Art. X. Delia Patria di Cristqforo Colombo. Dissertazionc jmhblicata rielle Memorie delV Aicademia Imperiale delle Scienze di Torino. Restampata con Quinte t Documenti, JLetterc di- verse, 8fc. 8vo. pp. 420. Fir nze. Molini. Hegioiiaviento nel Quale si conforma V Opinion Generate intorno alia Patria di Ciid'jbro Colombo '*— Presentato all' Accademia delle Scienze, Ltttcre* e Ani di Genova, — Nell' Adumaiza del di 16. Decembrc 1812, dagli Accadcmici Serra, Canega e Piaggio. *T\/T.\chtavel begins his discussion of the question, whether -J-*-*- l).inte wrote Italian, Tuscan or Florentine, by a re- mark so extremely absurd, that, we venture to assert, the most foolish of the common herd of writers would never have ven- tured to make it, if indeed we except some of the newspapers, who appear frequently to transcribe it. He says, that it is the duty of a good patriot, in all controversies in which the ho- nour of his country is concerned, to lean towards that side which makes for it, — thus wholly destroying the weight of his own statements, by a plain avowal, that he speaks not from his opinion, but from party motives. The learned Academicians who carry on the controversy concerning Columbus's birth- 1810. Columbus. 493 place, seem to act pretty much upon the doctrine of the Flo- rentine Secretary. The Academy of Turin having published, in its Memoirs, the first of these tracts, in support of the opi- nion that the illustrious Navigator was a Piedmontese, the A- cademy of Genoa comes forward to claim him as a Genoese; and avows, pretty directly, that it does so, not for the love of truth, but from the patriotic views alluded to by IVIichiavel, for it appoints the three learned persons whose names are men- tioned above, as a committee, ' to compare with the general and old opinion, ' — the one promulgated in Piedmont. We believe no doubt will be started, that the committee appointed. to * compare, ' was expected to report the arguments against the pretensions of the neighbouring nation. We could not avoid remarking this very unseemly mode of investigating the tn/t/i, as peculiarly unworthy of scientific bodies; yet it is e- cjually certain, that the argument is conducted on the part of the Genoese committee with great ability, and to the complete dis- comfiture of the Piedmontese disputant. Although the great Statesmen who preside over the destinies of * England, of Eu- rope and the world, ' (to use their own phrase}] have thought proper to unite Genoa to Piedmont, and have, we conclude, imagined that their good pleasure would instantly make the two countries one, extinguishing all rivalry and jealousy ; we must nevertheless so far adhere to the ancient order of things, as to take notice of this historical question, and consider the Genoese and Piedmontese as distinct nations. As the Dissertations before us, more especially the first, are marked by the fatiguing prolixity so generally observable in Italian prose compositions, we shall, certainly not attempt to follow them closely into ali the branches of the subject. It will be sufficient to give a general outline of the argument, as maintained upon both sides. Dr Robertson has observed, that the birth-place of Columbus cannot with certainty be ascertained;* and other historians have always concurred in the same expression of doubt. The learned authors, whose dissertations are before us, leave the question where they found it as to the birtli~pla.ee, which must be admitted on all hands to be unknown ; the argument relating only to the origin or domicile of his family. Accordingly, we find the reasoning upon both sides ushered in with disquisitions somewhat of a legal form, upon that which constitutes a man's * Hist, of America, Book II. He makes, indeed, the same re- mark with respect to the time of his birth ; but, in a note at the end of the book, he clearly fixes it, upon the authority of Columbus himself, to have been 1 147. Note XI. Columbus* Dec. * pnirva,' Signor Napione, author of the Dissertation, ob- serves, that though it were, granted that Columbus's father had left the residence of his family, and lived in the Genoese territory at the time of his son's birth, this accidental circumstance would not make the latter a Genoese. To fortify this opinion, he cites various well known cases. Thus no one denies, that Prince Eugene belonged to Savoy, though he was born in Paris; nor do we call Boccacio a Parisian, because, beside being born there, h'\s mother was a Frenchwoman. So Petrarch and Galileo are ■deemed Florentines, though born at Arezzo and Pisa respective- ly ; and Ariosto a Ferrarese, though born at Keggio, It will bring this matter more home to our readers, if we remind them., that one whom we justly rank among mtr greatest men, the late Dr Black, was born in Bourdeaux. Yet we question whether the French might not have put in some claim to the honour of being called his countrymen, if, beside being born in their territories, he had passed a great portion of his life among them, including the whole period of his infancy and education ; and had left them, at a mature age, not to return to the coun- try of his ancestors, but to establish himself in some third domi- cile. Now this is the case of Columbus, upon the supposition of his being born in the Genoese territories; and wherever he may have been born, as even Signor Napione does not pretend that it was in Piedmont, or that he ever returned thither, or settled there, we cannot help suspecting, that this radical part of his argument is rather less sound than he seems to think. The Genoese Academicians, on the other hand, prefix a whole chapter ' dctla patria> ' with citations from Vattel. They admit, that a man's birthplace is not always to be deemed his native country ; but they contend that, generally speaking, it is so; and that the exception is when he happens to be born wJiile his parents are for a temporary purpose sojourning a- foroad. They hold the patria to be the country in which a man's parents had their iixed residence, — what the lawyers call their domicile* — where they lived at the time of his birth, ' cum ' ammo remanendi. ' We leave the contending Academies to settle this point between them, holding it a mere dispute about words, and taking the real question to be, whether Columbus was of a Piedmontese or a Genoese, or, as a third opinion lias alleged, of a Placentian family. Signor Napione, the champion of Piedmont, and his learn- ed and very .prolix editor (not that the author is himself at all deficient in prolixity) contend, that the family of the Columbus were anciently established as feudal lords of the Castle of Cuc- £aro, in the Monferrato. He is not the first supporter of this 1816. Columlus. 495 opinion, but he brings new evidence in its behalf. We men- tion, here, briefly and speedily, the result of his reasonings ; but the reader would be egregiously deceived, who should ima- gine that the Dissertation arrives so quickly at a disclosure of the truth. After the preliminary remarks upon native coun- tries in general, we have a long chapter in praise of Colum- bus, and of his extraordinary enterprise, exceedingly well gar- nished with quotations, especially from the poets. Then comes another chapter upon the importance of ascertaining his coun- try, which the author holds to be extreme, but ingenuously ad- mits that the discovery is not of equal value with that of Ame- rica. * A third follows, upon the uncertainty of his birth- place ; a fourth, to prove that he was not a Genoese ; and a fifth to show why his origin is a matter of so much obscurity. We then have an account of the manner in which Fernando, Columbus's natural son, describes his family and his education, and another chapter upon the writers who, with imperfect in- formation as to the proofs, traced its origin to the Castle of Cuccaro. Nor is it, properly speaking, before the eighth chap- ter, that the learned and copious author enters upon his own argument. We need not stop to analyze the chapters which have now been noticed, except as far as relates to the reasoning against the Genoese. The evidence of his son, Ferdinand, is very important. He wrote, as is well known, a very interest- ing history of his illustrious father's life ; and it is remarkable, that although he had been brought up by him, and lived much with him, and was sixteen years old at the time of his death, he knew nothing decisive of the question. He mentions Nenr, Cogoreo, and Bugiasco, three small places near Genoa, as be- ing * pitched upon by those who desired to cast a shade upon * the renown of his father. ' — While others (he adds) ' wish- ' ing to exalt it, described him as a Savone^e, Genoese, or ' Placentian. ' — But between these different accounts he gives no decision : He only says, that while God was pleased to give him all the endowments necessary for the success of his great enterprise, he also ordained that his native country should ba unknown. — Moreover, it is worthy of remark, that he came to Genoa with the view of prosecuting his inquiries into matters relating to his father, and was well received by the principal persons of the city ; yet he appears to have found no evidence sufficient to cast any light upon the mattei". Our author, how- ever, admits that Oviedo, a contemporary writer, and who was. * ' In certarr.ente non diro mai che lo scoprir la patria del Cq- lombo such peremptory injunction, but may leave any point undecided, if there be not satisfactory means of ascertaining it. We have already remarked, that the tract of the Genoese Academicians is much abler, and more conclusive ; — it has also the great advantage of being incomparably more concise. In- deed, it is neither interrupted by the endless digressions, nor loaded with the disproportioned appendix, which render the other work hardly legible. We have anticipated the arguments by which these learned and ingenious persons refute the posi- tion, that Columbus came from Cuccaro. It remains only to state, shortly, the substance of the evidence in favour of the re- ceived opinion, that he was a Genoese; for those who contend, that he came from Pradello, in the Placentian territory, have not only to get rid of a strong expression against this no- tion, used by Ferdinand in his History, but the document upon which they principally rely, an award made respecting a claim to the property of Domenico, the Admiral's father, ab intestafo, during the absence of his sons, * is net only liable to just suspi- cions, but proves, if admitted to be authentic, that Domenico had been "long established at Genoa. Upon the whole, the re- ceived opinion seems the best founded, and the least liable to any fatal objections ; although, from the circumstance of the Admiral's family having fallen into great misery and obscurity, it may be impossible to ascertain the point precisely. It has been generally believed in that country, that the im- mediate ancestors of Columbus were engaged in the weaving of woollen cloths; that some of them were seafaring men. Now, se- veral documents are produced, of unquestioned authenticity, ire * They are described as having gone abroad long ago in quest of unknown islands, and never since been heard of — an expression quite inconsistent with the great fame of the expedition, and the speedy success that attended it. 1816. Columbus. 501 which transactions respecting the sale, and transportation by sea, of that commodity, by persons whose names agree with those of his family, as do also the dates of the instruments with the time of their living, are recorded. It deserves, too, to be mention- ed, that Balthazar, in the course of the lawsuit, repeatedly admits the Admiral to have been born at Genoa; and that Saliviero, a learned lawyer of that age, and the historian Herrera, also a contemporary, adopt the same opinion without hesitation. But the chief evidence is drawn from a will of the Admiral, dated in 1497, in which he expressly describes himself as a Genoese, and bequeaths a legacy to the llepublick. This bsing decisive of the question, if allowed to be. genuine, its authenticity has been attacked by the advocates of the opposite positions — prin- cipally on the ground of the Republick never having claimed the bequest, and of a pretended singularity in the subscription. Here the proceedings in the lawsuit are of material use to- wards proving the document. It was given in evidence, and mainly relied on by one party. The others never disputed its authenticity at all — They only denied its validity as an entail of the property and offices. Balthazar himself at first asserted, that it was not a valid entail ; but he finally admitted it to be clothed with all the requisite solemnities. It is alleged, that Don Ferdinand makes no mention of it in his History. But if this argument were admitted, it would prove that the Admi- ral made no will at all, as he alludes to none ; yet all parties admit the authenticity of some will or other. There are seve- ral corroborating circumstances produced by the Genoese Aca- demicians in behalf of the document, which we shall not enter further into, than to observe, that no reasonable doubt of its authenticity seems to remain ; and we are therefore spared the trouble of any more detailed statement of their argument in. support of the commonly received opinion. It may only be proper to notice the supposed objection, drawn from a source deserving of the utmost attention, the History of Don Ferdi- nand j in which it is said, that some derived his birth from three small places near Genoa, and others from Sfivona, Ge- noa itself, and Placentia ; but that all the writer can say, is, that God has left it uncertain. From another passage, however, it seems pretty clear, that he himself, however uncertain as to the precise spot, believed it to be on the sea-coast, and conse- quently in the Genoese territory. For he says, with his wont- ed simplicity and piety, ' that some persons would have had 6 him essay to trace the Admiral's descent from noble blood, ' but that he refrained therefrom, — believing that our Lord, 8 who had elected him for so great a work as the one he did vol, xxyu. no. 54, K k 1 V ir-i irr : :..-i i - : > ;' :«-fr src>: c. 1= '.:: ;.-„:h • if -■.£ kr: - r. i « r.i~.f :.- ::c:r ::-.' - ;- :':: r-- :- jf ;:-;--;-; -. £- :- i.f :::.£* ; :' C ;._r..r^>. ~:.i s£r-r:-: : :• 7" ?.-:•£ ris: r. :'-:- H •;-:;-.■. ir:.: :.; r.r*: .--.-.it :.n ofier of his aa vices in die Voyage of Discovery to the Repub- ":"•. ::' i-;~::. :f i:« r:: : ::j-.:~ ;:.::: >£-£ :: « ••-.-;• j:::: doubt ir*pe»fmg the troth of this received anecdote ; and ac- cordingfr. the Ge no ese Academicians do not rely upon it. — Ir. r't::. ir: f^r :-s: vi-f -:•£•>: ~:.::r« •■ i : rr.fr:.. r. l':. _--.:>. J-i..: kr; Sfrsrfr;:.. i : r:: ir. sr- ->; si "rif :: :: . ir: r .:- tr: !'s-fi: r.:: ::i; -ii:es r: rr. fc : . : r. :: :.: -: :::p:-s.:;::. :: :r.e Ofr £>£ -- ■ -::r.r ::.:. ::: ;■::;•■- :r- — ' L--i5::s.r: -..': r;- -:: :.:: ..;--. -".--:■:.: : -fr: «_:.-:: •• i:::^ ::. £ : : - r : z >:: rr ii.. rii: if ~: ■£ :if ::::';:-:::: :: i:« :: .irrryrr.fr. W; :i:ujr.: ;: :i : :: -err :~£ ir. 5 uricf si i ::.:::; :; ::.-: • £_::.: :i si _ ;u- r::r: f_rr: .£::."• r"~:::_. *::r:_: ::. " ""- ■ - :■: ; :'.-. : rr.:i::'i :::-:r.i;: ■ 1 iocnment of great curiosity in the history of the illustrious ~ 1: ■:: ~ : :-i :":^i:i"; :■-•£:. i:>:. . "- r -. :r. : ~ r.::r. r. •:--::- theles appears to hare been almost entirelj overlooked h ■;-: =>r>:fi : ::::. :~ -i : i-- £ :r£^:ei ::? ~:-:-r~. . I: > i ^::=-r •-:.:::: . - : .:r_ - r. : . - :-:: . rr. :': :;. :ie i ■-:"■; :j: ::. vr:;h i f i. - '. L •:•: : . :.- : :-: — i :.£■: ::.-::£ - :'e- is;- = . ■ : . :-: -i .'.: ^ r.r . : -, from wla aa xje he had departed. During that short residence, -•: :. .: -: : _ 1 •■-:•£ r. . £-: ^:r:: 1:: ifr : ::' i £ ^£i :. j: : rre- £:.: i_. ? :>:r. -:.:::, - ,-: :: i: £ >rir,: --:;--:'. « indeed he had snaVied aLiirdj mom two recent storms, which ':_::£-: .1 ir f _ : ~ . : ? : ; : : : : : :. : r : -: • : - .- : : I _ : : : . i £ si- _:£-:{ : :: ir i : :. : : - r :-: S^r.: ;..•:: i:.£ K r.;'s C. _r.:... 2 : :: : .-: i _: " -:~ .::cf-:::; r.i: ":: . £ ::' i • : r: : ._ : :? _:-;-£- - .-:•; l :' "i: f : r. r:r. £ i: i:..-r :::r*. "^£ r.i" £ r : : :-:-:.- : _ £ ::■ r or do we believe that it ever w 10 ■M^nii^i' his having see: - . that i: script Unto J 1 of Bernaldez, who had r t.ff. ~i -:::: £ ::.-: /:•-- -."::>£. r r.fr. -f : ^; . - ;• ■ ■: : : : -: i-- : . : - : r .: ■•■ i -:::.£: :re : r.r.i- T :k 1:. _ ;•.--: : - :• - . : : - -_.::. T: - :: .^-: :i lt~ :: ::, :: ; :-:-: :. -- :. ::.::-:. :':.= 1:-.-. • :i : :-:: f : .- iz : ::.- l :: ii -:::i^:.:: ir.: ::.-; Colwmba. Of tte letter of Cohunbos, then, ■ : nhr a Latin lation, which is **mf»»ly rare, as it should seem, from the hk- t:r ■!'.- : ;-- r::e :i'; " " - :.-.z\ : r. :' ::. It". 1: ?.:- bertsou, the most dSgent of immkimA t appears to hare been ignorant . stence. He makes not the slightest aflnaom ■--.-. a. There is a copy of this letter in the Brera library at Milan, printed and the only one extant of that most ancient edition. -e other copies in the French rary at Paris, and compared them with this. The one moat nearly resembling it, forms part of a work }mHIjAm1 in 1494, and mt *A«i 3 « Card* Ferardx in landtm S aemisxim i . ' rt de insulis in Mori Indioo nrnper repertis. ' * The tatter part and to refer wholly to Commons's letter. ed again in a collection of six pieces by Henrieas Petms e year 1533, who says be took them al * ern- :o exempiari. ' And it is given, with less correct- m tbe collection called Hispaaia dastrata, torn. II. p. - .. published in 1603 at Frankfort. The c: ?ther copies known to exist, are the one in tbe Maghabecl L rence, described by Fossus, and anoth-r .?, in the fteEi ^hsh translation, which we shal sab- join, of ibis piece, is from tbe Milanese copy, the most aaramt and corre : MS note upon it. _ We hare a tew particu.ars further to premise. It is clear, thai the Admiral confines himself t rbort account c: . . - . . . some of the incidents, the most touching him personally, in the tbe ccirp lorn of his vessel by shipwreck in the West : :>n of Pinsor. ; tbe separation of the Piafii, * Our reader edified with the following rjicraaw of the strain in which true Casdhans Tenente thei fruit f_ : : power, and says, ■ - - 4 lares col ant at deum ; nostri atebaat af pes ■:: : ? "r j . . . . ->. ::.= ; . . ; _ .—.::;: : i ... r ; : r .::;:_: y ; : - _- -. k : ; - : : : r :•=-. tion rendered to that Prince by his faithful : ; : : : •::•;■ :"_ v -:.: ..-ir. ;....- ~> — .^'.- :. ■ withhold it. Kke 504 Columbus. m ttee. which, it must be observed, had not rejoined him when the let- ter was written, — for she arrived after him at Palos. Nor does he allude to the two violent storms on the voyage homewards, one of which had so nearly prevented his return. With respect to the more publick transactions* he scarcely omits any of im- portance. From these omissions, no discredit is thrown upon the document, which is incontestably genuine. But a very ex- traordinary circumstance might seem at first to occasion some doubts. Columbus says, that he arrived in the Indian Sea the thirty-third day after his departure. Now, by the con- current testimony of all historians, from Don Ferdinand to Dr Robertson, he sailed from Falos the third of August 1492, and discovered the island of Guanahani or St Salvador, on the night of the eleventh of October, or rather at two in the morn- ing of the twelfth. Nor is it possible that he could have made the passage in the shorter period, under the difficulties of a first voyage, and including his stopping at the Canaries. We take it that this difficulty is easily removed, by attending to the words of the translation. 4 Tricesimo tertio die postquain a Gadibus discessi. ' He never sailed from Cadiz — but from Palos; and ' Gadibus ' must be an error of the translator or his printer for Gomercty the Canary Island whence he took his departure; and where, as Robertson ob.-erves, the voyage of discovery may be said properly to begin. Now, according to Don Ferdinand, he left Gomera on the sixth of September ; and thirty-three days from that brings him to the ninth of October, when he certain- ly was in the Indian Sea, and so confident of making land, that he only desired his mutinous crew to bridle their impatience for three days longer, and he assured them of landing within that time, as in fact they did. If, however, the time refers to his discovering land, and noc to his arrival in the Indian Seas, then we submit that the difference of three days is easily accounted for, upon the supposition of the number having. been originally written in figures thus, XXXVI ; and the translator or printer having copied III, instead of VJ, by a natural blunder. Don Ferdinand says, that he entered the Tagus ort the Jburtk of March 1493 — came before Lisbon on the fjik— rwas sent for by the King the seventh — departed for Seville on Wednesday trie thirteenth — and arrived at Palos on Friday the fifteenth. Dr Robertson states his departure on the ninth, which was the day he returned from his visij to the court. Now the letter is dated the fourteenth. But this seems a discrepancy of no mo- ment. In all probability, the date was written XI II. in the ori- ginal Spanish ; and the translator, or the copy from which h& wrote, made it XIV. 1816. Columbus. 505 Translation of Columbus's Letter from the Latin of the Milanese Edition, Concerning the Discovered Islands. A Letter of Christopher Columbus (to whom our age is much indebted) concerning the Islands lately discovered in the Indian Sea — in search of which he had been sent eight months before, under the auspices, and at the expense of the most invincible Ferdinand, King