"
How John Cabot ended his life, where he lies taking his rest, we
do not know.
"He sleeps somewhere in sod unknown, Without a slab, without a
stone."
We remember him chiefly because he was the first to lead Englishmen
across the Atlantic, the first to plant the flag of England upon
the Continent of North America, which, in days to come, was to be
the home of two great English speaking peoples.
__________
Chapter 7 - How The Flag of France Was Planted in Florida
As years went on many voyages of discovery and exploration were
made to the New World by both the Spaniards and the Portuguese,
but chiefly by the Spaniards. America was the land of golden hopes,
the land of splendid adventure, and the haughty knights of Spain,
thirsting for gold and for fame, were lured thither. They sought
the fabled seven cities of gold, they sought the fountain of eternal
youth. Through the dark pathless forests, across the wide prairies
they flashed in glittering array, awaking the vast silences with the
clash of arms. They came in all the pomp and splendour of warfare;
they brought also the Cross of Christ, threatening the heathen with
death if they did not bow to Him and be baptised. And it seemed for
a time as if they, and they only, would possess the vast continent.
But expedition after expedition ended in disaster.
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