Eight days in New-Orleans in February, 1847Pickett, Albert James
History
Eight days in New-Orleans in February, 1847
Pickett, Albert James
Louisiana -- Social life and customs; New Orleans (La.) -- Description and travel
from the gorges of the Rocky Mountains--all natives of the Union--all
freemen alike--all meet upon this common ground of LIBERTY and
COMMERCE. And this picture must be carried out with the children of
_adoption_. Here is also the dark and mysterious Spaniard puffing his
cigar and sending up volumes of smoke through his black imperials; the
gay and frisky Frenchman; the sturdy Dutchman; the son of Erin, and
the cunning Jew. A trite adage says that "it takes all kinds of people
to make a world;" verily, then, the Levee is a world.
CHAPTER V.
THE CATHEDRAL.--ORPHAN'S ASYLUM.--THE SISTERS OF CHARITY, ETC.
Immediately opposite the Place d'Armes, and fronting the levee, rises
in solemn grandeur, the celebrated Cathedral. It must be very old, and
was said to have been erected through the zealous munificence of Don
Andre Almonoster. Connected with the building is a story curious and
romantic, and from all I could learn no less true. When Don Andre
died, he exacted of the priesthood the positive injunction, that every
Saturday evening prayer should be offered up for his soul, and in
default thereof the property was to pass into other hands. From that
day to this, in fulfilling these extraordinary stipulations, not a
solitary omission has been made. And as you stand about sundown at
the Cathedral, you will hear the doleful bell mournfully recalling the
memory of the departed Don Andre! I was there at that hour. The dark
and frowning church towered far above me. The deep-toned bell echoed
its mournful sound until twilight began to mantle the city with her
sable curtains. I thought of Don Andre. I thought of his injunction;
I thought of his soul, and I turned from the consecrated place with
feelings the most singular and solemn.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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