CHAP. I I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS.
95
other rural establishments, on condition that they should reside as householders on the island for four years after such grant ; and that all the brazil-wood and precious metals, found on their lands, should be reserved to the crown. Nor were the interests of the unhappy natives forgotten by the compassionate heart of Isabella. Notwithstanding the soph isms by which their subjection and servitude were made matters of civil and divine right, and sanctioned by the political prelates of the day, Isabella always consented with the greatest reluctance to the slavery even of those who were taken in open warfare ; while her utmost solicitude was exerted to protect the unoffending part of this helpless and devoted race. She ordered that the greatest care should be taken of their religious instruction, and the great est leniency shown in collecting the tributes imposed upon them, with all possible indulgence to defalcators. In fact, the injunc tions given with respect to the treatment both of Indians and Spaniards, are the only indications, in the royal edicts, of any impression having been made by the complaints against Colum bus of severity in his government. It was generally recommended by the sovereigns, that, whenever the public safety did not re quire stern measures, there should be manifested a disposition to lenity and easy rule. When every intention was thus shown on the part of the crown to dispatch the expedition to the colony, unexpected diffi culties arose on the part of the public. The charm was dispelled which in the preceding voyage had made every adventurer crowd into the service of Columbus. An odium had been industriously thrown upon his enterprises ; and his new-found world, instead of a region of wealth and delight, was considered a land of poverty and disaster. There was a difficulty in procuring either