USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 9
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cault, observed that these settlements would, in a few years, rise to considerable importance, should Bayou Plaquemine be cleared, and should thereby a free com- munication be opened from the River Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. The arrival of these emi- grants threw the provincial authorities into a great state of perplexity, by forcing them into expenses which they could not well meet, on account of the deplorable condition of the colonial treasury, and which were incurred to increase the population of a province no longer belonging to France. They felt no less anxiety about their responsibility, in making disbursements and in contracting obligations, which their government might not approve. But the claims of the unfortunate exiles who had come to seek an asylum in Louisiana and under the French flag, were too strong to be resisted, and they obtained all the assistance which the public purse, aided by private charity, could afford.
This, however, was the least of all the difficulties which Aubry and Foucault had to encounter in their administration of the colony. By making the Mississippi a common thoroughfare for the English and the French, a wide door had been opened to jealousies, apprehen- sions, misunderstandings, and conflicts of every kind. The French saw, with distrust, the frequent transpor- tation of English troops, through the very heart of the poor remnant of their once so extensive and magnificent possessions. They heard, with uneasiness, the morning and evening guns which the English fired, as they went up and down the river. This gun-firing greatly alarmed and excited the Indians, who took it as a sign of hosti- lity or triumph. They could hardly be persuaded that it was no more than a military usage, and they had imbibed the impression, that the French admitted
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their inferiority, or showed cowardice, in not resenting this provocation offered to them. But the acts of English sovereignty were not confined to empty de- monstrations and the parade of naval strength. A frigate was sent to the mouth of Manchac, where she was to remain until a fort should be constructed. It was also known that another frigate was to ascend to Natchez, where the erection of a fort was contem- plated.
On the 16th of May, Aubry wrote to his govern- ment : " It is for us a new and even an alarming spec- tacle, to see constantly passing before New Orleans, ships of war and foreign troops. Although we are in full peace, and although it seems that we have nothing to fear, yet I feel inwardly, and, as it were, in spite of myself, alarms on this subject, considering that I have neither ships, nor troops, nor ammunition, to oppose hostile designs, should any such be formed. It seemed to me indecorous not to have any battery on the river ; consequently, I had twenty pieces of artillery put on their carriages in front of the barracks. In this way, we shall return more decently the salutes ; and, besides, it commands respect.
" The English had flattered themselves to open, with ease, the communication which had long been stopped between Lake Maurepas and the Mississippi, through the River Iberville (now Manchac), which is thirty-five leagues from this town, and where begins the island of New Orleans. But this enterprise is more dif- ficult than they had thought, and Du Parc, an inhabit- ant of this colony, who had undertaken this task, with the consent of Mr. D'Abbadie, is likely to fail in its execution.
"The government of this colony is more embarrass- ing than it ever was. It is exceedingly difficult to
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conciliate, at the same time, the English, the French, and the Indians, who are here pell-mell.
" The correspondence which I am obliged to have with the English, who write to me from all parts, and particularly with the Governor of Mobile, gives me serious occupation. This governor is an extraordinary man. As he knows that I speak English, he occasion- ally writes to me in verse. He speaks to me of Francis I. and Charles V. He compares Pontiak, an Indian chief, to Mithridates; he says that he goes to bed with Montesquieu. When there occur some petty difficulties between the inhabitants of New Orleans and Mobile, he quotes to me from the Great Charter (Magna Charta) and the laws of Great Britain. It is said that the English Ministry sent him to Mobile to get rid of him, because he was one of the hottest in the opposition. He pays me handsome compliments, which I duly return to him, and upon the whole, he is a man of parts, but a dangerous neighbor, against whom it is well to be on one's guard.
" The ordinary communication from Mobile to New Orleans is through the Lakes and Bayou St. John. So far, we have always permitted the English to pass in that direction. I have lately, however, refused this privilege to Mr. Farmer, who is going to the Illinois with three hundred men. He has the river; let him use it." And so did the English, in no sparing manner, and much to their commercial advantage. At the fort they 'had constructed at Manchac, and which they called Fort Bute, in compliment to Lord Bute, the celebrated favorite of their King, as well as at their settlements of Baton Rouge and Natchez, they were carrying. on a large contraband trade with the inhabit- ants of French Louisiana, who used to repair to these places for all their supplies. Besides, the English
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DESCRIPTION OF BATON ROUGE.
ships, in going up and down the river, were actively engaged in smuggling, and especially, unladed at every point a peculiar kind of commodities in the shape of negroes. This became the source of the fortune of . more than one planter. As the colony was on the eve of being transferred away from France, and was no longer a mart for her trade, the government winked at these illicit transactions.
The settlement of Baton Rouge, which had been ceded to the English, and which they had converted into a depot of contraband trade with the portion of Louisiana that was destined to become Spanish, was then com- posed of nothing better than a miserable fortlet, and some huts which were scattered about in its neighbor- hood. . The future had in store higher destinies for that locality, which is now one of the most agreeable and loveliest sites in the State of Louisiana. It boasts, in 1850, of a pretty town of four thou- sand inhabitants, where the federal government of the United States has erected an arsenal and barracks, on a large scale and of imposing aspect. There the State penitentiary works its looms, teaches convicts the usefulness and morality of honest indus- try, and makes guilt itself subservient to the purposes of trade and to plans of reform, if not to the preven- tion of crime. There the ever-wonderful order of the Jesuits has established a College, and is to locate, it is said, the head-quarters of that spiritual province or circumscription in which Louisiana is included. As a climax of good fortune, the seat of State Government was transferred to that favored spot, on the 1st of December, 1849; and to serve as the capitol of the State, a castellated building has been erected, which is intended to imitate the Anglo-Norman style of archi- tecture, and which seems to look down, with the air
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DESCRIPTION OF BATON ROUGE.
of a feudal baron, on the town, and on the mighty river rolling majestically at the foot of its snow-white towers.
The capital of Louisiana deserves that the origin of its name of Baton Rouge, or Red Stick, be recorded. It is well known that the cypress tree, in this southern climate, rises to a prodigious height, and that its bark is of a reddish hue. Its trunk is shorn of branches, and its head alone wears a leafy crown. In nature's book of architecture, it represents the pillar with its chapiter. Le Page du Pratz relates that, in his time, there was yet to be seen, on the present site of the capital of Louisiana, a famous cypress tree, out of which a carpenter had offered to build two boats, one of six- teen tons, and the other of fourteen. "As the wood of the cypress tree is red," says Le Page du Pratz, " one of the first travellers who arrived at this locality, exclaimed that this tree would make a fine stick ! Hence the name of Baton Rouge (Red Stick) given to this place. With regard to the tree, its height has not as yet been measured. It towers almost beyond sight."
If this description be true, this red stick would have deserved to have been handled by one of the Titans of old Greece. The ancient Romans, who used to see omens and presages in everything, would hardly have failed to believe that this prodigy of the vegetable kingdom was the sure sign of some extraordinary des- tiny, for the sacred spot on which it had been planted by the Gods.
When the inhabitants of Louisiana had been in- formed of the treaty of cession to Spain, they had resolved to make representations to the French govern- men. They hoped that the king of France, when made aware of their love and devotion, would retract
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PROTEST AGAINST THE CESSION.
his donation, and that they would thus prevent what they all dreaded so much. Consequently, every parish had been invited to send delegates to New Orleans. The invitation was not fruitless, every parish responded to it, and a numerous assembly, composed of some of the most distinguished inhabitants of the colony, met at New Orleans. The principal and most active mem- bers werc : Lafrenière, the Attorney-General Doucet, St. Lette, Pin, Villeré, D'Arensbourg, Jean Milhet, the wealthiest merchant of the colony, Joseph Milhet, his brother, St. Maxent, De La Chaise, Marquis, Garic, Masan, Massange, Poupet, Noyan, Boisblanc, Grand- Maison, Lalande, Lesassier, Braud, the King's printer, Kernion, Carrère, Dessales, &c.
The Attorney-General, Lafrenière, after having de- picted in a very energetic and cloquent speech, the sad situation of the colony, presented a resolution by which the colonists, in a body, supplicated the King of France not to sever them from the mother country. The resolution was unanimously adopted, and Jean Milhet was selected to carry it to the foot of the throne.
The first care of Jean Milhet, on his arrival in Paris, was to wait on Bienville. That distinguished man was then in his 86th year, still retaining, however, almost unimpaired, the moral and intellectual faculties which had characterized him through life. The body was nothing but the wreck of a goodly ship, which, after having been long buffeted by the storms of the world, was now fast sinking into the yawning abyss. But the spiritual commander, the soul, unscorched. by the fury of the contending elements, fatigued, not subdued or dismayed, could be seen proudly standing on the deck, serenely surveying the desolating scene and the approaches of desolation, and ready to spring up, at
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PRESENTATION OF THE PETITION.
the last moment, from where it stood, to the shore of eternal peace and, safety. Deeply grieved was he to have lived long enough to see the gradual abasement of France, and the partition of Louisiana between England and Spain. What had become of Canada, his native country ? What of half of Louisiana, that colony which he had founded in concert with his beloved brother Iberville ? What had become of that splendid creation of his youthful days ? Was France now to give up the last inch of that immense territory, which he had ac- quired for her, at the cost of so many perils and so much endurance ? Was it for the Spaniards that he had called New Orleans into life ? Were the Louisianians, were the numerous members of his family, whose home he had selected in the cradle of his future fame, were his many friends and the old companions of his labors, to be no longer his countrymen ? Well may it be imagined, with what readiness Bienville accepted the proposition of Milhet, to call with him on the Prime Minister, Duke of Choiseul.
Introduced into the Duke's closet, they laid before him the petition of the inhabitants of Louisiana. Mil- het, their delegate, was the first to address the Minister, and urge upon him all the considerations which, he thought, ought to induce France to retain that import- ant possession. Then, Bienville, with the authority of his age and past services, and with an eloquence inspired by the deep feelings which overflowed his heart, made a pathetic appeal, not only to the reason, but also to the sensibility of the powerful man who held in his hands the fate of Louisiana. Eloquent indeed he was, for he spoke like a father suing for the life of his child. The Duke listened with courteous attention, but said in reply, and in few words, that he regretted his inability to change the course of things. Jean Milhet, despairing
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RESULT OF THE MISSION.
of success, and with a look of profound affliction, had risen to depart, when Bienville gave way to the emo- tions which, so far, had been pent up in his heart. Tears gushed from his eyes, his tremulous hands seized those of the Duke, he bent his knee, and in this humble posture, with an almost sobbing voice, he prayed for a reconsideration of the decree issued against the colony. This was too much even for the minister. He appeared greatly moved ; he hastily raised up the octogenarian suitor, whom he embraced with respect, and, as it were, in token of the sympathy he felt for a distress he could not relieve. But his resolution was not shaken, and he said in a soothing tone : "Gentlemen, I must put an end to this painful scene. I am deeply grieved at not being able to give you any hope, I have no hesitation in telling you that I cannot address the King on this subject, because I, myself, advised the cession of Loui- siana. Is it not to your knowledge that the colony can- not continue its precarious existence, except at an enor- mous expense, of which France is now utterly incapable ? Is it not better, then, that Louisiana should be given away to a friend and faithful ally, than be wrested from us by an hereditary foe ? Farewell-you have my best wishes. I can do no more." Thus dismissed, the noble veteran, Bienville, staggered out of the minister's room, leaning on the arm of Milhet. Grief had loosened the feeble chords which bound him to life, and, a short time after, he was no more. He had departed to meet his favorite brother Iberville, in a better world.
Although Milhet duly informed his fellow-citizens of the result of his mission, yet they continued to flatter themselves with the hope that the treaty of cession would not be carried into execution. This hope was founded on circumstances, which were interpreted by the colonists in a manner favorable to their wishes. For
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ULLOA APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA. 131 .
instance, one year had elapsed since the receipt of the letter, in which the King had instructed D'Abbadie to deliver up the colony to the first Spanish officer, who should present himself with the necessary powers. Such an officer had not as yet arrived, and it seemed that the King of Spain was making no preparation to take pos- session of the province. Thus, the lowering clouds, which had darkened the horizon, were fast sinking away from the sight of the colonists, when they reap- peared with a blacker shade, at the news that Don Antonio de Ulloa had been appointed Governor of Loui- siana, and had reached Havana. Soon after, on the 10th of July, this officer wrote to the Superior Council at New Orleans the following letter :
GENTLEMEN,-" Having recently been instructed by his Catholic Majesty, to repair to your town and take possession of it in his name, and in conformity with the orders of his most Christian Majesty, I avail myself of this occasion, to make you acquainted with my mission, and to give you information, that I shall soon have the . honor to be among you, in order to proceed to the exe- cution of my commission. I flatter myself beforehand that it will afford me favorable opportunities, to render you all the services that 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. ANTONIO DE ULLOA."
At the moment when the country was thus. on the eve of changing its old livery of colonial bondage for another one, the King of France thought proper to drop, from the table of royal favors, crumbs of consolation for some of the faithful servants whom he was abandoning,
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ARRIVAL OF ULLOA.
and sent the decorations of the Cross of St. Louis to Marest de la Tour, Bonille, D'Arensbourg, and La- vergne.
August, September, October, November, December, passed away, and Ulloa did not come! What detained him, when so near ? Had counter orders arrived ? And hope, that feeling happily so congenial to human nature, of so rapid growth and of so slow decay, began to revive in the breasts of the colonists. The year 1766 had begun its onward march, and had brought no Ulloa ! Many of the colonists now adopted the conviction, that the Treaty of Cession was nothing but a sham instru- ment, concealing some diplomatic manœuvering.
In the month of February, 216 Acadians arrived in Louisiana. The families, who had first sought refuge in the colony, had set up an example, which others had been eager to follow. Implements of husbandry were distributed to them at the cost of the government, and they were authorized to form settlements on both sides of the Mississippi, from the German Coast up to Baton Rouge, and even as high as Pointe Coupée. Hence, the name of Acadian Coast, which a portion of the banks of the river still bears. To these refugees, during the first year of their settlement, were given the same mations which were allowed the troops of the colony.
On the 5th of March, 1766, the town of New Orleans was thrown into a great state of excitement. The long expected Ulloa had arrived at last, and had landed with two companies of infantry commanded by Piernas. He was accompanied by Loyola as Commissary of War and Intendant, Gayarre, as Contador, or Comptroller, and Navarro, as Treasurer. Besides their respective attribu- tions, Gayarre and Navarro were made joint commis- stoners with Loyola, to take possession de the colony, and to appraise all the objects belonging toune King of
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TREATMENT OF THE SUPERIOR COUNCIL.
France, which the King of Spain might think convenient to keep for his own account. The reception of Ulloa was respectful, but cold and sullen, betokening clearly the discontent of the population. Having been requested by the Superior Council to exhibit his powers, he re- fused, on the ground that he intended to postpone taking possession of the country, until the arrival of all the Spanish forces which he expected. He added that he had nothing to do with the Superior Council, which was nothing else than a civil tribunal, by which he could not possibly be called to any account ; and that, with regard to the delivery of the province into his hands, he had to deal only with Governor Aubry, whom he recognized as the sole competent authority in that matter. Here was a bitter pill to swallow ; it was the first but decided intimation to the Superior Council, that, henceforward, it was no longer to be, what it had been-one of the ruling powers of the colony. The members of that body had been used to believe that they were very great personages ; and to be suddenly told by a new- comer, that he had not of them the same exalted opinion, which they themselves entertained, was gall and worm- wood. Nothing can be more unforgiving than the wounded pride and self-love of petty functionaries ; and there is no doubt but that the cavalier and unconciliat- ing manner, in which the members of the Council thought they were treated by Ulloa, was one of the causes of subsequent events.
Ulloa, although he refused to show his powers, and to take formal possession of the colony, proceeded, however, to visit its different posts and settlements. At Natchitoches, particularly, he remained a considerable time, studying the locality, and making inquiries as to its facilities of communication with the Mexican pro- vinces. He ordered a census to be made of the whole
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CHARACTER OF CHARLES III.
population of Louisiana, and the result was found to be : 1893 men able to carry arms, 1044 women, married or unmarried, 1375 male children, and 1240 of the other sex. Total, 5562. The blacks were about as nume- rous. But the population was somewhat reduced by an epidemic which prevailed in that year (1766), and which, it is said, closely resembled the disease now so well known here, under the name of yellow fever.
The monarch, whose subjects the inhabitants of Loui- siana were destined to be, was far superior, as to the qualifications of a man and of a king, to the feeble and corrupt Louis XV. ' Charles III., who wore the crown of Spain and of the Indies, was the son of Philip V. and Elizabeth Farnèse, and was born in Janu- ary, 1717 .* Called to the succession of Tuscany, when the last of the Medici had died without leaving heirs to that illustrious name, Charles, before the dawn of ado- lescence had shaded his chin, appeared in Italy in 1730, at the head of the armies of his father, the Catholic King. Four years after, he invaded the kingdom of Naples, and made a triumphant entry in its noble capital, whose gates had been thrown open at the sight of the heroic bands of Spain. Proud of his son, Philip V. ceded to him all his rights to the kingdom of the two Sicilies. But the imperial troops of Germany were ad- vancing, to wrest from the youthful warrior the fair prize he had grasped so boldly. The battle and victory of Bitonto secured to him the crown of which he was worthy, and the Duke of Montemar, who commanded the troops of his Catholic Majesty, received the title of Duke of Bitonto. After having firmly established his authority in the kingdom of Naples, Charles invaded Sicily, and, in less than one year, conquered the whole 1
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* Biographie Universelle de Michaud.
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MILITARY CAREER OF CHARLES III.
island. Then, in 1735, he was recognized as King of the two Sicilies by Louis XV., and his ambassador was openly received at the court of that monarch. In 1738, the treaty of peace, signed at Vienna, left him the undisputed master of an Italian kingdom. He had well fought for, and deserved, the splendid acquisition. After having used the sword with distinguished valor, he knew how to wield the sceptre with moderation, and the wisdom and magnanimity of his administration won to him the deep attachment of his subjects.
War again broke out between the great continental powers of Europe, and Italy became, as for ages it had been, the devoted battle ground for the armies of France, Spain and Germany. Very naturally, Charles joined his forces to those of his father. When the jarring ele- ments of strife are at work, England is never far off; and the English admiral Martin presented himself before Naples with a fleet. He threatened to bombard the city, if Charles did not bind himself to remain neutral and not to assist his father. The first impulse of the young King was to refuse the unnatural request. Mar- tin drew his watch, and gave Charles one hour to deter- mine, whether he would yield to the humiliating demand addressed to him, or see his capital battered down. Unfortunately, Naples was in so defenceless a state, that no resistance could be made; and Charles had to obey the stern laws of necessity. But he never forgot the insult, whilst he waited for better times. As soon as the English disappeared from his sight, he devoted all the means he could command, to shelter himself against the repetition of what had so humbled his proud spirit. When from the state of the fortifications he had erected and the implements of defence he had gathered, he thought he was no longer exposed to succumb, in his own palace, to the dictation of an English officer, he
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MILITARY CAREER OF CHARLES III.
marched at the head of his troops to join those of his father, of which he was appointed commander-in-chief, jointly with the Duke of Modena. After some partial success, the combined armies of Spain and Naples were surprised in Velletri by the Prince of Lobkowitz, who commanded the Imperialists. Charles was very near being made prisoner; but the Spaniards speedily re- paired the disorder into which they had been thrown, and, in their turn, charged with impetuosity the enemies, who had not known how to profit by their momentary advantage. They retrieved by prodigies of valor the negligence which had been so fatal to them, and the de- feated Imperialists, in their flight, during which they were hotly pursued to some distance, abandoned a con- siderable number of cannons and flags, to those whom they had, on the first onset, driven away before them in confusion. After this campaign, Charles enjoyed, dur- ing fifteen years, the fruits of his good fortune and of his labors. He governed the Kingdom of Naples with the kindness and wisdom of a good and intelligent man, until the 10th of August, 1759, when being called to succeed, on the throne of Spain, his brother Ferdinand VI., he left the Kingdom of Naples to Ferdinand, his third son. Charles, finding himself at the head of a powerful nation, remembered Admiral Martin, and never failed to avail himself of every opportunity, to show the English that he had a tenacious memory. In 1761, he formed with Louis XV. the celebrated family com- pact, which guarantied the rights, and gathered up in close union all the forces, of the different branches of the house of Bourbon. He did not hesitate to join France in the two wars which she had to wage against England. That of 1762 was not favorable to the two allied powers ; Spain lost Havana, twelve ships of the line, immense treasures, the Philippine Islands, and was
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