UO VIEWS OF LOUISIANA', - 
Which, one would think, ought not to be the result of a transition 
from a despotism to a republican government: luxury has in¬ 
creased in a wonderful degree, and there exists something like 
a distinction in the classes of society. On the other hand, more 
pains are taken with the education of youth ; some have sent 
their sons to the seminaries pf the United States, and all seem 
anxious to attain this desirable end. Several of the young men 
have entered the army of the United States, and have discover- 
ed talents. The females are also instructed with more care, and 
the sound of the Piano is now heard in their dwellings for the 
first time. 
Personal property, a few articles excepted, has fallen on m 
average, two hundred per cent, in value, and real property risen 
at least five hundred. But the prices of merchandise had n© 
proportion to the price of produce. Five bushels of corn wer© 
formerly necessary for the purchase of a handkerchief, which 
can now be had for one. The cultivators raised little pro** 
duce beyond what was necessary for their own subsistence, it 
was therefore held at high prices, but fell far short of the present 
proportion tp the price of imported articles; the petty trade was 
the principal dependence for these supplies. Their agriculture 
Was so limited, that instances have been known, of their having- 
been supplied by the king, on the failure of their crops from 
the inundation of the Mississippi. The low value of lands nati*- 
rally arose from the great quantities lying waste, and unoccu¬ 
pied, in proportion to the extent of the population, or of its pro¬ 
bable increase, and the consequent facility with which it could 
be obtained. Rent was scarcely known. 
It maybe questioned, whether the poorest class has been 
benefited by the change. Fearless of absolute want, they always 
lived in a careless and thoughtless manner; at present the great¬ 
er part, of them obtain a precarious subsistence. They general- 
]y possess a cart, a horse or two, a small stock of cattle, and cul¬ 
tivate small plots of ground. At St. Louis they have more em¬ 
ployment than in the other villages; they make hay in the prai¬ 
ries, haul wood for sale, and are employed to do trifling jobs in 
town; some are boatmen or patrons. At St. Genevieve, they de¬ 
pend more upon their agriculture, and have portions in the great 
