Chapter XII: Part 12

"It was a day of gloom and horror at Acla, when Vasco Nunez and
his companions were led forth to execution. The populace were
moved to tears at the unhappy fate of a man, whose gallant
deeds had excited their admiration, and whose generous
qualities had won their hearts. Most of them regarded him as
the victim of a jealous tyrant; and even those who thought him
guilty, saw something brave and brilliant in the very crime
imputed to him. Such, however, was the general dread inspired
by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that no one dared to lift
up his voice, either in murmur or remonstrance.

"The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, proclaiming, 'This
is the punishment inflicted by command of the king, and his
lieutenant Don Pedrarias Davila, on this man, as a traitor and
an usurper of the territories of the crown.'

"When Vasco Nunez heard these words, he exclaimed, indignantly,
'It is false! never did such a crime enter my mind. I have ever
served my king with truth and loyalty, and sought to augment
his dominions.'

"These words were of no avail in his extremity, but they were
fully believed by the populace.

"Thus perished, in his forty-second year, in the prime and
vigour of his days and the full career of his glory, one of the
most illustrious and deserving of the Spanish discoverers--a
victim to the basest and most perfidious envy.

"How vain are our most confident hopes, our brightest triumphs!
When Vasco Nunez, from the mountains of Darien, beheld the
Southern ocean revealed to his gaze, he considered its unknown
realms at his disposal. When he had launched his ships upon its
waters, and his sails were in a manner flapping in the wind, to
bear him in quest of the wealthy empire of Peru, he scoffed at
the prediction of the astrologer, and defied the influence of
the stars. Behold him interrupted at the very moment of his
departure; betrayed into the hands of his most invidious foe;
the very enterprise that was to have crowned him with glory
wrested into a crime; and himself hurried to a bloody and
ignominious grave, at the foot, as it were, of the mountain
from whence he had made his discovery! His fate, like that of
his renowned predecessor Columbus, proves, that it is sometimes
dangerous even to discern too greatly!"

There yet remain in this interesting volume the history of _Valdivia_ and his companions, and of the bold _Juan Ponce de Leon_. Each contains scenes and incidents scarcely less interesting than those we have rapidly noticed; but the termination of the story of Vasco Nunez affords us a place to pause, and we are recalled from the agreeable task of narrating to that of expressing some opinion on the merits of the work which has so delightfully detained us. We may add that there is also an appendix, containing a narrative of a visit or pilgrimage, truly American, made by the author to the little port of Palos, where Columbus and so many of his followers embarked for America; it is in the happiest style, and cannot be read without the strongest emotions; we can scarcely refrain, notwithstanding its length, from presenting it entire to the reader.

The copious quotations we have made, and the abstract of some of the more interesting parts of the narrative, will be sufficient to relieve us in a great degree from the necessity of criticism. Our readers will, themselves, be able to form a just estimate of the power and skill of the writer, and of the pleasure to be derived from the story he has recorded. We venture to say, that by none will that estimate be otherwise than favourable, either to the talents of the author, or the interest of the work.

The style of Mr. Irving has been objected to as somewhat elaborate, as sacrificing strength and force of expression, to harmony of periods and extreme correctness of language. We cannot say that we have been inclined to censure him for this. If he assumed a style more than usually refined, it was in those works of fiction, those short but agreeable narratives, in which he desired to win the fond attention of the reader, but in which he never endeavoured to call up violent emotions, to engage in the wild speculations of a discursive fancy, or to treat topics requiring logical or historical correctness. For such works as the Sketch Book, we believe the style adopted by Mr. Irving to be eminently well fitted, and we do not hesitate to attribute much of the success of those charming tales to this very circumstance. We believe so the more readily, because we find him adopting in the Life of Columbus, and in the volume before us, a different manner, but one equally well suited to the different nature of the subject he treats. Without losing the elegance and general purity by which it has been always characterized, it seems to us to have acquired more freshness, more vivacity; to flow on more easily with the course of the spirited narrative; to convey to the reader that exquisite charm in historical writing--an unconsciousness of any elaboration on the part of the writer, yet a quick and entire understanding of every sentiment he desires to convey.

But connected with this, the writing of Mr. Irving possesses another characteristic, which has never been more strongly and beautifully exhibited than in the present volume. We mean that lively perception of all those sentiments and incidents, which excite the finest and the pleasantest emotions of the human breast. As he leads us from one savage tribe to another--as he paints successive scenes of heroism, perseverance, and self-denial--as he wanders among the magnificent scenes of nature--as he relates with scrupulous fidelity the errors, and the crimes, even of those whose lives are for the most part marked with traits to command admiration, and perhaps esteem--every where we find him the same undeviating, but beautiful moralist, gathering from all lessons to present, in striking language, to the reason and the heart. Where his story leads him to some individual, or presents some incident which raises our smiles, it is recorded with a naive humour, the more effective from its simplicity; where he finds himself called on to tell some tale of misfortune or wo--and how often must he do so when the history of the gentle and peaceful natives of the Antilles is his subject--the reader is at a loss whether most to admire the beauty of the picture he paints, or the deep pathos which he imperceptibly excites.

Nor has he shown less judgment in the selection of his subject. To all persons the discovery of this continent is one which cannot fail to engage and reward attention--to him who loves to speculate on the changes and progress of society, to him who loves to trace the paths of science and knowledge, to him who loves to dwell on bold adventures and singular accidents, to him who loves carefully to ascertain historical truth. We scarcely know any topics at the present day, explored and exhausted as so many fields have been, that afford a richer harvest than those which Mr. Irving has now selected. We trust that many more works are yet to be the fruits of his most fortunate visit to the peninsula. The sources of information so liberally opened to him, and already so judiciously used--and which have contributed to add new reputation to so many names honourable to Spain--must yet furnish ample materials to illustrate other men, to disclose the incidents attending other adventures; and we trust that three years more may not elapse, before we again sail with our author over the newly discovered billows of the Pacific, or explore the plains of Mexico and Peru, or wander with some of the hardy adventurers who first dared to penetrate the defiles of the Andes.

We have already mentioned, in the notice of the Life of Columbus, the circumstances which led Mr. Irving to the investigation of this period of Spanish history, and the facilities afforded him in the prosecution of his labours. The materials for this volume were procured during the same visit. In addition to the historical collections of Navarrete, Las Casas, Herrera, and Peter Martyr, he profited by the second volume of Oviedo's history, of which he was shown a manuscript copy in the Columbian library of the cathedral of Seville, and by the legal documents of the law case between Diego Columbus and the crown, which are deposited in the Archives of the Indies.

ART. VIII.--_The History of Louisiana, from the earliest period._ By FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARTIN: 2 vols. 8vo. New-Orleans: Lyman and Beardslee. 1827.

It is about a year and a half since a very good translation of the History of Louisiana by _Barbe Marbois_, was laid before the public. Another work on the same subject, by _Francis Xavier Martin_, has recently come to our knowledge. We use this expression, because, although the title page shows a publication of the book in 1827, we neither saw it nor heard of it until the close of the last year; and, even now, we know of no copy but that in our possession. It may be that the honourable author, (for he is a Judge of the Supreme Court of the state whose history he has written,) was satisfied with collecting and preserving his materials by printing them, and cared not for the fame or profit of an extensive circulation and sale of his work. His philosophy may make him as indifferent to the one as his fortune does to the other, or his modesty may be greater than either. We think we shall perform an acceptable service by introducing the stranger to our readers, who will not fail to derive from him many things which will reward the time and trouble given to acquire them.

History has seldom appeared under the sanction of names better entitled to credit and respect than those we have mentioned. M. Marbois is known to us by his residence in the United States, as the secretary of the French legation, and Consul General of France, during the revolutionary war; and, afterwards, as _Charge d' Affaires_; in which situations he was distinguished for his extraordinary capacity in the business of diplomacy, as well as for the integrity of his principles, and the frankness and amenity of his manners. By living long among us, he seems to have acquired not only an affection and respect for the American people, but an ardent admiration of our political institutions, which have adhered to him with undiminished strength through the various fortunes he has since encountered. He has prefixed to his History, an "Introduction," which is, as it professes to be, "An Essay on the Constitution and Government of the United States of America;" and although the venerable author had passed his eightieth year, he had lost none of the freshness of his attachment to our republic and its citizens, or of the vigour of his pen in portraying them. No foreigner has ever understood us so well, and few Americans better.

That part of his history which relates to the cession of Louisiana to the United States, is particularly entitled to attention from its curious details, and will be received with implicit belief, as M. Marbois was the negotiator on the part of France in that extraordinary transaction, fraught with consequences so momentous. He relates nothing but what was in his personal knowledge. We will not anticipate our notice of this event, but we cannot suppress the remark, that the acquisition of this vast region by the United States, now so prosperous, so loyal and efficient a portion of our grand confederacy, by which we were not only saved from a war, but liberty, happiness, and wealth have been spread over a country, before that time neglected, mismanaged, and unproductive, and dispensed to an intelligent and industrious people, who had for a century been struggling with oppression and innumerable difficulties, changing with their repeated changes of masters, was owing to the keen sagacity and prompt decision of Napoleon. It is thus that the destinies of mankind wait upon the fortunes, the caprice, the foresight, and the blunders of the great, and are determined, for weal or wo, by causes and accidents in which those who are most affected by them have no agency. The people of Louisiana, and their fertile territory, which from their first settlement had been a subject of barter among the powers of Europe, to make a peace, to round off a treaty, or answer some policy or interest of a distant sovereign, are now irrevocably fixed as a member of a great republic, never again to be a helpless and degraded makeweight in the bargains of foreign princes.

_F. X. Martin_, the author of the work now in our review, has held for many years the high station of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana; respected for the learning and integrity with which he discharges the duties of his office, and equally so, in all his public and private relations. He, also, is at once the historian and the witness of some of the interesting transactions he narrates; and the veracity of his testimony is unquestionable, as to those matters of which he speaks from his personal knowledge. Being as independent in his circumstances as he is in his principles, and having no resentments, of which we have heard, to gratify, by calumniating any man, there is nothing to draw him from the line of rectitude, and we presume that no errors, at least of intention, will be imputed to him.

With this acquaintance with the character of the author, and his means of information, we may open his book with more than the confidence usually due to similar productions.

Before we introduce our readers to the materials of which these volumes are composed, we would say a word, and do it frankly, upon the plan adopted by the author in presenting them to the world. We speak not of the language or style of the composition, which is sufficiently clear and correct to be secure from criticism, especially under the apology of the writer, that "as he does not write in his vernacular tongue, elegance of style is beyond his hope, and consequently without the scope of his ambition." We are not so well satisfied with his reasons for the wide range he has taken over time and space in a "History of Louisiana." He has commenced, as every annalist of an American village has done, with the discoveries of Columbus; he has given us, with considerable detail, the circumstances which attended the settlements of the English and French provinces in this hemisphere; and has drawn "the attention of his readers to transactions on the opposite side of the Atlantic," which have no apparent connexion with his subject. The "chronological order" which he has adopted, is not confined to the affairs of Louisiana, but comprehends occurrences in every part of the globe, and sometimes brings together on the same page such a heterogeneous mass, as to force a smile from us in spite of the official gravity which belongs to the office of a reviewer. The assemblages of events are often so unexpected and grotesque, that we should believe a joke was intended, if they had not been brought together on the summons of a Judge of a Supreme Court. Assuredly nothing like them was ever seen in a jury-box, even in the mixed population of Louisiana. A few references will explain the nature and meaning of our criticism.

The "Discovery of America" being disposed of, the reader of the History of Louisiana has his recollection recalled to the reigns of Charles VIII. in France; of Henry VII. of England; and Ferdinand and Isabella, of course; with notices of various movements in those countries in their several reigns. The second chapter is got up in the same manner, taking a zigzag course over our continent, north, south, east, and west, with occasional excursions to Europe to keep up the variety. This procedure often produces an assemblage of events, as we have said, on the same page, rather startling to themselves as well as to us.--Thus on page 48 of the first volume--"On the 20th of December, a ship from England landed one hundred and twenty men near Cape Cod, who laid the foundation of a colony, which, in course of time, became greatly conspicuous in the annals of the northern continent. They called their first town Plymouth. Philip III. on the 21st of March of the following year, the forty-third of his age, transmitted the crown of Spain to his son Philip IV. This year James I. of England granted to Sir William Alexander, all the country taken by Argal from the French in America. The Iroquois, apprehending that if the French were suffered to gain ground in America." So on page 157--"Iberville returned to France in the fleet--William III. of England died on the 16th of March, in consequence of a fall from his horse, in the fifty-third year of his age. Mary, his queen, had died in 1694; neither left issue. Anne, her sister, succeeded her." Can we avoid to ask what has all this to do with Louisiana? In page 234--John Law's well known scheme is thus abruptly introduced. "Another Guinea-man landed three hundred negroes a few days after. John Law, of Lauriston in North Britain, was a celebrated financier," &c.

The work abounds with such odd combinations, nor have we selected the most singular, arising from the "chronological order" adopted by the author, which, while it has advantages in narrations confined to one object, will not do in a history extended over half of the world. We have presented to us, in the same incongruous manner, the settlement of Maryland--of Nova Scotia--sketches of English history under Oliver Cromwell--an account of the hooping cough in Quebec--and an earthquake in Canada. The cough was supposed to be the effect of enchantment,--"and many of the faculty did, or affected to believe it." "It was said a fiery crown had been observed in the air at Montreal; lamentable cries heard at Trois Rivieres, in places in which there was not any person; that, at Quebec, a canoe, all on fire, had been seen on the river, with a man armed _cap-a-pie_, surrounded by a circle of the same element." On the subject of the earthquake, the account of which is taken from Charlevoix, it was indeed a fearful visitation, if the truth be not exaggerated by terror and superstition.--

"A dreadful earthquake was felt in Canada, on the fifth of
February, 1663. The first shock is said by Charlevoix, to have
lasted half an hour; after the first quarter of an hour, its
violence gradually abated. At eight o'clock in the evening, a
like shock was felt; some of the inhabitants said they had
counted as many as thirty-two shocks, during the night. In the
intervals between the shocks, the surface of the ground
undulated as the sea, and the people felt, in their houses, the
sensations which are experienced in a vessel at anchor. On the
sixth, at three o'clock in the morning, another most violent
shock was felt. It is related that at Tadoussac, there was a
rain of ashes for six hours. During this strange commotion of
nature, the bells of the churches were kept constantly ringing,
by the motion of the steeples; the houses were so terribly
shaken, that the eaves, on each side, alternately touched the
ground. Several mountains altered their positions; others were
precipitated into the river, and lakes were afterwards found in
the places on which they stood before. The commotion was felt
for nine hundred miles from east to west, and five hundred from
north to south.

"This extraordinary phenomenon was considered as the effect of
the vengeance of God, irritated at the obstinacy of those, who,
neglecting the admonitions of his ministers, and contemning the
censures of his church, continued to sell brandy to the
Indians. The reverend writer, who has been cited, relates it
was said, ignited appearances had been observed in the air, for
several days before; globes of fire being seen over the cities
of Quebec and Montreal, attended with a noise like that of the
simultaneous discharge of several pieces of heavy artillery;
that the superior of the nuns, informed her confessor some time
before, that being at her devotions, she believed 'she saw the
Lord irritated against Canada, and she involuntarily demanded
justice from him for all the crimes committed in the country;
praying the souls might not perish with the bodies: a moment
after, she felt conscious the divine justice was going to
strike; the contempt of the church exciting God's wrath. She
perceived almost instantaneously four devils, at the corners of
Quebec, shaking the earth with extreme violence, and a person
of majestic mien alternately slackening and drawing back a
bridle, by which he held them.' A female Indian, who had been
baptized, was said to have received intelligence of the
impending chastisement of heaven. The reverend writer concludes
his narration by exultingly observing, 'none perished, all were
converted.'"

The fourth chapter still keeps us at a distance from the "promised land." The discontents and disturbances which agitated Canada, are minutely narrated, and, in some respects, not without considerable interest. One of the causes of the commotion, was an arbitrary act of power of the Count de Frontenac, who "had imprisoned the Abbe de Fenelon, then a priest of the seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, who afterwards became archbishop of Cambray." Thus were the genius, the learning, and the virtues of this great and good man, laid prostrate at the feet of a petty tyrant; and might have been for ever lost to the world. It is by such abuses of power that men learn and feel the value of a government of laws, supreme and superior to the influence of office and the power of the sword. In this chapter we are introduced to the name of Robert C. Lasalle, afterwards so conspicuous for his courage and perseverance in the settlement of these regions. Some interesting details of his life and adventures, which may be called romantic, are given, for which we refer to the book.

As the character and conduct of the Founder of Pennsylvania has been lately assailed, with exceeding injustice, by a Pennsylvanian, and a judge too, it will add something to the testimony already so abundant in his behalf, to quote the following extract--

"The year 1680 is remarkable for the grant of Charles the
Second, to William Penn, of the territory that now constitutes
the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The grantee, who was
one of the people called Quakers, imitating the example of
Gulielm Usseling and Roger Williams, disowned a right to any
part of the country included within his charter, till the
natives voluntarily yielded it on receiving a fair
consideration. There exists not any other example of so liberal
a conduct towards the Indians of North America, on the erection
of a new colony. The date of Penn's charter is the twentieth of
February."

We follow our author into his fifth chapter, which we find occupied with a variety of matters, sufficiently interesting in themselves, but having no relation to the professed subject of our history; and which have been collected from works of no difficult access to any body. We notice, however, an occurrence, especially worthy of our attention at this time, when a project is entertained of introducing a government paper currency into the United States.--

"Louis the Fourteenth having approved the emission of card
money made in Canada, during the preceding year, another
emission was now prepared in Paris, in which pasteboard was
used instead of cards. An impression was made on each piece, of
the coin of the kingdom, of the corresponding value.

"Pasteboard proving inconvenient, cards were again resorted to.
Each had the flourish which the intendant usually added to his
signature. He signed all those of the value of four livres and
upwards, and those of six livres and above were also signed by
the governor.

"Once a year, at a fixed period, the cards were required to be
brought to the colonial treasury, and exchanged for bills on
the treasurer-general of the marine, or his deputy at
Rochefort. Those which appeared too ragged for circulation were
burnt, and the rest again paid out of the treasury.

"For a while the cards were thus punctually exchanged once a
year; but in course of time bills ceased to be given for them.
Their value, which till then had been equal to gold, now began
to diminish; the price of all commodities rose proportionably,
and the colonial government was compelled, in order to meet the
increased demands on its treasury, to resort to new and
repeated emissions; and the people found a new source of
distress in the means adopted for their relief."

This subject is frequently referred to, and always as a source of distress; as a disastrous measure of policy.--

"Louisiana suffered a great deal from the want of a circulating
medium. Card money had caused the disappearance of the gold and
silver circulating in the colony before its emission, and its
subsequent depreciation had induced the commissary ordonnateur
to have recourse to an issue of _ordonances_, a kind of bills
of credit, which although not a legal tender, from the want of
a metallic currency, soon became an object of commerce. They
were followed by treasury notes, which being receivable in the
discharge of all claims of the treasury, soon got into
circulation. This cumulation of public securities in the
market, within a short time threw them all into discredit, and
gave rise to an _agiotage_, highly injurious to commerce and
agriculture."

"The province was at this time inundated by a flood of paper
money. The administration, for several years past, had paid in
due bills all the supplies they had obtained, and they had been
suffered to accumulate to an immense amount. A consequent
depreciation had left them almost without any value. This had
been occasioned, in a great degree, by a belief that the
officers who had put these securities afloat, had, at times,
attended more to their own than to the public interest, and
that the French government, on the discovery of this, would not
perhaps be found ready to indemnify the holders against the
misconduct of its agents. With a view, however, to prepare the
way for the redemption of the paper, the colonial treasurer was
directed to receive all that might be presented, and to give in
its stead certificates, in order that the extent of the evil
being known, the remedy might be applied."

"The province laboured under great difficulties, on account of
a flood of depreciated paper, which, inundating it, annihilated
its industry, commerce, and agriculture. So sanguine were the
inhabitants of their appeal to the throne, that they instructed
their emissary, after having accomplished the principal object
of his mission, to solicit relief in this respect."

We turn also to Marbois, on this subject, and trust we shall be excused for giving so much of our time to it, by the interest the people of the United States now have in it. We have had our own experience of the fatal consequences of such schemes; let us also listen to the experience of others, which points to the distress and ruin that attend such experiments. Speaking of Law's great scheme of finance, this wise and venerable statesman says--"A foreigner of an eccentric mind, though a skilful calculator, had engaged the regent in operations the most disastrous to the finances of the state. John Law, after having persuaded credulous people that paper money might advantageously take the place of specie, drew from this false principle the most extravagant consequences. They were adopted by ignorance and cupidity." This writer, with the experience of more than half a century in public affairs, adds--"These chimeras, called by the name of system, do not differ much from the schemes that are brought forward in the present age, under the name of credit."

Speaking of the paper money created for Louisiana, M. Marbois tells us--

"The expenses resulting from want of order had no limits: in no
condition to provide for them, the heads of the government had
recourse to paper money, the desperate resource of financiers
without capacity. The following remarks on this subject are
from a despatch of M. Rouille, minister of marine.

"'The disorder, which has for some time prevailed in the
finances and trade of Louisiana, principally arises from
pouring into the province treasury orders and other kinds of
paper money; all of which soon fell into discredit, and
occasioned a depreciation of the currency, which has been the
more injurious to the colony and its trade, as the prices of
all things, and particularly of manual labour, have increased
in proportion to the fall in the treasury notes.'

"It was on the 30th of November, 1744, that this minister thus
expressed himself with regard to the chimerical systems of
credit, which have never been more in vogue than in our time."

We pass over the sixth chapter of our book, without any particular notice of its contents. It is occupied with miscellaneous transactions in other provinces; with Indian wars; the abdication of James II., and the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England; which, in pursuance of the chronological order, we find snugly deposited between the census of Canada and some affairs in Fort Louis. These things, with the peace made between the Marquess de Denonville and some Indians, and some other matters, cover one page.

The seventh chapter of this volume brings us again in sight of Louisiana; and we thought our author was a little like Louis XIV., who, it is said, "seemed to have lost sight of Louisiana in the prosecution of the war," &c. Some interesting details are here given of the early attempts to plant a French colony in this territory, interrupted by hostilities with the Indians, and other impediments not unusual to enterprises of this kind. The northern provinces, however, are not neglected; and we are specially informed of the determination of the British cabinet to attack Montreal and Quebec--this was in 1710.

In tracing the history of a country which has attained the strength and importance of Louisiana, it is gratifying, occasionally, to look back to the days of its weakness, and particularly so when the advance has been surprisingly rapid, and may be fairly traced to the freedom of the government under which it was made. Our author has, from time to time, exhibited the population, agriculture, production, and trade of this province, at various periods, and under different circumstances.

"In 1713, there were in Louisiana two companies of infantry of
fifty men each, and seventy-five Canadian volunteers in the
king's pay. The rest of the population consisted of
twenty-eight families; one half of whom were engaged, not in
agriculture, but in horticulture: the heads of the others were
shop and tavern keepers, or employed in mechanical occupations.
A number of individuals derived their support by ministering to
the wants of the troops. There were but twenty negroes in the
colony: adding to these the king's officers and clergy, the
aggregate amount of the population was three hundred and eighty
persons. A few female Indians and children were domesticated in
the houses of the white people, and groups of the males were
incessantly sauntering or encamped around them.

"The collection of all these individuals, on one compact spot,
could have claimed no higher appellation than that of a hamlet;
yet they were dispersed through a vast extent of country, the
parts of which were separated by the sea, by lakes, and wide
rivers. Five forts, or large batteries, had been erected for
their protection at Mobile, Biloxi, on the Mississippi, and at
Ship and Dauphine Islands.

"Lumber, hides, and peltries, constituted the objects of
exportation, which the colony presented to commerce. A number
of woodsmen, or _coureurs de bois,_ from Canada, had followed
the missionaries, who had been sent among the nations of
Indians, between that province and Louisiana. These men plied
within a circle, of a radius of several hundred miles, of which
the father's chapel was the centre, in search of furs,
peltries, and hides. When they deemed they had gathered a
sufficient quantity of these articles, they floated down the
Mississippi, and brought them to Mobile, where they exchanged
them for European goods, with which they returned. The natives
nearer to the fort, carried on the same trade. Lumber was
easily obtained around the settlement: of late, vessels, from
St. Domingo and Martinique, brought sugar, coffee, molasses,
and rum, to Louisiana, and took its peltries, hides, and
lumber, in exchange. The colonists procured some specie from
the garrison of Pensacola, whom they supplied with vegetables
and fowls. Those who followed this sort of trade, by furnishing
also the officers and troops, obtained flour and salt
provisions from the king's stores, which were abundantly
supplied from France and Vera Cruz. Trifling but successful
essays had shown, that indigo, tobacco, and cotton, could be
cultivated to great advantage: but hands were wanting.
Experience had shown, that the frequent and heavy mists and
fogs were unfavourable to the culture of wheat, by causing it
to rust."

What a change have a few years of good government and undisturbed industry and enterprise made in this country; for up to the time of its cession to the United States, its improvement was slow, uncertain, and by no means remarkable! Who can now recognise in this rich and prosperous state, the member of a great confederation, of a powerful republic, known and respected by every nation of the earth, the desolate wilds, the miserable and scattered habitations, "few and far between," with a population half savage and half civilized, of various bloods and colours, and scarcely able to support a pinched and comfortless existence, by excessive toil and a constant exposure to hardships and peril!

After the charter of Crouzat, in September 1712, and a subsequent charter to a new corporation five years after, the settlement of the colony was better attended to, and measures taken to advance its prosperity. Unfortunately for humanity, and perhaps for the ultimate happiness of the province, it was found, or thought, to be necessary, to introduce the negroes of Africa, for the cultivation of the soil. This species of labour was resorted to in Louisiana in the year 1719.

"Experience had shown the great fertility of the land in
Louisiana, especially on the banks of the Mississippi, and its
aptitude to the culture of tobacco, indigo, cotton, and rice;
but the labourers were very few, and many of the new comers had
fallen victims to the climate. The survivers found it
impossible to work in the field during the great heats of the
summer, protracted through a part of the autumn. The necessity
of obtaining cultivators from Africa, was apparent; the company
yielding thereto, sent two of its ships to the coast of Africa,
from whence they brought five hundred negroes, who were landed
at Pensacola. They brought thirty recruits to the garrison."

Whatever may hereafter be the consequences of this determination to employ slave-labour, its immediate effects were beneficial to the planters; and in the next year, it is said that the company represented to the king that "the planters had been enabled, by the introduction of a great number of negroes, to clear and cultivate large tracts of land." It will be observed, that at this time the cultivation of sugar was not thought of.

The discursive manner of our author frequently furnishes us with anecdotes of interest, sometimes relating to habits of the Indians, and sometimes to other persons and subjects. In this class we reckon an account of a female adventurer who appeared in Louisiana so early as the year 1721.--

"There came, among the German new comers, a female adventurer.
She had been attached to the wardrobe of the wife of the
Czarowitz Alexius Petrowitz, the only son of Peter the Great.
She imposed on the credulity of many persons, but particularly
on that of an officer of the garrison of Mobile, (called by
Bossu, the Chevalier d'Aubant, and by the king of Prussia,
Maldeck) who having seen the princess at St. Petersburg,
imagined he recognised her features in those of her former
servant, and gave credit to the report which prevailed, that
she was the Duke of Wolfenbuttle's daughter, whom the Czarowitz
had married, and who, finding herself treated with great
cruelty by her husband, caused it to be circulated that she had
died, while she fled to a distant seat, driven by the blows he
had inflicted on her--that the Czarowitz had given orders for
her private burial, and she had travelled incog. into France,
and had taken passage at L'Orient, in one of the company's
ships, among the German settlers.

"Her story gained credit, and the officer married her. After a
long residence in Louisiana, she followed him to Paris and the
Island of Bourbon, where he had a commission of major. Having
become a widow in 1754, she returned to Paris, with a daughter,
and went thence to Brunswick, when her imposture was
discovered; charity was bestowed on her, but she was ordered to
leave the country. She died in 1771, at Paris, in great
poverty.

"A similar imposition was practised for a while with
considerable success, in the southern British provinces, a few
years before the declaration of their independence. A female,
driven for her misconduct from the service of a maid of honour
of Princess Matilda, sister to George the Third, was convicted
at the Old Bailey, and transported to Maryland. She effected
her escape before the expiration of her time, and travelled
through Virginia and both the Carolinas, personating the
princess, and levying contributions on the credulity of
planters and merchants; and even some of the king's officers.
She was at last arrested in Charleston, prosecuted, and
whipped."

When we read the account of New-Orleans, a century ago, we can hardly credit that it is the same New-Orleans which we now know.--

"New-Orleans, (according to his account,) consisted at that
time of one hundred cabins, placed without much order, a large
wooden warehouse, two or three dwelling houses, that would not
have adorned a village, and a miserable storehouse, which had
been at first occupied as a chapel; a shed being now used for
this purpose. Its population did not exceed two hundred
persons."

In the enormous increase of population and wealth which this highly favoured city exhibits, a Pennsylvanian may feel pride in observing, that the industrious Germans, who have never failed to improve and enrich the soil they inhabit, have had their share. John Randolph once said on the floor of Congress, that the land on which a slave set his foot was cursed with barrenness. The reverse of this may be truly asserted of the German settlers. To their persevering industry, patient labour, and habitual economy, every difficulty yields, and every soil becomes fertile. An accident brought them to New-Orleans, with no intention of remaining; and their usefulness was felt and encouraged.

"Since the failure of Law, and his departure from France, his
grant at the Arkansas had been entirely neglected, and the
greatest part of the settlers, whom he had transported thither
from Germany, finding themselves abandoned and disappointed,
came down to New-Orleans, with the hope of obtaining a passage
to some port of France, from which they might be enabled to
return home. The colonial government being unable or unwilling
to grant it, small allotments of land were made to them twenty
miles above New-Orleans, on both sides of the river, on which
they settled in cottage farms. The Chevalier d'Arensbourg, a
Swedish officer, lately arrived, was appointed commandant of
the new post. This was the beginning of the settlement, known
as the German coast, or the parishes of St. Charles and St.
John the Baptist. These laborious men supplied the troops and
the inhabitants of New-Orleans with garden stuff. Loading their
pirogues with the produce of their week's work, on Saturday
evening, they floated down the river, and were ready to spread
at sun-rise, on the first market that was held on the banks of
the Mississippi, their supplies of vegetables, fowls, and
butter. Returning, at the close of the market, they reached
their homes early in the night, and were ready to resume their
work at sun-rise; having brought the groceries and other
articles needed in the course of the week."

A few years later, the Jesuit and Ursuline nuns arrived at New-Orleans, and began the improvement of a tract of land immediately above the city. They erected a house and chapel; they planted the front of their land with the myrtle wax shrub. Soon after, the foundation was laid for a large nunnery, into which the ladies removed in 1730, and occupied it until 1824. On every side the work of improvement proceeded gradually, but effectually. Among other expedients to hasten the progress of population, "a company ship brought out a number of poor girls, shipped by the company. They had not been taken, as those whom it had transported before, in the houses of correction in Paris. It had supplied each of them with a small box, _cassette_, containing a few articles of clothing. From this circumstance, and to distinguish them from those who had preceded them, they were called girls _de la cassette_. Till they could be disposed of in marriage, they remained under the care of the nuns."

The fig tree was introduced from Provence, and the orange from Hispaniola, both now so abundant and so excellent at New-Orleans.

Injustice to the aborigines seems to have marked the march of the white man in all its stages; nor were the victims of his cupidity slow in their revenge, or wanting in courage and ingenuity in prosecuting it. We have an instance of this, which we think interesting enough to be extracted.--

"The indiscretion and ill conduct of Chepar, who commanded at
Fort Rosalie, in the country of the Natchez, induced these
Indians to become principals, instead of auxiliaries, in the
havock.

"This officer, coveting a tract of land in the possession of
one of the chiefs, had used menaces to induce him to surrender
it, and unable to intimidate the sturdy Indian, had resorted to
violence. The nation, to whom the commandant's conduct had
rendered him obnoxious, took part with its injured member--and
revenge was determined on. The suns sat in council to devise
the means of annoyance, and determined not to confine
chastisement to the offender; but, having secured the
co-operation of all the tribes hostile to the French, to effect
the total overthrow of the settlement, murder all white men in
it, and reduce the women and children to slavery. Messengers
were accordingly sent to all the villages of the Natchez and
the tribes in their alliance, to induce them to get themselves
ready, and come on a given day to begin the slaughter. For this
purpose bundles of an equal number of sticks were prepared and
sent to every village, with directions to take out a stick
everyday, after that of the new moon, and the attack was to be
on that on which the last stick was taken out.

"This matter was kept a profound secret among the chiefs and
the Indians employed by them, and particular care was taken to
conceal it from the women. One of the female suns, however,
soon discovered that a momentous measure, of which she was not
informed, was on foot. Leading one of her sons to a distant and
retired spot, in the woods, she upbraided him with his want of
confidence in his mother, and artfully drew from him the
details of the intended attack. The bundle of sticks for her
village had been deposited in the temple, and to the keeper of
it, the care had been intrusted of taking out a stick daily.
Having from her rank access to the fane at all times, she
secretly, and at different moments, detached one or two sticks,
and then threw them into the sacred fire. Unsatisfied with
this, she gave notice of the impending danger to an officer of
the garrison, in whom she placed confidence. But the
information was either disbelieved or disregarded."

This well concerted plan of revenge was carried into a terrible execution; and the aggressor who had caused it was among the victims.

A circumstance, purely accidental, and, in itself, altogether insignificant, was the beginning of an agricultural experiment in Louisiana, which, long afterwards, was followed by a success, important not only to that territory, but to these United States.

"Two hundred recruits arrived from France on the 17th of April,
for the completion of the quota of troops allotted to the
province. The king's ships, in which they were embarked,
touched at the cape, in the Island of Hispaniola, where, with a
view of trying with what success the sugar cane could be
cultivated on the banks of the Mississippi, the Jesuits of that
island were permitted to ship to their brethren in Louisiana, a
quantity of it. A number of negroes, acquainted with the
culture and manufacture of sugar, came in the fleet. The canes
were planted on the land of the fathers immediately above the
city, in the lower part of the spot now known as the suburb St.
Mary. Before this time, the front of the plantation had been
improved in the raising of the myrtle wax shrub; the rest was
sown with indigo."

In this humble manner was the sugar cane introduced into Louisiana, which has now become a principal source of its wealth. We will here advance upon our work in order to trace, in a connected manner, the various attempts which were made to fix the cultivation of this plant, with their failures and success, for many years vibrating in uncertainty. The experiment we have just alluded to was made in 1751; eight years afterwards, our author tells us:--

"Although the essay, which the Jesuits had made in 1751, to
naturalize the sugar cane in Louisiana, had been successful,
the culture of it, on a large scale, was not attempted till
this year, when Dubreuil erected a mill for the manufacture of
sugar, on his plantation, immediately adjoining the lower part
of New-Orleans--the spot now covered by the suburb Marigny."

In 1769, the project seems to have been given up, as we are then informed that--"the indigo of Louisiana was greatly inferior to that of Hispaniola, the planters being quite unskilful and inattentive in the manufacture of it; that of sugar had been abandoned, but some planters near New-Orleans raised a few canes for the market."

No explanation is given of the causes of the abandonment of this most valuable product, which subsequent experience has shown is so admirably adapted to the soil and climate of Louisiana. It is the more unaccountable, as a large capital had been embarked in it, for the purchase of slaves principally. It may be that it did not receive the protection from jealous rivals, which is indispensable for the success of every new enterprise of this kind, even under the most favourable circumstances; at least until it is firmly established; its expenditures secured or reimbursed; and its capacity brought into full development and operation.

From the period we have last spoken of, 1769, until 1796, we hear, from our author, of no effort to resume the cultivation of the sugar cane; although we may presume it was not absolutely extinguished; for in the record of the events of this year, (1796) he tells us--"Bore's success, in his first attempt to manufacture sugar, was very great, and he sold his crop for ten thousand dollars. His example induced a number of other planters to plant cane." In the transactions of 1794, we are indeed informed upon this point; and of the origin of Bore's undertaking this culture.

"Since the year 1766, the manufacture of sugar had been
entirely abandoned in Louisiana. A few individuals had,
however, contrived to plant a few canes in the neighbourhood of
the city: they found a vent for them in the market. Two
Spaniards, Mendez and Solis, had lately made larger
plantations. One of them boiled the juice of the cane into
syrup, and the other had set up a distillery, in which he made
indifferent taffia.

"Etienne Bore, a native of the Illinois, who resided about six
miles above the city, finding his fortune considerably reduced
by the failure of the indigo crops for several successive
years, conceived the idea of retrieving his losses by the
manufacture of sugar. The attempt was considered by all as a
visionary one. His wife, (a daughter of Destrehan, the colonial
treasurer under the government of France, who had been one of
the first to attempt, and one of the last to abandon, the
manufacture of sugar) remembering her father's ill success,
warned him of the risk he ran of adding to instead of repairing
his losses, and his relations and friends joined their
remonstrances to hers. He, however, persisted; and, having
procured a quantity of canes from Mendez and Solis, began to
plant."

So that in two years after Bore began to plant, he was able to make a crop which sold for ten thousand dollars. From this time the culture of the cane may be considered as established in Louisiana, constantly and rapidly increasing in its importance, until it has become a principal product of its soil, in which an immense capital is embarked. We have before us a copy of a "Letter of Mr. Johnston of Louisiana, to the secretary of the treasury, in reply to his circular of the 1st July 1830, relative to the culture of the sugar cane." This interesting document contains a mass of authentic information, which leaves no doubt of the importance of the culture of the cane, not only to those regions of the United States which are suitable to it, but to all or most of the other states; and the inference he justly draws from it is, that it deserves and still requires all the protection it now receives from the government. If it should be discontinued or diminished so as to affect materially the sugar planter, the injury will not stop there, but be extended to thousands of our citizens, who may not have reflected upon the direct interest they have in this question. We deem it to be so important, that we believe our readers, many of whom may not see the letter of the honourable senator, will not find a page or two unprofitably given to some extracts from it. In the introduction of his subject he says:

"When Louisiana was acquired by the United States, there was a
duty on brown sugar of two and a half cents a pound, levied for
revenue. The people of that state, who had already made some
experiments in the culture of the cane, saw that the duty
afforded them some protection from foreign competition, and
secured the benefit of the home market, which was then of
considerable extent, and rapidly increasing. This induced them,
within the region then considered adapted to the cane, to turn
their attention to the production of sugar. They embarked their
whole fortunes, and for a long time struggled, under very
discouraging circumstances, against the effects of the climate,
the vicissitudes of seasons, the deficiency of capital, the
want of skill, and all the difficulties incident to the
commencement of such an enterprise. It was for many years a
doubtful experiment and hazardous undertaking, but they
persevered.

"The cane gradually adapted itself to the climate. Different
kinds of cane were introduced, skill was acquired by
experience, capital increased, machinery and steam power
applied, improvements adopted, and expenses diminished.

"At the close of the war, Congress, for the purpose of
increasing the revenue, and of protecting the domestic
industry, increased the rate of duty on sugar half a cent a
pound, as a part of a general system. This had a most decisive
effect in bringing this great national interest to its present
state, and they have now finally triumphed over every obstacle.

"It was more than twenty years before they could produce 40,000
hogsheads; and during the greater part of that time very little
profit was made upon the capital employed.

"The increase of capital, the introduction of machinery, the
diversion of labour from other less profitable pursuits, the
acquisition of skill, and, above all, the confidence of the
people in the protection of the government, have vastly
augmented the means of production. It now promises an ample
supply for the consumption of the country, and a steady but
moderate profit. They are in a course of experiment, that will
in a short period establish this great interest upon a scale
adequate to the wants of the people.