384 CHARACTER OP COLUMBUS, 



persons to be arrested ; called to account the officers ap- 

 pointed by the admiral ; and insulted his brother, who 

 remained in command during the absence of Columbus 

 himself. He then ordered his letter of credence to be 

 proclaimed pompously by sound of trumpet, the vague 

 and irresponsible wording of which was not the least of 

 the provocations of the admiral ' Cavaliers, Esquires, 

 and other persons who by our orders are in the Indies, 

 we sent to you Juan Aguado, our groom of the cham- 

 bers, who will speak to you on our part ; we command 

 you to give him faith and credit.' 



Among a disorderly population, the report soon circu- 

 lated that the downfal of Columbus was at hand, and 

 that the grievances of the public were to be heard and 

 redressed. Immediately, every culprit became an ac- 

 cuser ; for every man who had been punished was dis- 

 posed to complain of it as oppression ; and all the other 

 troubles which existed or had existed in the colony were 

 imputed to the same source. Aguado, meanwhile, pre- 

 tending to believe that Columbus, who was in the interior, 

 purposed to avoid returning to the colony, affected to set 

 out with a company of horse to go in quest of him. The 

 latter, meanwhile, was hastening to Isabella to give him 

 a meeting ; and Aguado, hearing of his approach, also 

 returned there. A violent explosion was now generally 

 expected (for the high sense which Columbus had of his 

 services and dignity was well known,) and Aguado him- 

 self looked forward, it is said, ' with the ignorant auda- 

 city of a little mind to the result.' But all were disap- 

 pointed. Columbus received his rival, if a man could 

 be called such, whom he so utterly and justly despised, 

 with the most grave and punctilious courtesy ; only re- 

 torting upon him his own ostentatious ceremonial, by 

 ordering the letter of credence to be again proclaimed 

 by sound of trumpet in the presence of the wondering 

 populace. He listened to it himself with solemn defer- 

 ence, and assured Aguedo of his readiness to acquiesce 

 in whatever was the pleasure of his sovereigns. The 

 advantages of this collected and dignified, though diffi- 

 cult course of conduct, are very obvious. He had to 

 endure, indeed, the slurs of every dastard spirit in the 



