The agreement settled.

Not much is seen of King Ferdinand in all these proceedings; and it is generally understood that he looked rather coldly upon the propositions of Columbus.  We cannot say that he was at all unwise in so doing.  His great compeer, Henry the Seventh, did not hasten to adopt the same project submitted to him by Bartholomew Columbus, sent into England[8] for that purpose by his brother Christopher; and it has not been thought to derogate from the English king’s sagacity.

[Footnote 8:  It is difficult to determine how the project brought before Henry the Seventh’s notice by Bartholomew Columbus was received.  Some say it was made a mockery of at the English court; others speak of it as actually accepted.  Lord Bacon states that Bartholomew was taken by pirates on his voyage to England, which delayed him so much that “before he had obtained a capitulation with the king for his brother, the enterprise by him was achieved.”  It is probable that Henry listened with interest to Bartholomew Columbus, who was a man of much intelligence and great maritime knowledge.  But it seems unlikely that the negotiation went very far, considering the rigid manner in which Columbus insisted upon his exact conditions being accepted by the Spanish court.  No such bargain, at a distance, with a reserved and parsimonious monarch, was likely, therefore, to have been concluded.  It appears, however, from a despatch from the Spanish ambassador to his sovereigns, dated the 25th July, 1498, that the English were not behind other nations in a thirst for discovery, “Merchants of Bristol,” he says, “have for the last seven years sent out annually some ships in search of the island of Brazil and the Seven Cities.”  If this assertion is accurate, England must have anticipated Spain in the search for, though not in the discovery of, the western world.]

  Fate of projectors’ plans.

Those who govern are in all ages surrounded by projectors, and have to clear the way about them as well as they can, and to take care that they get time and room for managing their own immediate affairs.  It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if good plans should sometimes share the fate which ought to attend, and must attend, the great mass of all projects submitted to men in power.  Here, however the ultimate event would justify the monarch’s caution; for it would be hard to prove that Spain has derived aught but a golden weakness from her splendid discoveries and possessions in the new world.

  FERDINAND’S coldness.

Moreover, the characters of the two men being essentially opposed, it is probable that Ferdinand felt something like contempt for the uncontrolled enthusiasm of Columbus; and, upon the whole, it is rather to be wondered that the king consented to give the powers he did, than that he did not do more.  Had it been a matter which concerned his own kingdom of Aragon, he might not have gone so far; but the expenses were to be eventually charged on Castille, and perhaps he looked upon the whole affair as another instance of Isabella’s good natured sympathy with enthusiasts.  His own cool and wary nature must have distrusted this “pauper pilot, promising rich realms.” [9]