USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 45
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In relation to the effect produced by his arrival and by the news of the cession of Louisiana by Spain to France, Laussat wrote to Decrès, the minister of marine, a confidential despatch, in which he said : "My arrival and my proclamation excited the enthusiasm of the colonists .* On all sides, I received addresses to the First Consul containing the most .ardent wishes for the arrival of the coming expedition, and the most energetic expression of devoted attachment to France.+ I kept up as much as I could those sentiments, which were of good omen for the future. Unfortunately, everything seems, successively, to have conspired to destroy them.
" Governor Salcedo is an infirm old man who is in his dotage. His son, who is a young officer of infantry, and
* Laussat's despatch is not in accordance, on this point, with other reports.
+ Lettre confidentielle de Laussat à Decrès en date du 30 Messidor.
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LAUSSAT'S DESPATCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT. 593.
whose brains are still very green, is the true governor under his father's name.
" But the soul of the government is a certain Don Andres Lopez de Armesto, a sort of half lettered fellow, who has grown old in the office of secretary of the government, which office is given by the king of Spain. This man has seen in turn a series of governors filing off before him, and knows in all their details the corrupt practices prevalent in the colony for the last twenty years. To a great deal of natural arrogance he joins an inexhaustible fund of ready compliance and suppleness towards his superiors. In every district he has his crea- tures and tools, who warmly espouse his interests. and who have very good cause for so doing.
" The judge, who is called here the auditor, and who is the governor's right arm in civil matters, is a cunning old dog who sells almost publicly his decisions, and who is the sole authority to pass judgment over the most im- portant civil and criminal cases. After all, venality is a common sin, which is openly committed. The intendant is the only one who is not suspected of it.
" The Marquis de Somoruelos, Captain-General of Cuba, of whose government this province is a dependency, felt, no doubt, that old Salcedo was not presentable to the French, and could not be permitted to act alone in the delivery of the colony to them. But whether the mea- sure originated with him, or whether it emanated from Madrid, the Marquis de Casa Calvo arrived at New Orleans five weeks after me, with the title of royal com- missioner, authorized to act jointly with the Governor in delivering over the colony to us. Then it was that the aspect of things changed materially.
" The Marquis de Casa Calvo, who is allied to O'Reilly, and whose niece, besides, has married the son and heir of that general, accompanied him to this place as cadet
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LAUSSAT'S DESPATCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
or page, in 1769, and was eighteen years old when he witnessed the execution of the six Frenchmen whom O'Reilly put to death without necessity and from sheer cruelty, in compliance with an erring policy, and to gra- tify his personal ambition.
" The same Marquis de Casa Calvo was, in January, 1793, and during the following months, in command of Fort Dauphin at St. Domingo, and was at the head of his troops drawn up in battle array, when the blacks, led by Jean François, massacred seventy-seven defence- less Frenchmen, who were relying on the faith of treaties. The colonists of St. Domingo still speak of this fact with feelings of horror; and the English newspapers, which misspelt the name of the Marquis and called him Cara- cola, related this event, at the time, with indignation.
" Four years ago, the office of Governor of Louisiana having become vacant by the death of the incumbent, the Captain-General of the Island of Cuba sent to this colony the Marquis de Casa Calvo to take the military command of it ad interim. This officer exercised those functions eighteen months, probably on account of the state of war then existing. He left in the province the reputation of a man of violent temper, who hated the French. By what fatality is this very same individual, precisely on an occasion of this kind, intrusted with the mission of offering them the welcome to which they are entitled, of delivering to them a colony which the Spa- niards therein living and those in Cuba regret to part with, and of settling with us so many interesting and. important questions in which we shall have to doubt his good dispositions.
" Hardly had the Marquis set foot in this province, when he summoned all the military officers (and thanks to the militia system there is scarcely an inhabitant of any consequence whatever, who is not reputed a military offi-
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LAUSSAT'S DESPATCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
cer) to come to his lodging, and declare by yea or nay, whether they intended to remain in the service of the King of Spain. Please to observe, Citizen Minister, that the fortune and the pensions of many of them depended altogether on the nature of their answer. The Marquis went so far as to exact a declaration in the affirmative from two companies of men of color in New Orleans, which were composed of all the mechanics that city pos- sesses. Two of those mulattoes complained to. me of their having been detained twenty-four hours in prison, to force them to utter the fatal yea which was desired of them.
"To Terre aux Bœufs, where there exists a precious class of small farmers, who were transported thither from the Canary Islands, a priest has been sent, who induced those simple-minded men to promise that they would follow the Spaniards.
"Orders have been given to the commandants at the several posts, to subject the inhabitants and the curates to the same ordeal. The whole clergy had to go through it.
" And the expedition does not arrive ! And I see these things without daring to take exception, for fear of making them worse !
"The Spanish authorities have shown themselves ex- ceedingly reserved, more captious, and even almost haughty towards me. Our correspondence gradually became sharp, at first about trifles, and on account of their ill-mannered proceedings, which insensibly acquired a more decided character. In the beginning, the men in office, next the Spaniards, then all their adherents, and at last the vulgar crew of what may be called the timid part of the population, have feared to come near me ; and now, to do so, would be looked upon almost as a crime. To every one of my demands or applications
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LAUSSAT'S DESPATCH TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
the Government has an evasive answer ready prepared. It shuns, isolates and watches me. It takes umbrage at the least of my steps or proceedings, and even at my language, however insignificant it may be. It is afraid of complying with my plainest requests. Firmness and dignity are all that I have to oppose to their prejudices and unreasonableness. But, frequently, I am obliged to keep pent up within my breast my feelings of vexation, because the Spanish authorities might take offence at them and revenge themselves, without my being able to prevent it, on the friends of the French.
"The Attakapas are peopled with French families who could not refrain from expressing their joy at our return. A native of Bordeaux, named St. Julien, who is an honest planter and much esteemed, had the impru- dence to head some of his letters with the word Citizen. Thereupon, a great conspiracy was suspected, and the Spanish Government ordered this individual to be made a prisoner and conducted here. In the meantime, whilst he was airing himself on his gallery at night, two shots were fired at him, one of which killed his wife .* He defended himself; and his assailants, breaking six of his ribs, left him lying down apparently dead. What fol- lowed ? He was accused of being a rogue and an assas- sin, who had murdered his own wife, and who had volun- tarily put himself in a dying condition. The command- ant of that post, M. De Blanc, a military officer full of honor, and the descendant of St. Denis, the founder of Natchitoches, was in New Orleans when that occurrence took place ; but, as he is well known for his devotion to the French, he was deprived of his command and ordered
This affair, with other causes, gave rise to so serious a feud between the influential families of De Clouet, De Blanc, and others, that it almost threatened to produce a civil war in that district, and it became of sufficient importance to compel Governor Claiborne to go and quiet it in person, in 1804.
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LAUSSAT'S DISCONTENT.
to remain at New Orleans, until further notice. In his place was put a M. Duralde, a tool of the Secretary of the Government, who makes a great parade of his exclu- sive and blind zeal for Spain, and who, to prove his sin- cerity, is the declared persecutor of all those who in his district have any sympathies for the French. People shoot at each other, and civil war has begun. The au- thorities here conceal these facts with sedulous care, and are anxious to keep me in complete ignorance of what is going on.
" The planters who still preserve their attachment for us, inquired of me secretly, whether they must give it up.
" That wretched Burthe" has, also, too long contri- buted by his indiscreet and intemperate language to cause the arrival of our troops to be apprehended, and, by his outbreaks against me, has assisted in discrediting the influence of our government.
" The Anglo-Americans have spread the rumor that there will be no cession, or that, should there be one, it would only be as a preliminary to a second cession in favor of the United States.
" At all events, it behooves the honor of the French nation to take care that none shall suffer for having shown attachment to France."
The ill-humor displayed in this despatch was the result of the awkward position in which Laussat found himself. The fact is, that he had discovered the ground on which he stood to be beset with difficulties, which seemed to thicken upon him as he attempted to push his way through them. The Spaniards and their adhe- rents had no cause to be disposed to favor him and his Government, and there was a great deal of discontent
* Ce misérable Burthe, &c., (one of the French Adjutants-General.)
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QUARRELS BETWEEN BURTHE AND LAUSSAT.
among the natives of Louisiana, and even among the French, some of whom feared the doctrines of which he was supposed to be the representative, whilst others thought that he was not sufficiently progressive .* Be- sides, a furious conflict of authority had sprung up between him and the Adjutant-General Burthe, and was carried on with such animosity as to betray both parties into disgraceful acts and expressions. For instance, the Prefect Laussat, having been invited to dinner by the Marquis de Casa Calvo, and finding, on entering the saloon of the Marquis, that Burthe was one of the guests, retired abruptly, much to the astonishment and mortification of the punctilious Spaniard, who even took some offence at the Frenchman's unceremonious retreat. In illustration of General Casa Calvo's habits, turn of mind, and extreme courtesy, it may not be improper to relate here the following anecdote. One day when, in company with his private secretary, he was sauntering in the streets of New Orleans, a negro having bowed to him, he took off his hat with as much respectful courtesy as if he had been saluting an equal. Being under the impression that this had been done from sheer absence of mind, his secretary remarked with a smile; "Your Excellency did not observe that it was a negro."-" On the contrary, Sir," was the reply, " but did you think I
* A certain individual, named Fretté, who was notorious for the mad exalta- tion of his red republicanism, called on Laussat, a short time after the arrival of that functionary in the colony. Fretté burst into the Prefect's apartment with all the confidence derived from his faith in the doctrine that all men are born to fraternize on terms of equality, and addressed him in this familiar tone : " Citizen, I come to tell thee that we, the jacobins of New Orleans, have resolved," &c. &c., -" Who is this fool?" exclaimed Laussat, interrupting the intruder and looking at his secretary Daugerot, to whom he was dictating at the time. Without replying, Daugerot quietly got up from his seat, whispered a few words to some attendants in the next room, and citizen Fretté was much horrified at the expe- dition with which he was thrust out of the presence of the representative of the French Republic. This gave great offence to the progressists.
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NEWS OF THE CESSION TO THE UNITED STATES. 599
would permit myself to be excelled in politeness by a negro !"
On the 28th of July, Laussat wrote to the French Government, that the rumor of a cession of Louisiana to the United States was still gaining ground in the colony, but that he had treated it as a calumnious report. But hardly had his despatch been sealed and sent, when, by the arrival of a vessel from Bordeaux, he discovered that the supposed calumny was an authentic and undeniable truth. On the 6th of June, the First Consul had ap- pointed Laussat Commissioner on the part of France, to receive possession of the province of Louisiana and deliver it to the Commissioners to be appointed on be- half of the United States.
On the 30th of November, in consequence of the orders received, Casa Calvo, Salcedo, and Laussat, accompanied by a large retinue of the clergy and of all the civil and military officers in the employ of France and Spain, and of many other persons of distinction, met in the City Hall, where Laussat exhibited to the Spanish Commis- sioners an order from the King of Spain for the delivery of the colony, and his credentials from the French Government to receive it. Whereupon, the keys of New Orleans were handed to Laussat ; and Salcedo and Casa Calvo declared that from this moment, according to the powers vested in them, they put the French Com- missioner in possession of Louisiana and its dependencies, in all their extent, such as they were ceded by France to Spain, and such as they remained under the successive treaties made between his Catholic Majesty and other Powers. They further declared that they absolved from their oath of fidelity and allegiance to the crown of Spain, such of his Catholic Majesty's subjects in Louisiana as might choose to live under the authority of the French Republic. A record was made of these proceedings in
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POSSESSION GIVEN TO THE FRENCH.
French and Spanish," and the three commissioners walked to the main balcony, when the Spanish flag was saluted by a discharge of artillery on its descent from a pole erected on the public square in front of the City Hall, and that of the French Republic greeted in the same manner on its ascent. The square was occupied by the Spanish troops and some of the militia of the colony. It was remarked that the militia had mustered up with difficulty, and did not exceed one hundred and fifty men. It was the indication of an unfavorable feeling, which had been daily gaining strength, and which Laussat attributed in his despatches to the intrigues of the Span- ish authorities. Although the weather had been tem- postuous in the preceding night and in the morning, and continued to be threatening, the crowd round the public square was immense, and filled not only the streets, but also the windows, and even the very tops of the neigh- boring houses.
On the same day, Laussat issued this proclamation : '
" LOUISIANIANS :
" The mission which brought me among you across the sea, through a distance of seven thousand and five hun- dred miles, that mission on which I had long rested so many fond hopes, and so many ardent wishes for your happiness, is now totally changed; and the one with which I am now charged, less gratifying, but still equally flattering to me, offers me one source of consolation- which springs from the reflection, that it will, in its results, be more advantageous to you.
"The Commissioners of his Catholic Majesty, in con- formity with the powers and orders which they and I have respectively received, have just delivered me pos-
* Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 195.
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LAUSSAT'S PROCLAMATION.
session of the province. You see the flag of the French Republic now displayed, and you hear the repeated de- tonations of her guns, announcing to you, to-day, on all sides, the return of French domination. It will be for an instant only, Louisianians, and I am on the eve of transferring the possession of this colony to the Commissioners of the United States. They are near at hand-I expect them soon.
" The approaching struggles of a war begun under the most sanguinary and terrible auspices, and threatening the safety of the four quarters of the world, had induced the French Government to turn its attention towards Louisiana, and to reflect on her destinies. Considera- tions of prudence and humanity, connecting themselves with those of a more vast and durable policy-worthy, in one word, of the man whose genius weighs, at this very hour, in its scales, the fates of so many great nations, have given a new direction to the beneficent intentions of France towards Louisiana. She has ceded it to the United States of America.
" Preserve thus, Louisianians, the precious pledge of the friendship which cannot fail to grow, from day to day, between the two republics, and which must so powerfully contribute to their common repose and their common prosperity.
" The article 3d, of the treaty of cession, cannot escape your attention. It says : 'that the inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States, and admitted, as soon as possible, ac- cording to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States ; and.that, in the meantime, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoy- ment of their liberties and property, and in the unre- strained exercise of the religion they profess."
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LAUSSAT'S PROCLAMATION.
"Thus are you, Louisianians, suddenly invested with the rights and privileges appertaining to a free Consti- tution and Government, secured and guaranteed by the force of arms, cemented by treaties, and tested by time and experience.
" You will be incorporated with a nation already numerous and powerful, renowned besides for its indus- try, its patriotism, and the degree of civilization and knowledge it possesses, and which by its rapid progress seems destined to the most brilliant rank that a people ever enjoyed on the face of the earth.
"It has been happily blessed with such a position, that its successes and its splendor cannot, at least for a long time, interfere with its felicity.
" However benevolent and pure may be the intentions of a mother country, you must be aware that an im- mense distance between the two secures impunity to oppression and exactions, and prevents the correction of abuses. The facility and the certitude of concealing them have even a frequent tendency to corrupt the man who, at first, looked upon them with aversion and fear.
" From this day forth, you cease to be exposed to this fatal and dangerous disadvantage.
"By the nature of the Government of the United States, and of the privileges upon the enjoyment of which you immediately enter, you will have, even under a pro- visional government, popular rulers, whose acts you will be at liberty to censure, or to protest against with im- punity, and who will be permanently in need of your esteem, your suffrages and your affection.
" The public affairs and interests, far from being in- terdicted to your consideration, will be your own affairs and interests, on which the opinions of wise and impar- tial men will be sure to exercise, in the long run, a pre- ponderating influence, and to which you could not even
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LAUSSAT'S PROCLAMATION.
remain indifferent without exposing yourselves to bitter repentance.
"The time will soon come when you will establish for yourselves a form of government, which, although res- pecting the sacred principles consecrated in the social pact of the Federal Union, will be adapted to your man- ners, your usages, your climate, your soil and your pecu- liar localities.
"It will not be long before you shall feel the advan- tages of an upright, impartial, and incorruptible adminis- tration of justice, in which the invariable forms and the publicity of judicial proceedings, together with the res- traints carefully imposed over an arbitrary application of the laws, will co-operate with the moral and national character of the Judges and Jurors, in affording to the citizens the most effective security for their persons and property.
"The principles and legislation of the American people, the encouragements which they have given to the in- terests of agriculture and commerce, and the progress which they have made in those two departments of in- dustry, are well known to you, Louisianians, particularly from the many advantages you have derived from them for some years past.
"There is not and there cannot be a metropolitan Government, which will not establish a more or less ex- clusive colonial monopoly. On the contrary, from the United States you have to expect a boundless freedom of exportation, and only such duties on your imports as may be required by your public wants and the necessity of protecting your home industry. The result of unlimited competition will be to cause you to buy cheap whilst selling dear, and your country will become an immense warehouse or place of deposit, affording you countless profits. The Nile of America, the Mississippi, which
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LAUSSAT'S PROCLAMATION.
flows, not through parched deserts of sand, but through the most extensive and the most fertile plains of the new world, will soon see its bosom darkened with a thousand ships belonging to all the nations of the earth, and moor- ing at the quays of another Alexandria.
" Among them your eyes will, I hope, Louisianians, always distinguish with complacency the French flag; · and your hearts will never cease to rejoice at the sight of its glorious folds. This we firmly hope. I solemnly profess it here in the name of my country and govern- ment.
" Bonaparte, in stipulating by the 7th Article of the treaty of cession, that the French shall be permitted, during twelve years, to trade in this province without paying higher duties than the citizens of the United States, and exactly on the same footing, had, as one of his principal aims, that of giving to the ancient relations existing between the French of Louisiana and the French of Europe sufficient opportunity and time, for renewing, strengthening and perpetuating themselves. A new bond of union will be formed between us from one continent to the other, the more satisfactory and durable from the fact that it will be entirely founded on a con- · stant reciprocity of sentiments, services and advantages. Your children, Louisianians, will be our children, and our children will be yours. You will send yours to perfect their education and their talents among us, and we will send ours to you, to increase your forces, and, by contributing their share to your labors and industry, assist you in wresting from an unsubdued wilderness its reluctant tributes.
" It has been gratifying to me thus to describe, some- what at length, the advantages which are secured to you, in order to soothe your complaints of being forsaken, and the affectionate regrets which a sincere attachment
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NEW ORGANIZATION OF THE COLONY.
for the country of your ancestors has caused so many of you to express. France and her Government will hear of it with gratitude and with corresponding love. But you will be convinced ere long, that, by the treaty of cession, she has conferred upon you the most eminent and the most memorable of blessings.
" The French Republic is thus the first to give to modern times the example of voluntarily emancipating a colony, in imitation of the liberal policy pursued towards those colonies, whose existence we love to recall to our memory, as constituting one of the most brilliant periods of the days of antiquity. Thus may, now and for the future, a Frenchman and a Louisianian never meet, in any part of the world, without a mutual feeling of tender emotion, and without exchanging the affectionate appel- lation of 'brothers !' May this word hereafter be the only one sufficiently expressive to convey an adequate idea of their eternal friendship and reciprocal reliance !"
On that same day (30th November), the Prefect issued several decrees in relation to the organization of the government of the province. M. Garland was appointed, provisionally, Administrator-General and Director of the Custom-house, and Navailles, Treasurer. For the Spanish Cabildo were substituted a Mayor, two Adjuncts, and a Municipal Council composed of ten members. By order, the following list of officers was immediately published : Etienne Bore, Mayor; Pierre Derbigny, Secretary ; Destrehan, First Adjunct; Sauvé, Second Adjunct ; Livaudais, Petit Cavelier, Villeré, Johns, Fortier, Donaldson, Faurie, Allard, Tureaud, and John Watkins, members of the Municipal Council. Labatut was appointed its Treasurer. To Bellechasse was given, with the grade of Colonel, the command of the militia of New Orleans, including the companies formed by the
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