I seemed to respire hope and comfort with the free
air that whispered through the leaves, and played lightly with my hair,
and dried the tears upon my cheek. A lark, rising from the field before
me, and leaving as it were a stream of song behind him as he rose,
lifted my fancy with him. He hovered in the air just above the place
where the towers of Warwick castle marked the horizon, and seemed as
if fluttering with delight at his own melody. "Surely," thought I, "if
there were such a thing as a transmigration of souls, this might be
taken for some poet let loose from earth, but still revelling in song,
and carolling about fair fields and lordly towers."
* * * * *
From "The Life and Voyages of Columbus."
=_181._= COLUMBUS A PRISONER.
The arrival of Columbus at Cadiz, a prisoner, and in chains, produced
almost as great a sensation as his triumphant return from his first
voyage. It was one of those striking and obvious facts, which speak to
the feelings of the multitude, and preclude the necessity of reflection.
No one stopped to inquire into the case. It was sufficient to be
told that Columbus was brought home in irons from the world he had
discovered. A general burst of indignation arose in Cadiz, and its
neighboring city, Seville, which was immediately echoed throughout all
Spain.
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