sels; and the concession, though never definitely
renewed, was tacitly continued. No; the people of the trans-Alleghany
country could not remain silent and unprotesting witnesses to the
retrocession of Louisiana.

Nor was Jefferson's interest in the Mississippi problem of recent
origin. Ten years earlier as Secretary of State, while England and
Spain seemed about to come to blows over the Nootka Sound affair, he had
approached both France and Spain to see whether the United States might
not acquire the island of New Orleans or at least a port near the mouth
of the river "with a circum-adjacent territory, sufficient for its
support, well-defined, and extraterritorial to Spain." In case of war,
England would in all probability conquer Spanish Louisiana. How
much better for Spain to cede territory on the eastern side of the
Mississippi to a safe neighbor like the United States and thereby make
sure of her possessions on the western waters of that river. It was "not
our interest," wrote Mr. Jefferson, "to cross the Mississippi for ages!"

It was, then, a revival of an earlier idea when President Jefferson,
officially through Robert R. Livingston, Minister to France, and
unofficially through a French gentleman, Dupont de Nemours, sought to
impress upon the First Consul the unwisdom of his taking possession of
Louisiana, without ceding to the United States at least New Orleans and
the Floridas as a "palliation." Even so, France would become an object
of suspicion, a neighbor with whom Americans were bound to quarrel.

Undeterred by this naive threat, doubtless considering its source, the
First Consul pressed Don Carlos for the delivery of Louisiana. The King
procrastinated but at length gave his promise on condition that France
should pledge herself not to alienate the province. Of course, replied
the obliging Talleyrand. The King's wishes were identical with the
intentions of the French government. France would never alienate
Louisiana. The First Consul pledged his word. On October 15, 1802, Don
Carlos signed the order that delivered Louisiana to France.

While the President was anxiously awaiting the results of his diplomacy,
news came from Santo Domingo that Leclerc and his army had triumphed
over Toussaint and his faithless generals, only to succumb to a far more
insidious foe. Yellow fever had appeared in the summer of 1802 and had
swept away the second army dispatched by Bonaparte to take the place
of the first which