Excitement in Europe.

End of De Soto's expedition.

The Cabo:s.

1541, they discovered and crossed the Mississippi river. There, in the presence of almost twenty thousand Indians, De Soto erected a cross, made of a huge pine-tree. The ensuing summer and winter were spent in the wilderness watered by the Arkansas and its tributaries, and in the spring they returned to the Mississippi, where De Soto sickened and died, after appointing his successor. They had marched full three thousand miles.

28. The followers of De Soto were now reduced to half their original number, and, after wandering over the prairies watered by the tributary streams of the Red river for many months, they returned to the Mississippi. In rude boats they reached the Gulf of Mexico; and in September, half-naked and starved, they arrived at a Spanish settlement near the mouth of the Panuco, north of Tampico.

29. This was the last attempt of the Spanish cotemporaries of Columbus to explore, or to make settlements within the present territory of the United States, previous to the appearance of the English2 in the same field. They were impelled by no higher motive than the acquisition of gold; and treachery and violence were the instruments employed to obtain it. They were not worthy to possess the magnificent country which they coveted only for its supposed wealth in precious metals; and it was reserved for others who came afterward, with loftier aims, better hearts, and stronger hands, to cultivate the soil, and to establish an empire founded upon truth and justice.

SECTION III.

AND

ENGLISII

FRENCH

DISCOVERIES.

1. The Spanish court could not conceal the fact that a new world had been discovered and over Continental Europe and the British Isles, were spread the most extravagant tales of gold-bearing regions beyond the Atlantic Ocean. Monarchs and wealthy subjects projected new expeditions. Among those whose zeal in the cause of maritime discovery was newly awakened, was Henry the Seventh of England, who had turned a deaf ear to the appeals of Columbus before his great first voyage.*

2. Bristol was then one of the most important maritime towns in England; and among its adventurous seamen, who had penetrated the polar waters, probably as far as Greenland, was Sebastian Cabot, son of a wealthy merchant of Bristol, whose father sought the aid of the king in making a voyage of discovery. Willing to secure a portion of the prize he had lost, Henry readily yielded to the solicitations of Cabot, and gave him and his sons a

1. De Soto's followers sunk the body of their leader deep in the Mississippi, so that the Indians should not find it. 2. Verse 21, page 41. 3. Verse 14, page 31. 4. Verse 4, page 28.

QUESTIONS.-7. What happened during the remainder of De Soto's career? 28. What was the result of De Soto's expedition? 29. What were the chief motives of the Spaniards in making discoveries? What design of Providence do we see in their failure? 1. What was the effect of the Spanish discoveries on other portions of Europe? 2. What movement in the direction of discovery took place in England?

Sebastian Cabot's discoveries.

His subsequent voyages.

Newfoundland

commission of discovery [March 16, 1496] similar, in some respects, to that which Columbus had received from Ferdinand and Isabella.1

SEBASTIAN CABOT.

2

4. The following year, young Cabot, although only twenty-one years of age, was placed in command of another expedition, fitted out by his father and some Bristol merchants, for the purpose of discovering a north-west passage to India. Ice in the polar seas presented an impassible barrier, and he was compelled to go southward. He explored the coast from the frozen regions of Labrador to the sunny land of the Carolinas. Nineteen years afterward [1517] he navigated the northern waters, as far as the entrance to Hudson's Bay; and nine years later [1526], while in the service of the monarch of Spain,' he explored the coast of Brazil, and discovered and named the great Rio de la Plata. To the Cabots, father and son, belongs the imperishable honor of first discovering the coast

of the United States, through, at least, ten degrees of latitude.4

5. Cabot perceived the immense numbers and commercial importance of the cod fishes in the vicinity of Newfoundland; and within five or six years after these first voyages, many fishermen went thither from England, Brittany, and Normandy, for those treasures of the deep. Every French vessel that went to America, was on a commercial errand only, until 1523, when Francis the First sent John Verrazzani, an eminent Florentine navigator, to ( xplore the coasts of the New World. Verazzani sailed in December, 1523

VERRAZZANI

2. He was made Grand Pilot of England, and published a Map of the World. Born 1477; died 1557. 3. Charles the First, who was also Emperor of Germany.

4. King John of Portugal, like Henry of England, had refused to aid Columbus, and lost the great prize. After the return of the navigator, he felt a desire to fit out an expedition for discoveries in the New World, but the Pope having given to Spain the whole region westward, beyond an imaginary line three hundred leagues west from the Azores, he dared not interfere with the Spanish mariners. But when the northern voyages of the Cabots became known, King John despatched an expedition in that direction, under Gaspar Cortoreal, toward the close of the year 1500, for the ostensible purpose of seeking a northwest passage to India. Cortoreal coasted along the shores of Labrador several hundred miles, and then freighting his ship with fifty natives whom he had caught, he returned to Portugal, and sold his living cargo, for slaves. Finding the adventure profitable, he sailed for another cargo, but he was never heard of afterward. Almost sixty years later some Portuguese settled on Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and first introduced cattle and swine there.

QUESTONS.-3. What discoveries did the Cabots make? 4. What can you tell of the discoveries of Sebastian Cabot? What honor belongs to Italy?

Verrazzani's discoveries.

Cartier's voyages.

explore the coasts of the New World. He proceeded due west from the Madeiras [Jan. 27, 1524], and first touched the American Continent [March] near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, in North Carolina. After seeking a good harbor for fifty leagues further south, he sailed northward, and explored the coast from the Carolinas to Newfoundland. He anchored in the bays of Delaware and New York,' the harbor of Newport, and probably that of Boston, and held intercourse with the natives, who were sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile. Verrazzani gave the name of NEW FRANCE to the vast regions within the latitudes of the coast which he had discovered.

CARTIER'S SHIP.

6. The French king was too much engrossed and impoverished by war with the Spanish monarch, to pay much attention to the important discoveries of Verrazzani, or to listen to plans for future expeditions. Ten years elapsed before Admiral Chabon induced Francis to encourage another exploring enterprise, when a plan for making settlements in NEW FRANCE was arranged [1534], and James Cartier, a mariner of St. Malo, was appointed to the command of an expedition. He reached Newfoundland early in June, 1534. After exploring its coasts, he passed through the Straits of Belleisle into the

Gulf beyond, planted a cross with the arms of France upon it, on the shore of Gaspe inlet, and took possession of the whole country in the name of his king. After discovering the mouth of the great river of Canada, he sailed for France, in time to avoid the Autumn storms on the American coast.

7. Cartier's success was hailed with great joy. He was commissioned for another voyage; and in May following [1535] he sailed for Newfoundland, accompanied by several young noblemen of France. They passed the straits of Belleisle and entered the Gulf on the day dedicated to St. Lawrence; and Cartier gave the name of the martyr to the broad sheet of water over which they were sailing. They passed up the river which afterward received the same name, and mooring their ships at Quebec,2 proceeded in a pinnace and boats to Hochelaga, the capital of the Huron king. The natives were everywhere friendly and hospitable.

ARMS OF FRANCE.

and so

8. Cartier ascended the mountain in the rear of the Indian town; impressed was he with the glorious view from its summit, that he called it

1. Heckewelder says that Verrazzani landed where the lower extremity of New York city is. 2. Pronounced Ke-bec.

2. Verse 1, page 17. QUESTIONS.-5. What commercial discovery did young Cabot make? What did the French do? What can you tell of Verrazzani's voyage? 6. What caused a cessation of French efforts at discovery? What expedition was fitted out in 1534? What discoveries were made? 7. What Europeans first ascended the St. Lawrence? How far did they go?

Roberval's expedition.

Cartier on the St. Lawrence.

French Reformation.

Mont-Real (royal mountain), which name the fine city at its base yet retains. They returned to Quebec, passed the severe Winter on board their ships, and in the Spring sailed for France. Their departure was disgraced by an act of treachery. The hospitable Huron king was decoyed on board one of the vessels, and carried off to France.

9. Four years elapsed before another expedition was planned. At length, Francis de la Roque, better known as lord of Roberval, in Picardy, obtained permission of the king to make further discoveries, and to plant settlements in NEW FRANCE. The king gave him the empty title of Viceroy, and Cartier was commissioned for a subordinate command in the expedition. He was ready long before Roberval's extensive preparations were completed, and being unwilling to bow to the new Viceroy's authority, he sailed [June, 1541] some months before his official superior. 10. The broken-hearted Indian monarch had died in France. It was an unfortunate occurrence. The natives received Cartier first with coldness, and then showed open hostility. Fearing the Indians, the French built a fort near Quebec. They passed the Winter without accomplishing any important achievement, and in June [1542] following, departed for France, just as Roberval arrived at Newfoundland, with two hundred persons. Roberval passed up the St. Lawrence, built two more forts near Quebec, endured a Winter of great distress, and abandoning the idea of settlement, returned to France in the Spring of 1543. Six years afterward, he again sailed for the St. Lawrence, and was never heard of again.

2

11. Now was the era of the Reformation in France. The doctrines and the teachings of Calvin and others, in opposition to the faith and practice of the Roman Catholic Church had already arrayed great masses of the people in violent hostility to each other. The religious war was an absorbing idea, and for fifty years the French government made no further attempts at discovery or colonization. But private enterprise sought to plant a French settlement in the land discovered by D'Ayllon.3

12. The Huguenots, or French Protestants, had a powerful friend in Jasper Coligny, admiral of France, but a weak protector in the reigning monarch, Charles the Ninth. The fires of persecution were continually burning, and Coligny conceived the noble idea of providing a place of refuge for his Protestant brethren, beyond the Atlantic. The king granted him a commission for that purpose, and early in 1562 [Feb. 28], a squadron, under John Ribault, sailed for America.

1. Verse 5, page 36.

2. Note 14, page 48.

3. Verse 21, page 33.

QUESTIONS.-8. What is the origin of the town and name of Montreal? What were the incidents of Cartier's stay at Quebec? 9. What other expedition went to the St. Lawrence? 10. What do you know of the French in Canada in 1542 and 1543? 11. Why did the French cease making voyages of discovery? 12. What French settlement was attempted in America in 1552, and by whom?

The Huguenots in Florida.

Preparations to expel them.

13. The little Huguenot fleet touched first near the harbor of St. Augustine, in Florida.' Sailing northward, they saw the mouth of the beautiful St. John's river [May, 1562], and, it being the fifth month of the year, they named it May. Making their way along the coast, they discovered Port Royal entrance, were charmed with the beauty of the scene, chose the spot for their future home, and built a small fort, which they named Carolina, in honor of the king. Leaving a garrison to defend it, Ribault went back to France with the ships, for reinforcements. Bitter disappointment ensued. Civil war was raging in France, and Coligny was almost powerless. The reinforcements were not supplied, and the little garrison, in despair, built a frail vessel, and, with insufficient stores, embarked for France. Tempests assailed them, and famine was menacing them with death, when they were picked up by an English bark. Thus perished the first seeds of religious freedom which the storms of persecution bore to the New World.

14. Coligny was not discouraged; and, during a lull in the tempest of civil commotion, another expedition was sent to America, under the command of Laudonniere, who had accompanied Ribault on his first voyage. They arrived in July [1564], pitched their tents on the banks of St. John's, and built another Fort Carolina. There were elements of dissolution among these emigrants. Many were idle, vicious, and improvident; and provisions soon became scarce. Under pretext of returning to France, to escape famine, quite a large party sailed [December] in one of the vessels. They turned pirates, and depredated extensively upon Spanish property in the West Indies. The remainder became discontented, and were about to embark for France, when Ribault arrived with emigrants and supplies, and took command."

15. When the Spanish monarch heard of the settlement of the French Protestants within his claimed territory, and of the piracies of some of the party, he adopted measures for their expulsion and punishment. Pedro Melendez, a brave but cruel military chief, was appointed governor of Florida, on condition that he should expel the Frenchmen from the soil, conquer the natives, and plant a colony there. He came with a strong armed force, landed in a fine harbor on the coast of Florida, laid the foundations of St. Augustine [Sept. 17th, 1565], and proclaimed the king of Spain to be monarch of all North America.

16. On hearing of the arrival of the Spaniards, a large party of the French proceeded to attack them. A tempest wrecked every vessel; and most of the survivors, who fell into the hands of the Spaniards, were put to death. In the mean while, Melendez made his way through the swamps and forests to the defenseless French settlement, where he massacred about nine hundred 1. Verse 15, page 29.

2. James LeMoyne, a skillful painter, was sent with this expedition, with instructions to make colored drawings of every object worthy of preservation. His illustrations of the costume and customs of the natives are very interesting, because authentic.

QUESTIONS.-13. Can you relate the principal events connected with the attempt to make a Huguenot settlement in America? 14. What was the character and conduct of the people of a second expedition to plant a settlement? 15. What expedition was fitted out against the French Protestants in Florida? 16. What was the fate of the French settlers?