acred
Promontory, and supposed it to be the westernmost limit of the habitable
earth.[380] There the young prince proceeded to build an astronomical
observatory, the first that his country had ever seen, and to gather
about him a school of men competent to teach and men eager to learn the
mysteries of map-making and the art of navigation. There he spent the
greater part of his life; thence he sent forth his captains to plough
the southern seas; and as year after year the weather-beaten ships
returned from their venturesome pilgrimage, the first glimpse of home
that greeted them was likely to be the beacon-light in the tower where
the master sat poring over problems of Archimedes or watching the stars.
For Henry, whose motto was "Talent de bien faire," or (in the old French
usage) "Desire[381] to do well," was wont to throw himself
whole-hearted into whatever he undertook, and the study of astronomy and
mathematics he pursued so zealously as to reach a foremost place among
the experts of his time. With such tastes and such ambition, he was
singularly fortunate in wielding ample pecuniary resources; if such a
combination could be more often realized, the welfare of mankind would
be notably enhanced. Prince Henry was Grand Master of the Order of
Christ, an organization half military, half religious, and out of its
abundant revenues he made the appropriations needful for the worthy
purpose of advancing the interests of science, converting the heathen,
and winning a commercial empire for Portugal. At first he had to
encounter the usual opposition to lavish expenditure for a distant
object without hope of immediate returns; but after a while his dogged
perseverance began to be rewarded with such successes as to silence all
adverse comment.

[Footnote 380: [Greek: Homoios de kai peri tes exo stelon
legetai; dysmikotaton men gar semeion tes oikoumenes, to ton
Iberon akroterion, ho kalousin Ieron.] Strabo, ii. 5, Sec. 14; cf.
Dionysius Periegetes, v. 161. In reality it lies not quite so
far west as the country around Lisbon.]

[Footnote 381: See Littre, _Dictionnaire_, s. v. "Talent;" Du
Cange, _Glossarium_, "talentum, animi decretum, voluntas,
desiderium, cupiditas," etc.; cf. Raynouard, _Glossaire
Provencale_, tom. v. p. 296. French was then fashionable at
court, in Lisbon as well as in London.]

[Sidenote: The Madeira and Canary islan