Authentic Letters of Columbus. 105 



dcr that he might keep it with the first copy in some safe place, was 

 taken by Napoleon I. from the municipal palace in Genoa when he 

 captured that city in 1808, It was carried to Paris and deposited in 

 the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, where it remains until 

 this day. Mr. Benjamin Franklin Stevens, the well known American 

 bookseller of London, has recently reproduced this historical volume 

 with wonderful accuracy, and with copious and valuable historical 

 notes. » 



All the writings of Columbus reflect his deep religious spirit, but 

 now and then they show a glimpse of humor and a touch of human 

 indignation. Before he commenced a letter or memoranda of any 

 kind he always made the sign of the cross, with his pen, at the top of 

 the sheet, and wrote an invocation. His son Fernando perpetrated 

 an Irish bull when he said of his father: 



"If he had anything to write he did not use his pen until he had 

 first written these words, 'Jesus cum Maria sit nobis in vita,' and 

 made the sign of the cross. 



LasCasas says: " Whenever he writes a letter or any other docu- 

 ment he always places at the top, 'Jesus cum Maria sit nobis in via.' 

 Of his writings thus done with his own hand I now have in my pos- 

 session a quantity." 



Columbus usually closed his letters with the expression, " May 

 God guard you in his holy keeping." In writing to the king and 

 queen he says: " I shall ever pray to God, our Lord, to preserve the 

 lives of Your Majesties, and enlarge your domains." Again: "May 

 the Holy Trinity be pleased to give health to my Lady the Queen." 

 Or again: "May the Holy Trinity preserve Your Highnesses as I 

 wish and as we all need, with all your great estates and domains." 



In a letter to Nicolo Oderigo, before departing upon his voyage 

 he said: " I am ready to sail, with the favor of the Holy Trinity, as 

 soon as the weather permits it," and from the Canary Islands he 

 wrote to Father Caspar at Seville: " Our Lord gave me such good 

 weather that I arrived here in four days. Now I am going to continue 

 my voyage in the name of the Holy Trinity and expect to succeed." 

 After hearing the news of the death of Queen Isabella, who was 

 always his warmest friend and most ardent defender at court, he 

 w^rites to Diego, his son: "The principal thing now is to commend 

 to God affectionately and with much devotion the soul of our Lady, 

 the Queen. Her life was always catholic and holy. She was always 

 ready for the things of God's holy service, and for this it must be 

 believed that she is in His holy glory and beyond all desires relative 

 to this rough and tiresome world. Second, an effort should be made 



