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Show 360 THE LIIS A:o;'D 'filE TOTEM. were shot down by the pursuing Spaniards, as they fled in terror through the forests. 'J'wcnty perished in tl1is manner, offering no resistance, and long after the struggle in IA'L Caroline had ~ndcd . The sun•iving prisoners were then brought before the conquer~ or. They were manacled, and presented a spectacle which must have moved the sympathies of any ordinary nature. lht Pedro de )lclendcz was not of an ordinary nature. 'l'hc natural sympathies had given way to a morbid passion amounting to insanity, by which his judgment was confounded. The sight of weeping, and trembling women nnd children; of captives naked, worn, cxhaustcd, enfeebled by years, by disease, by cruel wounds-all pleading for his mercy--<mly seemed to strengthem him in the most cruel resolution. " The groans of the heretic, arc musio in the cars of heaven!" Upon this maxim he designed an appropriate commcnt.'lry .. "Separa.t.c these women from tho other prisoners." It was done. " Now detach from these last, all children under fifteen years." His command was obeyed. The women and children thus set apart were consigned to slavery. or their farther fate the historian knows nothing. 'fhe young and tender were probably persuaded to tho ll.oman Catholic altars, and thus finally achieved their dcliv('rancc. The more stubborn, we may reasonably nssumc, perished in their bonds, passing from one condition of degradation to another. Of the rest the history is terribly definite. Fixing his cold, dark eye upon the male captives upon whose fate he bad yet said nothing, he demanded- THE FATE OF LA CAROLHH:. 361 "Is there among ye any wl10 profess the faith of the Holy Catholic Church ?" Two of the prisoners an.swcred in the affirmative. " Take these Christians away, and let their bonds be remoYcd. 'l'he Holy Father, Salmndi, will examine them in the faith of Mother Church. For the rest, nrc there any among yc, who, seeing the error of your ways, will renounce the hc1·e!'y of Luther, and seck once more communion with the only true clJUrch ?11 A drear silence followed. The captives looked mournfully at each other, nnd at the Adclnutado; but in his face there was no cncoumgcmcnt, and nothing but despair was expressed in tho :tspcets of their fciJO\vS. "Be warned!" continued the Adclantado. " To those who seck the blessings of the true church, she generously opcneth her arms. To those who turn away, indifferently or in scom, she decrees death temporal and death eternal. Hear yc !-and now say." The silence was unbroken. "Arc yc obdurate? or do yc not comprehend that your Ji,•cs rest upon your speech? Either yc embrace the safety which tl1e church offers, by an instant renunciation of that of the foul heretic Luther, or yc die by the halter !11 One sturdy soldier advanced from tho group-a bold, highsouled fellow- his brows lifted proudly with the conscious impulso wliich worked within his soul. "Pedro do Melendez, we arc in your power. You arc master of our mortal bodies, but with the d~ath before us that you threaten, know tlmt we nrc members of the reformed Church of Christ, which ye name to be of Luther-that, holding it good to 16 |
