HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. SPANISH DOMINATION. CHAPTER I. O'REILLY'S ADMINISTRATION. 1769 to 1770. IN a preceding work on the French domination in Louisiana, I have related the cession of that colony to Spain in 1762, the attempt of that power to take possession of its new domain in 1766, the insurrection of the colonists in 1768, who drove away the Spaniards, the arrival of O'Reilly at New Orleans with overwhelming forces, to avenge the insult offered to his Catholic Majesty, the trial and punishment, on the 25th of October, 1769, of the leaders of the insurrection, and the final and complete occupation of the province by the Spaniards. The object of the present work is to record the history of Louisiana, as a Spanish colony, from 1769 to December 1803, when again her destinies were changed, and she was transferred to the United States of America. O'Reilly, having secured the obedience of the new subjects of Spain, and having, by the terror which the blood he spilt had inspired, guarded against the repetition of any attempt, similar to the one which he had so severely 2 O'REILLY'S ADMINISTRATION. repressed, showed his sense of security by sending away the greater portion of his troops; and, retaining only about 1,200 men, he proceeded to the immediate organization of the province in its military, judicial, and commercial departments. It will be recollected that Louis XV., in his letter to Governor D'Abbadie, after the cession of Louisiana to Spain, had expressed the wish that Louisiana should preserve the laws, institutions, and usages to which it had been so long accustomed, and had declared that he expected from the friendship of his cousin, the king of Spain, that, for the welfare and tranquillity of the colonists, that monarch should give to his officers in that province, such instructions as would permit the inferior judges, as well as those of the Superior Council, to administer justice according to the old laws, forms, and usages of the colony. Such, at first, had been the intention of his Catholic Majesty, but it was changed by the events which occurred in the colony in 1768; and, on the 25th of November, 1769, O'Reilly issued a procla mation,* in which he informed the colonists that, considering the part which the Superior Council had acted in the late disturbances, his Majesty thought proper to abolish that tribunal, and to establish in Louisiana that form of government and that system of administration, which had always succeeded in maintaining tranquillity and subordination in the domains of his Catholic Majesty, and which had secured for them a durable prosperity. Perhaps the king of Spain, who could not decently have disregarded the wishes expressed by the king of France in relation to his royal donation, was not backward to avail himself of the opportunity offered to him by the colonial insurrection, to refuse the continuance of the French organization, and to remodel it in the Spanish * American State Papers, vol. i., p. 363. Miscellaneous. ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 3 style. It was natural for the statesmen of Spain, to think it sound policy to assimilate their new acquisition to their other possessions, and to efface all that might tend to keep up or revive in the colony the recollection and regrets of the past. Thus O'Reilly, in his proclamation, announced that a Cabildo would be substituted for the Superior Council, and be composed of six perpetual regidores, two ordinary alcaldes, an attorney-general Syndic, and a clerk, over which body the governor would preside in person.* The offices of perpetual regidor and clerk were acquired by purchase, and, for the first time, at auction. The purchaser was declared to have the faculty of transferring his office to a known and capable person, from whom he was permitted to require in payment one half of its appraised value; but one third only could be received on any subsequent mutation. Among the Regidores were to be distributed the offices of Alferez Real, or Royal Standard Bearer, of Principal Provincial Alcalde, of Alguazil Mayor, or High Sheriff, of Depositary General, and of Receiver of Fines. The ordinary Alcalde and the Attorney-General Syndic were to be chosen, on the first day of every year, by the Cabildo, and were always re-eligible, during the two first years, by a unanimous vote, and subsequently by a bare majority. At such elections the votes were openly given and recorded. The ordinary alcaldest were, individually, judges within the town of New Orleans, in civil and criminal cases, in which the defendant did not possess and claim the privilege of being tried by a military or ecclesiastical tribunal, in virtue of the fuero militar, or fuero ecclesiastico. Fuero means privilege-for instance, such as the fueros, or privileges granted 4 ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. These alcaldes, in their chambers, and without any written proceedings, took cognizance of, and summarily decided upon, all judicial matters in which the value of the object in dispute did not exceed twenty dollars. In other cases, they sat in a hall destined for this purpose, and their proceedings were recorded by a notary and a clerk; and when the value of the object in dispute exceeded ninety thousand maravedis ($330 88c.), an appeal lay from their decision to the Cabildo. This body did not examine itself the judgment appealed from, but chose two Regidores, who, with the Alcalde who had rendered it, revised the proceedings; and, if he and either of the Regidores approved the decision, it was affirmed. The Cabildo sat every Friday, but the Governor had the power of convening it at any time. In his absence, one of the Alcaldes presided, and, immediately after the adjournment, two Regidores went to his house and informed him of what had been done. The ordinary Alcaldes had the first seats in the Cabildo, immediately after the Governor; and, below them, the other members sat in the following order: the Alferez Real, or Royal Standard Bearer, the Principal Provincial Alcalde, the Alguazil Mayor, or High Sheriff, the Depositary General, the Receiver of Fines, the Attor ney General Syndic, and the Clerk. The office of Alferez Real was merely honorary, no other function being assigned to the incumbent but the bearing of the royal standard in a few public ceremonies. The Principal Provincial Alcalde had cognizance of offences committed out of the town; the Alguazil Mayor executed personally, or by his deputies, all process from the different tribunals. The Depositary General took to particular provinces, to corporations, to the military, or to the ecclesiastical body, &c. &c. ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 5 charge of all moneys and effects placed in the custody of the law. The functions of the Receiver General of Fines are pointed out by his official denomination. The Attorney General Syndic was not, as may be supposed from his title, the prosecuting officer of the crown. His duty was to propose to the Cabildo such measures as the interest of the people required, and to defend their rights. This was a sort of imitation of the Roman tribune, and shows that, even in those days, and under that form of government which was reputed, not only absolute, but also tyrannic, the people, contrary to the general belief, were admitted to have rights, which were to be advocated and defended. Such at least was the theory, if the practice was different. The Regidores, or municipal officers, received fifty dollars each, annually, from the treasury. The Principal Provincial Alcalde, the Alguazil Mayor, the Depositary General, the Receiver of Fines, and the Ordinary Alcaldes were entitled, as such, to fees of office. In certain cases, there was an appeal from the highest tribunal of the province to the Captain General of the island of Cuba; from him, to the Royal Audience in St. Domingo, and thence to the Council of the Indies in Madrid. The other officers of the province were a Captain General residing in Cuba, and to whom the Governor of the colony seems to have been subordinate; a Governor, clothed with civil and military powers; an Intendant, who had the administration of the revenues, and of all that concerned the naval and commercial department; a Contador, or Royal Comptroller; an Auditor of War and Assessor of Government, who was the legal adviser of the Governor; an Auditor of the Intendancy, who was the legal adviser of the Intendant. There being in those days, in Louisiana, a scarcity of men learned in the law, |