New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-04-05
THE .yTgCKprNrs OF LOUISIANA.

Inc fcO0ers Ot NOItuoTn JouihaiS oio iuu""i
with the early history Of oil the Colonies planted
on the Atlantic coast. They are familiar with
the story Of tie hardship, peril, and disaster
which most of them Encountered; the memory OF
these caaInities, IA well as the virtues OF the
men and women who came over as pioneers OF
new civilization, being to this day perpetaated
by anniversaries to their honor. Every reader
of this article will insliuctively call to mind that
two large portions of tho country were settled
under the impulse Of sentiment almost exciu-
syely of o religious character. All New-England,
all Penney lvania, and the lower half OF New
Jersey, were settled by persons who plunged
into savage wilderness to secure the liberty OF
worshiping God according to the dictates OF con-
science. The higher law, which thus drove these
people out Of the European Babylon, impressed
| itself indebly on their laws, their manners, ana
their institutions. TO their children, these pre-
| cious Influences descended with Increased intcn-
sity and iustor, and from them they have oeen
| perpetuated to Tire present day, until New-Eng'
| Land has become n monument OF clsil and re-
| lpioas liberty the shadow of great rock in
weary land, into which the righteous ruDneth
and is safe. 1t would seem that, having first
sought tho kingdom Of heaven, the promised re-
ward las been given, for all things necessary
| have been added II is from the virtuous begin
npRs of these now vast communities hat THIS
large measure of national advancement has pro-
ceeded. The high moral and religious standard
thus established, has been felt in other regions
| whittier the parent hive has thrown of its an-
| nual swarms, until tho prayers which went up
| from the deck of the May HOwor and the bleak
| Plymouth rock, have met answer and acceptance
| in regions where millions OF the descendants Vi
these pioneers are peacefully perPetuatlng INC III
situations thus piously inaugurated.
Turning from these remarkable fruits Of consci'
entous duty, and looking TO the origin OF that
other section Of our country, now sonVulsed py
lratorous sgitaiions, the beginning and tie end
of both organizations viii be found so widely d.
vergent, as easily to account for tue moral and
political discrepancies which now cOnyulse the
Inter. Hirtorr assures us that New-England
and PENNSYLVANIA were founded by piOus meD,
aud that Louisiana was settled by yagabonds ana
prostitutes. When Laws famous Mississippi
Scheme was authorized by the Parliament Of
Paris, in l7l7, the Company bound ltseh 70
transport 10 Louisiana, before the expiration oil
its charter, 5000 white persons and 5000 ne
Rroes, but not 70 draw them from any other
French colony They must therefore be- takou
from France itself Laws intentions being fraud
uleut from the beginning, this obligation imposed
By his charter was fulfilled Ga might have
been expected. In the hight Of the Partisan
frenzy, generated BY Laws vast financial
schemes, many adyenturers hOcked to Louisiana,
Of whose wealth and fruitfuness the most
exaggerated tales were circulated in print
through every highway aud byway in France.
Mos. of these were penniless, aud
went, not 10 labor but to plGndcr; no!
to enrich the country by their industry, but
to impoyerish it BY their rapacity. But, when
the bubble finally exploded, il was found that
Law had omitted TO complete his obligation to
colonizc tho country, and that il must be yet
fulfilled. Paris was convulsed by The huge explo-
sion which reversed the fortunes Of thousands,
noble. as well as plebeiaus. Voluntary emigration
ceased; nay. such OF tie penniless adStAturers
as were able to return did SO; the very name OF
! Mississippi becs,ne eu.se and terror AS
emigration had ceased 10 be voluntary, it must
bo renewed by force. Thus violence was re-
sorted TO, and agents were employed throughout
France to kidnap Migrants, beggsrs, gipeies,
and prostitutes, the very bssest classes of the
population, who were shipped to Louisiana as
The nucleus of n colony. In the hands of these
agents, this power to kiinap became a fearful
engine of POPULATION and oppression. The
agents were bribed TO kdnap obnoxious persons
in respectable stations; the dangerous rival, the
| hated wife, the troublesome husband, the inpor-
tuning CREDITOR, tho lOug-Gyed father, the obstacle
in tho way of an inheritance, were seized. i'm
prisonsd and sent off in company with thieves,
harlots, vsgabonds, and conEicts.
These unhappy people, guarded by soldiers on
their way TO the seapcrts, thronged Inc public
roads OF France like droves Of cattle. They died
in large numbers from sickness and starvation.
Locked up in barns ut night, or, when none could
be obtained, forced into bitches where thoy could
be moro easily guarded, and piuched with cold
and hunger, the haessrd looks und cmacia-
ted bodies Of these poor creatures carried
desOlation to tie hearts Of all who saw them.
| The spectacle increased the public horror
oil Louisiana. Its name became more ter
rife TO tie people OF France than that
! NJ the Bsstile or tie lnqus!tion- Yet,
from these loves, depths Of human misery aud
crime was Louisiana pecpied near century and
half 40. The population was then but 5,42o.
AT tLis point It remained stationary for ten years.