make the intended difcovery. Want of fkill and perfeverance in the pilot rendered the plot unfuccefstul : And Columbus, on difcovering the treachery, retired with an ingenuous indignation from a court capable of fuch duplicity.

23. Having now performed what was due to the country that gave him birth, and to the one that adopted him as a fubject, he was at liberty to court the patronage of any prince who fhould have the wisdom and justice to accept his propofals.

24. He had communicated his ideas to his brother Bartholomew, whom he fent to England to negociate with Henry the feventh; at the fame time that he went him felf into Spain, to apply in perfon to Ferdinand and Ifabella, who governed the united kingdoms of Arragon and Caftile.

25. The circumftances of his brother's application in England, which appears to have been unsuccessful, it is not to my purpose to relate; and the limits prescribed to this fketch, will prevent the detail of all the particulars relating to his own negociation in Spain.

26. In this negociation Columbus fpent eight years in the various agitations of fufpence, expectation, and disap pointment; till, at length, his fcheme was adopted by Ifabella, who undertook, as queen of Caftile, to defray the expences of the expedition; and declared herfelf, ever after, the friend and patron of the hero who projected it.

27. Columbus, who during all his ill fuccefs in the negociation, never abated any thing of the honors and emoluments which he expected to acquire in his expedition; obtained from Ferdinand and Ifabella a full ftipulation of every article contai ned in his first proposals.

28. He was conftituted high Admiral and Viceroy of all the Seas, Idlands and Continents which he fhould discover, with power to receive one tenth of the profits arifing from their productions and commerce. Thefe offices and emoluments were to be hereditary in his family.

29. Thefe articles being adjusted, the preparations for the voyage were brought forward with rapidity, but they were by no means adequate to the importance of the expedition. Three fmail veffels, fcarcely fufficient in fize to be employed in the coafting bufinefs, were appointed

to traverse the vaft Atlantic; and to encounter the forms and currents that might be expected in fo lengthy a voyage through diftant and unknown feas.

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30. Thefe velfels, as might be expected in the infancy of navigation, were ill constructed, in a poor condition, and manned by feamen unaccustomed to diftant voyages. But the tedious length of time which Columbus had spent in folicitation and fufpenfe, and the profpect of being able foen to obtain the object of his wishes, induced him to overlook what he could not eafily remedy, and led him to difregard those circumstances which would have intimidated any other mind.

31. He accordingly equipped his fmall fquadron with as much expedition as poffible, manned with ninety men, and victualled for one year. With the fe, on the third of August, 1492, amidst a vaft croud of anxious fpectators, he fet fail on an enterprife, which, if we confider the ill condition of his fhips, the inexperience of his failors, the length and uncertainty of his voyage, and the confequences that flowed from it, was the most daring and important that ever was undertaken.

32. He touched at fome of the Portugue fe fettlements in the Canary lftes, where, although he had but a few days run, he found his veffels needed refitting. He foon made the neceflary repairs, and took his departure from the weftermoft flands that had hitherto been discovered. Here he left the former tract of navigation and feered his courfe due weft.

33. Not many days after he had been at fea, he began to experience a new fcene of difficulty. The failers now began to contemplate the dangers and uncertain iffue of a voyage, the nature and length of which was left entirely to conjecture.

34. Befides fickle nefs and timidity, natural to men unaccustomed to the difcipline of a feafaringlife, feveral cir cumftances contributed to infpire an obftinate and mutinous difpofition, which required the most confummate art as well as fortitude in the admiral, to control. 1

35. Having been three weeks at fea, and experienced the uniform courfe of the trade winds, which always blew in a western direction, they contended, that fhould they continue the fame courfe for a longer period, the fame wind would never permit them to return to Spain.

36. The magnetic needle began to vary its direction. This being the first time that phenomenon was ever difcovered, it was viewed by the failors with aftouifhment, and confidered as an indication that nature itself had changed her courfe, and that Providence was determined to punifh their audazity, in venturing fo far beyond the ordinary bounds of man.

37. They declared that the commands of their fovereign had been fully obeyed in their proceeding fo many days in the fame direction, and fo far fürpaffing the attempts of all former navigators, in queft of new difcoveries. Every talent, requifite for governing, foothing and tempering the paffions of men, is confpicious in the conduct of Columbus on this occafion.

38. The dignity and affability of his manners, his furprifing knowledge and experience in naval affairs, his unwearied and minute attention to the duties of his command, gave him a complete afcendency over the minds of his men; and infpired that degree of confidence which would have maintained his authority in almost any poffible circum---ftances.

39. But here, from the nature of the undertaking, every man had leifure to feed his imagination with all the gloominefs and uncertainty of the profpect. They found every day that the fame fteady gales carried them with great rapi- . dity from their native country, and indeed from all countries of which they had any knowledge.

40. Notwithstanding all the variety of management with which Columbus addreffed himfelf to their paffions fometimes by foothing them with the prognoftics of dif covering land fometimes by flattering their ambition and feafting their avarice with the glory and wealth they would acquire from difcovering thofe rich countries beyond the Atlantic, and foinetimes by threatening them with the difpleafure of their fovereign, fhould timidity and difobedience defeat fo great an object, their uneafinefs ftill increased.

41. From fecret whifpering it arofe to open mutiny and dangerous confpiracy. At length they determined to rid themfelves of the remonftrances of Columbus by throwing him into the fea. The infection fpread from fhip to fhip, and involved officers as well as common failors.

42. They finally loft all fenfe of fubordination, and addrefsed their commander in an infolent manner, demanding to be conducted immediately back to Spain; or, they affured him they would feek their own fafety by taking away his life. Columbus, whofe fagacity and penetration had difcovered every fympton of the diforder, was prepared for the laft ftage of it, and was fufficiently apprifed of the danger that awaited him. He found it vain to contend with paffions he could no longer controul.

43. He therefore propofed that they should obey his orders for three days longer; and, fhould they not dif cover land in that time he would then direct his course for Spain.

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44. They complied with this propofal; and happily for mankind, in three days they difcovered land. This was a Small Inland, to which Columbus gave the name of San Salvador. Their first interview with the natives was a scene of amufement and compaffion on the one part, and of aftonishment and adoration on the other.

45. The natives were entirely naked, fimple and timorous and they viewed the Spaniards as a fuperior order of beings, defcended from the Sun, which, in that Island, and in moft parts of America, was worshipped as a Deity. By this it was eafy for Columbus to perceive the line of conduct proper to be observed toward that fimple and inoftenfive people.

46. Had his companions and fucceffors, of the Spanish nation poffeffed the wisdom and humanity of that discoverer, the benevolent mind would feel no fenfations of regret, in contemplating the extenfive advantages arifing to mankind from the difcovery of America.

47. In this voyage, Columbus difcovered the Iflands of Cuba and Hifpaniola; on the latter of which, he erected a fmall fort, and having left a garrifon of thirty eight men, under the command of an officer by the name of Araba, he Let fail for Spain, returning across the Atlantic, he was overtaken by a violent ftorm, which lasted several days, and increafed to fuch a degree, as baffled all his naval skill, and threatened immediate deftruction.

48. In this fituation, when all were in a ftate of defpair, and it was expected that every fea would fwallow

up the crazy veffel, he manifefted a ferenity and preferce of mind perhaps tiever equalled in cafes of like extremity. He wrote a hort account of his voyage, and of the dif coveries he had made, wrapped it an oiled cloth, enclosed it in a cake of wax, put it into an empty cafk, and threw it overboard in hopes that fome accident might preferve a depofit of so much importance to the world.

49. The ftorm however abated, and he at length arrived “ in Spain; after having been driven, by ftrefs of weather, into the port of Lifton, where he had an opportunity, in an interview with the King of Portugal, to prove the truth of his fyftem, by arguments more convincing than those he had before advanced, is the character of an hemble and unfuccefsful fuitor."

50. He was received every where in Spain with royal honors; his family was ennobled, and his former ftipulation, refpecting his offices and emclments, was ratified in the most folemn manner by Ferdinand and Habella: while all Europe refounded his praifes and reciprocated their joy and congratulations on the difcovery of a new world.!

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51. The immediate confequence of this was a fecond voyage in which Columbus took charge of a fquadron of feventeen fhips of confiderable burthen. Volunteers of all ranks and conditions folicited to be employed in this expedition. He carried over 1500 perfons, together with all the neceffaries for eftablishing a colony, and extending the difcoveries.

52. In this voyage he explored most of the Weft India Iflands; but, on his arrival at Hifpaniola, he found the garrifon he had left there had been totally deftroyed by the natives, and the fort demolished. He however proceeded in the planting of his colony; and by his prudent and humane conduct towards the natives, he effectually established the Spanish authority in that ifland.

53. But while he was thus laying the foundation of their future grandeur in South America, fome difcontented per fons, who had returned from the colony to Spain, together with his former enemies in that kingdom, confpired to ac complish his ruir.

54. They reprefented his conduct in fach a light at