or of a growing conviction of the important destinies and honorable policy of the United States, or, as is probable, of both these considerations, you will, in return, communicate the assurances, with which you are charged by the President, of his disposition to cherish a reciprocity of these sentiments, and that sincere amity between the two nations, which is prescribed to both by such weighty advantages.

The persevering evasion of your demands on the subject of the deposit at New Orleans, and generally of the rights of the United States, as fixed by their treaty with Spain, is not a little astonishing. It is as difficult to be reconciled with the sincerity of the late professions of the French Government, and with the policy which the moment dictates to it, as with any other rational motives. It is the more extraordinary, too, as it appears, by a late communication from the Spanish Government to Mr. Pinckney, (of which, he says, he forwarded a copy to Paris, and of which another is herewith inclosed,) that the treaty of cession expressly saves all rights previously stipulated to other nations. A conduct so inexplicable is little fitted to inspire confidence, or to strengthen friendship; and rendered proper the peremptory declaration contained in your note of the 16th of March. The negotiations succeeding the arrival of Mr. Monroe can not fail to draw out the views of France on this important subject.

You were informed, in my letters of the 18th and 20th of April, that orders had been transmitted by the Spanish Government for restoring the deposit. The answers from New Orleans to the Spanish and French Ministers here show that their successive interpositions, including the peremptory one from the Marquis d'Yrujo, of the 11th of March, were all unavailing. The orders of the King of Spain will, no doubt, be obeyed, if they arrive before possession be given to the French authority; nor is it presumable that, in that event, they would be disregarded. Still it is possible that the French agents may choose to wait for the French construction of the treaty before they relinquish the ground taken by the Intendant; and the more possible, as the orders to the Intendant may contain no disavowal of his construction of it. Under these circumstances, it will be incumbent on the French Government to hasten the orders necessary to guard against a prolongation of the evil, and the very serious consequences incident to it. It can not be too much pressed, that the justice and friendship of France, in relation to our rights and interests on the Mississippi, will be the principal rules by which we shall measure her views respecting the United States, and by which the United States will shape the course of their future policy toward her.

We are still ignorant of the result of the armed negotiations between Great Britain and France. Should it be war, or should the uncertainty of the result be spun out, the crisis may be favorable to our just rights and our just objects; and the President assures himself that

the proper use will be made of it. Mr. Monroe's arrival has not yet been mentioned in any accounts which have not been contradicted.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, Esq.

JAMES MADISON.

Mr. Monroe to the Virginia Senators.

PARIS, May 25, 1803. GENTLEMEN,-We have as you will find concluded a treaty & two conventions with this Government for the cession of the whole of Louisiana. I flatter myself that the terms will be thought reasonable when compared with the immense advantages resulting from acquisition. The subject however will be before you, & it belongs to the suitable authorities to decide whether we have acquitted ourselves with propriety in the trust reposed in us. I consider this transaction as resulting from the wise & firm tho' moderate measures of the Executive and Congress during the last session. Without these measures we should not have acquired Louisiana. The pressure of the crisis here, but an approaching rupture with England, assisted in producing the result, but had our country not formed a character, or rather a prominent feature in the transactions of the day, it would not have taken place. Nor could it have succeeded so promptly or advantageously, by taking any other attitude than that which was taken. Had we broken the pacific relations subsisting between these countries & the United States, or indeed had not a respect for this Government, and a desire to preserve peace with it, been clearly marked in our measures I do not think that we should have brought it to the issue we have. It is proper that you should possess a correct knowledge of the facts here which led to this result. I arrived at Havre on the 8th of April, which fact was known here on the 9th. On the 10th this Government resolved to offer us by sale the whole of Louisiana, at a certain price, which was diminished by the negotiation. On the 12. I arrived in town, on the 14th was received by the minister, recognized by him, by order of the First Consul & informed that altho I might not be presented to the Consul till the audience day according to usage, that a person would be appointed to treat with us with whom we might proceed in the interim. This was accordingly done, Mr. Marbois was appointed, the negotiations immediately commenced, & brought to as speedy a conclusion as possible. The decision to offer us the territory by sale was not the effect of any management of mine, for it took place before I reached Paris; nor of my colleague or it would have taken place sooner: Being postponed until my arrival in France or indeed till the mission was known, is a

full proof that it was the result of the causes above mentioned & of those only. I enclose you a copy of a letter from Mr. Livingston bearing date on the 10th of April, in answer to one from me of the 8th announcing my arrival, which establishes the above facts. I com municate this letter to you as a measure of precaution, that you may not only know that the above facts exist but the nature of the evidence which supports them. Had the measures of our government, of which my mission was only a subaltern part, failed, whether the failure might be atributed to their impolicy, or to such a delay on my part as suffered the crisis with England to pass, all the responsibility would have been on the government & myself. It is equally just in reference to the result that facts should be correctly known to guard against misrepresentation. Personally I pretend to nothing but zeal & industry after I got here, a merit which is equally due to my colleague. If my mission produced any effect it was owing altogether to the motive which induced the President to nominate me, that is, the pronounced character which I had in reference to the object in question, & the belief that I would bring the affair promptly to an issue. It is to be presumed that the transaction will rest on its true ground in the United States, but as the contrary may be the case & it is impossible to foresee what misrepresentations may be given of it, or the ends that may be intended to subserve, I think it not only justifiable but a duty to make to you this communication. You will consider the letter itself as strictly confidential since altho' it is proper to communicate it to a few from whom it is my custom to withhold nothing, yet it would be otherwise if it should go further, for reasons that will readily occur. It is proper to add that I expect no misrepresentation from my colleague & that I am happy to have it in my power to bear testimony in the most explicit manner in favor of his zealous, sincere & diligent co-operation thro' the whole of this business.

Mr. Madison to Messrs. Livingston and Monroe.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, May 28, 1803. GENTLEMEN: Since my last, which was of April 18, the tenor of information from France and Great Britain renders a war between these Powers in the highest degree probable. It may be inferred, at the same time, from the information given by Mr. Livingston and Mr. King, that the importance of the United States is rising fast in the estimation both of the French and the British Cabinets; and that Louisiana is as much a subject of solicitude with the latter, as it has been an object of acquisition with the former. The crisis presented by this jealous and hostile attitude of those rival Powers has, doubtless, been seen in its bearings on the arrangements contemplated in your commis

sions and instructions; and it is hoped, though we have not yet heard, that the arrival of Mr. Monroe will have taken place in time to give full advantage to the means of turning the actual state of things to the just benefit of the United States.

The solicitude of England with respect to Louisiana is sufficiently evinced by her controlling the French expedition from Holland to that country. But her views have been particularly unfolded to Mr. King by Mr. Addington, who frankly told him, that, in case a war should happen, it would, perhaps, be one of their first steps to occupy New Orleans; adding, that it would not be to keep it, for that England would not accept the country were all agreed to give it to her, but to prevent another Power from obtaining it, which, in his opinion, would be best effected by its belonging to the United States; and concluding with assurances that nothing should be done injurious to their interests. If the councils of France should be guided by half the wisdom which is here displayed on the part of her rival, your negotiations will be made very easy, and the result of them very satisfactory.

Although the immediate object of Great Britain in occupying New Orleans may be that of excluding France, and although her prudence may renounce the falacious advantage of retaining it for herself, it is not to be presumed that she will yield it to the United States without endeavoring to make it the ground of some arrangement that will directly or indirectly draw them into her war, or of some important concessions in favor of her commerce, at the expense of our own. This consideration necessarily connects itself with the explanation and friendly assurances of Mr. Addington, and so far leaves in force the inducement to accomplish our object by an immediate bargain with France.

In forming this bargain, however, the prospect held out by the British Minister, with the nature of the crisis itself, authorizes us to expect better terms than your original instructions allow.

The President thinks it will be ineligible, under such circumstances, that any convention whatever on the subject should be entered into, that will not secure to the United States the jurisdiction of a reasonable district on some convenient part of the bank of the Mississippi.

He is made the more anxious, also, by the manner in which the British Government has opened itself to our Minister, as well as by other considerations, that as little concession as possible should be made in the terms with France, on points disagreeable to Great Britain, and particularly that the acknowledgement of the right of France as holding one shore of the Mississippi, to shut it against British vessels, should be avoided, if not essential to the attainment of the great objects we have in view, on terms otherwise highly expedient. It is desirable that such an acknowledgement should not even be admitted into the discussion.

The guaranty of the country beyond the Mississippi is another condition which it will be well to avoid if possible, not only for the reasons you already possess, but because it seems not improbable, from the communications of Mr. King, that Great Britain is meditating plans for the emancipation and independence of the whole of the .American continent south of the United States, and consequently, that such a guaranty would not only be disagreeable to her but embarrassing to the United States. Should war, indeed, precede your conventional arrangements with France, the guaranty, if admitted at all, must necessarily be suspended and limited in such a manner as to be applicable only to the state of things which may be fixed by a peace.

The proposed occupancy of New Orleans by Great Britain suggests a further precaution. Should possession be taken by her, and the preliminary sum of two millions, or any part of it, be paid to France, risks and disputes might ensue, which make it advisable to postpone the payment till possession shall be given to the United States, or, if this can not be done, to obtain every possible security against eventual loss.

As the question may arise, how far, in a state of war, one of the parties can, of right, convey territory to a neutral Power, and thereby deprive its enemy of the chance of conquest incident to war, especially when the conquest may have been actually projected, it is thought proper to observe to you, first, That, in the present case, the project of peaceable acquisition by the United States originated prior to the war, and consequently, before a project of conquest could have existed; second, That the right of a neutral to procure for itself, by a bona fide transaction, property of any sort, from a belligerent Power, ought not to be frustrated by the chance that a rightful conquest thereof might thereby be precluded. A contrary doctrine would sacrifice the just interests of peace to the unreasonable pretensions of war, and the positive rights of one nation to the possible rights of another. A restraint on the alienation of territory from a nation at war to a nation at peace is imposed only in cases where the proceeding might have a collusive reference to the existence of the war, and might be calculated to save the property from danger, by placing it in a secret trust, to be reconveyed on the return of peace. No objection of this sort can be made to the acquisitions we have in view. The measures on this subject were taken before the existence or the appearance of war, and they will be pursued as they were planned, with the bona fide purpose of vesting the acquisition forever in the United States.

With these observations you will be left to do the best you can under all circumstances, for the interest of your country, keeping in mind that the rights we assert are clear; that the objects we pursue are just; and that you will be warranted in providing for both, by taking every fair advantage of emergencies.