Note 341 — Chapter X

To those who wish to know more of Columbus as a writer than can be properly sought in a classical life of him like that of Irving, I commend as precious: 1. The account of his first voyage, addressed to his sovereigns, with the letter to Rafael Sanchez on the same subject (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 1-197); the first document being extant only in an abstract, which contains, however, large extracts from the original made by Las Casas, and of which a very good translation appeared at Boston, 1827 (8vo). Nothing is more remarkable, in the tone of these narratives, than the devout spirit that constantly breaks forth. 2. The account, by Columbus himself, of his third voyage, in a letter to his sovereigns and in a letter to the nurse of Prince John; the first containing several interesting passages showing that he had a love for the beautiful in nature. (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 242-276.) 3. The letter to the sovereigns about his fourth and last voyage, which contains the account of his vision at Veragua. (Navarrete, Col., Tom. I. pp. 296-312.) 4. Fifteen miscellaneous letters. (Ibid., Tom. I. pp. 330-352.) 5. His speculations about the prophecies, (Tom. II. pp. 260-273,) and his letter to the Pope (Tom. II. pp. 280-282). But whoever would speak worthily of Columbus, or know what was most noble and elevated in his character, will be guilty of an unhappy neglect, if he fails to read the discussions about him by Alexander von Humboldt; especially those in the “Examen Critique de l’Histoire de la Géographie du Nouveau Continent,” (Paris, 1836-38, 8vo, Vol. II. pp. 350, etc., Vol. III. pp. 227-262,)—a book no less remarkable for the vastness of its views than for the minute accuracy of its learning on some of the most obscure subjects of historical inquiry. Nobody has comprehended the character of Columbus as he has,—its generosity, its enthusiasm, its far-reaching visions, which seemed watching beforehand for the great scientific discoveries of the sixteenth century.