Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-06-02

try TO their settlement, and murdered every
man, woman and child-two hundred in all
--" killing them," he said, " not because they
are Frenclmcn, bat because they are hcreties
and enemies Of God"
A little later and we see the shipwrecked
band under Ribault, who had started out TO
Join the lTuguenots at Fort Caroline, seeking
help from Menandez, Weary and worn from
hardships and exposures, they begged him
to send them to their new homes in one Of
his vessels, when he eoolly told them he had
exter1nnated the colony they sought to join ;
disheartened, hopeless, they then plead with
him to return them to France, but he scoffed
at their petition, and, one by one, three hum
dred and forty of these men were killed. 1t
would be difficult 70 conceive Of more cow
ardly massacre than this, but it won laurels
for is leader from the hands Of King Philip,
who believed that to " slay hereto is to do
God service and all were heretics who
were not Catholics.
Tofollow the fortunes Of this town through
all the years which followed is a task full Of
interest to me, but 10 others it may be dull
enough so / turn from her checkercd his
tory to take look at the old land marks
which yet remain.
Foremost among these stands the old fort,
which was one hundred years in building and
yet completed twenty years before the Declar-
alton of Independence was signed. Gray with
age, it yet stands ont as ifto defy all attacks.
Winding around by the broad sea wall,
where lovers delight to walk in the white
moonlight, crossed the drawbridge and
found myself facing formidable oak door,
spiked until it seems stronger than iron it.
self, over which ii the coat Of arms Of Spain,
and an inscription showing the date of com
pleting the works, the builders and engin-
eers names.
Passing through the doorway, entered
passage about twenty feet wide, leading to
the space enclosed by the fortress walls; di-
rectly opposite this entrance is the door of
the old chapel, near which are thirteen guns
which command the door of the fort. OF
the chapel but little remains besides the
stone altar and the inches where the "holy
water was kept The walls are covered
with the penciled names of thousands who
have visited the place, but nothing appears
to tell us Of the man who said mass there
two hundred years ago.
There are numerous rooms and several dun
geons, one of which was only discovered in
1885 by the falling Of portion Of the room,
and in which were found in cages the skele-
tons Of two human beings--a tragic record
of the horrors Of the Spanish inquisition.
It is believed by many that there are
numerous other cells with occupants as
ghastly as those already found, but there
seems no way of finding them; then, too,
there is reason for thinking there is a sub
terranean passage leading to the old cathe-
dral, but that is yet undiscovered. Mystery
enshrouds the place, and its very stiffness
suggests the thought that all nature is keep
ing silence in the hope that a voice may be
given the cold, gray stones, with which to
tell the unwritten history of the past-un-
written save on the pages of that book kept
by the hand which never tires, whose record
is as Just as the judgment which will one
day be meted out TO the actors in those scenes.
At one time Indian prisoners were confined
! there. and report now says that the Indians
now confined at Fort I.eayonv worth. are TO be
removed to Fort Marion.
The fort covers five acres Of ground is
/ 1 IL. r.
/ high and in some places forty feet thick
the form is that of a trapezium, with bas-
tions at each corner and commanding the
entrance to the harbor. | climbed into the
1 lofty lookout tower, where | could see the
broad Atlantic for miles away; vessels rode
at anchor in the bay, but their mission
was peace and provisions for the town, so the
broad-mouthed guns, grown hoarse with age,
| permitted their entrance without growl of
| dissent In the deserted sentry-boxes,
/ searched in vain for some memento of occu-
| pants long since passed on TO another watch
/ tower. | even looked down the quaint little
| chimnies 10 see if some sprite would not
whisper in my ear and tell me the secret of
/ the past But no only the old Irish sar-
| geant could tell me aught, and he evidently
wearied of my questions to which he could
| find no answer, for at my last visit he said
An shure, my good lady, ef We live so much
| in this dreary place, a sarching about in the
| dungeons with only bit of torch for com
/ pany, a wonderin' an mystifin', it'll be
| bad for the brain of as dilicate a lady as YER
/ self"
OF the city gates nothing remains but the
/ two formidable coquina posts. The redoubt
is also entirely gone. The cathedral the
oldest in the United States, has been reinod-
eled so that much of the charm which age
gives is gone; but the old chime bells re.
main and daily call together the devoul
Catholics. | clambered up the rickety step
TO examine the bells and found one of them
marked l6S2--older than American bellies
live to be without losing the music from
their voices.
The old government palace has been con-
pletey modernzed, and is now the post office,
United States courtroom, etc. Not fm.
away is the old convent, which seems rem
nant of the " old times" | visited it, and
saw the nuns making lace, an art taught by
the nuns brought over from France. The
Lady Superior informed me she was from
France, and French, but her phsiQue, ha
manner, her voice, were all decidedly Ger
manic. The convent stands on st George
street, which is fourteen feet wide, while
very many Of the streets are only ten, and
one, Treasury street, is only seven.
Quite number of northern men of means
have built fine residences here, where thqy
spend the winters. One Of them, Mr. Bal,
Of the firm of Ball, Black & Co., of New
York, has a charming place with fine grounds
Over the avenue leading to his house is an
arch formed by the INTERVIEWING of the tops
OF orange trees which were loaded with fruit
when saw them, luscious and tempting Ia
the sight, but more bitter than aloes to the
taste, for they are the wild orange.
Mr.. Atwood has the finest variety Of
tropical fruits that saw in any one place
three kinds of oranges, lemons, lines
figs, pneapples, citrons, bananas, citpn
bread fruit, grape fruit, paupas, guavas, oil
ives, dates, and Japan plums; but fruits dc
not thrive nearly so well here as further up
the river where there is no danger from
frosts. At one time nearly every man in St
Augustine had an orange grove, and raising
and shipping this fruit was the chief indus
try; but a sudden and severe frost came
which killed nearly every tree, prostrating
the business entirely, and stripping the citi
zens of their main dependence. Since that
time a good many orange trees have been
set and budded, but no one ventures to in
vest in a large grove.