sorely on his mind. The wars, dictated by his ambition, had straitened his
resources, and involved him in perplexities. He had looked with confidence
to the New World for relief, and for ample means to pursue his triumphs;
and grew impatient at the repeated demands which it occasioned on his
scanty treasury. For the purpose of irritating his feelings and
heightening his resentment, every disappointed and repining man who
returned from the colony was encouraged, by the hostile faction, to put in
claims for pay withheld by Columbus, or losses sustained in his service.
This was especially the case with the disorderly ruffians shipped off to
free the island from sedition. Finding their way to the court of Granada,
they followed the king when he rode out, filling the air with their
complaints, and clamoring for their pay. At one time, about fifty of these
vagabonds found their way into the inner court of the Alhambra, under the
royal apartments; holding up bunches of grapes, as the meagre diet left
them by their poverty, and railing aloud at the deceits of Columbus, and
the cruel neglect of government. The two sons of Columbus, who were pages
to the queen, happening to pass by, they followed them with imprecations,
exclaiming, "There go the sons of the admiral, the whelps of him who
discovered the land of vanity and delusion, the grave of Spanish
hidalgos." [66]

The incessant repetition of falsehood will gradually wear its way into the
most candid mind. Isabella herself began to entertain doubts respecting
the conduct of Columbus. Where there was such universal and incessant
complaint, it seemed reasonable to conclude that there must exist some
fault. If Columbus and his brothers were upright, they might be
injudicious; and, in government, mischief is oftener produced through
error of judgment, than iniquity of design. The letters written by
Columbus himself presented a lamentable picture of the confusion of the
island. Might not this arise from the weakness and incapacity of the