USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 19
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" For these reasons and others to be deduced from them, my opinion is, that it is proper for the crown to abandon Louisiana to the French. It remains to be examined, whether the King can do so, without any forfeit of honor. Ulloa took possession of the govern- ment of the colony, only ad interim, so that said act may be considered as merely preparatory to the solemn formality of a final taking of possession, by the officers and troops he was waiting for ; and thus, according to my judgment, the offence is common to the two crowns, and should Louisiana remain in the hands of France, it would become her sense of self dignity, not to suffer to go unpunished those who have disobeycd the orders of her king."
On the 31st (March), Don Juan Gregorio Muniain closed the consultation with the following concise opinion :
" The situation of the colony of New-Orleans which, with its limits, extends itself all along the right bank of the Mississippi, as far as the unknown mountains, many leagues beyond its meeting with the Missouri, secures the following advantages :
"1º .- It establishes between New-Mexico and the territories ceded to England invariable limits, such as the course of a river which preserves its name from its source to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.
" 2º .- By giving to that colony the same uniform
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system of government which has been imposed on all our American provinces, and by keeping in active service at the port of New-Orleans a small and light frigate, we shall repress the commercial frauds which are meditated against us from Florida, and put a stop to the contraband trade.
" 3º .- By encouraging the cultivation of wheat, and other grains and plants, we shall promote a trade in flour and vegetables, of extreme utility to Havana, Puerto-Rico and the other Islands.
"4º .- It seems to me that the expenses attending the preservation and administration of that colony, cannot be greater than those to which we were put in Florida, by the possession of St. Augustin, Pensacola and Apalache, and those which we incur, at present, in maintaining our Presidios in New-Mexico, some of which, if not all, could be suppressed with advantage.
" 5º .- In order to avoid that the English establish themselves without opposition in our territory, by crossing the river Mississippi, it will be necessary to erect some small fortified posts according to the fashion of the country, that will serve as scouts, and will advise the governor of the colony of the least possible change.
"6º .- Should this colony be ceded to France with all its territorial enlargement, that power might extend itself towards Mexico, and establish with that country an illicit commerce, as the merchants of that nation have already done. Besides, should France be worsted in war by the English, she would have an object of value to offer to them, to obtain an advantageous peace for her establishments in Africa and Asia.
" For these reasons I am of opinion, that it is proper to keep possession of the colony of New Orleans with all its limits."
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GRIMALDI'S LETTER TO FUENTES.
These deliberations of the statesmen of Spain, in 1769, show, in an interesting manner, the policy which guided her in the formation and prosecution of her colonial system, and give the key to her subsequent adminis- tration of Louisiana. But it is impossible to peruse them without a smile, when taken in connexion with those wonderful events, those political, moral, social and national transformations, and those irresistible workings of the human mind, which have since so changed the face of the world, in little more than three quarters of a century. To the eye of philosophy, how illustrative is it of the vanity of man, when, with his puny foresight and blind wisdom, he strains to look into futurity, and, attempting to prepare for its exigen- cies, builds up his tower of strength, which he fancies of sufficiently enduring materials to meet. those anti- cipated necessities, of which time only has the secret !
It has been seen that only one minister, in the council of Spain, was of opinion that Louisiana ought to be re- turned to France. Some time after, in the month of May, the Marquis of Grimaldi informed the Count of Fuentes, the Spanish ambassador at the Court of Ver- sailles, of all the proceedings which had taken place at the Court of Madrid, and said :
" The King approved of the conclusions to which had come the council of ministers, not only on account of the reasons by them expressed, but also on considering that, if what had occurred in Louisiana remained un- punished, this bad example might have a fatal influence over our other American possessions, and even over those of the other powers, in which a spirit of sedition and independence has begun to spread, as it appears by what lately happened to the French themselves in the Island of St. Domingo. His Majesty concluded also, that from his being essentially in possession of Louisiana in
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GRIMALDI'S LETTER TO FUENTES.
virtue of a very legitimate title, although it is not com- pleted by the ceremony of taking possession, that colony was to be reputed a province of the crown, and its in- habitants, his subjects; from which it resulted that it appertained to his Majesty alone, to recover that pos- session, and to punish the temerity of the colonists, and the offence of which they have been guilty towards his government and his people. His Majesty thought also, that it was necessary that it be seen throughout the world, that he knew and was able, without the assistance of any foreign power, to repress the audacity of sedition, and all designs whatever, derogatory to the respect due to his dignity and to his crown. In accordance with these principles, his Majesty has resolved to use force to reduce the rebels to submission, and has ordered that the necessary measures to that effect be taken without delay.
" Don Alexandro O'Reilly, Inspector and Lieutenant general of the royal armies, had already been designated by the King to repair to Havana and to other cities in New-Spain, in order to review the troops and militia, and it seemed to his Majesty that this officer could at the same time be intrusted with the expedition against Louisiana. Consequently, being ordered to hasten his departure, O'Reilly immediately went to Cadix, where he found a frigate which had been prepared for him. He embarked, and he must be, at present, near the Is- land of Cuba. He has drawn none of his means of operation from Cadix, because it was thought proper to conceal the object of his commission. To that effect, he received an ostensible order, which treated of nothing else than of inspection and general review, but he well knew that he would find at Havana all of which he stood in need. The instruction given to him was, to take at that place the battalions of infantry, the ammunition
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GRIMALDI'S LETTER TO FUENTES.
. and the other materials which he might deem neces- sary, to transport himself to Louisiana, and, after having taken possession of her in the name of his Majesty, to . have the heads of the rebellion tried and punished ac- cording to law, and then to remove out of the colony all the individuals and families, whose presence might endanger its tranquillity. He was also ordered to pro- vide for the military and police organization of the pro- vince, to establish the necessary rules for a correct administration of justice and of the finances, to secure the dependence and the subordination of the inhabitants, and to frame the new form of government-the whole, according to the verbal instructions which had been or might be given to him. He takes along with him persons learned in the law, who will superintend the judicial proceedings, and he has been authorized to have recourse to the force of arms, in case the inhabitants should oblige him to resort to it by their resistance. It seemed proper to invest Don Alexandro O'Reilly with these extensive powers, on account of the distance at which we are from that country. But, as the King, whose character is well known, is always inclined to be mild and clement, he has ordered O'Reilly to be informed that his will is, that a lenient course be pursued in the colony, and that expulsion from it be the only punish- ment inflicted on those who have deserved a more severe one.
" I could have informed you sooner of all this, but, as you will not have to act in the matter, because the King has assumed to take satisfaction himself for the offence committed by the inhabitants of the colony, we judged that it would be useless to send you, by the ordinary courier, the great mass of papers which would be neces- sary, to make you acquainted with all that had occurred. I had also thought of transmitting to you, with these
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GRIMALDI'S LETTER TO FUENTES. .
documents, the Memoria! or Manifesto published by the inhabitants of Louisiana. But I am persuaded that a printed copy of it must have reached you, considering that it has been republished in France, with the decree of the Superior Council. I do not think that I am at liberty to conceal from you, Sir, that, when the King was made aware of the insolent language of that docu- ment, he felt greatly indignant, and that his indignation was not less, when he was informed that the authors of that memorial had not only succeeded in making it public, but also had caused to be inserted in different European gazettes, under the head of a Paris article, a certain composition in which our government and nation wcre represented under the blackest colors. The entire freedom with which the delegates from the colony are allowed to remain in Paris has contributed, not a little, to the publication of those insolent declamations, and our enemies may have imagined that these men were not disapproved by the minister of his most Christian Majesty, from the fact that not the slightest demonstra- tion has been made against them. I must however assure you that the King never suspected any thing of the sort, and that, besides, he is convinced that the honor of his government and the credit of his nation can never depend upon the invectives of gazetiers, and of those who are their instigators. But I must tell you frankly, that the delicate feelings of his Majesty would never have allowed him, had he been in the place of his cousin of France, to be satisfied with closing his cars to those who style themselves the delegates of the colony, and that he certainly would have caused to be punished, the audacity of reprinting and republishing in Spain, injurious writings to the government of his most Christian Majesty and to the French nation. His Majesty thought that we must not remain contented with the intimate
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GRIMALDI'S LETTER TO FUENTES.
union which binds the two monarchs and the two ministers, but that we must make it embrace the two nations, and he is certain that writings of this kind will not produce such results. Your Excellency knows very well that the loss of great interests is looked upon in Spain with indifference, but that it is not so with regard to insults and contumelies.
" As soon as we received the said manifesto of the colonists, it was determined that Mr. de Ulloa should answer the fables and the exaggerated accusations which it contains. But before his being informed of this determination, he had anticipated our intentions, and had sent from Cadix the communication hereto an- nexed. The copy of it which I send you, with the abstract which accompanies it, renders, as it were, use- less, all the other papers which I had intended to for- ward to you. These two documents will demonstrate to you, that the true object of the inhabitants of the colony, and particularly of the heads of the sedition, was to live in the most absolute independence, without laws, without police and without order, and that the King has treated, and intended to treat them, at all future time, with kindness, and to favor them with marks of predilec- tion and with a grant of liberty, far different from those which his other American colonies have been permitted to enjoy, whatever may be their merit, and whatever services they may have rendered to the metropolis.
" You will give an account of the whole of this to the Duke of Choiseul, and you will ask him for a letter or declaration from his Most Christian Majesty, in improbation of the conduct of the inhabitants of Louisiana. You will beg that minister to invite his Most Christian Majesty to declare, that the said inhabitants of the colony, being the subjects of the king his cousin, must throw themselves upon his mercy
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GRIMALDI'S LETTER TO FUENTES.
and live under his laws. The act of cession of the colony, as you will see by a mere reference to the copy, was absolute, and without any obligation whatever on the part of the King. Only, in the letter subsequently written to Mr. D'Abbadie, with regard to the delivering up of the colony to Spain, his Most Christian Majesty insinuated to the King his cousin his expectations, that his Catholic Majesty would maintain the inhabitants in the enjoyment of their privileges. This is what the King was resolved upon, and he had even issued orders accordingly, but said inhabitants have made themselves unworthy of this favor by their rebellion.
" This is all, sir, that I have to request you to attend to, for the present ; for although the Gazette of France* ought, as a matter of course, to have disavowed the article inserted in some of the papers of the Low Countries under the head of Paris News, it would now be a little too late to do so, and it would not become us to solicit such a thing. We have contented ourselves with writing to Vienna and Holland, to have the remedy applied to the evil."
The old hereditary temper of Spain is condensed in this composition, and particularly in this phrase : " Your Excellency knows very well that the loss of great interests is looked upon in Spain with indifference, but that it is not so with regard to insults and contumclies." As an expression of feelings and sentiments, as an exhibition of cold and solemn majesty, this document is as characteristic, in its way, of the Spanish nation, as the awe inspiring grandeur of that architectural wonder, the well known palace of the Escurial.
While the fate of Louisiana was thus discussed and settled in Spain, that colony had resumed a certain degree of apparent tranquillity, but it is to be questioned
* The official journal.
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SYMPTOMS OF REACTION.
whether it was not as much the torpor occasioned by fear, as the calm which betokens true repose and a sense of security. Now that the revolution had been accomplished, its results could be measured with more accuracy. Now that the storm was hushed, that the angry waves were smoothed into a liquid plain, it was casy to discover if any thing was left floating on its surface to inspire hope. Now that the excitement of action had given way to the considerate workings of reflection, there was ample leisure to examine the extent and nature of the dangers which had been brooding, and which many thought they saw rising up like black clouds on the verge of the horizon. What would France do ? What would Spain resolve? These were questions which anxiety propounded to itself, and could not answer. They were not few, those who al- ready repented of what they had done, and who ear- nestly struggled to show that they had not participated in the revolution. As it had frequently occurred in simi- lar circumstances, the leaders were beginning to find themselves in a state of isolation, and to be alone point- ed out to the anger of the coming avenger. The crowd, among which they had lately stood, now shrank away from them gradually, in obedience to the same instinct which prompts the wayfarer to avoid, when the light- ning flashes, the proximity of those tall trees, whose shade he would have courted, had heaven smiled on the green honors of their majestic heads.
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SIXTH LECTURE.
REACTION IN THE COLONY AGAINST THE AUTHORS OF THE REVOLUTION-AUBRY'S ' LETTER ON THIS SUBJECT-FORTITUDE AND PERSEVERANCE OF THE CHIEFS OF THE INSURGENTS-ATTEMPT TO COMPEL THE SPANISH FRIGATE TO DEPART FROM THE COLONY-SECOND DECREE OF THE COUNCIL AGAINST SAID VESSEL-EXPLANATIONS ASKED OF AUBRY BY THE COUNCIL-AUBRY'S HAUGHTY ANSWER-HIS BOLD ATTI- TUDE AGAINST THE INSURGENTS-THE COLONISTS' ADDRESS TO THE DUKE OF PRAS- LIY-AUBRY'S LETTER TO THE SAME-THE DELEGATES OF THE COLONISTS TO FRANCE FAIL IN THEIR MISSION-THE DELEGATE ST. LETTE AND THE DUKE OF CHOI- SEUL-DECREE OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT CONVERTING THE PAPER CURRENCY OF THE COLONY INTO BONDS BEARING INTEREST-FOUCAULT'S TREACHERY TO HIS CONFEDERATES-HE DENOUNCES THEM IN A DISPATCH TO THE FRENCH GOVERN- MENT-THIRD DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE FRIGATE-IT IS COUNTERACTED BY AC- BRY-THE FRIGATE DEPARTS VOLUNTARILY-WHAT OCCURRED ON THE OCCASION --- INCREASE OF THE REACTION-THE COLONISTS ATTEMPT TO GLY THIE FAVOR AND PROTECTION OF GAYARRE, LOYOLA, AND NAVARRO-DESPERATE RESOLUTIONS OF THE LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTION-THEIR FRUITLESS ATTEMPTS TO THROW THEMSELVES INTO THE ARMS OF ENGLAND-THEY PROPOSE TO EXPEL AUBRY AND THE FRENCH TROOPS-THEIR PLAN OF A REPUBLIC-PROJECTED ESTABLISHMENT OF A BANK- THE LEADERS ARE ABANDONED BY THE PEOPLE-ARRIVAL OF O'REILLY AT THE BALIZE WITH SPANISH TROOPS-VAIN EFFORTS AT RESISTANCE-LAFRENIERE AND HIS ASSOCIATES INFORM AUBRY THAT THEY SUBMIT TO THE SPANIARDS-O'REILLY'S BIOGRAPHY-HE SENDS BOULIGNY AS A MESSENGER TO AUBRY-HIS RECEPTION BY LOYOLA, GAYARRE, AND NAVARRO-THEY WAIT ON AUBRY AT MIDNIGHT-AUDRY'S DEPORTMENT ON THAT OCCASION-AUBRY'S SPEECH TO THE PEOPLE ON THE PUBLIC SQUARE-LAFRENIERE, MILHET, AND MARQUIS GO TO THE BALIZE AND PRESENT THEIR HOMAGE TO O'REILLY-LAFRENIERE AND MARQUIS' SPEECHES-O'REILLY'S ANSWER-AUBRY GOES DOWN THE RIVER TO PRESENT IIIS RESPECTS TO O'REILLY- AUBRY'S PROCLAMATION-ARRIVAL OF O'REILLY AT NEW ORLEANS-POSSESSION OF THE COLONY TAKEN ON THE ISTHI OF AUGUST, 1769-AUBRY'S DISPATCH TO IIIS GOVERNMENT ON THIS EVENT-O'REILLY GIVES A FESTIVAL IN HONOR OF AUBRY AND THE FRENCH AUTHORITIES-O'REILLY'S LETTER OF INQUIRY TO AUBRY-AU- BRY'S ANSWER - ARREST OF THE CHIEF CONSPIRATORS-O'REILLY'S SPEECH TO THEM-THEY ARE IMPRISONED TO STAND THEIR TRIAL FOR REBELLION-VILLERE'S DEATH-TRADITION OF THE BLOODY SHIRT-O'REILLY'S PROCLAMATION GRANTING . FULL. PARDON TO ALL, EXCEPT TO A FEW LEADERS-SOLEMN OATH OF ALLEGIANCE . TAKEN OR TO BE TAKEN BY ALL THE INHABITANTS OF LOUISIANA-FOUCAULT'S AR- BEST-HE EXCEPTS TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE SPANISHI TRIBUNAL-HIS PLEA IS ADMITTED-HE IS TRANSPORTED TO FRANCE, AND SHUT UP IN THE BASTILE-AR- REST OF BRAUD, THE KING'S PRINTER-ILIS PLEA IN SELF JUSTIFICATION -- HIS DE- FENCE IS FOUND GOOD, AND HE IS SET AT LIBERTY-AUBRY'S SERVILITY TO, AND
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LETTER OF AUBRY.
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ENTHUSIASM FOR, O'REILLY-AUBRY'S LETTER TO THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT, IN WHICH HE EXTOLS EVERY ACT OF O'REILLY-O'REILLY'S OPINION OF FOUCAULT- AUBRY'S SPEECH TO O'REILLY, IN HIS OWN NAME, AND IN THAT OF THE WHOLE BODY OF FRENCH OFFICERS.
THE year 1768 had closed in gloom for the colonists, and no sunshine had opened the career of its successor. A lowering cloud seemed to have settled over the whole colony, and the doubts which existed on the course-to be pursued by Spain and France, were thought to be worse than the saddest realities. The chiefs of the insurgents were evidently losing ground, and the Spanish officers, Loyola, Gayarre, and Navarro began to meet with more smiles than frowns, and to discover a very perceptible disposition to court their favor. Governor Aubry himself appears to have been actuated by this feeling, when, on the 15th of February, 1769, he spontaneously wrote this letter to the captain general of the island of Cuba :
"I hope that Mr. Ulloa does me justice, and that he has testified to my good conduct; for, no one ever loved and venerated the Spanish nation more than I do. This revolution disgraces the French of Louisiana. Although it has not as yet spent its fury and its frenzied course, yet it seems to me that some of the most obstinate among the insurgents, begin to look into the future with some uneasiness, and even fear; and if, in these circumstances, we were favored with the arrival of a battalion and the receipt of some money, coupled with assurances that all that has occurred shall be forgotten or forgiven, tranquillity would soon be restored, after the infliction of the just punishments which they deserve, on a small number of seditious persons, who have usurped all powers in this colony and who have done all the harm."
Nevertheless, those chiefs of the insurrection, to
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AUBRY AND THE COUNCIL.
whom Aubry was alluding, and who had already lost some of their influence, struggled against the impending perils of their situation with no faltering courage. They tried to embolden their confederates, by showing them that they persisted in their original designs, and that their faith in their ultimate success was not shaken. Thus, the Spanish frigate, against which a decree of expulsion had been issued, on the 14th of December, 1768, having ever since remained motionless in the river, in defiance of the decree, the conspirators convered a meeting of the Superior Council, on the 20th of February, 1769. The Council asked Aubry to explain why is decree had not been executed. Aubry haughtily answered that the captain of the Spanish frigate would depart at the precise time only which had been prescribed. to hm by Ulloa, and that, if any attempt was made to hasten that departure, he, Aubry, would oppose it by force. Accordingly, he equipped four hundred men, Spanish and French, to back his word, and to show that he was determined to be true to his declaration. This demonstration be thought him- self called upon to make, on account of the issuing of a decree by the Superior Council, in confirmation of its former order of expulsion against the frigate.
.. It will be observed that Aubry, who had been so . powerless at the breaking out of the revolution, on the 28th of October, had now a respectable force in hand to oppose the conspirators, and assumed a much bolder attitude. These were unmistakable signs of the reac- tion which had taken place.
But the colonists who had remained faithful to the cause of the revolution, sent, on the 20th of March, another petition to the Duke of Praslin, in which they sued for his support near the king, and repeated about the same arguments and the same language which they
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NEW DELEGATES SENT TO FRANCE.
had used in their former addresses. Similar applica- tions had been made to every prince of the blood, and almost to every person supposed to exercise some influ- ence at court.
When this address reached the minister Duke of Praslin, he, almost at the same time, received a despatch, of the 1st of April, from Aubry, in which this officer informed him that the people being overwhelmed by the misery to which they were reduced, were mur- muring against the chiefs of the insurrection, whose party was rapidly thinning away.
In the mean time, the new deputies, whom the colonists had sent to France, succeeded no better than their predecessors. Bienville, on whose support they might have relied, so far as it went, had ceased to exist, and the minister Duke of Choisewi, who had advised the cession, was still in office. St. Lette, one of the deputies, had, in early life. attracted the friendly regard of that nobleman, and > sort of intimacy had sprung up between them. The Duke welcomed with open arms the friend of his youthful days, and prevented his return to Louisiana, by giving him a lucrative employment in the East Tadies. But he received with marked dis- pleasure St. Lette's colleagues, and treated them as troublesome intruders. He told them that it was too late for the King of France to undo what he had done ; and that the King of Spain had given the necessary orders to take possession of the province. Nothing now remained for the deputies to do, but to hasten back and to inform their fellow citizens of their irrevocable doom.
These deputies had also been instructed to solicit from the French government some final settlement, con- cerning the notes which it had emitted, and which formed the currency of the country. The King of
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FOUCAULT'S TREACHERY.
France took into consideration their representations on the subject, and ordered that these notes be brought back to the French treasury in Louisiana, before the 1st of September, 1769, in order to be converted into bonds bearing an interest of five per cent. until com- plete payment. It will be recollected that Ulloa had offered, in 1766, to take up this paper at the rate of depreciation, (75 per cent.,)-which had been fixed by the French government itself, and to pay for its value in dollars. The colonists had refused, on the ground that the King of France would, in the end, redeem that paper currency at par. Thus, as it is seen, their hopes were not realized, and the conversion which had been resorted to, being looked upon as an expedient of doubtful character, which promised little for the future, if appreciated with the experience of the past, was not calculated to restore any degree of ease to the affairs of the colony.
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