"Life of Goldsmith."
Irving did not marry, and died on November 28, 1859, in his
home at Sunnyside on the Hudson River, and is buried at
Tarrytown. The "Life of Columbus" was published in 1828 and is
now obtainable in a number of popular editions.

_The Years of Waiting_

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa about 1435, of poor but reputable
parents. He soon evinced a passion for geographical knowledge, and an
irresistible inclination for the sea. We have but shadowy traces of his
life till he took up his abode in Lisbon about 1470. His contemporaries
describe him as tall and muscular; he was moderate and simple in diet
and apparel, eloquent, engaging, and affable. At Lisbon he married a
lady of rank, Dona Felipa. He supported his family by making maps and
charts.

Portugal was prosecuting modern discovery with great enthusiasm, seeking
a route to India by the coast of Africa; Columbus's genius conceived the
bold idea of seeking India across the Atlantic. He set it down that the
earth was a terraqueous globe, which might be travelled round. The
circumference he divided into twenty-four hours. Of these he imagined
that fifteen hours had been known to the ancients; the Portguese had
advanced the western frontier one hour more by the discovery of the
Azores and the Cape de Verde Islands; still, about eight hours remained
to be explored. This space he imagined to be occupied in great measure
by the eastern regions of Asia. A navigator, therefore, pursuing a
direct course from east to west, must arrive at Asia or discover
intervening land.

The work of Marco Polo is the key to many of the ideas of Columbus. The
territories of the Great Khan were the object of his search in all his
voyages. Much of the success of his enterprise rested on two happy
errors; the imaginary extent of Asia to the east, and the supposed
smallness of the earth. Without these errors he would hardly have
ventured into the immeasurable waste of waters of the Atlantic.

A deep religious sentiment mingled with his thoughts; he looked upon
himself as chosen from among men, and he read of his discovery as
foretold in Holy Writ. Navigation was still too imperfect for such an
undertaking; mariners rarely ventured far out of sight of land. But
knowledge was advancing, and the astrolabe, which has been modified into
the modern quadrant, was being applied to navigation. This was the one
thing wanting to free the mariner from his l