[4] There is at the North a general misconception of the term "CREOLE."
A friend of mine who had visited Louisiana for his health, after a
residence of a few months gained the affections of a very lovely girl,
and married her. He wrote to his uncle in Massachusetts, to whose large
estate he was heir-expectant, communicating the event, saying that he
"had just been united to an amiable _Creole_, whom he anticipated the
pleasure of introducing to him in the Spring." The old gentleman, on
receiving the letter, stamped, raved, and swore; and on the same evening
replied to his nephew, saying, that as he had disgraced his family by
marrying a _Mulatto_, he might remain where he was, as he wished to have
nothing to do with him, or any of his woolly-headed, yellow skinned
brats, that might be, henceforward. My friend, however, ventured home,
and when the old gentleman beheld his lovely bride, he exclaimed, "The
d--l, nephew, if you call this little angel a _Creole_, what likely
chaps the real ebony Congos must be in that country." The old gentleman
is not alone in his conception of a _Creole_. Where there is one
individual in New England correctly informed, there are one hundred who,
like him, know no distinction between the terms _Creole_ and _Mulatto_.
"Creole" is simply a synonym for "native." It has, however, only a
local, whereas "native" has a general application. To say "He is a
_Creole_ of Louisiana," is to say "He is a _native_ of Louisiana."
Contrary to the general opinion at the North, it is seldom applied to
coloured persons, _Creole_ is sometimes, though not frequently, applied
to Mississippians; but with the exception of the West-India Islands, it
is usually confined to Louisiana.