Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-05-09

DIVINE HAND IN HISTORY.

DIVINE HAND IN HISTORY.
Ex.Presidsnt Secs Evidences Of Il In
the Louisiana Purchase.
Grover Cleveland at st. Louis.
In conclusion, hope may be per-
mitted to suggest that our thoughts
and surroundings on this occasion
should lead US to humble recognition
Of the providence Of God in all that has
made US great nation. From our be-
ginning as a people our course has
been marked by occurrences and Incl
dents so striking, so significant and so
constant that only superstitious dull
ness or intellectual blindness will place
them to the credit Of luck or chance.
In the midst Of our rejoicing today,
1t is peculiarly fitting that we recall
with soberness and meekness some Of
the happenings In connection with t
great event we celebrate, which i'm
pressively illustrate the interposition
OF Divine Providence in our behalf.
We sought from nation ruled by one
whose ambition was boundless and
whose scheme for aggrandizementk knew
neither the obligation Of public moral
ity nor the restraints Of good faith, the
free navigation Of the Mississippi river
and such insignificant territory as
would make such navigation useful.
While our efforts toward the accom-
plishment of this slight result Ian
guished and were fast assuming a
hopeless condition, the autocrat Of
France suddenly commanded one Of his
ministers to enter into negotiation
with our waiting and dispirited rep
resentatives and exclaimed: II re-
nounce Louisiana. It Is not only New
Orleans cede. 1t is the whole colony
without reserve"
It was only nineteen days thereafter
that the treaty transferring to us the
magnificent domain comprised within
the Louisiana Purchase was conclu-
ded. a.
This astonishing change in our
prospects, which dissipated the fears
and apprehensions of our government
and revised the promise Of our perpet-
uity and happy destiny, came at the
very moment that Bonaparte was or
ganizing force to occupy the Louis
lana territory in the prosecution Of
colonial occupation and development,
which If consumated, would probably
have closed the door even to the slight
acquisition which we originally sought.
The French colony Of San Domingo
was, however, a prime factor In this
scheme of occupation, and 1t was es-
sential to its success that this colony
and Louisiana should both be included
and should supplement each other. A
SER rious revolt then raging in Santo
Domingo delaying proceedings. the Soc-
fcupation of Louisiana was postponed
until this revolt should be overcome.
The troops sent from France to ac-
cornplish this apparently easy task
was so stubbornly resisted by hundreds
Of thousands Of freed blacks. fighting
against their re-inslayement, and they
suffered so terribly from the climate
conditions and deadly fever that after
the sacrifice Of twenty-five thousand
soldiers, many of whom were intended
for the subsequent occupation Of
Louisiana, Bonaparte's plan for the oc-
cupation of both colonies miscarrfed.
This disappointment, and the concep-
ton of new schemes Of war and con-
quest by the restless dictator Of
France, and his need Of money to car
ry out these schemes, were controlling
circumstances in leading him to
throw into our lap the entire Louisiana
territory None Of these circum-
stances were within our procurement
or knowledge, but who shall say that
God was not accomplishing his de-
signs In our behalf amid the turmoil
and distressing scenes Of Santo Do
mingo's revolt? And how can 1t be
said that there was no Providence in
the unexpected, unyielding and sue
cessful fight for continued freedom
on the part of the Negroes Of Santo
| DOIuulSO, Or III Tic ldld1 PCoSiASl1SS
that We'd with bloody warfare in the
destruction Of the army Of subjuga-
tion which heated the blood Of Bona
parte, all combining to turn him away
from the occupation Of the Louisiana
territory? All these things so remote
and 80 far out Of sight pointed with
the coercion that belongs to the de-
crees Of God, to comsummation
which restored to our people peace
and contentment, and secured to our
nation extension and development be-
yond the dreams Of our fathers. Thus
we may well recall in these surround
ings the wonderful measure Of proph-
ecy's fulfllment within the span Of
short century, the spirit, the patriotism
and the civic virtue Of Americans who
lived a hundred years ago, and Gods
overruling of the wrath Of man and
his devious ways for the blessing OF
our nation.