452
APPENDIX.
chapel erected to say mass in for the good of my soul, and those of my ancestors and successors with great devotion, since no doubt it will please the Lord to give us a sufficient revenue for this and the aforementioned purposes. Item : I also order Diego m y son, or whomsoever may inherit after him, to spare no pains in having and maintaining in the island of Hispa足 niola, four good professors of theology, to the end and aim of their study足 ing and laboring to convert to our holy faith the inhabitants of the Indies ; and in proportion as, by God's will, the revenue of the estate shall increase, in the same degree shall the number of teachers and devout increase, who are to strive to make Christians of the natives ; in attaining which no ex足 pense should be thought too great.
A n d in commemoration of all that
I hereby ordain, and of the foregoing, a monument of marble shall be erected in the said church of la Concepcion, in the most conspicuous place, to serve as a record of what I here enjoin on the said Diego, as well as to other persons who may look upon it ; which marble shall con足 tain an inscription to the same effect. Item : I also require of Diego my son, and whomsoever may succeed him in the estate, that every time, and as often as he confesses, he first show this obligation, or a copy of it, to the confessor, praying him to read it through, that he may be enabled to inquire respecting its fulfillment ; from which will redound great good and happiness to his soul. S. S. A . S. X. M. Y. EL
No. SIGNATURE
ALMIRANTE.
XXXVII. OP
COLUMBUS.
A s every thing respecting Columbus is full of interest, his signature has been a matter of some discussion.
It partook of the pedantic and bigoted
character of the age, and perhaps of the peculiar character of the man, who, considering himself mysteriously elected and set apart from among men for certain great purposes, adopted a correspondent formality and solemnity in all his concerns.
H i s signature was as follows :