USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 8
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THE CLERGY OF LOUISIANA IN 1773.
unknown in France, and that in the Indies it was valua- ble only on account of the graces and privileges attached to it, &c. &c. I have conveyed to the knowledge of the king that it is obnoxious to his subjects in this province ; that all means of persuasion are vain to reconcile them to it ; that they consider it as a tribute paid to the clergy ; that they look upon it with horror, and that they would prefer to it any other tax or exaction. As the royal intentions of his Majesty are that nothing be done which may be calculated to breed discontent among his subjects, I mention this fact to your Grace that you may govern yourself accordingly."
This letter offended the Bishop, and called for the fol- lowing explanatory one which Governor Unzaga wrote to him on the 12th of September, 1773 : "Most excellent sir, you inform me that the expressions, I well know how difficult it is to come to a correct appreciation of the true merits of men of that sacred calling, when they choose to quarrel among themselves, had caused you to look into all the correspondence which lay before you, and that you could find nothing in it that could justify the language which I have used. You conclude with saying that you have submitted the whole of it to the king, and that you are awaiting the decision of his royal wisdom. As I naturally suppose that you have also submitted all my letters to his Majesty, I have nothing to add on this controversy ; because the exquisitely sagacious judgment with which he is gifted will decide every thing according to the best interests of his royal service. I will merely observe that I do not conceive
tos, or 14 to 15 cents. No catholic, inhabiting Spain, could abstain from pur- chasing this Bull, without exposing his orthodoxy to suspicion. When provided with this Bull, he had, among other privileges, that of eating flesh, with the con- sent of his physician and confessor, and also of using eggs and milk, on days of fast and during Lent.
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THE CLERGY OF LOUISIANA IN 1773.
where you have seen in any part of my correspondence that I have, as you say, characterized as barbarous the language of the Spanish Capuchins, and much less that I have called this colony a French province, in violation of the oath of allegiance which the colonists have sworn to their new prince, who is as celebrated for his equity as for the goodness of his heart. It is to be regretted, most excellent sir, that words do not bear the stamp of the soul of him who uses them. There would not be so many misconceptions in this world. God knows that my heart loves your Grace most tenderly, that my hands press without distrust the generous ones of a prelate, who has long ago honored me with his friendship, and that I would lay down my life to wipe off the expressions which have mortified your Grace. Turn them over and over, on every side, and you will see that they are appli- cable only to the Friars and to their disputes. I so expressed myself for the discharge of my conscience ; and, doubting my ability to act satisfactorily in the premises, I referred all decision thereon to your Grace, as the only competent judge. I entreat your Grace to consider those expressions as having been dictated by an honorable delicacy of feelings, and not to look upon them as the inspirations of a sentiment of irritation which is foreign to my character and incompatible with my official position. It seems to me that the common lot of human nature is for each one to judge for himself and act for the best. If we do not agree in the means to be employed, let us abide by the decision of our sovereign master, who, besides being animated with the tenderest love for his subjects, possesses a mind of such sagacity that he soon discovers what their welfare requires. In all this I do not see any cause of complaint for either of us; at least such is my way of thinking. I attach no importance to the mere fact of prevailing
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THE CLERGY OF LOUISIANA IN 1773.
over any body. My interest, in all this affair, is to re- ceive with due veneration the manifestations of the royal intentions, and to comply with them in every point. As soon as they shall be made known to me, I will execute them strictly, according to my habit."
The bishop of Havana, not satisfied with the indiffer- ence which he thought that Unzaga had manifested in this religious controversy, had applied to the Marquis de la Torre, governor and captain general of the island of Cuba, and had requested him to stimulate what he called the indolence of the Governor of Louisiana. In reply to a communication from La Torre on this subject, Unzaga wrote a long despatch reciting to the Captain General the causes of all these religious difficulties which, after all, consisted in a mere struggle for power among those priests, in which the interests of the king were not implicated in the slightest degree. He evidently sided with the French Capuchins, in whose favor he showed that his feelings were enlisted, and whom he defended against most of the accusations brought against them. He represented the Spanish Capuchins as being fully as ignorant as the French, and indeed it is impossible to read all he says, without coming to the conclusion that both the French and Spanish clergy in Louisiana, at the time, were not altogether worthy of their sacred mission. "I know the extent of the evil," said he, " but I believe that the application of the remedy is not in my power, To whichever side I might incline, I discover a shoal which prevents me from acting with the activity and firmness which I might otherwise exhibit. If, doing violence to my conscience and honor, I supported father Cirilo, it would be securing the triumph of artifice and malignity, and oppressing innocence. Were I to favor the other side, I should be obliged to remove father Cirilo to the remotest part of the province, and his
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THE CLERGY OF LOUISIANA IN 1773.
Grace, the bishop, might persuade himself that I deprive him of his man, and that I oppose his designs, whilst my most earnest wish is to execute them, provided they do not conflict with the interests of the king, and have not the tendency to cause the province to lose the little which has remained of its former population. It would give much satisfaction, if his Grace would pay a visit to this colony to become acquainted with his flock and with the true state of things. He would soon be undeceived on many points, and perhaps would reform certain abuses. The people here will remain quiet as long as they are gently treated; but the use of the rod would produce confusion and ruin. Their dispositions are the result of the happy state of liberty to which they have been accustomed from the cradle, and in which they ought to be maintained, so far as is consistent with the laws of the kingdom."
Unzaga, after having written this reply marked with so much independence and liberality to the Marquis de la Torre, addressed, on the same day, an elaborate de- fence of the course he had pursued to the bailiff de Arriaga, one of the king's ministers. In this communi- cation he does not spare the Bishop, whom he accuses of an indiscreet severity which would have depopulated the colony, if he had, as governor, carried his Grace's pastoral instructions into execution. " The first docu- ment by which," said he, " the new prelate made him- self known to the French Friars was a tissue of phrases, in which he reproached them with having committed crimes. What must have been their feelings towards him when they received such a manifesto against their deportment, and particularly when they saw themselves upbraided for so many acts of a heinous character, which were sheer calumnies ! With regard to the people, they found themselves threatened with excommunication if
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THE CLERGY OF LOUISIANA IN 1773.
they did not receive the sacrament at Easter, and they had to fear, as consequences of their refusal, to be sub- jected to temporal punishments, such as imprisonment, confiscation, and even the application of the discipline of the holy office of the Inquisition, under the jurisdic- tion of which they were not born, and to which they are not accustomed. It was easy for me to foresee, that if the French Capuchins became disgusted with their new position, they would soon take refuge on some English vessel and be followed by a large por- tion of the population; and, that should any body be excommunicated for not complying with the precept- to take annually the sacrament at Easter, the same results would ensue ; because the people would run away from the ecclesiastical rod, for which they have no relish.
"One of the chief revenues of the clergy here had been the granting of dispensations, which the Bishop now reserves to himself. But if the heart were to draw within itself all the blood which runs through the differ- ent parts of the human body, those parts would wither from want of nutrition. How comes then the Bishop of Cuba, who says that he is not sparing of communicating to his subordinates the powers he possesses, to retain in this case the most valuable ? And through what means does he expect the members of his diocese to subsist, except they should be reduced to a state of spirituality and be above the wants of mortality ?
" How can he pretend to be serving the king, he who, all the while, is stirring up with a firebrand the patience of his majesty's vassals ? He addresses them in a surly tone, and deprives them of their perquisites on the very day that he makes himself known to them ! I confess that there are in the province abuses which must be cor- rected, although I deny the excesses in the existence of which his Grace believes, because he is incorrectly in-
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THE CLERGY OF LOUISIANA IN 1773.
formed. Granting the disease with which the colony is afflicted, it argues only that she wants the attendance of a physician-and the tender nursing of a pastor-a wise physician who will graduate the doses of his treatment in accordance with the temperament of the patient-and a benevolent pastor who will conceal the rod and the shears.
"I had offered my services to his Grace from the be- ginning ; but, far from adopting my views, which were such as to favor the interests of the king, without inter- fering with the real substance of religion, he agreed with me on trifles and disregarded my opinion on all matters of importance. Hence the discord which is complained of. In order to appease the disorder, I used the authority with which our pious king has invested me, with such measure and propriety as to prevent the public tranquil- lity from being disturbed. But to those who had been injured by a wrong beginning contentment was not re- stored.
" Although I am aware of the importance of repressing abuses, and of establishing good habits, because they originate good laws and secure their execution, yet I must affirm that there is here no such moral deformity as has been depicted to his Grace, none which threatens society with the slightest damage, and which could tend to a breach in the observance of those duties that faithful subjects have to discharge towards their prince. Why then all this clamor and outcry ? Why this anger ? Why this furious persecution which is capable of rousing into resistance submission itself ?
" I have acted according to the rules of sound policy, when I have refused to lay a heavy hand on some abuses which, if they are such in the eye of the strict discipline of the church, cannot be held to have that character with regard to society or the body politic, or
94 UNZAGA'S DESPATCH ON THE QUARRELS OF THE CLERGY.
which deserve at least no other than clerical punishment or repression. What is it to the king, for instance, whether the French Capuchins consider the teal as amphibious and eat it on fast days, and follow other practices quite as insignificant, and which, through immemorial custom, have been thought to be legitimate among these people ? There were more important abuses to which I called their attention, and which I have been the first to denounce. I have corrected them through the gentle means of persuasion, and I have ob- tained most excellent results without noise and scandal, by merely employing the powerful weapon of ridicule. and by clothing with rags what I wished to make con- temptible .*
"Nevertheless his Grace, resenting the information I have laid before the Governor of Cuba, puts himself in motion against me, takes up offensive weapons, attacks me on certain expressions to which he has given a mean- ing for which I am at a loss to account, goes into a critical examination of my correspondence, and, in order to shelter himself, endeavors to prepossess the judgment of your Excellency, and to enlist in favor of his acts the piety of his Majesty."
The Governor proceeds to a review of all the Bishop's acts, which he represents as impolitic and unnecessarily severe, and hints that he might have good grounds to consider himself insulted by the Bishop, who chose to disregard his representations as untrue, and to believe other individuals less entitled than he is to credit and respect. "The people here," said he, "are neither vicious nor addicted to debauchery, nor opposed to our habits, although, in many respects, those habits disagree with their tastes. They have some of their own, as
Ridiculizandolos y vistiendo los de andragos.
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UNZAGA'S DESPATCH ON THE QUARRELS OF THE CLERGY. 95
other people have, to which they are much attached- and this is very natural. Those habits are not in con- flict with the primordial obligations of society ; they are not to be eradicated at once, but must be removed gradually and almost imperceptibly.
" His Grace says, that so anxious was he to keep up good harmony between himself and me, that he took care to send all his orders through me, submitting them to my judgment, and that, in this way, I was quite as much the Bishop as the Governor of the province; but the truth is that he wanted to constitute me his executive offi- cer and bailiff (fiscal de vara), rather than his adviser.
"The Prelate exalts the virtues of father Cirilo! I do not know whether the ambition* which lurks beneath the coarse woollen gown of the monk can be held up as a pattern of virtue, but I am sure that, for a monk, to have sown dissension between his brethren and the Prelate who is their Superior, is an act sufficiently mean to make him fall from that pedestal of probity to which his Grace wishes to raise him, on account of his opposi- tion to imaginary licentiousness."
The Governor then takes up one by one all the accu- sations brought against the French Capuchins, and avers that there is no foundation for them. " What they may do in their cells," said he, "and what their secret sins may be, I cannot tell ; but I know that they give no bad examples, and that they inculcate no unsound doctrine. And how many times does it not happen that the preacher's sermons and his acts are at variance ! How comes the Prelate to be acquainted with the existence of crimes, which, monstrous as they are represented to be, I have not been able to detect, although I am on the spot. I rely, as a last resort, on the judgment of the
* La ambicion oculta bajo el grueso sayal.
96 UNZAGA'S DESPATCH ON THE QUARRELS OF THE CLERGY.
king, who will not put faith in the denunciations of certain individuals prompted by personal ambition or baser motives, in' preference to the assertions of his governor, whom he knows to be worthy of belief. I trust in the humane intentions of his Majesty, who never loses sight for one moment of the welfare and happi- ness of his subjects, and who has always striven to introduce the influence of religion and morality in his domains, not by abrupt force, nor by producing affliction and complaints, but through the salutary effects of sweet and mild persuasion, of good example and of wholesome admonition. These are the flowery and pleasant paths through which the Holy Evangelists and their true fol- lowers have invariably proceeded in establishing a reli- gion of peace. His Majesty will decide whether the conduct of the Bishop of Havana, who has presented him- self sword in hand, is in conformity with the pious intentions of the royal breast, and is worthy of the apostolic ministry.
" An enlightened prudence and a good deal of tolera- tion are necessary here, for although this is a Spanish province, and although Count O'Reilly endeavored to make its inhabitants forget the former domination under which they had lived so long, still I cannot flatter his majesty so much as to say that the people have ceased to be French at heart, and that in them is not to be found that spirit of independence which causes resistance to oppressive laws. But I will affirm that they are sus- ceptible of being submissive and loyal subjects, that they entertain great veneration for their ancient laws, and that the state of felicity which they now enjoy is a guaranty to me that they are not to be suspected of being disposed to fail in their duties towards the crown. Therefore do I endeavor to keep them in the colony, and to secure their love and services to the king, without caring in the
UNZAGA'S DESPATCH ON THE QUARRELS OF THE CLERGY. 97
least for what I deem to be fooleries .* After the blow which the colonists drew upon themselves by their late revolution, the infliction of another would be tantamount to utter destruction."
Considering that this document was addressed to the Court of Spain, and that it was written against a high dignitary of the church in a country where it is supposed to have possessed for centuries so much power, it is im- possible not to be struck with Governor Unzaga's bold language. The Spanish government, which has the re- putation of being so considerate and temporizing in all its decisions, acted on this occasion with its usual pru- dence. It supported the Bishop in all that he had writ- ten or done, save a few exceptions, but, at the same time, it abstained from censuring the Governor, and contented itself with signifying to both functionaries that it was confidently expected that they would make some mutual sacrifices of their views for the sake of harmony, and would no longer expose the king's service to suffer in consequence of their dissensions. This hint was taken, it seems ; and, whether some compromise or other was effected between the French and Spanish capuchins, peace appears to have spread its broad wings over the convent of this reverend fraternity, and nothing further was heard of their former quarrel.
As the clergy is so important an element in the com- position of every social and political organization, I have not deemed it inappropriate to introduce this eccle- siastical episode as an historical illustration of Louisiana in 1772.
In 1773, the colonists were beginning to be reconciled to their new government, which was recommended to them by the mildness of Unzaga's administration. The
* Cuidando poco lo que juzgo por frioleras.
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98 THE COLONY RECONCILED TO THE NEW GOVERNMENT.
planters, in particular, found considerable resources in the clandestine trade which they carried on with the English, who supplied them with negroes at a cheap price. The heavy sums brought from Vera Cruz to meet the expenses of the government were circulating freely, and, by increasing the amount of specie, had enabled the planters to sell their crops advantageously and to give more extension to their establishments. It is well known that our planters seldom resist the temptation to buy more land or more negroes, when the golden opportunity presents itself. Such had been the case on the present occasion, and, instead of employing the proceeds of their crops to pay their old debts, they had bethought them- selves of a different application of their moneys, and even increased their liabilities to their creditors. . "Keep thy pen from lender's book, and defy the foul fiend," says Shakspeare, in his poetical wisdom. The planters com- mitted the indiscretion of violating this precept, and could not defy the foul fiend that presented himself in the shape of a hurricane, which occasioned such ravages on their plantations, that, when the time came for settle- ment with their creditors, they could pay neither capital nor interest, but, on the contrary, wanted advances. The creditors stuck to their bond, and wanted, if not their pound of flesh, at least part of it. They became clamor- ous, and some of them resorted to legal measures to expropriate their creditors. The debtors-including those who could pay and those who could not-entered into a confederacy, and resolved on resistance per fas et nefas. At their head was St. Maxent, a wealthy planter, whose daughter Governor Unzaga had married, and who thought that he could avail himself of this circumstance to set his creditors at defiance. In a Spanish colony, at that time, a governor was almost omnipotent, and, there- fore, all the contending parties gathered in earnest sup-
ITS INTERFERENCE BETWEEN DEBTORS AND CREDITORS. 99
plication round that functionary. In these circumstances, Unzaga acted with the strictest impartiality, and with his customary discretion. He began with forcing his father-in-law to pay every cent of what he owed, and also employed coercion against all those who were able to pay their debts, but who had sought to postpone dis- charging them by availing themselves of this popular excitement. To the really distrest and honest debtors he granted the delays which they required, and even reconciled the creditors to this indulgence, having con- vinced them that it was favorable to their own interest. The course pursued by the governor in this emergency obtained universal approbation.
By a royal schedule of the 4th of August, 1774, says Judge Martin, in his History of Louisiana, the power of granting lands in the colony was vested in the governor, according to the regulations made by O'Reilly, on the 8th of January, 1770. Hence the question presents itself, whether all grants made by subsequent governors were not null and void, when made in violation of those regulations, if it be not shown that those regulations had been repealed or modified. With regard to the private sale of lands and other immovables, Unzaga had issued, on the 9th of November, 1770, a prohibitory decree, which is of some importance, in relation to the laws governing the transfer of property under the Spanish administra- tion, and which will be found in the Appendix."
The province continued, in 1775, to be so thinly inha- bited, that it was easy for the runaway slaves to conceal themselves for any length of time, even in the vicinity of New Orleans. They had the audacity to form them- selves into gangs, which committed great depredations on the plantations. It was found necessary to remedy
* See the Appendix.
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POWER OF GRANTING LANDS WHERE VESTED.
this pressing evil, and to put a stop to a state of things which served as a fatal example to the rest of the negroes, and Governor Unzaga issued a proclamation, by which he offered an amnesty or free pardon to those slaves who should return voluntarily to their masters, and threatened with severe punishment those who should not avail themselves of the opportunity offered to them to obtain mercy for their past misdemeanors. This measure seems to have had a salutary effect.
In 1776, Don Bernardo de Galvez succeeded Este- cheria in the command of the regiment of Louisiana. The year previous, hostilities had broken out between Great Britain and her thirteen colonies of North Ame- rica, and that great contest had begun which was to give birth to one of the mightiest nations of the present cen- tury. There were at that time in New Orleans a number of merchants from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, whose feelings were strongly enlisted on behalf of their countrymen, who were struggling against oppression. Among them, Oliver Pollock was one of the most con- spicuous and most active. They procured a good supply of arms and ammunition for the inhabitants of the western part of Pennsylvania, which they delivered to Colonel Gibson, who had come for it from Pittsburg. This was done with the connivance of the Spanish gover- nor; for Spain, like France, was inimical to Great Bri- tain, and was willing to add fuel to the flames which threatened her old and potent rival.
On the 28th of February, the Court of Madrid had requested Unzaga to specify what were the means of defence which he possessed in the colony, and what would be his plans of operation should he be attacked. On the 19th of June, he answered by sending a detailed statement of the number of troops in the colony, and their equipments-of the munition, provisions, and mate-
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DEFENSIVE RESOURCES OF THE COLONY.
rials of which he could dispose-of the fortifications then existing at New Orleans and in its immediate vicinity, with his reflections relative to the best mode of defence. He commented on the small number of regulars and militia he had under his command, and observed that they were far from being adequate to the protection of a country having more than fifteen hundred miles in extent. He represented the fortifications as insignifi- cant, and their artillery as insufficient. "Besides, as the country was open on all sides," said he, "it was perfectly useless to attempt making a show of resistance in front, when the enemy could attack on the flank and on the rear, without meeting any defence. Two small vessels of war, such as there is one already, being introduced, and taking their station in the rear above New Orleans, would cut off my retreat." He also represented the for- tifications at Manchac, Pointe Coupée, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and Illinois, as being equally unavailable, and he informed his government that, in case of war, should he be attacked by superior forces, he would, unless he received contrary orders, retreat to the frontiers . of Mexico, leaving it to the treaty of peace that would be concluded in the end, to determine finally on the fate of Louisiana.
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