rapidly abated
his demands, and the cession was finally made for fifteen millions of
dollars.

The Boundaries Undecided.

The treaty was signed in May, 1805. The definition of the exact
boundaries of the ceded territory was purposely left very loose by
Napoleon. On the east, the Spanish Government of the Floridas still kept
possession of what are now several parishes in the State of Louisiana.
In the far west the boundary lines which divided upper Louisiana from
the possessions of Britain on the north and of Spain on the south led
through a wilderness where no white man had ever trod, and they were of
course unmapped, and only vaguely guessed at.

Blindness of the American Statesmen.

There was one singular feature of this bargain, which showed, as nothing
else could have shown, how little American diplomacy had to do with
obtaining Louisiana, and how impossible it was for any European power,
even the greatest, to hold the territory in the face of the steady
westward growth of the American people. Napoleon forced Livingston and
Monroe to become the reluctant purchasers not merely of New Orleans, but
of all the immense territory which stretched vaguely northwestward to
the Pacific. Jefferson at moments felt a desire to get all this western
territory; but he was too timid and too vacillating to insist
strenuously upon anything which he feared Napoleon would not grant.
Madison felt a strong disinclination to see the national domain extend
west of the Mississippi; and he so instructed Monroe and Livingston. In
their turn the American envoys, with solemn fatuity, believed it might
impress Napoleon favorably if they made much show of moderation, and
they spent no small part of their time in explaining that they only
wished a little bit of Louisiana, including New Orleans and the east
bank of the lower Mississippi. Livingston indeed went so far as to
express a very positive disinclination to take the territory west of the
Mississippi at any price, stating that he should much prefer to see it
remain in the hands of France or Spain, and suggesting, by way of
apology for its acquisition, that it might be re-sold to some European
power! But Napoleon saw clearly that if the French ceded New Orleans it
was a simple physical impossibility for them to hold the rest of the
Louisiana territory. If his fierce and irritable vanity had been touched
he might, through mere wayward anger, have dared the Americans to a
contest whi