was ever the aim of Spanish policy. It was not so much greed of territory, although that is human and not less Anglo-Saxon than Latin, but it was the patent necessity of protecting what for the time being were the most valuable countries of the world and of keeping possession of so much of the mainland as might make them secure. No passage to China had yet been discovered, but neither the Spaniards of this age nor other nations for almost a century to come could be certain that the great bays of the Atlantic coast, like the Chesapeake, did not, after all, run through to what was called the South Sea. The first conflict was with the French while St. Augustine was being founded, and then came a longer struggle with England. The country had been won by Spain in her prime, and was to be defended step by step with tenacity as long as any of it should remain to her.

CHAPTER II

FRENCH FLORIDA

FRANCE has played a great part in the history of Europe for so many centuries that it seems strange to think of her as not taking the lead in colonization. During the time of formation of nationalities through the growth of the kingly power at the expense of the nobles, she enjoyed the advantage of having such kings as Louis XI. and his successors. The trade from the East had never ceased, even during the Middle Ages, passing mainly through Venice, Genoa, Germany, and the Rhine country to the north, while some came through Marseilles and the Rhone region, developing Provence and the east of France. The growth of Paris-the nucleus of modern France-was due largely to its nearness to Flanders, with which the Seine, and thus indirectly the Rhone, readily communicated by portages, a system of transportation which the French were so largely to make use of in a new world. The Low Countries, next after the mines of America, made Charles V. The prominence of France in the Crusades and her nearness to the Moors permeated her with the new learning and new science; and when the religious ferment began, nowhere was it more gladly received and more consistently thought out. Marot translated the Psalms in a version which immediately became popular, and Lefevre made the Gospels familiar in the French tongue. It would seem as if everything was ripe for France to assume the leading rôle in the changes taking

place in religion and discovery. But French civilization was fundamentally Latin, and commercial ties through Marseilles and the south were strong with the Mediterranean countries. It was not unnatural, therefore, for the French awakening to show itself internationally interested in Italy, the seat of the old religion and civilization, whose mediæval development had been into numerous republics, which in their old age had become rich but warring principalities. The invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. in 1494, marked not by blood, but by chalk, had concentrated French enthusiasm on conquest in that direction rather than in discoveries of as yet doubtful utility in the western seas. And yet, as Charles V. of Germany and Spain had interests in the same quarter, Francis I. became involved in a death struggle with the emperor, who used the products of his American mines to deprive France of her new influence in Italy as well as to keep her out of the west. The reign of Francis was a great one for his country in intellectual and religious respects, despite the defeats abroad, and the reign of his son Henry II. continued its traditions. War with Spain lasted almost incessantly, but the line began to be drawn at home against the adherents of what was called the Reformed religion. They began to be called Huguenots, and met with discouragement and disfavor in every way that the Church and State could show. Religious persecution commenced, and the cruelties in Spain were not left uncopied; and yet, influenced more especially by John Calvin at Geneva, the Reformed grew in numbers, zeal, and influence. It became uncertain whether France would ultimately be Reformed or Catholic. Great families were converts to the new faith, and among them the Châtillons and Montmorencys were more or less openly its advocates.

Of course, with its vast influence and wealth at stake, the old religion was not slow to do all possible to suppress the new. The queen, the famous Catherine de' Medici, with true Italian zeal for her church and unscrupulousness of methods, and the semiroyal family of Guise, with its

able duke and astute cardinal, came to the front on the Catholic side; while Gaspard de Coligny, of the Châtillon family, was even more than the lukewarm Bourbons the leader of the Reformed.

Both Guise and Coligny filled high offices of State. Coligny was not only in the army, but was made Admiral of France and as such cast a careful eye abroad over French commerce. For years the sailors of Dieppe had made voyages to South as well as North America. Even in 1504

the French had been in the port of Bahia, and five years later Brazilian savages had been shown in Rouen; while Verrazano in 1524 and Cartier ten years later voyaged to North America for Francis I. French captains, like all others of the day, were sometimes piratical, and one even sacked Pernambuco. The policy of Francis I. had been vacillating, but in 1543 he declared the western sea to be open to his subjects. During the middle of the reign of Henry II., Coligny thought that, despite Portuguese claims, it would be a good plan for French commerce and influence to settle a colony in Brazil, while the troubled state of France from religious causes seemed to make it easy to find recruits. So in 1555 he sent out under Villegagnon, a monk, an expedition for that purpose. Disputes and the cruelty of their commander soon completed the ruin of the colony, and despite reinforcements it was finally abandoned after four unhappy years. Villegagnon went home, but his successor was hardly better, and the Portuguese at last found means to destroy such of the French as had not returned.

Meantime much had happened in France. In 1559, Francis II., husband of Mary, the child Queen of Scots, ascended the throne, to die almost immediately, and to be succeeded the next year by his brother, Charles IX., under whom civil and religious dissensions were to reach their height. The Guises lost their influence, for Catherine, powerless and neglected in the time of her husband, was determined to rule in the name of her sons. The result,