[s. B. DAWSON] THE LINES OF DEMARCATION 495 



The foregoing is an attempt to read the Bull in the light of its 

 own time. It was the last of its kind and marked the close of an era ; 

 for the great revolt against Rome was rapidly approaching and the 

 storm was soon to break. The Bull bound Spain and Portugal, as 

 regards each other, for they were parties to such references. As to how 

 far it mig'ht be held by canon law to bind other nations is not neces- 

 sary here to inquire. Henry YIT. did not hesitate to send Cabot west 

 of the line, and Francis I. sent Verazzano, and England and France 

 founded claims to parts of America upon their voyages ; but, however 

 that may be, the treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, abrogated the line estab- 

 lished by the Pope and laid down another and this last line, and not 

 Pope Alexander's line, is the one spoken of in the books as the " line of 

 " demarcation ;" it is not the papal line at all, and although, in A.D. 

 1506, it was confirmed by Pope Julius II., it had been drawn by Spain 

 and Portugal as if they alone had any concern with the matter. It will 

 be of interest to state here that there has been found in the secret 

 archives of the Vatican a document entitled " De Canadia et No va 

 " Francia,'' setting forth an elaborate argument that the Pope's de- 

 cision did not apply to the discoveries of Verazzano, because the grant 

 was limited by its express words to " islands and mainlands," " per 

 " nuncios et capitaneos vestros inventae" i.e., discovered by Spanish 

 ships. The argument is ingenious, but it is also sound and applies as 

 well and with more force to the voyages of the Cabots. The Papal line 

 of demarcation was a terminus a quo — no terminus ad quern was fixed. 

 The fact of discovery was to fix the latter, for the grant to Spain would 

 travel eastwards with every discovery until her sailors came to lands in 

 the possession of some Christian prince. There can be no doubt upon 

 this point if the Bulls are carefully read — the westward progress of 

 Spain w^as to be limited only by the eastward progress of Portiigal. Mr. 

 Harrisse is correct in writing of the "alleged'' partition of the globe by 

 Pope Alexander. The globe got divided somehow in the diplomacy 

 between Spain and Portugal. It was a lay arrangement. The Pope 

 drew a line on the Atlantic and gave the two nations a fair start, as it 

 were back to back. As for the far East it was only the assumption of the 

 disappointed kings of Portugal that the popes had granted to them 

 unknown and undiscovered lands. The Bull awarded territories, when 

 they were discovered in certain specified directions, upon the condition 

 that when they were discovered they were also found unoccupied by 

 any Christian prince. 



