rival to the English colonists, and thereby insure their loyalty through their obligations for assistance in defending themselves from the French. King George II. shared these apprehensions, while William Pitt had always been in favor of pushing the war in America without fear of adverse consequences.

England and Russia had long been friends, and, as soon as war with France appeared inevitable, she made a treaty with the empress of Russia, by the condition of which Hanover (England's ally) was to be protected by Russian troops in the event of a European war, for which service England was to pay her. This treaty bore date of September 13th, 1755 A few months later both France and Prussia manifested dispositions to invade portions of Germany, the French incentive to which was to keep England busy at home, while she (France) made her American possessions secure, as already stated.

Russia was now alarmed lest she might be attacked by Prussia, and, conscious of her inability to fulfill her treaty stipulations with England, as to the protection of Hanover, she applied to France for the preservation of the neutrality of that electorate.

These accumulating evidences of the rising power of Frederick stimulated England to make an alliance with him, which was done January 16th, 1756, although by this treaty the interests of Russia, as well as those of Hanover, were left unprotected.* The effect was to unite the interests of Russia with France, and also those of Austria with the same power, although the two had long been enemies.

All this plotting and counter-plotting, which by a paradoxical combination, transposed the friendships and enmities of the great powers of Europe, grew out of the issue between *Smollet's History of England, vol. 4, p. 178.

England and France, as to which should take possession of the upper Ohio country, although the fortunes of war ultimately brought into question the patent to the title of Canada itself.

It began in a land speculation of the Ohio company, whose regal title to lands on the Ohio river was not honored by the French Court. The issue broadened as the war progressed, and after it closed, a new theater, unexpectedly, opened before the world, that justified the arming of Europe to take a hand in its settlement.

The sequel proved that the fears of George II., King of England, were not without foundation. It has also proved, that if the policy of Pitt, the world's greatest statesman at that time, did not advance the interests of England, it was elementary to the birth of a new nation, not less powerful. The American Revolution was the result. It terminated in the definitive treaty of peace held at Paris, September 3rd, 1783. To the consummation of this treaty, America owes a lasting debt of gratitude to France for her aid in the American Revolution. The French Revolution of 1789 was one of the momentous results of the American Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte came into power, when the revolutionary spirit in France, though burnt out like a spent volcano, had left the vital forces of that country unimpaired. He commenced his rule in France, in May, 1802, under title of First Consul.

In 1761 a treaty had been concluded between France and Spain called a "Family Compact," by the 18th article of which either power was obligated to indemnify the other power for any loss it sustained by conquest? Each of these nations was governed by a Bourbon King. This compact was in full force during the various transfers of the province of Louisiana, previous to its sale to the United States, in 1803. This sale by the French Republic was the first act on the part of France that was not in harmony with the spirit of this compact. The

relations between the United States, France, Spain and England were in a very critical condition. Both the American and the French Revolutions had brought new issues to the great nations of the world. America in the plenitude of her rising power in the western continent, had now become a factor in the deliberations between France, England and Spain. Spain on the 1st of October, 1800, concluded a treaty at San Ildefonso with France, by which, she retroceded to the latter power the entire province of Louisiana, which province had been ceded by France to Spain in 1763. No limits had ever 6' been set to Louisiana, on the west, except general geographical limits by water sheds; but on the north, by the treaty of Utrecht, the forty-ninth parallel had been considered the northern boundary, and this line had not been disputed by any nation. But the limits of Louisiana on the east by the treaty of 1783, between Great Britain and the United States, had been fixed on the Mississippi river as far south as the thirty-first parallel; which parallel eastwardly to the Perdido river was the southern boundary of the United States as far as it went, and the United States never claimed any territory south of this parallel until by the treaty with Spain in 1819, Florida was ceded by her to the United States for a consideration of $5,000,000.

France and England being at war at the time of the San Ildefonso treaty, the retrocession of Louisiana to France by that treaty was not made public, and Bonaparte was careful not to divulge it by taking possession of the province lest it might be attacked by England, whose navy was far superior to that of France. The rising power of Napoleon had made the nations of Europe anxious to make peace with the French, and England, with the rest, felt the necessity of doing the same thing. To this end she concluded a treaty with France October Ist, 1801, which was called the treaty of Amiens. Had Eng

land known of the treaty of San Ildefonso, it is probable she never would have signed the treaty of Amiens, at least until she had by means of her fleet taken New Orleans from the French, in which event the whole province of Louisiana would have become English territory. The ambition of France to 76 again possess the west bank of the Mississippi river was made manifest by the treaty of San Ildefonso, and Napoleon, inspired by this ambition, looked forward to an important accession of power for France in this restoration of French territory. To the same end his attempt to make the conquest of Santo Domingo was made. This attempt, owing to the stubborn courage of the celebrated Toussaint L'Ouverture, who had been bred a slave, miscarried. Meantime, the English began to be jealous of the power of France. They feared that the reintroduction of French power in America might endanger the safety of Canada itself, and the celebrated Lord Hawkesbury declared, "that the treaty of Amiens was only experimental on the part of England," which declaration was equivalent to an acknowledgment that a subtle treachery underlay the peaceful professions of England in the signing of this treaty.

All this time Napoleon had his fingers on the pulse of Europe, and during these palmy days of peace took measures to colonize New Orleans with French colonies, and others favorable to his designs. Here we will leave him in his happy reveries, till the irresistible current of events awakened him from his illusions.

On the accession of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency of the United States, in 1801, he appointed Robert R. Livingston as Minister to France. Mr. Livingston was one of the ablest statesmen of that period, and it is fortunate for the United States that a man of such ability represented its interests at the French Court/