USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 4
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INCREASE OF THE MILITARY FORCES.
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greater value, if necessary. These notes were to be given in payment of all the King's expenses and debts, and to be exchanged for all other papers, obligations, -and bonds, so that they should speedily become the only currency of the colony.
The French government received with astonishment ' the news that such a measure had been adopted, and expressed its disapprobation of it in very explicit terms. De Vaudreuil and Michel de la Rouvillière · were energetically censured for having exercised a power which had never been delegated to them; they were ordered to withdraw all the paper they had issued, and to exchange these obligations for drafts on the treasurers-general of the Crown in France. The ministerial despatch on this subject contained these words :- " The experiment which was made in Louisi- ana, as to paper currency, ought to inspire great cir- cumspection, in so delicate a matter, and it cannot be doubted but that the Governor's recent ordinance would soon produce the same disorders which were formerly the result of measures of the same kind." Such was the view taken of the subject by the French government, and De Vaudreuil and Michel de la Rou- villière were plainly told that their conduct, on that occasion, was without a shadow of excuse.
If the Marquis of Vaudreuil had the mortification of incurring the displeasure of his government in this par- ticular act of his administration, he had the satisfaction, on the other hand, of succeeding, at last, in the appli- cation which he had made, during so many years, for the increase of the military forces of the colony. The King decreed that, for the future, there should be kept up in the colony thirty-seven companies of fifty men each, exclusive of officers. It was also decreed that the Governor could discharge, annually, two soldiers
53
PAPER MONEY COUNTERFEITED.
from each company, on condition that they should set- tle in the colony ;'and that, to all persons coming to establish themselves in Louisiana, there should be granted a supply of corn and rice for eighteen months, with the necessary implements to improve the lands that would be conceded to them. By the same royal ordinance, to mechanics, settling in cities, a supply of provisions for six months was allowed, with the instru- ments required for their trade. But the Governor was instructed to take special care that the liberality of the King should not be turned to improper and unprofita- ble uses ; that the lands conceded should lie close to each other, and be well selected ; and that the forma- tion of villages be encouraged.
On the 12th of October, Livaudais, the chief pilot and portmaster, made an interesting report on the mouth of the Mississippi. The attention of the French government had always been fixed on this important- subject, on which, from time to time, all the informa- tion which could be collected from careful observations was solicited, and filed in the archives of France .*
Towards the close of the year (1750), the colony was thrown into a state of excitement by the discovery, that a great deal of the paper currency of the country was counterfeited, and therefore entirely valueless. It gave rise to strict investigations, and a colored man, named Joseph, was tried, and convicted as one of the perpetrators of this crime. He was sentenced to be whipped by the public executioner, to have the mark of the flower-de-luce branded on his shoulder with hot iron, and to be transported for sale to one of the French West India islands.
On the 12th of January, 1751, the Marquis of Vau-
* See the Appendix.
54
PIERRE BOUCHER.
dreuil wrote to his government to obtain the Cross of St. Louis for De Grand-Pre, as a reward for all the ser- vices which this distinguished officer had rendered in the wars with the Indians. The name of Grand-Pré, so well known in the oldest annals of chivalry, awakens stirring recollections of the past, and recalls to the mind the enlivening associations of history and of poetry. What says Shakspeare (King Henry V.) ?
Messenger .- My Lord High Constable, the English lie within fifteen hundred paces of your tent.
High Constable of France .- Who hath measured the ground!
Messenger .- The Lord Grand-Pre.
High Constable .- A valiant and most expert gentleman. Would it were day ! Alas ! poor Harry of England ! he longs not for the dawning as we do ""
The Grand-Pres of Louisiana descend from Pierre Boucher, who was Governor of Trois Rivières in Canada in 1653, and who published an interesting work on that country, then generally named New France. The title of the work is :- " Histoire naturelle et veritable des mœurs et productions du pays de la N'elle France, vulgairement dite le Canada."
Of the most remarkable men whose deeds will have to be recorded, when the history of Canada shall be written as it deserves to be, Pierre Boucher is to be ranked among the first. The study of his character shews a mixture, delightful to contemplate, of Spartan heroism, of Christian meckness, of the fiery enthusiasm of the knight, and the ardent faith of the martyr, of womanly tenderness, of unshaken fortitude, of worldly shrewdness, and of almost virgin artlessness, combined with a turn of mind productive of the energetic virtues of the feudal times-a baron and a saint-a man of aristocratic conceptions and bearing, with the utmost liberality of disposition, and the watchfulness of a sister
55
LETTRES DE CACHET.
of charity for destitution, sickness and affliction. De Muys, who was appointed Governor of Louisiana in 1707, and who died in Havana on his way to that French colony, was his son-in-law. Pierre Boucher left a large family, which divided itself into two branches. One of them, the Grand-Prés, has taken root in Louisiana, and the other, under the name of Boucherville, flourishes to this day in high social con- dition in Canada.
On the 18th of February, the Marquis of Vaudreuil and Michel de la Rouvillière published regulations of police, which, as forcible illustrations of the administra- tion of the colony, and of the manners, ideas, customs, and morals then prevailing, are given in the appendix to this work. These regulations are also an evidence of the legislation which was, at that time, thought most appropriate to the state of the country. Hard labor, for life, on the King's galleys, was inflicted for offences which, in our days, would hardly be visited with the penalty of a few hours' imprisonment.
There is no doubt that Louisiana, under the arbitrary legislation of the despotic government of France, was frequently a sort of state prison or Bastile, to which were sent the victims of those orders of arrest, so well known under the name of Lettres de Cachet. In con- nexion with the exercise of this kind of authority, there is a curious despatch of the Marquis of Vaudreuil, dated on the 15th of May, 1751, in which he writes to the Minister in France :- " The situation of the Lady of Ste. Hermine, who came to this colony, thirty years since, by virtue of a Lettre de Cachet, obliges me to represent to you that this lady is at present unable to maintain herself here any longer, on account of the ex- treme destitution to which she is reduced by the death of Mr. de Loubois, with whom she had always lived.
: .
56
DISTRIBUTION OF THE TROOPS.
I beg permission to send her back, gratis, to France, on one of the King's ships. Moreover, the Lettre de Cachet has expired, and the lady is very old." Under these cold lines, there lies, perhaps, a tale of deep woe and passion ; and who knows how many such have passed by, unnoticed, on the far distant banks of the Mississippi, and in the discreet solitude of the boundless domains of the Father of Rivers !
During the year, 1751, the colony found itself in a better state of protection than it had ever been. This evidently proves the power of the Marquis at court ; for more had been done for him than for any of his predecessors. His salary was greater than that of any of the preceding governors ; and he had under his orders two thousand regulars-a larger force than had ever been seen in Louisiana. The distribution of these troops throughout the colony, was as follows :
District of New Orleans,
900 French, 400
75 Swiss, 75
. 975
Mobile,
. 475
Illinois,
. 300
Arkansas, .
· 50
Natchez,
50
Natchitoches,
50
Pointe Coupée, .
50
German Coast, .
50
Total,
. 2000
This increase of troops and expenses was received as a demonstration that the French government intended to. push on the work of colonization, with more energy than it had previously done, and with the expectation of better results. But it was soon discovered that it was a mere transient effort; that it had not originated from any deep laid and settled plan, or from any firm resolve in a persevering course of action ; and that it was, either the offspring of accidental and ephemeral
57
COMPLAINTS AGAINST VAUDREUIL.
determination from those in power, or of personal con- siderations and favoritism. Whatever may have been the cause of this unusual grant of protection to Louisi- ana, the events which followed in a few years, prove it to have been one of those fitful, apparent revivals of strength and health, which frequently precede the last agonies of death.
Governor Vaudreuil and the Intendant-Commissary Lenormant had quarrelled, according to the good old custom prevailing in the colony since its foundation; and although the Marquis and Michel de la Rouvillière, the successor of Lenormant, had, at first, been on good terms, and had agreed on the issuing of paper money, which measure the French government had disapproved, they soon disagreed on every other act of administration. Hence followed, as usual, bickerings, recriminations, and mutual accusations, which disturbed the colony. These two high functionaries soon became more intent upon counteracting each other, than upon devising plans for the benefit of the colony; and the opposition which they made to each other, cramped and impeded the operations of their respective departments. On the 15th of May, 1751, Michel de la Rouvillière wrote to the French government :-
"At the English Turn, Mr. de Vaudreuil has sta- tioned the Ensign, Duplessy, who is a raw recruit, without cither capacity or experience. This officer, being drunk, ill-treated the store-keeper, Carrière. But the Governor sided with the officer ; for, who says oficer says all. When the word officer is uttered, the world must quake. Hence, when one of those gentle- men has any misunderstanding with a private citizen, he never fails to exclaim; 'Are you aware that you are speaking to an officer ?' And if, by chance, the affair comes before me, the defence of the officer against
-
58
COMPLAINTS AGAINST ROUVILLIÈRE.
whom the complaint is brought, may be summed up in these words, which he utters in a tone of astonish- ment : ' What ! Sir ! he dares thus speak to, or thus act toward an officer !' and although the officer may be in the wrong, judgment is always given against his adversary, because the military influence is predominant in the Council, through the Governor, the Major, and ` the Governor's flatterers.
" No justice is to be expected from Mr. De Vau- dreuil ; he is too lazy, too negligent ;- his wife is too malicious, too passionate, and has too strong interests in all the settlements, and in the town of New Orleans, not to prevail upon him to keep on fair, and even on servile terms, with the body of officers, and with others."
" He was to destroy the abuses which sprung into existence during the sway of the India Company, but he has carefully abstained from doing so. Those abuses are too flattering to his vanity, since he is the absolute master of every thing, and they are too favorable to his interests to be eradicated. The army and the old members of the council find their advantage in this state of things, since they vex the public with impu- nity, as they have always done, through the protection they obtain from the Governor, by their servile court- ing of that functionary."
The Marquis of Vaudreuil, in his turn, did not, in his despatches, treat the Intendant Commissary, Michel de la Rouvillière, with more lenity. In a communica- tion of the 20th of July, he complained that the Com- missary did not furnish the several military posts in the colony, with the supplies of which they stood in need, and that it produced the worst effects on the troops, and provoked desertion. He said that the Choctaws were impatient at not receiving their custo-
59
COMPLAINTS AGAINST VAUDREUIL.
mary presents ; that this delay was much to be regret- ted, and might have the most fatal consequences ; that he was even aware that they had had some conferences with the English, and that Michel de la Rouvillière was only intent on gratifying his self-love and his taste for despotism. On the very same day, Michel de la Rouvillière was also scribbling away denunciations against De Vaudreuil. He complained of the manner in which the King's merchandise was wasted, and de- clared that De Vaudreuil distributed it, capriciously, to his favorites at the different stations where they commanded, and that the Choctaws, through bad management, were a source of enormous expense to the government.
"'There is no question,"-says he to the Minister,- " but that the Governor is interested, for one third, in the profits made at the post of Tombecbee, where De Grand-Pré commands, and that he has the same inte- rests in all the other posts. . Nobody doubts it here. Lenormant, my predecessor, must have proved it to you in his memorials, and in informing you that Mr. De Vaudreuil had gone security for the commanders at their respective posts, and for the traders who had taken, on lease, the privilege of trafficking with the Indians.' The Marquis is too proud to have thus be- haved, if he had not been prompted to it by self-inte- rest. The commanders, at the posts, are all Canadians, who are his creatures, or who are kinsmen or relations of his own or of his wife."
" Mr. de Pontalba, the only one who does not belong to this gang, holds the government of Pointe Coupée, solely because he shares his profits with the Governor's lady. I have it from his own mouth, and, surely, he will not be called upon to draw lots with his brother officers, when the time shall come for the distribution
60
COMPLAINTS AGAINST VAUDREUIL.
of the troops which are to garrison our posts. There will be some pretext found to keep him where he is, and as specious a one will no doubt be discovered in favor of Mr. de Grand-Pre, who commands at Tombec- bee, and who will not cast lots. In the meantime, the command of the English Turn has been withheld from Mr. de la Houssaye, who has given himself a great deal of trouble. for the welfare of the new settlers at that point. As usual, flour was lately sent to Tombec- bee, for the garrison ; but it was sold, also as usual, and corn was given for food to the soldiers, of whom eight have deserted.
" Mr. Delino, an ensign, who is a kinsman of Mr. de Vaudreuil's, and who commands at the Arkansas, having heard that new troops had arrived, and that the officers of the colony were to cast lots for the distribution of the several posts among them, and being anxious to make sure of his own, which is one of the best in the · colony, abandoned it, without permission, leaving a , corporal in command. He arrived here, to the great astonishment of everybody .. Mr. de Vaudreuil, who felt the consequence of such an act of insubordination, sent him back within forty-eight hours, but inflicted no punishment. On his return to the Arkansas, Mr. Delino found that the corporal and the rest of the garrison had swept everything clean, and had deserted, carrying away all that could be carried. Such are the causes which increase the expenses, beyond the Intendant Commissary's control."
"There is no discipline; the most indulgent tolera- tion is granted to the soldiers, provided they drink their money at the licensed liquor shop, (cantine,) where they are given drugs, which ruin their health; for several months, there has never been less than a hundred of them at the hospital."
61
COMPLAINTS AGAINST VAUDREUIL.
" There are here at least sixty officers, who hardly do duty once in fifty days. Not one of them is required to visit the barracks, which are kept in the most filthy and disgusting manner ; the soldiers are allowed to do what they please, provided they drink at the liquor shop designated for them; and they carry out of it wine and spirits, which they re-sell to the negroes and to the Indians. This has been proved ten times for one; everybody knows it, and yet the abuse is not stopped. I frequently spoke to Mr. de Vaudreuil on this subject. But this nefarious practice, instead of being checked, has grown more active. It is Mr. de Belleisle, the aid-major, who has the lease and administration of the liquor shop, and who gives for it a certain sum to the Major-others say to the Governor's lady. What is positive is, that Mr. de Vaudreuil has drawn upon the treasury for ten thou- sand livres of his salary as Governor, which he has given to Mr. de Belleisle, and it is with these funds that the supplies of the liquor shop have been bought. "
" Moreover, Madam de Vaudreuil is capable of carrying on a still baser sort of trade. She deals here with everybody, and she forces merchants and other individuals to take charge of her merchandise, and to sell it at the price which she fixes. She keeps in her own house every sort of drugs, which are sold by her steward, and, in his absence, she does not scruple to descend,. herself, to the occupation of measurement, and to betake herself to the ell. The husband is not ignorant of this. He draws from it a hand- some revenue, to obtain which is his sole wish and aim."
" The first use which has been made of your Excel- lency's order to put a cadet in each company, was to
62
CONDITION OF THE COLONY.
bestow these favors on new-born children. There are some, between fifteen months and six years old, who come in for the distribution of provisions."
Michel de la Rouvillière enters into further details, as to the abusive acts of authority committed by the officers, and complains of the boundless power which they possess, through the protection of the Marquis of Vaudreuil and of the Council, wherefore many inhabit- ants are obliged to leave the colony, to avoid vexa- tions. He complains, also, of the bad conduct of the Attorney-General, Fleuriau, whom he accuses of pre- sumption, ignorance, and passion. But, from the tone of his letters, it cannot be inferred that he, himself, who reproaches Fleuriau for his passionate disposition, was free from a similar fault. His breast certainly does not seem to overflow with the milk of human kindness towards his brothers in authority, at whom he bites with the bitterest tooth of scurrility. If half of what he says be true, the colony must have been in a truly deplorable moral condition ; for there prevailed in it the most shameful venality, and the stream of corruption originated and ran down from the upper regions of society. It must have been a miniature copy of what was then going on in France. These low, but graphic, details, which have been given here, will not, I hope, be deemed unworthy of being known, for they are the best illustrations of manners ; nor is it to be forgotten that history, being the embodiment of human nature, in its past actions and feelings, is to be studied with more effect in the unguarded privacies of her bed-chamber, than in her stately halls of reception, where she appears only in her robes of dignity.
In 1732, a royal ordinance had exempted from the payment of duty, during ten years, all the merchan-
63
INTRODUCTION OF THE SUGAR-CANE.
dise and goods imported from France into the colony, and also the productions of the colony exported to France. In 1741, this ordinance had been renewed for ten years; and now, on the 30th of November, 1751, it was made known that the same privilege should continue in force until 1762. This was perse- vering in the right path; but the adoption of one. liberal measure was not sufficient to establish the pros- perity of the colony on a solid basis ;- it would have been necessary to co-ordinate, or to link together, a whole enlightened system of colonization, and to have put it into operation with steadiness, honesty, and ability.
It was in this year, 1751, that two ships, which were transporting two hundred regulars to Louisiana, stopped at Hispaniola. The Jesuits of that island obtained permission to put on board of those ships, and to send to the Jesuits of Louisiana, some sugar canes, and some negroes who were used to the cultivation of this plant. The canes were put under ground, according to the directions given, on the plantation of the reverend fathers, which was immediately above Canal street, on a portion of the space now occupied by the Second Municipality of the city of New Orleans. But it seems that the experiment proved abortive, and it was only in 1796 that the cultivation of the cane, and the manufacturing of sugar, was successfully intro- duced in Louisiana, and demonstrated to be practicable. It was then that this precious reed was really natu- ralized in the colony, and began to be a source of ever- growing wealth.
Ou board of the same ships, there came sixty girls, who were transported to Louisiana at the expense of the King. It was the last emigration of the kind. These girls were married to such
64
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE CHICKASAWS.
soldiers as had distinguished themselves for their good conduct, and who, in consideration of their marriage, were discharged from service. Concessions of land were made to each happy pair, with one cow and its calf, one cock and five hens, one gun, one axe, and one spade. During the first three years of their settlement, they were to receive rations of provisions, and a small quantity of powder, shot, grains and seeds of all sorts.
Such is the humble origin of many of our most respectable and wealthy families, and well may they be proud of a social position, which is due to the honest industry and hereditary virtues of several generations. Whilst some of patrician extraction, crushed under the weight of vices, or made inert by sloth, or labor-con- temning pride, and degenerating from pure gold into vile dross, have been swept away, and have sunk into the dregs and sewers of the commonwealth. Thus in Louisiana, the high and the low, although the country has never suffered from any political or civil convulsions, seem to have, in the course of one century, frequently exchanged with one another their respective positions, much to the philosopher's edification.
In 1752, the Chickasaws having renewed their depre- dations at the instigation of the English, the Marquis of Vaudreuil put himself at the head of seven hundred regulars, and a large number of Indians, with whom he marched against the enemy. But this expedition was not more successful than those undertaken by Bienville. The Chickasaws shut themselves up in some forts which the English had helped them to construct,
. . and which proved impregnable. Contenting himself with setting on fire some deserted villages, and destroy- ing the crops and the cattle of the Chickasaws, the
65
STATE OF AGRICULTURE.
Marquis returned to New Orleans, after having con- siderably increased the fortifications at Tombecbee, where he left a stronger garrison.
During this year, 1752, a Choctaw, happening to quar- rel with a Colapissa, told him that he and all his tribe were no better than the fawning and mean-spirited dogs of the French. Whereupon, the Colapissa, resent- ing the insult, shot the Choctaw, and fled to New Orleans. The family of the dead claimed the fugitive, to have capital punishment inflicted upon him. The Marquis attempted, in vain, to persuade the Choctaws to receive presents in exchange for the blood they demanded, and found himself constrained to order that the fugitive be arrested. But nowhere could he be discovered. Whilst the search for him was on foot, his father went to the Choctaws, and offered to die for his son. His proposition was accepted, and his head, shattered by one blow of the revengeful tomahawk, redeemed the life for which he had so willingly for- feited his own. This event became the subject of a tragedy, composed by an officer named Leblanc de Villeneuve. It was one of the first literary productions of the colony.
On the 23d of September, the Intendant Commis- sary, Michel de la Rouvillière, made a favorable report on the state of agriculture in Louisiana. "The culti- vation of the wax tree," says he, "has succeeded admirably. Mr. Dubreuil, alone, has made six thou- sand pounds of wax. Others have obtained as hand- some results, in proportion to their forces ; some went to the sea-shore, where the wax tree grows wild, in order to use it in its natural state. It is the only lumi- nary used here by the inhabitants, and it is exported to other parts of America and to France. We stand in need of tillers of the ground, and of negroes. The
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