A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 03 - Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Robert Kerr
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page 60 of 639 (09%)
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spirit to venture upon an undertaking where so little was to be risked,
and which might redound so highly to the glory of God and the propagation of the faith, not without great benefit and honour to her kingdoms and dominions. That, should any other prince accept the offer of Columbus, the injury which her crown would sustain was very obvious; and that then she would justly incur much blame from her friends and servants, and would be reproached by her enemies, and all the world would say that she deserved the misfortune and disappointment; and, although she might never be sensible of the evil consequences of her refusal, her successors must. That, since the proposal seemed well grounded in reason and sound argument, and was made by a man of wisdom and knowledge, who demanded no other reward but what might arise from his discoveries, and who was willing to bear a proportion of the charges, and to adventure his own personal safety on the event, her majesty ought certainly to make the attempt. That she ought not to believe the undertaking was such an impossibility as had been alleged by those learned men to whom the proposal had been referred, neither to consider its possible failure as any reflection upon her wisdom; for in his opinion it would be universally looked upon as a mark of generous magnanimity to attempt discovering the secret wonders of the world, as had been done by other monarchs to their great honour and advantage. That, however uncertain the event might be, even a considerable sum of money would be well employed in the endeavour to ascertain the certainty of so very important an affair; whereas the admiral only required 2500 crowns to fit out a fleet for the discovery; and that therefore she ought not to allow it to be said hereafter that the fear of losing so small a sum had kept her from patronizing the enterprise. The queen was much impressed by these representations of Santangel, of whose sincere attachment to her service and honour she was extremely sensible. She thanked him for his good counsel, and said that she was |
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