Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1804-09-29

las cessioh 10 England, rc-insta!sd. b.
these arrangements Louisiana, as to It's ,x-
tent, was replaced IN me same situation il
occupied prcvions 10 the crssion of par,
81 !, u Great HrI;ain, which was the same
with that it held when .-,ssessetlby France
nn'cr whose arrangement West Florida
top ed pari OF il.
bat as ii solicilous TO remove all amb-
gui;r, the treaty proceeds to slipula,c, in
the Sec.;.d fi!lce ttai Louisiana shaH6e ceaed
IN The same e1itn.il hat 7y.ie1s P,us-e hoasess.
ed (that is previously to the year l76S.)
Now The fGctis that France never possessed
thispr"vince. with any extent that did moi
include the Eng,is', province Of w. Flori-
dat may have occurred TO the trainers
Ol the treaty o. ST. llderonso, that doubts
might arise as Ia the meaning uf The term
"ihe province of louisiana" alter the ces-
$40" OF a par, ur it 10 Great Britain, and
It's recession 10 Spain. Hence the pro.
bricty OF dissipAting all such doubts By de-
c!arihG that the new cesson should BE- in
\ lie sans e.etelt /. hid aoheN France ,tosseas-
ga n. This eifecinaiiy sci aside ali regard
To the regulations ofEngland. Surprising,
then, the fIrst stipulation 10 he OF doub ,lui
import, the sccogd, SO plain as not 10 adj
TnIt Of any other coF,trIct;on, comes i'm TO
remove al doubts. l'ns i, is al es,ablish-
ed principle of cons;ru Sion, that where
there are two PASSAGE tending 10 the same
end, one o.. which is Glou5,fi.l, and the O.
tier clear, the last shall preponderate.
TIE dcLial OF this construction TO the s,i-
puiation viii be tantamount 20 saying that
u shall have no meaning at all, which on
So solemn an instrument as a treaty, ana
ON SO impor,aat an occasion as the trans
Ter OF territory, is altogether inadmissi-
bic.
In the third jhLace il is stimulated nat the
ceSsi0i1 shaA be sch as IL ought re Be- after
tie treulics f4Sscd subsequently, between
Sf9it and other states--,I,at is, subsequent
ly 10 the ccssiun b. France, which was in
the year 1852 Now, subsequently, to this
was formed the Treaty of 1875 between
Spain and the Uni;ed States. by which the
former confirmed to the latter a degree of
latitude (from b Ia 81 dcgrees) which
she had alicdged to be part Of Louisiana
uncsded 10 France, and consequently be-
longing TO her.
according TO these stipulaticns, taken
together, Spain ceded louisiana TO France
exactly as France possessed it previous 10
the year 1868, with the only exception of
. reservation of the rights acknowledged
by Spain 10 attach to the United States,
a"d Ia this precise shape France, thus pos
sessed Of Louisiana has coded 1t to the u
hited States. If the facts we have stated,
and the differences deduced from them be
correct, il follows that The Perdido is the
boundary of Louisiana, and consequently
that West Florida is part of the cessi6n
To the United States.
The subject may admit of much wider
Illustration; and severalo the points, which
we have but cursorily noticed wanld doubt
less be enIorcedb by many incidents and ar
gumenis that might be associated with
them hut we wave these for the present,
under the persuasion that the concise
Sketch now offered is sufficient to evince
the Just Prelensions ailedged to be ente!t-
tanned by our government. 1t is possible
that some OF tie facts assumed may not be
correct though we have taken pains to a.
void error, and have omitted TO introduce
III doubtful mater.