USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 12
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Ulloa, a few days after his arrival, had sought information from Aubry, as to the resources, the wants, and the character of the province he had come to govern. From certain expressions, which perhaps had dropped imprudently from the French governor, and from a perusal of the documents to which he was allowed access, Ulloa drew conclusions, which may explain his subsequent acts, and some of the reproaches
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165
CHARACTER OF THE INHABITANTS.
to which they gave rise. He saw that, from the earliest day of the existence of the colony, from Lamothe Cadillac to D'Abbadie, almost all its governors and high dignitaries had represented its inhabitants as a set of reprobates, infected with the rebellious spirit of republicanism ; that it had , been, without interruption, the prey of intestine dissensions, one half of the functionaries and of the population having hardly ever ceased to be arrayed against the other; and that they agreed only in-one thing-that is, in accusing each other of the most shameless cor- ruption and hateful malfeasances. Thus he found on record, under the hand and seal of his predecessors, through a long series of years, that Louisiana was, in the words of D'Abbadie, a chaos of iniquity and discord ; and Aubry, the last of the French rulers, far from having said one word in extenuation of the sweeping condemnation, had given Ulloa to understand, that between the perversity and the insubordination which prevailed in the past, and that which existed in the present, there was no perceptible difference. As if this was not enough, Kerlerec, who was still detained in the Bastile, wrote to Ulloa a letter, in which he gave him a frightful picture of Louisiana, which he had adminis- tered ten years, and he concluded, saying : From the bottom of my heart I pity you for having been sent to such a country ! The Superior Council, the king's attorney general, and others, who, by their offices, their rank, or their wealth, occupied a high position, had those enemies whom men, under such circumstances, genc- rally meet in their path, and who are generated either by envy, or by the resentment resulting from the existence of real or supposed wrongs. These and other malcontents, who are always to be found in every community, poured also their denunciations into the
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EMBARRASSMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
ears of Ulloa, upon whose mind and temper it is easy to conceive the effect produced by these informations, coupled with what he had seen and experienced since his arrival.
If Ulloa could not take possession of the colony, for the causes already known, the French authorities had no longer the means of carrying on the old government, because they had been informed by the French ministry, that their drafts on the Treasury of France, for colonial expenses, would no longer be accepted. Not only were they not permitted to issue any further drafts, but, also, even those they had given to meet the expenses of the years 1763, 1764, 1765, had been kept in abeyance by the French government, on the ground that the province had become Spanish since the very day of the cession, although the Spaniards had delayed taking possession ; and that the French had only administered as trustees, on the account and for the benefit of Spain ; where- fore, that power was bound to pay all the expenses made by the French authorities. To relieve the officers of his Most Christian Majesty from their embarrass- ments, and the colony from the state of misery to which it had been reduced by this decision of the French court, Ulloa agreed to loan to Foucault the money necessary to discharge some of the most pressing obli- gations contracted by the French government before his coming to the colony, and assumed to take for the account of Spain all the expenses of the administration since the 5th of March 1766, when he had landed at New Orleans. Governor Aubry and the Intendant Commissary Foucault greedily assented to this proposi- tion, and all the public functionaries and the troops, as well as the rations given to the Acadians, and all the other expenses, were provided for out of the Spanish treasury, as if Ulloa had taken formal possession. It was
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167
COMMERCIAL DECREE.
further understood that, considering that the French troops refused to obey the Spanish governor, Aubry would remain the apparent and nominal chief of the colony, but would govern according to the dictates of Ulloa. This expedient having been hit upon, the wheels of the government, which had threatened to stop, re- sumed their rotation. Ulloa commanded, and Aubry faithfully executed ; the one was the head, and the other the arm. The leaders of the party opposed to the Spaniards set up a cry of indignation, at what they called a shameful compromise, a slavish surrender of the dignity and independence of their nation, in the person of the French governor. But the middle course adopted by the French and Spanish authorities seems to have been the wisest, nay, the only one that could have been followed. What else could have been done ? Ulloa held the purse, and Aubry the sword. Without some compromise between the two, it is evident that no government could have subsisted.
On the 6th of May, the Spanish government issued a decree permitting, by a special favor, a direct commerce between the French colonies and its American posses- sions, from which, on the fulfilment of certain formalities, cattle and grains might be exported, provided it should be in Spanish ships from Caraccas. To prevent smuggling and other frauds, there was to be a port designated in every province, where two French com- missaries were to reside, and be authorized to purchase the articles allowed to be exported. There was a duty of five per cent. to be paid on all exportations. From Louisiana, lumber, rice, corn, and other productions of the soil, were permitted to be exported. Favre d'Aunoy and Villars were appointed French commissaries at New Orleans, with a salary of 4000 livres, or 800 dol- lars, each.
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ANECDOTE.
After having made this decree public, Ulloa departed to visit the several posts and settlements. In relation to those establishments, Captain Pitman, in his work, published in London in 1770, on the European settle- ments on the Mississippi, relates an anecdote illustrative of the state of things and manners existing at the time. " This settlement (Opelousas) was made," said he, " under the direction of Mons. D'Abbadie, in the year 1763, and was governed by a French officer, named Pélerin, till the year 1767, when the inhabitants, who had been oppressed by the tyranny which has been al- ways exerted by officers of that nation commanding outposts, complained to Don Antonio de Ulloa and Mons. Aubry, accusing him (Pélerin) also of sacrilege, he having forcibly taken possession of the plate destined to the use of the altar, and used it at his own table, under pretence of keeping it in security. This worked his ruin more effectually than his ill treatment of the inhabitants, and he was threatened with excommunica- tion. However, he was punished by undergoing severe penances enjoined by the priests, and rendered inca- pable, by a sentence of a court martial of French officers, of any employment military or civil. The government of this settlement was afterwards vested in a magistrate to be chosen annually by the inhabitants from among themselves. One company of militia was also raised for the defence of the establishment, and the officers received pay from the Spanish government."
On the 6th and 7th of September, a score of soldiers, with fixed bayonets, and preceded by a drum, whose solemn and loud beating attracted the attention and excited the anger of the inhabitants, paraded the streets of New Orleans, and proclaimed, by the order of Aubry, an ordinance, which had been dictated by Ulloa, in conformity with the instructions he had
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COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
received from Spain. It contained commercial regula- tions ; and among others the following :- French ships had leave to bring from Martinique and St. Domingo wine, flour, and other supplies, provided they carried back in return the lumber and other productions of the colony. Passports were to be given to French ships exporting from the kingdom of France the merchandise and other supplies necessary to Louisiana; but "whereas," said the ordinance, "these permissions have been granted only with a view to benefit the inhabitants of the colony ; and whereas the merchants have asked for their goods, and particularly for their wines, an extraordinary price, and have refused to receive in payment any other currency than dollars, which pretension is very prejudicial to the inhabitants ; now in consequence of the orders of his Catholic Majesty, addressed to Mr. de Ulloa, and by him com- municated to us, we, Philip Aubry, &c., &c., have decreed that all captains coming from St. Domingo, as well as from France, and provided with a passport from his excellency, the secretary of state of his Catholic Majesty (for otherwise they would not be admitted into the colony), shall be bound, on their arrival, to present themselves to Mr. de Ulloa, with their bills of lading and passports, and are prohibited from unloading any portion of their goods without, beforehand, obtain- ing his permission, in writing, at the bottom of their passports or bills of lading ; and the agents for those goods are also ordered to present themselves before Mr. de Ulloa, and to furnish him with a note indicating the price at which they intend to sell their goods, which goods shall be examined and appraised by impartial and intelligent persons residing in the colony ; and should the prices demanded be excessive, the owners of the goods shall not be allowed to sell them here, and shall
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REMONSTRANCES OF THE MERCHANTS.
be obliged to go to another market. The merchants - shall be bound to receive the currency of the country in payment for their goods, and to take one-third of their return cargo in lumber and other productions of the colony."
A sudden jar in a beehive would not have produced more buzzing and stirring than did this ordinance. in New Orleans. Although it seems to have been framed in the interest of the consumers, yet it certainly was a severe blow to the importers, and they resented it as such. On the 8th of September, two days after its promulgation, the merchants of New Orleans, in a body, presented to the Superior Council, through the attorney general, Lafrenière, a petition, in which they begged that the exccution of Aubry's decree be sus- pended, until they should be heard on the subject, and sued for the grant, of a delay, to prepare their remon- strances, which were submitted to the council on the 12th ; and also all the captains of ships in the colony presented a document of the same nature.
The remonstrances of the merchants and captains were founded on the belief of the existence of certain restrictions imposed on the government of Spain by France, when she ceded Louisiana. The commissary Foucault seemed to have been himself under a similar impression ; for on the 29th of September, he wrote to the minister of the marine department : " It has not been the intention of his majesty, on making the cession, to strip, for the benefit of Spain, his loyal subjects of the privileges and exemptions which they had always enjoyed. I beg your excellency to transmit to us the necessary orders, to confirm the subjects of the king in the belief that they have suffered no dimi- nution of the advantages granted to them by his majesty."
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DOUBTS AS TO THE ACT OF CESSION.
The petitions laid before the council were not acted upon. A verbal declaration made by Aubry, that, on reflection, he would suspend the execution of his ordinance, was considered by that body as sufficient for the time. " But," said Foucault, in one of his .des- patches, " the revocation of the ordinance not having been made in due form, gives no security. Several persons have written to the other colonies, to suspend all shipments to this one. For several months past there have come but few French ships, and none belonging to the English. These last had always been of great assistance, by furnishing us with flour, of which their cargoes were generally composed; and as my supplies are very limited, I shall be reduced to the necessity of giving nothing but rice to the troops, and to the other persons entitled to rations."
It seems as if nothing could convince the colonists that the cession of Louisiana to Spain was serious and conclusive. Yet they must have been prepared for it, by the transmission of half of the territory to the English, who had already taken final possession. Would France have abandoned so rich a portion of her domain, if she had not determined to part with the rest ? Was it not to the knowledge of all, that the · French government had refused to accept the drafts issued for the expenses of the colony during the years 1763, 1761, 1765, on the ground that those expenses were to be paid by Spain ? Was not then the cession an accomplished fact, a bona fide transaction ; and therefore was not France holding Louisiana only as a mere trustee, until the new owner should take pos- session ? 1
It is evident that the colonists were bent upon giving to the king's letter to D'Abbadie much more import- ance than it really had, and looked upon it as a sort of
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172 1 DOUBTS AS TO THE ACT OF CESSION.
Magna Charta, binding on the king of Spain, whilst it could have no such effect. When the king of France, informing the inhabitants of Louisiana that he had placed them under the domination of Spain, told them that he hoped that his Catholic Majesty would main- tain them in the enjoyment of all their rights and pri- vileges, and would make no innovation in the order of things to which they were accustomed, and in the laws to which they had always been subjected, it is apparent that he had no other object than that of gilding the bitter pill which they had to swallow. Besides, the colonists had been made acquainted with the acts of donation and acceptation, and the mere perusal of those documents ought to have convinced them that the cession was without reserve and condition. The very letter on which they were basing their preten- sions and remonstrances had been addressed by the French king to one of his own officers, after the uncon- ditional alienation of the colony. The King of Spain was not a party to that instrument, and could not even be supposed to know of its existence. After all, had it been officially communicated to him, it contained merely the expression of wishes on the part of the King of France, which the King of Spain might or might not take into consideration. Those wishes could not be construed into imposing any binding obligation on the Spanish government, and therefore could not constitute rights, of which the colonists could avail themselves. Nevertheless, although they could not claim anything of right, and in law, by virtue of the French king's letter to D'Abbadie, yet they might have relied on it, in cquity, as having some moral force, when making an appeal to the generosity and magnanimity of the King of Spain.
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Whilst the colonists were in that state of excitement,
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SECLUSION OF ULLOA.
Ulloa left New Orleans, and departed for the Balize, in the month of September. At first it was rumored that he had gone to meet the Spanish troops which he expected ; and this rumor kept alive the anxiety which had so long agitated the colony. But when October and November had elapsed, the people began to wonder at what might detain the Spanish governor in the dismal spot to which he had retired. The month of December came on with its freezing northern blasts, but did not drive away Ulloa back to New Orleans, in search of more comfortable quarters. January and February swept by with their dreary train of howling storms, and sharp edged cold, and piercing sleet, con- vulsing the broad bosom of the Mexican gulf; and yet it seemed that a spell kept Ulloa rooted, in the midst of what, to every other, must have looked as the worst abode on earth. At a loss for discovering a motive, sufficiently strong to warrant so strange a conduct on the part of the unpopular Spaniard, the colonists came to the settled conviction, that the hatred he had con- ceived for them was such, that rather than live among them, and purposely to show his feelings, he had taken the step which astonished them so much, and their . resentment rose in proportion to the enmity which they supposed to exist against them.
Loyola, Gayarre, and Navarro had, alternately and successively, visited their chief at the Balize, and, whenever they returned to New Orleans, earnest attempts were made to draw from them some informa- tion as to the motives, the feelings, and the plans of Ulloa. But these officers had answered in a manner which had parried and silenced all inquiry. Aubry himself paid a visit to Ulloa at the Balize. Ulloa then proposed to him that he, Ulloa, should take possession of the colony at the Balize, and that the French flag be
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PROPOSITION OF ULLOA.
withdrawn, to be succeeded by the Spanish flag. This proposition surprised and embarrassed Aubry, who observed that the inhabitants, and even the strangers who were in the colony, would be astonished if such an out of the way place were chosen for the theatre of so important a ceremony. He remonstrated that it was proper that it should be performed with all the requisite pomp and dignity in the capital itself, and in the presence of all the inhabitants, who would come to take their oath of allegiance, and who would assure him of their inviolable fidelity to the service of his Catholic Majesty. But Ulloa persisted in his proposition, and although it seemed singular to Aubry, this officer, after some difficulties, finally consented to it. Accordingly, in the evening, an instrument was drawn in writing, by which Aubry declared that he had delivered up the colony to Ulloa, but retained its government, until the
arrival of the Spanish troops. This document was signed by these two high functionaries. However, on the next morning, which was the time fixed for the formal taking possession of Louisiana by the Spaniards, Ulloa declared that he had reflected during the night on what had been done the day previous, and that he now thought that it would be better to postpone the con- templated ceremony, until the arrival of the Spanish troops ; but that although the engagement they had concluded together had not been completed, yet he would send a copy of the document they had signed to his court, and that Aubry might do the same with regard to his government, should he deem it necessary. Two days after, on Aubry's preparing to return to New Orleans, Ulloa requested him to order the French commander at the Balize. to pull down the French flag, and to hoist up the Spanish, whenever he, Ulloa, should desire it. Aubry acquiesced in this request, and went
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SOJOURN OF ULLOA AT THE BALIZE.
back to New Orleans ; where, to the disquietude and indignation of the inhabitants, he related what had occurred between Ulloa and himself, and sent a detailed account of it to the French court.
But still the inquiry remained unanswered. What could have induced Ulloa, during so many months, and even in the depth of the winter, to lock himself up in a miserable shed at the Balize ? It is true that when he left New Orleans for the mouth of the Mississippi, he had given it to be understood that his object was to establish a Spanish post at that locality ; but that was, at farthest, the work of a few days, and it certainly was not an object of sufficient importance to detain the Spanish governor more than a very short time. Whatever his motives might be, people were amazed at the fortitude which Ulloa must have possessed to have remained so long at such a spot. How did he pass his time ? How could he live there at all ? How is it that he did not die, either from want of comfort and of com- pany, or from weariness of spirit and despair ? Was he mad ? How could anybody but a prejudiced ascetic and iron willed Spaniard forego the conveniences of a home in New Orleans to perch, like a sea bird, during the wintry season, on the shaking piles driven into the mud and amidst the reeds of the mouth of the Mis- sissippi ? These were the reflections and inquiries.
But such a mind as that of Ulloa carried within itself a world of enjoyments, which few dreamed of. The man who, when in command of a fleet, became so abstracted in scientific pursuits as to forget the instruc- tions which ordered him to capture eight English ships loaded with the wealth of India, could live apart from the world, forgetting, and perhaps happy to be for- gotten. He had carried to the Balize his books, his manuscripts, his mathematical, astronomical, and other
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SOJOURN OF ULLOA AT THE BALIZE.
scientific instruments ; and when surrounded by them he could bid defiance to the cares of office, to time itself, and to the other foul fiends which persecute mankind. His body was at the Balize, but his mind was diffused through space and through the universe. What did he care for the moaning reeds, for the shrieking winds, for the pitiless storms, for the roaring waves, for the tottering shelter, for the humble abode, for the dark face of nature ? Could he not light it up and change it at will? Had he not the enchanter's wand ? Had he not Aladdin's lamp ? Was he confined by place or time ? Could he not go back to the creation of the earth, study it in its primitive and almost chaotic state, and follow it up, through its infinite modifications, to its present organization ? Could he not, when it suited his pleasure, live for days among the Persians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans of old, and pursue through centuries the mighty revolutions of empires-the births, the struggles, and the deaths of nations ? Could he not dive into the bowels of the earth, to revel in its mysteries ? Could he not, on the wings of imagination, return to the gorgeous sceneries of Peru, or to the Arabian palaces of Spain ? Could he not sail with the clouds, to mark the formation of lightning, and the other prodigies of the air ? Were not the elements his companions, holding with him such converse as unfits one for the inane talk and flat communion of man ? Towering far above the flight of the eagle, could he not ascend among the planets, to solve some great problem of the Deity, or
To follow through the night the moving moon, The stars, and their developments ? :
Far happier, indeed, was he, the gifted son of science, in the solitude of the Balize than in New Orleans,
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MARRIAGE OF ULLOA.
where he was constantly dragged back from the heaven of the student to the petty miseries of earth, and recal'ed to a painful sense of his official duties and of their annoyances. .
In the month of March, 1767, a piece of news reached New Orleans, which became the wonder of the day, and explained the enigma of Ulloa's sojourn at the Balize. For seven months the illustrious companion of La Condamine, the celebrated member and corres- pondent of so many learned academies had, with the romantic gallantry of the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, been awaiting the arrival of his bride, who was no less than the young and beautiful Marchioness of Abrado, one of the richest women of Peru, whom he had known when travelling in that country. Ulloa was then fifty-one years old, and possessed few of those attractions which, in the common estimate of the world, are supposed to be valued by the daughters of Eve. The good luck of the hated Spaniard excited envy, and gave fresh fuel to the hostility already existing against him. He was married at the Balize by his chaplain, and immediately after came up to New Orleans with his Peruvian wife.
It seems, from several of Aubry's despatches, that, in his opinion, the Spanish Governor was deficient in those qualifications, which endear a man to those over whom he is called to rule. In a communication of the 30th of March to his government, he said: "The Governor, whom his Catholic Majesty has sent here, is n man full of merit, of learning, and of talents, but, as an exception to the well known temperament of his nation, he is exceedingly hasty, and it seems to me, that he does not listen sufficiently to the representations ad- dressed to him. It is a cause of discontent in those who have to deal with him.
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LETTER OF THE MARQUIS OF GRIMALDI.
" Considering the change of government which the colony has to undergo, I had wished that the officer sent to assume its command, had possessed the art of managing the public mind, and of gaining the hearts of the inhabitants. Men are not to be ruled with haughti- ness and pride, with threats and punishments. Marks of kindness and benevolence, with judicious promises, would have been necessary, to reconcile the colonists to the change of dominion which has come upon them. This was the only course to be pursued, in order to win the affection of new subjects, who regret their former master. If the Spaniards do not act with mildness, and if they attempt to govern this colony like a Mexican Presidio,* most of the inhabitants will abandon their lands, to cross over to the English, who are on the opposite side, and who will neglect nothing to attract them. In this way, the Spanish portion of Louisiana, which had remarkably increased in population for the last few years, will soon become a desert." He con- cluded with informing the French Court, that the mea- sures adopted by Ulloa, were not calculated to give popularity to the Spanish government.
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