MISSIONARY HEROES.

21

founding of Pensacola, in 1693, gave a new impulse to missions in that region, and the Spanish colony, though small, was surrounded by Indian tribes most of whom received the Roman Catholic faith. Villages of converts, directed by Franciscans, existed along the the Apalachicola, Flint, and other rivers.

New Mexico

was the next scene of missionary labor within the recently adopted territory of the United States. Coronado's famous expedition from Mexico, in 1542, in search of a fancied realm of wealth and splendor, traversed the territory of New Mexico even to the borders of Colorado. After a long and unsuccessful search, wearied of journeyings and disappointed in discoveries, he turned his course homeward; but, when not far from the present site of Santa Fé, the two Franciscans, Father Padilla and Brother John of the Cross, who had accompanied the expedition, remained behind to establish a mission. Turning his steps to Quivira, Father Padilla labored assiduously among that fierce people, but with no success. Hearing of a tribe more docile in character, he started for their town, but on his way he fell pierced with a shower of arrows, sealing his mission with his blood. Of his companion no tidings were ever received. Only the previous year, the brilliant, cruel, and unfortunate expedition of De Soto had penetrated several hundred miles west of the Mississippi, into the territory above the Red River.

Coronado's unfavorable reports discouraged further secular exploration of this region for a long time. Meanwhile the Indian. missions of Mexico steadily advanced toward the north, and there dwelt in the valley of St. Bartholomew a pious lay brother, Augustine Rodriguez, who had grown gray amid the austerities of the Franciscan missions. Hearing of populous countries far to the north, unvisited by Spaniards, he burned with desire to proclaim to them the Gospel. A mission was projected; Father Francis Lopez was appointed Superior, and the learned and scientific Father John de Santa Maria and Brother Rodriguez accompanied him, escorted by ten soldiers and six Mexican Indians. Reaching the country of the Teheras, the soldiers, seeing seven hundred weary miles behind them, refused to advance further. Honor, pride, patriotism, and religion were appealed to in vain. They abandoned the missionaries to their fate. A mission was commenced among a people dressed in cotton mantles and living in houses, unlike the wild. Indians of the plains. Father Maria was sent back to Mexico for

auxiliaries, but while asleep by the wayside he was surprised and killed. In an attack upon the town, soon after, Father Lopez fell beneath the shafts of the assailants, and Brother Rodriguez was left alone until, weary of his presence and reproaches, the natives silenced his voice in death.

Don Antonio de Espejo, a rich, brave, and pious man, set out the following year to explore the head-waters of the Rio Grande. He named the country New Mexico, and founded the city of Santa Fé, the second oldest city within the present limits of the United States-twenty-five years older than Jamestown, Va. The Franciscans immediately undertook the task of converting the natives—a work slow, difficult, and attended with dangers. The blood of the missionaries flowed freely; their number was recruited; the work went slowly on; the dusky savages yielded; whole tribes accepted the faith; and, in the year 1608, eight thousand Indians had received baptism in New Mexico. In 1626 the twenty-seventh mission was established.

Texas.

Father de Olmos, a Franciscan, visited this region in 1546, and founded a mission among the wild tribes of the Chechimecas. Gathering around this solitary envoy, they listened in peace to his message. He studied their language and made translations into it; but no further data have been transmitted to us concerning this "humble conquest of Olmos' hardy zeal," and a long interval with no records of missions followed.

California.

A series of explorers visited California at a very early date: Cortez, who is supposed to have reached its extreme southern part; Cobilla, who landed at San Diego in 1542; Sir Francis Drake, who sailed along its coast in one of his expeditions, and spent the summer of 1579 in the Bay of San Francisco; and Viscaino, who explored the coast in 1596, and again in 1601, proceeding as far as Monterey, where the Carmelite Friars who accompanied his expedition erected a rustic altar beneath the branches of a spreading oak and celebrated the mysteries of the papal faith.

SUCCESSORS OF COLUMBUS.

23

CHAPTER II.

PROTESTANT BEGINNINGS.

SEC. 1. Discoveries. SEC. 2. Settlements. SEC. 3. Churches Organized.

Section 1.-Discoveries.

COLUMBUS and his successors in discovery accomplished great Providential purposes, opening up pathways for nations and imparting new impulses of progress to the world. The amazing foresight, indomitable purpose, superhuman energy and lofty heroism of Columbus verify his personal conviction that he was “the called of God" to a great mission. A spirit so elevated and farseeing, so patient and enduring, so potent to resist and wear out. opposition, so fruitful in expedients and creative of resources, clearly evinces a divine co-working. But he had a very feeble conception of the grand results of his wonderful career and the new life he imparted to the age. Nor was it necessary, in order to the part he performed, that he should see the far-reaching consequences. He was not chosen to be the founder of a perishable empire nor to wear the diadem of a fading royalty. But he fulfilled his mission and gained the crown of enduring immortality—the true saintship.

The Successors of Columbus

were men of inferior character, in whom, says Bancroft, " avarice and religious zeal were singularly blended; and the heroes of Spain sailed to the West as if they were bound on a new crusade for which infinite wealth was to reward their piety." The visions of vast riches which the newly-discovered country inspired stimulated in the breasts of Europeans the powerful passions of ambition and avarice, and eager adventurers were sent forth with ships and stores to the new El Dorado. Numerous disasters and disappointments attended the early navigators, but countries were subdued and vast sums of gold and silver transmitted to Europe. These singularly mixed motives were potential factors, mysteriously working under a superintending Providence, by which willing agents were strangely led on,