mong
his constituents he was great, and made his mark in his day in the
State. There was some fun in Larry, but he was the cause of much more
in others. Larry, rest in peace, and light be the sand that lies on
your coffin!

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THREE GREAT JUDGES.

A SPEECH IN TWO LANGUAGES--LONG SESSIONS--MATTHEWS, MARTIN, AND PORTER
--A SINGULAR WILL--A SCION OF '98--FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR A LITTLE
FUN WITH THE DOGS--CANCELLING A NOTE.

The Legislature of Louisiana, forty years ago, sat in New Orleans, and
was constituted of men of varied nationalities. It was common to see
in close union, Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Englishmen, and
Americans, with here and there a Scotchman, with his boat-shaped head
and hard common sense. The Creole-French and the Americans, however,
constituted the great majority of the body.

When the cession to the United States took place, and the colony soon
after was made a State of the Union, the Constitution required all
judicial and legislative proceedings to be conducted in English, which
was the legal language. But as very few of the ancient population
could speak or read English, it was obligatory on the authorities to
have everything translated into French. All legislative and judicial
proceedings, consequently, were in two languages. This imposed the
necessity of having a clerk or translator, who could not only
translate from the records, but who could retain a two-hours' speech
in either language, and, immediately upon the speaker's concluding,
repeat it in the opposite language.

This complicated method of procedure consumed much time, and
consequently the sessions of the Legislature were protracted usually
for three months, and sometimes four.

This fact caused many planters, whose business called them frequently
to the city during the winter, to become members of the Legislature.
At this time, too, representation was based on taxation, and the
suffragist was he who paid a tax to the State. The revenues of the
State were from taxation, and these taxes were levied alone upon
property. There were no poll taxes, and very few articles except land,
negroes, and merchandise were taxed. The consequence was, the
government was in the hands of the property-holders only.

The constituency was of a better order than is usually furnished by
universal suffrage, and the representation was of a much more elevated
character than generally represents such a constituency.

Party