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CH. VI.]

1717.

JOHN LAW THE FINANCIER.

give up the hope of profit and wealth by means of Louisiana; and the Regent and his advisers determined to hand it over to the famous Company of the West, better known as the Mississippi Company, through whose management it was confidently believed that immense wealth would flow into the empty treasury of France. This gigantic scheme, one of the most extensive and wonderful bubbles ever blown up to astonish, delude, and ruin thousands of people, was set in operation, and its charter registered by the parliament of Paris, on the 6th of September, 1717, the capital being a hundred millions of livres.

The fertile brain of John Law gave birth to this mighty project of making every body rich with nothing more substantial, in fact, than pieces of paper. Law was born in Edinburgh, in 1671; and so rapid had been his career, that, as Mr. Gayarré says, at twenty-three years of age, he was "a bankrupt, an adulterer, a murderer, and an exiled outlaw." But he was undoubtedly a man of financial ability, and by his agreeable and attractive manners, and his enthusiastic advocacy of his schemes, he succeeded in inflaming the imaginations of the mercurial Frenchmen, whose wishes-fathers to their thoughts-led them readily to adopt any plans for obtaining wealth in preference to those of steady industry and the natural gains of honest and honorable trade.

Arriving in Paris with two million and a half francs, which he had gained at the gambling table, he found himself there just at the right time. Louis

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XIV. died soon after, and, in 1716, the Duke of Orleans, the Regent, found the financial condition of France to be truly desperate. "The public debt was immense; it was a legacy bequeathed by the military glory of Louis XIV., and the other pompous vanities of his long reign. The consequence was, that the load of taxation was overwhelming, merely to pay the interest of this debt, without any hope of diminishing the capital. All the sources of industry were dried were dried up: the very winds which wafted the barks of commerce, seemed to have died away under the pressure of the time; trade stood still; the manufacturers were struck with palsy; the merchant, the trader, the artificer, once flourishing in affluence, were now transformed into clamorous beggars, and those who could yet command some small means, were preparing to emigrate to foreign parts. The life-blood that animated the kingdom, was stagnated in all its arteries, and the danger of an awful crisis became such, that it was actually proposed in the Council of State, to expunge the public debt, by an act of national bankruptcy. But the Regent has the credit of having rejected the proposition; and a commission was appointed to inquire into the financial situation of the kingdom, and to prepare a remedy for the evil."*

1716.

Law now stepped forward, and the Regent eagerly caught at the proposed means of relief; a bank was established, as an experiment, bearing Law's name, with a capital of six millions of livres, divided into shares

* Gayarré's "History of Louisiana,” vol. i. p. 199.

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Our limits do not admit of following the almost incredible career of John Law, and the frenzy of cupidity displayed by the Parisians and others, in the insane attempt to accomplish the payment of their debts, and increase their wealth, by means of an inflated paper currency. The bubble burst after a few years, scattering ruin and distress in every direction: the bank stopped payment in May, 1720, at which time there was paper in circulation, amounting to 2,235,085,590 livres. The whole of it was suddenly reduced to the value of so much waste paper, and no more. Law fled from the fury of the people to Brussels; nearly every thing was lost; he visited England in 1721; left it in 1722, and died in obscurity and poverty at Venice, in 1729. Truly, to use the words of Mr. Gayarré, "he who could write in all its details the history of that Mississippi bubble, so fatal in its short-lived duration, would give to the world the most instructive composition, made up of the most amusing, ludicrous, monstrous, and horrible elements that were ever jumbled together!"

1718.

In March, 1718, three vessels reached Louisiana, with three companies of infantry and sixty-nine colonists; and in June of the same year, some eight hundred persons, colonists, convicts, and troops, also safely arrived: these were the first installments of the six thousand whites and three thousand negroes which the Mississippi Company agreed to introduce. Bienville was reappointed governor, and soon after sent a party of convicts to clear up a swamp the site of the present city of New Orleans, so named after the Regent of France. A few years later Bienville removed thither the seat of government, and time has justified his foresight and perspicacity in the choice of this locality for the commercial capital of the valley of the Mississippi. Law had reserved to himself twelve miles square on the Arkansas, whither he had sent fifteen hundred German settlers. During the prosperity of the paper scheme, money was profusely spent in promoting enterprise and colonization in Louisiana, but when this scheme exploded these foreign resources suddenly ceased, and the settlers, who were in a great measure dependent on them, were reduced to great distress.

A war having broken out with Spain, Pensacola was twice taken by the French, but in 1721 it 1721. was restored again to its former owners, and the River Perdido became the dividing line between Spanish Florida and French Louisiana. A military establishment of about a thousand troops was kept up; and a considerable number of Capu

C. VI.]

PROSPERITY OF LOUISIANA.

chins and Jesuits had charge of the spiritual concerns of the colonists. "Rice was the principal crop, the main resource for feeding the population. To this were added 1724. tobacco and indigo. The fig had been introduced from Provence, and the orange from St. Domingo." In 1727, the population amounted to something more than five thousand, half of this number being negroes. Périer, in 1726, was appointed governor in place of Bienville, whose removal had been effected by his pertinacious enemies; soon after, difficulties began to arise with the Indians. The Natchez tribe, who had at first amicably received the French, and in whose territory Fort Rosalie had been erected, now became jealous of their growing demands for territory: urged on by the Chickasaws, and falling suddenly upon the fort in 1729, they massacred all the male inhabitants and carried away the women and children into slavery; but a year or so afterwards, the French nearly exterminated the whole tribe, and sent several hundred of them to be sold as slaves in Hispaniola. The Chickasaws, who traded with the English, and obstructed the communication between Upper and Lower Louisiana, now gave asylum to the poor remains of the Natchez tribe; for these offences the French determined to subdue them.

1729.

The Mississippi Company, in 1732, resigned Louisiana into the hands of

the King, and Bienville was 1732. again appointed governor, and directed to make preparations for a war against the Chickasaws. With a

211

1739.

fleet of sixty boats and canoes, and with about twelve hundred Choctaws as allies, Bienville ascended the Tombigbee River to the head 1735. of navigation, and attacked the Chickasaws near that point; but the French were repulsed and compelled to retreat. Three years later the whole strength of the French was put forth to overcome this haughty and powerful tribe; sickness, however, and scarcity of provisions, soon thinned the ranks of the French troops, and, probably in consequence of dissensions among the officers, in 1740, they were glad to withdraw their forces and leave the Chickasaws unsubdued. The home government was greatly displeased with Bienville's ill success in this undertaking; and shortly after, in 1743, the Marquis de Vaudreuil was sent out as his successor. Bienville, at the age of sixty-five, left Louisiana never to return to the colony he loved and had served so long and well.

1743.

From this date onward, for many years, Louisiana, under the administration of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, enjoyed comparative tranquility, and gradually advanced in prosperity. De Vaudreuil was a nobleman of honorable standing, and endeavored to give a high tone to his government, and although troubles with the Indians and other difficulties interfered with his comfort and the progress of the colony, yet, on the whole, matters went on as well as could be expected. In 1753, De Vaudreuil was transferred to Canada, and Kerlerec, a captain in the Royal Navy, succeeded him as governor of Louisiana.

1753.

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A brief survey of the condition of the colonies important - Population of Virginia - State of manners, habits, customs, progress in trade and commerce Report made to the Board of Trade Complaint of the Virginians as to the conduct of the royal officers-Population of Massachusetts Trade, etc. Connecticut and Rhode Island Militia force - Iron works-Mining operations Progress of New Hampshire - The throat distemper-Earthquake in New England - Religion in New England - Improvement in manners and general intercourse Mode of living, fashions, etc. Discussions as to the intentions of the colonists on the subject of independence Population and progress of Maryland - Trade, etc., of the Carolinas - Hurricane - Yellow fever New York Tea - Contraband trade · Manners and social life in New York Albany and its people New Jersey-Pennsylvania; its trade, etc., compared with New York - Value of this imperfect sketch of the condition of the colonies - Final struggle approaching between the English and French in America.

At this point in the progress of our narrative, it will be profitable as well as interesting to pause a while, and take a brief survey of the position and general condition of the American colonies. We have already, here and there, called the attention of the reader to the gradual development of wealth and energy in the colonies; it will conduce, however, to additional clearness of ideas, as well as better understanding of the actual-though not yet understood or appreciated-strength of the colonies, if we devote a few pages more particularly to this subject, and endeavor to ascertain what was the real condition of things during the first half of the eighteenth century. In doing this, we shall rely mainly upon Mr. Grahame, whose resumé of this topic, as far as it goes, we look upon as worthy of entire upon as worthy of entire confidence.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the population of Virginia amounted to sixty thousand, of whom about one half were slaves. The militia

were then in number less than ten thousand: in 1722, they numbered eighteen thousand, from which it is fair to infer a proportionably great increase in the general population. In 1750, 1722. Virginia numbered at least one hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants, more than half of whom were slaves. At Williamsburg, the seat of government, there were three public buildings, in 1727, which were considered the finest specimens of architecture in the country-the College, the State House, and the Capitol. Hospitality, to a profuse extent, and card-playing among the upper classes, were quite common, and hunting and cock-fighting were amusements in which all were interested. There was also in this town a theatre, the first that arose in the British colonies. Many persons of proud families at home, came to Virginia to escape the being looked down upon by their more wealthy aristocratic friends; and it was customary for young women, who had met with misfortune or loss of charac

CH. VII.]

1729.

VIEWS OF THE BOARD OF TRADE.

213

all the rights and privileges of an English parliament, and begin to search into the records of that honorable House for precedents to govern themselves by. The Council imagine that they stand upon equal terms with the British House of Lords." Probably, we think, these statements were due as much to the jealousy of the Board as to the careful investigation of the facts in the case. The Virginians, no doubt justly, complained of the insolence of the commanders of ships of war sent to cruise off the coast for the protection of trade,

ter in their native land, to emigrate to America, where they were at liberty to establish their claims to better characters, and more honorable positions in life than they could ever have attained elsewhere. Printing was first established in Virginia, in 1729; and the first newspaper in this colony was published at Williamsburg, in 1736. From Virginia and Maryland there were now annually exported about one hundred thousand hogsheads of tobacco, (valued at £8 per hogshead) and two hundred ships were commonly freighted with the tobacco-insolence which at no late day became produce of these two provinces. The annual gain to England from this trade was about £500,000. The articles of iron and copper ore, beeswax, hemp, and raw silk, were first exported from Virginia to England, in 1730.

In a report made to the Board of Trade in the reign of Queen Anne, we find the following statements: "On every river of this province, there are men, in number from ten to thirty, who, by trade and industry, have got very complete estates. These gentlemen take care to supply the poorer sort with goods and necessaries, and are sure to keep them always in their debt, and consequently dependent on them. Out of this number, are chosen the Council, Assembly, justices, and other officers of government. The inhabitants consider that this province is of far greater advantage to her majesty than all the rest of the provinces besides on the main land, and therefore conclude that they ought to have greater privileges than the rest of her majesty's subjects. The Assembly think themselves entitled to

utterly insufferable, and added not a little to the readiness of the provincials to measure arms with the haughty and overbearing regulars, who prided themselves so much on their superiority in all respects. Virginia was warm in its attachment to the parent country; but they, too, had begun generally to question the right to impose restrictions on commerce, a right constantly claimed and almost as constantly resisted or evaded; and the Virginia Assembly had no disposition to keep in repair forts and such like, which might be turned to their hurt in case of a contest.

Massachusetts not less than Virginia had advanced in population during this period. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were between seventy thousand and eighty thousand inhabitants; in 1731, the number is estimated at one hundred and twenty thousand freemen and 1731. two thousand six hundred slaves: and in 1750, it had reached not less than two hundred thousand. Six hundred ships and sloops were engaged in

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