Le MeschaceÌbeÌ. [volume] ([Lucy] La.) 1853-1942, 1875-08-14

ries, listen to the Language of V. de
SolOrzano, one of the most profound
jurists of Spain, member of the
."Supreme Council and the Board OF
Policy in Spanish America, and hear
what, as a jurisprudent he has to say
lh his law Commentaries :-vAho
and what are creolesf 1t is my duty,
as an expounder of law-comO inter
prete de derccho-tO say something
concerning those who, in the two In
dies, are born Of Spanish parents ;
because, in those countries it is the
custom to call them 'creOles,' Just as
it is customary to call 'mestizOs' those
who are born of Spanish fathers and
Indian mothers, and 'mulatoes,' those
born of Spanish fathers and negro
mothers. In so much as relates to
the first-entiendo los criollos-I
mean the creoles, there can be no
doubt that they are true, white Spa
niards, and that, al snch. they are
entitled to all the rights, honors and
privileges Of their Spanish parents,
granted by various Charters and
Letters Royal, to the colonies Of
Spain, since the days Of the conquest
Of Mexico. (
1.-THE reason of this n clear, because,
as offsprings of Spanish parents, al
though begotten-criadOs- in those
remote and barbarous regions, they
do not share in the accidental dwell
ling-place; bnt they do, in the land,
Of their parents origin and hirth. By
virtue 96this doctrine, mort ~kten-
sively explained in my works, on the
laws Of the Indies, written in the La
tin language, the principle, settled by
the civil law, has lately been conse-
Grated by the canonical decision of
the Apostolic Court in Rome. It de-
crees that Rev. Father Alonzo de
Aguero, q Creole of the city of Lima,
recently elected to the Priorate of the
Angustinian College, the statutes Of
which require that the head shall be
q Spaniard, was lawfully elected to
the dignity, being the son of Spanish
parents and born under the jurisdic=
ton Of Spain in one Of hesGles.
In order 10 show the sheer and we'll
defined discrimination between creole
and mestizo, or any other mixed gene
ration, Solorzano quotes from Oviedo's
History of Chilli an account Of skir-
mish between body Of insurgents
aud troops Of the Spanish govern
ment, in which the following passage
occurs: "The leader of the govern
ment forces disarrayed. dislodged and
routed fourteen files Of the opposing
lines, killed six CreOlcs and wounded
three psestisoes." Do you mark the
distinction, my dear Moranf Had
Creoles and Mestizoes been synonym
ous, the distinction would not have
been 10 peculiarly noted on the his
torians page. You will therefore
perceive from this quotation that
SolorzanO establishes an unmistak-
able difference between Creoles
(white people born of European pa:
rents in America), and Mestizoes, not
called Creoles at that time, who are
effectdally half blood half white
and half Indian. The mulatoes were
also half blood; but half white and
half negro blood. Neither mestizo, nor
mMldto, was originally defined as a
Creole. These commentaries of SOlOr-
zano make out the question unmis-
takly clear.
Much confusion, however, growing
out Of ignorance, gathered about the
genuine meaning Of the term, which,
rs you have seen, was first inuented,
by the Conquistadores, rs curly as
the year 1920, and seven years before
the period when Chaves, by Imperial
Schedule. under the sign manual Of
Charles the Fifth, had introduced an
African on the soil Of America. That
term was thence adopted by Portu-
gucse and Dutch, English and French,
immigrants into the colonies of North
and South America. We have seen,
that in the lapse Of years the term
was misapplisd tn negroes, mulatoes,
animals, vegetables and fruits. This,
IN Louisiana, was and ia now true tO
the very letter. Go back to any file Of
newspapers, dating even twenty
years ago, and you can read, as /
now read in the columns Of the
Louisiana Courier of the 26th of
February, 1890: "For sale, q likely
young Creole negro, twenty seven
years of age; is somethi' & of car
pcnter," etc. Runaway, stout
Amerioaa negro, with a wen on his
neck--rnnaway with a wen on his
neck is simply delightfnl-he is a
Jack Of all trades" Here, you see,
we have a stout Amcriodn negro, in
contrast with a likely Creole negro.
From what admitted geography Of
the earth could you, good Moran,
supp0se that stont AHsericam negro
and = likely Creole negro could law
fully have comet Farther on, in my
old newspaper, / find: "Estray, .
sorrel 0ysels horse, with : white spot
10 his le(t forefront" Very we'll, for
the stray Creole horse. Tread little
farther on and I end An "Amsrioan
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