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De Soto aud 11'/oscoso Beyond tlee 11fississippi, 1537-1543
soldiers of Christ, who in all probability died somewhere in eastern and northern Texas. "All of them," he says, "of exemplary life and virtues, died after the death of the Adelantado Hernando de Soto, as a conse- quence of the great hardships endured in the ill-advised march attempted in an effort to reach Mexico, and as a result of the privations suffered until the survivors embarked. Thus they all remained [buried] in that kingdom. Besides being holy and zealous missionaries, they were noble men, who exercised their holy ministry as became religious souls while they lived, hearing confessions of all and giving comfort to those who died and teaching and baptizing the Indians who remained in the service of the Spaniards." 48 In an outburst of thankfulness for their deliverance, the Gentleman of Elvas exclaims: "God reward those whom He saw fit should escape, coming out of Florida to tread the soil of Christians, be He pleased that they live to serve Him; and to the dead, and to all those who believe in Him, and confess that in Him is their great faith, grant, through His compassion, the glory of paradise." 49
48 /bid., 267. 49 Lewis, "Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando de Soto," in op. cit., 269-270.
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