Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1804-09-24

lthis very treaty or Sbo tna' Iloi io1 "a
| owned by Spain and surrendered by then
| 70 ENGLAND did not embrace the same eX-
tent OF country, as East and West Florida
] owned ard governed by England, will APP
pear from the very treaty itself. by the
!: 9TH article his most Christian Majesty,
{ (that is France) makes the middle OF the
/ Mississippi river from its source to the ib-
berville and from thence down the lbber-
!; vile, the boundary between his possessions
land those Of his Britannia Majesty. In O
! Their words, France cedes to England all
1.-THE soil which possesses to the L. OF these
rivers. But all the soil, which lies Be-
tween these rivers and the Atlantic ocean,
did not b@long to it and therefore it could
) not be coded. For we discover in the 2Cth
article his Catholic Majesty Chat is, Spain)
,eded and guaranteeing Florida, with all
! that it possesses to the East of these rivers,
to G. Britain. BY this treaty then it would
appear, that E. and w. Florida. which G..
!! Britain afterwards Disseminated were COM
posed Of ali the territory, which France
possessed to he E. of these rivers, and OF
, the part " HIGH Spain possessed; that is, OF
Florida. What part then did France pos
sess; and whs. part did Spain possess can
only depend upon the geographical dlscrl-
| mination, which had existed freDiottS 10 the
treaty Of '63. Bot this discrimination had
been made by the treaty between France
! and Spain oil719, and had continued from
that time TIL the year '63. BY this treaty
the boundaries of Florida, Inhabited by the
spaniards and of louisiana possessed by
tie French. were fixed at the Pcsdido RI
yer. The conclusion Their, Il re, which this
writer wishes to draw tron lis sec0na as
sersion is consequently Inaccurate. Even
had the dchaitive treaty of 'G3 ceded to
Spain all the country to the East Of the
| Mississippi, it would rot have followed
that it had ceded the whole country of
Louisiana; because this territory did not
constitute the whole of Louisiana.
Il is not true q am induced to believe)
thas after the territory OF the Floridas had
returned under the jurisdiction OF Spain by
the treaty Of '83, I" West Florida retained
that name, and possessed a separate 60
vernment, independently Of louisiana. p
] he facts to have been, that the dis
tinc.o between East and West Florida
was pever maintained BY Spain; that the
part of the country which lies between the
Apalichola and perdido rivers was put IN
der the administrator of the governor Of
st. Augustines and that the remaining part
between the Perddo and Mississippi rivers
were subject to the experimenting power OF
the governor of New-Orleans IF this state
ment be accurate, it is evident that Loulsi-
ana and Florida, had each CT them the same
extent, when they were actually in the
hands Of Spain," that they chad, when
France possessed IL" And by the treaty of
1919, the boundary line was fixed at the
Perdido river. But if this statement be
not accurate if the Florida, over which
SPAN exercised a jurisdiction after the req
~ Of '63 extended to the Mississippi,
while the Florida, which belonged to K
previous to this treaty, did noe extend far.
ther than the Perdido river; q curious cues
llon will occur, whether the Louisiana
which has been ceded 10 Us, is to have
$ the same extenc which it actually had
IN the hands OF 6pain,' or the extent "that
il had when France possessed it?"-Th2
spirit Of the treaty appears to embrace the
!a,l construction. The Pcgd 60 river.
therefore seems 10 be the true lire Of de-
marcation between TIE American territory
Of Louisiana. and the Spanish province CT
Florida
For rhe most complete account Of Louisi-
ana (i@ken in ~ It's extcn0 refer then,
20 Niorse's Americas Gazaleer, published
durlag the present war.
As long ago as the year, 1876, the in
habi;an;s !toe French province Of Canada
explored the eoan,ry on the M'ssissippi. A