W 89 [ 237 ] 



lished, had already infused prosperity into the settlements of the left. A 

 wholesome lesson mio^ht have been learned in this contrast; but it was 

 disdained. The colony fell into complete idleness and poverty; and the 

 habits and manners of the inhabitants became, of course, deteriorated, 

 leaving it Air in arrear of the progress which civilization was making 

 around it. Towards tlje close of the last century, all activity and indus- 

 try had vanished. " People,'' says a French writer, "worked only to keep 

 themselves from dying and going barefooted, and seemed satisfied with 

 living out a life of carelessness and ignorance, as unprofitable as it was 

 inglorious." 



Spain, howevtr, at that time appeared to arouse herself in behalf of 

 her Mississippi possessions. The Marquis de Carondelet was still the 

 governor-general at New Orleans, and Mr. Charles Dehault Delassus 

 lieutenant-governor of St. Louis. Being both enlightened men, they 

 were aware " that the admission of foreign settlers of every creed was 

 one of the most certain means of promoting the prosperity of their prov- 

 inces ;" and they might at another epoch have effected much good, but 

 it was then loo late— the times were completely altered. During the 

 precious years lost by Spain, the nations of the two parts of the world 

 had had their feelings aroused for the love of liberty. The Americans 

 had achieved tlieir iiidependence; France had commenced her revolution. 

 If, during these years, the Spanish government, preoccupied at home, had 

 deemed it its best policy to wait for a more propitious occasion to turn a 

 serious look toward Louisiana, it could not fail now to perceive the error. 

 The progress of events, in its onward march, had arrived at that stage 

 when the next step was to change the entire destinies of this magnificent 

 country. 



On the 9th day of July, 1803, at 7 o'clock p. m.— and the precision with 

 which this date is registered indicates the profound sensation with which 

 the news was received— the inhabitants of St. Louis learned, indirectly at 

 first, that Spain had retroceded Louisiana to Napoleon, and that the latter 

 had sold it to the United States. 



It most generally happens that the state of transition in a nation, from 

 a monarchical form of government to one of almost absolute liberty, is 

 one of prolonged struggles. Those nations that have gone through this 

 ordeal know that it can be passed but at the expense of blood, shed in 

 intestine commotions and foreign wars. But, in this respect, the two 

 Louisianas have been more fortunate, for it only required a few years of 

 schooling. It is true, the Upper Louisiana had to pay higher for her tu- 

 ition ; bill this is in the nature of things, for the knowing will always 

 outwit the inexperienced. The good-natured Missourians had not kept 

 pace with the march of civilizauon. Their existence had become, as it 

 were, so isolated and simplifieil, that they had lost sight of the advan- 

 tages of a social compact, which, whilst it imposes salutary restraints, 

 invites emulaiion and stimulates ambition. There were no public schools 

 in the colony ; no regular church, as it was but rarely that the villages 

 were visited by some venerable missionaries, whose number was very 

 small, considering the vast extent of the country. All the purposes of 

 life were embraced within the domestic circle, where virtue, religious 

 faith, and strict honesty were proverbial. Notaries public, lawyers, 

 judges, and tribunals were unknown. There was no other prison than 

 the guard-house of the small Spanish garrison ; and it is asserted that> 



