USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 20
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251
WILKINSON'S LETTER TO GARDOQUI.
human affairs ; because, if the Court of Spain, as the rumor runs, has unfortunately ceded the Floridas and the island of New Orleans to Great Britain, a new theatre will be open for new actors, and other measures must be taken. It is not necessary* to suggest to a gentleman of your experience and knowledge, that man, throughout the world, is governed by private interest, however variously modified it may be. Some men are avaricious, some are vain, others are ambitions. To de- tect the predominant passion, to lay hold and to make the most of it, is the most profound secret of political science.
" The Major will communicate to you what we have agreed upon in relation to the application which he is to lay before you. He will tell you in detail the measures which I have taken in this district, the effects they have produced, and the present temper of the people, and if you can have faith* in the system which he will develop to you, and if you help it on with vigor, I pledge, from to-day, my life, fame, and fortune, to answer for the suc- cess which I promise."
Peter Paulus, of whom Wilkinson speaks in his letter of the 14th of February, had arrived in New Orleans. He had with him thirty-four persons, and, for having procured them to emigrate, he obtained as a reward $350 from Governor Mirò. He offered to bring to Loui- siana three thousand families on certain conditions, among which one of the principal was, that the king of Spain should pay all the expenses incidental to their removal,
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* No es necesario sugerir a un caballero de los conocimientos y experiencia de V. S. que el genero humano, en cualquiera parte, se gobierna por su propio interés, aunque variamente modificado. Unos son sordidos, algunos vanos, otros ambiciosos ; escoger, tomar y sacar ventajas de la pasion predominante es lo mas profundo de la ciencia politica.
+ Y si V. S. puede fiarse al sistema que le esplicara y apoyarle vigorosamente, desde luego empeño mi vida, fama y fortuna para responder del suceso.
252
MIRÒ'S DEALINGS WITH PETER PAULUS.
and that the trial by jury be allowed to the new colonists. " This," said Mirò, "I have positively refused, because it would cost millions to his Majesty. But I had a long conversation with Paulus, + in which I explained to him the advantages which the Ohio people would find in establishing themselves in the province, wherefore those who had the most means among them ought immediately to take that step, because they would infallibly, in a few years, reach a state of opulence. I endeavored also to convince him, that no monarchy in the world could go to the immense expense of maintaining and supporting the ever increasing number of families that would indu- bitably present themselves, if they were granted the assistance which was solicited for them, and which they were given to understand that they would obtain. I re- marked to him that, if, without any aid, the stream of emigration continued to flow so abundantly from the Atlantic states to this side of the Apalachian mountains, the emigrants had stronger motives to rely on their own resources when coming to this province, where lands were given to them gratis, and where the industrious were sure to become prosperous under a mild govern- ment, which would afford them support and protection, and where they would enjoy the advantage of an easy outlet for their produce.
"This Peter Paulus is a Dutchman by birth ; he ap- pears to be fifty years old; his face seems to indicate that he is an honest man, and his language, although dull and unpolished, is stamped with much apparent sin- cerity. The families he proposes to bring along with him are Germans, who reside a considerable distance above Kentucky .*
But Paulus replied, that he had been induced by
* Mirò's despatch of the 15th of March, 1789. + Probably in Pennsylvania.
253
MIRÒ'S DESPATCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
Gardoqui and his agents to hold out very different hopes to the emigrants, and that if, on his return to them, he altered his language, they would consider him as an im- postor.
Regretting the imprudence of Gardoqui, who had allowed his zeal to incite him to a course which might be fatal to his Majesty's interest, and on which he com- mented at length in one of his despatches to his govern- ment, Governor Mirò said to Paulus : "I have no power to send any emissary to promote emigration from the United States, and therefore I cannot encourage your pretensions, nor those of the people you represent. I can only receive the foreigners who may come sponta- neously and of their own free will, to swear themselves the vassals of his Catholic Majesty. To them surveyed lands shall be granted gratis, in proportion to the labor- ers of whom each family may consist. The smallest concession shall not be less than 200 arpens-400 to families of four to ten laborers, and 800 to those num- bering from ten to fifteen hands or more."
Although not willing to pay for the expenses of emi- gration on so large a scale, Governor Mirò consented to certain disbursements, in order to increase the population of Louisiana. For instance, the vessel, the Conception, having arrived from Philadelphia, with 173 emigrants, he established 133 of them in the Feliciana district at the cost of the royal treasury .*
On the 11th of April, he forwarded to Madrid, with his comments, Wilkinson's two letters, which I have quoted, and the documents annexed to them. In that communication he represents, that he shares Wilkinson's opinion that the independence of the Western people, under the protection of, and in close alliance with, Spain,
* Mirò's despatch of the 15th of March, 1789.
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· 254
MIRÒ'S DESPATCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
would be more to the interest of his Majesty than their annexation to his domains, on account of the expenses and responsibilities which such an acquisition would entail on Spain, and also on account of the jealousies and opposition which it would elicit from foreign powers. He urgently presses the cabinet of Madrid to send him instructions as to the course to be pursued by him, in case the Western people should declare their independ- ence and send delegates to him. He further remarks that he is totally unprepared to supply them with the ammunition, arms, and other implements of which they may stand in need to resist any action of the Federal Government, should it attempt to coerce them into sub- mission.
"In the paragraph B.," said he to the Minister, "you will find an account of the bold act which General Wil- kinson has ventured upon, in presenting his first memorial in a public convention. In so doing, he has so com- pletely bound himself, that, should he not be able to obtain the separation of Kentucky from the United States, it has become impossible for him to live in it, unless he has suppressed, which is possible, certain pas- sages which might injure him. Nevertheless, on account of the opposition made by Marshall and Muter to Wil- kinson's plan, the Convention determined that new me- morials be presented to Virginia and to Congress, to obtain the independence of Kentucky, its admission into the Union, and the free navigation of the Mississippi. On these two first questions, I disagree with Wilkinson as to their solution, and I am of opinion that the inde- pendence of these people from Virginia and their recep tion into the Union will be conceded to them, and that the answer of Congress on this subject is not deceitful, because the right of Kentucky to what she claims is incontestable, and is derived from the articles of confe-
255
MIRÒ'S INSTRUCTIONS TO WILKINSON.
deracy on which the United States established their first government."
Mirò declared that, with Wilkinson, he thought it was a stroke of bad policy on the part of the Spanish government, to have granted to the inhabitants of Ken- tucky the use of the navigation of the Mississippi, although under the restriction of a duty of fifteen per cent., be- cause, rather than being deprived altogether of that channel for the exit of their produce, they would not have hesitated to renounce all allegiance to Congress. He informed his government that he had lately written in cypher to Wilkinson, through one Jennings, a confi- dential agent, that emigration to Louisiana was to be encouraged by all means, whilst, at the same time, the other plan of the independence, or annexation of Ken- tucky, was to be steadily kept in mind. "You will render a great service to the king," he wrote to Wilkin- son, "if you induce to come down here a large number of families, having some property and not needing pecu- niary assistance, but only lands. It is proper, however, that you should remain in that district, in order to insist on the plan of an alliance with Spain, until it be effected or be given up; because, according to the answer re- ceived from the Court, you are now our agent, and I am instructed to give you to hope that the king will reward your services as I have already intimated to you."*
He continues saying, that Wilkinson seems averse to this mode of peopling the colony, but that he, Mirò, cannot share Wilkinson's views in that respect, and that the emigrants have more means, and are of a better character, than Wilkinson gives them credit for. He
* Pero conviene se mantenga V. S. en ese distrito, para instar sobre el projecto de la conexion, hasta que se verifique, ó desvanesca; pues que ya segun la repu- esta de la Corte, es V. S. nuestro agente, y se me ordena le de á V. S. esperanzas de que el Rey lo recompensará como ya le tengo insinuado.
256
HE RECOMMENDS TO REWARD WILKINSON.
confirms what Wilkinson relates of the intrigues of the English in Kentucky, and dwells on the service rendered by Wilkinson, in driving away Colonel Connelly with so much diplomatic skill and by a well-devised subterfuge. He recommends that the five thousand dollars which Wilkinson declared having spent for the benefit of Spain be refunded to him, and that he be further intrusted with the two thousand five hundred dollars which he asked for, to corrupt Marshall and Muter.
In the mean time, Wilkinson's launches had arrived in New Orleans, and, in that same despatch of the 11th of April, Mirò informed the Spanish government that he had bought from the General, for the account of the royal treasury, 235,000 pounds of tobacco, for which transaction he begged the approbation of his Majesty, " on the ground that it was important to keep the General contented." *
* Mediante á lo mucho que importa el tener contento al dicho Brigadier.
CHAPTER V.
MIRÒ'S ADMINISTRATION.
1789 to 1791.
WE have seen the part which Wilkinson and others were acting in Kentucky, in favor of Spain. But in the western settlements of North Carolina a strong party had also sprung up, which was operating with equal force, in the same direction and under the same influence.
In 1786, the western portion of North Carolina, which was called the Washington district, had declared itself independent, and had constituted itself into the State of Frankland, which organized its government, and elected Colonel John Sevier as its first Governor. But Congress interfered in favor of North Carolina, the authority of which was maintained, and the new State of Frankland terminated its brief career in 1787. This first attempt in the West to throw off openly the allegiance due to the parent State had roused intense excitement for and against it, and the secessionists, still persevering in their former designs, were watching for the opportu- nity to renew them. Thus, on the 12th of September, 1788, ex-governor John Sevier had written to Gardoqui, to inform him that the inhabitants of Frankland were unanimous in their vehement desire to form an alliance and treaty of commerce with Spain, and put themselves under her protection. Wherefore, he begged for ammu- nition, money, and whatever other assistance Mirò could
* A copy of which letter was immediately forwarded by Gardoqui to Mirò,
17
258
GOVERNOR SEVIER'S LETTER TO GARDOQUI.
grant, to aid the execution of the contemplated separa- tion from North Carolina, pledging the faith of the State of Frankland for the payment of whatever sums Spain might advance, and whatever expenses she might incur, in an enterprise which would secure to her such durable and important results. "Before concluding this commu- nication," said Sevier, " it is necessary that I should men- tion that there cannot be a moment more opportune than the present, to carry our plan into execution. North Carolina has refused to accept the new constitution pro- posed for the confederacy, and therefore a considerable time will elapse before she becomes a member of the Union, if that event ever happen."
The settlers on the Cumberland river, who were also under the jurisdiction of North Carolina, were deeply interested in the navigation of the Mississippi, and there- fore were equally influenced by the motives which were operating so powerfully on the people of Kentucky and. other portions of the West. The name of Mirò given to a district which they had lately formed, shows which way their partiality was leaning at that time.
Doctor James White was one of the most active agents employed by Gardoqui to operate on the Western people, and this individual had come to Louisiana to enter into an understanding with Mirò on the execution of the mission with which he had been intrusted. In a communication which he addressed to Mirò, on the 18th of April, 1789, he said, " With regard to Frankland, Don Diego Gardoqui gave me letters for the chief men of that district, with instructions to assure them that, if they wished to put themselves under the protection of Spain and favor her interests, they should be protected in their civil and political government, in the form and manner most agreeable to them, on the following con- ditions :
259
DR. JAMES WHITE'S LETTER TO MIRÒ.
" 1º-It should be absolutely necessary, not only in order to hold any office, but also any land in Frankland, that an oath of allegiance be taken to his Majesty, the object and purport of which should be to defend his government and faithful vassals on all occasions, and against all his enemies, whoever they might be. 2º- That the inhabitants of that district should renounce all submission or allegiance whatever to any other Sove- reign or power. They have eagerly accepted these con- ditions, and the Spanish minister has referred me to your favor, patronage and assistance to facilitate my operations. With regard to Cumberland, what I have said of Frankland applies to it with equal force and truth."
On the 22d of the same month, White again wrote to Mirò, saying : " M. Gardoqui has informed me that,* considering I was in the service of Spain, my expenses would be paid out of the royal treasury." He concludes with asking about four hundred dollars, + to facilitate his dealing decently and commodiously with those he was to influence. This sum was immediately granted.
Mirò, in answer¿ to White's application, delivered to him a paper beginning with this preamble : "Considering the representation of James White in favor of the dis- tricts of Frankland and Mirò, formerly Cumberland, in whose welfare he has manifested much interest, I author- ize him to make known what his Catholic Majesty, moved by no other motive than that of generosity, is disposed to do for the inhabitants of the said districts." This document contained an enumeration of the favors and advantages to be granted to such as would emigrate to
* M. Gardoqui me aseguró que siendo mi servicio conexo con el de S. M. su tesoro me satisfaria los gastos.
+ Requirirá como quatro cientos pesos para facilitarme el tratar con aquellos gentes comoda y decentemente.
# Mirò's communication to White, on the 20th of April, 1789.
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260
MIRÒ'S ANSWER.
Louisiana, and of the conditions annexed to them. It further conceded to the people of Frankland and Cum- berland the privilege to carry their produce down the Mississippi to the market of New Orleans, provided they should pay a per centage of 15 per cent., which Mirò reserved himself the right of reducing as he might please, on behalf of such men of influence among them as might solicit that favor and be made known to him by White.
"'But," said he, "with regard to the proposition of that gentleman (James White) in relation to the wish ex- pressed by the inhabitants of Cumberland and Frank- land to connect themselves with Spain after their sepa- ration from the United States, I can neither assist, nor foment such a scheme, on account of the good harmony which exists between his Catholic Majesty and the United States. Nevertheless, it is for the inhabitants of the aforesaid districts to seek after what suits them best, and, should they succeed in sec tring for themselves a complete independence from the United States, then his Majesty would grant them, out of his royal beneficence, all the favor, help, and advantages which might be adapted to their condition, and compatible with the interests of the Spanish monarchy." This passage is another proof of the aversion which Mirò felt, either from jealousy, or from prudence, and perhaps from both, to permit Gardo- qui and his agents to take any share in the intrigues which, with Wilkinson, he was carrying on, to detach the Great West from the rest of the Union.
On the 23d, he wrote to the General : "My esteemed friend-I thought of writing to you at full length through Major Dunn, but his return having taken place sooner than I expected, I could not write as I wished, for want of time ; because, although working from seven in the morning until dinner time, and from five o'clock in the afternoon until eleven o'clock at night, I cannot discharge
261
DISTRICTS OF MIRO AND FRANKLAND.
all the official duties which have accumulated on my hands, &c."" In this letter, he eurnestly recommends Wilkinson to favor emigration, particularly of families having goed morals and some property. "Notwith- standing the press of, time," says he, "I must communi- cate to you a new circumstance in our affairs, but it is necessary that your lips be for ever sealed as to the names of the individuals I shall make known to you, in order that the confidence I thus repose in you shall never turn out to be prejudicial to them, and at the same time I assure you, most positively, that I have not unfolded to anybody our relations, nor have I ever mentioned you, although I was compelled to speak of the state of things in Kentucky.
" Don Diego Gardoqui drew to the interests of Spain James White, a member of Congress, who has posses- sions in the district of Mirò, formerly Cumberland, and sent him to the State of Frankland, in order to incite its inhabitants to separate themselves from the United States and to form an alliance with us. Having returned to New York, he informed Gardoqui that the affair was progressing favorably, that. the principal inhabitants were ripe for a separation, and that, after having effected it, they would swear allegiance to Spain, obligating them- selves to form no alliance or connection whatever with any other power, and to take up arms for the defence of the province of Louisiana from whatever quarter be the attack, and only reserving the privilege of governing themselves."
Mirò then informed Wilkinson that he had authorized White to proceed immediately to the districts of Mirò and Frankland, in order to communicate to the inhabit- ants the document which I have already quoted.
* He had then to fulfil the functions both of Governor and Intendant united in one person.
262
MIRÒ AND GENERAL DANIEL SMITH.
"I have just received," continued he, "two letters, one from Brigadier General Daniel Smith, dated on the 4th of March, and the other from Colonel James Robertson, with date of the 11th of January, both written from the district of Mirò. The first letter was carried by a militia officer, named Fagot, a confidential agent of General Smith, and informed me that the inhabitants of Cum- berland, or Mirò, would, in September, send delegates to North Carolina, in order to solicit from the legislature of that State an act of separation, and that, as soon as this should be obtained, other delegates would be sent from Cumberland to New Orleans with the object of placing that territory under the domination of his Ma- jesty .*
"I have replied to both in general terms, referring them to my answer to White, who carries my letters to these gentlemen.
" You see, by the tone of this confidential communica- tion, that I still continue to hold you as the principal actor in our favor, and therefore I hope that, gathering all the information which you may deem necessary, you will give me your opinion on this affair, and all the ex- planations which may throw light on it, in order that I may shape my course accordingly. I wish also to hear what you have to say as to the importance of those dis- tricts, which I do not think of much consequence, al- though I could not help acting as I have, the said White having been sent to me by Don Diego Gardoqui. It is proper that you be made acquainted with all this affair, in case it should be deemed useful to induce those afore- mentioned districts to act in concert with Kentucky, when that province shall have achieved her separation from the United States.
* Se nombrarán otros dirigidos á esta capital con el objeto de entregarse bajo el dominio de S. M.
263
MIRO AND GARDOQUI AT VARIANCE.
" I am waiting with the greatest anxiety for your let- ters, in order to know what has occurred since your last, and God grant that I may, in a short time, embrace you as the delegate from that State. Command your most affectionate friend, &c."
The next day, Mirò wrote to General Daniel Smith in vague terms, referring him for particulars to White. " The giving of my name to your district," said he, " has caused me much satisfaction, and I feel myself highly. honored by that compliment. It increases my desire to contribute to the development of the resources of that province and the prosperity of its inhabitants, &c., &c.
" I am extremely flattered at your proposition to enter into a correspondence with me, and I hope that it will afford me the opportunity of being agreeable to you."
On the 30th of April, Governor Mirò sent to Antonio Valdès, one of the Spanish ministers, a detailed account of all that I have related, and spoke rather slightingly of the pretended services rendered by White under the direction of Gardoqui. "The inhabitants of Frankland," said he, " had already thrown off the mask before White's arrival among them, and would most certainly, as is proved by John Sevier's letters, have had recourse to me, without the interference of the doctor. In that same State of Frankland, opinions are divided in such a way, that part of the inhabitants (I do not know whether it is the majority) wish to remain subjected to Congress and to North Carolina. Therefore I consider that, to meddle with them, cannot be of much advantage to us. Nevertheless, we must not reject their advances.
"The answer which I have given to White, and which he is to show to the principal men of Mirò and Frank- land, is so framed, that, should it miscarry, it will afford no cause of complaint to the United States; but verbally, I have energetically recommended to him to use the
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264
MIRO REBUKES COLONEL MORGAN.
most strenuous efforts to procure the desired separation.' Mirò concludes with asking for the approbation of his Majesty in relation to all he had done, and urgently solicits instructions as to his course of action, on the emergency of the arrival of delegates from the discon- tented districts.
On the 20th of May, Mirò addressed to his govern- ment a long despatch, in which he commented on the impolicy of the conditions and extent of the concession of land made by Gardoqui to Colonel Morgan, a little below the mouth of the Ohio. One of the conditions was, that the emigrants to that region should have the right of self-government. Mirò called the attention of the cabinet of Madrid to the danger of thus having an imperium in imperio, a government within a government, and pointed out the results which would inevitably flow from such a state of things. "Experience has demon- strated," said he, "that, in this province, large conces- sions of land to an individual have never produced the desired effect of procuring population," &c. &c. He then goes on complaining of the ambiguity with which Gardoqui had written to him on the circumstances attending the plan of colonization entertained by Colonel Morgan, who had come to New Orleans to carry it into execution, with the expected approbation and concur- rence of the Governor of Louisiana.
Three days after (on the 23d of May), Mirò wrote to Morgan, that great had been his surprise, on reading the papers submitted to him; that the extent of territory conceded was much larger, and that the favors and privileges attached to the grant were much more exor- bitant, than he had been informed. He declared them completely inadmissible, and enumerated the conditions on which he, Mirò, would allow Morgan to establish his contemplated colony. "You see," said he, "how differ-
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