USA > Louisiana > Historical memoirs of Louisiana, from the first settlement of the colony to the departure of Governor O'Reilly in 1770; > Part 15
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We order all our bailiff's and sergeants to perform all the acts and ceremonies requisite for carrying the present decree into execution ; we, at the same time, empower them to do so. We also enjoin the substitute of the king's attorney- general to superintend its execution, and to apprise the court of it in due time.
Given at the Council Chamber, on the 29th of October, 1768.
By the Council,
GARIC, Principal Secretary.
I protest against the decree of the council which dismisses Don Antonio de Ulloa from this colony. Their most Christian and Catholic majesties will be offended at the treatment inflicted on a person of his character; and, notwithstanding the small force which I have at my disposal, I would, with all my might, oppose his departure, were I not apprehensive of endangering his life, as well as the lives of all the Spaniards in this country.
Deliberated at the Council Chamber, this 29th of October, 1768.
(Signed) AUBRY.
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. THIRD PART.
SECTION II.
FROM THE DEPARTURE OF DON ANTONIA ULLOA TO THE YEAR 177].
DEPUTIES* had been named to bear to the King of France the testimonials of the attachment of his faithful subjects in Louisiana, who asked only to live and die as Frenchmen; but these deputies could not reach Europe before the end of March. Ulloa had arrived there six weeks before, and had represented his own conduct and that of the inhabitants in such colors as he chose, and the Sovereign Hand which directs all events did not permit the truth to penetrate first to the courts of Madrid and Versailles.
The act passed between Aubry and Ulloa, of which it is need- less to show the informality, had apparently enabled Ulloa to
· * The deputies, St. Lette and Lesassier, presented the following petition to the Duke de Choiseul, minister of the king, on their arrival in Paris :
PETITION OF THE COLONISTS AND MERCHANTS TO THE KING.
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SIRE,-It has pleased your majesty to cede, by a particular act signed at Fon- tainebleau, 3d of November, 1762, all your country known by the name of Louisi- ana, together with New-Orleans and the island on which this city is situated, to his Catholic majesty.
A feebie motive of consolation stifled our grief-it was the hope of a protection and good-will, like that experienced under your happy sway, and such as your sacred promise, in your majesty's letter to Monsieur d'Abadie, of April 21, 1764, leads us to expect. Our affectionate obedience silenced our regret till an un- known and strange vexation has wrung from us cries too long withheld. An officer, (Don Antonio de Ulloa, ) who, without justifying his titles. pretends to orders from his Catholic majesty, has presented us new laws, destructive of our commerce, abrogating our privileges, and attacking our liberties. Our goods, in less than the thirty months of his stay here, lost two-thirds of their value ; culti- vation became useless, and our efforts in every branch, hampered by multiplied
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represent the inhabitants of Louisiana as criminal. to the Span- ish king. France, on the other hand, regarding the cession as long since consummated, would scarcely listen to the deputies; and the answer made to their representations was, that nothing could be done in the matter, as it was altogether in the hands of Spain. Yet, when it was proved to the court of Versailles that the government of Aubry had not ceased in Louisiana, and that since the peace all had been conducted in the name of the French king; when they saw the details of Ulloa's con- duct and that of the French governor and inhabitants, all were indignant against the Spaniards and filled with contempt for · the French governor, and they wept with joy to see in the Louisianians the patriotism which all discovered in their hearts. All admired the wise, firm, moderate and reflective conduet of the colonists, and all France looked with anxiety on the result. The French ministry felt that they could not without injustice
efforts (restrictions ?), became a fruitless toil. We have had recourse to the magistrates appointed by your majesty to assemble the people under your august laws; we have exposed to them the excessive evils accrued, our zeal, our love for our natural sovereign, and his promises announced in his letter, registered, as he directed, in our state office, to hare recourse to in need. They have enjoined the envoy of his Catholic majesty to depart in three days, and have authorized us to come to the foot of the throne, sire, to implore your clemency, claim your protection, and present our petition.
The execution of the treaty of cession has not even begun on our part. The French flag alone has hitherto appeared on our square, and at the head of our militia. The French flag alone has been hoisted on our shipping. Justice is exercised, sire, in your name alone, and our churches echo with prayers for your august person only. We are Frenchmen still, and too happy to transmit the name to our children ; it is a choice title, which we deem a part of our inheritance.
Deign, sire, to have an account rendered to you of the details set forth in our memoir, which contains only facts and wishes of universal notoriety, and is ad, dressed to the world.
Deign to take back under your beloved sway your colony of Louisiana, and dispose at your will of the blood, property and families of your faithful subjects, merchants and colonists of said province, who, by the voice of their deputies, make you sincere offers of the most ardent zeal, respectful submission and invi- olate attachment.
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abandon subjects whose only crime, in the eyes of the Span- · iards, was their too great attachment to a king who so well deserved the title of well-beloved. They intended to write to Spain, but it was too late; the delay had been too great ; the blow was struck. The council at Madrid had not unreasonably feared that France might discover the mendacity of Ulloa's report* and demand justice. No expedition accordingly was ever got up with greater celerity in Spain. Orders were already given. O'Reilly, lieutenant-general, was already cleared for Havana, with orders to proceed to Louisiana and take possession in the name of the Spanish king.
We approach the dreadful moment that is to decide forever the fate of the colony. Before casting our eyes on the scenes of horror I have yet to trace, let us go to Louisiana and see how the inhabitants were employed after Ulloa's departure.
Along the river I admire the happy fruits of liberty and contentment ; all redoubled their efforts ; the plantations are in the finest state; the revenues will be greater than they were in times of torpidity caused by Ulloa's stay. Everywhere joy and peace reign undisturbed; the hope of being French- men inspires all, and the government which the inhabitants enjoy gives new life to all the colony. What. is that building which I behold rising in the midst of the city ? It is the temple of the Lord; it is a tribute of thanksgiving offered by
* Ulloa's report contains about 300 manuscript pages. It is very full and well drawn up. It gives an account of his expulsion, and clearly shows that Aubry was, in the whole matter, the principal informer against the patriots ; that La- frenière, Foucault, Noyan, Marquis, Villere and others, had planned the revolu- tion ; that it was not so much for the purpose of getting rid of the Spanish governor, as to declare the province independent ; that. for that purpose, Noyan and Massan were deputed to the English governor of Florida, for the purpose of securing protection of the British government : that the governor having refused his aid, the address to France was resorted to as the means of concealing their plan. This document is full of interest, and its particulars are fully corroborated by the letters of Aubry to the French minister .- Archives of France.
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the colony to Him who directs events. They will soon chant his praises there-it will soon echo with the prayers of each citizen for his king. Further on, I see another building; curiosity leads me to it. On its portal is this beautiful inscrip- tion:
" Asylum for the Poor and the Orphan."
Within I see beds for the sick, rooms for the lying-in, nurses for orphans, and paupers to be supported. All is in complete order. The rooms are so arranged that help is given to each in season, without noise or confusion. I ask to whom we owe this establishment, and the foundation of the church which I see rising. " To the patriotism of the citizens," is the answer, "and to their respect for the Deity, to our mutual love, to the pity inspired by the unfortunate, but of which we had but a faint idea previous to Ulloa's coming." A unanimous im- pulse has founded these; the general voice proposed them; cach gave according to his means, without tax or impost. One gave the wood necessary for the framework; another, building materials ; one, beds; and then, furniture. All strove in emu- lation, and have thus provided the funds necessary for the ex- pense incurred in this hospital.
"O virtue !" I cried, full of enthusiasm ; "O divine patriotism ! of what are we not capable, when inflamed by thy sacred fire! Among what men am I transported ! O you, whom I see ready to condemn them as seditious rebels, judge whether such actions would take place amid the tumult of a revolt; and whether hearts, crushed under the weight of remorse which follows the intoxication of sedition, would be capable of senti- ments so pure, so indicative of the tranquillity of soul and con- science! O happy monarch that reigns over the French ! how worthy are such subjects of thy support! What happiness do they not deserve to enjoy ! Their lot should ever be to see
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ever flourishing under thy sway the sentiments of religion, humanity, charity and generosity, which I see displayed at'a moment when their will has no guide but their heart, and no check but the desire of proving to the whole world their attach- ment to thee! These feelings are upheld by the hope of living under thy happy laws, and secing their children enjoy this happiness with them." 1
But whence comes this general murmur throughout the city ? They whisper, they dare not raise their voice, they come and go without knowing what they do. Pallor sits on every face, and tears soon begin to flow. Sobs stifle cries of grief. I share in the general fright. I ask the cause of this public alarm, of the frightful evil with which each seems over- powered. -
" We are lost," says a citizen to me; " our king abandons us; the Spaniards are at the Balize, and are coming to take possession of the colony."
This news was the less credible, as letters which arrived on the 19th of July in that year left the colony some hope of not passing under the Spanish sway, and it was now only the 25th. The news was but too soon confirmed. A Spanish officer," dis- patched by O'Reilly, brought Aubry a letter, by which that commander announced that he came in the name of the king,
* This officer was Don Francisco Bouligny, a gentleman of noble birth. He was born in Alicant, Spain, on the 5th of March, 1735, and entered the army as a cadet at the age of eighteen. In 1762 he went to Havana with his regiment, where he remained until he was ordered to join the expedition to Louisiana. On the 24th of July, the fleet arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi. On the next day he was dispatched by O'Reilly to New-Orleans with a letter to M. Aubry, announcing his arrival to take possession of the province. On the 26th, he re- turned to the Balize, and in a few days after he was ordered to repair again to the city to prepare quarters for the Spanish troops of the expedition. After the departure of O'Reilly for Spain, Col. Bouligny remained in New-Orleans at the head of his regiment, until he was ordered to join the expedition of Galvez, which took Mobile and Pensacola in 1780-'1. For his daring exploits in this campaign
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his master, to take possession of the colony, to reduce it to sub- mission in case of opposition, but to load it with benefits, if he was received as he was entitled to expect. This letter was accompanied by orders from the king of France to Aubry to surrender the colony to the Spaniards.
Aubry, who knew the intention of the colonists to refuse absolutely the Spanish rule, and to prevent their entering the river, without positive orders from the French king, immedi- ately published those he had received. He had also precau- tions to take against an emigration on which the colonists seemed bent. He accordingly convoked a general assembly ; read O'Reilly's letter, with its promise of favorable treatment, if they did not oppose his taking possession, but also his threats in case of refusal. These threats produced an effect contrary to what Aubry expected, so unfit were they to intimidate the people of Louisiana. Besides, all knew that two hundred resolute men could have prevented O'Reilly's reach- ing New-Orleans, although that Spanish general had three thousand men, regulars and militia, in twenty-five transports. To feel convinced of this, it is enough to have some idea of the country. . It is easy then to judge of the effects of O'Reilly's threats. They roused the resolute to action ; white cockades were worn; all were ready to march against the enemy, when M. de la Frenière, * attorney-general, a member of the Superior
he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He died in New-Orleans on the 25th of November, 1800, and was buried with military honors in the Cathedral of that city. His name is among the most honored in Louisiana.
In person, Colonel Bouligny was rather tall and slight, with a noble military bearing, easy and dignified in his manners, and warm in his friendship. So mild and conciliating were his actions, that obedience went hand and hand with his command ; while his ardor and zeal for the service of his country seemed rather to seek the post of danger than to avoid it.
* Nicholas Chauvin de la Frenière, Attorney-General of Louisiana, was born in the same year. (1736,) which gave birth to the great American orator and statesman, Patrick Henry, of Virginia; and, like him, he was a friend to a
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Council, an eloquent man, in whom they had the greatest confidence, arrested this tide by an address in substance as follows :
" Fellow-citizens! When you came to present to the council your just representations, which his majesty authorized in the act of cession, you saw me approve your patriotic zeal, and
republican form of government and liberal institutions. These two champions of liberty came upon the stage of action together, about the same time, and both - were highly gifted for their eloquence.
The question of taxing America had just been agitated by the British parlia- ment, and had created a great deal of excitement in the North American colonies, when Lafreniere came into office. The stamp act was passed in January, 1765, and the spirit of resistance to this arbitrary measure flew from Maine to Georgia, and found a response in the bosoms of the patriots of Louisi- ana. The question with them was not, however, whether the colony of Louisi- ana should be taxed, but whether Frenchmen could be transmuted into Spaniards without their consent, and ruled with military despotism. In the discussion of this vital question to their happiness and political well-being, the attorney- general took sides with the people, and resisted the Spanish occupation of the country. From this moment he was looked upon by them as the great champion of liberty ; and his conduct throughout the struggle for independence was firm and undaunted.
Early in the year 1765, a general meeting of inhabitants and planters was convened in the city of New Orleans for the purpose of discussing the subject of their distracted condition, and sending to the throne of France their united ap- peal for royal interposition in their behalf.
Lafrenière made on this occasion an eloquent speech on the situation of the colony, and offered a resolution to supplicate the king, which was unanimously . adopted ; and Jean Millet, of New Orleans, was selected to carry the petition to the foot of the throne.
Tho minister (De Choiseul) was averse to the petition, and artfully prevented him from having an interview with the king. Millet returned to Louisiana, and reported the unsuccessful result of his mission. Still the colonists continued to flatter themselves with the hope that the treaty of cession would not be carried into execution, and Milhet was sent again to France with the same result.
Many of the colonists became desperate ; and began to manifest their opposi- tion to Ulloa, who still declined a public recognition of his authority as governor.
Public meetings were held in different parts of the province, and delegates were appointed to meet in convention in New-Orleans. This convention peti- tioned the Superior Council to direct Ulloa to leave the province. They de- nounced him a disturber of the public peace, and he was ordered to depart from the colony in three days' time. The speech delivered by Lafreniere on this occasion is a masterly piece of eloquence and logical argument. "In it thereis
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your demands were satisfied. The common desire is, I am aware, the ratification of the articles of the act of cession, and the accomplishment of the orders of our well-beloved king; now his majesty orders the transfer of the colony to the Spaniards, and M. O'Reilly, who has come to take possession in the name of his Catholic majesty, makes you, on his behalf, the most
a passage," says Gayarre, " of which Louisiana may wellbe proud, and of which she can boast, as having been spoken by one of her most favored patriots."
" In proportion," said he, "to the extent both of commerce and population is the solidity of thrones ; both are fed by liberty and competition, which are the nursing mothers of the state, of which the spirit of monopoly is the stepmother. Without liberty there are but fewo virtues. Despotism breeds pusillanimity, and deepens the abyss of vices. Man is considered as sinning before God only be- cause ho retains his free will."
To appreciate this bold language, it must be remembered that it was the out- pourings of an attorney-general of an absolute king, and was intended to reach the ears of the despotic government of France. After the expulsion of I'lloa, the planters and merchants put forth a memorial in justification of the revolution of the 28th of October, and which, it is said, was drawn up by Lafrenière. It repeats in substance all that had been said by Lafrenière in his speech before the council ; and, for reference, it is inserted in this volume, with the address to the king. With the Superior Council's address to the king, there went at the same time a letter from Foucalt, the king's commissary, to the Duke de Praslin, in which he justified, in guarded language, the revolution that had taken place, in which he said of Ulloa : " Without taking possession of the colony, and even without exhibiting his credentials, he arrogated all power to himself. He was very harsh and absolute, refusing to listen to the representations of the colonists. He showed, without the least hesitation or equivocation, an implacable hatred for the French nation, and marked every day that he passed here with acts of inhumanity and despotism."
The news of the revolution in Louisiana soon reached Spain, and a cabinet council was called, to determine whether Spain should retain Louisiana or not. The council was composed of the Duke of Alba, Don Jaime Masones de Lima, Don Juan Gregoris Munian, Don Miguel de Muzqiz, the Count of Aranda. Bar- ron de Arriaga, and the Marquis de Piedras Albas. The king requested that each should give his opinion in writing, and it is said only one of the ministers was of opinion that Louisiana should be returned to France. The king approved of the decision of the majority of the ministers, and he ordered force to be issued, if necessary, in taking possession of the province.
In the mean time the new deputies. St. Lette and Lesassier, who had been sent to France by the colonists to implore the crown, succeeded no better than their predecessors, and the revolutionary tide soon began to ebb, and leave stranded on
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authenticated promises, if you receive him properly; and he threatens to use force, if opposed. I know that your courage prompts you to despise threats, and that his army would soon yield to your efforts. I see your patriotic hearts burn with a desire to display your courage in defence of your hearths; but against whom will you fight ? Against the allies of your
the shore the patriots of Louisiana who had been borne onward by the excite- ment and momentary prospect of success.
Reduced to the last stage of despair, the patriots now proposed to expel Aubry, to proclaim New-Orleans a free port, and to form a republic ; the chief to be styled " Protector," and to be assisted by a council of forty, elected by the people." " There is no doubt," says Gayarre, " that the colonists would have eagerly · adopted this form of government if it had been possible at the time ; for it must be recollected that, from the earliest existence of the colony, almost all its governors had uniformly complained of the republican spirit of the colonists."
Thus stood matters until the morning of the 24th of July, 1769, when the colonists were thrown into commotion by the arrival of the Spanish fleet at the Balize. Lafrenièro called on Aubry, and informed him, that " having full confi- dence in the magnanimity of O'Reilly, he, Marquis, and Millet, had resolved to go down the river and present their homages to the Spanish general, and to as- sure him, in the name of the people, of their submission." They were received in state on board his flag-ship. O'Reilly listened to their address with courtesy and attention, and returned a conciliatory reply. He promised that all former occurrences should be forgotten ; that to all who proved themselves good citizens, and yielded a proper obedience to the Spanish authority, all former acts should be buried in oblivion, and all offences should be forgiven to those who returned to their duty. On the 18th of August the whole fleet reached the city, and in the presence of a large assemblage of-citizens, and before the troops of both powers, the public ceremony of delivering up the province to the Spanish governor was performed. Although O'Reilly had promised to pardon all who submitted quietly to his authority, he had nevertheless resolved in his own mind to punish the chiefs of the revolution. Without loss of time he invited to his house, under different pretexts, nine of the leaders of the revolution, and had three others arrested in the town-hall.
After reading to them the orders of his Catholic majesty, he had them arrested in the name of the king, and put them upon their trial.
" It is impossible," says Gayarre, "to describe the terror which the arrest of these men and the death of Villere scattered far and wide. They were so much identified with the whole population. their family connections so extensive, that the misfortune which had befallen them could not but produce a general desola- tion."
They pleaded against the jurisdiction of the court, and declined to be tried by
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prince, and against a monarch who assures you of his good- will. And who, indeed, is there among you, who would ex- pose his family to the sad sequel of the events of a war, when there is any other step left him to take ? Desolate widows, orphans abandoned to public charity, families destroyed ! Believe me, citizens! Let these evils touch and enlighten you. ' We will sink,' you cry, 'beneath the ruins of our coun- try, nor bend to a yoke that exposes us to slavery.'
" Such are the words which animosity has a thousand times inspired. But what aroused it? The horror you had con- ceived at Ulloa's conduct.
the laws of Spain, which had not been extended over the province at the time of the alleged insurrection. They claimed to have been the subjects of the King of France, and their acts had been in accordance with their allegiance and duty to the King of France : they owed no allegiance to the King of Spain until Spanish authority had been proclaimed, and the Spanish flag and laws duly superseded those of France; that the acts charged could not constitute an offence against the Spanish laws, while those of France retained their empire over the province ; that Ulloa had never made known his authority ; that O'Reilly could not expect obedience from the people until he had made known to them his character and powers, and that no act was charged against them after this manifestation of his authority. The plea was sustained relative to several who had been oficers under the French government, but was overruled in relation to Lafrenière and his com- patriots. The court found them guilty, and sentenced them to be executed on the 25th of October, 1769. On the afternoon of that day they were marched into the yard fronting the barracks, and shot by a file of Spanish grenadiers.
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