o be wonderfully resounded through
the earth, and will give thee the keys of the gates of the ocean, which
are closed with strong chains!" The death of his wife appears to have
broken the last link which held him to Portugal, where he had been since
1470. One evening, in the autumn of 1485, a man of majestic presence,
pale, care-worn, and, though in the meridian of life, with silver hair,
leading a little boy by the hand, asked alms at the gate of the
Franciscan convent near Palos--not for himself, but only a little bread
and water for his child. This was that Columbus destined to give to
Europe a new world.

[Sidenote: Is confuted by the Council of Salamanca.] In extreme poverty,
he was making his way to the Spanish court. After many wearisome delays
his suit was referred to a council at Salamanca, before which, however,
his doctrines were confuted from the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the
Prophecies, the Gospels, the Epistles, and the writings of the
fathers--St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Gregory, St.
Basil, St. Ambrose. Moreover, they were demonstrably inconsistent with
reason; since, if even he should depart from Spain, "the rotundity of
the earth would present a kind of mountain up which it was impossible
for him to sail, even with the fairest wind;" and so he could never get
back. The Grand Cardinal of Spain had also indicated their irreligious
nature, and Columbus began to fear that, instead of receiving aid as a
discoverer, he should fall into trouble as a heretic. [Sidenote: Queen
Isabella adopts his views.] However, after many years of mortification
and procrastination, he at length prevailed with Queen Isabella; and on
April 17, 1492, in the field before Granada, then just wrenched from the
Mohammedans by the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella, he received his
commission. With a nobleness of purpose, he desired no reward unless he
should succeed; but, in that case, stipulated that he should have the
title of Admiral and Viceroy, and that his perquisite should be one
tenth of all he should discover--conditions which show what manner of
man this great sailor was. [Sidenote: The expedition prepared.] He had
bound himself to contribute one-eighth to the expenses of the
expedition: this he accomplished through the Pinzons of Palos, an old
and wealthy seafaring family. These arrangements once ratified, he lost
not a moment in completing the preparations for his expedition. The
royal authority enabled him to