In the mean time, the disagreement between Pedrarias and Vasco Nuñez continued, to the great regret of the bishop Quevedo, and the mortification of Doña Isabella. At length a plan was suggested by the former which had the fortunate effect of producing a reconciliation. It was agreed that Vasco Nuñez should marry the daughter of the governor, then in Spain, and he was accordingly betrothed at once. Pedrarias now looked upon the exploits of his rival as those of one of his own family, and no longer thwarted him. He cheerfully aided him in a new expedition which was planned for transporting timber across the isthmus, building brigantines on the Pacific, and exploring the country farther to the south. When Vasco Nuñez found himself floating in large vessels, on the waves of the vast ocean he had discovered, he felt an honourable pride, and a thousand visions of discoveries yet to be made crowded on his fancy. Alas! they were not destined to be realized. A person who had a private pique against him, insinuated himself into the confidence of Pedrarias; declared that Vasco Nuñez had schemes of boundless ambition; that he would soon throw off his connexion with the governor, and above all, that such was his devotion to the Indian damsel, the daughter of Careta, that he would never wed her to whom he was betrothed. All the ancient enmity of Pedrarias was renewed; he determined at once to put an end to the rivalry of Vasco Nuñez; by fair promises he induced him unsuspectingly to return; and as soon as he arrived within his power had him arrested and tried for treason. His condemnation was to be expected, but deep was the emotion and surprise among the colonists when they learned that it was to be followed by the immediate death of the unfortunate soldier. No entreaties, however, could induce the governor to relent. He had his victim now in his power and he determined he should not escape.
"It was a day of gloom and horror at Acla, when Vasco Nuñez and his companions were led forth to execution. The populace were moved to tears at the unhappy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds had excited their admiration, and whose generous qualities had won their hearts. Most of them regarded him as the victim of a jealous tyrant; and even those who thought him guilty, saw something brave and brilliant in the very crime imputed to him. Such, however, was the general dread inspired by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that no one dared to lift up his voice, either in murmur or remonstrance.
"The public crier walked before Vasco Nuñez, proclaiming, 'This is the punishment inflicted by command of the king, and his lieutenant Don Pedrarias Davila, on this man, as a traitor and an usurper of the territories of the crown.'
"When Vasco Nuñez heard these words, he exclaimed, indignantly, 'It is false! never did such a crime enter my mind. I have ever served my king with truth and loyalty, and sought to augment his dominions.'
"These words were of no avail in his extremity, but they were fully believed by the populace.
"Thus perished, in his forty-second year, in the prime and vigour of his days and the full career of his glory, one of the most illustrious and deserving of the Spanish discoverers—a victim to the basest and most perfidious envy.
"How vain are our most confident hopes, our brightest triumphs! When Vasco Nuñez, from the mountains of Darien, beheld the Southern ocean revealed to his gaze, he considered its unknown realms at his disposal. When he had launched his ships upon its waters, and his sails were in a manner flapping in the wind, to bear him in quest of the wealthy empire of Peru, he scoffed at the prediction of the astrologer, and defied the influence of the stars. Behold him interrupted at the very moment of his departure; betrayed into the hands of his most invidious foe; the very enterprise that was to have crowned him with glory wrested into a crime; and himself hurried to a bloody and ignominious grave, at the foot, as it were, of the mountain from whence he had made his discovery! His fate, like that of his renowned predecessor Columbus, proves, that it is sometimes dangerous even to discern too greatly!"
There yet remain in this interesting volume the history of Valdivia and his companions, and of the bold Juan Ponce de Leon. Each contains scenes and incidents scarcely less interesting than those we have rapidly noticed; but the termination of the story of Vasco Nuñez affords us a place to pause, and we are recalled from the agreeable task of narrating to that of expressing some opinion on the merits of the work which has so delightfully detained us. We may add that there is also an appendix, containing a narrative of a visit or pilgrimage, truly American, made by the author to the little port of Palos, where Columbus and so many of his followers embarked for America; it is in the happiest style, and cannot be read without the strongest emotions; we can scarcely refrain, notwithstanding its length, from presenting it entire to the reader.
The copious quotations we have made, and the abstract of some of the more interesting parts of the narrative, will be sufficient to relieve us in a great degree from the necessity of criticism. Our readers will, themselves, be able to form a just estimate of the power and skill of the writer, and of the pleasure to be derived from the story he has recorded. We venture to say, that by none will that estimate be otherwise than favourable, either to the talents of the author, or the interest of the work.
The style of Mr. Irving has been objected to as somewhat elaborate, as sacrificing strength and force of expression, to harmony of periods and extreme correctness of language. We cannot say that we have been inclined to censure him for this. If he assumed a style more than usually refined, it was in those works of fiction, those short but agreeable narratives, in which he desired to win the fond attention of the reader, but in which he never endeavoured to call up violent emotions, to engage in the wild speculations of a discursive fancy, or to treat topics requiring logical or historical correctness. For such works as the Sketch Book, we believe the style adopted by Mr. Irving to be eminently well fitted, and we do not hesitate to attribute much of the success of those charming tales to this very circumstance. We believe so the more readily, because we find him adopting in the Life of Columbus, and in the volume before us, a different manner, but one equally well suited to the different nature of the subject he treats. Without losing the elegance and general purity by which it has been always characterized, it seems to us to have acquired more freshness, more vivacity; to flow on more easily with the course of the spirited narrative; to convey to the reader that exquisite charm in historical writing—an unconsciousness of any elaboration on the part of the writer, yet a quick and entire understanding of every sentiment he desires to convey.