Pigafetta presenting the history of
the voyage to the King of Spain.
The future of these islands must be one of civilization, education, and development, and we may hope that these will be brought about under the divine law of American institutions, that "all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." Justice alone is the true sword of power, perpetuity, and peace. To lead the natives of these islands to desire to receive all that is best in civilized life, is one of the great missions of the republic of the West; and that republic, governed by the conscience of the people, will be true to the cause of human rights.
Pigafetta? We must let him tell the story of his life on his return. "Leaving Seville I repaired to Valladolid, where I presented his sacred Majesty, Don Carlos, neither gold nor silver, but other things far more precious in the eyes of so great a sovereign. For I brought to him, among other things, a book written in my own hand, giving an account of all the things which had happened day by day on the voyage.
"Then I went to Portugal, where I related to King John the things that I had seen.
"Returning by the way of Spain, I came to France, where I presented treasures that I had brought home to the regent mother of the most Christian King Don Francis.
"Then I turned my face toward Italy, where I gave myself to the service of the illustrious Philip de Villiers l'Isle Adams, the Grand Master of Rhodes."
The scene of the presentation of the parchment story of Magellan to Charles V is most interesting. That manuscript was like the return of Magellan himself; it told what the hero of the sea had been and what he had done. It was in itself a work of genius, and the world has never ceased to read it in the spirit of sympathy in which it was written.
We may fancy the scene: the young King surrounded by his court, in his happiest days; the Italian Knight amid the splendors of the audience room, placing in the hands of the new Cæsar the roll of the narrative of the voyage around the world! Such a story no pen had ever traced before. That must have been one of the proudest moments in the life of Charles as he took from the Knight the map of the round world.
To the last Pigafetta was true to the Admiral; and one of the best things that can be said of any man is, "He is true hearted."