USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 14
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PETITION FOR THE EXPULSION OF ULLOA.
granting of new privileges, and the expulsion of Ulloa and of the other Spanish officers. This petition, which is said to have been written by Lafrenière and Doucet, was not read, but was referred to Huchet de Kernion and De Launay, with instructions to report on the following day. On the proposition of Lafrenière, who represented that there would not be a full council at the next meeting, on account of sickness among the members, and that it was impossible to delay action on a matter of so much importance, it was determined that supernumerary members of the council be appointed. On the joint recommendation of Foucault and Lafre- nière, Messrs. Hardy de Boisblanc, Thomassin, Fleuriau, Bobé, Ducros, and Labarre were elected, and a resolu- tion was passed, inviting them to be present at the meeting of the 29th.
The petition presented to the Superior Council for the expulsion of Ulloa had been signed in a large assembly, which had taken place early on the 28th, and which had been addressed with great vehemence by Lafrenière, Doucet, Jean and Joseph Milhet.
On the 29th, the Superior Council met at nine o'clock in the morning, to take into consideration that petition. To back it, the insurgents, to the number of about one thousand, were assembled on the public square, round a white flag, which they had hoisted up in its centre, and declared that they would exterminate all the Spaniards and their adherents, if the decree of expulsion should not be issued, because they were deter- mined to submit to no other government than that of France. The Superior Council, composed of thirteen members, before deliberating, inquired of Aubry, through its president, whether Ulloa had exhibited to him his powers to take possession of the colony in the name of the King of Spain. Aubry answered that
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nothing very decisive had ever been shown to him on the subject. Then the Attorney General rose and said :*
" Gentlemen : the first and most interesting point to be examined, is the step taken by all the planters and merchants in concert, who being threatened with slavery, and laboring under grievances which have been enumerated, address your tribunal, and require justice for the violations of the solemn act of cession of this colony.
" Is yours a competent tribunal ? are these complaints just ?
" I shall now proceed to demonstrate the extent of the royal authority vested in the Superior Council. The parliaments and Superior Council are the depositaries of the laws, under the protection of which the people live happy ; they are created and organized to be, from the very nature of their official tenure, the sworn patrons of virtuous citizens ; and they are established for the purpose of executing the ordinances, edicts, and declarations of kings, after they are registered. Such has been the will and pleasure of Louis the well- beloved, our Liege Lord and King, in whose name all your decrees, to the present day, have been issued and carried into execution. The act of cession, the only title of which his Catholic Majesty's commissioner can avail himself, to make his demands auctoritate et pro- prictate, was addressed to the late Mr. D'Abbadie, with orders to cause it to be registered in the Superior Council of the colony, to the end that the different classes of the said colony may be informed of its contents, and may be enabled to have recourse to it upon occasion, that instrument being calculated for no other purpose.
* Note. See all the proceedings in the Appendix.
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PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COUNCIL.
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" Mr. Ulloa's letter, dated from Havana, July 10th, 1765, which expresses his dispositions to do the inha- bitants all the services they can desire, was addressed to you, gentlemen, with a request to make it known to the said inhabitants, that in thus acting, he would only discharge his duty and gratify his inclinations. The said letter was, by your decree, after full delibera- tion, published, set up, and registered, as a pledge to the inhabitants, of happiness and tranquillity. Another letter of the month of October last, written to Mr. Aubry, proves that justice still continues to be admi- nistered in the colony, in the name of Louis the well beloved. It results from the solemn act of cession and its accessories, that the planters, merchants and other inhabitants have the most solid basis to stand upon, when they present you with their most humble remon- strances ; and that you, Gentlemen, are fully authorized to pronounce thereupon. Let us now proceed to a scrupulous examination of the act of cession, and of the letter written by Ulloa to the Superior Council. I think it likewise incumbent on me to cite, word for word, an extract of the King's letter, which was published, set up, and registered.
" This very solemn act of cession, which gives the title of property to his Catholic Majesty, secures for the inhabitants of the colony the preservation of ancient and known privileges ; and the royal word of our sovereign Lord the King promises, and gives us ground to hope for, others, which the calamities of war have prevented him from making his subjects enjoy. The ancient privileges having been suppressed by the authority of his Catholic Majesty's commissioner, pro- perty becomes precarious. The act of cession, which was the mere result of good will and friendship, was made with reserves which confirm the liberties and
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privileges of the inhabitants, and which promise them a life of tranquillity, under the protection and shelter of their canon and civil laws. As property accruing from a cession by free right cannot be claimed and obtained, except on the condition of complying, during the whole possession of said property, with the reserves contained in said act of cession, our sovereign Lord the King hopes and flatters himself that, in consequence of the friendship and affection shown by his Catholic Majesty, he will be pleased to give such orders to his governor, and to other officers employed in his service in that colony, as may be conducive to the advantage and tranquillity of the inha- bitants, and that they shall be ruled, and their fortunes and estates managed according to the laws, forms and customs of said colony. Can Mr. Ulloa's titles give authority to ordinances and orders, which violate the respect due to the solemn act of cession ? The ancient privileges, the tranquillity of the subjects of France, the laws, forms and customs of the colony are rendered sacred by a royal promise, by a registering ordered by the Superior Council and by a publication solemnly decreed and universally known. The sole aim of the letter of our sovereign Lord the King, was to grant to the different . classes of the colony a recourse to the act of cession. Therefore, nothing can be better grounded or more legal than the right of remonstrating, which the inha bitants and citizens of the colony have acquired by royal authority.
"Let us proceed to an examination of the letter of Mr. Ulloa, written to the Superior Council of New Orleans, dated the 10th of July 1765. I shall here cite, word for word, the article relative to the Superior Council and the inhabitants :
" I flatter myself, beforehand, that it will afford me favorable opportunities, to render you all the services that
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you and the inhabitants of your town may desire-of which I beg you to give them the assurance from me, and to let them know that, in acting thus, I only discharge my duty and gratify my inclinations.
" Mr. de Ulloa proved thereby the orders which he had received from his Catholic Majesty, conformably to the solemn act of cession, and manifested a sentiment,. which is indispensable in any governor, who is desirous of rendering good services to his King in the colonies.
" Without population there can be no commerce, and without commerce, no population. In proportion to the extent of both, is the solidity of thrones; both are fed by liberty and competition, which are the nursing mothers of the State, of which the spirit of monopoly is the tyrant and step-mother. Without liberty, there are but few virtues. Despotism breeds pusillanimity and deepens the abyss of vices. Man is considered as sinning before God, only because he retains his free will. Where is the liberty of our planters, of our mer- chants and of all our inhabitants ? Protection and benevolence have given way to despotism; a single authority would absorb and annihilate every thing. All ranks, without distinction, can no longer, without running the risk of being taxed with.guilt, do any thing else but tremble, bow their necks to the yoke, and lick the dust. The Superior Council, bulwark of the tran- quillity of virtuous citizens, has supported itself only by the combined force of the probity and dis- interestedness of its members, and of the confidence of the people in that tribunal. Without taking possession of the colony, without registering, as was necessary, in the Superior Council, his titles and patents, according to the laws, forms and customs of the colony, and without presentation of the act of cession, Mr. de Ulloa has caused a president, three counsellors and a secretary,
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PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COUNCIL. 197
nominated for the purpose, to take cognizance of facts, which belonged to the jurisdiction of the Superior Council, and in which French citizens were concerned. Often did discontents and disgusts seem to force you to resign your places, but you have always considered it as a duty of your station of counsellors to the most Christian King, to alleviate and calm the murmurs of the oppressed citizens. The love of your country, and the sense of the justice due to every citizen who applies for it, have nourished your zeal. It has always been rendered with the same exactness; although you never thought proper to make representations on the infractions of the act of cession. You have always feared to give encouragement to a mass of discontented people, threatened with the most dreadful calamities ; you have preferred public tranquillity. But now, the whole body of the planters, merchants, and other inha- bitants of Louisiana apply to you for justice.
"Let us now proceed to an accurate and scrupulous examination of the grievances, complaints and impu- tations contained in the representations of the planters, merchants and other inhabitants. What sad and dismal pictures do the said representations bring before your eyes ! The scourges of the last war, a suspension to this day of the payment of seven millions of the King's paper money, issued to supply the calls of the service, and received with confidence by the inhabitants of the colony, had obstructed the ease and facility of the circulation, but the activity and industry of the planter and of the French merchant had almost got the better of all difficulties. The most remote corners of the possessions of the Savages had been discovered, the fur trade had been carried to its highest perfection, and the new culture of cotton, joined to that of indigo and tobacco, secured cargoes to those who were engaged
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PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COUNCIL.
in fitting out ships. The commissioner of his Catholic Majesty had promised ten years of free trade-that period being sufficient for every subject of France, attached to his sovereign Lord and King. But the tobacco of this colony being prohibited in Spain, where those of Havana are the only ones allowed, the timber (a considerable branch of the income of the inhabit- ants) being useless to Spain, which is furnished in this article by its possessions, and the indigo being inferior to that of Guatimala, which supplies more than is requisite to the manufactures of Spain, the returns of the commodities of the inhabitants of this colony to the Peninsula became a ruinous trade, and the inhabitants were delivered up to the most dreadful misery. His Catholic Majesty's commissioner had publicly declared his conviction of the impossibility of this country's trading with Spain ; all patronage, favor, and encourage- ment were formally promised to the inhabitants ; the title of protector was decreed to Mr. Ulloa; the hope and the activity necessary to the success of the planter were nourished by the faith and confidence reposed in these assurances of the Spanish governor.
" But by the effect of what undermining and imper- ceptible fatality, have we seen a house, worth twenty thousand livres, sold for six thousand, and plantations, all on a sudden, lose one half and two thirds of their intrinsic value ? Fortunes waste away, and specie is more scarce than ever ; confidence is lost, and dis- couragement becomes general; the plaintive cries of distress are heard on every side ; the precious name of subject of France is seen to be eclipsing itself, and the fatal decree concerning the commerce of Louisiana, gives the colony the last fatal stroke which must lead to its total annihilation. The Spanish flag is set up at the Balize, at the Illinois, and other places ; no title, no
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PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COUNCIL.
letters patent were presented to the Superior Council ; time flies apace ; the delays fixed for the liberty of emigration will soon expire, force will tyrannise, we shall be reduced to live in slavery and loaded with chains, or precipitately to forsake establishments trans- mitted down from the grand-father to the grandson. All the planters, merchants and other inhabitants of Louis- iana call upon you, to restore them to their sovereign Lord the King Louis the well beloved ; they tender to you their treasures and their blood to live and die French.
" Let us proceed to sum up the charges, grievances and imputations.
" Mr. de Ulloa has caused counsellors, named by himself, to take cognizance of facts, concerning French subjects, which appertained only to the jurisdiction of the Superior Council. The sentences of that new tribunal have been signified to, and put in execution against, Mess. Cadis and Leblanc. Mr. Ulloa has supported the negroes dissatisfied with their masters. He has presented to the Superior Council none of his titles, powers and provisions, as commissioner of his Catholic Majesty ; he has not exhibited his copy of the act of cession, in order to have it registered ; he has, without the said indispensable formalities, set up the Spanish flag at the Balize, at the Illinois, and other places ; he has, without legal authority, vexed, punished and oppressed subjects of France ; he has even confined some of them in the frigate of his Catholic Majesty ; he has, by his authority alone, usurped the fourth part of the common of the inhabitants of the town, has appropriated it to himself, and has caused it to be fenced in, that his horses might graze there.
"Having maturely weighed all this, I require in behalf of the King :
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" That the sentences pronounced by the counsellors nominated for the purpose, and put in execution against Mess. Cadis and Leblanc, subjects of France, be declared encroachments upon the authority of our sovereign Lord the King, and destructive of the respect due to his supreme justice, seated in his Superior Council, in as much as they violate the laws, forms and customs of the colony, confirmed and guarantied by the solemn act of cession.
" That Mr. de Ulloa be declared to have violated our laws, forms and customs, and the orders of his Catholic Majesty in relation to the act of cession, as it appears by his letter, dated from Havana, on the 10th of July, 1765.
" That he be declared usurper of illegal authority, by causing subjects of France to be punished and oppressed, without having previously complied with the laws, forms, and customs, in having his powers, titles and provisions registered by the Superior Council, with the copy of the act of cession.
" That Mr. Ulloa, commissioner of his Catholic Majesty, be enjoined to leave the colony in the frigate in which he came, without delay, to avoid accidents or new clamors, and to go and give an account of his conduct to his Catholic Majesty ; and with regard to the different posts established by the said Mr. Ulloa, that he be desired to leave in writing such orders, as he shall think necessary ; that he be declared responsible, for all the events which he might have foreseen ; and that Mess. Aubry and Foucault be requested and even summoned, in the name of our sovereign Lord the King, to continue to govern and administer the colony as heretofore.
" That all ships, sailing from this colony, shall not be despatched, without passports signed by Mr. Foucault,
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PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COUNCIL.
as intendant commissary of his most Christian Majesty.
"That the taking possession of the colony can neither be proposed nor attempted by any means, without new orders from his most Christian Majesty.
" That Messrs. Loyola, Gayarre, and Navarro be declared guarantees of their signature, on the bonds which they have issued, if they do not produce the orders of his Catholic Majesty, empowering them to issue said bonds and papers ; and that a sufficient time be granted them to settle their accounts.
" That the planters, merchants and other inhabitants be empowered to elect deputies, to carry their petitions and supplications to our sovereign Lord the King.
" That it be resolved and determined, that the Superior Council shall make representations to our sovereign Lord the King ; that its decree, when ready to be issued, be read, set up, published and registered.
" That collated copies thereof be sent to his Grace the Duke of Praslin, with a letter of the Superior Council, and likewise to all the posts of the colony, to be there read, set up, published and registered."
Then Mess. Huchet De Kernion and Piot De Launay, to whom the petition of the colonists had been referred, having made their report, the whole being duly weighed and deliberated upon, the attorney general having been heard and having retired, the Council proceeded to frame its decree.
Every one of the thirteen members gave his opinion separately, and in writing. Hardy de Boisblanc, during the deliberations, was observed to be one of the most violent advocates of the expulsion of Ulloa. Aubry, who had put his handful of men under arms, and who had been very active in every part of the town, to maintain order as much as possible, and to prevent the
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DECREE OF THE COUNCIL.
outbreaking of popular passion into deeds of blood, presented himself before the Council, and remonstrated against the decree, which, he was informed, they were going to adopt. He called their attention to the consequences of what they were doing, and to the magnitude of the affair, of which they presumed to take cognizance. He told them that they had no jurisdic- tion over the case on which they were preparing to decide, that Ulloa was the commissioner and represen- tative of a great king, and that they would provoke the resentment of their most Christian and Catholic Majes- ties, by sending him out of the colony. But seeing, he said, that neither prayers nor threats could produce any impression, except on two or three, who seemed to be moderate, and that the rest allowed themselves to be swayed by the sentiments of Lafrenière, he desisted from his vain attempts.
At 12 o'clock, the Superior Council adjourned, after having, with Foucault's exception, agreed on their decree. It was in conformity with Lafrenière's conclu- sions, which were all adopted, and almost in the very words he had used. The time allowed Ulloa to quit the colony, was only three days, and he was to depart, either in the frigate of his Catholic Majesty in which he had come, or in whatever other vessel he should think proper. Loyola, Gayarre and Navarro were permitted to remain to settle their accounts, but were made personally responsible for the bonds and papers they had put in circulation, unless they showed their authority to emit them, under the special orders of his Catholic Majesty. In conclusion, the Council said : " We order all our bailiff's and sergeants to perform all the acts and formalities requisite for carrying the present decree into execution ; we, at the same time, empower them to do so. We also enjoin the substitute
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OPINION OF FOUCAULT.
of the King's attorney general to superintend the execu- tion, and to apprize the court, thereof, in due time.
" Given at the Council chamber, on the 29th of October, 1768."
Foucault, who had been, under ground, one of the most ardent firebrands of the insurrection, and who had secretly goaded on the conspirators in every step they had taken, faithful to the plan he had followed, to shelter himself against any future contingencies of danger, to save his responsibility, and to insure his safety, by not breaking into any open and palpable act of rebellion, on the plea that, as the French King's intendant, he was restrained, and forced to a great deal of caution, by his official position, and that, by appearing not to be entirely with his associates, he could afford more real and effective aid to their cause, gave his opinion in writing, as follows :
" The intention of the King, our master, being that the colony should belong; fully and without reserve, to his Catholic Majesty, by virtue of the treaty of cession, my opinion is that none of the Spanish officers who have come here by order of their government, can be legally sent away ; that, considering the causes of dis- content enumerated in the petition of the citizens, and · Ulloa's omission to take possession of the colony with the usual formalities, he, the said Ulloa, should be pro- hibited from exercising the powers of Governor, in any- thing relating to the French subjects now in Louisiana, . or. who may come thereto, hereafter, either as colonists or not ; and that every thing appertaining to the com- merce carried on by the French and other nations with this colony, be regulated, as it was before his arrival ; nevertheless, that all the officers of the Spanish admi- nistration should continue their respective functions, in order to provide for the supplies necessary to the town
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PROTEST OF AUBRY.
and to the Posts, for the payment of all salaries, and for the expenses of the French troops, which will continue to serve, and of the works which will be deemed proper ; this, until the decision of the courts of France and Spain be known, reserving to the delegates of the people the right to address his Catholic Majesty, in the most respectful and lawful manner, in order to obtain the privileges they claim."
Aubry, with his characteristic energy and frankness of behavior, without hesitation or equivocation, pro- tested against the proceedings of the Council in these terms :
"I protest against the decree of the Council which dismisses Don Antonio de Ulloa from this colony. Their most Christian and Catholic Majesties will be offended at the treatment inflicted on a personage of his character ; and though I have so small a force subject to my orders, I would, with all my might, oppose his departure, were I not apprehensive of endangering his life, as well as the lives of all the Spaniards in the colony.
" Deliberated at the Council chamber, on the 29th of October, 1768."
At 2 o'clock P. M. the decree of the Superior Council was officially communicated to Ulloa on board of the frigate, and to the assembled insurgents. "The most intense enthusiasm," said the Council in a letter to the French government, "followed this information, when given to the people. Women and children were seen rushing at the post which supported the French flag, and kissing it with passion ; the air was rent with thousands of cries of: Long live the King ! Long live Louis the well beloved ! What a glorious moment, sire, for so great a monarch !"
On the adjournment of the Council, its members had
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REFLECTIONS ON LAFRENIÈRE'S ADDRESS.
been invited by Foucault to dine at his house. They took their seats at the table, at 2 o'clock, and at five, whilst they were enjoying the last course of the ban- quet, Noyan and some others entered the room, and, ad- dressing Foucault and Lafreniere, begged them to pre- vail on the Council to visit the Barracks, where all the planters, merchants and other colonists were assem- bled. Coffee,* to close the convivial festivity, was immediately called for, and then, at the request of Foucault and Lafrenière, the Council, in a body, with the exception of Messrs. Lalande d'Apremont and Huchet de Kernion, who said that they were sick and retired, proceeded to meet the insurgents, by whom they were welcomed with loud acclamations, and the welkin rang with tumultuous and prolonged cries of : Long live the King of France ! Long live Louis the well beloved ! These cries were responded to and repeated by the Council in a body. From the Barracks, the Council, followed by some citizens of note and conse- quence, went to Aubry's house. There, both Foucault and Lafrenière addressed him, and requested him to re- sume the government of the colony in the name of the King of France. Aubry again reproached them with what they had done, and said that they would soon see his prophecies realized.
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