Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text The idol of past years.
Of her bright face, one glance will trace
A picture on the brain,
And of her voice in echoing hearts
A sound must long remain;
But memory such as mine of her
So very much endears,
When death is nigh my latest sigh
Will not be life's, but hers.
I fill this cup to one made up
Of loveliness alone,
A woman, of her gentle sex
The seeming paragon--
Her health! and would on earth there stood
Some more of such a frame,
That life might be all poetry,
And weariness a name.
SONG.
We break the glass, whose sacred wine,
To some beloved health we drain,
Lest future pledges, less divine,
Should e'er the hallowed toy profane:
And thus I broke a heart that poured
Its tide of feelings out for thee,
In draughts, by after times deplored,
Yet dear to memory.
But still the old empassioned ways
And habits of my mind remain,
And still unhappy light displays
Thine image chambered in my brain;
And still it looks as when the hours
Went by like flights of living birds,
Or that soft chain of spoken flowers
And airy gems, thy words.
FOOTNOTE:
[13] Mr. Charles Weathers Bump, Ph. D. (Johns-Hopkins), says this name
should be _Coote_, as it so stands in the register of Pinkney's
baptism, which he has seen.
[Illustration: ~Tulane University, New Orleans, La.~
Limited space permits us to give view of only one of the buildings
of this great institution.]
CHARLES ÉTIENNE ARTHUR GAYARRÉ.
~1805=----.~
CHARLES ÉTIENNE ARTHUR GAYARRÉ, descended from a family which was
among the early settlers of Louisiana, was born in New Orleans. He was
educated at the College of New Orleans, studied law in Philadelphia,
and served in the State Legislature. In 1835, he was elected to the
United States Senate, but ill-health prevented his taking the seat,
and he spent the eight succeeding years in Europe. He was afterwards
Secretary of State of Louisiana, and in the seven years of his service
he did much to promote an interest in letters and history, and to
establish the State Library on a firm basis.
He sided with his State in secession, and in 1863 recommended the
emancipation and arming of the slaves. Since the war, he has spent his
time in literary work, and has written both in English and French,
gaining a distinguished place especially as a historian.
WORKS.
Histoire de la Louisiane.
Romance of the History of Louisiana.
Louisiana: Colonial History.
Louisiana, as a French Colony.
History of the Spanish Dominion in Louisiana.
History of Louisiana, to 1861.
Phillip II. of Spain.
Fernando de Lemos.
Aubert Dubayet.
School for Politics, [drama].
Dr. Bluff, comedy in 2 Acts.
Addresses.
Judge Gayarré has been an able and tireless worker in the history and
literature of his native state. His works are admirable, full of life
and color, although his style is lacking in terseness and strength.
"He has indicated in the first volume of his 'History of Louisiana'
what might be done by a gifted fiction-writer with the picturesque
legends and traditions therein heaped together in luxuriant
confusion. One feels while reading, that the writer has been hampered
here and there by the temptation to be a romancer rather than remain a
historian, and one does not experience any surprise at this in view of
the profusion of startling and strange incidents."--Maurice Thompson.
LOUISIANA IN 1750-1770.
(_From History of Louisiana, French Domination._)
It was in this year, 1751, that two ships, which were transporting two
hundred regulars to Louisiana, stopped at Hispaniola. The Jesuits of
that island obtained permission to put on board of those ships, and to
send to the Jesuits of Louisiana, some sugar canes, and some negroes
who were used to the cultivation of this plant. The canes were put
under ground, according to the directions given, on the plantation of
the reverend fathers, which was immediately above Canal street, on a
portion of the space now occupied by the Second Municipality of the
city of New Orleans. But it seems that the experiment proved abortive,
and it was only in 1796 that the cultivation of the cane, and the
manufacturing of sugar, was successfully introduced in Louisiana, and
demonstrated to be practicable. It was then that this precious reed
was really naturalized in the colony, and began to be a source of
ever-growing wealth, [owing to the enterprise of Jean Étienne de
Boré].
On board of the same ships, there came sixty girls, who were
transported to Louisiana at the expense of the King. It was the last
emigration of the kind. These girls were married to such soldiers as
had distinguished themselves for their good conduct, and who, in
consideration of their marriage, were discharged from service.
Concessions of land were made to each happy pair, with one cow and its
calf, one cock and five hens, one gun, one axe, and one spade. During
the first three years of their settlement, they were to receive
rations of provisions, and a small quantity of powder, shot, grains
and seeds of all sorts.
Such is the humble origin of many of our most respectable and wealthy
families, and well may they be proud of a social position, which is
due to the honest industry and hereditary virtues of several
generations. Whilst some of patrician extraction, crushed under the
weight of vices, or made inert by sloth, or labor-contemning pride,
and degenerating from pure gold into vile dross, have been swept away,
and have sunk into the dregs and sewers of the commonwealth. Thus in
Louisiana, the high and the low, although the country has never
suffered from any political or civil convulsions, seem to have, in the
course of one century, frequently exchanged with one another their
respective positions, much to the philosopher's edification. . .
On the 23rd of September, the intendant Commissary, Michel de la
Rouvillière, made a favorable report on the state of agriculture in
Louisiana. "The cultivation of the wax tree," says he, "has succeeded
admirably. Mr. Dubreuil, alone, has made six thousand pounds of wax.
Others have obtained as handsome results, in proportion to their
forces; some went to the seashore, where the wax tree grows wild, in
order to use it in its natural state. It is the only luminary used
here by the inhabitants, and it is exported to other parts of America
and to France. We stand in need of tillers of the ground, and of
negroes. The colony prospers rapidly from its own impulse, and
requires only gentle stimulation. In the last three years, forty-five
brick houses were erected in New Orleans, and several fine new
plantations were established." . . . .
The administration of the Marquis of Vaudreuil was long and fondly
remembered in Louisiana, as an epoch of unusual brilliancy, but which
was followed up by corresponding gloom. His administration, if small
things may be compared with great ones, was for Louisiana, with regard
to splendor, luxury, military display, and expenses of every kind,
what the reign of Louis XIV. had been for Franc Previous Next |