1803 Purchase of Louisiana. 197 sal power of the first Napoleon burst upon the world. In the vast recesses of his Titanic ambition, he cherished as a leading object of his policy, to acquire for France a colonial empire which should balance that of England. In pursuit of this policy, he fixed his eye on the ancient regal colony which Louis XIV. had founded in the heart of North America, and he tempted Spain by the paltry bribe of creating a kingdom for a Bourbon prince, to give back to France the then boundless waste of the territory of Louisiana. The cession was made by the secret treaty of 1800, of which one sentence only has ever been published, but that sentence gave away half a continent. 5. The youthful conqueror then concentrated all the resources of his mighty genius on the accomplishment of his vast project. If successful, it would have established the French power at the mouth and on the right bank of the Mississippi, and would have opposed the most formidable barrier to the expansion of the United States. The peace of Amiens (am'-e-enz), at this juncture, relieved Napoleon from the pressure of the war with England, and every thing seemed propitious to the success of the great enterprise. The fate of America trembled for a moment in a doubtful balance, and five hundred thousand citizens in that region felt the danger and sounded the alarm. But in another moment the aspect of affairs was changed by a stroke of policy, grand, unexpected, and fruitful of consequences perhaps without a parallel in history. 6. The short-lived truce of Amiens was about to end, the renewal of war was inevitable. Napoleon saw that before he could take possession of Louisiana it would be wrested from him by England, who commanded the seas, and he determined at once, not merely to deprive her of this magnificent conquest, but to contribute, as far as in him lay, to build up a great rival maritime power in the West. The government of the United States, not less sagacious, seized the golden moment—a moment such as does not happen twice in a thou sand years. Mr. Jefferson perceived that, unless acquired by the United States, Louisiana would in a short time belong to France or to England, and with equal wisdom and courage he determined that it should belong to neither. True, he held the acquisition to be unconstitutional, but he threw to the winds the resolutions which had just brought him into power; he broke the Constitution and he gained an empire.": War with 7. In the same year (1803), an expedition was sent to the Mediterranean to repress the piracies of the Barbary States, which powers constantly sent out armed vessels to capture the merchant ships of other nations, and make slaves the Barbary of their crews. It was a common custom for naStates. tions to pay tribute to these states to obtain freedom from their attacks. This, however, did not restrain their hostility and insolence; and a fleet under Commodore Preble (preb'-el) was sent against them. Preble first entered the port of Morocco, and, after exacting terms of the emperor, sailed for Tripoli (trip'-o-le); but, before his arrival, a serious accident had occurred. 66 8. One of his ships, the frigate Philadelphia, proceeding to Tripoli, while standing close in shore under a heavy press of sail, in pursuit of a vessel attempting to enter the harbor, ran with terrific force upon a sunken rock, upon which, in spite of all efforts to set her free, she remained fixed. While her crew were engaged in attempts to get her off, she was attacked by a flotilla of Tripolitan gun 1A careful examination of the treaties between France and Spain, and France and the United States, and of all the diplomatic correspondence and congressional debates, with reference to the western limits of the "Louisiana Purchase," leads us to the conclusion which Mr. Greenhow had previously reached, and had expressed in his "History of Oregon and California." His book, be it remembered, was published under the authority of the United States Senate. Mr. Greenhow says: "How far Louisiana extended westward when it was ceded by France to Spain, history offers no means of determining. In the absence of all light on the subject from history, we are forced to regard the boundaries indicated by nature, namely, the highlands separating the waters of the Mississippi from those flowing into the Pacific, as the true western boundaries of the Louisiana ceded to the United States by France in 1803." 1804 Exploit of Lieutenan Decatur. 199 boats. Most of her guns were thrown overboard, and her anchors and foremast were cut away, but still she remained fast. Holes were then bored in her bottom and her pumps choked, after which, having stood the fire of the gunboats all day, her commander submitted to the disagreeable necessity of striking his flag. The Tripolitans, after great exertions, no American cruiser being there to molest them, succeeded in getting the Philadelphia off and towing her into the harbor (Oct. 31, 1803)." 9. The Tripolitans soon began to fit out for sea their valuable prize. A plan for her de struction was therefore resolved upon, but more than Exploit three months passed of Lieutenant before it could be put Decatur, into execution. Lieutenant (afterward Commodore) "Decatur undertook the task, and the capture of a small Tripolitan vessel bound to Constantinople with a present of female slaves for the sultan, gave him the first facility. The captured vessel was taken into service, and named the Intrepid. Manned by volunteers, the Intrepid, as evening came on, favored by a light breeze, stood directly into the harbor. About midnight she began to approach the Philadelphia, directly towards which she steered, all except two or three of her crew lying flat upon the deck. DECATUR. 10. So far all had passed without exciting the slightest suspicion; but just as the Intrepid touched the side of the Philadelphia, an alarm was raised by the Turks. The Americans, however, boarded in an instant, and the frigate's guard, after a moment's resistance, were driven over her opposite side, a few being killed, but most of them jumping into the water. With equal promptitude combustibles already prepared, were hurried on board, and in less than half an hour the frigate was in a blaze. The burning ship lighted up the whole harbor like day; and as the heat increased, her guns, which were loaded and shotted, began to explode. But the Intrepid swept on unharmed till she reached the mouth of the harbor, where she found boats ready to aid in towing her off (Feb. 1, 1804)." A treaty was soon afterward made with the bashaw. 11. A political quarrel between the vice-president, Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, that had its roots in a long strife between HAMILTON. Next day he died. 12. "On the day of Hamilton's funeral, the whole city of New York was in mourning. The procession which followed him to the grave comprised men of every degree, without distinction of parties. The minute-guns from the batteries were answered by the French and British ships-of-war in the harbor. On the steps of Trinity Church, Gouverneur Morris with the four sons of the deceased by his side, pronounced a solemn oration in memory of his slaughtered friend; and when they had laid him in the earth, and the parting volley had been fired over his remains, the vast crowd dispersed in silence, and each man carried to his home the impression of a profound grief (1804)." 13. Burr, of course, lost au his political influence. Two 1807 Fulton's First Steamboat. 201 years after the duel, he became engaged in organizing a secret expedition at the West, which was suspected of being of AARON BURR. a treasonable character. Trial of Burr for Treason. He was arrested and 14. In 1807, the little steamboat Clermont was constructed under the direction of Robert Fulton. John Fitch and James Rumsey, both Americans, had already made successful experiments in steamboat building, but this boat, the Clermont, was destined to be historic. Fulton's first steamboat. Fulton, in giving an account of his labors, said: "When I was building my first steamboat at New York, the project was viewed by the pub lie critics with indifference, or with contempt, as a visionary scheme. My friends, indeed, were civil, but they were shy. As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered unknown near the idle groups of strangers, gathered in little circles, and heard various inquiries as to the object of this new vehi ROBERT FULTON. cle. The language was uniformly that of scorn, or sneer, or ridicule. The loud laugh often rose at my expense. The dry |