USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 26
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334
EMANCIPATION OF INDIAN SLAVES.
they formed a protection against the expected French and American invasions ; that they had lately acted like zealous and faithful subjects, when three hundred of them, at the close of the last year, came down to New Orleans to offer their services, on this province being threatened with an invasion through the Balize; that this example had repressed the machinations of the numerous lovers of changes and innovations who are to be found in the colony, had invigorated the timid and wavering, and confirmed the loyal, the honest, and the courageous, in their good sentiments ; wherefore he recommended that the king be advised to interpose his authority between the debtors and their creditors, and to grant to the former a delay for payment, until the gathering in of the crop of 1800, provided partial and annual payments be made in the mean time.
Taking into consideration the complaints of Caronde- let as to the multiplicity of his duties, the government, separating the two offices of intendant and governor, which it had united under the administration of Mirò and since the departure of Navarro, appointed as intend- ant Don Francisco de Rendon, who had been employed as Secretary of legation for Spain in the United States. He was installed into office on the 26th of August, 1794.
In consequence of Louisiana having been detached from the bishopric of Havana and erected into a dis- tinct see, this year was also marked by the arrival of another high dignitary, the new bishop, Don Luis de Peñalvert y Cardenas, who established his residence in New Orleans, and two canons were added to the clergy of the province.
It may not have been forgotten, that O'Reilly. had declared it to be contrary to the mild and beneficent laws of Spain, that the Indians be held in a state of bondage, and that the inhabitants of Louisiana would
335
GREAT CONFLAGRATION IN NEW ORLEANS.
have to prepare for the emancipation of those of that race whom they had so far considered as their lawful property, but that the execution of this measure should be suspended, until the King should finally decide upon it in his royal wisdom. No steps had ever since been taken in the matter ; the King had been silent; and the Indian slaves had remained contented with their situa- tion, when suddenly, in 1793 and 1794, they, almost in a body, startled Governor Carondelet by applying for their freedom. In a despatch of the 17th of May, he commented at length on the danger of acquiescing in their demands, represented the ruinous effects it would have for their owners, and recommended, if not a direct refusal, at least measures of compromise, which would postpone the evils of emancipation, if not retard them so as to render them nugatory. "There are many reasons to suspect," said he, "that the movement ob- servable among the Indian slaves who have lately made a rush to claim their freedom according to the tenor of our laws, is attributable to the suggestions of certain secret agents, who do not lose any opportunity of excit- ing in these provinces the dissensions which have pro- duced the ruin of the French colonies."
On the 10th of December, Carondelet informed the Court of Madrid that, on the 8th of that month, a con- flagration, but too well favored by a strong north wind, and originating in Royal street, through the im- prudence of some children playing in the court-yard of one François Mayronne, which was adjacent to a hay store, had consumed in three hours two hundred and twelve of the most valuable dwellings and magazines, the property of private individuals, as well as edifices of the greatest value belonging to the government. The losses of the merchants were immense; for only two stores were spared by the devouring element. The
336
GREAT CONFLAGRATION IN NEW ORLEANS.
materials owned by the Crown, and destroyed by this conflagration, were also considerable. "It seems," said Carondelet, "that the sufferings inflicted on the colony by three hurricanes in fourteen months were not enough." He further stated that, although the conflagration of 1788 had consumed a larger number of buildings, still the pecuniary losses on this occasion were much heavier. To form any idea of what they were, it must be remembered that Governor Mirò estimated those incurred in 1788, at $2,595,561. The province was again threatened with famine, for almost all the provisions had been destroyed, and not more than one thousand barrels of flour remained for the consumption of the inhabitants and of the troops. Fortunately, the fire did not reach the cathedral, which was the gift of Don Andres Almonaster to the city, and which had just been completed. In order the better to avoid for the future the recurrence of such calamities, Carondelet recommended that premiums be granted by his Catholic Majesty to such of his subjects in New Orleans as should rebuild with terraced roofs, or with roofs made of tiles instead of shingles as formerly.
It may not be uninteresting to remark here, before closing the recital of those events which happened in 1794, and which are connected with the history of Loui- siana, that the first regular newspaper published in the colony made its appearance this year, under the name of "Le Moniteur de la Louisiane," or "The Monitor of Louisiana."
The internal condition of Louisiana was certainly sufficient to give occupation to the Baron de Carondelet, but the dangers which threatened her from abroad were of such magnitude, as to fill him with the keenest anxieties, and deeply to impress him with the heavy responsibility which circumstances had prepared for him.
337
ADDRESS OF FRENCH JACOBINS.
In the beginning of the year 1794, a society of French Jacobins, established in Philadelphia,* had caused to be printed, and circulated in Louisiana the following address :
" LIBERTY, EQUALITY.
" The Freemen of France to their brothers in Louisiana : 2d year of the French Republic.
" The moment has arrived when despotism must dis- appear from the earth. France, having obtained her freedom, and constituted herself into a republic, after having made known to mankind their rights, after hav- ing achieved the most glorious victories over her enemies, is not satisfied with successes by which she alone would profit, but declares to all nations that she is ready to give her powerful assistance to those that may be disposed to follow her virtuous example.
"Frenchmen of Louisiana, you still love your mother country ; such a feeling is innate in your hearts. The French nation, knowing your sentiments, and indignant at seeing you the victims of the tyrants by whom you have been so long oppressed, can and will avenge your wrongs. A perjured king, prevaricating ministers, vile and insolent courtiers, who fattened on the labors of the people whose blood they sucked, have suffered the pun- ishment due to their crimes. The French nation, irri- tated by the outrages and injustices of which it had been the object, rose against those oppressors, and they disap- peared before its wrath, as rapidly as dust obeys the breath of an impetuous wind.
"The hour has struck, Frenchmen of Louisiana ; has- ten to profit by the great lesson which you have re- ceived.
"Now is the time to cease being the slaves of a govern
* Carondelet's despatch of the 28th of February, 1794.
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338
ADDRESS OF FRENCH JACOBINS.
ment, to which you were shamefully sold ; and no longer to be led on like a herd of cattle, by men who with one word can strip you of what you hold most dear-liberty and property.
" The Spanish despotism has surpassed in atrocity and stupidity all the other despotisms that have ever been known. Has not barbarism always been the companion of that government, which has rendered the Spanish name execrable and horrible in the whole continent of America ? Is it not that nation who, under the hypo- critical mask of religion, ordered or permitted the sacri- fice of more than twenty millions of men ? Is it not the same race that depopulated, impoverished and degraded. whole countries, for the gratification of an insatiable avarice ? Is it not the nation that has oppressed and. still oppresses you under a heavy yoke ?
" What have been the fruits of so many crimes ? The annihilation, the disgrace, the impoverishment, and the besotting of the Spanish nation in Europe, and a fatal lethargy, servitude, or death for an infinite number of the inhabitants of America.
" The Indians cut down the tree whose fruits they wish to reach and gather. A fit illustration of despotism ! The fate of nations is of no importance in the eye of tyranny. Everything is to be sacrificed to satisfy capri- cious tastes and transient wants, and all those it rules over must groan under the chains of slavery.
" Frenchmen of Louisiana, the unjust treatment you have undergone must have sufficiently convinced you of these sad truths, and your misfortunes must undoubtedly have deeply impressed your souls with the desire of seiz- ing an honorable opportunity of avenging your wrongs.
" Compare with your situation that of your friends -- the free Americans. Look at the province of Kentucky, deprived of. outlets for its products, and yet, notwith-
339
ADDRESS OF FRENCH JACOBINS.
standing these obstacles, and merely through the genial influence of a free government, rapidly increasing its population and wealth, and already presaging a pros- perity which causes the Spanish government to tremble.
" Treasure up in your minds the following observa- tions ; They divulge the secret springs of all despotic governments, because they tear off the veil which covers their abominable designs. Men are created and born to love one another, to be united and happy, and they would be so effectually, if those who call themselves the images of God on earth-if kings-had not found out the means of sowing discord among them and destroy- ing their felicity.
"The peopling of Kentucky has been the work of a few years ; your colony, although better situated, is daily losing its population, because it lacks liberty.
" The Americans, who are free, after consecrating all their time to cultivating their lands and to expanding their industry, are sure to enjoy quietly the fruits of their labors, but, with regard to yourselves, all that you pos- sess depends on the caprice of a viceroy, who is always unjust, avaricious, and vindictive.
"These are evils which a firm determination, once taken, can shake off. Only have resolution and energy, and one instant will suffice to change your unhappy con- dition. Wretched indeed would you become, if you failed in such an undertaking ! Because, the very name of Frenchmen being hateful to all kings and their ac- complices, they would, in return for your attachment to us, render your chains more insupportable, and would persecute you with unheard of vexations.
" You quiver, no doubt, with indignation ; you feel in your hearts the desire of deserving the honorable appel- lation of freemen, but the fear of not being assisted and of failing in your attempt deadens your zeal. Dismiss
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340
ADDRESS OF FRENCH JACOBINS.
such apprehensions : know ye, that your brethren the French, who have attacked with success the Spanish Government in Europe, will in a short time present themselves on your coasts with naval forces; that the republicans of the western portion of the United States are ready to come down the Ohio and Mississippi in company with a considerable number of French repub- licans, and to rush to your assistance under the banners of France and liberty ; and that you have every assur- ance of success. Therefore, inhabitants of Louisiana, show who you are ; prove that you have not been stu- pified by despotism, and that you have retained in your breasts French valor and intrepidity ; demonstrate that you are worthy of being free and independent, because we do not solicit you to unite yourselves with us, but to seek your own freedom. When you shall have the sole control of your actions, you will be able to adopt a re- publican constitution, and being assisted by France so long as your weakness will not permit you to protect or defend yourselves, it will be in your power to unite voluntarily with her and your neighbors-the United States-forming with these two republics an alliance which will be the liberal basis on which, henceforth, shall stand our mutual political and commercial interests. Your country will derive the greatest advantages from so auspicious a revolution ; and the glory with which you will cover yourselves will equal the prosperity which you will secure for yourselves and descendants. Screw up your courage, Frenchmen of Louisiana. Away with pusillanimity-ça ira-ça ira-audaces fortuna juvat."
The distribution of this inflammatory address in Lour- siana, through secret agents, caused great alarms to the Baron de Carondelet. These alarms were increased by his knowledge of the efforts made by Genet, the French
341
' INTRIGUES OF GENET.
Minister near the government of the United States, to set up against Louisiana an expedition composed of Frenchmen and Americans, of which he himself was to be the commander-in-chief. Genet had speculated on the prejudices of the Western people, and' had sent, par- ticularly to Kentucky and Tennessee, active, enthu- siastic, and intelligent agents, who, circulating among the hardy population and the remotest pioneers of the West, discoursed glibly on the innumerable advantages which would accrue to these people, if they separated from the rest of the United States, if they helped to enfranchise Louisiana by an invasion, and if they formed with her an alliance under the protection of France. For enterprises of this kind, fiery and adventurous spirits are always at hand, in all countries and in all ages ; and the French emissaries in the West and South seduced a considerable number of men, who immediately prepared for the execution of the undertaking in which they had enlisted. Armed bands had been gathered on the southern frontier of Georgia, and even a large body of Creek warriors was in readiness to join the invaders. It was feared at the same time, that an attack would be made from the Ohio settlements, and that the spring flood of the Mississippi would bring down the enemy, horne swiftly onward by the rising waters of that river. An individual, of the name of Clark, was the main actor in all these military preparations in the South, and Au- guste de la Chaise, a native of Louisiana, and a grandson of the King's former ordaining commissary (commissaire ordonnateur) who had come to the colony in 1723, had been sent by Genet to Kentucky to recruit forces, and was to be the leader of those invaders who were to descend the Ohio and Mississippi.
The Baron, when such dangers threatened him, did not sleep at his post. He completed the fortifications of
4
342
MILITARY RESOURCES OF THE COLONY.
New Orleans, strengthened others already existing throughout the province, and mustering all his forces, organized them to meet the expected conflict. Accor- ding to a report made by him to his government, he could rely, as fit for military service in the colony, on about six thousand militia-men, and he affirmed that, within three weeks, three thousand of them could be concentrated at any one point in the province. Not trusting entirely to these means of defence, he had recourse to the politic arts of the diplomatist, and in order to appease the hostility of the Western people, he removed some of the restrictions which cramped their trade, granted again important privileges to some enter- prising and influential men among them, and prepared himself to renew Mirò's former scheme of winning over that restless and energetic population to the dominion of Spain. The firm and loyal interference of Washing- ton prevented the attack which was threatened from the Ohio districts, checked the intrigues of Genet, and relieved the apprehensions of the Spanish authorities in Louisiana. The Governor of Georgia also issued his proclamation against the unlawful enterprise meditated under Clark, with the assistance of the Creeks, against East Florida. De la Chaise, who, of all the agents em- ployed by Genet, was the one most feared by Caronde- let, on account of his rash intrepidity, his indefatigable activity, his zeal for France, and his exquisite address, and because, being a native of Louisiana and belonging to one of its most powerful families, he exercised conside- rable influence in the colony, seeing that he had to abandon all the hopes he had conceived to wrest Louisi- ana from the domination of Spain, retired from Ken- tucky, and took service in the French army, after having laid before the democratic society of Lexington the fol- lowing communication :*
* American State Papers, vol. i., p. 931.
343
DE LA CHAISE'S ADDRESS.
" Citizens,
"Unforeseen events, the effects of causes which it is unnecessary here to.develop, have stopped the march of two thousand brave Kentuckians, who, strong in their courage, in the justice of their rights, in the purity of their cause, and in the general assent of their fellow- citizens, and convinced of the brotherly dispositions of the Louisianians, waited only for their orders to go and take away, by the irresistible power of their arms, from those despotic usurpers the Spaniards, the possession of the Mississippi, secure for their country the navigation of it, break the chains of the Americans and of their French brethren in the province of Louisiana, hoist up the flag of liberty in the name of the French republic, and lay the foundation of the prosperity and happiness of two nations destined by nature to be but one, and so situated as to be the most happy in the universe.
"Citizens: The greater the attempts you have made towards the success of that expedition, the more sensible you must be of the impediments which delay its execu- tion, and the more energetic should your efforts be towards procuring new means of success. There is one from which I expect the greatest advantages and which may be decisive-that is, an address to the national Convention, or to the Executive Council of France. In the name of my countrymen of Louisiana, in the name of your own interest, I dare once more ask you this new proof of patriotism.
"Being deprived of my dearest hopes, and of the pleasure, after an absence of fourteen years and a pro- scription of three, of returning to the bosom of my family, my friends, and my countrymen, I have only one course to follow-that of going to France and expressing to the representatives of the French people the cry, the general wish of the Louisianians to become part of the
344
DE LA CHAISE'S DEATH.
French republic-informing them, at the same time, of the most ardent desire which the Kentuckians have had, and will continue to have for ever, to take the most active part in any undertaking tending to open to them the free navigation of the Mississippi.
"The French republicans, in their sublime constitu- tional act, have proffered their protection to all those nations who may have the courage to shake off the yoke of tyranny. The Louisianians have the most sacred right to it. They are French, but have been sacrificed to despotism by arbitrary power. The honor, the glory, the duty of the National Convention is to grant them their powerful support.
" Every petition or plan relative to that important object would meet with the highest consideration. An address from the Democratic Society of Lexington would give it a greater weight.
" Accept, Citizens, the farewell, not the last, of a brother who is determined to sacrifice everything in his power for the liberty of his country, and the prosperity of the generous inhabitants of Kentucky. Salut en la patrie.
" AUGUSTE LA CHAISE."
This gentleman perished in an ambuscade in St. Do- mingo, in the year 1803, a short time after he had been raised to the grade of General. Had not death stopped him in his career, when he was still in the meridian of life, it is to be presumed from what he had already ac- complished, that he would have risen to higher honors, and might have left behind him a memory of which his native country, Louisiana, would have been proud.
As soon as the danger of an invasion had passed away, the Baron de Carondelet began to throw impediments in the way of the western trade, which he had tempora-
345
RENEWAL OF WILKINSON'S SCHEMES.
rily favored, and again imposed restrictions calculated to facilitate the operations of those agents whom he had sent to Kentucky to tempt the people into a separation from the United States and an alliance with Spain, by which the much desired outlet of the Mississippi would be secured to them. The times were highly auspicious for the intrigues of Spain. Not only were the inhabitants of Kentucky and Tennessee weary of struggling against such obstacles to their commerce, and irritated against the Federal Government that could not remove them, but Western Pennsylvania also had been thrown into a fer- ment by the "excise on distilled spirits," giving rise to what is commonly called, in American history, "the Whisky Insurrection," which had taken such propor- tions as to require the presence of an army of twelve thousand troops from the Eastern States to quell it. Almost all the tribes of the North-western Indians, at the instigation of the English, were waging open war against the United States ; and the General Government was embarrassed by tedious and vexatious negotiations with Great Britain, Spain, and even their old ally France-which negotiations assumed at times an angry tone, leading to the belief that hostilities might perhaps ensue. England in the North-west, and Spain in the South, seemed to unite in pressing with all their weight on both flanks of the West, to break it loose from the Federal Government, and force it into a permanent separation. Lord Dorchester had sent from Canada, and the Baron de Carondelet, from Louisiana, numerous emissaries who were emulously at work to heat and ex- asperate the different parties then existing in Kentucky, and to produce a state of feeling which might be. favor- able to their views.
Carondelet's chief emissary was Thomas Power, an Englishman by birth, but naturalized a Spanish subject,
346
RENEWAL OF WILKINSON'S SCHEMES.
and very zealous in the service of his adopted country. This man was intelligent, cautious, and had a natural disposition to intrigue. He was thought by the Baron de Carondelet to be a fit subject to be employed on the hazardous mission of sowing the seeds of sedition in the West, and was sent thither under the pretence of col- lecting materials for a natural history of that section of the country, but really to revive with Wilkinson, Innis, Sebastian, and others, the plots which had been carried on under Mirò's administration.
Whilst these fruitless intrigues were afoot and were engrossing the attention of the Baron de Carondelet, the year 1794 was marked by an event which was to con- vert the fields of Louisiana into as fertile mines of wealth as ever lay hid in the bowels of the earth. So far, the results of the agricultural labors of the colonists had been insignificant. To the cultivation of indigo they had, hitherto, mostly addicted themselves, and for several consecutive years it had been sadly unsuccessful. Hurricanes had repeatedly swept over the land, and other strange vicissitudes in the seasons had destroyed the crops. As it were to complete the ruin of the un- fortunate planters, an insect had lately made its appear- ance, and invariably attacked the indigo plant. Every year it devoured the leaves with incredible rapidity, and left nothing but the naked stems standing, to mock the eye of the farmer and to remind him of the extent of his losses. Particularly in the years 1793 and 1794 9
these ravages had been so general, that the whole pro- vince had been thrown into a state of consternation and despair. What was to be done ? Rice and corn were produced for the wants of the country only, and were not exported with much advantage. As to cotton, it hardly repaid the labor of cultivation, on account of the inexperience of the planters and of the difficulty which
347
ETIENNE DE BORÉ.
was then felt in separating the seed from the wool. The manufacture of sugar had been abandoned since 1766, as being unsuited to the climate, and only a few indivi- duals continued to plant canes in the neighborhood of New Orleans, to be sold in the market of that town. It is true that two Spaniards, Mendez and Solis, had lately given more extension to the planting of that reed, but they had never succeeded in manufacturing sugar. One of them boiled its juice into syrup, and the other dis- tilled it into a spirituous liquor, of a very indifferent quality, called taffia.
When the whole agricultural interest of Louisiana was thus prostrated, and looking round for the discovery of some means to escape from annihilation, when the eager and anxious inquiry of every planter was : " What shall I do to pay my debts and support my family ?"-the energy of one of the most spirited and respected citizens of Louisiana suddenly saved her from utter ruin, and raised her to that state of prosperity which has increased with every successive year ..
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