At the Treaty of Peace between England and United States, in 1783, Spain had protested against the Mississippi river as the western boundary of the new nation; declaring that the United States should be limited on the west by the Allegheny Mountains. Later, when American settlements extended to the west, so as to require a highway to the ocean, by way of the Mississippi river, to market their produce, she erected forts on its east bank, and persisted in retaining these forts, one at Natchez, and the other at Walnut Hills. This unfriendly attitude of Spain affected the interests of the western states to such an extent that it was difficult to keep them from marching an army to take possession of New Orleans, in order to obtain what they declared to be their natural rights, namely, to use the Mississippi as a great highway to the sea. This state of things grew worse, till Jay's treaty of 1795, in which Spain conceded the right of deposit at New Orleans; which temporarily modified the situation. But this treaty even if made in good faith on the part of Spain, could not have permanently settled the real issues at stake between the two countries. The treaty, however, was not lived up to by Spain and old scores were opened up afresh.

January 7th, 1803, the House of Representatives took action on this matter, as follows:

"Resolved, That this house receive with great sensibility the information of a disposition in certain officers of the Spanish government at New Orleans to obstruct the navigation of the River Mississippi, as secured to the United States by the most solemn stipulations:

"That adhering to that humane and wise policy which ought ever to characterize a free people, and by which the United States have always professed to be governed; willing at the same time to ascribe this breach of compact to the unauthorized misconduct of certain individuals, rather than to

a want of good faith on the part of his Catholic Majesty; and relying with perfect confidence on the vigilance and wisdom of the Executive, they will wait the issue of such measures as that department of the government shall have pursued for asserting the rights and vindicating the injuries of the United States-holding it to be their duty, at the same time, to express their unalterable determination to maintain the boundaries and the rights of navigation and commerce through the River Mississippi, as established by existing treaties."

January 10th, 1803, James Monroe was appointed by President Jefferson to act with Mr. Livingston in the delicate and uncertain negotiations with France for the purchase of Louisiana. The following letters to Mr. Monroe show his confidence in him to execute the important commission required of him:

"WASHINGTON, January 10th, 1803.

"GOVERNOR MONROE:

"Dear Sir: I have but a moment to inform you that the fever into which the western mind is thrown by the affair at New Orleans, stimulated by the mercantile and generally the federal interest, threatens to overbear our peace. In this situation we are obliged to call on you for a temporary sacrifice of yourself to prevent this greatest of evils in the present prosperous tide of our affairs. I shall to-morrow nominate you to the Senate, for an extraordinary mission to France, and the circumstances are such as to render it impossible to decline; because the whole public hope will be rested on you. I wish you to be either in Richmond or Albemarle till you receive another letter from me, which will be within two days hence, if the Senate decide immediately; or later, according to the time they take to decide. In the meantime, pray work night and day, to arrange your affairs for a temporary absenceperhaps for a long one. Accept affectionate salutations.

"THOMAS JEFFERSON."

"WASHINGTON, January 13th, 1803.

"GOVERNOR MONROE:

"Dear Sir: I dropped you a line on the 10th, informing you of a nomination I had made of you to the Senate, and yesterday I enclosed you their approbation, not having then time to write. The agitation of the public mind on occasion of the late suspension of our right of deposit at New Orleans is extreme. This, in the western country, is natural, and grounded on operative motives. Remonstrances, memorials, etc., are now circulating through the whole of that country, and signing by the body of the people. The measures which we have been pursuing, being invisible, do not satisfy their minds; something sensible, therefore, has become necessary, and indeed our object of purchasing New Orleans and the Floridas is a measure likely to assume so many shapes that no instructions could be squared to fit them. It was essential, then, to send a minister extraordinary to be joined with the ordinary one, with discretionary power, first, however, well impressed with all our views, and therefore qualified to meet and modify to these every form of proposition which could come from the other party. This could be done only in frequent and full oral communication. Having determined on this, there could not be two opinions as to the person. You possessed the unlimited confidence of the administration and of the western people, and were you to refuse to go, no other man can be found who does this. All eyes are fixed on you; and were you to decline, the chagrin would be great, and would shake under your feet the high ground on which you stand with the public. Indeed, I know nothing which would produce such a shock; for on the event of this mission depends the future destinies of this republic. If we cannot, by a purchase of the country, ensure to ourselves a course of perpetual peace and friendship with all nations, then, as war cannot be

far distant, it behooves us immediately to be preparing for that course, without, however, hastening it; and it may be necessary (on your failure on the continent) to cross the channel. We shall get entangled in European politics, and figuring more, be much less happy and prosperous. This can only be prevented by a successful issue to your present mission. I am sensible, after the measures you have taken for getting into a different line of business, that it will be a great sacrifice on your part; and presents, from the season and other circumstances, serious difficulties. But some men are born for the public. Nature, by fitting them for the service of the human race on a broad scale, has stamped them with the evidences of her destination and their duty.

"THOMAS JEFFERSON."

Mr. Monroe accepted the appointment of President Jefferson and immediately made preparations to sail for Paris.

Meanwhile, Napoleon, now fully aware of the uncertainty with which the peace of Amiens held England in check, was ready to open negotiations with Livingston and Monroe, for the purchase of Louisiana. This conviction had been forced upon him by the action of a party in England that had sworn implacable hatred to France. On March 8, 1803, the King of England sent a message to the two Houses of Parliament, in which he gave intimation of an approaching rupture. Soon after England made a call for 10,000 seamen. M. Talleyrand and the French Minister now threw off all disguise and acknowledged to the British Minister that the embarkation of troops, destined for America, had been countermanded in consequence of the action of the English Court. The critical situation between France and England was discussed in a private conference in the Tuileries, in which discussion Napoleon took a prominent part. He said to his counselors: "The