Perhaps the most illusory part of the dream was that concerning commerce. La Réunion was to become the center of a gigantic commercial system. Colonies were to be established in all the states of the union, especially in the Southwest, and they were to carry on their commerce with one another, and through the mother colony connection would be made with Europe. Considerant visualized great wagon trains winding through the valleys and over the hills converging at La Réunion with their loads of foods, metals, and manufactured goods ready for the European markets. In fact, the shorter distance from Dallas to the Gulf of Mexico than from Santa Fe to the same port was one of the determining factors which led to the selection of the land near Dallas for the center of this undertaking. At La Réunion the plan was to have the colony self-sustaining and able to manufacture various materials for exportation, such as furniture, pottery, brass work, glass, smelted iron, as well as articles of food, especially pickles, and meat products.[31] His supreme concept of the colony was expressed as follows: Instead of a life consumed by cruel anxieties, we shall have conquered at last the right of Freedom from Care, which results from the blessed sentiment of solidarity and which gives to each the consciousness that his individual life is integrant of the social life. It is the _right to social life_, the right to a harmony between the elements of life, and the being who lives. Each one here feels himself a member of a social body founded for his faith and by his faith, destined soon to realize this in its plenitude, and recognizes himself as an associate and an active agent in a work whose grandeur penetrates him deeper and deeper every day.[32] With such arrangements and connections in Europe as have been mentioned, and with such a Utopian plan, Considerant asked for and received letters of introduction from various men in Europe and the United States, among whom were H. W. Merrill, Lieut. Major, U.S.A., and J. J. Seibel of the American Consulate in Belgium, and came to establish a colony in Texas. CHAPTER IV ATTITUDE OF TEXANS TOWARD THE COLONY When Victor Prosper Considerant, the founder of La Réunion, came to Texas for the first time in 1852 he evidently met with hospitality from all the people, as his reports show no feeling of having been treated otherwise. In fact, in his writings he frequently refers to the kindly interest in, and attitude of the people toward, his scheme of colonization; especially does he mention Captain Macy of the United States Army, and Major Merrill, Commanding Officer at Fort Worth. However, when he returned to the United States seventeen months after his first trip to Texas, he found conditions considerably changed.[1]