4804. LOUISIANA, Bonaparte and.—
I
very early saw that Louisiana was indeed a
speck in our horizon which was to burst in
a tornado; and the public are unapprized how
near this catastrophe was. Nothing but a
frank and friendly development of causes and
effects on our part, and good sense enough in
Bonaparte to see that the train was unavoidable,
and would change the face of the
world, saved us from that storm. I did not
expect he would yield till a war took place
between France and England, and my hope
was to palliate and endure, if Messrs. Ross,
Morris, &c. did not force a premature rupture,
until that event. I believed the event not very
distant, but acknowledge it came on sooner
than I had expected. Whether, however, the
good sense of Bonaparte might not see the
course predicted to be necessary and unavoidable,
even before a war should be imminent,
was a chance which we thought it our duty
to try; but the immediate prospect of rupture
brought the case to immediate decision. The
dénouement has been happy; and I confess I
look to this duplication of area for the extending
a government so free and economical
as ours, as a great achievement to the mass
of happiness which is to ensue.—
To Dr. Joseph Priestley. Washington ed. iv, 525.
Ford ed., viii, 294.
(W.
Jan. 1804)
