A BACKWARD GLANCE. 25 



mated already, the southernmost extremity of North Amer- 

 ica seems from the first to have been, by common consent, 

 set apart for "future consideration." Nature had, in a 

 measure, placed it by itself, and man was disposed to fol- 

 low her example. Oddly enough, it was decreed that the 

 saymg, - the last shall be first, and the first shall be last," 

 should be verified in this instance. 



While other lands to the north and west of Florida were 

 bemg drenched in the blood of conquered and conquerors 

 and settlements formed and as quickly abandoned, the fair 

 land so long neglected was destined to have and to hold 

 the first permanent settlement on the whole continent- 

 for, as every one knows, the quaint little town of St' 

 Augustine, .^ill bearing the imprint of its Spanish ori- 

 gm, antedates all others in America. 



But it was with no thought of future St. Augustine or 

 any other settlement that Juan Ponce De Leon turned his 

 prow toward the fair land of Florida. The discovery of 

 the -New World" had drawn to its shores hosts of adven- 

 turers m search of fame, gold, and conquest, many of 

 them seekmg them, too, under the guise of relio-ion— the 

 promotion of the cause of the church and the conversion 

 of the heathen. But of none of these things thou-ht 

 Fonce De Leon. He sought a personal benefit, it is true 

 but of a widely different kind. The heyday of his youth 

 had passed, but not, as he now fondly hoped, forever He 

 had heard wondrous tales of a marvelous spring wherein 

 one's youth might be regained, and this, this done, was 

 the object of his quest-the realization of a new, strange 

 hope Juan Ponce De Leon had served his country dur- 

 mg the wars in Granada with no slight distinction, and 

 when Columbus sailed on his second voyage to the -New 

 World he had discovered, De Leon went with him in 

 search of a fresh field for adventure. On this expedition 



