64 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



and the earth the benefit." He was " Ruler and Governor 

 of the Chivalry of the Order of Christ," bound by monastic 

 vows ; and the flesh of the Virgin Knight, a year after 

 death, saw no corruption. The motive of the voyages 

 which he sent forth was " his great desire for the spread of 

 the Christian Faith, and for the redemption of the vast 

 tribes of men living under the wrath of God." He sought 

 for " some Christian Prince to the South, who, for the love 

 of Christ, would help him to fight the Moors." But there 

 was another aspect to his character, and to his story. He 

 was the mediaeval crusader and knight, but he was also the 

 hero of the new age, the man who far excelled all his con- 

 temporaries, among men of action, by his understanding of 

 the new opportunities, and by his effective endeavour to 

 grasp them. His fame is the fame of the " Navigator." 

 Astrologers told that " his ascendant " was in " the House 

 of Mars," and in the "House of Saturn," and it was therefore 

 clear my lord should be "a great conqueror, and a searcher 

 out of things hidden from other men." Henry is the man 

 who first showed how the resources of the new-made 

 nations of Western Europe might be used, at once to 

 develop the new science of navigation and cosmography, 

 and to organize expeditions which should use this 

 science to conquer the new world which lay beyond the 

 ocean. 



The scientific In the great work to which Henry set his hand there were 

 two P arts : the scientific, the practical. It is characteristic 

 of the time and of the man that Henry deliberately chose 

 for himself the scientific part, as being the more radical. 

 " Brawny and large of frame, strong of limbs as any, brave 

 in heart and keen in mind, having a passion for the doing 

 of great things," the hero of Ceuta chose the life not of the 

 man of action, but of the assiduous student. His chosen 

 motto was " Talent de bien faire," desire or determination 

 to do things well, to be thorough or radical in method. The 

 key to the new world was the new science ; and Henry 

 now withdrew from court and army, and, living at Sagres, 

 " the place where both seas meet, the great Ocean sea, and 

 the Mediterranean," formed the first school of practical 



