The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-07-27

their Instructions did not embrace such a
scheme-but the reply was, you must take all,
or none. Bonaparte wanted money, and peace
with the United States The truce of Amiens
was broken, and he was again at war with
England. His project of great empire in
the West was abandoned; money was of more
valae to him than distant territory he in
sisted that our Government should buy the
whole oft. And so we did, under compulsion.
The object Of the Government had been to OBJ
tain possession Of New Orleans as port of
deposit, and the free navigation of the Missis-
sippi-not to dislodge from our borders dan
gerous Power, or secure free course for the In
definite extension of our territory. The neces-
sites of Napoleon Bonsparte forced upon us a
measure, far transcanding tho forecast Of our
own craftsmanship.
And yet, the Union coOlly asserts:
@Mr jefferson himself did not hesitate bold
" TO take the ground that Louisiana and the
Fioridas, in the hands Of foreign Power,
would be the cause of great disquiet and dis
content to the United States; and this qcas a
chief ground 1eitk him for insisting upon the
acquisition Of those regions"
An assertion at variance with the whole his
tory of the cession Of Louisiana, and refuted
by Mr.. Jefferson himself in the very quotations
relied upon by the Union to sustain it. ain
one of lis letters" says that paper, "to Mr..
Livingston, he states this argument with con-
summate ability and force. This letter is
dated April IS, 1902:
[ q Il
Louisiana. Perhaps nothing since the Re7olu-
tionary war has produced more uneasy Vexa-
tons ihrough the body of this nation.
"'Thero is on the globe one single spot, the
possess3r of which IL our natural ard habitual
enemy. II IS NeU Orleans through which the
produce of three-eighths of cur territory must
pass to market and from It's fertility it viii,
ere long, yield more than half our whole prod
uce, and contain more than half our inhabit-
ants. France, placing herself in that war, as
sumes to us an attitude of defiance
To NJ. Dupont, February, 1903, he writes:
Our circumstances are 80 imperiOus az to
admit Of 10 delay as to our course, and the
use Of the Mississippi so indispensable, that IRE
cannot hesitate one moment TO hazard our eTtd-
ence for ats maintenance If we fail in this
effort to put il beyond the reach Of accident
We zee the destinies we have TO run and pre-
pare 1T once for them" $50 that IL IS peace
alone which makes it an object with us, and
which ought to make its cession desirable to
France Whatever P0rer, other than OurselUeS, |
holds the country east Of the Mississippi, be-
c)naes our nGturai enemy"
Mark-it is the possession of New Orleans, |
not of Louisiana Tcrritory that he insists
upon; and the Foreign Power holding the
country east cf tie Mississippi not loss: Of ii,
" becomes our natural emmy" He was not
only willing that France should retain posses
sion OF the whole Ct Louisiana Territory, lex |
cept New Osleans,l Of the vast tract of coun-
Try out of which have been formed the States |
Of Arkansas and Missouri and the Territories
Of Kansas and Nebraska, bat to guaranty
thai possession to her forever!
The Union, ia closing, remarks" We have |
given enough to show how too close neigh
5orhcoi, even between friendly Power ike |
France ard our own country, was calculated |
TO alarm the most cautious and least credulous |
statesmen of the carly days of our Repub-
DC '-anJ Its practical inference is, that our |
Government ought to be much more alarmed |
at the possession Of Cuba by Spain, Power
to Us What an utter perversion |
Of the truth Our statesmen in 1902, SO far |
from being alarmed at the close neighborhood |
Of France, offered to guaranty that close |
forever, on certain conditions |
France, so far from being friendly, was at that
.ine, under the inspiration Of the genius of
Napoleon Bcnaparte, meditatiDg the re-estab- |
lishment Of French empire on the North |
American continent, and had prepared an i'm
Z.cnso armament to ro.subjugato St. Domin-
go and take actual possession of louisiana,
whence 1t could carry on It's gigantic scheme
Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
The notion that the possession Of Cuba by
SPa;o, now, can affect our interests as the pos
session Of New Orleans tho Floridaq andaho
Territory Of Louisiana, by France, affected Cur
interests in f8O2, and that this Republic of
swenty-six millions have as much to fear from
g feeble Government ike that Of Spsfn, with
out one foot Of soil On this continent, az it had
when j: numbered but six millions, from the
bound.oss ambition, genius, and resources of
Napoleon Bo1aparte, owning almost one half
of what IS now our Territory, and holding in
his fist the keys of our Western commerce, is
too ridiculous for comment There is nothing
in the history of any of our territorial acquisi-
tious to warrant or countenance the scheme
now avowed with brazen front, for taking pos
session Of Cuba.