Translation:Proclamation, in the name of the French Republic. Colonial Prefect Laussat to Louisianians
PROCLAMATION.
IN THE NAME OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
LAUSSAT,
COLONIAL PREFECT,
TO LOUISIANANS.
louisianans,
Your separation from France marks one of the most shameful epochs of her glory, under an already weak and corrupt Government, after an ignominious war and following a withering peace.
Alongside a cowardly and distorted abandonment, you offered the contrast of heroic love, fidelity and courage.
All French hearts were softened by it, and have never lost their memory of it: they exclaimed then, with pride, and they have never ceased to repeat that their blood flowed in your veins.
As soon as they had resumed their dignity and reconquered their glory, by the Revolution and by a prodigious series of triumphs, they turned their gaze on you: you entered into their first negotiations; they wanted your retrocession to signal their first Peace.
The time had not yet come. A Man had to appear, to whom nothing that is national, great, magnanimous and just, was neither foreign nor impossible; who, to the most eminent talent of victories, unites the rarer talent of extracting and fixing all the happy results; who commanded at the same time, by the ascendancy of his character, terror to the Enemies, and confidence to the Allies; who, with a penetrating genius, perceived the true interests of his country, and, with an unshakeable will, embraced them; which was finally born to re-establish France on its foundations, to reestablish it within the entire extent of its limits, and to wash away all the stains from its Annals.
This Man, he presides today over our Destinies, and, from this moment, LOUISIANANS, he answers to you for yours.
For them to be beautiful and happy, it suffices to support, on this fortunate soil, the prodigalities of nature: such are also the designs of the French Government.
To live in peace and in friendship with all your neighbors, to protect your trade, to encourage your culture, to people your deserts, to welcome and favor work and industry, to respect and respect properties and customs and opinions, to pay homage to the Worship, to put probity in honor, preserving the empire of the laws and not even correcting them except with measure and the torch of experience, maintaining a vigilant and firm police force, introducing a permanent order and economy in all the branches of the public administration, to tighten each day the knots that the same origin, the same morals, the same inclinations establish between this Colony and the Mother Country: here, LOUISIANANS, is the honorable mission of which your CAPTAIN GENERAL, (Divisional General Victor,) your COLONIAL PREFECT and your COMMISSIONER OF JUSTICE, (the citizen Aymé,) congratulate themselves on being charged in the midst of you.
The reputation of the Captain General preceded him there: Companion in arms of the first Consul, he made himself distinguished from the beginning of the campaigns of the famous army of Italy; on less brilliant days he astonished Suvorov by precipitating his flight; he was finally one of the Lieutenants of Bonaparte, AT THE BATTLE OF MARENGO. But with these titles which have illustrated his name, he brings you, Louisianans, the keen desire to make him dear to you by all the virtues, the care and the work which, on the part of the leaders, can contribute to the shop of the Peoples. His ardor for your interests, the purity of his intentions, the correctness of his views, the amenity and affability of his access and his manners, still bearing so much valor and military laurels, guarantee him your affection and your confidence.
He brings you from those Troops who have made the Earth resound even on these remote and distant shores, with the noise of their bravery and their exploits: Batavia, since the peace, has admired their good conduct and their excellent discipline; you will admire them like her.
Finally, you will find, Louisianans, in the Commissioner of Justice, enlightenment, equity, impartiality, disinterestedness: he comes to you, known in advance and powerfully recommended by the reputation of his talents, his proscription and his misfortunes.
You will therefore applaud yourselves in every respect for having become French again: day by day, you will feel more and more the value of this fine title, an object of envy today throughout the Globe. We know, however, Louisianans, and we do not want to hide it, that for thirty years Spain, through the gentleness of a reparative and generous government, has endeavored to make you forget the bloody fault of an Agent unworthy of this noble Nation.
She is the close and faithful friend of ours: it is not we who will inspire you to pay her with ingratitude.
We will try to compete in benevolent efforts with the elite leaders she gave you.
Your devotion to the FRENCH REPUBLIC, our common Fatherland, your gratitude for those who join you there and who send us, the daily spectacle of your growing prosperity, will be, Louisianans, the reward that we will constantly aspire to, for a zeal and pains whose only limits will be those of the accomplishment of our duties and our wishes.
In New Orleans, the 6th of Germinal, Year XI of the French Republic.
Laussat
For the Colonial Prefect,
The Administrative Officer,
acting as Secretary,
D’augerot
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
|---|---|
| Translation: |
This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed—and if you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same license as this one.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
