The New York herald., 1921-05-01
Portraits from old New Orleans

who died in 1868, the city, in spite Of
changes wrought by time and domina-
ton, remained "Old World"
This last leaf" builder of Mande-
vile, the lovely suburb which he pre-
sented to his native city, inherited a
great fortune, but in true Creole fingers
money could not linger; he died in
poverty, but without regrets, and never
derogating from his standard of gentH-
homme. Born in 177S, he possessed a
princely fortune. which enabled him
to entertain royalty the sons of Philippe
Egalite, Due d Orleans, Due de Mont
pensier and Conte de Baujolais. His
wealth permitted him. to make the i'm
poverished princes royal loan. When
he went to Paris after the restoration
of the Bourbons he was honored by
fetes at the Tuileries but the money
was not restored to him. True to his
ideas of what constituted a gentle
man, Bernard never asked for repay
ment.
A woman, descendant of the Pom
talba family, Micaela gives the next
best exhibition of Creole generosity.
Moved to emulation by Bernard's gift
to the city she returned from Paris
in order to rebuild a square of New
Orleans, reckless of cost SO that II
might be magnificent in style. One of
the beautiful private houses in this
square was put at the disposition of
Jenny Lind on her visit to the city in
1850
Its moments OF intense excitement
4. n.,1a
to have been unable to take any of
her history tragically; rather like a
lovely woman, sure of her charm. she
welcomed new rulers as if waving her
rights, sure that these rulers would
fall sooner or later at her feet. 1t is
true she pouted to some purpose and
drove away the Spaniard Ulloa when
he came to take possession OF the
province which Louis had presented
to the King of Spain. Jealousy, rather
than any undue loyalty to France, was
the cause of the i'll humor; Sonora
Ulloa, wife of the Viceroy, had boasted
that her beauty and fashion would
make over New Orleans society: she
was not even received O'Reilly, Ulloa's
stern successor, in spite of carrying
out the death penalty on the patriots
who had sought to make of New Or
leans "A republic, won them by his
charm of manner: he might be a cut
throat-at any rate he cut threats ele-
gantly. The women whose mothers
and grandmothers had brought SILKS,
satins, laces and jewelry from France
and who gave petit ieUer of mornings,
although their homes were log huts,
quickly forgave the Spanish interlopers
and yielded obedience to the distant
King of Spain as TO a second husband.
In 1906 Gov. Claiborne in letter to |
Thomas jefferson related the result of
an experiment which gave a second |
lease of life to New Orleans, and this
experiment constitutes one of the most
important incidents in Miss Kings
book. Indigo plantations, which had
been the mainstay Of Louisiana. and
of the planters assembled
near the city, We're failing because of
a destructive worm that chemistry had
failed to kill Then II was that De
Bore, a descendant of one of he most
families, revived the ex-
pertinent of making sugar from cane.
as we'll as bankers and capitalists from
the city, watched the boiling with
bated breath. and when it was an
nounced 1T graduates" scene OF
rejoicing and congratulation followed
which this authors pen eagerly and
vividly describes.
Not wholly of the past but carried
over to the present the pleasure that
one reader derived from reading this
book gave him peculiar feeling as if
he were learning something that could
be presently applied. He is not sure
of this nor that it will not shortly
pass. The lesson that these grand
seigneurs taught is not new; il was
enforced in France In the beginning
of the eighteenth century, anG yet GER
tain very noble traits breathe from
the pages of this book that. being
emulated. might take away from every