Great Epochs in American History, Vol. II | Page 4

on exorbitaut terms. Laudonnière himself throughout would
have adopted moderate and conciliatory measures, but his men at
length became impatient and seized one of the principal Indian chiefs
as a hostage for the good behavior of his countrymen. A skirmish
ensued, in which the French were victorious. It was clear, however, that
the settlement could not continue to depend on supplies extorted from
the Indians at the point of the sword. The settlers felt that they were
wholly forgotten by their friends in France, and they decided, tho with
heavy hearts, to forsake the country which they had suffered so much to

win....
Just, however, as all the preparations for departure were made, the
long-expected help came. Ribault arrived from France with a fleet of
seven vessels containing three hundred settlers and ample supplies.
This arrival was not a source of unmixed joy to Laudonnière. His
factious followers had sent home calumnious reports about him, and
Ribault brought out orders to send him home to stand his trial. Ribault
himself seems to have been easily persuaded of the falsity of the
charges, and prest Laudonnière to keep his command; but he, broken in
spirit and sick in body, declined to resume office.
All disputes soon disappeared in the face of a vast common misfortune.
Whatever internal symptoms of weakness might already display
themselves in the vast fabric of the Spanish empire, its rulers showed as
yet no lack of jealous watchfulness against any attempts to rival her
successes in America. The attempts of Cartier and Roberval[3] had
been watched, and the Spanish ambassador at Lisbon had proposed to
the King of Portugal to send out a joint armament to dispossess the
intruders. The king deemed the danger too remote to be worth an
expedition, and the Spaniards unwillingly acquiesced. An outpost of fur
traders in the ice-bound wilderness of Canada might seem to bring little
danger with it. But a settlement on the coast of Florida, within some
eight days' sail of Havana, with a harbor whence privateers might
waylay Spanish ships and even attack Spanish colonies, was a rival not
to be endured. Moreover, the colonists were not only foreigners but
Huguenots, and their heresy served at once as a pretext and stimulus to
Spanish zeal.
The man to whose lot it fell to support the monopoly of Spain against
French aggression was one who, if we may judge by his American
career, needed only a wider field to rival the genius and the atrocities of
Alva. Pedro de Menendez, when he had scarcely passed from boyhood,
had fought both against the French and the Turks, and had visited
America and returned laden with wealth. He then did good service in
command of the Spanish fleet in the French war, and his prompt
cooperation with the land force gave him a share in the glories of St.
Quentin.[4] A second voyage to America was even more profitable
than the first, but his misconduct there brought him into conflict with
the Council of the Indies, by whom he was imprisoned, and heavily

fined. His previous services, however, had gained him the favor of the
court. Part of his fine was remitted, and he was emboldened to ask not
merely for pardon, but for promotion. He proposed to revive the
attempt of De Soto and to extend the Spanish power over Florida. The
expedition was to be at Menendez's own cost; he was to take out five
hundred colonists, and in return to be made Governor of Florida for life
and to enjoy certain rights for free trade with the West Indies and with
the mother country....
The military genius of Menendez rose to the new demands made upon
it. He at once decided on a bold and comprehensive scheme which
would secure the whole coast from Port Royal to Chesapeake Bay, and
would ultimately give Spain exclusive possession of the South Seas and
the Newfoundland fisheries. The Spanish captain had a mind which
could at once conceive a wide scheme and labor at the execution of
details. So resolutely were operations carried on that by June, 1565,
Menendez sailed from Cadiz with thirty-four vessels and four thousand
six hundred men. After a stormy voyage he reached the mouth of the St.
John's river. Ribault's party was about to land, and some of the smaller
vessels had crossed the harbor, while others yet stood out to sea.
Menendez hailed the latter, and after some parley told them that be had
come there with orders from the king of Spain to kill all intruders that
might be found on the coast. The French being too few to fight, fled.
Menendez did not for the present attack the settlement, but sailed
southward till he reached a harbor which be named St. Augustine.
There the Spaniards