French in the Peninsular war. He died at an age when he was still capable of rendering more services to the Spanish monarchy.

Joseph Villamil, who was born in New Orleans in 1789, took a part in the war of independence waged by the South American provinces, fought his way to celebrity and to the grade of General, and has lately been appointed Chargé d'Affaires by the Republic of Ecuador near the government of the United States.

Many other Louisianians, although having made themselves less conspicuous, rose to honorable distinction in the service of France, Spain and other powers; and the number of those who thus distinguished themselves becomes remarkable, when taken in connexion with the smallness of the colonial population from which they sprang.

In conclusion, I must call the attention of the reader to a singular anomaly-which is that, with all the foul abuses and tyrannical practices with which it has been so long the general custom to reproach the government of Spain every where, her administration in Louisiana was as popular as any that ever existed in any part of the world; and I am persuaded that I can rely on the unanimous support of my contemporaries when I declare, that they scarcely ever met in Louisiana an individual, old enough to have lived under the Spanish government in the colony and judged of its bearing on the happiness of the people, who did not speak of it with affectionate respect, and describe those days of colonial rule as the golden age, which, with many, was the object of secret, and with others, of open regrets. Such a government would, of course, have been insupportable to us, but it is not hence to be inferred that it did not suit the tastes and feelings, and deserve the gratitude of our ancestors.

Thus ends the Colonial History of Louisiana. I have attempted to write it faithfully, accurately and impar

tially, with an unabating love for truth, and with an unselfish desire of serving in this way, if not in any other, the country to which I am bound by so many ties--not only by birth, education and habit, but also by so many endearing recollections of the past, and even so many family associations and traditions, which, for me, clothe with the charm almost of private interest the relation of public events in Louisiana.

THE END.

APPENDIX.

(Page 42.)

CERTIFICAT DU GOUVERNEUR AUBRI.

M.

"NOUS, CHARLES AUBRI, chevalier de l'ordre royal et militaire de St. Louis, ancien commandant pour sa Majesté très chrétienne de la province de la Louisiane,-certifions que Monsieur Etienne de Gayarré, contador principal de cette province pour sa Majesté Catholique, arrivé dans cette colonie sous l'expédition commandée par Antoine de Ulloa, qui était venu pour en prendre possession, laquelle a été différée par divers accidents imprévus depuis le cinq mars mil sept cent soixante-six, jusqu'au dixhuit août dernier, qu'elle a été prise par son Excellence Don Alexandre O'Reilly, s'est toujours maintenu, comporté et représenté suivant l'état et la décence dù à sa place honorable, s'acquittant parfaitement de toutes les charges attachées à son emploi, selon l'expérience que j'en ai eue sous les yeux et les sentimens les plus distingués avec lesquels mon dit sieur de Ulloa a toujours traité avec lui, et, particulièrement depuis son absence de la fin d'octobre de l'année dernière jusqu'à ce jour, sur plusieurs affaires délicates concernant les services de leurs Majestés très Chrétienne et Catholique, en sa qualité de Contador, ayant même fait souvent les fonctions d'Intendant dans plusieurs occasions, en l'absence et longue maladie de M. Jean Joseph de Loyola, et aussi après sa mort; accomplissant ponctuellement toutes les obligations du service des rois de France et d'Espagne, avec tout le zèle, l'application, et la conduite la plus régulière, qui lui ont attiré l'estime, l'amitié et l'approbation de tous les honnètes gens; en foi de quoi, je

lui ai donné avec plaisir et toute la satisfaction possible, le présent. pour lui servir et valoir partout où besoin sera. Fait double à la Nouvelle Orléans, le 23 novembre, 1769.

"AUBRI."

[TRANSLATION.]

CERTIFICATE OF GOVERNOR AUBRI.

"I, CHARLES AUBRI, knight of the royal and military order of St. Louis, late Governor of the Province of Louisiana for his most Christian Majesty, certify that M. Etienne de Gayarré, Chief Contador of this province for his Catholic Majesty, who came to this colony in the expedition commanded by M. Antoine de Ulloa, which was sent to take possession of it, but which ceremony had been deferred, owing to sundry unforeseen accidents, from March 5, 1766, to the 18th of August last past, when it was accomplished by his Excellency Don Alexander O'Reilly,—has always conducted himself in accordance with the requirements of his honorable station, faithfully discharging all the duties incumbent upon him,—and this I vouch for from my own personal observation, as well as from the exalted opinion which the said Sieur de Ulloa has always expressed concerning him, and particularly since his absence from the end of last October to the present time upon various delicate affairs connected with the service of their most Christian and Catholic Majesties, in his office as Contador, having even often discharged the functions of Intendant on several occasions, during the absence and protracted sickness of M. Jean Joseph de Loyola, and also after his decease, punctually fulfilling all the requirements of the service of the Kings of France and Spain, with a zeal, application, and punctuality which have won for him the esteem, friendship and approbation of all honorable men. In testimony of which, with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction, I have given him these presents, that they may serve him in case of need. Given in duplicate at New Orleans, November 23, 1769

"AUBRI."

(Page 99.)

UNZAGA'S PROCLAMATION.

"WE DON LUIS DE UNZAGA, Colonel in the armies of his Majesty, and his Intendant and Governor-General in and for the province

of Louisiana :

"Make it known that having, from experience, become acquainted with the different frauds and malpractices which are apt to be committed in all sales, exchanges, permutations, barters, and generally in all alienations concerning negroes, immoveables, and real estates, which are made clandestinely and in violation of the public faith, by a simple deed in writing under private seal, whereby the inhabitants of this province are greatly distressed, their rights put in jeopardy, and the administration of justice reduced to a state of confusion; and wishing, first, to remedy such pernicious abuses, and next, to establish good order in this commonwealth and to govern it as are all the other possessions of his Majesty :

"We order and decree, that no person, whatever be his or her rank or condition, shall henceforth sell, alienate, buy, or accept as a donation or otherwise, any negroes, plantations, houses and any kind of sea-craft, except it be by a deed executed before a Notary Public; to which contracts and acts of sale and alienation shall be annexed a certificate of the Registrar of Mortgages; that all other acts made under any other form shall be null and void, and as if they had never been made; that the sellers and buyers shall have no right to the things thus sold, bought or exchanged; that they cannot acquire any just and legitimate possession thereof; and that in cases of fraud, all parties therein concerned shall be prosecuted with all the severity of the law; that the Notary who shall make a bad use of the confidence reposed in him by the public and of the faith put in the fidelity of his archives, and who shall have the audacity to antedate or postdate the deeds executed before him, shall, for this delinquency, be declared unworthy of the office he holds, and shall be condemned to undergo all the penalties provided for such a case; and said Notary, should he forget to annex to his acts the certificate of the Registrar of Mortgages as aforesaid, shall be proceeded against according to the circumstances of the case; and that no one shall plead ignorance of this proclamation we order and decree, that it be promulgated with the beat of the drum; and that copies thereof certified by the Secretary of the Government and by the Secretary of the Cabildo be