Note [118 — Chapter II
Reading edition
[118] The proclamation of Ponce de Leon is quoted in Helps, The Conquerors of the New World and Their Bondsmen, etc., ii, pp. 111–116. This peculiar summons to surrender had been used by the Spanish explorers and conquerors since 1509. After telling the Indians of the creation of the world, it traced the title thereto to St. Peter, and thence to the ruling pope. It cited also the grant of the Indies by the pope to the sovereigns of Castile; and after urging the Indians to acknowledge their fealty to these sovereigns, it threatened them with war and slavery if they refused.