Page:First Voyage Round the World.djvu/14

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ii
INTRODUCTION AND

It would seem that D. Manuel had only himself to blame for the loss of Magellan's services; and, as M. Amoretti well observes, D. Manuel ought to have been well aware of the value of those services, since Charles V knew it, and showed his appreciation of them. It is difficult to believe that the injury of which Magellan complained, and which led him to seek other service, was merely, as Osorio says, the refusal of promotion in palace rank, and which he had well deserved, especially since the motive ascribed by Osorio to the king's refusal, namely the necessity of avoiding a bad precedent, was not alone a sufficient affront to account for Magellan's sacrificing all his hopes and property in his own country, had he not also felt that the king was condemning him to inaction, obscurity, and uselessness. Barros, indeed, says that:

"The favours of princes given for services are a retributive justice, which must be observed equally with all, with regard to the quality of each man: and that if a man's portion be denied him, though he endures it ill, yet he will have patience; but if he see the advancement of those who have profited more by artifice and friends than by their own merits, he loses all patience; indignation, hatred, and despair arise, and he will commit faults injurious to himself and others. And what outraged Magellan more than the refusal of the half ducat a month, was that some men who were with him at Azamor, said that his lameness was feigned to support his petition."

The king, moreover, refused to receive Magellan, and showed his ill-will against him. It is therefore highly probable that before Magellan took the step of leaving Portugal, D. Manuel, prompted by his niggardly dis-