Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-10

d. author of "A Short History of Anglo
Saxon Freedom, etc. New York: II. Apple
ton & Co.
AS the author remarks in his preface,
now that we are about to celebrate at st,
Louis one hundred years of possession on
a scale commensurate with the grandeur
of the acquisition, a book devoted closely
to the crisis. written for the people, view
ing affairs through the long perspective of
a most eventful century and recounting the
European as well as the American phases
of the story, seems certainly to be In
place" The writer makes new presenta-
ton of the facts While paying full trlb-
ute TO the craftsmanship of Jefferson, VINO
was bent obtaining peaceably the per-
maneut right to an outlet upon the gulf
Of Mexico he ascribes TO Napoleon the
grander and wider foresight that perceived
the priceless empire that was to grow up
beyond the Mississippi and was unwilling
that it should fall into the hands OF MS
rival England. The writer has, as ne
saws approached his topic from the french
side making extensive use of French au-
thorities and giving at length important
secret history not heretofore fully set 1orth
in English.
The purchase of Louisiana was not the
result of a well-cOnSidered and long-de-
bated plan of jefferson. DR.. Hosmer IN
Inmates that Jefferson probably had little
interest in that far-distant territory, ana
did not appear to realize the Importance
Of free outlet to the gulf, but the people
on the frontier were clamorous and some
thing had to be done to satisfy them lie
accordingly appointed James Monroe as
special envoy to France, and gave MN
special Instructions These were: 1. He
was to purchase, if possible, New orleans
and the FlOridas. and he might eXpend up
to S1OO0O.C00 rather than lose the chanGe.
2 Should France refuse to sell even the
site for a town. the old right to deposit, as
granted in 1895 Ghat is free port, was
to be sought Besides the money an OTTER
of commercial privileges for ten years was
to be made to the sellers; Incorporation,
with full privileges. into the Union was
promised to the people of the districts TO
be coded The west bank of the river. too,
was to be guaranteed. if necessary, TO
France What our generation sees to
have been a thing of inestimable lmpor-
lance" says DIR. Hosmer, was outlined
only in the faintest way IN the pack-
ground of the consciousness of those ne
gotiatfons of 1903. and so far as it was no
ticed at all regarded only with aversion.
jefferson was indeed short-sighted,
but no more so than everybody else.
But the fateS were working for Amerl-
ca" Napoleon decided on war with Eng
land and he determined to recOup his treas
ury by the sale of his American province
LUcien BOnapartes memoirs are quoted 70
show NaDoleOn'S reasons: :" 1t was certainly
worth while urges Napoleon. first to sell
when You could what you were certain TO
lose. for the English, who have seen the
colony given back to us with great Gls-
pleasure. are aching for a chance to cap
ture it, and ii will be their first coup de
main in case of war The first consul,
discussing still further what he called MS
Inuisiancide in a hooking way gave
reason for selling which Lucien believes to
have been the chief One-the pretended nee
essity of getting funds ready for the war
which he foresaw. Before the arrival OF
Monroe at Paris Talleyrand startled Living
iraiS
asking him whether the United states
would buy the whole of Louisiana and
what price it would be willing to pay. Inc
next day Monroe arrived. Both he and
Livingston were embarrassed by the fact
that their instructions related only to the
mouths and east bank of the mississippi.
But they soon assumed the larger RESPONSE
biIitv There was no time for delay, or the
English would be at New Orleans. Inc
treaty of purchase was signed at Paris
April 80 NapoleOns order for the sale an
tedatirg just one week
Napoleon's price was first JO,OO),OCO francs
This he afterward doubled The of SO,
100000 francs was at last agreed upon, of
which 2l0f00o0 was to be applied to the
extinction of the spoliation claims against
France. jefferson was greatly embarrassed
when news of the purchase arrived Inc
opposition was alert and made the most OF
its opportunity. The federalists denounced
and ridiculed the transaction. 1t was
claimed that incorporation of foreign ter
ritnrv was unconstitutional in the extreme
Jefferson himself felt that in signing the
treaty he was going beyond the Constltu-
ton. and he at once set about TO ind means
to reconcile the act to that instrument by
obtaining an amendment which would make
his conduct legal. but he was hnally per-
suaded to take no step. The matters were
carried through Congress by partisan
vote, the federalists vainly and violently
protesting
DR. Hosmers work is written in an ami
mated style well calculated to hold the in
terest of the casual reader. The dry
minutiae of state papers are not quoted
though foot-note references are given as to
important statements of fact. Rather the
dramatic features of the transaction are
brought forward A translation at some
length of Lucien BOnaparte memoirs gives
a graphic picture of Napoleons state OF
mind which induced him to part with some
thing which he regarded as of high value
but which he felt he could not hold The
book is as interesting as novel, and must
lead many reader to deeper study of
most important phase of our national his
tory.
IN THE COUNTRY GOD FORGOT; A Story of To-
day. BY Frances Charles. Boston: Little,
Brown & Company.
When the reader has grasped the funda-
mental situations grudgingly developed in
the first few chapters of this story of Ari-
IONA life. ne Is likely to become deeply in
terested. for it is a stirring. vivid tale, full
OF HE ana action, WIFI d SllOIiS sentiment
and an evident first-hand knowledge by
the author Of the scenes and characters pre-
sented The hot dry atmosphere of the ter
ritory the sordid, cruel selfshness of the
wealthy ranch owner. who has corner
on the water supply, the developing love
story the progress of the tale 10 a dramatic
climax when a certain mystery of birth is
solved form the basic elements of novel
which is entitled TO high place IN current
literature.
THE RESCUE. BY Annie Douglas Sedgwick, au-
thor Of The ConfOundng of Camelia, etc.
New York: The Century Company.
A strange story this, the story of a man
OF thirty falling deeply, purely in love with
a woman much older through the medium
of a photograph of her In her young wo-
manhood She has wrecked her life by an
indiscreet marriage with a French bohe
milan artist and as she lives, after his death,
respectfully in Paris with her daughter,
there comes to her this younger lover a
stranger who has sought her out. The
daughter affords the complication and
eventually the solving cause Of the prob
lem, a true offspring of her bohemian
father and a source of constant worry to
her mother. BY an act of heroic sacrifice
the youngish lover succeeds at last in re-
leasing the mother from the incubus and