they shall proceed to run and mark this boundary according to the stipulations.

"The navigation of the said (Mississippi) river, in its whole breadth from its source to the ocean, shall be free only to his (Catholic Majesty's) subjects and the citizens of the United States, unless he shall extend this privilege to the subjects of other powers by special convention.

"The two contracting parties shall maintain peace and harmony among the several Indian nations who inhabit the country adjacent to the boundaries of the two Floridas. No treaty of alliance or other whatever (except treaties of peace) shall be made by either party with the Indians living within the boundary of the other."

To this was added the right to use New Orleans for three years as a port of deposit free from duty, on condition that a fair rent should be paid for the use of stores. This privilege was to be continued at New Orleans or some other point on the river. Each State was to discountenance Indian raids and restrain the Indians within its own borders. Thus Pinckney obtained what Jay found it impossible to get and what the latter was inclined to surrender.

This treaty, which was very acceptable in the United States, was in direct opposition to Spain's attitude since the conclusion of peace between the United States and Great Britain; the concessions in it were not made through any change of opinion, but because political circumstances forced Spain to it. At this time Spain was under the influence of France, having parted with Great Britain. Pinckney's opinion was that Spain feared an alliance between the United States and Great Britain against France and Spain.

Jay's treaty with Great Britain made it necessary for Spain to make one with the United States, for fear that the two English-speaking nations might combine and injure the colonial possessions of Spain. But Spain did not wish to carry out the stipulations of the treaty if it could possibly be avoided, and continued her old effort to detach the western States from the Union, using the rather specious argument

that if the western States were separated the treaty would be no longer binding, because it was made with the nation as a whole.

In 1797, Carondelet, the Spanish governor, through his interpreter, Thomas Power, approached Benjamin Sebastian, Judge of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, with the proposition that the West withdraw from the Federal Union and form an independent western government. One hundred thousand dollars was to be devoted to this object by the Spanish king. This proposition was submitted to Judge Henry Innes by Sebastian, who in turn placed it before Colonel Nicholas, an influential citizen of Kentucky. Innes and Nicholas gave Power a written reply, in which they refused to cooperate. Power had an interview with Wilkinson, but the latter advised him to drop it, as it was too late to turn the West from its allegiance.

There were delays of various kinds in carrying out the provisions of the treaty, just as there had been in securing it. It was a time when Spain was coming more and more under the power of France. But in spite of the attempts of France to prevent it, the terms of the treaty were fully carried out with the delivering of the last of the Spanish forts on the eastern bank of the Mississippi in 1798.

For seven years after the signing of the treaty the river was open to the Americans, and the western country rapidly filled up. A prosperous trade was carried on, by which the Americans took their tobacco, grain, and other products down the river and deposited them in New Orleans, from which place they were reshipped to all parts of the world. But there was no desire to encourage settlers from the Union to come to Louisiana. The Spanish authorities were especially opposed to Protestant preachers, and none was allowed to settle anywhere within the limits of the province. The Catholic religion was a part of the government, and was supported to the exclusion of all others. Every immigrant was compelled at once to take an oath to support the Spanish government. But this restriction on immigration

was a comparatively small matter, so long as there was an abundance of land to the north. The important thing was the right of deposit; this had been granted for three years from the signing of the treaty, with the understanding that it would then be renewed or some other place on the Mississippi substituted for New Orleans.

CHAPTER XII

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

THE loss of Louisiana to France by its transfer to Spain in 1762 had always been regarded by the French nation as a disgraceful calamity. It would be sure to recover this territory at the first opportunity; that opportunity had now come. Napoleon was supreme in southern Europe, and dreams of a vast colonial empire came to him. No other place would answer so well for this as Louisiana, and none would be so pleasing to the French nation. There was good reason to believe that Great Britain was trying again to get a foothold in the Mississippi valley; and if France could get control of New Orleans, this would increase the power of France and shut out Great Britain.

Negotiations were carried on with the Spanish court. Berthier, the intimate friend of Napoleon, was sent to Madrid to negotiate a treaty in the fall of 1800. The provisions of the projected treaty, according to the instructions given to Berthier, were that the French republic should procure for the Duke of Parma, son-in-law of the Spanish king, a territory in Italy to contain at least a million inhabitants, Spain promising to give the colony of Louisiana, with the same extent it actually had in the hands of Spain. This was the Treaty of San Ildefonso. But this cession was kept secret, and it was especially necessary that the United States should know nothing about the change of ownership until Napoleon was in a position to take actual possession.

But the actual surrender of Louisiana to Napoleon was delayed, because of the failure of France to carry out her part of the bargain. The territory given the Spanish king in exchange for Louisiana was only nominally in his possession. There were still French soldiers in it, and it was administered by French generals. The Spanish king would not sign the treaty until the territory was actually surrendered.

Meanwhile a suspicion came to the Americans that Spain had transferred the country to France. It had been known before this time, even as early as 1790, that the project of establishing a French colony in America was under consideration in Paris, and that the most suitable place for it would be on Mississippi River. Early in 1800, there were rumors of a revival of this plan on the part of France, and instructions were sent to the American ministers in London, Paris, and Madrid to do what they could to prevent the cession. Much excitement was caused in the United States by the rumor, and warlike talk was common in the West.

A weak and decaying nation like Spain was not regarded by the people of the United States as a dangerous neighbor though it was sometimes an irritating one. With the constantly growing strength of the West and the large number of American settlements bordering on Louisiana or already within its bounds, the Spanish power in America was yearly becoming weaker. There were many who foresaw the time when the mouth of the Mississippi, and West Florida as well, would come into the hands of the United States either by purchase or by easy conquest, and the policy of the latter was one of waiting.

But it was quite a different matter to have France as a neighbor at a time when the First Consul was at the height of his power. No one knew what his plans might be, but it seemed that with a powerful French army at New Orleans, Napoleon would be in a position greatly to embarrass the Americans, especially in the West, and he might restore