Isabella, as Juan Perez, the friendly prior, had been before. Columbus,
however, was proud and firm. He would not yield to the terms prepared
by the archbishop. He preferred to break off the negotiation, and again
retired from court. He determined, as he had before, to lay his plans
before the King of France.

Spain would have lost the honor and the reward of the great discovery,
as Portugal and Genoa had lost them, but for Luis de St. Angel, and
the queen herself. St. Angel had been the friend of Columbus. He was an
important officer, the treasurer of the church revenues of Aragon.
He now insisted upon an audience from the queen. It would seem that
Ferdinand, though King of Aragon, was not present. St. Angel spoke
eloquently. The friendly Marchioness of Moya spoke eagerly and
persuasively. Isabella was at last fired with zeal. Columbus should go,
and the enterprise should be hers.

It is here that the incident belongs, represented in the statue by Mr.
Mead, and that of Miss Hosmer. The sum required for the discovery of a
world was only three thousand crowns. Two vessels were all that Columbus
asked for, with the pay of their crews. But where were three thousand
crowns? The treasury was empty, and the king was now averse to any
action. It was at this moment that Isabella said, "The enterprise is
mine, for the Crown of Castile. I pledge my jewels for the funds."

The funds were in fact advanced by St. Angel, from the ecclesiastical
revenues under his control. They were repaid from the gold brought in
the first voyage. But, always afterward, Isabella regarded the Indies
as a Castilian possession. The most important officers in its
administration, indeed most of the emigrants, were always from Castile.