Lily and the Totem, or, The Hugenots in Florida, A Series of Sketches, picturesque and Historical, of the Colonies of Coligni, in North America. 1562-1570. By the author of "The Yemassee"

Page 61

VIII. FLIGHT, FAMINE, AND THE BLOODY FEAST OF THE FUGITIVES. TnE assn.ssination of Captain Albert restored peace, at least, to the little colony of Fort Charles. lie bad been the chief dan­ger to the garrison, by rcMOn of his vcxatiolL'l tyranny, fomented ever by the miserable malice and espionage of Pierre Renaud. Both of these had perished, and a sense of new security filled tho hearts of the survivors. They had also gratified all revenges. The sequel of tho narrative mny be told, alme~st in the very words of the simple chronicle from which our facts arc mostly drawn. "When they (the conspirators) were come home againo, they assembled themselves together to choose one to be Governor over them.'' In tl1is selection there was no difficulty. Jealousies and dissensions had ceased to exist, and the choice naturally fell upon Nicholas Barre,• whose former position, as Lieutenant under Al­bert, and whose recent connection with tho party by which he •" Il r~~.llut songer ensuite il.lui donner un succeueur, et \e choix que l'on fit, fut plus aage, qu'on ne devoit l'attendre de gens, dont let mains fumoient encore du sang de leur Chef. Ib mirent 0. leur tCte un fort hon· nlite homme, nom me Nicho\u Barr~, lequel par son !Ulreue et sa prudenee r.Stabli\ en peu de t~msla paix et le bon ordre dans h. colonie."- Char/e­• o~. N. Frall., Liv. 1. ,. 101 wa.salnin, had naturnlly gi\·cn him a large influence among tho co­lonists. He wns equal to his new duties. He "kncwc so well to quite himself of this chArge that nil rancour nod dissention ceased among them, nnd they li\·cd penccably one with o.nother." Dut, though harmony was restored among them, it was a hn.rmo­ny without hope. They had been abnndoned by their country­men. The supplies which Ribault had promi!cd them had utterly fa iled. They had never, indeed, been levied. Rib:1ult returned to France only to find it co;m,•ulsed with o. renewal of tho civil war, under tho auspices of that incarnate millcbicf, Cathe­rine do Mcdicis, and her fatherless and cruel son, in whose nnme she swayed tho country to its ruin. Coligoy, tho father of tho colony, had enough to do in fighting tho battles of the Huguenots at home. He could do nothing for those whom he had sent abroad. The peace of Longjumcan bad been of short duration, and there ho.d been really no remission of hostilities on the part of the Co.tholics. In the space of three months more than two thousand of the former fell victims to the rnge of the populnce; and, though reluctantly, the l)rinco of Conde and Coligny were forced into ~ resumption of arms for tho safety of their own per­liOns. The immediate necessities of their situation were such as to defeat their efforts in behalf of the remote settlement at Fort Charles. They needed all their soldiers and Huguenots in Fro.nco. Feeling themselves abandoned- they knew not why­the colonists in Florida ceased to behold a charm or solace in their solitary realm of refuge. Its securities were no longer suf­ficient to compcusatc for its loneliness. Detter the strife, per­llnps, thnn this unmeaning and unbroken silence. They were too few for ad\•cnturc, and the discouragements resulting from their domestic grievances were enough to prLro.lyze any such spirit.