Twenty years afterwards, Count Robert de la Salle not only proved the existence of this river, but ascertained that it offered an easy communication with the ocean. He descended it from the river Illinois to the Mexican gulf, whilst father Hennepin, a franciscan, ascended it as far as the falls of St. Anthony, situated three hundred miles above that river. Count Robert took possession, in the name of the king of France, his master, of the whole course of the river with the adjacent country, and erected some forts for the protection of the settlers, which, as the soil appeared very rich, he expected to see arrive in great numbers. Nevertheless, it was not until 1699, that the first settlement was made at Biloxi, by a celebrated French naval officer, Lemoine d’Iberville, who was the first to enter the Mississippi from the sea, and ascended the river as far as Natchez, which he chose for the capital of Louisiana, calling it Rosalie, in honour of the name of Chancellor Pontchartrain’s lady. To people this new capital, some young girls and well selected soldiers were sent from France. These last were married to the girls and exempted from military duty. Each colonist was allowed some acres of land, a cow and calf, cock and hens, a gun; half a pound of powder and two pounds of lead, with a month’s provisions, were distributed to them monthly. Next came missionaries, which, instead of improving the land by the labour of their hands, or developing the resources of the colonists by their wisdom and councils, began to preach to the neighbouring Indians, in order to convert them to the catholic faith. The fruits of these labours soon began to appear; that is to say, the Indians pretended to listen to the new doctrines which were spread before them, and became hypocrites for the sake of obtaining brandy. This liquor, which was the first reward of their conversion, exasperated all the passions to which they were unfortunately predisposed; and from this time they became the most dangerous and cruel enemies of the settlement, instead of the useful neighbours which they would doubtless have been, if, without interfering with the manner in which they worshipped God, their friendly alliance only had been sought. Nevertheless, in the course of a few years, the cordiality and gentleness of the French character counteracted the unhappy influence of the missionaries, and almost all the savage tribes with the exception of the Chickasaws, made peace with the colonists and rendered them important services. Mr. de Bienville, the brother of Iberville, and at that time governor of Louisiana, yielding to his ardour for research, explored the greater part of the rivers tributary to the Mississippi, and laid the foundations of some new settlements on its banks. But none of these succeeded. The number of colonists had considerably diminished, when, in 1712, Antony Crozat, who by the Indian trade, had amassed a fortune of forty millions, purchased the grant to the whole of Louisiana, with the exclusive right of its trade for six years. His letters patent included all the rivers emptying into the Mississippi and all the lands, coasts and islands situated upon the gulf of Mexico, between Carolina on the east and Mexico on the west. But Crozat was not long in discovering how much the expectations he had founded upon this country were exaggerated, and hastened to renounce his contract for the purpose of obtaining another for the period of twenty-five years, in favour of the Mississippi Commercial Company, of which the celebrated Law was the projector. But this company was not more fortunate than Crozat. Instead of enticing into the colony such settlers as would have added to its prosperity, he received only rich and avaricious adventurers, who were attracted by the report of the mines of gold and silver, with which the country was said to abound, and, disappointed in their hopes, quickly returned to Europe. In spite of the efforts of the government instituted by the commercial company, the proprietaries were soon reduced to despair, and established military posts, where they defended themselves until reinforcements were received. The first expedition that arrived was composed of criminals and women of abandoned character, sent out by the French government. The company were justly indignant at this, and declared, that in future they would not suffer the colony to be thus morally and physically polluted.
In 1718, New Orleans, consisting of a few cabins built by Illinois traders, and thus named in honour of the regent Duke of Orleans, passed under the jurisdiction of the governor-general, M. de Bienville, and received a considerable number of new settlers. Two villages were built in its vicinity by Germans, under the command of Arensburg, a Swedish captain, who, in 1709, had fought by the side of Charles XII. at the battle of Pultowa. The colony now began really to prosper, and in 1723 swarms of capuchins, missionaries, jesuits, and pious ursulines, began to arrive from all directions. These last at least were good for something. They were entrusted with the education of orphan girls, and the superintendance of the military hospital, with a pension of fifty thousand crowns per annum. Intolerance, the inseparable accompaniment of all privileges, and especially those of religion, began to show itself in the colony, as soon as the capuchins, jesuits, &c. made their appearance. In 1724, a royal edict expelled the Jews, as declared enemies to the Christian name, and they were ordered to disappear in the course of three months, under penalty of imprisonment and confiscation of property. It was thus that the throne and church watched then, as it did before, and has done since, to dry up the most abundant sources of public prosperity. In 1729, the intrigues of England raised the Indians against the colony, and thus gave a sad blow to its prosperity. The war then carried on by General Perrier de Salvert, had a fortunate termination. Meanwhile it was only through the attachment of some Indian women to a few French officers, that the garrison escaped being totally massacred one night; which would have led to the entire destruction of the colony. In consequence of these late hostilities, and the base intrigues carried on in the metropolis, the colonists lost their time together with the fruits of their labours. The company, disgusted and deceived in their hopes of gain, abandoned the country, which, in 1731, returned under the dominion of the king, without being any better governed. In 1759, its financial affairs were in such disorder, that the treasury owed more than seven millions of francs, although the French government had expended for various services in Louisiana, nearly double the amount it had derived from it. Louis XV., at the close of a war badly conceived, and, in 1763, as badly terminated, having lost Canada, was upon the point of having Louisiana taken from him. But his ministers, assisted by Madame Pompadour, his mistress, obtained fifteen millions from the court of Madrid, and this colony was ceded to Spain with such secrecy and despatch, that the governor of Louisiana had not yet received information of the affair when the Spanish ships of war arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi, with the officers appointed to take possession of this immense territory. The governor and inhabitants of Louisiana refused to recognise the Spanish authority, so that the commissioners were obliged to return to Europe. Three or four years passed in negotiating with the colonists, who persisted in continuing under the dominion of France. At length, in 1769, Spain becoming provoked, sent out General Reilly with considerable forces. Arrived before New Orleans, Reilly manifested the most conciliatory disposition. His proclamations only spoke of oblivion for the past, and were completely successful. The commotions ceased, and the Louisianians surrendered themselves. As a sign of reconciliation, Reilly gave a grand entertainment on board his fleet, to which he invited the chief officers of the colony, and principal inhabitants. These accepted the invitation with confidence, but at the moment when they were about to leave the table, Reilly caused them to be seized by his soldiers and shot. One of these, M. De Villeré, had his life spared, but was put on board a frigate to be transported to the prisons of Navarre. His wife and children, informed of the fate that threatened him, wished to go and petition his highness, or at least to receive his farewell. They were already near the frigate, from which he stretched out his arms to them, when the unhappy man fell within their sight, pierced by the bayonets of the villains whom the traitor Reilly had appointed to guard him.
After this horrible execution, the Spaniards, with four thousand troops of the line, and a considerable train of artillery, entered New Orleans, the inhabitants of which were struck dumb. The English protestants, and a few Jews, who had escaped the force of the royal decree of 1724, were soon banished by the new authorities. All commerce with the colony was prohibited except with Spain and her possessions. A court martial was established, and its iniquitous decisions struck at all the French officers who remained. Of these, five were shot, and seven others thrown, for ten years, into the prisons of Havana. The infamous Reilly, having for a whole year gorged himself with blood and plunder, at length set sail, carrying with him the scorn and hatred of the whole population. His successors in the government had great difficulty in doing away the effects of his crimes, and it is due them to say that they succeeded. During thirty-three years of Spanish dominion, the colony enjoyed peace and prosperity, and to this very day, the names of Don Unsuga, Don Martin Navarro, and Don Galvar, are remembered there with veneration.
During all the changes experienced by Louisiana, its boundaries had never been determined with accuracy. In 1795, the government of the United States made a treaty with Spain, in virtue of which the limits were traced, and the free navigation of the Mississippi secured to the two contracting parties. But notwithstanding this treaty the owners of privateers, and crews of vessels of war, made spoliations upon the commerce of the United States. Free navigation of the Mississippi, and permission of landing at New Orleans, were refused the Americans. President Adams, therefore, immediately took measures to obtain redress. Twelve regiments were raised, and an expedition fitted out upon the Ohio to descend to Louisiana. But some changes occurring in American politics caused this project to be abandoned for the moment. The next year, Mr. Jefferson, then president of the United States, re-demanded of Spain the fulfilment of the treaty. This power, sensible of its weakness, and fearing to be compelled to cede the colony, secretly sold it to the French Republic on the 21st of March, 1801. Upon hearing of this cession the American government were justly alarmed. It foresaw, that the activity and intelligence of the French, applied to so rich and productive a soil, would make them more formidable than the Spaniards; that their new neighbours might be able to close the navigation of the Mississippi against them, and possess themselves of the commerce of the Gulf of Mexico and Antilles. It immediately formed the project of forcibly opposing the occupation of Louisiana by France, and joined England against her. But this plan was overthrown by the treaty of Amiens. At peace with England, France feared no further obstacles to her projects, and an expedition was fitted out by her to take possession of Louisiana, and at the same time support her wavering authority in St. Domingo. The American government immediately had recourse to negotiations for the purpose of purchasing Louisiana. Affairs, at that time, changed with such rapidity, that the situation of France had again altered before these propositions reached her. Threatened with a new war by England, wearied with the struggle to defend St. Domingo, loaded with a considerable debt due the United States, the first consul thought that the sale of Louisiana would prove a good operation, the opportunity of effecting which might relieve him from one difficulty, at least. He accordingly sold it. The United States agreed to pay him fifteen millions of dollars, on condition that three millions seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars of this sum, should be retained for the purpose of paying the claims held by the American merchants against France, for the spoliations they had suffered. This treaty, signed at Paris the 30th of April, 1803, by Messrs. Livingston and Monroe on the part of the United States, and Mr. Barbé Marbois for France, was ratified in the month of October, and the transfer of the colony to the American commissioners took place on the 20th of December in the same year.
All the parties interested in this bargain had reason to be satisfied with its conclusion. France, freeing herself from the trouble of a distant government, more burthensome than profitable, received sixty millions of francs, which she needed to carry on the war, and, without expending a cent, discharged a debt due the American merchants of nearly twenty millions. The United States strengthened their independence, acquired new frontiers more secure than the old ones, established her commercial preponderance in the Gulf of Mexico and Antilles, and, by the free navigation of the Mississippi, increased an hundred fold the value of the products of the states west of the Allegany. In fine, Louisiana herself, by entering into the great federal compact, secured an honourable and independent existence as a body politic, and soon saw her industry and prosperity freed from the cunning schemes of a capricious master.
Louisiana was immediately erected into a territorial government, by the congress of the United States, which appointed Mr. Clayborne its governor. In 1811, it was admitted a member of the Union, and left to form its own government and institutions. The representatives of the people, freely elected and assembled at New Orleans, framed and signed a constitution, which was laid before, and sanctioned by congress. This constitution was in conformity with, and very similar to those of the other states, except that the Louisianians believed it their duty to adopt every possible precaution against corruption and abuse of power. Thus, for example, it was decided that every person, convicted of having given or offered presents to public functionaries, should be declared incapable of serving as governor, senator, or representative.
If I thought it necessary to seek fresh proofs of the superiority of an independent over a colonial government, whether this last proceed from a monarchy or republic, it would suffice to point out Louisiana, at first a colony for nearly a century, without advancing beyond the stage of infancy, incessantly taken and retaken, sometimes by the Spaniards, at others by the French, and always incapable of resisting either the one or the other, after an expense to its metropolis of one hundred and eighty-seven thousand dollars per annum; and, in fine, after the numerous emigrations from Europe, exhibiting but a meagre population of about forty thousand souls, spread over a vast and rich territory. I would next show this same Louisiana, after twenty years of independent republican government, having more than trebled its population, defeating under the walls of its rich capital, an army composed of the chosen troops of England; receiving into its ports annually more than four hundred ships to exchange its valuable products for those of all parts of the habitable globe; and, in its cities, offering all the resources, all the enjoyments that can contribute to the happiness of life, and which are ordinarily the products of a long period of civilization.
The state of Louisiana, enclosed within its new limits, is situated between 29° and 33° n. l. and 12° and 17° of longitude. It is bounded on the north by Arkansas territory, east by the Mississippi, south by the Mexican gulf, and west by the Mexican provinces of Texas. It contains forty-eight thousand square miles, divided into twenty-six parishes or counties. It has a population of 153,500 souls, among which, unfortunately, nearly 70,000 slaves are enumerated. The capital of this state is New Orleans, a city admirably situated in a commercial point of view, regularly laid out, ornamented with fine buildings, and containing twenty-eight thousand inhabitants. The greatest inconvenience which New Orleans labours under, is its situation upon the alluvial shores of the Mississippi, by whose floods it is often inundated. This is perhaps the principal cause of the yellow fever which is experienced there almost every autumn. The impossibility of finding a single stone in all this alluvial ground, shows why the principal streets have been left unpaved, so that during the rainy season it is difficult to go about on foot. The walks made in front of the houses scarcely serve to keep foot passengers from the mud, and do not prevent the carriages from sinking sometimes to their axles. The authorities, however, have at length begun to procure paving stone from up the Mississippi, which the vessels bring as ballast. This plan, though tedious and expensive, is the only one practicable.
The greater number of travellers who have visited New Orleans, pretend that the manners of the city are strongly influenced by the presence of the numerous emigrants from St. Domingo. These have the reputation of loving pleasure to licentiousness, and of treating their slaves badly. The love of gambling, and the duels so often occasioned by this passion, give rise, it is said, to much disorder among them. To confirm or disprove this opinion by my own observation, would be, in me, culpable arrogance. My too short stay in this city did not permit me to study the character of its society, and I could only be struck with the patriotic spirit, the freedom and hospitality, displayed with enthusiasm in the presence of General Lafayette.[[8]]
Twenty-four hours after leaving New Orleans, we arrived at Duncan’s Point, where the citizens of Baton-Rouge, a town situated eight miles above, had previously sent a deputation to General Lafayette, to request him to stop a short time amongst them. The general accepted the invitation with gratitude, and two hours afterwards we landed below the amphitheatre upon which the town of Baton-Rouge stands. The beach was crowded with citizens, at the head of whom marched the municipal authorities, and the first regiment of the Union came to form itself in line under the same star-spangled banner, which, in defiance of the greatest dangers, had but lately been planted upon the ruins of Spanish despotism, by the inhabitants of these parishes. Accompanied by the people and magistrates, the general proceeded to the room prepared for his reception, in which he found the busts of Washington and Jackson crowned with flowers and laurel. There he received the expressions of kindness from all the citizens, with whom he went to the fort, the garrison of which received him with a salute of twenty-four guns, and afterwards defiled before him. We then entered the main building to examine the interior of the barracks, but what was our surprise, on entering into the first apartment, to find in the place of beds, arms, and warlike equipments, a numerous assemblage of elegantly dressed and beautiful ladies, who surrounded the general and offered him refreshments and flowers. The general was sensibly touched by this agreeable surprise, and passed some delightful moments in the midst of this seducing garrison. On our return to town, we found a great number of citizens met to offer the general a public dinner, among whom the frank cordiality of the American, and the amenity of the French characters prevailed.