Juan Ponce de León

“ And surely there is enough in these days to inspire us with a pious horror of heresy. Pues," she resumed, "there was that long and terrible ceremony of degrading from the priesthood. And yet that Gonsalez passed through it all as calm and unmoved as though he were but putting on his robes to say mass. His mother and his two brothers are still in prison, it is said, awaiting their doom. Of all the relaxed, I am told that only Don Juan Ponce de Leon showed any sign of penitence. For the sake of his noble house, one is glad to think he is not so hardened as the rest. ”

“ After the settlement of Hispaniola in peace by Obando, Juan Ponce de Leon was appointed lieutenant of the town and territory of Salveleon in that island. Learning from the Indians of that district that there was much gold in the island of Borriquen, now called San Juan de Puerto Rico, or Porto Rico, he procured authority from Obando to go over to that island, which he reduced [122] . ”

“ In all his wildest excesses Don Juan is the king’s companion, but never for murder, injustice, or spoil. No wantonness is too great for him where women are concerned, and woe to the wife or maid who takes his fancy.
No one can rival Don Juan in the jewels he wears except the southern lord, Ponce de Leon, whose robe of pale silver tissue is covered with uncut stones, and his head encircled by a wreath of orient pearls taken from a Moorish emir whom he has slain. ”

“ He is a son of Ponce de Leon's dog, Becerrico, who performed such feats in the island San Juan, and well worthy of his sire. And, inasmuch as Becerrico received a soldier's full share, yielding his master more than two thousand pesos in gold, as prize-money for those he captured, I see not why Leoncico should not be received among us on the same terms."
"You shall never regret it!" exclaimed Balboa, eagerly, "for on occasions he can render the service of a dozen men. He is a sentinel that never sleeps. By day and by night, he is ever on the watch. ”

“ By stretching a point the time had come for him to advance on the outer works, for which he was extremely grateful; with a sigh of genuine relief he threw off the incubus that had borne so heavily upon him during this delay, and set his face toward the ancient fortress that had seen almost every event of interest happening in San Juan from the days of that gallant adventurer and seeker after the Fountain of Youth, Ponce de Leon. ”

“ We need not say that Ponce de Leon failed as completely as if he had sailed in search of the Northwest Passage, for he died in less than ten years, a worn-out old man, aged beyond his years, leaving little gold behind him, and presenting at his parting hour anything but the appearance of youth. He was a type of the Spaniards of those days, who believed everything, and whose valor was as great as their credulity ”

“ Ponce, Juan, de Leon, with Columbus's second expedition; lands on Puerto Rico; appointed governor; deposed; restored; arrests Ceron; recalled by the King of Spain; defeats Guaybána with 5,000 to 6,000 Indians; deprived of his privileges; retires to Capárra; prepares for exploring the island of Bemini; discovers Florida; honored by the king; ordered to destroy the Caribs; accused of fomenting discord in Puerto Rico; last expedition to Florida, wounded, dies; monument to him in San Juan.
Population, growth of. ”

“ LEÓN, LUIS PONCE DE (1527–1591) , Spanish poet and mystic, was born at Belmonte de Cuenca, entered the university of Salamanca at the age of fourteen, and in 1544 joined the Augustinian order. In 1561 he obtained a theological chair at Salamanca, to which in 1571 was added that of sacred literature. ”

“ All this time Ponce de Leon was storing away great piles of the gold the Indians brought him. He made a poor governor. The king of Spain at last sent word he should no longer rule over the island of Porto Rico.
He was now growing old. He had been sick many times. He began to think of what the Indians had told him. They said:
"Much gold can be found in the land north of us. Something better than gold can also be found there. It is a wonderful fountain. If anyone tastes of its waters he shall never be sick again but shall be young forever." ”

“ At length, at mid-day Ponce de Leon led against the largest detachment of the Moorish foot a strong and numerous battalion of the best-disciplined and veteran soldiery of Spain. He had succeeded in winning a fortress, from which his artillery could play with effect; and the troops he led were composed, partly of men flushed with recent triumph, and partly of a fresh reserve, now first brought into the field. A comely and a breathless spectacle it was to behold this Christian squadron emerging from a blazing copse, which they fired on their march ”

“ Those hawkers are artists, skilled in the arts and wiles of persuasiveness. There is one with a long, horse-hair wig which he occasionally brushes back from his eyes with a dignified flourish. This man has found the supreme elixir and the secret of perpetuity. He is the only man in the world, this modern Ponce de Leon, who knows the secret. ”

“ Be very diligent in the search for gold-mines. Take out as much as possible, smelt it in la Española and remit it instantly. Settle the island as best you can. Write often and let me know what is needed and what passes."
Armed with these instructions, and with his appointment as governor ad interim, Ponce returned to San Juan in February, 1510, with his wife and two daughters, settled in Capárra, where, before his departure in 1509, he had built a house of stamped earth (tapia) , and where some of the companions of his first expedition had resided ever since. ”

“ Ponce de Leon permitted the fiction that the Spaniards were angels—save the mark!—for it smoothed his progress in stripping the Porto Ricans of their poor little possessions, taking their lands for settlement, foraging over the island, forcing his religion upon them, and compelling them to serve him as miners, carriers, farmers, fishermen, and laborers. Many died because it was thought to be cheaper to work them to death and get fresh ones than to feed them. ”

“ Ponce de Leon was a soldier and cavalier of Spain in those days when Spain stood first among the nations of Europe, first in strength and enterprise and daring. Brave as the bravest, he had fought with distinguished courage against the Moors of Granada at the time when Columbus was setting out on his famous voyage over the unknown seas of the West. Drawn by the fame of the discovery of the New World, De Leon sailed with Columbus in his second voyage, and proved himself a gallant soldier in the wars for the conquest of Hispaniola, of whose eastern half he was made governor. ”

“ He returned to Salamanca as professor of Biblical exegesis, and was again reported to the Inquisition in 1582, but without result. In 1583–1585 he published the three books of a celebrated mystic treatise, Los Nombres de Cristo, which he had written in prison. In 1583 also appeared the most popular of his prose works, a treatise entitled La Perfecta Casada, for the use of a lady newly married. Ten days before his death, which occurred at Madrigal on the 23rd of August 1591, he was elected vicar general of the Augustinian order. Luis de León is not only the greatest of Spanish mystics ”

“ This tribe of Indians was very numerous at the time the Spaniards first came to the West Indies, but now there is not a single trace of them left. War with the Spaniards, [64] hard work for their masters in the mines and fields,—these made the race die out rapidly.
It is sad to think that the Spaniards tortured them also.
Is it any wonder that the natives did not care to share the Spaniards' heaven, but died hating them with all their hearts?
Long before Ponce de Leon came to Porto Rico, the poor Indians were attacked from time to time by other enemies ”

“ It is impossible to state positively how many men Ponce de León had. The American accounts run as high as 1300 (Hughes) , but evidently they were not based on reliable information, and very likely the writers assumed that all of Vidal’s troops were under Ponce. From the Mexican accounts it would appear that such was not the case. Vidal would naturally keep men back to act as a reserve, hold what he called his “line of defence,” and guard his person; and this probability is strengthened by the fact that three of his four guns were not used in the fight. ”

“ Andalusia was in particular the theatre of this savage warfare. The whole of that extensive district was divided by the factions of the Guzmans and Ponces de Leon. The chiefs of these ancient houses having recently died, the inheritance descended to young men, whose hot blood soon revived the feuds, which had been permitted to cool under the temperate sway of their fathers. One of these fiery cavaliers was Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, so deservedly celebrated afterwards in the wars of Granada as the marquis of Cadiz. ”

“ On his death-bed, Ponce de Leon delegated his authority to an infirm old man, who survived but a few months,{*} and transmitted the reins of govern{207}ment to a person named Estrada, or Strada, the royal treasurer, one of the officers sent from Spain{208} to take charge of the finances, and who was personally hostile to Cortés. The Spanish residents would have persuaded Cortés to assert for himself at least an equal share of the authority, to which they considered Estrada as having no sufficient title. ”

“ This latter reproach was, unfortunately, too well founded in truth, as we shall presently see; and certainly, as men who had been present at the siege of Mexico, and assisted in the conquest of New Spain, they, at least, had merited to live quietly in the enjoyment of the fruits of their labour. Cortes ought rather to have taken along with him on that expedition those troops only which had recently arrived from Spain.
Ponce de Leon then made inquiries after the captain Luis Marin, after Bernal Diaz del Castillo, and the rest of the men who were with him. ”

“ The body of Ponce is buried in San Juan, in the church of Santo Domingo.
When this fair island was claimed by Spain, it had a population of over half a million, but Ponce at once set about the extinction of the native element. The populace was simple, affectionate, confiding, and in showing friendship for the invaders it invited and obtained slavery. It has been ingeniously advanced that the Spaniards disliked the natives because of the cleanliness of the latter. On account of the heat they wore no clothing, to absorb dirt and perspiration, and bathed at least once every day. ”

“ They fell with fearful havoc upon the advanced guard, slaying many of them in their sleep and putting the rest to headlong flight.
The marques was in his tent, about a bow-shot distant, when he heard the tumult of the onset and beheld his men dying in confusion. He rushed forth, followed by his standard-bearer. "Turn again, cavaliers!" exclaimed he; "I am here, Ponce de Leon! To the foe! to the foe!" The flying troops stopped at hearing his well-known voice, rallied under his banner, and turned upon the enemy. ”

“ He had been secretary to King Philip I, and according to Abbad, was intended by Ferdinand as future governor of San Juan; but Señor Acosta, the friar's commentator, remarks with reason, that it is not likely that the king, who showed so much tact and foresight in all his acts, should place a young man without experience over an old soldier like Ponce, for whom he had a special regard.
The young hidalgo seemed to aspire to nothing higher than a life of adventure, for he agreed to go as Ponce's lieutenant and form a settlement on the south coast of the island near the bay of Guánica. ”

“ For that reason the procurator refused to accept him, “for in Indias, color is an accident of great importance to the Indians.” But Ponce, in his eagerness to go, offered to accompany the missionaries as a servant or slave; and he was finally taken in the capacity of servant, embarking with the secular habit. He was admitted into the Society at Mexico in 1631, and after four months sailed from Acapulco for the Philippines. His studies were completed at Manila, and he was finally ordained a priest. For eleven months he labored in eastern Samar and was later appointed rector of Palapag. ”

“ There was really no cause for this revolution. The excuses alleged by the promoters were frivolous. They only wanted to seize power and secure the spoils.
Ponce was placed at the head of affairs as provisional president, to rule in accordance with the national and state constitutions, and existing laws; and in his absence, the following persons, in the order named, were to assume the duties: Buenaventura Correoso, Pablo Arosemena, Mateo Iturralde, Pedro Goitia, and Juan Mendoza. ”

“ And if his dreams do not consume all his time, he also finds himself speculating on the origin of such reports, or the basis of the legend which started Ponce de [10] Leon and others on a search for what proved to be an ignis fatuus as extraordinary as was the mythical Eldorado a few years later. ”

“ The removal of the capital from its swampy location to the islet which it now occupies was another source of dissension. It appears that the plan was started immediately after Ceron's accession, for the king wrote to him November 9, 1511: "Juan Ponce says that he located the town in the best part of the island. We fear that you want to change it. You shall not do so without our special order. If there is just reason for change you must inform us first." ”

“ Altamirano Sent to Bring Cortés — His Arrival at Medellin — Demonstrative Reception — Reform Measures — A Juez de Residencia Sent to New Spain — Ponce de Leon and his Instructions — How Cortés Received the Blow — The Banquet — A Scheming Friar — Ponce de Leon Assumes the Government — The Residencia of Cortés — Death of Ponce de Leon — Aguilar Succeeds Him — His Unfitness and Death. ”