HIS DEATH. 241 ceived, but Columbus did not survive to behold the chapter 19 XVIII. jouiig sovereigns. , His mental vigor, however, was not impaired bj in^ death. the ravages of disease, and on the 19th of May, 1506, he executed a codicil, confirming certain tes- tamentary dispositions formerly made, with special reference to the entail of his estates and dignities, manifesting, in his latest act, the same solicitude he had shown through life, to perpetuate an honorable name. Having completed these arrangements with perfect composure, he expired on the following day, isog. being that of our Lord's ascension, with little ap- ^^^ ^^' parent suffering, and in the most Christian spirit of resignation. '^ His remains, first deposited in the convent of St. Francis at Valladolid, were, six years later, removed to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas at Seville, where a costly monument was raised over them by King Ferdinand, with the memorable inscription, " A Castilla y a Leon Nuevo mundo dio Colon ;" " the like of which," says his son Ferdinand, with as much truth as simplicity, " was never recorded of any man in ancient or modern times." *^ From 12 Navarrete has given the let- showing the high estimation in ter, Coleccion de Viages, torn. iii. which he was held, abroad as well p. 530. — Herrera, Indias Occiden- as at home, by the enlightened of tales, ubi supra. his own day. " Incomparabilis Li- 13 Zuurga, Annales de Sevilla, guribus honos, eximium Italia; de- p. 429. — Fernando Colon, Hist, cus, et prajfulgidum jubar seculo del Almirante, cap. 108. — Ber- nostro nasceretur, quod priscorum naldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. heroum, Herculis, et Liberi patri:: 131. — Navarrete, Coleccion de famam obscuraret. Quorum me- Viages, torn, ii., Doc. Dipl. 158. moriam grata olim mortalitas setev- 14 Hist, del Almirante, ubi sup. nis literarum monurnentiscceio con- The following eulogium of Paolo secrarit." Elogia Virorum lUust., Giovio is a pleasing tribute to the lib. 4, p. 123. deserts of the great navigator, VOL. III. 31
