The tidings of the fearful massacre of the Huguenots in Florida, as well

in Spanish, as in French accounts, at length reached France. Deep was

the feeling of horror and indignation which they everywhere excited

among the people. Catholics, not less than Protestants, felt how

terrible was the cruelty thus inflicted upon humanity, how insolent the

scorn thus put upon the flag of the country. Wild and bitter was the cry

of anguish sent up by the thousand bereaved widows and orphans of the

murdered men. But this cry, this feeling, this sense of suffering

and shame, awakened no sympathies in the court of France. The king,

Charles IX., heard the "supplication" of the wives and children of the

sufferers, without according any answer to their prayer. The blood

of nearly nine hundred victims cried equally to earth and heaven for

vengeance, and cried in vain to the earthly sovereign. He had no ear for

the sorrows and the wrongs of heresy; and the plaint of humanity was

stifled in the supposed interests of religion. Charles was most regally

indifferent to a crime which relieved him of so many troublesome

subjects; and was at that very time, meditating the most summary

processes for still farther diminishing their numbers. He was yet to

provide an appropriate finish to such a history of massacre in the

bloody tragedy of St. Bartholomew. The wrong done to the honor of his

flag and nation, by a rival power, was not felt. We have already hinted

the strong conjecture, urged by historians, that the Spanish expedition,

under Melendez, was planned with the full privity and concurrence of the

king of France. His conduct, at this period, would seem fully to justify

the suspicion. His existing relations with his brother of Spain were not

of a sort to be periled now by the exhibition of his sympathies with a

cause, and on behalf of a sect, which both monarchs had reason to hate

and fear, and were preparing to extirpate.

But, if the Court of France demanded no redress for the massacre of its

people, and that of Spain offered none, either redress or apology, there

was yet a deep and intense passion dwelling in the heart of the one

nation, and yearning for revenge upon that of the other. There was still

a chivalrous feeling in France which showed itself superior to the

exactions of sect or party, and which brooded with terrible intensity

over the bloody fortunes of the French in Florida. This moody meditation

at length found its fitting exponent. The sentiment that stirs earnestly

in the popular heart will always, sooner or later, obtain a fitting

voice; and where it burns justifiably for vengeance, it will not long

be wanting in a weapon. The avenger arose in due season to satisfy the

demands of justice!

* * * * *

The Chevalier, Dominique de Gourgues, was a Gascon gentleman, born

at Mont de Marsan, in the County of Cominges. His family was one of

considerable distinction. It had always been devotedly attached to the

Catholic religion, nor had he ever for a moment faltered in the same

faith. His career had been a remarkable one, signalized by great valor,

and the most extreme vicissitudes of fortune. He had served in the

armies of France during the long and capricious struggles in Italy,

which had been the chief arena for conflict in the reigns of Charles the

Eighth, of Louis XII., of Francis the First, and down to the present

period. Here he had associated, under the command of Brissac and others,

with that valiant brother Gascon, Blaize de Montluc, who, in his

commentaries, would probably have told us much about the prowess of

Gourgues, if he had not been so greatly occupied with the narrative of

his own.[24] But the forbearance of Montluc has not deprived us of all

the testimony which belongs to the fame of the chevalier. Of all the

subaltern officers of his time, no one achieved a more brilliant

reputation. Among the Gascons, confessedly distinguished above all

others by their reckless daring, and headlong eagerness after glory in

battle, the courage of Gourgues was such as raised him to the rank of a

hero of romance. His youthful eyes had opened upon the latest fields

of that race of heroes of whom Bayard was the superior and perhaps the

last. He was one of the Sampsons of that wondrous band, whose wars,

according to Trivulcio--one not the least remarkable among them,--were

those of the giants;--the Swiss, in the fullest vigor of their martial

fame, and at the height of their insolence;--the Spaniards, with Hernan

de Cordova, the great captain, at their head, and crowning the career

of Charles V. with a power and a lustre which his own merits did not

deserve;--the Italians, under the sway of, and deriving their spirit

from, the fierce martial pontiff, Julius II., and the French, boasting

of a cavalry, headed by Bayard, La Palisse and others, worthy of such

associates, and such as the armies of Europe had never beheld before.

Montluc, who had been trained in part in the same house with Bayard, and

Boiteres, who, as a page of the knight _sans peur et sans reproche_,

makes a famous figure in the chronicles of _le loyal serviteur_, being

among the leaders whom the Chevalier de Gourgues followed into battle.

He partook of their spirit, and proved himself worthy to sustain the

declining honors of chivalry. But his fortunes were as adverse as his

merits were distinguished. With thirty men, near Sienna, in Tuscany, he

sustained, for a long time, the shock of a large division of the Spanish

army. He saw, at length, every man of his command fall around him, and

was made a prisoner. The captive of the Spaniard, in that day, when

the emperor of the country and his favorite generals showed themselves

utterly and equally insensible to good faith and generosity, was to be a

slave. They conducted war with little regard to the rules that prevailed

among civilized nations. The valor that Gourgues displayed, instead of

commending him to their admiration and favor, only provoked their fury;

and they punished, with shameful bonds, those brave actions which the

noble heart prefers to applause and honor. Gourgues was transferred in

chains to the gallies. In this degrading condition, chained to the oar,

he was captured by the links off the coast of Sicily; the Turks then

being in alliance, to the shame of Christendom, with the French monarch,

and against the Spaniards. He was conducted by his new captors to Rhodes

and thence to Constantinople. Sent once more to sea, under his new

master, he was retaken by a Maltese galley, and thus recovered his

liberty. But his latter adventures had given him a taste for the sea.

His progresses brought him to the coast of Africa, to Brazil, and,

according to Lescarbot, though the point is doubted, to the Pacific

Ocean. The details of this career are not given to us, but the results

seem to have been equally creditable to the fame, and of benefit to

the fortunes of our chevalier. He returned to Mont de Marsan, with the

reputation of being one of the most able and hardy of all the navigators

of his time. He had scarcely established himself fairly in his ancient

home, where he had invested all the fruits of his toils and enterprise,

when the tidings came of the capture of La Caroline, and the massacre of

the French in Florida by Melendez. He felt for the honor of France,

for the grief of the widows and orphans thus cruelly bereaved, and was

keenly reminded of that brutal nature of the Spaniard, under which he

had himself suffered so long, and in a condition so humiliating to a

noble spirit. He had his own wrongs and those of his country to avenge.

He brooded over the necessity before him, with a passion that acquired

new strength from contemplation, and finally resolved never to give

himself rest till he had exacted full atonement, in the blood of the

usurpers in Florida, for the crime of which they had been guilty to his

people and himself.

[24] The Chevalier de Gourgues is only twice mentioned, but both times

with favor, in the chronicles of Montluc. The instances occur in

Italy, in 1556; one of which describes the capture of Gourgues, the

other his rescue from captivity. "_La il fut prius douze ou quatorze

chevaux legers de ma compagnie, dont le Capitaine Gourgues, qui estoit

à la suite de Strassi, estoit du nombre_," _&c._ Montluc was not the

Gascon to leave his people in captivity. He prepares to scale the

fort in which they are confined, and, his attempt begun, Gourgues was

Gascon enough to help himself. The Spaniards had a guard of eighteen

or twenty men over their prisoners, who were sixty or eighty in

number, the latter being tied in pairs, to make them more secure. As

soon as the prisoners heard the cry of "_France, France!_" from their

friends without, they began the struggle within--"_ils commencerent à

se secouer les uns et les autres, et mesmes le Capitaine Gourgues, qui

se deslia le premier_," _etc._ The prisoners, led by Gourgues, assail

their guards with naked arms, wrest from them their weapons, and where

these are wanting, employ paving stones, actually killing the greater

number, and taking the rest captive. Such was the success of the

surprise, and the spirit which they displayed.

II.

BLAIZE DE MONTLUC.

This sublime purpose--sublime by reason of the intense individuality

which it betrayed--the proud, strong and defiant will, which took no

counsel from the natural fears of the subject, and was totally unrebuked

by the placid indifference of the sovereign to his own duties--was

not, however, to be indulged openly; but was compelled, by force of

circumstances; the better to effect its object--to subdue itself to

the eye, to cloak its real purposes, to suffer not the nearest or best

friend to conceive the intense design which was working in the soul of

the hero. We have seen that the Marechal, Blaize de Montluc, a very

celebrated warrior, a very brave fellow, an accomplished leader and a

good man, though a monstrous braggart--the very embodiment of Gascon

self-esteem, had long been a personal friend of the Chevalier de

Gourgues. Montluc was the king's lieutenant in Guyenne, and to him De

Gourgues proceeded to obtain his commission for sailing upon the high

seas. Montluc, like himself, was a Catholic; but, unlike de Gourgues,

was a bitter hater of the Huguenots. Our chevalier had been too long a

prisoner with Spaniard and Turk--too long a cruiser upon lonely oceans,

confined to a little world which knew and cared nothing for sects and

parties, to feel very acutely as a politician in matters of religion.

Such a life as that which he had so long led, was well calculated to

conduce to toleration. "Vengeance is mine:" saith the Lord; and he was

very willing to believe that in his own good time, the Lord will do

himself justice upon the offender. He was no hater of Calvin or the

Protestants--was quite willing that they should pray and preach after

the desires of their own hearts; and did by no means sympathise with his

friend, Montluc, in regard to the heretics whom he denounced. But he

said nothing of this to the Marechal. He knew that nothing could be said

safely, in relation to this vexing struggle, which tore the bowels of

the nation with perpetual strifes. He had been taught policy by painful

experience; and, though boiling with intense excitement, could conceal

the secret flame with an exterior of snow, such as shrouds the top of

the burning Orizaba. He found the old knight in the enjoyment of a

degree of repose, which was no ways desirable to one of his character.

The man of whom the epitaph records--written by himself:--

"Cy dessous reposent les os

De Montluc, qui n'eut onc repos."

was not the person to feel grateful in the possession of an office which

gave no exercise to his restless and martial propensities.

"We are shelved, _mon ami_," he said with a grim smile to De Gourgues,

as they sat together in the warm chamber of the speaker:--"We are

shelved. We are under petticoat government. Lords and rulers are now

made by the pretty women of the Court, and an old soldier like myself,

who has saved the monarchy, as you know, a dozen times, has nothing now

to do but to hang up his armor, and watch it while it falls to pieces

with the rust. But I have made myself a name which is famous throughout

Europe, and for the opportunity to do this, I must needs be grateful to

my king. I have the lieutenancy of Guyenne, but how long I am to have it

is the question. There are others who hunger after the shoes I wear; but

whether they will fit so well upon the feet of Monsieur, the Marquis de

Villars, must be for other eyes to determine. All I know, is, that I am

laid up forever. Strength fails, and favor fails, and I chafe at my own

lack of strength. I shall never be happy so long as my knees refuse

to bend as I would mount horse, yet bend even too freely when I would

speed on foot. But what is this expedition for which you desire the

royal seal? Certainly, we Gascons are the most restless of all God's

creatures. Here now are you but just arrived at home, and beginning to

make merry with your friends, and here you are, all at once, impatient

to be upon the seas again. Well, you have won a great fame upon the

ocean, and naturally desire to win still more. I' faith, I feel a great

desire to keep you company. I would be at work to the last, still doing,

still conquering, and dying in the greatest of my victories. What says

the Italian--'_Un bel mourir, tutta la vita onora!_' Did this adventure

of yours, Monsieur, but promise a great battle, verily, I should like to

share it with you."

"Ah! Monsieur, my friend, your passion is no longer mine, though I am

too much of the Gascon still, to fail, at the sound of the trumpet, to

prick mine ears. But this adventure tells for fortune rather than fame.

I find no fame a specific against famine. I would seek now after those

worldly goods which neither of us looked to find in the wars with the

Spaniard. And for which reason, failing to find, we are in danger now of

being put aside by ladies' minions, and the feathered creatures of the

Court. There is great gain now to be won by a visit to the Coast of

Benin, in Africa, whence we carry the negro cannibal, that he may be

made a Christian by proper labor under Christian rule."

And De Gourgues proceeded to unfold the history of the traffic in

slaves, as it was carried on by all nations at that period; its

marvellous profit and no less marvellous benefits to the untutored and

miserable heathen. The Marechal listened with great edification.

"Ah! Monsieur, were I now what you knew me when we fought in Tuscany,

now nearly thirty years ago! But it is too late. I must ever remain what

I am, a poor Gascon, as my sovereign hath ever known me; too heedful of

his fortune ever to give proper tendance to my own!"

III.

GOURGUES AT SEA.

The Chevalier de Gourgues received his commission, and his preparations

for the expedition were at once begun. He converted his goods and

chattels into money--his lands and moveables. He sold everything that he

possessed. Nor did he rest here. He borrowed of friends and neighbors.

His credit was good--his reputation great--himself beloved. It was easy

to inspire confidence in the ostensible objects of his expedition.

The world then conceived very differently of the morals of such an

enterprise, than it does at present. The moneys thus realized were

employed in arming two _roberges_, or brigantines,--ships of light

burthen, resembling the Spanish caravels; and one _patache_, or tender,

a vessel modelled after the frigate of the Levant, and designed for

penetrating shallow harbors. One hundred and fifty soldiers, and eighty

sailors, formed his complement of men, of whom one hundred were armed

with the cross-bow. There were many gentlemen, volunteers, in the

expedition; and De Gourgues had taken the precaution to secure the

services of one who had been a trumpeter under Laudonniere, and had made

his escape with that commander. Provisions for a year were laid in; and

every preparation having been made, and every precaution taken, as well

with the view to secrecy, as to the prosecution of the object, the

squadron sailed for Bordeaux, on the second day of August, 1567, just

two years after the flight of Laudonniere from Florida. But the fates,

at first, did not seem to smile upon the enterprise. Baffled by contrary

winds, our chevalier was at length driven for shelter into the Charente,

where he lay till the twenty-second, when he put to sea, only to

encounter new disappointments. His ships were separated by a severe

tempest, and some time elapsed before they were re-united. He had

provided against this event by ordering his rendezvous at the mouth of

the _Rio del Oro_, upon the coast of Africa. From this point he ranged

the coast down to Cape Blanco, where, instigated by the Portuguese, he

was assailed by three African chiefs, with their naked savages, whom he

beat off in two actions. He then proceeded and continued in safety upon

his route, until he reached Cape Verd, when he turned his prows suddenly

in the direction of America. The first land which he made in this

progress was Dominica, one of the smaller Antilles; thence he drew on to

Porto Rico, and next to Mona; the cacique of which place supplied him

liberally with fresh provisions. Stretching away for the continent, he

encountered a tempest, which constrained him to seek shelter in the port

of San Nicholas, on the west side of Hispaniola, where he repaired his

vessels, greatly shattered by the storm, but where he vainly endeavored

to lay in new supplies of bread; his biscuit having been mostly damaged

by the same cause;--the Spaniards, with great inhospitality, refusing

him all supplies of food. Scarcely had he left San Nicholas, when he was

encountered by a hurricane, which drove him upon the coast, exposing him

to the most imminent peril, and from the danger of which he escaped with

great difficulty; he gained, after many hardships, the west side of the

Island of Cuba, and found temporary respite at Cape San Antonio, where

he went on shore for a season.

IV.

GOURGUES DECLARES HIS PURPOSE TO HIS FOLLOWERS, IN A SPEECH.

His worst dangers of the sea were over. He was now within two hundred

leagues of Florida, his prows looking, with unobstructed vision,

directly towards the enemies he sought. And now, for the first time,

he deemed it proper to unfold to his people the true object of the

expedition. He assembled together all his followers:

"Friends and comrades," he said, "I have hitherto deceived you as to my

objects. They were of a sort to require, in the distracted condition

of our country, the utmost secrecy. It so happens that France, torn by

rival religious factions, is not properly sensible of what is due to her

honor and her people. I have chosen you, as persons whom I mostly know,

as persons who know me, and have confidence in my courage, my honor, and

my judgment. I have chosen you to achieve a great work for the honor

of the French name, and for the safety of the French people. Though we

quarrel and fight among ourselves at home, yet should it be a common

cause, without distinction of party, to protect our people against

the foreign enemy, and to avenge the cruelties they have been made to

suffer. It is for a purpose of this nature, that I have brought you

hither. I have heard many of you speak with tears and rage of the great

crime of which the Spaniards, under Melendez, have been guilty, in

butchering our unhappy countrymen in Florida; nine hundred widows and

orphans have cried in vain for vengeance upon the cruel murderers. You

know all this terrible history--you are Frenchmen and brethren of these

unfortunate victims. You know the crime of our enemies, the Spaniards;

always our enemies, and never more so than when they profess peace to

us, and speak with smiles. What should be our crime, if we suffer them

to escape just punishment for their butchery; if, with the means of

vengeance in our hands, and our enemies before us, we longer delay the

hour of retribution? We must avenge the murder of our countrymen; we

must make the Spaniards of Florida atone, in blood, for the shame and

affront which they have put upon the lilies of France! If you feel as

I do, the day of vengeance and just judgment is at hand. That I am

resolute in this object--that it fills my whole soul with but one

feeling--my whole mind with but one thought--you may know, when you see

that I have sold all my worldly goods, all the possessions that I have

on earth, in order to obtain the means for the destruction of these

Spaniards of Florida. I take for granted that you feel with me, that you

are as jealous of the honor of your country as myself, and that you

are prepared for any sacrifice--life itself--in this cause, at once so

glorious, and so necessary to the fame and safety of our people. If our

Frenchmen are to be butchered without a cause, and find no avenger,

there is an end of the French name, and honor, and well-being; they will

find no refuge on the face of the earth. Speak, then, my comrades. Let

me hear that you feel and think and will resolve with me. I ask you to

do nothing, and to peril nothing, beyond myself. I have already staked

all my worldly fortunes on this one object. I now offer to march at your

head, to give you the first example of self-sacrifice. Is there one of

you who will refuse to follow?"

A speech so utterly unexpected, at first took his followers by surprise;

but the appeal was too grateful to their real sympathies, their

commander too much beloved, and the infusion of genuine Gascons too

large among the adventurers, to make them hesitate in their decision.

They felt the justice of the appeal; were warmed to indignation by

the sense of injury and discredit cast upon the honor and the arms of

France; and, soon recovering from their astonishment, they eagerly

pledged themselves to follow wherever he should lead. With cries of

enthusiasm they declared themselves ready for the work of vengeance;

and, taking them in the humor which he had inspired, De Gourgues

suffered not a moment's unnecessary delay to interfere with his

progress. Crowding all sail upon his vessels, he rapidly crossed the

straits of Bahama, and stretched, with easy course, along the low shores

of the Floridian.

V.

GOURGUES WELCOMED BY THE FLORIDIANS.

It was not very long before his vessels drew in sight of one of the

Forts of the Spaniards, situated at the entrance of May River. So little

did they apprehend the approach of any French armament, that they

saluted that of De Gourgues, as if they had been ships of their own

nation, mistaking them as such. Our chevalier encouraged their mistake.

He answered their salute, gun for gun; but he passed onward without any

intercourse, and the night following entered the river, called by the

Indians Tacatacourou, but to which the French had given the name of the

Seine, some fifteen leagues distant.

Here, confounding the strangers with the Spaniards, a formidable host of

Indians were prepared to give them battle. The red-men had by this

time fully experienced the tender mercies of their brutal and bigoted

neighbors; and had learned to contrast them unfavorably with what they

remembered of the Frenchmen under Ribault and Laudonniere. With all the

faults of the latter, they knew him really as a gentle and moderate

commander; by no means blood-thirsty, and doing nothing in mere lust of

power, wantonly, and with a spirit of malicious provocation only. There

were also other influences at work among them, by which to impress them

favorably towards the French, and make them bitterly hostile to the

usurpers by whom they had been destroyed. It needed, therefore, only

that Gourgues should make himself known to the natives, to discover

their hostility. He employed for this purpose his trumpeter, who had

served under Laudonniere, and was well known to the king, Satouriova,

whose province lay along the waters of the Tacatacourou, and with whose

tribe it was the good fortune of our Frenchmen to encounter. Satouriova,

knew the trumpeter at once, and received him graciously. He soon

revealed the existing relations between the red-men and the Spaniards,

and was delighted when assured that the Frenchmen had come to renew and

brighten the ancient chain of friendship which had bound the red-men

in amity with the people of La Caroline. The interview was full of

compliment and good feeling on both sides. The next day was designated

for a grand conference between Satouriova and Gourgues. The interview

opened with a wild and picturesque display, which, on the part of the

Indians, loses nothing of its dignity because of its rudeness. The

stem and simple manners of the red-men, their deliberation, their

forbearance, the calm which overspreads their assemblies, the stately

solemnity with which the orator rises to address them, their patient

attention; these are ordinary characteristics, which make the spectator

forgetful of their poverty, their rude condition, the inferiority

of their weapons, and the ridiculous simplicity of their ornaments.

Satouriova anticipated the objects of Gourgues. Before the latter

could detail his designs, the savage declared his deadly hatred of the

Spaniards. He was already assembling his people for their destruction.

They should have no foothold on his territories!

All this was spoken with great vivacity; and he proceeded to give a long

history of the wrongs done to his people by the usurpers. He recurred,

then, to the terrible destruction of the Frenchmen at La Caroline, and

at the Bay of Matanzas; and voluntarily pledged himself, with all his

powers, to aid Gourgues in the contemplated work of vengeance.

The response of our chevalier was easy. He accepted the pledges of

Satouriova with delight. He had not come, he said, with any present

design to assail the Spaniards, but rather with the view to renew the

ancient alliance of the Frenchmen with the Floridians; and, should he

find them in the proper temper to rise against the usurpers, then, to

bring with him an armament sufficiently powerful to rid the country of

the intruders. But, as he found Satouriova in such excellent spirit,

and filled with so brave a resolution, he was determined, even with the

small force at his command, to second the chief in his desires to rid

himself of his bad neighbors.

"Do you but join your forces to mine,--bring all your strength--put

forth all your resolution--show your best valor, and be faithful to your

pledges, and I promise you that we will destroy the Spaniards, and root

them out of your country!"

The Cassique was charmed with this discourse, and a league, offensive

and defensive, was readily agreed upon between the parties. Satouriova,

at the close of the conference, brought forward and presented to

Gourgues a French boy, named Pierre de Bré, who had sought refuge with

him when La Caroline was taken, and whom he had preserved with care, as

his own son, in spite of all the efforts of the Spaniards to get him

into their power. The boy was a grateful gift to Gourgues; useful as

an interpreter, but particularly grateful as one of the first fruits

of his mission. That night Satouriova despatched a score or more of

emissaries, in as many different directions, to the tribes of the

interior. These, each, bore in his hands the war-macana, _le Baton

Rouge_, the painted red-club, which announces to the young warriors the

will of their superior. The runner speeds with this sign of blood to the

distant village, strikes the war-post in its centre, waves his potent

sign to the people, declares the place of gathering, and darts away to

spread still more the tidings. When he faints, the emblem is seized by

another, who continues on the route. In this way, the whole nation is

aroused, as by the sudden flaming of a thousand mountain beacons. A

single night will suffice to alarm and assemble the people of an immense

territory. The Indian runner, day by day, will out-travel any horse.

The result of this expedition was visible next day, to Gourgues and his

people. The chiefs of a score of scattered tribes, with all their best

warriors, were assembled with Satouriova, to welcome the Frenchmen to

the land.

VI.

OLOTOCARA.

Satouriova, surrounded by his kinsmen, his allies, and subordinate

chiefs, appeared in all his state on the banks of the river, almost

with the rising of the sun. There were, in immediate attendance, the

Paracoussies or Cassiques. Tacatacourou--whose tribe, living along its

banks for the time, gave the name to the river--Helmacana, Athoree,

Harpaha, Helmacapé, Helicopilé, Mollova, and a great many others. We

preserve these names with the hope that they may help to conduct the

future antiquary to the places of their habitation. Being all assembled,

all in their dignities, each with his little band of warriors, numbering

from ten to two hundred men, they despatched a special message to

the vessels of Gourgues, inviting him to appear among them. By a

precautionary arrangement the escort of our chevalier appeared without

their weapons, those of the red-men being likewise removed from their

persons, and concealed in the neighboring woods. Gourgues yielded

himself without scruple to the arrangements of his tawny host. He was

conducted by a deferential escort to the mossy wood where the chiefs had

assembled, and placed at the right hand of Satouriova. The weeds and

brambles had been carefully pulled away from the spot--the place had

been made very clean, and the seat provided for Gourgues was raised,

like that of Satouriova, and nicely strewn, in the same manner, with a

mossy covering. With his trumpeter and Pierre de Bré, the captain of

the French found no embarrassment in pursuing the conference. It was

protracted for some time, as is usually the case with Indian treaties,

and involved many considerations highly important to the enterprise;

the number of the Spaniards, the condition of their fortresses, their

vigilance, and all points essential to be known, before venturing to

assail them. Much time was consumed in mutual courtesies. Gifts were

exchanged between the parties; De Gourgues receiving from Satouriova,

among other things, a chain of silver, which the red chief graciously

and with regal air cast about the neck of the chevalier.

It was while the conference thus proceeded, that a cry without was

heard from among the great body of the tribes assembled. Shouts full of

enthusiasm announced the approach of a favorite; and soon the Frenchmen

distinguished the words, "Holata Cara!" "Holata Cara!"[25] which we may

translate, "Beloved Chief or Captain," and which preceded the sudden

entrance of a warrior, the appearance of whom caused an instantaneous

emotion of surprise in the minds of the Frenchmen.

[25] The name is usually written Olotocara; but, to persons familiar

with the singular degree of carelessness with which the Indian names

were taken down by the old voyagers and chroniclers, and the different

modes employed by French, Spanish and English in spelling the same

words, there should be nothing arbitrary in their orthography; nothing

to induce us to surrender our privilege of seeking to reconcile these

names with well-known analogies. My opinion is, that Olotocara was a

compound of two words, the one signifying chief or ruler, the other

indicative of the degree of esteem or affection with which he was

regarded, or as significant of his qualities. Olata, or Holata, was a

frequent title of distinction among the Floridians, and Holata Cara,

or Beloved Chief or Warrior, is probably the true orthography of the

words compounded into Olotocara or Olocotora. It may have been Olata

Tacara, and there may have been some identification of this chief with

him from whom the river Tacatacourou took its name. Charlevoix writes

it Olocotora; Hakluyt, Olotocara. It will be seen that our method

of writing the name makes it easy to reconcile it with that of

Hakluyt--Olotocara--Holata Cara--and with that of the title familiar

to the Floridian usage, past and present. Thus Olata Utina occurs

before in this very chronicle; and no prefix is more common in modern

times, among the Seminoles, than that of Holata; thus, Holata Amathla,

Holata Fiscico, Holata Mico. It is also used as an appendage; thus,

Wokse Holata, as we write _Esquire_ after the name.

The stranger was fair enough to be a Frenchman himself. His complexion

was wonderfully in contrast with that of the other chiefs, and there

was a something in his bearing and carriage, and the expression of

his countenance, which irresistibly impressed De Gourgues with the

conviction that he was gazing upon one of his own countrymen. The

features of the stranger were smooth as well as fair, and in this,

indeed, he rather resembled the race of red than of white men. But he

was evidently very young, yet of a grave, saturnine cast of face, such

as would denote equally middle age and much experience, and yet was

evidently the result of temperament. His hair, the portion that was

seen, was short, as if kept carefully clipped; but he wore around his

brows several thick folds of crimson cotton, in fashion not greatly

unlike that of the Turk. There were many of the chiefs who wore a

similar head-dress, though whence the manufacture came, our Frenchmen

had no way to determine. A cotton shirt, with a falling cape and fringe

reaching below to his knees, belted about the waist with a strip of

crimson, like that which bound his head, formed the chief items of his

costume. Like the warriors generally, he wore well-tanned buckskin

leggings, terminating in moccasins of the same material. He carried

a lance in his grasp, while a light macana was suspended from his

shoulders.

"Holata Cara!" said Satouriova, as if introducing the stranger to the

Frenchmen, the moment that he appeared, and the young chief was motioned

to a seat. In a whisper to the trumpeter, Gourgues asked if he knew

anything about this warrior; but the trumpeter looked bewildered.

"Such a chief was not known to us," said he, "in the time of

Laudonniere."

"He looks for all the world like a Frenchman," murmured Gourgues.

"He reminds me," continued the trumpeter, "of a face that I have seen

and know, Monsieur; but, I cannot say. If that turban were off now, and

the paint. This is the first time I have ever heard the name. But the

boy, Pierre, may know him."

Gourgues whispered the boy:

"Who is this chief? Have you ever seen him before? Do you know him?"

"No, Monsieur; I have never seen him. I have heard of him. He is the

adopted son of the Great Chief, adopted from another tribe, I hear. But

he is as white as I am, almost, and looks a little like a Frenchman. I

can't say, Monsieur, but I could swear I knew the face. I have seen one

very much like it, I think, among our own people."

"Who?"

"I can't say, Monsieur, I can't; and the more I look, the more I am

uncertain."

Something more was said in an equally unsatisfactory manner, and, in

the meantime, the stranger took his seat in the assembly without

seeming concern. He betrayed no curiosity when his eye rested upon the

Frenchmen. When it was agreed that two persons should be sent, one of

the French and one of the red chiefs to make a _reconnaissance_ of the

Spanish fortress, he rose quietly, looked towards Satouriova, and,

striking his breast slightly, with his right hand, simply repeated his

own name,--

"Holata Cara!"

"It is well," said the chief, with an approving smile; and Holata Cara,

on the part of the Indians, and Monsieur d'Estampes, a gentleman of

Comminges, on the part of the Frenchmen, were sent to explore the

country under the control of the Spanish usurpers. Holata Cara

immediately disappeared from the assembly. A few moments after he was

buried in the deepest of the neighboring thickets, while a beautiful

young savage--a female--who might have been a princess, and wore, like

one, a fillet about her brow, and carried herself loftily as became a

queen, stood beside him, with her hand resting upon his shoulder,

and her eye looking tenderly up into his; while she said, in her own

language:

"I will follow you, but not to be seen; and our people shall be nigh to

watch, lest there be danger from the Spaniard."

The chief smiled, as if, in the solicitous speech to which he listened,

he detected some sweet deceit; but he said nothing but words of parting,

and these were kind and affectionate. It was not long before Holata Cara

joined Monsieur d'Estampes, the boy Pierre de Bré being sent along with

them, on the _reconnaissance_ which the allies had agreed was to be

made. In the meantime, the better to assure Gourgues of the safety of

D'Estampes, Satouriova gave his son and the best beloved of all his

wives, into the custody of the French as hostages, and they were

immediately conveyed to the safe-keeping of the ships.

VII.

FIRST FRUITS OF THE ADVENTURE.

The reconnaissance was completed. The report of Holata Cara and

D'Estampes showed that the Spanish fortress of San Matheo, formerly La

Caroline, was in good order, and with a strong garrison. Two other forts

which the Spaniards had raised in the neighborhood, commanding both

sides of the river, and nearer to its mouth, were also surveyed, and

were found to be well manned and in proper condition for defence. In

these three forts, the garrison was found to consist of four hundred

soldiers, unequally distributed, but with a force in each sufficient for

the post. Thus advised, the allies proceeded severally to array their

troops for the business of assault. But, before marching, a solemn

festival was appointed on the banks of the Salina Cani--by the French

called the Somme--which was the place appointed for the rendezvous. Here

the red-men drank copious draughts of their cassine, or apalachine, a

bitter but favorite beverage, the reported nature of which is that it

takes away all hunger and thirst for the space of twenty-four hours,

from those that employ it. Though long used to all sorts of trial and

endurance, Gourgues found it not so easy to undergo this draught. Still,

he made such a show of drinking, as to satisfy his confederates; and

this done, the allied chiefs, lifting hands and eyes, made solemn oath

of their fidelity in the sight of heaven. The march was then begun, the

red-men leading the way, and moving, in desultory manner, through the

woods, Holata Cara at their head; while, pursuing another route, but

under good guidance, and keeping his force compactly together, our

chevalier conducted his Frenchmen to the same point of destination. This

was the river Caraba, or Salinacani, named by Ribault the Somme, which

was at length reached, but not without great difficulty, the streams

being overflowed by frequent and severe rains, and the marshy and low

tracts all under water. Food was wanting also to our Frenchmen, the bark

appointed to follow them with provisions, under Monsieur Bourdelois not

having arrived.

They were now but two leagues distant from the two smaller forts which

the Spaniards had established and fortified, in addition to that of La

Caroline, on the banks of the May, or, as they had newly christened

it, the San Matheo. While bewildered with doubts as to the manner of

reaching these forts--the waters everywhere between being swollen almost

beyond the possibility of passage--the red-men were consulted, and the

chief, Helicopilé, was chosen to guide our Frenchmen by a more easy and

less obvious route. Making a circuit through the woods, the whole party

at length reached a point where they could behold one of the forts; but

a deep creek lay between, the water of which rose above their waists.

Gourgues, however, now that his object was in sight, was not to be

discouraged by inferior obstacles; and, giving instructions to his

people to fasten their powder flasks to their morions and to carry their

swords and their calivers in their hands above their heads, he effected

the passage at a point which enabled them to cover themselves from sight

of the Spaniards by a thick tract of forest which lay between the fort

and the river. It was sore fording for our Frenchmen; for the bed of the

creek was paved with great oysters, the shells of which inflicted sharp

wounds upon their legs and feet; and many of them lost their shoes in

the passage. As soon as they had crossed, they prepared themselves for

the assault. Up to this moment, so well had the red-men guarded all the

passages, and so rapid had been their march, with that of Gourgues

and his party, that the Spaniards had no notion that there were any

Frenchmen in the country. Still, they were on the alert; and so active

did they show themselves, in and about the fort, that our chevalier

feared that his approach had been discovered.

But no time was to be lost. Giving twenty arquebusiers to his Lieutenant

Casenove, and half that number of mariners, armed with pots and balls of

wild fire, designed to burn the gate of the fort, he took a like force

under his own command, with the view to making simultaneous assaults

in opposite quarters. The two parties were scarcely in motion, before

Gourgues found the chief Holata Cara at his side, followed by a small

party of the red-men; the rest had been carefully concealed in the

woods, in order to pursue the combat after their primitive fashion.

Holata Cara was armed only with a long spear, which he bore with great

dexterity, and a macana which now hung by his side, a flattened club,

the two edges of which were fitted with the teeth of the shark, or with

great flints, ground down to the sharpness of a knife. This was his

substitute for a sword, and was a weapon capable of inflicting the most

terrible wounds. The spear which he carried was headed also with a

massive dart of flint, curiously and finely set in the wood, and

exhibiting a rare instance of Indian ingenuity, in its excellence as

a weapon of offence, and its rare and elaborate ornament. Gourgues

examined it with much interest. The instrument was antique. It might

have been in use an hundred years or more. The heavy but elastic wood,

almost blackened by age and oil, was polished like a mirror by repeated

friction. The grasp was carved with curious ability, and exhibited the

wings of birds with eyes wrought among the feathers, in the sockets of

which great pearls were set, the carving of the feathers forming a bushy

brow above, and a shield all about them, so that, grasp the weapon as

you would, the pearls were secure from injury. Gourgues examined the

owner of the spear with as much curiosity as he did the weapon. But

without satisfaction. The features of the other were immoveable. But the

signals being all made, Holata Cara waved his hand with some impatience

to the fort, and Gourgues had no leisure to ask the questions which that

moment arose in his mind.

"It was," says the venerable chronicle, "the Sunday eve next after

Easter-day, April, 1568," when the signal for the assault was given.

Gourgues made a brief speech to his followers before they began the

attack, recounting the cruel treachery and the bloody deeds of the

Spaniards done upon their brethren at La Caroline and Matanzas Bay.

Holata Cara, resting with his spear head thrust in the earth, listened

in silence to this speech. The moment it was ended, he led the way for

the rest, from the thicket which concealed them. As soon as the two

parties had emerged from cover, they were descried by the watchful

Spaniards.

"To arms! to arms!" was the cry of their sentinels. "To arms! these be

Frenchmen!"

To the war-cry of "Castile" and "Santiago!" that of "France!" and

"Saint-Denis for France," was cheerily sent up by the assailants; and

it was observed that no shout was louder or clearer than that of Holata

Cara, as he hurried forward.

When the assailants were within two hundred paces of the fort, the

artillery of the garrison opened upon them from a culverin taken at La

Caroline, which the Spaniards succeeded in discharging twice, with some

effect, while the Frenchmen were approaching. A third time was this

piece about to be turned upon the assailants, when Holata Cara, rushing

forwards planted his spear in the ground, and swinging from it, with

a mighty spring, succeeded, at a bound, in reaching the platform. The

gunner was blowing his match, and about to apply it to the piece, when

the spear of the Indian chief was driven clean through his body, and the

next moment the slain man was thrust headlong down into the fort. Stung

by this noble example, Gourgues hurried forward, and the assault

being made successfully on the opposite side at the same instant, the

Spaniards fled from the defences. A considerable slaughter ensued

within, when they rushed desperately from the enclosure.

But they were encountered on every side. Escape was vain. Of the whole

garrison, consisting of threescore men, all were slain, with the

exception of fifteen, who were reserved for a more deliberate

punishment.

Meanwhile the fortress on the opposite side of the river opened upon the

assailants, and was answered by the four pieces which had been found

within the captured place. The Frenchmen were more annoyed than injured

by this distant cannonade, and immediately prepared to cross the river

for the conquest of this new enemy. Fortunately, the _patache_, bringing

their supplies, had ascended the stream, and, under cover from the guns

of the Spaniard, lay in waiting just below. Gourgues, with fourscore

soldiers, crossed the stream in her; the Indians not waiting for this

slow conveyance, but swimming the river, carrying their bows and arrows

with one hand above their heads.

The Frenchmen at once threw themselves into the woods which covered the

space between this second fort and La Caroline, the latter being only a

league distant. The Spaniards, apprised of the movement of the patache,

beholding shore and forest lined with the multitudes of red-men, and

hearing their frightful cries on every hand, were seized with an

irresistible panic, and, in an evil moment abandoned their stronghold,

in the hope of making their way through the woods, to the greater

fortress of La Caroline. But they were too late in the attempt. The

woods were occupied by enemies. Charged by the advancing Frenchmen, they

rushed into the arms of the savages, and, with the exception of another

fifteen, were all butchered as they fought or fled. Holata Cara was

again found the foremost, and the most terrible agent in this work of

vengeance.

VIII.

THE CONQUEST OF LA CAROLINE.

The Chevalier de Gourgues now proposed temporarily to rest from his

labors, and give himself a reasonable time before attempting the

superior fortress of La Caroline, in ascertaining its strength, and the

difficulties in the way of its capture. The captives taken at the second

fort were transferred to the first, and set apart with their comrades

for future judgment. From one of these he learned that the garrison of

La Caroline consisted of near three hundred men, under command of a

brave and efficient governor. His prisoners he closely examined for

information. Having ascertained the height of the platform, the extent

of the fortifications, and the nature of the approaches, he prepared

scaling ladders, and made all the necessary provisions for a regular

assault. The Indians, meanwhile, had been ordered to environ the

fortress, and so to cover the whole face of the country, as to make it

impossible that the garrison should obtain help, convey intelligence of

their situation to their friends in St. Augustine, or escape from the

beleagured station.

While these preparations were in progress, the Spanish governor at La

Caroline, now fully apprised of his danger, and of the capture of the

two smaller forts, sent out one of his most trusty scouts, disguised as

an Indian, to spy out the condition of the French, their strength and

objects. But Holata Cara, who had taken charge of the forces of the

red-men, had too well occupied all the passages to suffer this excellent

design to prove successful. He made the scout a prisoner, and readily

saw through all his disguises. Thus detected, the Spaniard revealed all

that he knew of the strength and resources of the garrison. He described

them as in very great panic, having been assured that the French

numbered no less than two thousand men. Gourgues determined to assail

them in the moment of their greatest alarm, and before they should

recover from it, or be undeceived with regard to his strength. The

red-men were counselled to maintain their ambush in the thickets

skirting the river on both sides, and leaving his standard-bearer and

a captain with fifteen chosen men in charge of the captured forts and

prisoners, Gourgues set forth on his third adventure. He took with him

the Spanish scout and another captive Spaniard, a sergeant, as guides,

fast fettered, and duly warned that any attempt at deception, or escape,

would only bring down instant and condign punishment upon their heads.

His ensign, Monsieur de Mesmes, with twenty arquebusiers, was left to

guard the mouth of the river, and, with the red-men covering the face of

the country, and provided with all the implements necessary to storm the

defences, Gourgues began his march against La Caroline.

It was late in the day when the little band set forth, and evening

began to approach as they drew within sight of the fortress. The Don

in command at La Caroline was vigilant enough, and soon espied the

advancing columns. His cannon and his culverins, commanding the river

thoroughly, began to play with great spirit upon our Frenchmen, who

were compelled to cover themselves in the woods, taking shelter behind

a slight eminence within sight of the fortress. This wood afforded

them sufficient cover for their approaches almost to the foot of the

fortress--the precautions of the Spaniard not having extended to the

removal of the forest growth by which the place was surrounded, and by

help of which the designs of an enemy could be so much facilitated. It

was under the shelter of this very wood, and by this very route--so

Gourgues learned from his prisoners--that the Spaniards had successfully

surprised and assaulted the fortress two years before.

Here, then, our chevalier determined to lie perdu until the next

morning, the hour being too late and the enemy too watchful, at that

moment, to attempt anything. Besides, Gourgues desired a little time to

see how the land lay, and how his approaches should be made. On that

side of the fortress which fronted the hill, behind which our Frenchmen

harbored, he discovered that the trench seemed to be insufficiently

flanked for the defence of the curtains.

While meditating in what way to take advantage of this weakness, he was

agreeably surprised by the commission of an error, on the part of the

garrison, which materially abridged his difficulties. The Spanish

governor, either with a nervous anxiety to anticipate events, or with

a fool-hardiness which fancied that they might be controlled by a

wholesome audacity, ordered a sortié; and Gourgues with delight beheld a

detachment of threescore soldiers, deliberately passing the trenches and

marching steadily into the very jaws of ruin.

Holata Cara, as if aware by instinct, was at once at the side of our

chevalier, with his spear pointing to the fated detachment. In a moment,

the warrior sped with the commands of Gourgues, to his lieutenant,

Cazenove, who, with twenty arquebusiers, covered by the wood, contrived

to throw himself between the fortress and the advancing party, cutting

off all their chances of escape. Then it was that, with wild cries of

"France! France!" the chevalier rose from his place of hiding, with

all his band, and rushed out upon his prey, reserving his fire until

sufficiently near to render every shot certain. The Spaniards recoiled

from the assault; but, as they fled, were encountered in the rear by the

squad under Cazenove. The battle cry of the French, resounding at once

in front and rear, completed their panic, and they offered but a feeble

resistance to enemies who neither asked nor offered quarter. It was a

massacre rather than a fight; and still, as the French paused in the

work of death, a shrill death-cry in their midst aroused them anew, and

they could behold the lithe form of the red chief, Holata Cara, speeding

from foe to foe, with his macana only, smiting with fearful edge--a

single stroke at each several victim, followed ever by the agonizing

yell of death! Not a Spaniard escaped of all that passed through the

trenches on that miserable sortié!

Terrified by this disaster, so sudden and so complete, the garrison were

no longer capable of defence. They no longer hearkened to the commands

or the encouragements of their governor. They left, or leaped, the

walls; they threw wide the gates, and rushed wildly into the neighboring

thickets, in the vain hope to find security in their dark recesses, and

under cover of the night. But they knew not well how the woods were

occupied. At once a torrent of yells, of torture and of triumph,

startled the echoes on every side. The swift arrow, the sharp javelin,

the long spear, the stone hatchet, each found an unresisting victim;

and the miserable fugitives, maddened with terror, darted back upon

the fortress, which was already in the possession of the French. They

had seized the opportunity, and in the moment when the insubordinate

garrison threw wide the gates, and leaped blindly from the parapets,

they had swiftly occupied their places. The fugitive Spaniards,

recoiling from the savages, only changed one form of death for another.

They suffered on all hands--were mercilessly shot down as they fled,

or stabbed as they surrendered; those only excepted who were chosen to

expiate, more solemnly and terribly, the great crime of which they had

been guilty!

IX.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE VICTIMS.

The captured fortress was won with a singular facility, and with so

little loss to the assailants, as to confirm them in the conviction that

the service was acceptable to God. HE had strengthened their hearts

and arms--HE had hung his shield of protection over them--HE had made,

through the sting of conscience, the souls of the murderous Spaniards

to quake in fear at the very sight of the avengers! The fortress of La

Caroline was found to have been as well supplied with all necessaries

for defence, as it had been amply garrisoned. It was defended by five

double _culverins_, by four _minions_, and divers other cannon of

smaller calibre suitable for such a forest fortress. "Eighteen great

cakes of gunpowder," (it would seem that this combustible was put up

in those days moistened, and in a different form from the present, and

hence the frequent necessity for drying it, of which we read,) and

every variety of weapon proper to the keeping of the fortress, had been

supplied to the Spaniards; so that, but for the unaccountable error of

the sortié, and but for the panic which possessed them, and which may

reasonably be ascribed to the natural terrors of a guilty conscience,

it was scarcely possible that the Chevalier de Gourgues, with all his

prowess, could have succeeded in the assault. He transferred all the

arms to his vessels, but the gunpowder took fire from the carelessness

of one of the savages, who, ignorant of its qualities, proceeded to

seethe his fish in the neighborhood of a train, which took fire, and

blew up the store-house with all its moveables, destroying all the

houses within its sweep! The poor savage himself seems to have been the

only human victim. The fortress was then razed to the ground, Gourgues

having no purpose to reestablish a colony which he had not the power to

maintain.

But his vengeance was not complete. The final act of expiation was yet

to take place; and, bringing all his prisoners together, he had them

conducted to the fatal tree upon which the Spaniards had done to death

their Huguenot captives! This was at a short distance from the fortress.

Mournful was the spectacle that met the eyes of the Frenchmen as they

reached the spot. There still hung the withered and wasted skeletons of

their brethren, naked, bare of flesh, bleached, and rattling against

the branches of the thrice-accursed tree! The tempest had beaten wildly

against their wasted forms--the obscene birds had preyed upon their

carcasses--some had fallen, and lay in undistinguished heaps upon the

earth; but the entire skeletons of many, unbroken, still waved in the

unconscious breezes of heaven! For two weary years had they been thus

tossed and shaken in the tempest. For two years had they thus waved,

ghastly, white, and terrible, in mockery of the blessed sunshine! And

now, in the genial breezes of April, they still shook aloft in horrible

contrast with the green leaves, and the purple blossoms of the spring

around them! But they were now decreed to take their shame from the

suffering eyes of day! A solemn service was said over the wretched

remains, which were taken down with cautious hands, as considerately as

if they were still accessible to hurt, and buried in one common grave!

The red-men looked on wondering, and in grave silence; and Holata Cara,

leaning upon his spear, might almost be thought to weep at the cruel

spectacle.

But his aspect changed when the Spanish captives were brought forth.

They were ranged, manacled in pairs, beneath the same tree of sacrifice.

Briefly, and in stern accents, did Gourgues recite the crime of which

they had been guilty, and which they were now to expiate by a sufferance

of the same fate which they had decreed to their victims! Prayers and

pleadings were alike in vain. The priest who had performed the solemn

rites for the dead, now performed the last duties for the living judged!

He heard their confessions. One of the wretched victims confessed that

the judgment under which he was about to suffer was a just one; that he

himself, with his own hands, had hung no less than five of the wretched

Huguenots. With such a confession ringing in their ears, it was not

possible for the French to be merciful! At a given signal, the victims

were run up to the deadly branches, which they themselves had accursed

by such employment; and even while their suspended forms writhed and

quivered with the last fruitless efforts of expiring consciousness, the

chieftain Holata Cara looked upon them with a cold, hard eye, stern

and tearless, as if he felt the dreadful propriety of this wild and

unrelenting justice! The deed done--the expiation made--Gourgues then

procured a huge plank of pine, upon which he caused to be branded, with

a searing iron, in rude, but large, intelligible characters, these

words, corresponding to that inscription put by the Spaniards over the

Huguenots, and as a fitting commentary upon it:--

"These are not hung as Spaniards,

nor as Mariners, but as

Traitors, Robbers, and

Murderers!"

How long they hung thus, bleaching in storm and sunshine; how long this

terrible inscription remained as a record of their crime and of this

history, the chronicle does not show, nor is it needful. The record

is inscribed in pages that survive storm, and wreck, and fire;--more

indelibly written than on pillars of brass and marble! It hangs on high

forever, where the eyes of the criminal may read how certainly will the

vengeance of heaven alight, or soon or late, upon the offender, who

wantonly exults in the moment of security in the commission of great

crimes done upon suffering humanity.

X.

THE CHIEFS OF THE LILY AND THE TOTEM EMBRACE AND PART.

"San Augustine!"

Such were the words spoken to Gourgues by Holata Cara at the close of

this terrible scene of vengeance, and his spear was at once turned

in the direction of the remaining Spanish fortress. Gourgues readily

understood the suggestion, but he shook his head regretfully--

"I am too feeble! We have not the force necessary to such an effort!"

The red chief made no reply in words, but he turned away and waved his

spear over the circuit which was covered by the thousand savages who had

collected to the conflict, even as the birds of prey gather to the field

of battle.

But Gourgues again shook his head. He had no faith in the alliance with

the red-men. He knew their caprice of character, their instability of

purpose, and the sudden fluctuations of their moods, which readily

discovered the enemy of the morrow in the friend of to-day. Besides,

his contemplated task was ended. He had achieved the terrible work

of vengeance which he had proposed to himself and followers, and his

preparations did not extend to any longer delay in the country. He had

neither means nor provisions.

He collected the tribes around him. All the kings and princes of the

Floridian gathered at his summons, on the banks of the Tacatacorou,

or Seine, where he had left his vessels, some fifteen leagues from La

Caroline. Thither he marched by land in battle array, having sent all

his captured munitions and arms with his artillerists by sea, in the

patache.

The red-men hailed him with songs and dances, as the Israelites hailed

Saul and David returning with the spoils of the Philistines.

"Now let me die," cried one old woman, "now that I behold the Spaniards

driven out, and the Frenchmen once more in the country."

Gourgues quieted them with promises. It may be that he really hoped that

his sovereign would sanction his enterprise, and avail himself of what

had been done to establish a French colony again in Florida; and he

promised the Floridians that in twelve months they should again behold

his vessels.

The moment arrived for the embarkation, but where was Holata Cara? The

Frenchman inquired after him in vain. Satouriova only replied to his

earnest inquiries,--

"Holata Cara is a great chief of the Apalachian! He hath gone among his

people."

A curious smile lurked upon the lips of the Paracoussi as he made this

answer; but the inquiries of Gourgues could extract nothing from him

further.

They embraced--our chevalier and his Indian allies--and the Frenchmen

embarked, weighed anchor, and, with favoring winds, were shortly out of

sight. Even as they stretched away for the east, the eyes of Holata Cara

watched their departure from a distant headland where he stood embowered

among the trees. The graceful figure of an Indian princess stood beside

his own, one hand shading her eyes, and the other resting on his

shoulder. At length he turned from gazing on the dusky sea.

"They are gone!" she exclaimed.

"Gone!" he answered, in her own dialect. "Gone! Let us depart also!" And

thus speaking, they joined their tawny followers who awaited them in the

neighboring thicket, within the shadows of which they soon disappeared

from sight.

XI.

MORALS OF REVENGE.

Historians have been divided in opinion with regard to the propriety

of that wild justice which Dominique de Gourgues inflicted upon the

murderers of his countrymen at La Caroline. One class of writers hath

preached from the text, "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord;" another

from that which, permissive rather than mandatory, declares that "Whoso

sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."

Charlevoix regrets that so remarkable an achievement as that of

Gourgues, so honorable to the nation, and so glorious for himself,

should not have been terminated by an act of clemency, which, sparing

the survivors of the Spanish forts, should have contrasted beautifully

with the brutal behavior of the Spaniards under the like circumstances;

as if the enterprise itself had anything but revenge for its object; as

if the butcheries which accompanied the several attacks upon the Spanish

forts, and the butcheries which followed them--where the victims were

trembling and flying men--were any whit more justifiable than the

single, terrible act of massacre which appropriately furnished the

catastrophe to the whole drama!

If the Spaniards were to be spared at all, why the enterprise at all? No

wrong was then in progress, to be defeated by interposition; no design

of recovering French territory or re-establishing the French colony was

in contemplation, making the enterprise necessary to success hereafter.

The entire purpose of the expedition was massacre only, and a bloody

vengeance!

It is objected to this expedition of Gourgues, that reprisals are rarely

possible without working some injustice. This would be an argument

against all law and every social government. But it is said that revenge

does not always find out the right victim, particularly in such a case

as the present, and that the innocent is frequently made to suffer for

the guilty.

Gourgues could not, it would seem, have greatly mistaken his victims,

when we find one of them confessing to the murder of five of the

Huguenots by his own hand, and none of them disclaiming a participation

in the crime. But there is a better answer even than this instance

affords, and it conveys one of those warning lessons to society, the

neglect of which too frequently results in its discomfiture or ruin.

That society or nation which is unable or unwilling to prevent or

punish the offender within its own sphere and province, must incur his

penalties; and this principle once recognized, it becomes imperative

with every citizen to take heed of the public conduct of his fellow, and

the proper exercise of right and justice on the part of his ruler. There

are, no doubt, difficulties in the way of doing this always; but what if

it were commonly understood and felt that each citizen had thus at heart

the wholesome administration of exact justice on the part of the society

in which he lived, and the Government which can exist only by the

sympathies of the people? How prompt would be the remedy furnished by

the ruler to the suffering party! how slow the impulse to wrong on the

part of the criminal!

The suggestion that magnanimity and mercy shown to the Spaniards by

Gourgues, after his victory, would have had such a beautiful effect upon

the consciences of those guilty wretches, is altogether ridiculous. The

idea exhibits a gross ignorance of the nature of the Spaniards at the

time. Gourgues knew them thoroughly. A more base, faithless, treacherous

and murderous character never prevailed among civilized nations, and

never could prevail among any nation of _warlike_ barbarians. We do not

mean to justify Gourgues; but may say that it is well, perhaps, for

humanity, that heroism sometimes puts on the terrors of the avenger, and

visits the enormous crime, which men would otherwise fail to reach, with

penalties somewhat corresponding with the degree and character of the

offence! There are sometimes criminals whom it is a mere tempting of

Providence to leave only to the judgments of eternity and their own

seared, cold, and wicked hearts. The murderer whose hands you cannot

bind, you must cut off; not because you thirst for his blood, but

because he thirsts for yours! But ours is not the field for discussion,

and we may well leave the question for decision to the instincts of

humanity. The vengeance which moves the nations to clap hands with

rejoicing has, perhaps, a much higher guaranty and sanction than the

common law of morals can afford.

XII.

THE CHEVALIER AT HOME--MONTLUC COUNSELS GOURGUES FROM HIS COMMENTARIES.

Having taken his farewell of the Floridians, and embarked with all his

people, it was on board of his vessels, with their wings spread to the

breeze, that the Chevalier De Gourgues offered up solemn acknowledgments

to Heaven, for the special sanction which he had found in its favor for

the enterprise achieved. It was with a heart full of gratitude, that he

bowed down on the deck of his little bark, and offered up his prayer to

the God of Battles for the succor afforded him in his extremity. It was

with a light heart that he meditated upon the sanguinary justice done

upon the cruel enemies of his people; the honor of his country's flag

redeemed by a poor soldier of fortune, when disgraced and deserted by

the monarch and the court, who derived all their distinction from its

venerable and protecting folds. It was with a just and honorable pride

that he felt how certainly he had made the record of his name in the

pages of history, by an action grateful to the fame of the soldier, and

still more grateful to the fears and sympathies of outraged humanity.

The acclamations of the wild Floridian--their praises and songs of

victory, however wild and rude--were but a foretaste of those which

he had a right to expect from the lips of his countrymen in _la Belle

France_! Alas! the hand of power covered the lips of rejoicing! The

despotism of the land shook a heavy rod over the people, silencing the

voice of praise, and chilling the heart of sympathy. But let us not

anticipate.

The Chevalier De Gourgues sailed from the mouth of the Tacatacorou, on

the third of May, 1568. For seventeen days the voyage was prosperous,

and his vessels ran eleven hundred leagues; and on the sixth of June,

thirty-four days after leaving the coast of Florida, he arrived at

Rochelle. The latter half of his voyage had been far different from the

first. As at his departure from France, he suffered severely from head

winds and angry tempests. His provisions were nearly exhausted, and his

people began to suffer from famine. His consorts separated from him

in the storm, one of them, the _patache_, being lost with its whole

complement of eight men; the other not reaching port for a month after

himself. His escape was equally narrow from other and less merciful

enemies than hunger and shipwreck. The bruit of his adventure, to his

great surprise, had reached the country before him. The Spanish court,

well served, in that day, by its emissaries, had been advised of his

progress, and that he had appeared at Rochelle. A fleet of eighteen

sail, led by one large vessel, was instantly despatched in pursuit of

him.

Received with good cheer and great applause by the people of Rochelle,

it was fortunate that he did not linger there. He set forth with his

vessel for Bordeaux; there he went to render an account to his friend,

the Marechal Blaize de Montluc, of his adventures. This timely movement

saved him. The pursuing Spaniards reached Che-de-Bois the very day that

he had left it, and continued the chase as far as Blaze. He reached

Bordeaux in safety, and made his report to the king's lieutenant.

Montluc was one of those glorious Gascons who would always much prefer

to fight than eat. He was proud of the chevalier as a Gascon, and he

loved him as a friend. But the approbation that he expressed in private,

he did not venture openly to speak.

"You have done a famous thing, Monsieur De Gourgues, you have saved the

honor of France, and won immortal glory for yourself; but the king's

lieutenant must not say this to the king's people. I praise God that you

are a Gascon like myself, and no race, I think, Monsieur De Gourgues,

was ever quite so valiant as our own; but my friend, I fear they do

not love us any the better that they have not the soul to rival us. I

fear that the glory thou hast won will bring thee to the halter only.

Hearken, my friend, Dominique, dost thou know that, at this very moment,

thy vessel is pursued by a host of Spanish caravels? the winds rend and

the seas sink them to perdition! Thou knowest, how I hate, and scorn,

and spit upon the cut-throat scoundrels! Well! That is not all. I tell

thee, Dominique, my friend, there is a courier already on his way to the

ambassador of Spain, who will demand thy head from our sovereign, that

it may give pleasure to his sovereign, the black-hearted and venomous

Philip. What would he with thy head, my friend? I tell thee, it is his

wretched selfishness that would take thy head--not that it may be useful

to him, but that it shall no longer be of use to thee! Was there ever

such a fool and monster! Thou shouldst keep thy head, my friend, so long

as thou hast a use for it thyself, even though it ache thee many times

after an unnecessary bottle!"

"Think'st thou, Montluc, that there is any danger that the court of

France will give ear to the king of Spain?"

"Give ear! Ay, give both ears, my friend! Our head is in the lap of

Spain already. She hath the shears with which she shall clip the hair by

which our strength is shorn; and, if she will, me thinks, she may clip

head as well as hair, when the humor suits. It is not now, my friend, as

when we fought against the bloody dogs at Sienna, remembering only to

outdo the famous deeds of the stout men-at-arms that followed Bayard and

La Palisse in the generation gone before. Ah! _Monsieur_, thou wast with

me in those days. Thou rememberest, I trow, the famous skirmish which

we had before the little town of Sêve. But I will read thee from my

commentaries, which I have been writing in imitation of Roman Cæsar, of

the wonderful wars and sieges in which I have fought, and in which I

have evermore found most delight."

And he drew forth from his cabinet, as he spoke, the great volume of

manuscripts, afterwards destined to become the famous depository of his

deeds.

"I have written like a Gascon, Monsieur De Gourgues, but let none

complain who is not able to do battle like a Gascon! He who fights well,

my friend, may surely be allowed the privilege of showing how goodly

were his deeds. I will read thee but a passage from that famous skirmish

at Sêve; not merely that thou shouldst see the spirit of what I have

written, and bear witness to the truth, but that thou mayst find for

thyself a fitting lesson for thy own conduct in the straight which is

before thee."

Having found the passage, Montluc read as follows:

"As the Signior Francisco Bernardin and myself, who, for that time were

the Marshals of the camp, drew nigh to the place, and were beginning to

lodge the army, there sallied forth from fort, and church, and trench,

a matter of two or three hundred men, who charged upon us with the

greatest fury. I had with me at that time, but the Captain Charry--a

most brave captain, whom thou must well remember--"

Gourgues nodded assent--

"----with fifty arquebusiers and a small body of horse. Knowing this my

weakness, the Baron de Chissy, our camp-master, sent me a reinforcement

of one hundred arquebusiers. But my peril was such, that I sent to him

straightway for other help, telling him that we were already at it, and

close upon the encounter. At this very moment, Monsieur de Bonnivet,

returning post from court, and hearing of the fighting, said to the

Baron de Chissy, without alighting from his horse--

"'Do thou halt here till the Marechal shall arrive, and, meanwhile, I

will go and succor Monsieur de Montluc.'

"He was followed by certain captains and arquebusiers on horseback.

We had but an instant for embrace when he arrived, for the enemy were

already charging our men.

"'You are welcome, Monsieur de Bonnivet,' I said to him quickly; 'but

alight, and let us set upon these people, and beat them back again into

their fortress.'

"Whereupon, he and his followers instantly alighted, and he said to me,

'do you charge directly upon those, who would recover the fort.'

"Which said, he clapped his buckler upon his arm, while I caught up an

halbert, for I ever (as thou knowest) loved to play with that sort of

cudgel. Then I said to Signior Francisco Bernardin--

"'Comrade, whilst we charge, do you continue to provide the quarters.'

"But to this he answered--

"'And is that all the reckoning you make of the employment the Marechal

hath entrusted to our charge? If it must be that you will fight thus--I

will be a fool for company, and, once in my life, play Gascon also.'

"So he alighted and went with me to the charge. He was armed with very

heavy weapons, and had, moreover, become unwieldy from weight of years.

This kept him from making such speed as I. At such banquets, my body

methought did not weigh an ounce. I felt not that I touched the ground;

and, for the pain of my hip (greatly hurt as thou knowest by a fall at

the taking of Quiers) that was forgotten! I thus charged straightway

upon those by the trench upon one side, and Monsieur de Bonnivet did as

much upon his quarter; so that we thundered the rogues back with such a

vengeance, that I passed over the trench, pell-mell, amidst the route,

pursuing, smiting and slaying, all the way, till we reached the church!

I never so laid about me before, or did so much execution at any one

time. Those within the church, seeing their people in such disorder,

and so miserably cut to pieces, in a great terror, fled from the place,

taking, in flight, a little pathway that led along the rocky ledges of

the mountain, down into the town. In this route, one of my men caught

hold upon him who carried their ensign; but the fellow nimbly and very

bravely disengaged himself from him, and leapt into the path; making for

the town as fast as he could speed. I ran after him also, but he was too

quick even for me, as well he might be,--_for he had fear in both his

heels!_"

Here Montluc paused, and closed the volume.

"It is enough that I have read; for thou wilt see the counsel that I

design for thee. It is not easy for thee to take it, being a Gascon; but

such it is, borrowed from the wisdom of that same ensign. Thou sawest

him scamper, for thou wert on that very chase;--now, if thou wouldst

save thy head from the affections of the king of Spain, _take fear in

both thy heels_, and run as nimbly as that ensign."

"Verily, it is not easy, Monsieur de Montluc, seeing that I am conscious

of no wrong, but rather of a great service done to my country; and if my

own king deliver me not up, wherefore should I fear him of Spain."

"That is it, my friend! Our king will, not from his own nature, but

from that of others, who love not this service to thy country. The

Queen-mother will deliver thee up, the Princes of Lorraine will deliver

thee up, and the devil will deliver thee up--all having a great

affection for the king of Spain--if thou trust not the counsel of thy

friends, and wilfully put thy head in one direction where the wisdom of

thy heels would show thee quite another. Hast thou forgotten that good

proverb of the Italians, which we heard so much read from their lips and

honored in their actions,--'_No te fidar, et no serai inganato?_' Above

all, _mon ami_, trust nothing to thy hope, when it builds upon thy

service done to kings. It is a hope that has hung a thousand good

fellows who might be living to this day. Now, in counselling thee to

flight and secrecy, I counsel thee against my own pride and pleasure. It

would be a great delight to me to have thee near me, while I read thee

all mine history;--the beginning, even to the end thereof;--the thousand

sieges, battles and achievements, in which I have shown good example to

the young valor of France, and made the Gascon name famous throughout

the world."

The heart of the Chevalier Gourgues was not persuaded. He could not

believe that his good deeds for his country's good and honor, would meet

with ill-return and disgrace.

"The king will do me justice."

"Verily, should he even give thee to him of Spain, or hang thee himself,

they will call it by no other name," answered the other drily.

"But the baseness and the cowardice of flight! This confiding one's

courage and counsel to one's heels, Montluc!"

"Is wisdom, as thou shouldst know from the story of Achilles. Verily, it

requires that the secret meaning of this vulnerableness of the heel on

the part of the son of Thetis, is neither more nor less than that he

was a monstrous coward--that he would have been the bravest man of the

world, but for the weakness that always made him fly from danger. It was

in the form of allegory that the satirical poet stigmatised a man in

authority. You see nothing in the treatment of Hector by Achilles, but

what will confirm this opinion. He will not fight with him himself, but

makes his myrmidons do so. What is this, but the case of one of our own

plumed and scented nobles, who procures his foe, whom he fears, to be

murdered by the Biscayan bully whom he buys?--But, let me read thee a

passage from my commentaries bearing very much upon this history."

XIII.

FALL OF THE CURTAIN.

We need not listen to this passage. The reader will find it, with other

good things, in the huge tome of the braggart, and garrulous, but very

shrewd and valiant old Gascon. Enough to say, that this counsel did

not prevail with his friend. Gourgues determined to persevere in his

original intention of presenting himself at court. His reasons for this

resolution were probably not altogether shown to Montluc. Gourgues was a

bankrupt, and needed employment. His expedition had absorbed his little

fortune, and left him a debtor, without the means of repayment. With the

highest reputation as a captain, by land and sea,--and with his name

honored by the sentiment of the nation, which was not permitted to

applaud,--he still fondly hoped that his friend had mistaken his

position, and that he should be honored and welcomed to the favor and

service of his sovereign. He was one of those to hope against hope.

"As thou wilt! Unbolt the door for the man who is wilful. If thy

resolution be taken, I say no more. But thou shalt have letters to the

Court, and if the words of an old friend and brother in arms may do thee

good, thou shalt have the sign-manual of Montluc, to as many missives as

it shall please thee to despatch."

The letters were written; and, with a full narrative of his expedition

prepared, the Chevalier de Gourgues made his appearance at court. He had

anticipated the ambassador of Spain; but he was received coldly. The

Queen Mother, and the Princes of Lorraine, with all who worshipped at

their altars, turned their backs upon the heroic enthusiast. The king

forebore to smile. In his secret heart, he really rejoiced in the

vengeance taken by his subject upon the Spaniards, but he was not in

a situation to declare his true sentiments. Meanwhile, the Spanish

ambassador demanded the offender, and set a price upon his head. The

Queen Mother and her associates denounced him. A process was initiated

to hold him responsible, in his life, for an enterprise undertaken

without authority against the subjects of a monarch in alliance with

France; and our chevalier was compelled to hide from the storm which

he dared not openly encounter. For a long time he lay concealed in

Rouën, at the house of the President de Marigny, and with other ancient

friends. In this situation, the Queen of England, Elizabeth, made him

overtures, and offered him employment in her service; but the tardy

grace of his own monarch, at length, enabled him to decline the

appointments of another and a hostile sovereign. But, nevertheless,

though admitted to mercy by the king of France, he was left without

employment. Fortune, in the end, appeared to smile. Don Antonio, of

Portugal, offered him the command of a fleet which he had armed with the

view to sustaining his right to the crown of that country, which Philip

of Spain was preparing to usurp. Gourgues embraced the offer with

delight. It promised him employment in a familiar field, and against the

enemy whom he regarded with an immortal hate; but the Fates forbade

that he should longer listen to the plea of revenge. While preparing to

render himself to the Portuguese prince, he fell ill at Tours, where he

died, universally regretted, and with the reputation of being one of

the most valiant and able captains of the day--equally capable as a

commander of an army and a fleet. We cannot qualify our praise of this

remarkable man by giving heed to the moral doubts which would seek to

impair the glory, not only of the most remarkable event of his life, but

of the century in which he lived. We owe it to his memory to write upon

his monument, that his crimes, if his warfare upon the Spaniards shall

be so considered, were committed in the cause of humanity!

Our chronicle is ended. The expedition of Dominique de Gourgues

concludes the history of the colonies of France in the forests of

the Floridian.

APPENDIX.

Originally, it was the design of the Author, to write a religious

narrative poem on the subject of the preceding history. The following

sections, however, were all that were written.

I.

THE VOICE.

A midnight voice from Heaven! It smote his ear,

That stern old Christian warrior, who had stood,

Fearless, with front erect and spirit high,

Between his trembling flock and tyranny,

Worse than Egyptian! It awakened him

To other thoughts than combat. "Dost thou see;"--

Thus ran the utterance of that voice from Heaven,--

"The sorrows of thy people? Dost thou hear

Their groans, that mingle with the old man's prayer,

And the child's prattle, and the mother's hymn?

Vain help thy cannon brings them, and the sword,

Unprofitably drunk with martyr blood,

Maintains the Christian argument no more.

Arouse thee for new labors. Gird thy loins

For toils and perils better overcome

By patience, than the sword. Thou shalt put on

Humility as armor; and set forth,

Leading thy flock, whom the gaunt wolf pursues,

To other lands and pastures. 'T is no home

For the pure heart in France! There, Tyranny

Hath wed with Superstition; and the fruit--

The foul, but natural issue of their lusts,

Is murder!--which, hot-hunting fresher feasts,

Knows never satiation;--raging still,

Where'er a pure heart-victim may be found

In these fair regions. It will lay them waste,

Leaving no field of peace,--leaving no spot

Where virtue may find refuge from her foes,

Permitted to forbear defensive blows,

Most painful, though most needful to her cause!

The brave shall perish, and the fearful bend,

Till unmixed evil, rioting in waste,

Wallows in crime and carnage unrebuked!

Vain is thy wisdom,--and the hollow league,

That tempts thee to forbearance, worse than vain.

Flight be thy refuge now. Thou shalt shake off

The dust upon thy sandals, and go forth

To a far foreign land;--a wild, strange realm,

That were a savage empire, most unmeet

For Christian footstep, and the peaceful mood,

But that it is a refuge shown by God

For shelter of his people. Thither, then,

Betake thee in thy flight. Let not thy cheek

Flush at the seeming shame. It is no shame

To fly from shameless foes. This truth is taught

By him, the venerable sire who led

His people from the Egyptians. Lead thou thine!

Forbear the soldier's fury. I would rouse

The Prophet and the Patriarch in thy breast,

And make thee better seek the peaceful march,

Than the fierce, deadly struggle. Thou shouldst guide,

With pastoral hand of meekness, not of blood,

The tribes that still have followed thee, and still,

Demand thy care. Far o'er the western deeps

Have I prepared thy dwelling! A new world,

Full of all fruits and lovely to the eye,--

Various in mount and valley, sweet in stream,

Cool in recesses of the ample wood,

With climate bland, air vigorous, sky as pure

As is the love that proffers it to faith--

Await thee; and the seas have favoring gales

To waft thee on thy path! Delay and die!"

II.

COLIGNY'S RESOLVE.

"And, if I perish!" the gray warrior said,--

"I perish still in France! If cruel foes

Beleaguer and ensnare me to my fate,

The blow will fall upon me in the land

Which was my birth-place. Better there to die

The victim for my people, than to fly

Inglorious, from the struggle set for us

By the most cruel fortunes! Not for me

The hope of refuge in a foreign clime,

While that which cradled me lies desolate

In blood and ashes! It is better here

To strive against the ruin and misrule,

Than basely yield the empire to the foe,

Whose sway we might withstand; and whose abuse,

Unchecked, were but the fruitful argument

For thousand years of woe! I would not lay

These aged bones to sleep in distant lands,

Though pure and peaceful; but would close mine eye,

Upon the same sweet skies--by tempests now

Torn and disclouded--upon which gladly first

They opened with delight in infancy.

This fondness, it may be, is but a weakness

Becoming not my manhood. Be it so!

I know that I _am_ weak; but there's a passion,

That glows with loyal anger in my heart,

And shows like virtue. It forbids my flight;

And, for my country's glory, and the safety

Of our distracted and diminished flock,

Declares how much more grateful were the strife--

That proud defiance which I still have given

To those fierce enemies, whose sleepless hate

Hath shamed and struck at both. I deem it better

To struggle with injustice than submit;

For still submission of the innocent

Makes evident the guilty; and the good,

Who yield, but multiply the herd of foes,

That ravin when the retribution sleeps!

What hope were there for sad humanity,

If still, when came the danger, fled the brave?

Fled only to beguile, in fierce pursuit,

The wolfish spoiler, leaving refuge none,

In heart or homestead? Not for me to fly--

Not though, I hear, Eternal Sire! thy voice

Still speaking with deep utterance in my soul,

Commending my obedience. All in vain,

I strive to serve thee with submission meet,

And move to do thy will. The earth grows up,

Around me; and the aspects of my home,

Enclose me like the mountains and the sea,

Forbidding me to fly them. Natural ties,

That are as God's, upon the mortal heart,

Fetter me still to France! and yet thou knowest,

How reverent and unselfish were my toils,

In this our people's cause. I have not spared

Day or night labor; and my blood hath flowed,

Unstinted, in the strife that we have waged.

The sword hath hacked these limbs--the poisoned cup

Hung at these lips. The ignominous death,

From the uplifted scaffold, look'd upon me,

Craving its victim; the assassin's steel,

Turned from my ribs, with narrowest graze avoiding

The imperil'd life! Yet never have I shrunk,

Because of these flesh-dangers from the work

Whereto my hand was set. Let me not now

Turn from the field in flight, though still to lead

The flock that I must die for! _This_ I know!

I cannot _always_ 'scape. The blow _will_ come!

Not always will the poisonous draught be spill'd,

Or the sharp steel be foil'd, or turn'd aside;--

And to the many martyrs in this cause,

Already made, my yearning spirit feels,

Its sworn alliance. I will die like them,

But cannot fly their graves! I _dare_ not fly,

Though death awaits me here, and, soft, afar,

Sits safety in the cloud and beckons me."

III.

THE VOYAGE.

"And leave thy flock to perish?"--Thus the voice,

Reproachful to the patriarch.--"No," he cried,

"They shall partake the sweet security,

Of the far home of refuge thou assign'st.

They shall go forth from bondage and from death:

The path made free to them, their feet shall take;

My counsels shall direct them, and my soul

Still struggle in their service. Those who fly,

Best moved by fond obedience,--with few ties

To fasten the devoted heart to earth,

And looking but to heaven;--and those who still,

With that fond passion of home which fetters me,

Prefer to look upon their graves in France,--

Shall equally command my care and toil,

Though not alike my presence. They who go forth

To the far land of promise which awaits them,

Mine eye shall watch across the mighty deep,

And still my succors reach them, while the power

Is mine for human providence; and still,

Even from the fearful eminence of death,

My spirit, parting from its shrouding clay,

Survey them with the thought of one who loves,

Glad in the safety which it could not share!"

* * * * *

Even as he said,--a little band went forth

Still resolute for God;--having no home,

But that made holy by his privilege;

Their prayers unchecked, their pure rites undisturbed,

They bending at high altars, with no dread,

Lest other eyes than the elect should see,

Their secret smokes arise.

To a wild shore,

Most wild, but lovely,--o'er the deeps they came;

Propitious winds at beck, and God in heaven,

Looking from bluest skies. From the broad sea,

Sudden, the grey lines of the wooing land,

Stretched out its sheltering haven, and afar,

Implored them, with its smiles, through gayest green,

That to the heart of the lone voyagers,

Spoke of their homes in France.

"And here," they cried,

"Cast anchor! We will build our temples here!

This solitude is still security,

And freedom shall compensate all the loss

Known first in loss of home! Yet naught is lost,--

All rather gained, that human hearts have found

Most dear to hope and its immunities,

If that we win _that_ freedom of the soul,

It never knew before! Here should we find

Our native land,--the native land of soul,

Where conscience may take speech,--where truth take root,

And spread its living branches, till all earth

Grows lovely with their heritage. From the wild

Our pray'rs shall rise to heaven; nor shall we build

Our altars in the gloomy caves of earth,

Dreading each moment lest the accusing smokes,

That from our reeking censers may arise,

Shall show the imperial murderer where we hide."

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note: Obvious typos have been amended. The text on the

cover image was added to the original for this e-book and is granted

to the public domain.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Lily and the Totem, by William Gilmore Simms