LOUISIAHA
380
LOxnaiAlTA
anived in New Orleans with the Ursuline nuns, and
Father de Beaubois soon became their superior. It
was the Jesuits who in 1751 introduced the sugar cane
into Louisiana from Hispaniola. They cultivated on
their plantation the su^r-cane, indigo, and the
myrtle-wax shrub.
The tribes with which the early colonists had princi- pally to deal were the Natchez, the Chickasaws, and the Choctaws. The last named were very numerous but not warlike, and were generally friendly to the French, while the Natchez and the Chickasaws were often at war with the colonbts, and the former had to be nearly destroyed to ensure the safety of the colony. The village of the Natchez was the finest in Louisi- ana, and their country was delightful. The men and women of their tribe were well-snaped and very cleanly. Their chief was called the Great Sun, ancf inherit- ance of that title was in the female line. The^r had a temple in which a fire was kept burning continually to represent the sun which they adored. Whenever a Great Sun died, or a female Sun, or any of the'in- ferior Suns, the wife or the husband was strangled together with the nearest relatives of the deceased. Sometimes little children were sacrificed by their
EarenU. The Natchez were defeated by P^rier and y St. Denis, and what remained of the tribe were adopted by the Chickasaws. The name of the Nat- chez as a nation was lost, but it will live for ever in literature on account of the charming pages devoted to them by Chateaubriand. Bienville wished to com- pel the Chickasaws to surrender the Natchez who had taken refuge among them, and his ill-success in two campaigns against that powerful tribe was the cause of his asking in 1740 to be allowed to go to France to recuperate his exhausted health. He left Louisiana in May, 1743, and never returned to the colony which he and Iberville had founded. He had endeavoured to establish in New Orleans a school for boys, but had not been successful. La Salle, Iberville, and Bien- ville are the greatest names in the history of French Louisiana.
Pierre Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, arrived in Louisiana on 10 May, 1743. He was known as the "Grand Marquis'*, and his administration was very popular. In 1752 he became Governor of Canada, where he was not as successful as he had been in Louisiana. The time had come to settle forever the question of supremacy on the American continent between France and England, and the brave Mont- calm and his able lieutenant L^vis could not prevent the British from capturing Quebec and Montreal. On the Plains of Abraham in 1759, where both Wolfe and Montcalm fell, the fate of Canada was decided, and the approaching independence of the English colonics might nave been foreseen. By the Treaty of Paris in
with the exception of New Orleans and the Island of
Orleans. Spain, in her turn, ceded to Great Britain
the Province of Florida, ana all the country to the
east and south-east of the Mississippi. Already, by
the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (3 Nov., 1762),
the wretched Louis XV had made to Charles III of
Spain a gift of *'the country known by the name of
Louisiana, as well as New Orleans and the island in
which that city is situated." This was the province
which was retroceded to France in 1800, and ceded by
France to the United States in 1803. Although the
Kin§ of Spain had accepted on 13 Nov., 1762, the gift
of his gracious cousin, the Treaty of Fontainebleau
was announced to the Louisianians only in 1764 by a
letter from the King of France to Director-General
d'Abbadie, dated at Versailles, 21 April. The selfish
monarcli, who cared nothing for liis suDJects in Europe,
in India, or in America, ended his letter with these
hypocritical words: "Hoping, moreover, that His
Catholic Majesty will be pleased to give to his subjecta
of Louisiana the marks of protection and good-will
which they have received under my domination, and
which only the misfortunes of war have prevented
from being more effectual. The Loubianians were
remote from France and were attached to their
sovereign, whose defects they really did not know.
They wished, therefore, to remain Frenchmen, and
sent Jean Milnet as their delegate to beg Louis X V not
to give away his subjects to another monarch. It
was in vain that Bienville went to see Minister Choi-
seul with Milhet. They were kindly received, but
were told that the Treaty of Fontainebleau could not
be annulled. In the meantime Don Antonio de
Ulloa had arrived in New Orleans on 5 March, 1766,
as governor, and the Spanish domination had begun.
The rule of the Spaniards was more apparent 3ian
real, for Ulloa came with only two companies of in-
fantry, and did not take possession omciallv of the
colony in the name of the King of Spain. Indeed the
Spanish banner was not raised in the Place cTArmes
in New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana, and the
orders of Ulloa were issued through Aubry, the
French commandant or governor. The colonists
should have been treated with gentleness at the very
beginning of a change of regime, but Ulloa, who was
a distinguished scientist, lacked tact in his dealings
with the Louisianians, and issued unwise commercial
regulations. Jean Milhet returned from France at the
end of 1767, and the colonists were greatly excited
by the narrative of the failure of lus mission. The
inhabitants of Louisiana resolved to expel the foreign
governor, and held a meeting in New Orleans, where
It was decided to present a petition to the Superior
Council on 28 Oct., 1768. The colonists said that
they would "offer their property and blood to preserve
for ever the sweet and inviolable title of French
citizen." Nicolas Chauvin de Lafr^nidre, the attor-
ney-general, who had been the principal speaker at
the great meeting in Npw Orleans, addressed the
council in favour of the petition and delivered a bold
and eloquent discourse. On 29 Oct . , 1768, the council
rendered a decree in compliance with the demands of
the inhabitants and the conclusions of Lafrdnidre.
Aubry protested against the decree, but the council
ordered its enforcement, and on 31 October Ulloa
embarked on board a Frcneh ship which he had
chartered. The next day the cables of the vessel were
cut by a Louisianian named Petit, and the foreigner
was expelled. It was a real revolution. The colo-
nists were actuated by the highest and most patriotic
motives, resistance against oppression and love of
country. They endeavoured oy all means in their
power to induce the King of France to keep them as
his subjects, and, not succeeding in their enorts, they
thought of proclaiming a republic on the banks of the
Mississippi in New Oneans. This contribution of a
spirit of heroism and independence to the civilization
of the future United States is of the greatest impor-
tance, and deserves to be carefully noted.
^ The Louisianians were not successful in the Revohi-
tion of 1768, for the Spanish Government sent power-
ful troops to subdue the insurgents. General Alexan-
der O'Reilly arrived in New Orleans with 3000 soldiers
on 17 Aug., 1769, and raised the Spanish flag in the
Place (TArmes. At first he treated the chiefs of the
insurgents with great politeness, and led them to be-
lieve that he would take no harsh measures in regard
to the event of Octol)er, 1768. He acted, however,
with great duplicity, and caused the principal insur-
gents against Llloa to be arrested while tney were
attending a reception at the govemor'shouse. Viller^
who was a planter on the German coast and one oi the
leaders of the revolution, was killed while resisting
arrest, and Lafr^niiire, Marquis, Noyan, Carresse, and
Joseph Milhet were condemned to be hanged. No
one was found in the colony to act us executioner, and
