sibility of arousing the war sentiment of Europe. Accordingly, a few months later, the King of Spain instructed his Minister as follows:

"EXTRACT FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY DON PEDRO DEVALLOS, MINISTER OF STATE OF HIS CATHOLICK MAJESTY, TO CHARLES PINCKNEY, ESQ., DATED AT THE PRADO, FEBRUARY 10, 1804.

"At the same time that the Minister of His Majesty in the United States is charged to inform the American Government respecting the falsity of the rumour referred to, he has likewise orders to renounce his opposition to the alienation of Louisiana, made by France, notwithstanding the solid reasons on which it is founded; thereby giving a new proof of his benevolence and friendship towards the United States." "COPY OF A LETTER FROM THE MARQUIS OF CASA YRUJO TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

"Sir: The explanation which the Government of France has given to His Catholick Majesty concerning the sale of Louisiana to the United States, and the amicable disposition on the part of the King my master toward these States, have determined him to abandon the opposition, which at a prior period, and with the most substantial motives, he had manifested against that transaction. In consequence and by special order of His Majesty I have the pleasure to communicate to you his royal intentions on an affair so important; well persuaded that the American Government will see, in this conduct of the King my master, a new proof of his consideration for the United States, and that they will correspond with a true reciprocity, with the sincere friendship of the King, of which he has given so many proofs.

"God preserve you many years.

President Jefferson and the two Houses of Congress now ordered that the laws of the United States should be proclaimed and executed in the ceded province of Louisiana. Before this could be done it was necessary that Spain should formally cede the province to France, and that France in turn should cede the same to the United States, On the 30th of November, M. Laussat, commissioner of the French Government, at New Orleans, announced a proclamation to the Louisianians, as follows: "The approach of a war which threatens the four quarters of the world has given a new direction to the beneficent views of France towards Louisiana. She has ceded it to the United States of America. The treaty secures to you all the advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States. * * * May a Louisianian and a Frenchman never meet now or hereafter in any part of the world, without feeling sentiments of affection, and without being mutually disposed to call one another brothers." On the same day the Spanish troops and militia were drawn up in front of the City Hall in New Orleans. The French and Spanish commissioners came to the place, followed by a procession of the citizens of their respective nations. Three chairs were arranged in the Council Chamber, the Spanish Minister occupying the middle one, when the French Minister presented to him the decree of October 15, 1802, by which the King of Spain ordered his representative to deliver the colony to the French plenipotentiary. Next the French Minister produced the authority of Napoleon to take possession of the country in the name of the French people. After these formalities the Spanish Governor, leaving his seat, delivered to the French commissioner the keys of the city. The citizens of Louisiana, who wished to remain in the province, were then absolved from their oath of fidelity to the Spanish King. A signal was then given by the firing of cannon, when the Span

ish colors were lowered and the French hoisted. The French sovereignty lasted from the 30th of November to the 20th of December. This change of nationality and government was not well understood, especially in the rural districts along the river, and it was only by action on the part of M. Laussat, the French Governor, that anarchy was prevented. The United States had taken the precaution to send a detachment of soldiers under the command of General Wilkinson, to take a position on the 17th and 18th of December, on the bank of the Mississippi river, just above New Orleans. [On the 20th of December, on the day appointed for the delivery of the colony to the United States, M. Laussat, the French Governor, accompanied by a numerous retinue, went to the City Hall, where he introduced the American troops into the Capital. M. Claiborne, the American Governor of Mississippi, and General Wilkinson, were received in the City Hall and placed on the two sides of the French prefect, when the Treaty of Cession, the respective powers of the commissioners and the certificate of the exchange of ratifications were read, M. Laussat pronouncing these words: "In conformity with the Treaty, I put the United States in possession of Louisiana and its dependencies. The citizens and inhabitants who wish to remain here, and obey the laws, are from this moment exonerated from the oath of fidelity to the French Republic."

During the twenty days of French sovereignty, the French flag had been displayed from the City Hall, where it had been beheld by French citizens with a homage, patriotism and affection that always must command the respect of every person, to whatsoever nation he owes allegiance. When the change of flags came the United States flag was raised, while at the same instant the French flag was lowered; and when they met midway, both were kept stationary for a few instants, while the artillery and trumpets celebrated the union to emblematize the

harmony between the two nations as the one resigned its authority and the other assumed its authority over the Province of Louisiana. Next, the flag of the United States rose to its full height. The Americans shouted with joy; the colors of the French Republic were lowered and received in the arms of the French, who had guarded them, while their regrets were openly expressed; and to render a last token of homage to their flag, the French sergeant-major wrapped it around his body as a scarf, and ornate with its folds, traversed the principal streets of the city till he came to the house of the French commissioner. A troop of French patriots accompanied him and were saluted in passing before the American lines, who presented arms to them as a token of respect. When M. Laussat received the flag that had been wrapped around the body of the sergeant-major, the latter said to him: "It is into your hands that we deposit this symbol of the tie which has transiently connected us with France. We deposit it with you as the last proof of our affection." M. Laussat replied, "May the prosperity of Louisiana be eternal."

Mr. Claiborne, the American commissioner who administered the government, now issued a proclamation guaranteeing to the inhabitants religious, civil and private rights. During these ceremonials the Spanish, French and American officials had neglected nothing to maintain harmony between the three nations.

The conditions which had brought about this immense accession to the territorial growth and wealth and power to the United States were dramatic. The power of the British nation was the basic foundation for the whole. This power had been the means of dispossessing the French of the Island of Santo Domingo, which Bonaparte had intended as a base of operations wherewith to make invulnerable his defenses of the Province of Louisiana. But there was a limit to Bonaparte's

ambition, and it is not strange that knowing he could not retain Louisiana, he took effective measures to secure it to the United States, who had never been his enemy, and from whom he had a reasonable assurance of friendship England had yo boasted that she had but one enemy in France, and that enemy was General Bonaparte, which title she always gave him, instead of His Majesty, the Emperor.

There was a law of nature that made it inevitable that the entire territory intervening between the Louisiana Province and the Pacific coast, must ultimately fall into the hands of the possessors of Louisiana. Had the English possessed this province, it meant in quick succession the whole country between the Mississippi river and the Pacific ocean.

Though the English conquered Napoleon at last, at Waterloo, this victory was a small offset for having been deprived of an empire larger than the United States, and making its power transcendent on the continent of America.

The friendship between the United States and England, commendable as it is universal, is the result of commercial affinity. The friendship between the United States and the French, only in part from commercial affinity, is abiding and permanent, because, that it was through her assistance, first, that we gained our Independence, and next that our domain extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which must ultimately assure the verification of Napoleon Bonaparte's prophecy. TREATY BETWEEN THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AND THE UNITED STATES, CONCERNING THE CESSION OF LOUISIANA, SIGNED AT PARIS THE 30TH OF APRIL, 1803.

The President of the United States of America, and the First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the French people, desiring to remove all source of misunderstanding relative to objects of discussion, mentioned in the second and fifth articles of the convention of the Eighth Vendemiaire, an 9