The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Vol. II)

W >> Washington Irving >> The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Vol. II)

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44

The generous wishes of this high-minded Spaniard met with warm concurrence
on the part of the governor. He informed him in reply, that the duke of
Veraguas, lineal successor of Columbus, had manifested the same
solicitude, and had sent directions that the necessary measures should be
taken at his expense; and had at the same time expressed a wish that the
bones of the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew Columbus, should likewise be
exhumed; transmitting inscriptions to be put upon the sepulchres of both.
He added, that although the king had given no orders on the subject, yet
the proposition being so accordant with the grateful feelings of the
Spanish nation, and meeting with the concurrence of all the authorities of
the island, he was ready on his part to carry it into execution. The
commandant-general Aristizabal then made a similar communication to the
archbishop of Cuba, Don Fernando Portillo y Torres, whose metropolis was
then the city of St. Domingo, hoping to receive his countenance and aid in
this pious undertaking. The reply of the archbishop was couched in terms
of high courtesy towards the gallant commander, and deep reverence for the
memory of Columbus, and expressed a zeal in rendering this tribute of
gratitude and respect to the remains of one who had done so much for the
glory of the nation.

The persons empowered to act for the duke of Veraguas, the venerable dean
and chapter of the cathedral, and all the other persons and authorities to
whom Don Gabriel de Aristizabal made similar communications, manifested
the same eagerness to assist in the performance of this solemn and
affecting rite.

The worthy commander Aristizabal, having taken all these preparatory steps
with great form and punctilio, so as that the ceremony should be performed
in a public and striking manner, suitable to the fame of Columbus, the
whole was carried into eflect with becoming pomp and solemnity.

On the 20th December, 1795, the most distinguished persons of the place,
the dignitaries of the church, and civil and military officers, assembled
in the metropolitan cathedral. In the presence of this august assemblage,
a small vault was opened above the chancel, in the principal wall on the
right side of the high altar. Within were found the fragments of a leaden
coffin, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould, evidently the remains
of a human body. These were carefully collected and put into a case of
gilded lead, about half an ell in length and breadth, and a third in
height, secured by an iron lock, the key of which was delivered to the
archbishop. The case was inclosed in a coffin covered with black velvet,
and ornamented with lace and fringe of gold. The whole was then placed in
a temporary tomb or mansoleum.

On the following day, there was another grand convocation at the
cathedral, when the vigils and masses for the dead were solemnly chanted
by the archbishop, accompanied by the commandant-general of the armada,
the Dominican and Franciscan friars, and the friars of the order of Mercy,
together with the rest of the distinguished assemblage. After this a
funeral sermon was preached, by the archbishop.

On the same day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the coffin was
transported to the ship with the utmost state and ceremony, with a civil,
religious, add military procession, banners wrapped in mourning, chants
and responses, and discharges of artillery. The most distinguished persons
of the several orders took turn to support the coffin. The key was taken
with great formality from the hands of the archbishop by the governor, and
given into the hands of the commander of the armada, to be delivered by
him to the governor of the Havana, to be held in deposit until the
pleasure of the king should be known. The coffin was received on board of
a brigantine called the Discoverer, which, with all the other shipping,
displayed mourning signals, and saluted the remains with the honors paid
to an admiral.

From the port of St. Domingo the coffin was conveyed to the bay of Ocoa
and there transferred to the ship San Lorenzo. It was accompanied by a
portrait of Columbus, sent from Spain by the duke of Veraguas, to be
suspended close by the place where the remains of his illustrious ancestor
should be deposited.

The ship immediately made sail and arrived at Havana in Cuba, on the 15th
of January, 1796. Here the same deep feeling of reverence to the memory of
the discoverer was evinced. The principal authorities repaired on board of
the ship, accompanied by the superior naval and military officers. Every
thing was conducted with the same circumstantial and solemn ceremonial.
The remains were removed with great reverence, and placed in a felucca, in
which they were conveyed to land in the midst of a procession of three
columns of feluccas and boats in the royal service, all properly
decorated, containing distinguished military and ministerial officers. Two
feluccas followed, in one of which was a marine guard of honor, with
mourning banners and muffled drums; and in the other were the
commandant-general, the principal minister of marine, and the military
staff. In passing the vessels of war in the harbor, they all paid the
honors due to an admiral and captain-general of the navy. On arriving at
the mole, the remains were met by the governor of the island, accompanied
by the generals and the military staff. The coffin was then conveyed
between files of soldiery which lined the streets to the obelisk, in the
place of arms, where it was received in a hearse prepared for the purpose.
Here the remains were formally delivered to the governor and
captain-general of the island, the key given up to him, the coffin opened
and examined, and the safe transportation of its contents authenticated.
This ceremony being concluded, it was conveyed in grand procession and
with the utmost pomp to the cathedral. Masses and the solemn ceremonies
of the dead were performed by the bishop, and the mortal remains of
Columbus deposited with great reverence in the wall on the right side of
the grand altar. "All these honors and ceremonies," says the document,
from whence this notice is digested, [239] "were attended by the
ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries, the public bodies and all the
nobility and gentry of Havana, in proof of the high estimation and
respectful remembrance in which they held the hero who had discovered the
New World, and had been the first to plant the standard of the cross on
that island."

This is the last occasion that the Spanish nation has had to testify its
feelings towards the memory of Columbus, and it is with deep satisfaction
that the author of this work has been able to cite at large a ceremonial
so solemn, affecting, and noble in its details, and so honorable to the
national character.

When we read of the remains of Columbus, thus conveyed from the port of
St. Domingo, after an interval of nearly three hundred years, as sacred
national relics, with civic and military pomp, and high religious
ceremonial; the most dignified and illustrious men striving who most
should pay them reverence; we cannot but reflect that it was from this
very port lie was carried off loaded with ignominious chains, blasted
apparently in fame and fortune, and followed by the revilings of the
rabble. Such honors, it is true, are nothing to the dead, nor can they
atone to the heart, now dust and ashes, for all the wrongs and sorrows it
may have suffered; but they speak volumes of comfort to the illustrious,
yet slandered and persecuted living, encouraging them bravely to bear with
present injuries, by showing them how true merit outlives all calumny, and
receives its glorious reward in the admiration of after ages.

No. II.

Notice of the Descendants of Columbus.

On the death of Columbus his son Diego succeeded to his rights, as
viceroy and governor of the New World, according to the express
capitulations between the sovereigns and his father. He appears by the
general consent of historians to have been a man of great integrity, of
respectable talents, and of a frank and generous nature. Herrera speaks
repeatedly of the gentleness and urbanity of his manners, and pronounces
him of a noble disposition and without deceit. This absence of all guile
frequently laid him open to the stratagems of crafty men, grown old in
deception, who rendered his life a continued series of embarrassments; but
the probity of his character, with the irresistible power of truth, bore
him through difficulties in which more politic and subtle men would have
been entangled and completely lost.

Immediately after the death of the admiral, Don Diego came forward as
lineal successor, and urged the restitution of the family offices and
privileges, which had been suspended during the latter years of his
father's life. If the cold and wary Ferdinand, however, could forget his
obligations of gratitude and justice to Columbus, he had less difficulty
in turning a deaf ear to the solicitations of his son. For two years Don
Diego pressed his suit with fruitless diligence. He felt the apparent
distrust of the monarch the more sensibly, from having been brought up
under his eye, as a page in the royal household, where his character ought
to be well known and appreciated. At length, on the return of Ferdinand
from Naples in 1508, he put to him a direct question, with the frankness
attributed to his character. He demanded "why his majesty would not grant
to him as a favor, that which was his right, and why he hesitated to
confide in the fidelity of one who had been reared in his house."
Ferdinand replied that he could fully confide in him, but could not repose
so great a trust at a venture in his children and successors. To this Don
Diego rejoined, that it was contrary to all justice and reason to make him
suffer for the sins of his children who might never be born. [240]

Still, though he had reason and justice on his side, the young admiral
found it impossible to bring the wary monarch to a compliance. Finding all
appeal to all his ideas of equity or sentiments of generosity in vain, he
solicited permission to pursue his claim in the ordinary course of law.
The king could not refuse so reasonable a request, and Don Diego commenced
a process against king Ferdinand before the council of the Indies, founded
on the repeated capitulations between the crown and his father, and
embracing all the dignities and immunities ceded by them.

One ground of opposition to these claims was, that if the capitulation,
made by the sovereigns in 1492, had granted a perpetual viceroyalty to the
admiral and his heirs, such grant could not stand; being contrary to the
interest of the state, and to an express law promulgated in Toledo in
1480; wherein it was ordained that no office, involving the administration
of justice, should be given in perpetuity; that therefore, the viceroyalty
granted to the admiral could only have been for his life; and that even
during that term it had justly been taken from him for his misconduct.
That such concessions were contrary to the inherent prerogatives of the
crown, of which the government could not divest itself. To this Don Diego
replied, that as to the validity of the capitulation, it was a binding
contract, and none of its privileges ought to be restricted. That as by
royal schedules dated in Villa Franca, June 2d, 1506, and Almazan, Aug.
28, 1507, it had been ordered that he, Don Diego, should receive the
tenths, so equally ought the other privileges to be accorded to him. As to
the allegation that his lather had been deprived of his viceroyalty for
his demerits, it was contrary to all truth. It had been audacity on the
part of Bobadilla to send him a prisoner to Spain in 1500, and contrary to
the will and command of the sovereigns, as was proved by their letter,
dated from Valencia de la Torre in 1502, in which they expressed grief at
his arrest, and assured him that it should be redressed, and his
privileges guarded entire to himself and his children. [241]

This memorable suit was commenced in 1508, and continued for several
years. In the course of it the claims of Don Diego were disputed,
likewise, on the plea that his father was not the original discoverer of
Terra Firma, but only subsequently of certain portions of it. This,
however, was completely controverted by overwhelming testimony. The claims
of Don Diego were minutely discussed and rigidly examined; and the
unanimous decision of the council of the Indies in his favor, while it
reflected honor on the justice and independence of that body, silenced
many petty cavilers at the fair fame of Columbus. [242] Notwithstanding
this decision, the wily monarch wanted neither means nor pretexts to delay
the ceding of such vast powers, so repugnant to his cautious policy. The
young admiral was finally indebted for his success in this suit to
previous success attained in a suit of a different nature. He had become
enamored of Dona Maria de Toledo, daughter of Fernando de Toledo, grand
commander of Leon, and niece to Don Fadrique de Toledo, the celebrated
duke of Alva, chief favorite of the king. This was aspiring to a high
connection. The father and uncle of the lady were the most powerful
grandees of the proud kingdom of Spain, and cousins german to Ferdinand.
The glory, however, which Columbus had left behind, rested upon his
children, and the claims of Don Diego, recently confirmed by the council,
involved dignities and wealth sufficient to raise him to a level with the
loftiest alliance. He found no difficulty in obtaining the hand of the
lady, and thus was the foreign family of Columbus ingrafted on one of the
proudest races of Spain. The natural consequences followed. Diego had
secured that magical power called "connections;" and the favor of
Ferdinand, which had been so long withheld from him, as the son of
Columbus, shone upon him, though coldly, as the nephew of the duke of
Alva. The father and uncle of his bride succeeded, though with great
difficulty, in conquering the repugnance of the monarch, and after all he
but granted in part the justice they required. He ceded to Don Diego
merely the dignities and powers enjoyed by Nicholas de Ovando, who was
recalled; and he cautiously withheld the title of viceroy.

The recall of Ovando was not merely a measure to make room for Don Diego;
it was the tardy performance of a promise made to Isabella on her
death-bed. The expiring queen had demanded it as a punishment for the
massacre of her poor Indian subjects at Xaragua, and the cruel and
ignominious execution of the female cacique Anacaona. Thus retribution was
continually going its rounds in the checkered destinies of this island,
which has ever presented a little epitome of human history; its errors and
crimes, and consequent disasters.

In complying with the request of the queen, however, Ferdinand was
favorable towards Ovando. He did not feel the same generous sympathies
with his late consort, and, however Ovando had sinned against humanity in
his treatment of the Indians, he had been a vigilant officer, and his very
oppressions had in general proved profitable to the crown. Ferdinand
directed that the fleet which took out the new governor should return
under the command of Ovando, and that he should retain undisturbed
enjoyment of any property or Indian slaves that might be found in his
possession. Some have represented Ovando as a man far from mercenary; that
the wealth wrung from the miseries of the natives was for his sovereign,
not for himself; and it is intimated that one secret cause of his disgrace
was his having made an enemy of the all-powerful and unforgiving Fonseca.
[243]

The new admiral embarked at St. Lucar, June 9, 1509, with his wife, his
brother Don Fernando, who was now grown to man's estate, and had been well
educated, and his two uncles, Don Bartholomew and Don Diego. They were
accompanied by a numerous retinue of cavaliers, with their wives, and of
young ladies of rank and family, more distinguished, it is hinted, for
high blood than large fortune, and who were sent out to find wealthy
husbands in the New World. [244]

Though the king had not granted Don Diego the dignity of viceroy, the
title was generally given to him by courtesy, and his wife was universally
addressed by that of vice-queen.

Don Diego commenced his rule with a degree of splendor hitherto unknown in
the colony. The vice-queen, who was a lady of great desert, surrounded by
the noble cavaliers and the young ladies of family who had come in her
retinue, established a sort of court, which threw a degree of lustre over
the half savage island. The young ladies were soon married to the
wealthiest colonists, and contributed greatly to soften those rude manners
which had grown up in a state of society hitherto destitute of the
salutary restraint and pleasing decorum produced by female influence.

Don Diego had considered his appointment in the light of a vice-royalty,
but the king soon took measures which showed that he admitted of no such
pretension. Without any reference to Don Diego, he divided the coast of
Darien into two great provinces, separated by an imaginary line running
through the Gulf of Uraba, appointing Alonzo de Ojeda governor of the
eastern province, which he called New Andalusia, and Diego de Nicuessa
governor of the western province, which included the rich coast of
Veragua, and which he called Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile. Had the
monarch been swayed by principles of justice and gratitude, the settlement
of this coast would have been given to the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew
Columbus, who had assisted in the discovery of the country, and, together
with his brother the admiral, had suffered so greatly in the enterprise.
Even his superior abilities for the task should have pointed him out to
the policy of the monarch; but the cautious and [245] calculating
Ferdinand knew the lofty spirit of the Adelantado, and that he would be
disposed to demand high and dignified terms. He passed him by, therefore,
and preferred more eager and accommodating adventurers.

Don Diego was greatly aggrieved at this measure, thus adopted without his
participation or knowledge. He justly considered it an infringement of the
capitulations granted and repeatedly confirmed to his father and his
heirs. He had further vexations and difficulties with respect to the
government of the island of St. Juan, or Porto Rico, which was conquered
and settled about this time; but after a variety of cross purposes, the
officers whom he appointed were ultimately recognized by the crown.

Like his father, he had to contend with malignant factions in his
government; for the enemies of the father transferred their enmity to the
son. There was one Miguel Pasamonte, the king's treasurer, who became his
avowed enemy, under the support and chiefly at the instigation of the
bishop Fonseca, who continued to the son the implacable hostility which he
had manifested to the father. A variety of trivial circumstances
contributed to embroil him with some of the petty officers of the colony,
and there was a remnant of the followers of Bohian who arrayed themselves
against him. [246]

Two factions soon arose in the island; one of the admiral, the other of
the treasurer Pasamonte. The latter affected to call themselves the party
of the king. They gave all possible molestation to Don Diego, and sent
home the most virulent and absurd misrepresentations of his conduct. Among
others, they represented a large house with many windows which he was
building, as intended for a fortress, and asserted that he had a design to
make himself sovereign of the island. King Ferdinand, who was now
advancing in years, had devolved the affairs of the Indies in a great
measure on Fonseca,[247] who had superintended them from the
first, and he was greatly guided by the advice of that prelate, which was
not likely to be favorable to the descendants of Columbus. The complaints
from the colonies were so artfully enforced, therefore, that he
established in 1510 a sovereign court at St. Domingo, called the royal
audience, to which an appeal might be made from all sentences of the
admiral, even in cases reserved hitherto exclusively for the crown. Don
Diego considered this a suspicious and injurious measure intended to
demolish his authority.

Frank, open, and unsuspicious, the young admiral was not formed for a
contest with the crafty politicians arrayed against him, who were ready
and adroit in seizing upon his slightest errors, and magnifying them into
crimes. Difficulties were multiplied in his path which it was out of his
power to overcome. He had entered upon office full of magnanimous
intentions; determined to put an end to oppression, and correct all
abuses; all good men therefore had rejoiced at his appointment; but he
soon found that he had overrated his strength, and undervalued the
difficulties awaiting him. He calculated from his own good heart, but he
had no idea of the wicked hearts of others. He was opposed to the
repartimientos of Indians, that source of all kinds of inhumanity; but he
found all the men of wealth in the colony, and most of the important
persons of the court, interested in maintaining them. He perceived that
the attempt to abolish them would be dangerous, and the result
questionable: at the same time this abuse was a source of immense profit
to himself. Self-interest, therefore, combined with other considerations,
and what at first appeared difficult, seemed presently impracticable. The
repartimientos continued in the state in which he found them, excepting
that he removed such of the superintendents as had been cruel and
oppressive, and substituted men of his own appointment, who probably
proved equally worthless. His friends were disappointed, his enemies
encouraged; a hue and cry was raised against him by the friends of those
he had displaced; and it was even said that if Ovando had not died about
this time, he would have been sent out to supplant Don Diego.

The subjugation and settlement of the island of Cuba in 1510, was a
fortunate event in the administration of the present admiral. He
congratulated king Ferdinand on having acquired the largest and most
beautiful island in the world without losing a single man. The
intelligence was highly acceptable to the king; but it was accompanied by
a great number of complaints against the admiral. Little affection as
Ferdinand felt for Don Diego, he was still aware that most of these
representations were false, and had their origin in the jealousy and envy
of his enemies. He judged it expedient, however, in 1512, to send out Don
Bartholomew Columbus with minute instructions to his nephew the admiral.

Don Bartholomew still retained the office of Adelantado of the Indies;
although Ferdinand, through selfish motives, detained him in Spain, while
he employed inferior men in voyages of discovery. He now added to his
appointments the property and government of the little island of Mona
during life, and assigned him a repartimiento of two hundred Indians, with
the superintendence of the mines which might be discovered in Cuba; an
office which proved very lucrative. [248]

Among the instructions given by the king to Don Diego, he directed that,
in consequence of the representations of the Dominican friars, the labor
of the natives should be reduced to one-third; that negro slaves should be
procured from Guinea as a relief to the Indians; [249] and that Carib
slaves should be branded on the leg, to prevent other Indians from being
confounded with them and subjected to harsh treatment. [250]

The two governors, Ojeda and Nicuessa, whom the king had appointed to
colonize and command at the Isthmus of Darien, in Terra Firma, having
failed in their undertaking, the sovereign, in 1514, wrote to Hispaniola,
permitting the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew, if so inclined, to take charge
of settling the coast of Veragua, and to govern that country under the
admiral Don Diego, conformably to his privileges. Had the king consulted
his own interest, and the deference due to the talents and services of the
Adelantado, this measure would have been taken at an earlier date. It was
now too late: illness prevented Don Bartholomew from executing the
enterprise; and his active and toilsome life was drawing to a close.

Many calumnies having been sent home to Spain by Pasamonte and other
enemies of Don Diego, and various measures being taken by government,
which he conceived derogatory to his dignity, and injurious to his
privileges, he requested and obtained permission to repair to court, that
he might explain and vindicate his conduct. He departed, accordingly, on
April 9th, 1515, leaving the Adelantado with the vice-queen, Dofia Maria.
He was received with great honor by the king; and he merited such a
reception. He had succeeded in every enterprise he had undertaken or
directed. The pearl fishery had been successfully established on the coast
of Cubagua; the islands of Cuba and of Jamaica had been subjected and
brought under cultivation without bloodshed; his conduct as governor had
been upright; and he had only excited the representations made against
him, by endeavoring to lessen the oppression of the natives. The king
ordered that all processes against him in the court of appeal and
elsewhere, for damages done to individuals in regulating the
repartimientos, should be discontinued, and the cases sent to himself for
consideration. But with all these favors, as the admiral claimed a share
of the profits of the provinces of Castilla del Oro, saying that it was
discovered by his father, as the names of its places, such as Nombre de
Dios, Porto Bello, and el Retrete, plainly proved, the king ordered that
interrogatories should be made among the mariners who had sailed with
Christopher Columbus, in the hope of proving that he had not discovered
the coast of Darien nor the Gulf of Uraba. "Thus," adds Herrera, "Don
Diego was always involved in litigations with the fiscal, so that he might
truly say that he was heir to the troubles of his father." [251]