Governor and Intendant General. In 1811, Louisiana was admitted into the Union.*

10000'

or five

"ART. 3. It is agreed that the dollar of the United States, specified in the present convention, shall be fixed at five francs 3333 livres eight sous tournois. Convention 3.-" ART. 1. The debts due by France to citizens of the United States, contracted before the 8th of Vendemiaire, ninth

* We have found in a "Collection of Reports on Navigation and Trade," (London 1807) a letter of a British officer, written in '94 concerning Louisiana. As it illustrates the importance of this province, (with which the English appear to have been well acquainted) we shall make a few extracts.

"A Letter from an Officer of Rank in the Army, to one of his Majesty's Ministers of State respecting Louisiana.

"C

Street, May 21, 1794. "What I allude to, sir, is this; that on a peace and general arrangement of the present extensive troubles, the cession of the island of New Orleans, with all, or a part of, West Florida, and as much of the territory bordering on the Mississippi as should be judged necessary, might be obtained by this country from the court of Spain; in which event the above mentioned advantages would consequently follow.

"In the present state of that country, all the West India islands could be plentifully supplied from the Mississippi with every species of lumber, at cheaper price.

"That country would also, in a little time, be able to supply the West Indies with abundance of many articles of provisions.

"When it is considered, that from the furthest distance up the Missouri river, whither our Indian traders from Canada at present resort, to the mouth of the Mississippi, (an extent of above three thousand miles) there is an unfathomable and uninterrupted channel; and that both the banks are of a fertility surpassing the most exaggerated accounts of those of the Nile, and capable of yielding every production - of both hemispheres; and when we further reflect on the many great rivers which discharge themselves into the Mississippi, particularly the Ohio, which is of itself navigable above twelve hundred miles, with several others falling into it, little less in appearance than the Ohio itself; and the neighbouring soil and climate offering every inducement to come and settle there, with no channel, as I have already observed, to export the produce by, except the Mississippi;-I say, sir,

year of the French republic, (30th September 1800) shall be paid according to the following regulations, with interest at six per cent. to commence from the periods when the accounts and vouchers were presented to the French government.

“ART. 2. The debts provided for by the preceding article are those whose result is comprised in the conjectural note annexed to the present convention, and which, with the interest, cannot exceed the sum of twenty millions of francs. The claims comprised in the said note which fall within the exceptions of the following articles, shall not be admitted to the benefit of this provision.

"ART. 3. The principal and interest of the said debts shall be discharged by the United States, by orders drawn by their minister plenipotentiary on their treasury; these orders shall be payable sixty days after the exchange of ratifications of the treaty and the conventions signed this day, and after possession shall be given of Louisiana by the commissioners of France to those of the United States.

"ART. 4. It is expressly agreed, that the preceding articles shall comprehend no debts but such as are due to citizens of the United States, who have been and are yet creditors of France, for supplies, for embargoes, and prizes made at sea, in which the appeal has been properly lodged within the time mentioned in the said convention of the 8th Vendemiaire, ninth year, (30th September 1800.)

"ART. 5. The preceding articles shall apply only, Ist, to captures of which the council of prizes shall have ordered restitution, it being well understood that the claimant cannot have recourse to the United States otherwise than he might have had to the government of the French republic, and only in case of the insufficiency of the captors; 2d, the debts mentioned in the said fifth article of the convention contracted before the 8th Vendemiaire, an 9, (30th September 1800) the payment of which has been heretofore claimed of the actual government of France, and for which the creditors have a right to the protection of the United States; the said fifth article does not comprehend prizes whose condemnation has been or shall be confirmed: it

when all those circumstances are considered, there can hardly be a calculation formed of the shipping that will be necessary, in some short time hence, for the transport of the immense productions that will be sent down that river.

"Should the Americans thus once firmly possess themselves of that colony, it will be very difficult to dislodge them; and from the time they establish a footing in any port in the Gulph of Florida, the intercourse between the European nations and the West Indies will be very insecure indeed."

is the express intention of the contracting parties not to extend the benefit of the present convention to reclamations of American citizens, who shall have established houses of commerce in France, England, or other countries than the United States, in partnership with foreigners, and who by that reason and the nature of their commerce ought to be regarded as domiciliated in the places, where such houses exist. All agreements and bargains concerning merchandise, which shall not be the property of American citizens, are equally excepted from the benefit of the said convention, saving, however, to such persons their claims in like manner as if this treaty had not been made.

"ART. 6. And that the different questions which may arise under the preceding article may be fairly investigated, the ministers plenipotentiary of the United States shall name three persons, who shall act from the present and provisionally, and who shall have full power to examine, without removing the documents, all the accounts of the different claims already liquidated by the bureau established for this purpose by the French republic, and to ascertain whether they belong to the classes designated by the present convention and the principles established in it; or if they are not in one of its exceptions, and on their certificate, declaring that the debt is due to an American citizen or his representative, and that it existed before the 8th Vendemiaire, 9th year, (30th September 1800) the creditor shall be entitled to an order on the treasury of the United States, in the manner prescribed by the third article.

"ART. 7. The same agents shall likewise have power, without removing the documents, to examine the claims which are prepared for verification, and to certify those which ought to be admitted by uniting the necessary qualifications, and not being comprised in the exceptions contained in the present convention.

"Art. 8. The same agents shall likewise examine the claims which are not prepared for liquidation, and certify in writing those which in their judgments ought to be admitted to liquidation.

"ART. 9. In proportion as the debts mentioned in these articles shall be admitted, they shall be discharged with interest, at six per cent. by the treasury of the United States.

"ART. 10. And that no debt which shall not have the qualifications above mentioned, and that no unjust or exorbitant demand may be admitted, the commercial agent of the United States at Paris, or such other agent as the minister plenipotentiary of the United States shall think proper to nominate, shall assist at the operations of the bureau, and cooperate in the examination of the claims; and if this agent shall be of opinion that any debt is not completely proved, or if he shall judge that it is not comprised in the principles of the fifth article

above mentioned; and if, notwithstanding his opinion, the bureau established by the French government should think that it ought to be liquidated, he shall transmit his observations to the board established by the United States, who, without removing documents, shall make a complete examination of the debt and vouchers which support it, and report the result to the minister of the United States. The minister of the United States shall transmit his observations, in all such cases to the minister of the treasury of the French republic, on whose report the French government shall decide definitively in every

case.

The rejection of any claim shall have no other effect than to exempt the United States from the payment of it, the French government reserving to itself the right to decide definitively on such claim so far as it concerns itself.

"ART. 11. Every necessary decision shall be made in the course of a year, to commence from the exchange of ratifications, and no reclamation shall be admitted afterwards.

“ART. 12. In case of claims for debts contracted by the government of France with citizens of the United States, since the 8th Vendemiaire, ninth year, (30th September 1800) not being comprised in this convention, may be pursued, and the payment demanded in the same manner as if it had not been made."

CHAPTER X.

CONTINENTAL SYSTEM.

Livingston Minister in France-Turreau and Serrurier in this country -America very prosperous—Berlin Decree—Great calamity—Beginning of Continental System-All Continent, except Turkey, in the League-America only neutral-Milan Decree-Canton, in China, only port not blockaded-Embargo-Bayonne and Rambouillet Decrees-Cause of War against France-Repeal of French Decrees— England refused to acknowledge the validity of the act-Antedated Decree French Spoliations-No indemnity-Angry correspondence

with France.

NOTWITHSTANDING the vexations, to which the American trade was exposed in the West India seas, during the years 1804 and 5, the country was in a condition of great and increasing prosperity, and of perfect security, while Europe was bleeding at every pore. * But the eagerness and suc

* James A. Bayard, of Delaware, appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France, in February 1801, did not accept the appointment. In June of the same year, Robert R. Livingston, of New-York, was appointed to the same court, with the same rank. The generals Turreau and Serrurier were the ministers of France, in this country, from 1804 to the war with England, General Turreau being accredited in 1804, and General Serrurier in 1812. M. Turreau published, in 1815, in Paris, a pamphlet, with this title, "Aperçu, sur la situation politique des Etats Unis d'Amèrique." It is an unfavourable account of the political institutions of this country, which, he thinks, cannot be permanent. The French government had no minister in this country after M. Adet was withdrawn in 1797; but L. A. Pichon, (the individual already mentioned as having been at the Hague) was the Chargé, from March 1801 to September 1804, the period of the arrival of General Turreau, who had, however, been appointed in the preceding December, after the treaty of Louisiana. John Armstrong, of New-York, succeeded Mr. Livingston, in 1804.