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ereigns ; for in his enthusiastic spirit, prone to deep feelings of reve rence, his loyalty was inferior only to his religion. He received Aguado, therefore, with grave and punctilious courtesy ; and re torted upon him his own ostentatious ceremonial, ordering that the letter of credence should be again proclaimed by sound of trum pet in presence of the populace. He listened to it with solemn deference, and assured Aguado of his readiness to acquiesce in whatever might be the pleasure of his sovereigns. This unexpected moderation, while it astonished the beholders, foiled and disappointed Aguado. He had come prepared for a scene of altercation, and had hoped that Columbus, in the heat and impatience of the moment, would have said or done some thing that might be construed into disrespect for the authority of the sovereigns. He endeavored, in fact, some months afterwards, to procure from the public notaries present, a prejudicial state ment of the interview ; but the deference of the admiral for the royal letter of credence had been too marked to be disputed ; and all the testimonials were highly in his favor.* Aguado continued to intermeddle in public affairs, and the respect and forbearance with which he was uniformly treated by Columbus, and the mildness of the latter in all his measures to appease the discontents of the colony, were regarded as proofs of his loss of moral courage. He was looked upon as a declining man, and Aguado hailed as the lord of the ascendant. Every dastard spirit who had any lurking ill-will, any real or imaginary cause of complaint, now hastened to give it utterance ; perceiving that, in gratifying his malice, he was promoting his interest, and that in vilifying the admiral he was gaining the friendship of Aguado. * Herrera, Hist. Ind., decad. i. lib. ii. cap. 18.