This attempt was in any case destined to prove equally adverse to the
fortunes of Columbus. Had it succeeded, he would have undoubtedly been
deprived of the credit which should have been his by right; since it
failed, the venture was considered to have proved the fallacy of
Columbus's theories. When, disgusted with experiences such as these,
Columbus left Portugal and took up his residence near the Court of Spain
in company with this great idea of his, which followed him everywhere,
and was in a sense bigger than himself, he met with an equal lack of
success in the first instance. Queen Isabella was sympathetic, but her
cautious husband Ferdinand showed himself cold. Dreading the utter
destruction of his plans, Columbus determined to wash his hands of the
Iberian Peninsula and its over-cautious rulers and statesmen.
He was actually on his way to England, whither one of his brothers had
already preceded him, when a message from the Court of Spain caused him
to hasten back. It is possible that the Court had been in a haggling
mood, and had given the discoverer credit for a similar phase; at all
events, it was not until his person was almost out of reach that the now
complaisant authorities called him back.
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