, 1904-12-07

SDTluR Vi lOUO, dlOblICl NoA-NiON0 Va
p%ortentous magnitude was hanging
over Europe. Fearing
that. in the threatened conflict, En-
gland, by her superior naval force,
would deprive him of his newly ac-
quired colonial empire, and greatly en-
nance her own prestige by securing all
the American possessions which France
had owned prior to 1853, B~onaparte,
by a dash in diplomacy as quick and
as brilliant as his tactics on the field of
battle, placed Louisiana beyond the
reach of British power. After return
ing to st Cloud from the religious ser
vices of Easter Sunday, April 10, 1903,
he called two of his most trusted adj
visers, and, in a tone of vehemence
and passion, said
"sI know the full value of Louisiana,
and have been DESTROYS of repairing
the fault of the French negotiators who
lost it in 1853. A few lines of a treaty
have restored it to me, and now l must
expect to lose it. The
English wish to take possession OF 1T,
and it is thus they will begin the
war. They have already
twenty ships of the line in the Gulf of
Mexico. The conquest
of Louisiana would be easy. 1 have
not a moment to lose in putting it out
of their reach. The En-
glish have successfully taken from
France the Canadas, Cape Breton,
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the
richest portions of Asia. BUT THEY
SHALL NOT HAVE THE MISSISSIPPI,
WHICH THEY CovET.'"
1.-THE discussion" writes Mr.. Blaine,
event far into the night. The two
ministers differed widely in the ad
vice which they gave the First Con-
sui; one was in favor of holding Lou
isiana at all hazards; the other urged
it's prudent cession rather than it's in
evitable loss by war. They both re-
manned at st. Cloud for the night. AT
daybreak the minister who had adj
viSed the cession was summoned by
onaparte to read dispatches from
London. that moment received, which
certainly forshadowed war, as the En-
glish were making military and naval
preparations with extraordinary ra-
pidity. After reading the dispatches,
the First Consul, (Bonaparte) said:
"~'Irresolution and deliberation are
no longer in season. | renounce Louisi-
ana. 1t is not only New Orleans that
| will cede, it is the whole colony
without any reservation. l know the
value of what l abandon. L
it with the gravest regret. To attempt
o~bstinately to retain it would be folly.
| direct you to negotiate this affair
with the envoy of the United States.
Do not even wait the arrival of MI.
Monroe. Have an interview this very
day with Mr.. Livingston.
But 1 require a great deal of money
for this war. 1 will be moderate. I
want fifty millions for louisiana
'"The minister, who was opposed
to the sale, interposed, in a subsequent
interview, some observations upon
what the Germans call the souls, as to
whether they could be the subject of a
contract or SALE B%onaparte replied
with undisguised
You are giving me the theology
of the law of nature. But 1 require
money to make war on the richest ma
ton in the world. Send your maxims
to London. I am sure they will be
greatly admired there."'
MIR. Blaine writes that Bonaparte
afterwards added "Perhaps it will be
objected that the Americans will be
found too powerful for Europe in two
or three centuries; but my foresight
does not embrace such remote fears.
Besides, we may hereafter expect
rivalries among the members of the
Union. The considerations, which
are called perpetual, only last till n
of the contracting parties finds it to
his interest to break them.n
1.-TWO days after this conversation
writes Mr.. Blaine, "Mr. Monroe oppor-
timely arrived at Paris, and on the
Both of April, 1903, the treaty ceding
Louisiana to the United States was
formally concluded
Continued on Paqe 4.