Cuba Past and Present Part 9

Domenico Colombo, the father of the ill.u.s.trious navigator, is described by Was.h.i.+ngton Irving and other writers as a "wool comber," but in all the contemporary doc.u.ments discovered by the historians just named he is invariably said to have been "a woollen manufacturer,"--a position very different from that of a wool comber, the difference being that between a mechanic and a tradesman. No wonder that Ferdinand Columbus indignantly contradicted an a.s.sertion which most of us, even in this democratic age, would keenly resent. Although never in affluent circ.u.mstances, Domenico and Susanna Colombo, Christopher's parents, were evidently highly respectable tradespeople, who spent the whole of their lives between Genoa and Savona. Probably Domenico Colombo was born at Quinto, a village not many miles distant from the capital of the Genoese Republic. His father, Giovanni Colombo, undoubtedly lived there, for, in a doc.u.ment dated 1439, he is described as "Giovanni Colombo of Quinto, the father of Domenico of Genoa." This Giovanni was, it seems, according to another and still more ancient deed, the son of a certain Giovanni Colombo, of Fontanarossa, another village in the district. As the inhabitants of this village were engaged in sheep-dealing, it is probable that this Giovanni was a wool merchant, and since Fernando Columbo, with the justifiable vanity of the son of a great man, seems to have been always desirous of claiming a social position, and signs himself, on more than one occasion, as "of Fontanarossa," we may go so far as to conclude that the Colombo (or Columbus) family was, according to its own tradition, the princ.i.p.al in that place. The family and Christian names of the great-grandmother and grandmother of the Discoverer of the New World are lost. His mother, however, was Susanna of Fontanarossa, a native of the suburb of Bisagno. This is proved by a doc.u.ment in the Savonese archives, whereby, on the 7th August 1743, "Susanna, daughter of Giacomo of Fontanaruba (the Latin for Fontanarossa), in the Bisagno, agrees to allow her husband, Domenico Colombo of Genoa, to sell a house situated in that city, near the Olivella Gate." It is described as a house with a pleasant garden, in the parish of San Stefano, and next door to the house and property of Nicola Paravagna, and adjacent to the property of Antonio Bondi. "The house faces the princ.i.p.al street, and is close to the old wall of the town." In this doc.u.ment Domenico Colombo is specially designated as a citizen of Savona--because, as he had by this time resided there some years, he was ent.i.tled to citizens.h.i.+p.

This house, however, is not, as has been so frequently and erroneously stated, the one in which Columbus was born. It has long since disappeared, to make way for the enlargement of the neighbouring hospital. The Porta (or Gate) Olivella stood for centuries to the right of the church of San Stefano. As this house is very often mentioned in deeds of the period of the last half of the fifteenth century as belonging to the family of Domenico Colombo, we are able to trace its history with fair accuracy. It formed part of the dower of Susanna Fontanarossa, for, as we have already seen, it could not be sold without her permission. It is probable that the family, instead of living in it, was in the habit of letting it. On more than one occasion the tenant did not pay his rent, and in 1476 Domenico Colombo had to come from Savona to Genoa to exact it. Unable to get the 20 due to him for arrears, he raised (through his notary, a certain Signer Camogli) a loan on the sum, the tenant, Malio, becoming a guarantee for the amount of his unpaid rent--"Occasione pensionis euiusdem domus ipsius Dominici quam tenet et conducit, etc."

Domenico Colombo possessed yet another house, still standing, and situated close to the recently restored Gate of Sant Andrea, at the top of the long, steep street still called Portorio. In this venerable building Christopher Columbus was unquestionably born, in 1451.

Four years before the discovery of America by his ill.u.s.trious son, Domenico Colombo, being in reduced circ.u.mstances, was obliged to transfer this house to his son-in-law Bavarello, the husband of his only daughter Bianchinetta. The papers relative to this proceeding are still in existence, and bear the date July 30, 1489. Domenico Colombo certainly lived here with his wife and family from 1435 to 1470, when they went to Savona. This is proved by the register of the monastery of San Stefano, in which they are regularly entered as paying a yearly ecclesiastical tax to the Prior during the whole of this period. They left Genoa in 1470, and resided at Savona until 1484. The Savonese archives, however, contain frequent mention of Domenico until 1494, when he again returned to Genoa, where, in all probability, he died, some years later. In the deed authorising the sale of the house in Porta Olivella, the witnesses are "Christopher Colombo and Giovanni Pellegrino, sons of Domenico and Susanna Colombo."

Was.h.i.+ngton Irving was unaware of the existence of this son Giovanni Pellegrino, for he states that "Christopher Columbus was the eldest of three brothers only--Bartholomew and Giacomo, or James (written Diego in Spanish)." Giovanni Pellegrino was the second brother, and died unmarried in 1489. We have more than this proof of his existence. In another doc.u.ment he is named together with his three brothers,--Christopher, Bartholomew, and Giacomo. In 1501, ten years after his death, and some time after that of his father, a man named Cora.s.so Cuneo summoned the sons of Domenico Colombo before the tribunals of Savona for non-payment of the price due to him for lands purchased by their father Domenico many years before his decease. In this curious doc.u.ment we read the names of Christopher and James--"Christoph.o.r.em et Jacob.u.m, fratres de Columbi, filiis et heredes quondam Dominici eorum patris." In the next register concerning this affair, and dated the same month and year, Bartholomew is mentioned--"Cristoferi, Bartolomei et Jacobi de Columbis, quondam Domenici et ipsius heredem." There is no mention of Bianchinetta, the only sister of the ill.u.s.trious navigator. She, being a married woman, was not, according to Genoese law, ent.i.tled to inherit from her father. Here, then, we have the most positive contemporary evidence that Domenico Colombo was the father of four sons, respectively named Christopher, Giovanni Pellegrino or Pilgrim (a name sometimes found in old English registers), Bartolomeo or Bartholomew, and Giacomo or Diego,--and, therefore, the father of Christopher Columbus, Discoverer of the New World, who, as everybody knows, had two brothers, companions in his travels, named Bartholomew and Giacomo (or Diego). We learn that, according to doc.u.ments far too numerous to be quoted here, the said Domenico was a taxpaying resident in the Via di Sant Andrea, in the city of Genoa, between the years 1435 and 1470. Another and most important paper, recently discovered by the Marquis Staglieno in the Atti Notarilli of the city of Genoa, declares Christopher Columbus to be nineteen years old in 1470. He was born then, we may presume, in October 1451, during the time of his father's residence in the house now officially declared his birthplace, and situated hard by the n.o.ble old Gate of Sant Andrea.

It is a fortunate thing for Italian history that, in accordance with a very ancient custom, on the decease of a notary, his papers and registers are taken charge of by the State, and carefully preserved in an office specially set apart for the purpose. Although the enormous acc.u.mulation of papers thus preserved from century to century may, in many instances, be deemed of little importance, they have proved invaluable funds of information for the historian. It was among the papers of the notary Stella that Signor Bertolotti unearthed the particulars of the life and trial of Beatrice Cenci. It was among those of Pietro Belasio and Nicola Raggio that the Marquis Staglieno discovered the following curious facts concerning Columbus:--

"In 1470, on the thirtieth of October, Domenico Colombo and his son Christopher appeared before the above-named notaries of the city of Genoa, in order to confirm and conclude a contract in which the said Christopher Colombo declares himself, with his father's endors.e.m.e.nt, debtor to the said Belasio to the amount of Genoese lire 48. 15. 6. (or about 300 francs) for wine procured by him on credit for the supply of his s.h.i.+p, now in the harbour of Genoa.

Domenico, his father, holds himself security for his said son, who is nineteen years of age. Christofferus de Colombo filius Domenico Maior anni decemnovum."

And, according to Genoese law, of age.

Columbus tells us in his Autobiography that he went to sea when he was fourteen. Hence, in 1470, he had been five years a sailor, but he had not, as yet, wholly abandoned the paternal roof, to reside permanently in Portugal. He did not do so until six years later. Now, if he went to sea when he was fourteen, and was still at sea when he was nineteen, what time had he for studying at the University of Pavia, where, according to most historians, he acquired his proficiency in Latin, and in such sciences as were then taught? In my opinion, he never was near Pavia in his life. No doc.u.ment in Pavian archives proves that Columbus was a student at that renowned University. The statement rests only on a very slender local tradition, and on Las Casas' a.s.sertion that he "completed his studies in Pavia." Possibly this writer made a slip of the pen, and, meaning Patria, wrote Pavia--or did the printer's devil make the blunder? Certainly Columbus' family was not in a position to send him to a distant University, and, moreover, there was no necessity for their so doing, as Genoa possessed famous colleges and schools of her own.

At the bottom of the long, steep street Portorio, not very far from his father's house, was a school, directed by the Servite fathers, whose church, Santa Maria de' Servi, still exists. It strikes me as much more probable that the boy Columbus attended there, and that some learned monk taught him Latin, than that he should have been sent to Pavia, as great a distance from Genoa, in those days, as Paris is now. Moreover, the learned notary Andrea de Cario was a friend and neighbour of the family. This gentleman was well off, and, although married, usually wore an ecclesiastical habit, and acted as the archbishop's Chancellor for close on half a century. Among his papers and registers, still preserved, are several mentions of Domenico Colombo and his wife and her family, the Fontanarosse. Possibly this learned personage may have undertaken a part of the education of the precocious lad.

If further proof were required of the intimate connection which always existed between Domenico Colombo and his ill.u.s.trious son Christopher, I need simply record the fact that, even when the Great Man was himself in dire distress, he remembered his aged father, and sent him money to relieve his pressing debts. The affection between the three brothers seems to have been extended to certain cousins, for we find, in a doc.u.ment dated 1476, that Giovanni, Matteo, and Amighetto Colombo, of Quinto, signed a deed whereby money was raised to enable the eldest, Giovanni, to go to Spain to serve under his cousin Christopher, who is described as an Admiral. These men were the sons of Antonio, a brother of Domenico.

Not one of the doc.u.ments I have quoted is particularly interesting in itself. They are very commonplace, and yet how wonderfully they help us to reconstruct the past! A name here, an allusion there, an unpaid bill, a summons before the tribunals on a pressing demand for payment of rent, a receipt, a mere sc.r.a.p of paper with a great name attached to it, opens out an entirely new field of research, and dispels mountains of controversy and theory. I felt myself in very intimate contact with Columbus when my eyes first rested on the quaint, old-world doc.u.ments which he, and his father, and mother, and brothers, signed, four hundred years ago.

Quite recently, three papers, enriched with the signatures of Columbus and his father, were unearthed in the State archives of the city of Genoa (L'Archivio di Stato). From them we gather that, in 1470, Domenico Colombo, either because his affairs were going badly, or because he perceived a better chance for himself and family elsewhere, determined to leave Genoa and establish himself in Savona. He was then in the debt of a certain Geronimo da Porto, to the amount of 25 lire, or 117 francs modern money, and evidently could not pay him. Da Porto must have heard of his intention to leave the city. He summoned him and his eldest son Christopher before the tribunal, for non-payment of the debt in question. The judge decided that Domenico and Christopher Colombo should pay the amount within a year from that date. Whether they eventually paid or not is doubtful, for, in a codicil to Columbus' will, made some thirty years later, he leaves "to the heirs of Geronimo da Porto, of Genoa, the father of Benito da Porto, 20 ducats"--which is nearly double the amount originally claimed, and leads one to think that it includes interest for a long period.

In these doc.u.ments, Domenico Colombo is invariably described as "Dominicus Columbus, lanerius de Janua, habitator in Saone,"--"a wool-weaver, living in Savona." In addition to the evidence already given that Columbus was born in Genoa, I will recall the facts that he himself, three times in his biography, repeats that he was a native of that town--"where I lived, and whence I came"--and that Andreo Bemaldez, curate of Los Pallacios, who was his intimate friend, informs us that he told him he was born in Genoa. His contemporaries, Agostino Giustinani, Antonio de Herrera, and Antonio Gallo, the Chancellor of the Bank of St George, who corresponded with Columbus, repeat the same a.s.sertion. Then, again, it is to the city of Genoa that the dying Columbus leaves the breviary given him by Pope Alexander VI. Where is it? Certainly not in Genoa.

Genoa in 1451 presented an aspect different from that which it wears now, although the street in which Columbus was born, and its neighbourhood, have not sustained many changes. The ancient houses still tower up six and eight stories on either side of the narrow and picturesque thoroughfare of the Portorio, some of them preserving traces of Gothic windows and doors, and of a sort of Moorish decoration, running just below the projecting roof, which is peculiar to Genoa. This street has been known as the Portorio, or _Porta Aurea_, for centuries.

It leads up the hill from the outer wall of the city, and the characteristic church of San Stefano, with its black and white marble facade, which gives its name to the suburb, to the inner gate of St Andrea, and the second ring of walls, now destroyed. This gate is a n.o.ble specimen of feudal architecture, recently somewhat over-restored.

A few years ago it was ten times more picturesque than now, with the quaint, old houses clinging to its rough walls like barnacles on a s.h.i.+p's side. These have been removed, and the grand proportions of the arch, formerly attached on either side to stern and lofty walls, built in 1155 to resist the attacks of Barbarossa, have been displayed. In front of this ancient gate is a little platform, surrounded by tall and irregular houses, coeval with the gate itself. No. 37, lately occupied by a tinman, is the house in which Columbus was born, and spent his childhood and youth. I believe, with Mr Harrisse and the Marquis Staglieno, that he was born in the front room--the best bedroom--of the first floor, between October 1446 and October 1451. The date must remain uncertain, because, although the important paper I have mentioned described him as being nineteen years of age in 1470, it must be remembered that nineteen was the legal age of manhood under the old Genoese law, which was identical with the ancient Roman code. The fact that he was of age--that is nineteen--would never have been specified, if he had not been a very young man at the time. He might perhaps have been twenty-three or even twenty-four, but the probability is that he had just come of age. In 1886 the Munic.i.p.ality of Genoa purchased this house for 36,000 francs, and it is to be kept intact in memory of Columbus for ever. Over the door is this inscription:--

Nulla. Domus. t.i.tulo, dignior Heic Paternis : in : aedibus.

Christophorus : Columbus.

Pueritium Primioque . juvantam . trasegit.

I think, with Mr Harrisse, that "Forsam natus" might with propriety be added.

The great Gothic arch of the stern old gate frowned down on the modest dwelling, and the child Columbus must often have been told the story of the chains, which in my own boyhood I remember to have seen, hanging on the grim walls on either side of the arch. They were courteously restored in 1862 to the Pisans (from whom they had been captured in 1290) in honour of Italian unity.

Not very far off stood, until quite the end of the last century, a curious old house, with a figure of St Christopher painted upon it, which doubtless had a lamp constantly burning before it. Possibly it was in honour of the saint here represented that the future Discoverer of the New World was christened Christopher. On entering the city proper, through the arch of St Andrea, the prospect, in the days of Columbus'

youth, was by no means cheerful. The houses, like those of Edinburgh, rose seven and even eleven storeys, making the narrow courts and pa.s.sage-like streets look not unlike dark openings in a Californian canon. The hilly position of the town, however, lent itself admirably to picturesque effects, and the brilliance of the deep blue sky above, and of the broad streaks of sunlight falling on the squares and little piazza, brightened what might otherwise have been exceedingly gloomy and depressing. The palaces of the n.o.bility looked more like fortresses than civic residences, with scarcely a window on the street. Each possessed a tall, turreted watch-tower of red brick, picked out with marble, the finest specimen of which, now existing, is that of the Imbriaci. The churches and oratories were amazingly numerous, but they were nearly all exactly alike, built in very plain Gothic architecture, with facades streaked with alternated layers of black and white marble. A few have escaped the vandalistic restorations of the 17th and 18th centuries, and of these the best remaining specimens are the Cathedral, San Matteo Doria, Santa Maria del 'Orto (desecrated), San Cosmo, San Donate, San Stefano, and Sant Agostino (desecrated).

But in the 15th century they were to be met with at every turn of the street, giving a very peculiar appearance to the city. The finest palaces bordered the Ripa by the port, and these were so beautifully decorated with frescoes and gilding that Petrarch declared that "nothing could be imagined more magnificent." The Strade Nuova, Nuovissima, and Balbi, with their splendid Renaissance palaces, did not come into existence until late in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Cathedral was in much the same condition as at present, and the Bank of St George, now in process of restoration, was considered one of the wonders of the world.

If the architecture of the city was picturesque, its population was indescribably so. The streets teemed with life and colour. There were men in armour, sailors from all parts of the world, guardsmen in the Doge's liveries striped scarlet and white, ladies of rank proceeding to church attended by their women, and escorted by little negro pages bearing their trains, or screening them from the ardour of the sun with immense, crimson silk parasols. Rich dames, lolling in litters hung with painted Cordova leather, were carried to and fro on the shoulders of stalwart African slaves. Veiled women of the people, with their children clinging round them, sitting outside their doors, not infrequently engaged in a hair hunt. Priests, monks, and nuns, in every imaginable kind of ecclesiastical costume, mingled with herculean porters from the quays, with soldiers and n.o.bles, Levantines and Jews, each in their own peculiar costume, so that if the houses were sombre, the streets were ablaze with brilliant and varied dresses. At night, however, the city looked desolate. Only the lamps burning before the images of the Madonna and Saints lit up the gloomy thoroughfares and darksome piazzas. At "Ave Maria," in winter time, everybody was indoors saying the Rosary. Three times a day, as the "Angelus" tolled, the whole population stopped and repeated the angelic salutation. This pious custom lasted until quite late into the first half of the present century.

Unlike Venice, Genoa was no city of pleasure. On the other hand, its population dearly loved pageantry. Religious processions of the utmost splendour were of such everyday occurrence that people scarcely noticed them. The Doge went about attended by at least a hundred officers and servants. On great festivals the balconies were hung with brocades and wreaths of fresh flowers, while half the town preceded the Host or the images of the Madonna and Saints, to the admiration of the other half, crowding the sidewalks and the overhanging balconies.

Such, then, was Genoa,--Queen of the Mediterranean, as Venice was Queen of the Adriatic,--when Christopher Columbus first saw the light. His parents were, as we have seen, people in a humble but eminently respectable position. Their manner of life differed little from that of their neighbours. Thus was pa.s.sed, only fifty years ago, the life of an honest Genoese family of the lower middle cla.s.s. At five in the morning the family, apprentices, and servants rose. After saying the "Angelus,"

they proceeded to the nearest church to Ma.s.s. A slice of bread, with fruit in summer, or dried figs in winter, and a gla.s.s of wine, formed the first meal or breakfast. Then came work until noon, when the frugal dinner was served--meat once a week, and sweets only on great festivals.

As a rule, it consisted of a _minestrone_, a succulent and wholesome sort of soup, made with all kinds of vegetables, rice, and bits of pork cut up into square pieces, macaroni, ravioli, and other like dishes.

After this meal there was an hour for recreation. Then to work again until sunset, when the whole household repeated the "Angelus," and said the Rosary. In summer they would go processionally from street image to image, singing their Aves and Paters with uncommon unction before the holy figure, round which burned scores of little oil lamps, amid cart-wheel-shaped bouquets. Sometimes one-half the people on the street said the Rosary, while the other gave the responses. It is not surprising if, after a regime of this sort, Christopher Columbus grew up to be a very pious man. However, there were plenty of scandals going the round of the town, even in 1451, and I am afraid religiosity rather than piety was the true characteristic of this singular population.

Still, the evidence in favour of Columbus and his family is so greatly to their advantage that we may feel sure they were really people of exceptional integrity and sincere piety.

Little Genoese boys and girls were brought up rather sternly, and the _ferrula_ was much in use. Often, no doubt, did the small Columbus, both at home and at school, hold out his chubby hand to receive the strokes.

The mother and sister appeared in public very rarely, and were invariably veiled. The church was the princ.i.p.al object of these excellent people's existence. It is so to this day with a majority of the lower and middle-cla.s.s Genoese, who spend half their time in church, and are quite as well pleased to go and hear a sermon as their neighbours at Turin are to attend a new play. I am quite sure that more than once a year the infant Columbus and his brothers, dressed up as saints, and very artistically too, walked in the processions of the three or four confraternities attached to the church and convent of St Stefano. I daresay Christopher often impersonated the infant St John, or even the Child Jesus, and was carried on the shoulders of some gigantic brother disguised as St Christopher:

"San Cristofero grosso, Porta il mondo a dorso."

--"the big St Christopher carries the world on his back."

In Holy Week, what a time these pious folks had, to be sure! There was so much to see that people were fain to leave their business to take care of itself, and either to walk in the processions or else watch them wend their way along the tortuous streets. There were the flagellants to see, who whipped themselves until their bare backs were red. As to the Guilds and Corporations: they were a source of infinite interest and excitement! Each had its _Ca.s.saccia_ or shrine to carry, and, above all, its tremendous crucifix, which people wagered would never reach its destination, so terrific was its weight. If the wretched man who carried it staggered and fell, hundreds of lire changed hands, and if he managed to restore it to its place in the Oratory belonging to the Guild, he was acclaimed as great a hero as a victorious modern jockey. And the Sepulchres on Holy Thursday, and the Procession of the Pa.s.sion on Good Friday, all these wonderful things, and many others too numerous to describe, did the youthful Columbus admire, enjoy, and venerate,[21] we may be sure.

The boy Columbus had his sports, too, like any other lad in every part of the world, old and new. He played boccie or bowls, and _palla_, a sort of football, and, like all other Genoese urchins, he was, I doubt not, an excellent diver and swimmer. His character in after life, so full of n.o.ble courage, gentleness, piety, and justice, speaks volumes for the education he received at his mother's knee. His devotion to parents is proved by his frequent mention of them, and he loved the beautiful city "where he was born, and whence he came" with patriotic ardour.

Although there is no positive proof that such was the case, we may safely conclude that, together with all the Genoese of his period, he was imbued from the earliest age with a love of the sea and of adventure. In the gloom of his father's cavernous shop he must often have heard foreign and native merchants, captains, and sailors, who came to purchase woollen goods, relate tales of extraordinary discoveries made in the unknown seas beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Vast, indeed, was the commerce of Genoa at this epoch. Her vessels roamed the seas as far as the Caspian, where Marco Polo found them trading from port to port. Genoa rivalled Venice in the Levant, and held the keys of the commerce of North Africa. In Bruges her merchants had a hall of their own; it still exists, with the effigy of St George over its Gothic portal. Genoese merchants were well known in the crowded thoroughfares of London city, and their velvets and silks were to be bought in the High Street of Edinburgh and in the markets of Copenhagen and Christiania.

In the last half of the 15th century the world talked much of discoveries of magic isles of pearl, and of deceptive islands that rose on the horizon of the Atlantic, and, syren-like, deluded venturesome travellers to their doom. In Genoa lived the Vivaldi family, descendants of Vadino and Guido Vivaldi, and of Ugolino and Tedesco Vivaldi, who, between 1285 and 1290, discovered not only the Azores, but also Madeira and the Canaries. The fact is mentioned very minutely in records of the 13th century. Often must Columbus have heard of these bold pioneers, and likewise of the s.h.i.+p and its crew of thirty men, which, in 1467,--as we learn from Pietro d'Abano, in his _Conciliatore_,--the Genoese Government equipped in Lisbon, at its expense, and sent on a mission of discovery, from whence none ever returned. Sailors, whose frail vessels had been driven out to sea far beyond the coast of Spain towards "the new lands," had doubtless seen the Azores, and, returning home, had spread the most fantastic stories of cities of gold inhabited by a people whose heads grew beneath their shoulders. In short, the imaginative child must often have listened to tales of wonderment such as Oth.e.l.lo poured out to Desdemona. At fourteen he went to sea. He was in the prime of his glorious manhood on that momentous morn of October 1492, when the verdant islands of San Salvador and Cuba rose like emeralds out of the s.h.i.+ning sea to delight his thankful vision, and enriched European civilization by opening the gates of a New World before its wondering eyes.[22]

APPENDIX II.

NOTES ON SOME OLD PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY OF THE WEST INDIES.

IN 1886-7 the writer of these lines became closely connected with the West Indian Section of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, South Kensington. Sir Augustus Adderley, the Commissioner for the West Indies, a gentleman of varied knowledge and experience, displayed an activity in organising the Court for which he was responsible, which resulted in a thorough and most satisfactory representation of the various West Indian islands under British dominion. To add attraction to his Department, Sir Augustus set himself to collect every historical doc.u.ment, book, print, and MS., ill.u.s.trative of the early history of the islands, which he could procure. With this object, he entrusted the author with the mission of obtaining whatever records of Columbus and his companions existed in Rome and elsewhere, even in the Antilles. Thanks to letters from Cardinal Manning, an interview with Cardinal Simeone, then Director of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda, was soon obtained, and his introduction to the Secretary, Archbishop Jacobini, granted, in the most friendly manner. A minute search of the archives of this famous inst.i.tution was immediately made, but nothing of any particular importance connected with the subject of enquiry was found to exist.

Monsignore Jacobini, however, averred that he had heard a story to the effect that in Napoleon I.'s time, the archives of the Propaganda were roughly packed in carts, conveyed to Civita Vecchia, and there embarked for France and Paris. Whilst pa.s.sing through the streets of Rome, several bundles of most valuable papers were jolted out, picked up, and some--but very few--restored to the Congregation. Of the rest, only a part were returned to the College, whilst almost all the earlier papers were retained in Paris, and are now stored in the Bibliotheque Nationale and elsewhere. The existing archives of the Propaganda only date from the first half of the present century. It was found impossible to obtain permission for the exhibition of many treasures among the Vatican MSS.--which, seen through gla.s.s cases, would have hardly, indeed, produced the effect they deserved. All my attention, therefore, was turned to the small but most interesting collection of parchments and MSS. in the Borgian Museum. Pre-eminent among these are the far-famed Borgian Maps, the first of which is probably the earliest existing geographical record of Central America and the West Indies. Down this famous sheet Pope Alexander VI.'s own hand traced the lines dividing the whole of the New World into two equal portions, one for Spain, the other for Portugal. Notwithstanding his evident desire to oblige the Commissioner and the Committee, His Holiness decided that so precious and historical a relic could not be allowed to leave its place, but he courteously gave permission for the removal to the London Exhibition of the second Borgian Map, known as "Diego Ribero," a doc.u.ment of the highest archaeological value. The drawing, perfect and beautiful, was executed by Diego Ribero, geographer to Charles V. from 1494 to 1529, that is, during the lifetime of Columbus, and under his personal supervision. Down the centre pa.s.s two slight lines, _facsimile_ of the divisional lines traced by Alexander VI. on the first Borgian Map. The map, though singularly clearly drawn, is full of absurd inaccuracies.

The West Indies are shown with precision, and the names given with considerable elaboration. America, on the other hand, is barely indicated, the coast alone being defined, and Africa is introduced with the Nile wandering somewhat at random down to three lakes, situated just above what is now known as Cape Colony. A number of very well-drawn s.h.i.+ps are introduced, of colossal dimensions, in comparison with the land, and bearing inscriptions to the effect that they are either bound for, or returning from, the "Maluccas," by which it would appear that these were then considered the princ.i.p.al maritime port of the world. The arms of Pope Julius II.--an oak-tree with twisted branches--are introduced in a s.h.i.+eld at the foot, notwithstanding the fact that the map bears the date of Clement VII. As a specimen of Italian, or rather Spanish, calligraphy, of the 16th century, it is superb, and in most perfect preservation. The Congregation of the Propaganda also lent an engraved reproduction of the famous Marco Polo Map, a curious specimen of German geographical lore, at the commencement of the 15th century, the original of which is engraved on bra.s.s. It was found to be far too heavy for transportation. In this map the world is reproduced surrounded by water, and the general appearance is not unlike that of a drop of Thames water as seen through a powerful microscope, so confused are the earth and water, and so mixed up with representations of extraordinary living creatures.

A very interesting collection of books, maps, prints, and MSS., ill.u.s.trative of the early history of the West Indies, belonging to Sir Graham Briggs, Mr Audley C. Miles, Mr Henry Stevens, and the writer, were also exhibited, and the following notes on this improvised library, which will certainly never be gathered together again, will doubtless be found of interest, as throwing considerable light on the bygone domestic history of our colonies in the Antilles.

In the eighteenth century their prosperity was at its height, and a surprising amount of luxury and magnificence existed in the capitals of each of our settlements. In 1741, we find the Island of Montserrat considerably exercised (_The Laws of Montserrat from_ 1640 _to_ 1788) by many open "Breaches of the Sabbath," a general neglect of "Public Wors.h.i.+p," to the scandalizing of the Protestant religion, and by the encroachments of the "Scarlet Wh.o.r.e of Rome." To remedy this state of affairs, the rites and ceremonies of the Church are, according to the authority mentioned above, to be immediately placed on a footing with those practised in England, and "an able preaching minister is to be maintained, at a cost to the public exchequer of 14,000 lbs. of sugar per annum, or the value thereof in tobacco, cotton, wool, or indigo.

Moreover, the said minister can demand not exceeding 100 lbs. of sugar, or the value thereof as above, for the joining together any of the inhabitants of this island in the holy and lawful state of matrimony."

Meanwhile, Trinidad and Cuba, on the other hand, were gravely occupied by the question of Protestant encroachments. These islands were still Spanish, and the Inquisition was in full swing, occasionally roasting an unhappy wight suspected of heresy or idolatry.

"The Laws of Montserrat" enlighten us as to the manner in which the negroes were treated in some of the islands. Thus, in 1670, an Act was pa.s.sed forbidding the negro to enter any plantation save his master's after nightfall, and should any be found, the owner or overseer of such plantation was given full power to punish him as he chose. "And should any negroes harbour or conceal any such loiterers in their cabins, they shall be taken before the next Justice of the Peace, and there his or her owner shall, in the presence of the said Justice, exercise the punishment of forty lashes."

Slaves were not permitted to enter a field of cane with any lights or fire whatsoever, as, "by their insufferable boldness in so doing, much damage has been done, and more is likely to ensue, and this is enacted to prevent future inconvenience, which may happen by such insufferable boldness."

Should a slave, transgressing this law, happen to set fire to the canes, he or she "shall not only be whipped, but, if it pleases their master, be put to death in any fas.h.i.+on he shall devise." If a negro stole a cow or any other head of cattle, he was to be brought before the next Justice of the Peace and publicly whipped. This punishment did not appear to have been sufficiently severe, for by the year 1693, theft had grown so common that an Act was pa.s.sed ordaining that "henceforth any negro that shall be taken stealing or carrying away stock, cattle, or provisions, amounting to the value of twelve pence, shall suffer such death as his master shall think fit to award." If a negro was proved guilty of a theft below the value of twelve pence current money of the island, "he shall only suffer a severe whipping, and have both his ears cut off for the first offence, but for the second offence he shall suffer death in the form aforesaid ... and it shall be lawful to shoot at, and if possible, kill any negro he shall find stealing his provision, provided such provision be not within forty foot of the common path, and that the party so killing hath not expressed hatred or malice against the owner of such negro." The white servants might, it appears, "be kicked, but not whipped," otherwise they were treated very little better than the slaves. Negroes caught without tickets authorising their absence from their own plantation, are to be whipped with thirty-nine lashes by the constable who took them, for which service, "in each case he receives six s.h.i.+llings." Should a slave absent himself for the s.p.a.ce of three months from his master's service, he was to suffer death as a felon, the owner to be allowed 3500 lbs. of sugar, out of the public stock, in compensation. Should a slave be killed or maimed by another man's slave, his owner had his choice of the manner of the offender's death for the first-named offence, and for the second he could decide whether he should be whipped, or the offence be atoned by compensation. From the _Acts and Statutes of Barbados_ (1652), we find that the maker of a fraudulent and deceitful sale on that island of any "servant, cattel, negroes, and other flock or commodities, shall suffer six months' imprisonment, and stand in the Pillory two hours with his ears nailed thereto, with a paper in his hat, signifying the cause of his punishment ... and whosoever shall be convicted of carrying away any goods whatsoever after the same have been legally attached, shall be sent to prison during fourteen days, and if before the fourteenth day he have not made satisfaction to his Creditor, he shall be put in the Pillory and lose both his ears."

To turn to pleasanter things, we learn (from _A Short History of Barbadoes_, published in 1742) that nothing can exceed the splendour of the planters' manner of life. They have as fine houses as any in England, and are attended upon by regiments of negroes, and white servants in gorgeous liveries. "Their plate and their china, their fine gowns and their genteel manners, eclipse anything that the writer has ever seen on his travels, and their hospitality cannot be imagined--an hospitality for which Great Britain was once so deservedly famed." At the time when England was divided into two factions, Cavaliers and Roundheads, the planters, though naturally favouring one side or the other, made a law amongst themselves, forbidding the use of either of the two words, on penalty of giving a dinner to their neighbours. Many purposely made themselves liable to the penalty as a pretext for entertaining their friends. In those good old times, the Governors, notably those of Jamaica and Barbadoes, kept great state. When they went to church, they were preceded by pages in silver and gold liveries, and gorgeous officers--in fact, the splendour displayed recalled that of the King himself, when he betook himself in State to St Paul's. A good deal of jealousy was evinced, at times, between the citizens, as to who was ent.i.tled to attend the Governor's entertainments. The scene round Government House in James Street, Spanish Town on great ball nights, must have been of the most picturesque description. The ladies arrived in their Sedan-chairs, accompanied by armies of slaves, carrying torches. There must have been some great beauties amongst them, for we find the author of _Letters from Barbadoes_ deeply impressed with "the majestic beauty of Miss Dolton," "the divine Miss Gordon," "the celestial Miss Alleyne," while, he declares,

"Sisters Carter, as two meteors bright, s.h.i.+ne glorious round, and diffuse light."