1

CHAP. neighborhood of their own tribes, they humored their fanV. cies, and told them of regions far away, where the precious 1540. metal was abundant. In one instance they pointed to the

north-east, where they said the people understood the art of refining it, and sent them away over the rivers and plains of Georgia. It is possible they may have referred to the gold region of North Carolina.

When one of the guides honestly confessed that he knew of no such country, De Soto ordered him to be burned for telling an untruth. From this time onward the guides continued to allure the Spaniards on in search of a golden region,—a region they were ever approaching, but never reached.

At length the men grew weary of wandering through forests and swamps; they looked for cities, rich and splendid, they found only Indian towns, small and poor, whose finest buildings were wigwams. They wished to return; but De Soto was determined to proceed, and his faithful followers submitted. They pillaged the Indians of their provisions, thus rendered them hostile, and many conflicts ensued. They treated their captives with great barbarity; wantonly cut off their hands, burned them at the stake, suffered them to be torn in pieces by the bloodhounds, or chained them together with iron collars, and compelled them to carry their baggage.

They moved toward the south-west, and came into the neighborhood of a large walled town, named Mavilla, since Mobile. It was a rude town, but it afforded a better shelter than the forests and the open plains, and they wished to occupy it. The Indians resisted, and a fierce battle ensued. The Spanish cavalry gained a victory,—a victory dearly bought; the town was burned, and with it nearly all their baggage.

Meantime, according to appointment, ships from Cuba had arrived at Pensacola. De Soto would not confess that he had thus far failed; he would send no news until he

DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

25

had rivalled Cortez in military renown. They now directed CHAP. their course to the north-west, and spent the following winter in the northern part of the State of Mississippi. From 1540. the Indian corn in the fields they obtained food, and made their winter quarters in a deserted town. When spring returned, a demand was made of the Chickasaw chief to furnish men to carry their baggage. The indignant chief refused. The hostile Indians deceived the sentinels, and in the night set fire to the village and attacked the Spaniards, but after a severe contest they were repulsed. It was another dear victory to the invaders; the little they had saved from the flames at Mobile was now consumed. This company, once so "brilliant in silks and glittering armor," were now scantily clothed in skins, and mats made of ivy.

Again they commenced their weary wanderings, and before many days found themselves on the banks of the Mississippi. De Soto expressed no feelings of pleasure or of admiration at the discovery of the magnificent river, with its ever-flowing stream of turbid waters. Ambition and avarice consume the finer feelings of the soul; they destroy the appreciation of what is noble in man and beautiful in nature. De Soto was only anxious to cross the river, and press on in search of cities and of gold. A 1541. month elapsed before boats could be built to transport the horses. At length they were ready, and white men, for the first time, launched forth upon the Father of Waters.

The natives on the west bank received the strangers kindly, and gave them presents. The Indians of southern Missouri supposed them to be superior beings-children of the sun-and they brought them their blind to be restored to sight. De Soto answered them, "The Lord made the heavens and the earth: pray to Him only for whatsoever ye need." Here they remained forty days; sent out explorers further north, who reported that buffaloes were so numerous in that region that corn could not be raised;

V.

CHAP. that the inhabitants were few, and lived by hunting. They wandered two hundred miles further west; then 1541. turned to the south, and went nearly as far, among Indians who were an agricultural people, living in villages, and subsisting upon the produce of the soil.

In this region another winter was passed. It was now almost three years since De Soto had landed at Tampa bay. With all his toil and suffering, he had accomplished 1512. nothing. In the spring, he descended the Wachita to the Red river, and thence once more to the Mississippi. There he learned that the country, extending to the sea, was a waste of swamps, where no man dwelt.

1672.

His cup of disappointment was full; his pride, which had hitherto sustained him, must confess that his enterprise had been a failure. He had set out with higher hopes than any Spanish conqueror of the New World; now his faithful band was wasted by disease and death. He was far from aid; a deep gloom settled upon his spirit; his soul was agitated by a conflict of emotions; a violent fever was induced; and when sinking rapidly, he called his followers around him, they, faithful to the last, implored him to appoint a successor: he did so. The next day De Soto was no more. His soldiers mourned for him the priests performed his funeral rites; with sad hearts they wrapped his body in a mantle, and, at the silent hour of midnight, sunk it beneath the waters of the Mississippi.

;

His followers again wandered for awhile, in hopes of getting to Mexico. Finally they halted upon the banks of the Mississippi; erected a forge; struck the fetters off their Indian captives, and made the iron into nails to build boats; killed their horses and swine, and dried their flesh for provisions. When the boats were finished they launched them upon the river, and floated down its stream to the Gulf of Mexico.

After the lapse of one hundred and thirty years, the Mississippi was again visited by white men of another nation.

CHAPTER VI.

THE REFORMATION AND ITS EFFECTS.

VI.

FROM this period we find interwoven with the early his- CHAP. tory of our country a class of persons who were not mere adventurers, seekers after gold or fame-but who sought 1517. here a home, where they might enjoy civil and religious liberty, and who held the principles of which we see the result in the institutions of the United States, so different in some respects from those of any other nation. This difference did not spring from chance, but was the legitimate effect of certain influences. What has made this younger member of the great family of governments to differ so much from the others? What were the principles, what the influences, which produced such men and women as our revolutionary ancestors? The world has never seen their equals for self-denying patriotism; for enlightened views of government, of religious liberty, and of the rights of conscience.

When great changes are to be introduced among the nations of the earth, God orders the means to accomplish them, as well as the end to be attained. He trains the people for the change. He not only prepared the way for the discovery of this continent, but for its colonization by a Christian people. Fifty years before the first voyage of Columbus, the art of printing was invented-and twentyfive years after the same voyage, commenced the Reformation in Germany under Martin Luther. The art of printing, by multiplying books, became the means of diffusing

VI.

CHAP. knowledge among men, and of awakening the human mind from the sleep of ages. One of the consequences of this 1517. awakening, was the Reformation. The simple truths of the Gospel had been obscured by the teachings of men. The decrees of the church had drawn a veil between the throne of God and the human soul. The priesthood had denied to the people the right of studying for themselves the word of God. The views of the Reformers were the reverse of this. They believed that God, as Lord of the conscience, had given a revelation of his will to man, and that it was the inherent right and privilege of every human being to study that will, each one for himself. They did not stop here: they were diligent seekers for truth; the advocates of education and of free inquiry. Throwing aside the traditions of men, they went directly to the Bible, and taught all men to do the same.

On the continent, the Reformation began among the learned men of the universities, and gradually extended to the uneducated people. In England, the common people were reading the Bible in their own language, long before it was the privilege of any nation on the continent.* Thus the English were prepared to enter into the spirit of the Reformation under Luther. Soon persecutions of the Reformers arose; with civil commotions and oppressions. involving all Europe in war. These troubles drove the Huguenot from France and the Puritan from England, to seek homes in the wilderness of the New World.

From the Bible they learned their high and holy principles; fiery trials taught them endurance. They brought with them to our shores the spirit of the Reformation, the recognition of civil rights and religious liberty. These principles have been transmitted to us in our national institutions and form of government.

* D'Aubigné's Hist. of the Reformation, Vol. V.