René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

“ Among the burghers of Rouen was the old and rich family of the Caveliers. Though citizens and not nobles, some of their connections held high diplomatic posts and honorable employments at Court. They were destined to find a better claim to distinction. In 1643 was born at Rouen Robert Cavelier, better known by the designation of La Salle. [1] His father Jean and his uncle Henri were wealthy merchants, [Pg 8] living more like nobles than like burghers ”

“ This man was Robert Cavelier, Better known as La Salle, who, like many of his countrymen, was trying, just as the Spaniards and Englishmen had tried, to find or do something in America that would not only bring glory to his own name, but also wealth and honor to his fatherland. We have now to consider the work of the French in America. ”

“ Couture, from the Arkansas, brought word to Tonty, several months after, of La Salle's death, adding that Cavelier had concealed it, with no other purpose than that of gaining money or supplies from him (Tonty) , in his brother's name. Cavelier had a letter from La Salle, desiring Tonty to give him supplies, and pay him 2,652 livres in beaver. If Cavelier is to be believed, this beaver belonged to La Salle.
[349] Lettre du Roy à Denonville, 1 Mai, 1689. Joutel must have been a young man at the time of the Mississippi expedition; for Charlevoix saw him at Rouen, thirty-five years after. ”

“ They possessed “the courage of their convictions;” and despite the difficulties, dangers, and reverses which befell them, their successive explorations all contributed to the result finally achieved by La Salle,—the discovery of the “Father of Waters”—the Mississippi.
“Second only to Champlain, among the heroes of Canadian history,” says John Fiske, [1] “stands Robert Cavelier de la Salle—a man of iron, if ever there was one—a man austere and cold in manner, and endowed with such indomitable pluck and perseverance as have never been surpassed in the world. ”

“ Louis of the Illinois. As they drew near, a troop of Indians, headed by a Frenchman, descended from the rock, and fired their guns to salute them. They landed, and followed the forest path that led towards the fort, when they were met by Boisrondet, Tonty's comrade in the Iroquois war, and two other Frenchmen, who no sooner saw them than they called out, demanding where was La Salle. Cavelier, fearing lest he and his party would lose the advantage they might derive from his character of representative of his brother, was determined to conceal his death ”

“ On his recovery La Salle selected from seventeen to twenty companions, amongst whom were Father Donay, Cavelier the priest, young Cavelier the nephew, Joutel, Moranget, Duhaut, Larcheveque, Heins, Liotel, Toten, De Marle, Teissier, Saget, and the Indian hunter Nika. ”

“ The Abbé Cavelier with men from Lachine, arrived this morning, his young niece being with him. There are brave women in Montreal.”
“That is right,—that is right!” exclaimed the irritable merchant. “Call all the Cavelier family hither and give up the fortress. I heard the Abbé had ventured ahead of me.”
“Monsieur le Ber, what can they do against the king and the governor? Both king and governor have dispossessed La Salle. I admitted him as any wayfarer. The Abbé Cavelier came with a grievance against his brother. He hath lost money by him the same as others.” ”

“ This description shows animosity to La Salle; third, the "Mémoire" of Henry Tonti. The "Relation" of Abbé Cavelier stops before the death of his brother.
All the assassins perished miserably. Liotot and du Hault died at the hands of Ruter, a Breton sailor. Hiens and Ruter were also slain by one of their accomplices. (Parkman, Great West, p. 461.) Larchevêque was discovered in Texas by the Spaniards and was sent to Mexico to work in the mines as a galley slave. Père Douay, l'Abbé Cavelier, Joutel and others finished by arriving at Arkansas and from there they went to Fort St. ”

“ The narrative of Douay, who was with him at the time. 2. That of Joutel, who learned the facts, immediately after they took place, from Douay and others, and who parted from La Salle an hour or more before his death. 3. A document preserved in the Archives de la Marine, entitled Relation de la Mort du Sr. de la Salle, suivant le rapport d'un nommé Couture à qui M. Cavelier l'apprit en passant au pays des Akansa, avec toutes les circonstances que le dit Couture a apprises d'un François que M. Cavelier avoit laissé aux dits pays des Akansa, crainte qu'il ne gardât pas le secret. 4. ”

“ Henri De Tonty, on his rock of St. Louis, was visited in September by Couture and two Indians from the Arkansas. Then, for the first time, he heard with grief and indignation of the death of La Salle, and the deceit practised by Cavelier. The chief whom he had served so well was beyond his help; but might not the unhappy colonists left on the shores of Texas still be rescued from destruction? Couture had confirmed what Cavelier and his party had already told him, that the tribes south of the Arkansas were eager to join the French in an invasion of northern Mexico ”

“ Here was La Salle, in whom one would have known, at a glance, the chief of the party; and the priest, Cavelier, who seems to have shared not one of the high traits of his younger brother. Here, too, were their nephews, Moranget and the boy Cavelier, now about seventeen years old; the trusty soldier Joutel; and the friar Anastase Douay. Duhaut followed, a man of respectable birth and education; and Liotot, the surgeon of the party. [Pg 421] At home, they might perhaps have lived and died with a fair repute ”

“ There is not much room in the pavilion, but there is room for the hard-pressed table and the tilted chair—there is room for a novelist and his friends. The panels have a queer paint and a venerable slant; the small chimney-place is at your back; the south window is perfect, the privacy bright and open. ”

“ Cavelier his brother, Moranget his nephew, the friar Anastase Douay, and others to the number of twenty, were chosen to accompany him. Every corner of the magazine was ransacked for an outfit. Joutel generously gave up the better part of his wardrobe to La Salle and his two relatives. Duhaut, who had saved his baggage from the wreck of the "Aimable," was required to contribute to the necessities of the party; and the scantily-furnished chests of those who had died were used to supply the wants of the living. ”

“ In such a man, the effect of such an infirmity is to concentrate and intensify the force within. In one form or another, discordant natures are common enough; but very rarely is the antagonism so irreconcilable as it was in him. And the greater the antagonism, the greater the pain. There are those in whom the sort of timidity from which he suffered is matched with no quality that strongly revolts against it. These gentle natures may at least have peace, but for him there was no peace.
[Pg 342]
Cavelier de La Salle stands in history like a statue cast in iron ”

“ It is the largest, as well as the most imposing of the Halls of the Alhambra, though in arrangement and symmetry of details less perfect than the Hall of The Two Sisters.
Inscriptions of verses from the Koràn abound amongst the decorations.
The present ceiling of the Hall of the Ambassadors is a dome{248} of wood, ornamented by ribs intersecting each other in various patterns in gold, on grounds of blue and red. The ceiling is ingenious in construction and beautiful in detail. ”

“ He was an aging man, near sixty; huge and fair he was, with a crisp beard, and stalwart as a tower; and the better-read at Mezelais likened the couple to Sieur Hercules at the feet of Queen Omphale when they saw the two so much together.
The ensuing Wednesday the court hunted and slew a stag of ten in the woods of Ermenoueïl, which stand thick about the chateau; and upon that day these two had dined at Rigon the forester's hut, in company with Dame Meregrett, the French King's younger sister. She sat a little apart from the betrothed, and stared through the hut's one window. ”

“ We know nothing else. There is no one in our world so pure as to be above suspicion. The walls of this great palace, thick and massive as they are, cannot keep out the whispers of calumny against the Queen herself. Is it so different in your country? Sometimes I abhor this life and would hear of another. Sometimes I hate all this," she went on, speaking as if more to herself than to Calvert. ”

“ It may reasonably be declared that the Hall of The Two Sisters, together with the corridors and alcoves which surround it, cannot be equalled even by other parts of the Palace. Its stalactite ceilings are the most perfect examples remaining of this curious and interesting kind of decoration. To preserve them, the outer walls are raised ten feet above the dome, and support an encasing roof over all. Nothing can exceed the glory of the honeycomb vaultings, with thousands of fantastic cell formations, each one differing from the other, yet all combining in uniformity. ”

“ The Hall of Ambassadors is a square apartment of a solemn aspect, with four frontages composed of high arches, which enclose twin windows, placed on slender columns, whose little arches are more than semi-circular, without having the characteristic form of the horse-shoe,—a curve which marks the decadent transition. The capitals are degenerate Greco-Roman; but the great decorative arch with running knots, although it has an Arab curve, has not the two squares in height from the floor of the hall, and that deprives it of elegance in its ornamentation. ”

“ I am telling you of what the Palais Royal used to be. In these latter times it has changed greatly," he spoke gloomily now. "'Tis the gathering-place of Orléans men in these days, and they are fast turning into a Hell what was once very nearly an earthly Paradise!"
"You seem to know the place well," said Mr. Calvert.
"No man of fashion but knows it," returned Beaufort, "though I think 'twill soon be deserted by all of us who love the King." ”

“ This masquerade won quick applause. Persons of ton guffawed like ploughboys over the discomfiture of an old hunks thus divertingly stripped of his bride, all his betrothal gifts, and of the very clothes he wore. An anonymous scribbler had detected in the occurrence a denouement suited to the stage and had constructed a comedy around it, which, when produced by the Duke's company, had won acclaim from hilarious auditors.
So Calverley laughed heartily. "Gad, what a jest that was! This Umfraville comes to marry Honoria. And highwaymen attack his coach! ”

“ Alighting and throwing the reins to the groom, Beaufort led Calvert under the arcades of the Palais Royal and into the grand courtyard, where were such crowds and such babel of noises as greatly astonished the young American. Shops lined the sides of the vast building—shops of every variety, filled with every kind of luxury known to that luxurious age; cafés whose reputation had spread throughout Europe, swarming with people, all seemingly under the influence of some strange agitation ”

“ He made pretence to read the paper carefully, but ever his eyes roved, and he knew that he stood among wolves. The room was oddly shaped, with eight equal sides; the ceiling was of a light and brilliant blue, powdered with many golden stars, and the walls were hung with smart tapestries which commemorated the exploits of Theseus. "King," this Maudelain said aloud, "of France and England, and Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine! I perceive that Heaven loves a jest." He wheeled upon Gloucester and spoke with singular irrelevance: "And the titular Queen?" ”

“ Cawley took the covenant on 6 June 1643, the same day on which it was signed by Selden and Cromwell. He was appointed by the House of Commons one of the commissioners ‘for demolishing superstitious pictures and monuments’ in London, and he was selected to return thanks to the divines who had preached before parliament on the ‘fast day,’ 28 Aug. ”

“ Fine Meadows.The 22d, our Indian being somewhat recover’d we decamp’d and proceeded along a better Way and Pleasanter Country, than that we had left behind, and as we enquir’d the best we could of those our Indians, concerning the Neighbouring Nations and those we were going towards, among others they nam’d to us, that they call’d Cappa. M. Cavelier told us, he remember’d he had heard his late Brother Monsieur de la Sale name that Nation, and say he had seen it as he went from Canada towards the Missisipi. This put us in Hopes, that we should succeed in our Discovery. ”

“ Interior backing for door down L., up L.C., and R.C. Fireplace backing. Exterior backing for window over R. 25. Off stage down L. large Italian table with two bronze vases, and a shrine of the Virgin on it. Off stage R.C. are eight small chairs, to be brought on stage on cue during First Act. In ceiling, directly over table R., is a double slot to hold knives. During First Act, after WILLIAM puts out table lamp, after MISS EASTWOOD'S scream, the knife in down stage slot is let down in sight of audience. Seen with point sticking in ceiling. ”

“ The large saloon on the principal floor-a room about 66 feet long by 30 feet wide-has a very remarkable ceiling of the pendentive type, which presents many peculiarities, the most notable of which, that these not only depend from the ceiling, but the outside ones spring from the walls in a natural and structural manner. ”

“ The second gallery of the Court of the Damsels, added to the ancient construction, is an addition of little importance; but it is a fine court, if one considers the modifications of its style, its socles showing beautiful panels of decorated porcelain of admirable delicacy. Different doors lead to the saloon of Charles V., to that of the Ambassadors, and to those of the “Caracol,” or of Don Maria de Padilla. They have scarfs cut into polygons, which cover them on both sides, but this fine work has been badly restored with stucco barbarously painted. ”