Many confound its meaning with that of quadroon,
and suppose it implies one of mixed blood, or one with whose blood
mingles that of the African--than which no meaning is more foreign to
the word.
The Creole planters, or what are termed French Creoles, are descended
from a very different race from the Acadian Creole, or Iberian. The
first colonists who came to Louisiana were men of the first blood and
rank in France. The Ibervilles, the Bienvilles, St. Denises, and many
others, were of noble descent; and the proud prestige of their names
and glorious deeds still clings around their descendants now peopling
the lands they conquered from the desert, the savage, and the flood.
These daring men brought with them the chivalrous spirit which
descended to their sons--the open, gallant bearing; the generous
hospitality; the noble humanity; the honor which prefers death to a
stain, and the soul which never stoops to a lie, a fraud, or a meanness
degrading to a gentleman. They have been born upon the banks of the
great river of the world; they have seen all the developments of
talent, time, and enterprise which have made their country great as the
river through which it flows.
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