Mercedes of Castile; Or, The Voyage to Cathay

Notwithstanding his native resolution, and an indifference to danger that amounted to recklessness, Luis did not find himself alone with the Haytians without, at least, a lively...

The adventurers had now been twenty-three days out of sight of land, all of which time, with the exception of a few very immaterial changes in the wind, and a day or two of calm...

"Who hath not proved how feebly words essay To fix one spark of beauty's heavenly ray? Who doth not feel, until his failing sight Faints into dimness with its own delight, His c...

The season had now advanced to the first days of February, and, in that low latitude, the weather was becoming genial and spring-like. On the morning succeeding that of the inte...

The wind continuing fair, the three vessels made good progress in the direction of the Canaries; Sunday, in particular, proving a propitious day, the expedition making more than...

From the moment that Isabella pledged her royal word to support Columbus in his great design, all reasonable doubts of the sailing of the expedition ceased, though few anticipat...

"Three score and ten I can remember well, Within the volume of which time I have seen Hours dreadful, and things strange, but this sore sight Hath trifled former knowings."

"O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free, Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, Survey our empire, and behold our home."

"When sinking low the sufferer wan Beholds no arm outstretch'd to save, Fair, as the bosom of the swan That rises graceful o'er the wave, I've seen your breast with pity heave,...

The night that succeeded was one of very varied feelings among the adventurers. As soon as Sancho secured the reward, he had no further scruples about communicating all he knew,...

"The sails were filled, and fair the light winds blew, As glad to waft him from his native home; And fast the white rocks faded from his view, And soon were lost in circumambien...

The instant of departure at length arrived. The moment so long desired by the Genoese was at hand, and years of poverty, neglect, and of procrastination, were all forgotten at t...

"One evening-tide, as with her crones she sate, Making sweet solace of some scandal new, A boisterous noise came thund'ring at the gate, And soon a sturdie boy approached in vie...

"Each look, each motion, waked a new-born grace, That o'er her form its transient glory cast: Some lovelier wonder soon usurp'd the place, Chased by a charm still lovelier than...

"What thing a right line is,--the learned know; But how availes that him, who in the right Of life and manners doth desire to grow? What then are all these humane arts, and ligh...

"But where is Harold? Shall I then forget To urge the gloomy wanderer o'er the wave? Little reck'd he of all that men regret; No loved one now in feign'd lament could rave; No f...

"'_Ora pro nobis, Mater!_'--what a spell Was in those notes, with day's last glory dying On the flush'd waters--seemed they not to swell From the far dust, wherein my sires were...

"On thy unaltering blaze The half-wrecked mariner, his compass lost, Fixes his steady gaze, And steers, undoubting, to the friendly coast; And they who stray in perilous wastes,...

"He that of such a height hath built his mind, And reared the dwelling of his thoughts so strong As neither fear nor hope can shake the frame Of his resolved powers."

"Leave to the nightingale her shady wood: A privacy of glorious light is thine; Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with rapture more divine; Type of the wi...

The slumbers of Columbus were of short duration. While his sleep lasted it was profound, like that of a man who has so much control over his will as to have reduced the animal f...

"For now, from sight of land diverted clear, They drove uncertain o'er the pathless deep; Nor gave the adverse gale due course to steer, Nor durst they the design'd direction ke...

"Now, Gondarino, what can you put on now That may deceive us? Have ye more strange illusions, yet more mists, Through which the weak eye may be led to error? What can ye say tha...

Whether we take the pictures of the inimitable Cervantes, or of that scarcely less meritorious author from whom Le Sage has borrowed his immortal tale, for our guides; whether w...

The intelligence that Martin Alonzo Pinzon was to make one of the followers of Colon, spread through the village of Palos like wild-fire. Volunteers were no longer wanting; the...

The lustre that was thrown around the voyage of Columbus, brought the seas into favor. It was no longer deemed an inferior occupation, or unsuited to nobles to engage in enterpr...

"Nice customs curt'sy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak list of a country's fashion. We are the makers of manners; and the liberty that fol...

The two or three hours that succeeded, were hours of an extraordinary and intense interest. The three vessels stood hovering off the dusky shore, barely keeping at a safe distan...

"Looke back, who list, unto the former ages, And call to count, what is of them become, Where be those learned wits and antique sages, Which of all wisdom knew the perfect somme...

"Mac-Homer, too, in prose or song, By the state-papers of Buffon, To deep researches led; A Gallo-Celtic scheme may botch, To prove the Ourang race were Scotch, Who from the Hig...

"How beautiful is genius when combined With holiness! Oh! how divinely sweet The tones of earthly harp, whose cords are touch'd By the soft hand of Piety, and hung Upon Religion...