Chapter 27

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.