No two men could have been more dissimilar; and Machiavelli was thoroughly a product of his age, and a man who entirely belonged to it.] It is very noticeable in Columbus that he was it most dutiful, unswerving, and un-inquiring son of the Church.

The same man who would have taken nothing for granted in scientific research, and would not have held himself bound by the authority of the greatest names in science, never ventured for a moment to trust himself as a discoverer on the perilous sea of theological investigation.
In this respect Las Casas, though a churchman, was very different from Columbus.

Such doctrines as that the Indians should be somewhat civilized before being converted, and that even baptism might be postponed to instruction,--doctrines that would have found a ready acceptance from the good bishop--would have met with small response from the soldierly theology of Columbus.
The whole life of Columbus shows how rarely men of the greatest insight and foresight, and also of the greatest perseverance, attain the exact ends they aim at.

In this respect all such men partake the career of the alchemists, who did not transmute other metals into gold, but made valuable discoveries in chemistry.

So, with Columbus.