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Show THE LILY AND THE TOTEM. him, and be never suffered himself to forget how necessary to the sect which he represented 'vna the desired haven of·securitywhich he sought, in a region beyond her influence. From Brazil he turned his eyes on Florida. This ltrra i11cogflila1 at the period of which we speak, wo.s ElDorado to the European imagination. It was the New Empire, richer th:lD Peru or Mexico, in which adventurers o.s daring as Cortes and Pizarro were to comp!I.SIJ realms of n.s great magnificence and wealth. Already bad the Spaniard traversed it with his iron-clad warriors, seeking vainly, and through numberless perils, for tho trc88urc which he worshipped. Still other trcn.sures had won tho imagination of one of their noblest knights ; and in exploring the wild realm of the Floridinn for the magical fountain which was to restore youth to the heart of age, and a fresh bloom to its withered aspect, Ponce de Leon pursued one of the loveliest phantoms that ever deluded the fancy or the heart of num. To him had succeeded others ; all seeking, in turn, the realization of those unfruitful visions which, like wandering lights of the swamp forest, only glitter to betray. Vasquez d'Ayllon, J ohn Vern::zani, Pamphilo de Narvaez, and tho more brilliant cavalier than all, llcrnando de Soto, had each penetrated this land of hopes and fancies, to deplore in turn its disnppointmcnt.s and delusions. With the wildest desires in their hearts, they had disdained the merely pos-sible within their reach. They had sought for possessions such as few empires have been known to yield; nnd hnd failed to see, or had beheld with scorn, the sin1ple trca.sures of fruit and flower which the country promised and proffered in abundance. This va.st region, claimed cqunlly by Spain, France, and England, still lay derelict. "Death," 118 one of our own writers very happily rema. rks," seemed to guard the avenues of the country." None DEAUTn'UL COUNTRY. 7 ~f the great realms wl1ich claimed it as their domain, regarded it many light but n.s n. territory which they might r:wagc. Yet, well might its delicious climate, the beauty of iti! groves and forests, the sweets of its flowers, which beguiled the senses of the ocean pilgrim a score of leagues from land-to say nothing of tho supposed wealth of its mountains, and of the great cities hid among their far rccesscs-havc persuaded the enterprise, and implored the prows of enterprise and adventure. To these attractions the previous adventurers had not wholly shown themselves insensible. _Ponce de Leon, enraptured with it.s rich and exquisite vegct~bon, as seen in the spring season of the year, first conferred u~n tt the name of beauty, which it bears. Nor, had he not been distracted by baser objccta, would he have failed utterly to discover the salubrious fountains which he sought. ITcrc were met natives, who, quaffing at medicinal streams by which the country was everywhere watered, grew to years which nhnost rival those of tho antediluvian fathers. V crnzzani, tl1c Florentine, unfolds a. golde.u chronicle of the innocence nnd delight which distinguished the Simple people by whom the territory was possessed, and whoso cl1aructer was derived from the gentle influences of tl1cir climate, and the exquisite delicacy, beauty, nod variety of tlJC productions of the soil. lie, too, had visited the country in tho sca.son of .!!pring, when all things in nature look lovely to the eye. But such verdure flB blessed biB vision on tJ1iB occasion, constituted a new em in his life, and seemed to lift him to the crowning achievement of all his enterprises. The region, as far his eye could reach, W'"J..S covered with "fairc fields and plaines," u full of migJ1tie great woodcs," "replenished with divers sort of trees, as pleasant and delectable to behold as is possible to imagine;-" Not," says the voyager, u like the woodcs or llercynio. or the wildo deserts |