hind them when they die and women also ought to have a part of what their parents and kindred leave, whether it be little, or whether it be much; a determinate part is due to them. And when they who are of kin are present at the dividing of what is left, and also the orphans, and the poor; distribute unto them some part thereof; and if the estate be too small, at least speak comfortably unto them. And let those fear to abuse orphans, who if they leave behind them a weak offspring, are solicitous for them let them therefore fear God, and speak that which is convenient. Surely they who devour the possessions of orphans unjustly shall swallow down nothing but fire into their bellies, and shall broil in raging flames. God hath thus commanded you concerning your children. A male shall have as much as the share of two females; but if they be females only, and above two in number, they shall have two third parts of what the deceased shall leave; and if there be but one, she shall have the half. And the parents of the deceased shall have each of them a sixth part of what he shall leave, if he have a child; but if he have no child, and his parents be his heirs, then his mother shall have the third part. And if he have brethren, his mother shall have a sixth part, after the legacies which he shall bequeath, and his debts be paid. Ye know not whether your parents or your children be of greater use unto you. This is an ordinance from God, and God is knowing and wise. Moreover ye may claim half of what your wives shall leave, if they have no issue; but if they have issue, then ye shall have the fourth part of what they shall leave, after the legacies which they shall bequeath, and the debts be paid. They also shall have the fourth part of what ye shall leave, in case ye have no issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have the eighth part of what ye shall leave, after the legacies which ye shall bequeath, and your debts be paid. And if a man or woman's substance be inherited by a distant relation, and he or she have a brother or sister; each of them two shall have a sixth part of the estate. But if there be more than this number, they shall be equal sharers in a third part, after payment of the legacies which shall be bequeathed, and the debts, without prejudice to the heirs. This is an ordinance from God: and God is knowing and gracious. These are the statutes of God. Men shall have the pre-eminence above women, because of those advantages wherein God hath caused the one of them to excel the other, and for that which they expend of their substance in maintaining their wives. The honest women are obedient, careful in the absence of their husbands, for that God preserveth them, by committing them to the care and protection of the men. But those, whose perverseness ye shall be apprehensive of, rebuke; and remove them into separate apartments, and chastise them. But if they shall be obedient unto you, seek not an occasion of quarrel against them for God is high and great. And if ye fear a breach between the husband and wife, send a judge out of his family, and a judge out of her family: if they shall desire a reconciliation, God will cause them to agree; for God is knowing and wise. WINE FORBIDDEN. O true believers, surely wine, and lots, and images, and divining arrows, are an abomination of the work of Satan; therefore avoid them that ye may prosper. Satan seeketh to sow dissension and hatred among you, by means of wine and lots, and to divert you from remembering God, and from prayer will ye not therefore abstain from them? THE LAST JUDGMENT. When the heaven shall be cloven in sunder; and when the stars shall be scattered; and when the seas shall be suffered to join their waters; and when the graves shall be turned upside down; every soul shall know what it hath committed, and what it hath omitted. O man, what hath seduced thee against thy gracious Lord, who hath created thee, and put thee together, and rightly disposed thee? In what form he pleased hath he fashioned thee. Assuredly. But ye deny the last judgment as a falsehood. Verily there are appointed over you guardian angels, honorable in the sight of God, writing down your actions; who know that which ye do. The just shall surely be in a place of delight; but the wicked shall surely be in hell; they shall be cast therein to be turned, on the day of judgment, and they shall not be absent therefrom for ever. What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? Again, What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? It is a day whereon one soul shall not be able to obtain. anything in behalf of another soul: and the command, on that day, shall be God's. FALSE MEASURE. Woe be unto those who give short measure or weight who, when they receive by measure from other men, take the full; but when they measure unto them, or weigh unto them defraud! Do not these think they shall be raised again, at the great day, the day whereon mankind shall stand before the Lord of all creatures? By no means. Verily the register of the actions of the wicked is surely in Sejjin. THE SUN. By the Sun, and its rising brightness; by the moon, when she followeth him; by the day, when it showeth his splendor; by the night, when it covereth him with darkness; by the heaven, and him who built it; by the earth, and him who spread it forth; by the soul, and him who completely formed it, and inspired into the same its faculty of distinguishing, and power of choosing, wickedness and piety: now is he who hath purified the same, happy; but he who hath corrupted the same, is miserable. Thamud accused their prophet Saleh of imposture, through the excess of their wickedness: when the wretch among them was sent to slay the camel ; and the apostle of God said unto them, Let alone the camel of God; and hinder not her drinking. But they charged him with imposture; and they slew her. Wherefore their Lord destroyed them, for their crime, and made their punishment equal unto them all and he feareth not the issue thereof. THE BRIGHTNESS. By the brightness of the morning; and by the night, when it groweth dark: thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither doth he hate thee. Verily the life to come shall be better for thee than this present life and thy Lord shall give thee a reward wherewith thou shalt be well pleased. Did he not find thee an orphan, and hath he not taken care of thee? And did he not find thee wander PARENTAL LOVE THE TRUEST LOVE. HE course of existence too generally THE teaches to us all that mournful truth I that, after all, we have no friends that we can depend upon in this life but our parents. All other intimacies, however ardent, are liable to cool; all other confidence, however unlimited, to be violated. In the phantasmagoria of life the friend with whom we have cultivated mutual trust for years is often suddenly or gradually estranged from us, or becomes, from painful yet irresistible circumstances, even our deadliest foe. As for wo men, as for the mistresses of our hearts, who has not learnt that the links of passion are fragile as they are glittering, and that the bosom on which we have reposed with idolatry all our secret sorrows and sanguine hopes eventually becomes the very heart that exults in our misery and baffles our welfare? Where is the enamored face that smiled upon our ea rly love and was to shed tears over our grave? Where are the choice companions of our youth, with whom we were to breast the difficulties and share the triumphs of existence? Even in this inconstant world what changes like the heart? Love is a dream, and friendship a delusion. No wonder we grow callous; for how few have the opportunity of returning to the hearth which, they quitted in levity or thoughtless weari ! THE SHIPWRECK. N vain the cords and axes were prepared, For now the audacious seas insult the yard; High o'er the ship they throw a horrid And o'er her burst in terrible cascade. Earth groans, air trembles and the deeps re- Her giant bulk the dread concussion feels, So reels, convulsed with agonizing throes, blows. Again she plunges. Hark! a second shock cries, The fated victims, shuddering, roll their eyes WILLIAM FALCONER. LETTER FROM CHRISTOPHER COLUM- | northward, where I did not wish to go, as BUS.* DESPATCHED FROM LISBON TO FERDINAND AND ISA BELLA. IR: As I am sure you will be pleased at the great victory which the Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to inform you that in twenty days I arrived in the Indies with the squadron which Their Majesties had placed under my command. There I discovered many islands, inhabited by a numerous population, and took possession of them for Their Highnesses, with public ceremony, and the royal flag displayed, without molestation. The first that I discovered I named San Salvador, in remembrance of that almighty Power which had so miraculously bestowed them. The Indians call it Guanahani. To the second I assigned the name of Santa Maria de Concepcion; to the third, that of Fernandina; to the fourth, that of Isabella; to the fifth, Juana; and so on-to every one a new name. When I arrived at Juana, I followed the coast to the westward, and found it so extensive that I considered it must be a continent, and a province of Cathay. And, as I found no towns or villages by the seaside excepting some small settlements-with the people of which I could not communicate, because they all ran away-I continued my course to the westward, thinking I should not fail to find some large towns and cities. After having coasted many leagues without finding any signs of them, and seeing that the coast took me to the *Of this letter there are only three original MS. copies in existence. The Astor Library copy-to which we are indebted for a transcript of the Latin of Columbuswas purchased by and presented to the library by a member of the Astor family. I the winter was already set in, I considered it best to follow the coast to the south; and, the wind being also scant, I determined to lose no more time, and therefore returned to a certain port, from whence I sent two messengers into the country to ascertain whether there was any king there, or any large city. They travelled for three days, finding an infinite number of small settlements and an innumerable population, but nothing like a city; on which account they returned. had tolerably well ascertained from some Indians whom I had taken that this land was only an island, so I followed the coast of it to the east for one hundred and seven leagues to its termination. And about eighteen leagues from this cape, to the east, there was another island, to which I shortly gave the name of Española. I went to it, and followed the north coast of it, as I had done that of Juana, for one hundred and seventyeight long leagues due east. This island is very fertile-as well, indeed, as all the rest. It possesses numerous harbors far superior to any I know in Europe, and, what is remarkable, plenty of large inlets. The land is high and contains many lofty ridges and some very high mountains, without comparison of the island of Cetrefrey, all of them very handsome and of different forms, all of them accessible and abounding in trees of a thousand kinds, high, and appearing as if they would reach the skies. And I am assured that the latter never lose their foliage, as far as I can understand, for I saw them as fresh and flourishing as those of Spain in the month of May. Some were in blossom, some bearing fruit, and others in other states, accord ing to their nature. The nightingale and a thousand kinds of birds enlivened the woods. with their song in the month of November wherever I went. There are seven or eight kinds of palms of various elegant forms, besides various other trees, fruits and herbs. The pines of this island are magnificent. It has also extensive plains, honey and a great variety of birds and fruits. It has many metal-mines and a population innumerable. Española is a wonderful island with mountains, groves, plains, and the country generally beautiful and rich for planting and sowing, for rearing sheep and cattle of all kinds, and ready for towns and cities. The harbors must be seen to be appreciated; rivers are plentiful and large and of excellent water; the greater part of them contain gold. There is great difference between the trees, fruits and herbs of this island and those of Juana. In this island there are many spices and large mines of gold and other metals. The people of this island, and of all the others which I have discovered or heard of, both men and women, go naked as they were born, although some of the women wear leaves of herbs or a cotton covering made on purpose. They have no iron nor steel, nor any weapons; not that they are not a well-disposed people and of a fine stature, but they are timid to a degree. They have no other arms excepting spears made of cane, to which they fix at the end a sharp piece of wood, and then dare not use even these. Frequently I had occasion to send two or three of my men on shore to some settlement for information where there would be multitudes of them, and as soon as they saw our people they would run away, every soul, the father leaving his child; and this was not because any one had done them harm-for rather at every cape where I landed and been able to communicate with them I have made them presents of cloth and many other things without receiving anything in return but because they are so timid. Certainly, where they have confidence and forget their fears, they are so open-hearted and liberal with all they possess that it is scarcely to be believed without seeing it. If anything that they have is asked of them, they never deny it; on the contrary, they will offer it. Their generosity is so great that they would give anything, whether it is costly or not, for anything of any kind that is offered them, and be contented with it. I was obliged to prevent such worthless things being given them as pieces of broken basins, broken glass, and bits of shoe-latchets, although, when they obtained them, they esteemed them as if they had been the greatest of treasures. One of the seamen for a latchet received a piece of gold weighing two dollars and a half, and others for other things of much less value obtained more. Again, for a new silver coin they would give everything they possessed, whether it was worth two or three doubloons or one or two balls. of cotton. Even for pieces of broken pipetubes they would take them and give anything for them, until, when I thought it wrong, I prevented it. And I made them presents of thousands of things which I had, that I might win their esteem, and also that they might be made good Christians and be disposed to the service of Your Majesties and the whole Spanish nation, and help us to obtain the things which we require and of which there is abundance in their country. |