f all consideration of his
claims till, after his death, it was too late for them to be considered.

All the documents, when read with the interest which we take in his
character and fortunes, are indeed pathetic; but they did not seem so to
the king, if indeed they ever met his eye.

In despair of obtaining justice for himself, Columbus asked that his son
Diego might be sent to Hispaniola in his place. The king would promise
nothing, but seems to have attempted to make Columbus exchange the
privileges which he enjoyed by the royal promise for a seignory in a
little town in the kingdom of Leon, which is named not improperly "The
Counts' Carrion."

It is interesting to see that one of the persons whom he employed, in
pressing his claim at the court and in the management of his affairs,
was Vespucci, the Florentine merchant, who in early life had been known
as Alberigo, but had now taken the name of Americo.

The king was still engaged in the affairs of the islands. He appointed
bishops to take charge of the churches in the colonies, but Columbus
was not so much as consulted as to the persons who should be sent. When
Philip arrived from Flanders, with his wife Juana, who was the heir of
Isabella's fortunes and crown, Columbus wished to pay his court to them,
but was too weak to do so in person.

There is a manly letter, written with dignity and pathos, in which
he presses his claims upon them. He commissioned his brother, the
Adelantado, to take this letter, and with it he went to wait upon the
young couple. They received him most cordially, and gave flattering
hopes that they would attend favorably to the suit. But this was too
late for Columbus himself. Immediately after he had sent his brother
away, his illness increased in violence.

The time for petitions and for answers to petitions had come to an end.
His health failed steadily, and in the month of May he knew that he was
approaching his death. The king and the court had gone to Villafranca de
Valcacar.

On the nineteenth of May Columbus executed his will, which had been
prepared at Segovia a year before. In this will he directs his son and
his successors, acting as administrators, always to maintain "in the
city of Genoa, some person of our line, who shall have a house and
a wife in that place, who shall receive a sufficient income to live
honorably, as being one of our relatives, having foot and root in the
said city, as a native; since he will be able to