LIFE OF COLON, BY HIS SON.

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wore hid and obfcure. So it is that fome, who would call a cloud upon his fame, fayhe was of Nervi , others of Cugureo, and others of Bugiefco, all fmall towns near thecity of Genoa , and upon its coaft *. Others, who were for exalting of him, fay, he wasa native of Savona, others of Genoa ; others, more vain, make him of Piacenza , inwhich city there are fome honourable perfons of bis family, and tombs with the armsand infcriptions of the family of Colombi, this being then the ufual furname of his pre-deceffors; though he, complying with the country whither he went to live, and begina new ftate of life, modelled the word that it might be like the ancient, and dif-tinguilhed the direct from the collateral line, calling himfelf Colon . This made meapt to believe, that as mod of his affairs were guarded by fome fpecial providence, fothis very particular concerning his name and furname was not without fome myftery."We may inftance many names which were given by fecret impulfe to denote the effectsthofe perfons were to produce, as in his is foretold and expreffed the wonder he per-formed. For if we look upon the common furname of his anceftors we may fay hewas true Columbus, or Columba, forafmuch as he conveyed the grace of the HolyGhoft into that new world which he difcovered, fhewing thofe people who knew himnot, which was God ’s beloved Son, as the Holy Ghoft did in the figure of a dove atSt. John’s baptifm ; and becaufe he alfo carried the olive branch and oil of baptifmover the waters of the ocean, like Noah’s dove, to denote the peace and union ofthofe people with the church, after they had been fhut up in the ark of darknefs andconfufion. And the furname of Colon which he revived was proper to him, which inGreek fignifies a member, that his proper name being Chriftopher, it might be knownhe was a member of Chrift, by whom falvation was to be conveyed to thofe people.Moreover if we would bring his name to the Latin pronunciation, that is ChriftophorusColonus ; we may fay, that as St. Chriftopher is reported to have bore that name,becaufe he carried Chrift over the deep waters with great danger to himfelf, whencecame the denomination of Chriftopher; and as he conveyed over the people whomno other could have been able to carry, fo the Admiral Chriftophorus Colonus, implor-ing the afiiftance of Chrift in that dangerous paffage, went over fafe himfelf andhis company, that thofe Indian nations might become citizens and inhabitants ofthe church triumphant in heaven ; for it is to be believed, that many fouls which thedevil expected to make a prey of, had they not paffed through the water of baptifm,were by him made inhabitants and dwellers in the eternal glory of heaven.

CHAP. II. — Of the Admiral's Father and Mother, and their Quality, and of the falfeAccount one Jujliniani gives of his Employ, before he had the Title of Admiral.

NOT to go upon the etymology, derivation and meaning of the word admiral, butto return to the quality and perfons of his progenitors j I fay, that how confiderablefoever they were, being reduced to poverty and want by the wars and factions in Lom­ bardy , I do not find after what manner they lived; though the admiral himfelf in a letterfays that his anceftors and he always traded by fea. For my farther information in thisparticular, as I paffed through Cugureo, I endeavoured to receive fome informationfrom two brothers of the Coloni, who were the richeft in thofe parts, and reported tobe fomewhat a kin to him; but the youngeft of them being above one hundred yearsold, they could give me no account of this affair. Nor do I think that this is any dif-honour to us who defcend from him, becaufe I think it better that all the honour be

* From an autheutic record, in a law-fuit, we now know that the great Colon was born at Ferrara.Oft alia, xi. 258.

b 2 derived