Chapter 26

In the month of June, the squadron of Pedrarias anchored before Darien. When the hardy veterans of the colony heard that their beloved commander was to be thus removed, they were loud in their murmurs, and eagerly desired to resist the newly arrived governor. Not so Vasco Nunez; he bowed at once to the mandates of the king, and acknowledged the authority of Pedrarias. This frank and honourable conduct was ill repaid by the new chief; he took advantage of the unsuspecting confidence of Vasco Nunez, and directed him to be prosecuted for usurpation and tyrannical abuse of power. Fortunately, the bishop was opposed to the conduct of the governor, and even his wife ventured to express her respect and sympathy for the discoverer. This alone saved him from being sent in irons to Spain. In the mean time, the gallant Spanish cavaliers sunk beneath the fatal climate, to which they were unaccustomed, and the affairs of the colony became distracted. Pedrarias, to engage them, fitted out an expedition for the Pacific, but it ended in disappointment and disaster, and had little result but to change some of the friendly Indian tribes into implacable enemies.

While things were in this state, despatches arrived from Spain. In a letter addressed to Vasco Nunez, the king expressed his high sense of his merits and services, and constituted him adelantado of the South Sea, though subordinate to the general command of Pedrarias. That governor, still envious of the renown of his rival, refused to confer on him the powers belonging to his new office, and all that Vasco Nunez could obtain was the recognition of the title. Still further to thwart the honourable plans of the discoverer, he determined to explore, under his own auspices, the pearl fisheries and islands discovered by Vasco Nunez on the Pacific, and for this purpose fitted out an expedition under the command of his own relative Morales; he sent with him, however, Francisco Pizarro, who had accompanied Vasco Nunez on his first expedition. These explorers were kindly received by the caciques, who willingly gave them pearls for hatchets, beads, and hawks' bills, which they valued much more. An incident occurred on their visit to Isla Rica, which, connected with the future history of Pizarro, was singularly interesting.

"Finding that pearls were so precious in the eyes of the Spaniards, the cacique took Morales and Pizarro to the summit of a wooden tower, commanding an unbounded prospect. 'Behold before you,' said he, 'the infinite sea, which extends even beyond the sun-beams. As to these islands which lie to the right and left, they are all subject to my sway. They possess but little gold, but the deep places of the sea around them are full of pearls. Continue to be my friends, and you shall have as many as you desire; for I value your friendship more than pearls, and, as far as in me lies, will never forfeit it.'

"He then pointed to the main land, where it stretched away towards the east, mountain beyond mountain, until the summit of the last faded in the distance, and was scarcely seen above the watery horizon. In that direction, he said, there lay a vast country of inexhaustible riches, inhabited by a mighty nation. He went on to repeat the vague but wonderful rumours which the Spaniards had frequently heard about the great kingdom of Peru. Pizarro listened greedily to his words, and while his eye followed the finger of the cacique, as it ranged along the line of shadowy coast, his daring mind kindled with the thought of seeking this golden empire beyond the waters."

On their way back through the mountains, the Spaniards were attacked by the savages with great ferocity; and when they reached Darien their party was greatly diminished, though the spoil they brought with them was great.

In the mean time, the disagreement between Pedrarias and Vasco Nunez continued, to the great regret of the bishop Quevedo, and the mortification of Dona Isabella. At length a plan was suggested by the former which had the fortunate effect of producing a reconciliation. It was agreed that Vasco Nunez should marry the daughter of the governor, then in Spain, and he was accordingly betrothed at once. Pedrarias now looked upon the exploits of his rival as those of one of his own family, and no longer thwarted him. He cheerfully aided him in a new expedition which was planned for transporting timber across the isthmus, building brigantines on the Pacific, and exploring the country farther to the south. When Vasco Nunez found himself floating in large vessels, on the waves of the vast ocean he had discovered, he felt an honourable pride, and a thousand visions of discoveries yet to be made crowded on his fancy. Alas! they were not destined to be realized. A person who had a private pique against him, insinuated himself into the confidence of Pedrarias; declared that Vasco Nunez had schemes of boundless ambition; that he would soon throw off his connexion with the governor, and above all, that such was his devotion to the Indian damsel, the daughter of Careta, that he would never wed her to whom he was betrothed. All the ancient enmity of Pedrarias was renewed; he determined at once to put an end to the rivalry of Vasco Nunez; by fair promises he induced him unsuspectingly to return; and as soon as he arrived within his power had him arrested and tried for treason. His condemnation was to be expected, but deep was the emotion and surprise among the colonists when they learned that it was to be followed by the immediate death of the unfortunate soldier. No entreaties, however, could induce the governor to relent. He had his victim now in his power and he determined he should not escape.

"It was a day of gloom and horror at Acla, when Vasco Nunez and his companions were led forth to execution. The populace were moved to tears at the unhappy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds had excited their admiration, and whose generous qualities had won their hearts. Most of them regarded him as the victim of a jealous tyrant; and even those who thought him guilty, saw something brave and brilliant in the very crime imputed to him. Such, however, was the general dread inspired by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that no one dared to lift up his voice, either in murmur or remonstrance.

"The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, proclaiming, 'This is the punishment inflicted by command of the king, and his lieutenant Don Pedrarias Davila, on this man, as a traitor and an usurper of the territories of the crown.'

"When Vasco Nunez heard these words, he exclaimed, indignantly, 'It is false! never did such a crime enter my mind. I have ever served my king with truth and loyalty, and sought to augment his dominions.'

"These words were of no avail in his extremity, but they were fully believed by the populace.

"Thus perished, in his forty-second year, in the prime and vigour of his days and the full career of his glory, one of the most illustrious and deserving of the Spanish discoverers--a victim to the basest and most perfidious envy.

"How vain are our most confident hopes, our brightest triumphs! When Vasco Nunez, from the mountains of Darien, beheld the Southern ocean revealed to his gaze, he considered its unknown realms at his disposal. When he had launched his ships upon its waters, and his sails were in a manner flapping in the wind, to bear him in quest of the wealthy empire of Peru, he scoffed at the prediction of the astrologer, and defied the influence of the stars. Behold him interrupted at the very moment of his departure; betrayed into the hands of his most invidious foe; the very enterprise that was to have crowned him with glory wrested into a crime; and himself hurried to a bloody and ignominious grave, at the foot, as it were, of the mountain from whence he had made his discovery! His fate, like that of his renowned predecessor Columbus, proves, that it is sometimes dangerous even to discern too greatly!"

There yet remain in this interesting volume the history of _Valdivia_ and his companions, and of the bold _Juan Ponce de Leon_. Each contains scenes and incidents scarcely less interesting than those we have rapidly noticed; but the termination of the story of Vasco Nunez affords us a place to pause, and we are recalled from the agreeable task of narrating to that of expressing some opinion on the merits of the work which has so delightfully detained us. We may add that there is also an appendix, containing a narrative of a visit or pilgrimage, truly American, made by the author to the little port of Palos, where Columbus and so many of his followers embarked for America; it is in the happiest style, and cannot be read without the strongest emotions; we can scarcely refrain, notwithstanding its length, from presenting it entire to the reader.

The copious quotations we have made, and the abstract of some of the more interesting parts of the narrative, will be sufficient to relieve us in a great degree from the necessity of criticism. Our readers will, themselves, be able to form a just estimate of the power and skill of the writer, and of the pleasure to be derived from the story he has recorded. We venture to say, that by none will that estimate be otherwise than favourable, either to the talents of the author, or the interest of the work.

The style of Mr. Irving has been objected to as somewhat elaborate, as sacrificing strength and force of expression, to harmony of periods and extreme correctness of language. We cannot say that we have been inclined to censure him for this. If he assumed a style more than usually refined, it was in those works of fiction, those short but agreeable narratives, in which he desired to win the fond attention of the reader, but in which he never endeavoured to call up violent emotions, to engage in the wild speculations of a discursive fancy, or to treat topics requiring logical or historical correctness. For such works as the Sketch Book, we believe the style adopted by Mr. Irving to be eminently well fitted, and we do not hesitate to attribute much of the success of those charming tales to this very circumstance. We believe so the more readily, because we find him adopting in the Life of Columbus, and in the volume before us, a different manner, but one equally well suited to the different nature of the subject he treats. Without losing the elegance and general purity by which it has been always characterized, it seems to us to have acquired more freshness, more vivacity; to flow on more easily with the course of the spirited narrative; to convey to the reader that exquisite charm in historical writing--an unconsciousness of any elaboration on the part of the writer, yet a quick and entire understanding of every sentiment he desires to convey.

But connected with this, the writing of Mr. Irving possesses another characteristic, which has never been more strongly and beautifully exhibited than in the present volume. We mean that lively perception of all those sentiments and incidents, which excite the finest and the pleasantest emotions of the human breast. As he leads us from one savage tribe to another--as he paints successive scenes of heroism, perseverance, and self-denial--as he wanders among the magnificent scenes of nature--as he relates with scrupulous fidelity the errors, and the crimes, even of those whose lives are for the most part marked with traits to command admiration, and perhaps esteem--every where we find him the same undeviating, but beautiful moralist, gathering from all lessons to present, in striking language, to the reason and the heart. Where his story leads him to some individual, or presents some incident which raises our smiles, it is recorded with a naive humour, the more effective from its simplicity; where he finds himself called on to tell some tale of misfortune or wo--and how often must he do so when the history of the gentle and peaceful natives of the Antilles is his subject--the reader is at a loss whether most to admire the beauty of the picture he paints, or the deep pathos which he imperceptibly excites.

Nor has he shown less judgment in the selection of his subject. To all persons the discovery of this continent is one which cannot fail to engage and reward attention--to him who loves to speculate on the changes and progress of society, to him who loves to trace the paths of science and knowledge, to him who loves to dwell on bold adventures and singular accidents, to him who loves carefully to ascertain historical truth. We scarcely know any topics at the present day, explored and exhausted as so many fields have been, that afford a richer harvest than those which Mr. Irving has now selected. We trust that many more works are yet to be the fruits of his most fortunate visit to the peninsula. The sources of information so liberally opened to him, and already so judiciously used--and which have contributed to add new reputation to so many names honourable to Spain--must yet furnish ample materials to illustrate other men, to disclose the incidents attending other adventures; and we trust that three years more may not elapse, before we again sail with our author over the newly discovered billows of the Pacific, or explore the plains of Mexico and Peru, or wander with some of the hardy adventurers who first dared to penetrate the defiles of the Andes.

We have already mentioned, in the notice of the Life of Columbus, the circumstances which led Mr. Irving to the investigation of this period of Spanish history, and the facilities afforded him in the prosecution of his labours. The materials for this volume were procured during the same visit. In addition to the historical collections of Navarrete, Las Casas, Herrera, and Peter Martyr, he profited by the second volume of Oviedo's history, of which he was shown a manuscript copy in the Columbian library of the cathedral of Seville, and by the legal documents of the law case between Diego Columbus and the crown, which are deposited in the Archives of the Indies.

ART. VIII.--_The History of Louisiana, from the earliest period._ By FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARTIN: 2 vols. 8vo. New-Orleans: Lyman and Beardslee. 1827.

It is about a year and a half since a very good translation of the History of Louisiana by _Barbe Marbois_, was laid before the public. Another work on the same subject, by _Francis Xavier Martin_, has recently come to our knowledge. We use this expression, because, although the title page shows a publication of the book in 1827, we neither saw it nor heard of it until the close of the last year; and, even now, we know of no copy but that in our possession. It may be that the honourable author, (for he is a Judge of the Supreme Court of the state whose history he has written,) was satisfied with collecting and preserving his materials by printing them, and cared not for the fame or profit of an extensive circulation and sale of his work. His philosophy may make him as indifferent to the one as his fortune does to the other, or his modesty may be greater than either. We think we shall perform an acceptable service by introducing the stranger to our readers, who will not fail to derive from him many things which will reward the time and trouble given to acquire them.

History has seldom appeared under the sanction of names better entitled to credit and respect than those we have mentioned. M. Marbois is known to us by his residence in the United States, as the secretary of the French legation, and Consul General of France, during the revolutionary war; and, afterwards, as _Charge d' Affaires_; in which situations he was distinguished for his extraordinary capacity in the business of diplomacy, as well as for the integrity of his principles, and the frankness and amenity of his manners. By living long among us, he seems to have acquired not only an affection and respect for the American people, but an ardent admiration of our political institutions, which have adhered to him with undiminished strength through the various fortunes he has since encountered. He has prefixed to his History, an "Introduction," which is, as it professes to be, "An Essay on the Constitution and Government of the United States of America;" and although the venerable author had passed his eightieth year, he had lost none of the freshness of his attachment to our republic and its citizens, or of the vigour of his pen in portraying them. No foreigner has ever understood us so well, and few Americans better.

That part of his history which relates to the cession of Louisiana to the United States, is particularly entitled to attention from its curious details, and will be received with implicit belief, as M. Marbois was the negotiator on the part of France in that extraordinary transaction, fraught with consequences so momentous. He relates nothing but what was in his personal knowledge. We will not anticipate our notice of this event, but we cannot suppress the remark, that the acquisition of this vast region by the United States, now so prosperous, so loyal and efficient a portion of our grand confederacy, by which we were not only saved from a war, but liberty, happiness, and wealth have been spread over a country, before that time neglected, mismanaged, and unproductive, and dispensed to an intelligent and industrious people, who had for a century been struggling with oppression and innumerable difficulties, changing with their repeated changes of masters, was owing to the keen sagacity and prompt decision of Napoleon. It is thus that the destinies of mankind wait upon the fortunes, the caprice, the foresight, and the blunders of the great, and are determined, for weal or wo, by causes and accidents in which those who are most affected by them have no agency. The people of Louisiana, and their fertile territory, which from their first settlement had been a subject of barter among the powers of Europe, to make a peace, to round off a treaty, or answer some policy or interest of a distant sovereign, are now irrevocably fixed as a member of a great republic, never again to be a helpless and degraded makeweight in the bargains of foreign princes.

_F. X. Martin_, the author of the work now in our review, has held for many years the high station of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana; respected for the learning and integrity with which he discharges the duties of his office, and equally so, in all his public and private relations. He, also, is at once the historian and the witness of some of the interesting transactions he narrates; and the veracity of his testimony is unquestionable, as to those matters of which he speaks from his personal knowledge. Being as independent in his circumstances as he is in his principles, and having no resentments, of which we have heard, to gratify, by calumniating any man, there is nothing to draw him from the line of rectitude, and we presume that no errors, at least of intention, will be imputed to him.

With this acquaintance with the character of the author, and his means of information, we may open his book with more than the confidence usually due to similar productions.

Before we introduce our readers to the materials of which these volumes are composed, we would say a word, and do it frankly, upon the plan adopted by the author in presenting them to the world. We speak not of the language or style of the composition, which is sufficiently clear and correct to be secure from criticism, especially under the apology of the writer, that "as he does not write in his vernacular tongue, elegance of style is beyond his hope, and consequently without the scope of his ambition." We are not so well satisfied with his reasons for the wide range he has taken over time and space in a "History of Louisiana." He has commenced, as every annalist of an American village has done, with the discoveries of Columbus; he has given us, with considerable detail, the circumstances which attended the settlements of the English and French provinces in this hemisphere; and has drawn "the attention of his readers to transactions on the opposite side of the Atlantic," which have no apparent connexion with his subject. The "chronological order" which he has adopted, is not confined to the affairs of Louisiana, but comprehends occurrences in every part of the globe, and sometimes brings together on the same page such a heterogeneous mass, as to force a smile from us in spite of the official gravity which belongs to the office of a reviewer. The assemblages of events are often so unexpected and grotesque, that we should believe a joke was intended, if they had not been brought together on the summons of a Judge of a Supreme Court. Assuredly nothing like them was ever seen in a jury-box, even in the mixed population of Louisiana. A few references will explain the nature and meaning of our criticism.

The "Discovery of America" being disposed of, the reader of the History of Louisiana has his recollection recalled to the reigns of Charles VIII. in France; of Henry VII. of England; and Ferdinand and Isabella, of course; with notices of various movements in those countries in their several reigns. The second chapter is got up in the same manner, taking a zigzag course over our continent, north, south, east, and west, with occasional excursions to Europe to keep up the variety. This procedure often produces an assemblage of events, as we have said, on the same page, rather startling to themselves as well as to us.--Thus on page 48 of the first volume--"On the 20th of December, a ship from England landed one hundred and twenty men near Cape Cod, who laid the foundation of a colony, which, in course of time, became greatly conspicuous in the annals of the northern continent. They called their first town Plymouth. Philip III. on the 21st of March of the following year, the forty-third of his age, transmitted the crown of Spain to his son Philip IV. This year James I. of England granted to Sir William Alexander, all the country taken by Argal from the French in America. The Iroquois, apprehending that if the French were suffered to gain ground in America." So on page 157--"Iberville returned to France in the fleet--William III. of England died on the 16th of March, in consequence of a fall from his horse, in the fifty-third year of his age. Mary, his queen, had died in 1694; neither left issue. Anne, her sister, succeeded her." Can we avoid to ask what has all this to do with Louisiana? In page 234--John Law's well known scheme is thus abruptly introduced. "Another Guinea-man landed three hundred negroes a few days after. John Law, of Lauriston in North Britain, was a celebrated financier," &c.