their approach. No objects were presented to gratify the ambition of the Spaniards, and after spending three years in searching, having marched half across the continent, they found nothing but half-naked Indians, and a sickly climate.

De Soto died of a fever, and was sunk in a hollow oak, to the bottom of the Mississippi river, where his remains lie undisturbed. It is said that his body was interred upon the bank of the river, and subsequently removed, in order to prevent its falling into the hands of his enemies. Doctor Bancroft states that his body was wrapped in a winding sheet and cast into the Mississippi.

Thus Spain acquired vast possessions by right of discovery and by right of conquest, which she continued to hold for about three hundred years, during which time most of her American colonies, one by one, revolted from her, and established independent governments.

That part of the United States lately called the Territory of Florida, is a portion of the immense possessions acquired by Spain through the conquests of Cortes, Pizarro, De Soto and others.

In 1819, Spain sold Florida to the United States. for five millions of dollars; so that the title which she

What was the result of that expedition?

What became of De Soto?

How long did Spain hold her American Colonies?

What then occurred?

When, and for how much did the U. S. purchase Florida?

By what title did Spain formerly hold that territory?

By what title does the United States hold it?

had obtained by discovery and conquest, has been acquired by the United States by purchase.

The sudden tide of wealth, poured into Spain by the conquests of Mexico and Peru, sapped the foundation of her own prosperity, and prepared her to descend to the low rank she now occupies among the European nations; and although free from royal servitude, she is most miserable, half-starved and depopulated, from the effects of her frequent civil wars.

At the same time the prospect of wealth excited a spirit of fortune-hunting emigration to the New World, equally unfavorable for the moral and intellectual advancement of the Spanish American colonies.

These effects have reached down to the present time. Hence those Republics of America which were formerly Spanish Colonies, though a full century in advance, as to time of settlement, are now a full century behind the United States in everything that constitutes the prosperity, power, and glory of a nation.

ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS.

The enterprise of England, equally ambitious but less avaricious than Spain, sought to extend her power and greatness by planting Colonies on that part of the American Continent which she claimed by right of discovery.

What effect did the wealth of Mexico and Peru have on Spain?

After several unsuccessful attempts, her first permanent settlement within the present limits of the United States, was made at Jamestown, on James River, in the State of Virginia, on the 13th of May, A.D., 1607.

The number of these first settlers was one hundred and five. Many of them died soon after of sickness, but their places were in a short time filled by new emigrants. The prosperity of the colony was, however, very much retarded by internal dissensions, and by the hostility of the Indians.

These settlers were not mere soldiers, seeking for the conquest of golden Empires, like the early Spanish adventurers, but men of business; many of them from the higher ranks of society, in pursuit of a fortune, to be acquired by persevering industry.

The next English colony in America, was founded at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the 22d of Dec., in the year 1620, by one hundred and one persons. They were in pursuit of neither conquest nor riches, but religious liberty. They belonged to the sect called Puritans, who were then greatly oppressed by the English government.

They came with two great objects in view; first, to escape English oppression; and second, to found a new Colony in the wilds of America, where both

Where and when was the first permanent English settlement? What was the number of the settlers?

When and where was the next English settlement made?

What was their number?

To what sect did they belong?

What two great objects had they in view?

themselves and their descendants might enjoy equal civil and religious liberty.

Therefore, as soon as they had prepared dwellings for themselves, they erected churches and schoolhouses, and commenced the cultivation of the land. Other settlements were soon after made in various places by new English emigrants, holding the same moral principles. Thus the industry, intelligence, christianity and enterprise of the early settlers, laid the corner stone of our present powerful Republic.

SPANISH AND OTHER SETTLEMENTS.

At this time Spain was tyrannizing over Holland. To escape from her tyranny a colony of Dutch came over in 1613, and settled on the banks of the Hudson river, at Albany, New York. As they settled on lands claimed by England, by right of discovery, they were compelled to become subjects of the English government. For the same reason a colony of Danes, who had settled at Bergen, in New Jersey, in 1624, and a colony of Swedes and Fins, who commenced a settlement at Cape Henlopen, in Delaware, were compelled to become subjects of England.

In 1634, St. Mary's, in Maryland, was settled by a colony of Catholics, who were driven from England by the oppressive measures of Charles I. They too,

Why were the Dutch settlers at Albany compelled to become subjects of the British Government?

When was St. Mary's settled, and by whom?

like the Protestants, founded their colony on the broad basis of civil and religious liberty.

The Bourbon Kings of France oppressed their protestant subjects, and in 1663, a colony of French fled from their own "vine-clad fields," and commenced a settlement on the Mississippi river. The same causes continuing to operate in France, other colonists followed, who settled in different places in the Western and South Western States.

The English, in the French and Indian wars which commenced in 1755, and ended with the peace of 1763, drove the French from a part of the territory they claimed, and the remainder of it was purchased of France by the United States, in 1803, for fifteen millions of dollars.

Thus, the French claim to lands in North America was extinguished, and the United States acquired undisputed title to that vast extent of country, then known by the general name of Louisiana.

So, we perceive, that the attempt of England, Spain, and France, to crush the rising spirit of liberty in Western Europe, was the means of peopling the United States with a class of men whose love of freedom outweighs all other considerations.

Or, as one of the eminent writers of that day ex

What is said of a colony of French?

When did the French and Indian war commence and end?

How was the French title to lands in America extinguished?

How much did the United States pay for Louisiana?

What was the effect of the attempt to crush the rising spirit of liberty in Europe?

What was said by a writer of that day?