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COLUMBUS AT LA RABIDA
BY WASHINGTON IRVING (ADAPTED)
About half a league from the little seaport of
Palos de Moguer, in Andalusia, there stood, and
continues to stand at the present day, an ancient
convent of Franciscan friars, dedicated to Santa
Maria de Rabida.
One day a stranger on foot, in humble guise,
but of a distinguished air, accompanied by a
small boy, stopped at the gate of the convent and
asked of the porter a little bread and water for
his child. While receiving this humble refreshment,
the prior of the convent, Juan Perez de
Marchena, happened to pass by, and was struck
with the appearance of the stranger. Observing
from his air and accent that he was a foreigner,
he entered into conversation with him and soon
learned the particulars of his story.
That stranger was Columbus.
Accompanied by his little son Diego, he was
on his way to the neighboring town of Huelva,
to seek a brother-in-law, who had married a
sister of his deceased wife.
The prior was a man of extensive information.
His attention had been turned in some measure
to geographical and nautical science. He was
greatly interested by the conversation of Columbus,
and struck with the grandeur of his views.
When he found, however, that the voyager was
on the point of abandoning Spain to seek the
patronage of the court of France, the good friar
took the alarm.
He detained Columbus as his guest, and sent
for a scientific friend to converse with him. That
friend was Garcia Fernandez, a physician of
Palos. He was equally struck with the appearance
and conversation of the stranger. Several
conferences took place at the convent, at which
veteran mariners and pilots of Palos were present.
Facts were related by some of these navigators
in support of the theory of Columbus. In a
word, his project was treated with a deference
in the quiet cloisters of La Rabida and among the
seafaring men of Palos which had been sought in
vain among sages and philosophers.
Among the navigators of Palos was one Martin
Alonzo Pinzon, the head of a family of wealth,
members of which were celebrated for their
adventurous expeditions. He was so convinced of the
feasibility of Columbus's plan that he offered to
engage in it with purse and person, and to bear the
expenses of Columbus in an application to court.
Fray Juan Perez, being now fully persuaded of
the importance of the proposed enterprise, advised
Columbus to repair to the court, and make
his propositions to the Spanish sovereigns,
offering to give him a letter of recommendation to his
friend, the Prior of the Convent of Prado and
confessor to the queen, and a man of great political
influence; through whose means he would,
without doubt, immediately obtain royal audience
and favor. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, also, generously
furnished him with money for the journey,
and the Friar took charge of his youthful son,
Diego, to maintain and educate him in the convent.
Thus aided and encouraged and elated with
fresh hopes, Columbus took leave of the little
junto at La Rabida, and set out, in the spring of
1486, for the Castilian court, which had just
assembled at Cordova, where the sovereigns were
fully occupied with their chivalrous enterprise for
the conquest of Granada. But alas! success was
not yet! for Columbus met with continued
disappointments and discouragements, while his
projects were opposed by many eminent prelates
and Spanish scientists, as being against religion
and unscientific. Yet in spite of this opposition,
by degrees the theory of Columbus began to
obtain proselytes. He appeared in the presence
of the king with modesty, yet self-possession,
inspired by a consciousness of the dignity and
importance of his errand; for he felt himself, as
he afterwards declared in his letters, animated as
if by a sacred fire from above, and considered
himself an instrument in the hand of Heaven to
accomplish its great designs. For nearly seven
years of apparently fruitless solicitation, Columbus
followed the royal court from place to place, at
times encouraged by the sovereigns, and at others
neglected.
At last he looked round in search of some other
source of patronage, and feeling averse to subjecting
himself to further tantalizing delays and
disappointments of the court, determined to repair
to Paris. He departed, therefore, and went to the
Convent of La Rabida to seek his son Diego.
When the worthy Friar Juan Perez de Marchena
beheld Columbus arrive once more at the gate of
his convent after nearly seven years of fruitless
effort at court, and saw by the humility of his
garb the poverty he had experienced, he was
greatly moved; but when he found that he was
about to carry his proposition to another country,
his patriotism took alarm.
The Friar had once been confessor to the
queen, and knew that she was always accessible
to persons of his sacred calling. He therefore
wrote a letter to her, and at the same time
entreated Columbus to remain at the convent
until an answer could be received. The latter
was easily persuaded, for he felt as if on leaving
Spain he was again abandoning his home.
The little council at La Rabida now cast round
their eyes for an ambassador to send on this
momentous mission. They chose one Sebastian
Rodriguez, a pilot of Lepe, one of the most
shrewd and important personages in this maritime
neighborhood. He so faithfully and successfully
conducted his embassy that he returned
shortly with an answer.
Isabella had always been favorably disposed
to the proposition of Columbus. She thanked
Juan Perez for his timely services and requested
him to repair immediately to the court, leaving
Columbus in confident hope until he should hear
further from her. This royal letter, brought back
by the pilot at the end of fourteen days, spread
great joy in the little junto at the convent.
No sooner did the warm-hearted friar receive
it than he saddled his mule, and departed,
privately, before midnight to the court. He
journeyed through the countries of the Moors,
and rode into the new city of Santa Fe where
Ferdinand and Isabella were engaged in besieging
the capital of Granada.
The sacred office of Juan Perez gained him a
ready admission into the presence of the queen.
He pleaded the cause of Columbus with enthusiasm.
He told of his honorable motives, of his
knowledge and experience, and his perfect
capacity to fulfill the undertaking. He showed the
solid principles upon which the enterprise was
founded, and the advantage that must attend its
success, and the glory it must shed upon the
Spanish Crown.
Isabella, being warm and generous of nature
and sanguine of disposition, was moved by the
representations of Juan Perez, and requested that
Columbus might be again sent to her. Bethinking
herself of his poverty and his humble plight, she
ordered that money should be forwarded to him,
sufficient to bear his traveling expenses, and to
furnish him with decent raiment.
The worthy friar lost no time in communicating
the result of his mission. He transmitted
the money, and a letter, by the hand of an
inhabitant of Palos, to the physician, Garcia
Fernandez, who delivered them to Columbus
The latter immediately changed his threadbare
garb for one more suited to the sphere of a court,
and purchasing a mule, set out again, reanimated
by hopes, for the camp before Granada.
This time, after some delay, his mission was
attended with success. The generous spirit of
Isabella was enkindled, and it seemed as if the
subject, for the first time, broke upon her mind in
all its real grandeur. She declared her resolution
to undertake the enterprise, but paused for
a moment, remembering that King Ferdinand
looked coldly on the affair, and that the royal
treasury was absolutely drained by the war.
Her suspense was but momentary. With an
enthusiasm worthy of herself and of the cause,
she exclaimed: ``I undertake the enterprise for
my own crown of Castile, and will pledge my
jewels to raise the necessary funds.'' This was
the proudest moment in the life of Isabella. It
stamped her renown forever as the patroness of
the discovery of the New World. |
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