an arrogance still more galling to the Americans. They refused to take office under the new government, and held obstinately to the autonomy guaranteed them in the act of cession. Making English the official language of the government naturally made French the only language in use outside of it. There was no attempt on the part of the natives to master the foreign idiom, which, through popular affectation, was ignored, or was used, when it could not possibly be avoided, strictly for business purposes. The governor, who did not understand or speak either Spanish or French, surrounded himself, naturally, with men with whom he could communicate, the new-comers; and the discontent increased as the native population saw the inevitable rising importance to these last. The delay in admitting the territory into the Union, the debates in Congress over the qualifications of the Louisianians for self-government, were a personal irritation and provocation to every Creole. A Creole and an American could not meet without a dispute and an affray. The animosity involved all; the governor himself and the United States general actively participated in it. At night, insurrectionary placards posted on the corners of the streets attracted crowds around them, reading them aloud, copying them, preventing their being torn away. Every day produced its crop of duels; the governor's private secretary and brother-in-law, attempting to refute a slander, was killed in one. The old militia was disorganized, and there was too much jealousy and distrust, too distinct a line drawn between the two populations, to hope for any new, common, efficient force.
The panicky sensationalism crept into the very walls
