USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 13
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In relation to the reproaches which were addressed to the Spaniards, as to their delaying so long the taking possession of Louisiana, and in relation to the expenses of the colony, which France wished Spain to pay, back to 1763, the Marquis of Grimaldi, who was a member of the cabinet of Madrid, wrote as follows, on the 11th of May, 1767, to the Count of Fuentes, the ambassador of Spain at Versailles :
"Ulloa arrived at New Orleans, only on the 5th of March, 1766. He did not then take possession, for the motives already explained. The Duke of Praslint will
* A Presidio is both a Spanish and Mexican establishment, half barracks and half jail for refractory soldiers and unfortunate convicts.
t One of the French Ministers.
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LETTER OF THE MARQUIS OF GRIMALDI.
recollect that there were doubts on our part, as to the acceptation of the donation tendered by his most Christian Majesty. But, as the same reasons which had made France believe in the necessity of the ces- sion, prompted Spain to accept it, the king gave it his assent, although it was well known that we were ac- quiring nothing, but an annual incumbrance of two hun- dred and fifty to three hundred thousand dollars, in con- sideration of a distant and negative utility-which is- that of possessing a country to prevent its being pos- sessed by another nation.
" After all, there never was any stipulation, as to the time when Spain should take possession of Louisiana, and it ought not to be a matter of astonishment, if we have not been in a hurry to do so, because, if the colony is profitable, we have been the sufferers by the delay; and if not, what reason could we have to change our ordinary way of proceeding, and to run after an onerous burden ? This, sir, is the cause of our surprise at the Duke of Praslin's insinuation, that we may be called upon to pay all the expenses of the colony, from 1763, when the cession was made. France would have as good grounds, to ask us to pay all her expenses in Louisiana since its foundation .. What makes this pretension still more singular is, that, from the date of the cession to Ulloa's arrival at New Orleans, it is France which has had the absolute enjoy- ment of all the commercial advantages of that colony, which advantages she continues to enjoy to the present day, when the expenses of administration are no longer hers. Not a single Spanish vessel has as yet gone to Louisiana, with a cargo of merchandise. So far, that trade is monopolized by French ships. Would it be just that France, when reaping all the profits that the country can afford, should require of us to pay the
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- RETURN OF JEAN MILHET.
expenses which had been incurred, before Spain had set her foot in that new possession ?
" The King, always ready to avoid causing the least prejudice to the interests of the Most Christian King, his cousin, although knowing from the beginning, that the colony was an unprofitable charge, although Mr. de Ulloa was prevented from taking possession of. it, through the want of co-operation of the French troops, on which we had been led to believe that we could rely, and although all the commerce of the colony has not ceased to be in the hands of the French, the King, I say, has declared, that he would assume all the expenses incurred since Ulloa's arrival."
Towards the end of the year 1767, Jean Milhet returned from France, whither, it will be recollected, he had been sent as a delegate by the colonists, in 1765, to remonstrate against the treaty of cession of Louisi- ana. His long absence had contributed to feed the hopes of his fellow citizens, who supposed that he would not have remained away for so long a time, if he had not seen a fair prospect of success in his mission. But when, on his return, he put to flight all the illusions with which they had deluded themselves, their exaspera- tion reached its climax, and they did not fear to give to Ulloa an open manifestation of all their aversion for the Spanish domination.
Thus closed the year 1767. The 17th and 18th of January, 1768, were the two coldest days that had ever been known in Louisiana. All the orange trees perished, a second time, throughout the colony, as in 1748. In front of New Orleans, the river was frozen, on both sides, to thirty and forty feet from its banks.
The rigor of the season did not divert the attention of the inhabitants from the main calamity which was impending over them, and the thermometer of agitation
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ULLOA'S TASTES, HABITS, AND DISPOSITION.
was daily rising in the colony. There seemed to be a fixed determination, to construe into an offence everything that Ulloa could say or do. His manner of living, his tastes, his habits, his conversations, the most trivial occurrences in his household, were interpreted so as to keep up the excitement; and the estrangement between the people and their new governor had become complete.
Ulloa was a man of the most amiable dispositions, but he was of that nervous, excitable temperament, which is said to be the attribute of those who conse- crate their days and nights to study. He, who had associated with Newton, with Folkes, La Condamine, Voltaire, and the most distinguished men of the age, he, whose society was courted in the m .st polite circles of Europe, found himself suddenly thrown into an uncon- . genial atmosphere, and soon discovered that he was very little appreciated by those whom he had been sent to govern. His desire to please was met with cold repulse ; his plans to benefit were not understood; the expression of his determination to correct certain abuses, was tortured into threats of oppression and into an invasion of established rights. Even the superiority of his high intellectual and moral qualifications, unfitted . him to be the welcome guest which he otherwise might have been. His sense of rectitude revolted at many things, on which he commented perhaps in terms too severe, and he was thought to be harsh and cruel. Averse to convivialities and to worldly amusements, a man of spare habits, he had little in common, as to tastes and pursuits, with those among whom he had come to live ; and as he allowed his indifference to fel- lowship with them to become visible, and, as in several instances, when surrounded by the magnates of the land, he had been observed to be moody and abstracted,
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ULLOA'S TASTES, HABITS, AND DISPOSITION.
he was reported to be supercilious and haughty. At times, when interrupted in his favorite studies, to listen to some petty grievance or some trivial application, he had received the intruder with some peevishness of manner, or with cutting sarcasm, and hence he was said to be ill tempered and prejudiced. Ulloa could not but be alive to the painfulness of the situation in which he was placed; and the injustice with which he was treated, made him perhaps unjust to others. He had been goaded into contempt for the colony and its inhabitants ; and, conscious of his worth, he took very little pains to conceal, that he considered himself as being very much out of his element in Louisiana. Placed amidst a poor and illiterate community of a few thousand souls, in a country hardly redeemed from its primitive character of a wilderness, he had very little space left for the range of his great native and acquired powers of intellect. Therefore, he may well be sup- posed to have felt the agonies of a mind, used to expan- sion without limits, then suddenly confined within the narrowest possible space, and to have realized the existence of the fair spirit of the air, which, as we read of in fairy tales, a hostile magician had corked up in a bottle. Hence, he was soured into discontent and lived in retirement waiting for better times.
But to those who frequented his house, as retainers or friends, he showed himself to the best advantage, and excited their warmest admiration. Thyce times a week, he threw open his saloons, where, abots, the same visitors, few in number, used to assemble. There was not above a score of the colonists and of the French officers, who ventured to attend on these occasions. They were those who did not fear to abstain from showing hostility to the Spanish Governor, and who had thereby made themselves obnoxious to the majority of
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UNPOPULARITY OF HIS WIFE.
the inhabitants, and to their brother officers, who pur- sucd a different course. Thus Aubry, Bellevue, Vaugine, Roche, Populus de St. Protais, Grand-Pre, Grand-Maison, Olivier de Vezin, Reggio, De Lachaise, Dreux, Maxent, and others, had, by their attendance at Ulloa's house, the moral courage to show openly their adhesion to the Spanish government. Foucault, the Intendant Commissary, would occasionally appear, but as it was well known that his sympathies were on the side of the opposition, he came, as it were, in his offi- cial capacity only, was received as such with cold for- mality, and as, under such circumstances, he could not help laboring under some degree of embarrassment, he would soon relieve himself, by never remaining long in an atmosphere, in which he did not feel at ease.
On these evenings, the late Marchioness of Abrado, now the Señora de Ulloa, was the centre of attraction. To great personal beauty she joined a cultivated mind, the accomplishment of musical talent, and the fascina- tion of manner of the high bred lady. On Ulloa's re- turn to Spain, she became an object of admiration at the court of Madrid. But, in Louisiana, she had shared the unpopularity of her husband, and few of the French ladies in the colony had paid her the respectful atten- tions and civilities, to which she was entitled. The aversion entertained for her husband, her very rank, her wealth, the other advantages which she possessed, and . which, probably, were too many things at once to be forgiven and forgotten, had perhaps contributed to pro- duce the feeling of alienation that was exhibited in her regard. This feeling the Señora de Ulloa had made no efforts to overcome, and had even given it more in- tensity, by appearing provokingly indifferent to the solitude in which she was left by those of her sex. Nay, she unconsciously provoked resentment and pas-
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CONVERSATIONAL POWERS OF ULLOA.
sionate abuse, by showing herself in public, attended by several young Indian girls, whom she had brought over with her from Peru, whom she delighted to fondle, as pets or favorites, and whom she treated almost with that kind of familiarity which is used only towards equals. Owing to this circumstance, much blame was thrown upon her in the colony, for keeping low company, as it was said, and for associating with mulatresses. The haughty smile and the merriment, with which the aristocratic lady received this report, when carried up to her ears, gave still deeper offence to the community.
No man could be more entertaining than Ulloa, in his moments of relaxation. He was sprightly and even playful, and his conversation was a rich mixture of humorous wit and deep learning. As a man who had made himself famous by his travels, he had an inex- haustible fund of observations on the countries and nations, with which he had become familiar ; and as one who had left no field of science unexplored, he brought to bear even on the most commonplace topic, such a variety of knowledge, that he clothed with interest what did not seem to admit of any. His favorite posi- tion was to stand up at the mantel corner of the fire- place, and there, with his hands behind his back, his eyes sparkling, and his face beaming with animation, he gathered round him and kept, as it were fettered by a spell, a group of admiring listeners. He was a man of middle stature, stooping a little, with pale cheeks, thoughtful brow, limbs thin and spare-in a word-the very prototype of the lover of the midnight lamp.
As a matter of course, all the Spanish functionaries and officers were present on these occasions. Of them the most conspicuous were : Loyola, the Commissary of War and Intendant, Gayarre, the Contador, or Royal Comptroller and Auditor, Navarro, the Treasurer, Pier-
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LETTER OF AUBRY.
nas, the commander of the two companies of foot that had come with Ulloa, and d'Acosta, the captain of the frigate which had transported the Spanish Governor to the colony, and which had ever since remained in the river. They were men of merit, and by their urbanity of manner and various accomplishments, they contri- buted their share to the pleasantness of the passing hour.
On the 20th of January, 1768. Aubry wrote to his government : "I am still waiting for the arrival of the Spanish troops, without which it is absolutely impossi- ble that Ulloa should take possession of the colony. In the mean time, the affairs are conducted as much as possible as if it had been effected.
" But I am in one of the most extraordinary posi- tions. I command for the king of France, and, at the same time, I govern the colony as if it belonged to the king of Spain. A French commander is gradually moulding Frenchmen to Spanish domination. The
· Spanish Governor urges me to issue ordinances, in rela- tion to the police and commerce of the country, which take the people by surprise, considering that they are not used to such novelties. This colony is an instru- ment which it is necessary to take to pieces and to remodel, so as to make it play to the Spanish tune. The Spanish flag is now waving at the extremities of the province. It is at the Balize, at Missouri, on the bank of the Iberville river, and opposite Natchez. Mr. de Ulloa has just established these four posts, and has distributed among them the ninety soldiers that came with him. This operation was executed peaceably, without any accident, and has produced no change in our posts, which still continue in existence as for the past, so that, in all those which are on the banks of the Mississippi, from the Balize to the Illinois, the French flag is kept up as before.
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CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE SPANIARDS.
" It is no pleasant mission to govern a colony, which undergoes so many revolutions, which has not known, for three years, whether it is Spanish or French, and which, until Spain shall take formal possession, is, to speak properly, without a master. When that event shall happen, I shall feel authorized to say to Mr. de Ulloa, that I deliver into his hands a Spanish colony, considering the changes and novelties which I have in- troduced in concert with him, during its French ad- ministration.
" It seems to me that Mr. de Ulloa is frequently too punctilious, and raises difficulties about trifles. We sometimes dispute about things which are clear and just beyond any possible doubt, and about which there would be no discussion, even between two private indi- viduals in a state of poverty." With regard to Ulloa, he was so well pleased with Aubry, that, on his recom- mendation, the Spanish Government made to that offi- cer a present of three thousand dollars.
Two thirds of the year, 1768, had passed away in apparent quiet. But a secret conspiracy had been kept alive in the town of New Orleans and in the neighbor- ing parishes, to drive away the Spaniards from the colony. The chief conspirators were some of its most influential men, such as : Lafrenière, the king's Attorney- General, Foucault, the Intendant Commissary, Masan, a retired captain of infantry, a wealthy planter, and a knight of St. Louis, Marquis, a captain in the Swiss troops enlisted in the service of France, Noyan, a retired captain of cavalry, and Bienville, a lieutenant in the navy, both, the nephews of Bienville, the founder of the colony, Doucet, a distinguished lawyer, Jean and Joseph Milhet, Caresse, Petit, and Poupet, who were among the principal merchants, Hardy de Boisblanc, a former member of the Superior Council and a
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CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE SPANIARDS. 1
planter of note, Villeré, the commander of the German coast.
Lafrenière was a native of Louisiana, and of an obscure family His father, a poor Canadian, who had followed Bienville to Louisiana, had, by dint of indus- try, acquired some fortune, and had sent his son to be educated in France. A plebeian by birth, Lafrenière had the majestic aspect of a king, so much so, that he had been nicknamed Louis XIV. He was a man of strong passions, expensive tastes, and domineering tem- per. He was gifted with considerable eloquence, bor- dering, it is true, on the bombastic, but well calculated to produce an impression on the masses. His ambition was unbounded, and was supported by an indomitable energy. He had those qualifications of mind, soul, and temperament, which, under different circumstances, will, however paradoxical it may appear, make a man feel and act, truly and honestly to himself and to others, · either as an intense aristocrat, or as an impetuous demagogue, a devoted tribune of the people-that being, whom Shakspeare calls: " the tongue of the common mouth." This was the man who was the acknowledged leader of the anti Spanish party, and his efforts had been incessant, to pave the way to the contemplated insurrection.
A secret association had been formed, and the chiefs of the conspiracy used to meet, either at Masan's house, or at a house situated out of the precincts of the town, but contiguous to it, which belonged to one Mrs. Pradel, who was the avowed mistress of the Intendant Foucault. This house was surrounded by a large gar- den, thickly shaded with those magnificent trees, which are the pride of Louisiana. There the conspirators used to resort, at night, one by one, from different directions, and discussed the plans they had prepared.
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CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE SPANIARDS.
There, after the dangerous occupation for which they had met was over, they sauntered in the perfumed alleys of roses, myrtles and magnolias of their fair associate in the partnership of conspiracy, and then they ended the evening in merriment and in the enjoyment of a luxurious banquet. This circumstance puts one in mind of the meeting, as related by Alfred de Vigny, of young Cinq-mars and his friends, at the house of the faithless courtezan Marion de Lorme, when that unfor- tunate favorite of Louis XIII. dared to head a conspi- racy against the omnipotent and all-seeing minister, Cardinal Richelieu. But the secret of this conspiracy was better kept than that of the one to which I have alluded, and Aubry and Ulloa were not informed of it, before the 25th of October, when it was too late and all was ready to insure success.
The Germans and Acadians had been long tampered with, and Ulloa having lately sent Maxent, with bags of dollars, to pay these people, for grains and other provi- sions which the Spanish Government had bought, and of which the payment had been delayed, the conspira- tors became apprehensive that this circumstance would operate unfavorably for them, on these Germans and Acadians, whom they had persuaded that their claims would never be acknowledged and settled. Therefore, when Maxent stopped at the house of D'Arensbourg, the old Swedish captain, who, it will be remembered, had come to the colony, in 1721, after having distinguished himself at the battle of Pultawa, and who was one of the most respected inhabitants of Louisiana, he was arrested by Verret, under the authority of Villere, who commanded at the German coast, and all the govern- ment money was taken away from him. A capuchin, who was the curate of that settlement, had been one of the most active tools of the conspirators, and, by circu-
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GENERAL INSURRECTION.
lating every kind of exciting rumors, he had powerfully helped them in inducing the Germans and Acadians to rise against the Spaniards.
On the 27th, Foucault convened a meeting of the Superior Council for the next day. During the night, the guns which were at the Tchoupitoulas gate, were spiked, and, the next morning, on the 28th, the Acadians, headed by Noyan, and the Germans by Villeré, entered the town, armed with fowling-pieces, with muskets, and all sorts of weapons. The planters who lived below New Orleans, also forced its gates and joined the other confederates. Marquis had been ap- pointed commander-in-chief of the insurgents, and immediately entered into the duties of his new office. The town became the theatre of fearful alarm and con- fusion. The Spanish frigate broke the bridge which connected her with the bank of the river, and moved off to cast anchor in deeper water. The rumor that she was going to fire at the town produced the wildest excitement. All the private and public houses closed their doors, and heavy patrols of the insurgents, who were completely masters of New Orleans, paraded through its streets.
Aubry took, with great celerity and energy, all the necessary measures to protect the Spaniards, and to", save Ulloa from injury. He had cartridges distributed to his men, who numbered only one hundred and ten, the rest being scattered throughout the colony in its dif- ferent posts, and had them ready for action. He assembled their officers, and told them that he would dic, rather than suffer that a hair should be touched on Ulloa's head, and that he relied on their zeal and fideli- ty. He sent for Lafrenière, and urged him to desist from an enterprise, which would be his perdition and the ruin of the colony; he told him that he would
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GENERAL INSURRECTION.
oppose it with force and arms, and that a great deal of blood would be shed. Seeing that he could not change Lafrenière's resolution, he added : " Well, sir, remem- ber that the chiefs of a conspiracy have always met with a tragical end." He sent also for Foucault, and asked him what side he would take. On Foucault's answering with his usual ambiguity, Aubry told him that he would ruin himself beyond redemption, if he did not oppose so atrocious a rebellion. But he could not prevail on Foucault to pursue any decided course. His appeals to the other leaders were equally fruitless. In the evening, seeing that, to use his own expressions, all was in a state of combustion, he waited on Ulloa, and, in- forming him that he could not answer for his life, re- quested him to retire with his wife on board of the frigate of his Catholic Majesty. He then accompanied the Spanish Governor to that place of security, and left with him an officer and twenty men.
On the first appearance of danger, Gayarre, Loyola, Navarro, and the other few Spaniards, who were in the town, with some of their French adherents and friends, who had showed themselves true in the hour of trial, had gathered round Ulloa to die with or save him. They had barricaded his house, and put it in such a state of de- fence, as would have enabled them to stand a siege, and to sell their lives dearly. After Ulloa's retreat to the frigate, they remained in the same position, expecting to be attacked at every moment, and continued in that state of imminent danger and anxious suspense, for three or four days. Occasionally, the people would come rushing on, as it were to storm the fortifications which had been got up on the spur of the moment, and, utter- ing fierce shouts, would, with wild gestures, heap abuse on the Spaniards and their king, and deafen their ears with loud hurrahs for the King of France. But, on
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GENERAL INSURRECTION.
every one of these occasions, some of the chiefs among the insurgents, who seemed determined to keep the people from committing any unnecessary outrage, appeared among them, and by their exhortations, in- duced them to abstain from deeds of violence, and to act with that magnanimity which the consciousness of
vast superiority of force ought to inspire. They assured them that the Spaniards would retire without resistance, and thereby succeeded, every time, in draw- ing them away from the spot, to which they were but too often recalled by their excited passions. Besides, it was evident, from the most cursory survey, made even by an unmilitary eye, of the preparations visible in what might be called the little stronghold of the Spaniards, that, with the unyielding temper which is the so well known attribute of their race, they had made them- selves ready for the most desperate struggle. This, also, contributed perhaps to ward off the threatened blow. The following passage in Aubry's letter to O'Reilly, when rendering an account of these events, shows how great the danger had been : "Several times," said he, " the party of the rebels and that of the Spaniards, which certainly was not the strongest, were near coming to blows. Should that misfortune have happened, your Excellency would now be treading on the ashes of New Orleans."
In compliance with Foucault's convocation, the Superior Council had met at eight o'clock on the morn- ing of the 28th. The members present were: Fou- cault, Lafrenière, Huchet de Kernion, De Launay, and Laplace, the rest of the council being absent for the alleged cause of sickness. Caresse was then intro- duced, and presented a petition, signed by about six hundred planters, merchants, and others, demanding the restoration of some liberties and ancient rights, the
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