and irrational.

This ungenerous and unworthy attempt roused the indignation of Columbus, who immediately quitted Portugal, taking with him his infant son Diego, and made application to the government of Genoa'; but this republic, weakened by the reverses of war, rejected a proposal that would have restored their ancient splendour, and might for a long period have “perpetuated the golden w;and of commerce in the failing grasp of Italy.” Columbus next carried his proposition to Venice, where he was equally unsuccessful. He also sent his brother Bartholomew to lay his plans before Henry VII. of England, having in the mean time sailed himself for Spain, where he arrived after having exhausted all his means.

Columbus, in this state of abject poverty, met with great hospitality from Friar Juan Perez de Marchena; and, encouraged by this worthy ecclesiastic and his friends, and assisted by the generosity of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, he set out for the Castilian court at Cordova in the spring of 1486. The moment was unpropitious for such a proposition, the Spanish sovereign being at the time engaged in military preparations against the Moorish kings. At length, through the intercession of Cardinal Gonzalez, he obtained an interview, and submitted his project to Ferdinand. True science had as yet made so little progress in Spain, that most of those to whom the consideration of his plan was referred were utterly ignorant of the first principles on which our adventurer founded his hopes. Some, from mistaken notions concerning the dimensions of the globe, contended that the voyage could not be performed in less than three years: others concluded that Columbus would find the ocean of infinite extent, according to the opinion of some ancient philosophers; or that if he should steer beyond a certain point, the convex figure of the globe would present a kind of mountain, up which the vessel could never sail with the most favourable wind. Even without entering into particular discussion, some rejected the scheme in general, making use of that maxim of the ignorant, “that it is presumptuous in any person to suppose that he alone possesses knowledge superior to all the rest of mankind united.” Worn out with a series of disappointments and delays, and supporting himself by making maps and charts, Columbus, despairing of the Spanish patronage, began to look to other courts, in hopes of meeting more encouragement. He had already made preparations for this purpose, and taken measures for the disposal of his children during his absence, when Juan Perez solicited him to defer his journey, making application at the same time to Isabella, the result of which was a gracious invitation of Columbus back to court, accompanied with the present of a small sum to equip him for the journey. The monarchs were now pledged to attend to his proposals, and negotiations were set on foot to carry them into execution[7:7:132]. Columbus appeared before the persons appointed to confer with him, with the same confident hopes of success as formerly, and insisted on the same high recompense. He proposed that a small fleet should be fitted out under his command to attempt the discovery, and stipulating that he should be invested with the titles and privileges of admiral and viceroy of all the seas and lands he should discover, with one tenth of all gains, either by trade or commerce. He further offered to furnish an eighth of the cost, on condition of enjoying an eighth of the profits. His terms were, however, deemed inadmissible; the negotiation broke off, and Columbus, in indignation, mounting his mule, was already on the road to Cordova, with the intention of immediately proceeding to France, when he was overtaken by a messenger from the queen, who had been prevailed upon by the arguments of Quintanilla and St Angel, two of Columbus’ patrons, again to favour his undertakings. The negotiations were now completed, and the capitulations were signed by Ferdinand and Isabella at Santa Fé on the 17th of April 1492. The articles of agreement were to the following effect:—That Columbus should be constituted high admiral in all the seas, islands, and continents he should discover, with similar honours and prerogatives to those enjoyed by the high admiral of Castile in his district. He was also nominated viceroy and governor-general over all the said lands and continents; and a tenth of all free profits arising from the merchandise and productions of the countries within his admiralty was granted to him for ever. Columbus, or his lieutenant, was to be sole judge of all causes and disputes arising out of traffic between those countries and Spain. He was further permitted to contribute an eighth part of the expense of expeditions to the countries he expected to discover, and was entitled in return to an eighth part of the profits. A principal object of Columbus in this undertaking was the propagation of the Christian faith, to which he was a zealous devotee. Expecting to arrive at the extremity of Asia, he hoped to spread the light of the gospel among the barbarian nations of the East; and so confident were his anticipations, that letters were actually given him by the sovereigns for the Grand Khan of Tartary. Although the royal documents were signed both by Ferdinand and Isabella, her separate crown of Castile defrayed all the expense; and the queen in consequence reserved for her subjects of that kingdom an exclusive right to all the benefits which might accrue from the success of the expedition.

The arrangement being finally completed, Columbus set sail on the 3d of August 1192, in three small vessels, only one of which (commanded by himself) was completely decked. The two others were commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon and Vicente Yáñez Pinzon. The expedition had sailed nearly 200 leagues to the westward, when Columbus perceived that the needle of the coinpass, when night set in, had varied; a circumstance which filled the pilots with consternation. For this phenomenon he was obliged to invent a reason, which, though it did not satisfy himself, yet served to dispel their fears. As the squadron advanced, various indicationsof land, such as birds flying from the west, the water becoming less salt, and occasionally covered with weeds, animated and supported the courage of the crew; but at length murmursand fears began to prevail amongst them. They had sailed for eleven days, wafted by a most propitious breeze, over a tranquil sea, without lowering or shifting a sail. The rude seamen began to be alarmed that no other winds blew but easterly, and that it would therefore be impossible for them ever to return home. A few light breezes from the west allayed for a time their apprehensions, and several small singing birds came in the morning and flew away at night. But the sailors lost all patience, and became so mutinous and refractory that it required the utmost address of Columbus to maintain his authority. The appearances of land, though frequent, were in many instances deceiving; and at last the seamen broke forth into loud clamours, and insisted upon abandoning the voyage. Fortunately, however, on the following day, the manifestations of land were such as no longer to admit of doubt. In the evening Columbus perceived a light glimmering at a distance, and the next morning land was clearly seen about two leagues distant. The sailors now burst forth into the most extravagant transports. They threw themselves at the feet of Columbus, implored his pardon, and pronounced him to be a person inspired by heaven with more than human sagacity and fortitude, to accomplish a design so far beyond the ideas and conceptions of all former ages. At daybreak, says his biographer Spotorno, on the 12th of October, the hero landed, “e di grand' orma il nuovo mondo imprinted (and with his great footstep impressed the new world). Columbus and his followers threw themselves on their knees; and rising, the admiral drew his sword, planted the cross, hoisted the royal standard, and in the presence of the astonished natives, who imagined that the Spaniards had dropped from heaven, took possession of these new countries in the names of the Castilian sovereigns, giving the island the name of San Salvador. Having visited several of the West India islands, and settled a colony in Hispaniola, he again set sail for Spain. ∙ On the voyage he fell in with the Pinta, which had separated from him for a long time through the wickedness of the captain, who had gone in search of gold. After encountering several violent tempests, Columbus arrived in the Tagus, near Lisbon, on the 4th of March 1493. He was treated with the most honourable attentions by the court of Portugal, and finally reached the port of Palos on the 15th of March.

The triumphant return of Columbus excited the most unbounded transport. Wherever he went the air rang with acclamations, and he received such honours as are paid to sovereigns. The court was then at Barcelona, and Columbus took care immediately to acquaint the king and queen of his arrival. They were no less delighted than astonished with this unexpected event. The admiral was conducted into the city with all imaginable pomp. The sovereigns received him seated in state under a rich canopy of brocade of gold, surrounded by their principal nobility. When he approached they stood up, and, raising him as he kneeled to kiss their hands, ordered him to be seated in their presence, and give a circumstantial account of his voyage. When he had finished his oration, which he delivered with much modesty and simplicity, the king and queen, kneeling down, offered up solemn thanks to God for the discovery. Every possible mark of honour that could be suggested by gratitude or admiration was conferred on Columbus; the former capitulation was confirmed, his family was ennobled, and a fleet ordered to be equipped, to enable the navigator to go in quest of those more opulent countries which he still confidently expected to find.

The successful attainment of the splendid discovery of Columbus, great and manifold as were its advantages to mankind, was the prelude to the dark and troubled epoch of his life. By his second voyage to the western world he no doubt in part realized his expectations, extended his discoveries, and came back to Spain with substantial proofs of success; but the ostensible purpose of his return was to obtain reparation of injurious imputations which had been heaped upon him, and generally to have his privileges confirmed and enlarged so as to enable him to exercise his authority over the colonists, who had become re-sractory[7:7:133] and unmanageable. But his third voyage only accelerated his disastrous fate. The newly discovered possessions were distracted with the horrors of rebellion. The verdant and blooming isles, the expected abodes of peace and happiness, were converted into theatres of sanguinary conflicts and misery; and Columbus found himself an object of fear and execration. It was during this voyage that he landed on the coast of Paria, in South America. Meanwhile, his enemies in the old world were not idle. An investigation into his conduct was instituted under the control of Francisco Bovadilla, who was empowered, should he find the charge of mal-administration proved, to supersede Columbus, and assume the government of Hispaniola. The result was, that he and his brothers Diego and Bartolomeo, after having been treated with the greatest indignities, w cre sent to Spain in chains. From these disgraceful bonds he was immediately on his arrival released by the Spanish monarchs; but his complaints were tardily acknowledged; he again sunk into obscurity, and was reduced’to such straitened circumstances that, according to his own account, “he had no place to repair to except an inn, and very frequently had not wherewithal to pay his reckoning.”

At length he was again employed in a fourth voyage, with restricted powers. But the result was unpropitious; and he returned to Spain, dejected in mind and worn out with bodily infirmities. Death at last relieved him from his earthly afflictions. He expired on the 2Oth of May 1506, commending, with his latest breath, his spirit to God. A marble tomb was reared over his dust, bearing the inscription,

A Castilla y a Leon,

Nuevo mondo dio Colon.^[1. To Castile and to Leon, a new world gave Colon. ]

Columbus was a man of great and original genius, energetic in his conduct, and possessed of lofty, daring, but noble ambition. “The magnanimity of his nature,” says Irving, “shone forth through all the troubles of his stormy career. Though continually outraged in his dignity, braved in his authority, foiled in his plans, and endangered in his person, by the seditions of turbulent and worthless men, and that, too, at times when suffering under anguish of body and anxiety of mind, enough to exasperate the most patient, yet he restrained his valiant and indignant spirit, and brought himself to forbear, and reason, and even to supplicate.” His piety, though tinctured with superstition, was genuine and fervent. If on certain occasions his religion displayed itself in harshness and severity, the spirit of the age he lived in must be adverted to in palliation of his conduct. His temperament was deeply imbued with poetic enthusiasm. “It spread,” remarks Irving, “a golden and glorious world around him, and tinged every thing with its own gorgeous colours. It betrayed him into visionary speculations, which subjected him to the sneers and cavils of men of cooler and safer but more grovelling minds. It filled his mind with solemn and visionary meditations on mystic passages of the Scriptures, and on the shadowy portents of the prophecies.” “His soul,” observes a Spanish writer, “was superior to the age in which he lived. For him was reserved the great enterprise of traversing a sea which had given rise to so many fables, and of deciphering the mystery of his age.” “With all the visionary fervour of his imagination,” adds Washington Irving, “its fondest dreams fell short of the reality. He died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery. Until his last breath he entertained the idea that he had merely opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and had discovered some of the wild regions of the East. He supposed Hispaniola to be< the ancient Ophir which had been visited by the ships of king Solomon, and that Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. What visions of glory would have broken upon his mind could he have known that he had indeed discovered a new continent, equal to the old world in magnitude, and separated by two vast oceans from all the earth hitherto known by civilized man 1 and how would his magnanimous spirit have been consoled, amidst the afflictions of age and the cares of penury, the neglect of a fickle public and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could he have anticipated the splendid empires which would arise in 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!” It will be remarked that Mr Irving, in accordance with the generally entertained belief of all his biographers, alludes to Columbus as being the first discoverer of the American continent. It has, however, been lately ascertained that the earliest navigator who touched the American continent was Sebastian Cabot, who discovered Newfoundland and Labrador in June 1497, nearly a year previous to the visit of Columbus on the coast of Paria; and it seems more than probable that Columbus was aware of Cabot’s discovery. " See Cabot.

Few subjects have afforded more abundant matter for learned discussion than the records that from time to time have appeared relating to Columbus. His birth-place alone has given rise to much ingenious and unprofitable speculation. That point, as well as the dates of his birth, and several voyages, are now pretty correctly ascertained. The curious in such investigations are referred to the Spanish and Italian authors, particularly to Dissertazione della Patria di Christophero Colombo, Firenze; the Lives of Columbus, by Bossi and Spotorno; and the Relations des Quatre Voyages enterpris par Christopher Colomb, par Μ. F. de Navarette, ouvrage traduit de l’Espagnol, Paris, 1828. See also Memorials of Columbus, by Spotorno; and Histoire de l’ Amiral Colomb, par Fernando Colomb.

In addition to these points of minor and less general interest, several controversies have arisen bearing upon the claims of Columbus to the discovery of the western world; but such disputes, at least in so far as they affect the discovery of the Columbian archipelago, are proved to be idle and futile; as no doubt now remains of Columbus having been the first navigator of the old world who reached the island of San Salvador, and the first who determined the existence of the western world. One of the most current slanders on our navigator’s fair fame, as related by Inca Garcilaso, was, that Alonzo Sanchez, sailing to the Canaries in 1484, reached the island of St Domingo, and communicated his voyage and route to Columbus. Some other Spanish writers notice the event without giving the name of the author of the discovery. Oviedo considers these relations as mere vulgar fables. We are, however, told by Columbus himself that he took advantage of such accounts as were transmitted to him by Spanish and Portuguese mariners, some of whom had sailed westward so far as to perceive what they considered to be indications of land. Gallo and Giustiniani, authors contemporaneous with Columbus, assert that Bartholomew Columbus first conceived the idea of western discovery, and communicated it to his brother; but Columbus has been triumphantly vindicated from these ungenerous aspersions by the unanimous testimony of the Spanish writers, among whom Las Casas, who knew both brothers, and preserved many papers belonging to Columbus, merits especial credence.
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But if any doubts remained, they are completely removed by the written declaration of Ferdinand and Isabella, who, in a communication dated the 4th of August 1494, write thus to the admiral: “One of the principal reasons for which your discovery (the first) has caused so much joy to us is, that it is to be ascribed to your genius (por ser in-ventada), and that it has been commenced and terminated by your own individual endeavours, by your courage, your perseverance, and industry.”