it, and illuminate it with a wild and strange | ful companion), which they had just killed, but splendor!

"This feast," says Marquette, "consisted of four courses, which we had to take with all their ways. The first course was a great wooden dish full of sagamity, that is to say, of Indian meal boiled in water and seasoned with grease. The It was by virtue of the discovery of Marquette master of ceremonies, with a spoonful of sagam- that France acquired the ownership of the Misity, presented it three or four times to my mouth, sissippi Valley, and the territory was subseas we would do with a little child; he did the quently called after the King of France by the same to M. Joliet. For the second course he name of Louisiana. Soon after Marquette's brought in another dish containing three fish; voyage, and in consequence of it, Hennepin, an removed the bones and having blown upon it to unveracious but enterprising man, explored the cool it, put it into my mouth as we would food river from the mouth of the Illinois to the falls to a bird. For a third course they produced a of the St. Anthony, first by white men and named large dog (an Indian can give no higher mark by him; and in connection with the fearless, of his friendship than thus to sacrifice his faith-gifted, and noble La Salle, was the first (with

the exception of De Soto's successor) to explore was precisely the same as it would be at this the river from the limits reached by Marquette to its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana remained a French province till 1762, when it was ceded to Spain. It remained a Spanish province till the year 1800, when it was secretly retroceded to France.

time if the South had succeeded in establishing a separate Confederacy. He further declared that "you had as well pretend to dam up the mouth of the Mississippi and say to its restless waves, ye shall cease here and never mingle with the ocean, as to expect that the people of the West will be prevented from descending it. Without the free use of this river and the nec

Before the purchase of Louisiana by the United States the river, from its mouth northward several hundred miles, ran through the domin-essary advantages of a deposit below our boundions of a foreign power; above this the river constituted the western boundary of the United States, as defined by the treaty of Independence with Great Britain. Although the West was at that time comparatively a wilderness, the navigation of the river came near involving us in two wars with Spain. The West was in a blaze at being denied their natural outlet. Steps were taken to raise an armed force, and war was imminent. Spain, as owner of the land on both sides of the river at its mouth, claimed under the law of nations the sole right to regulate or to forbid its navigation.

By the treaty made with Spain in 1795, to compose and settle our disputes, she conceded to us the right of the free navigation of the river; she also agreed "to permit citizens of the United States, for the space of three years, to deposit their merchandise and effects at the port of New Orleans, paying only fair storage," which permission the King of Spain agreed to continue longer if he saw fit; if he did not, then he was to "assign to the United States, another part of the banks of the Mississippi, an equivalent establishment."

ary their fertile country is not worth possessing, their produce must be wasted in their fields or rot in their granaries." It is true that when these words were spoken the Mississippi was the only outlet for the products of the country; and that since then the New York and Canadian canals, and five parallel lines of railway, connect the East and the West, thereby affording to the West an artificial eastern outlet. But both outlets are needed; needed to do the business of the great West, needed to prevent the crushing exactions of railroad and canal monopolies. Water communication with the Atlantic is the great want of the West.

It was then (1802) believed, but not certainly known, though such was the fact, that the Louisiana Territory had been ceded to France. Napoleon was at this time on the rising tide of his high fortunes, and exercised almost despotic power under the modest title of the French Consul. The Senator last named urged the absolute national necessity which existed that the United States should own and control the mouth of the river, the key to the vast valley of the Mississippi; a region larger in extent than all Europe. In the course of his argument he alluded to the situation of this country, with the mouth of the river in the possession of a foreign

We quote them, because if the Southern Confederacy be substituted in the place of Bonaparte, his remarks are much more weighty and applicable now than they were sixty years ago. He says: "What is more than all to be dreaded, in such hands, is that it may be made the means of access and corruption to your national councils, and a key to your treasury.

Soon after the lapse of the three years, viz., about the year 1800, Spain violated the provisions of the treaty by refusing the right of deposit at New Orleans, without at the same time assign-power. ing, as by terms and a fair construction of the treaty she was bound to do, another place of deposit. She went further and prohibited our boats and vessels even to land, and interdicted all intercourse between our citizens and the inhabitants of the province. As our boats could not land, and as boats which were suitable for the transportation of produce down the river were unsuitable for navigation at sea, the mere right to pass up and down the river with boats was found to be an almost worthless and barren one. The right of deposit, preparatory to transhipment on sea-going vessels, proved to be as indispensable and necessary as the right of pas

sage.

The whole country was again in a blaze of excitement. The Senate authorized President Jefferson to call out and arm 80,000 militia. In the course of the debates which followed truths were uttered which are as pertinent now as they were then. Thus, Senator Wright, of Delaware, said:

"The Western people will see in Bonaparte, at their very doors, a powerful friend or a dangerous enemy, and should he, after completely controlling the river, approach them, not in the attitude of an enemy, but under the specious garb of a protector and a friend; should he, instead of embarrassing their commerce by any fiscal arrangement, invite them to the navigation of the river, and give them privileges in trade not heretofore enjoyed; should he, instead of coercing them to his measures, court and intrigue with them, who can tell the consequences?

"Foreign influence will gain admittance into our national councils; a foreign faction will exist which will increase with the rapidly increas

"We can never have permanent peace on our Western waters till we possess ourselves of Newing population of the Western world. WhenOrleans, and such other positions as may be necessary to give us the complete and absolute command of the navigation of the Mississippi." It will be seen that our situation at that time

ever this period shall arrive it will be the crisis of American glory, and must result either in the political subjugation of the Atlantic States or their separation from the Western country."

What weighty suggestions are these! No-ing 50,000 men to take New Orleans. Napothing can be added to their force. In the events leon saw the crisis; took in the situation at a of the past few years their truth and significance glance. He knew that England, by virtue of have been remarkably exemplified. At that early day the statesmen of our country saw, and the people of our country felt, the indispensable importance of the entire national ownership and control of the river to the people of all the States bordering on it and its tributaries.

Senator Jackson, of Georgia, declared that "God and nature have destined New Orleans and the Floridas to belong to this great and rising empire."

its navy, would attempt the capture of the province. He much preferred that we should own it to England. To our proposition to purchase part Talleyrand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, replied: "That if they gave us New Or leans the rest would be of little value, and wished to know what we would give for the whole ?"

It was wise in France to sell, but it was wiser in us to buy. On the 30th of April, 1803, the Mr. Madison, then Secretary of State, in his treaty of cession was made. All the vast and letter of November 27, 1802, to Mr. Charles undefined territory known as Louisiana, stretchPinckney, our Minister at Madrid, instructing ing from New Orleans to Oregon, was, in conhim to demand redress from Spain for the in-sideration of $15,000,000, sold to the United fraction of the treaty of 1795, says: "You are States. The necessities of France obliged her aware of the sensibility of our Western people on this subject. This sensibility is justified by the interest they have at stake. The Mississippi is to them every thing. It is the Hudson, the Delaware, the Potomac, and all the navigable rivers of the Atlantic States formed into one stream."

In view of its importance negotiations were authorized by our Government for the purchase of New Orleans, so as to make the river the boundary between the United States and Louisiana. The idea of the purchase of the entire Territory of Louisiana was at that time not even thought of. Our ideas did not rise so high. We were poor then and prudent. We wanted the river and a place of deposit that we could call our own; this was the primary idea, and not the augmentation of territory. The comprehensive mind of the First Consul knew the value of this trans-Atlantic possession. Mr. Livingston, at that time our Minister at Paris, writing May 12, 1803, to Mr. Madison, giving an account of the purchase, says: Among the most favorite projects of the First Consul was the colonization of Louisiana. He saw in it a new Egypt; he saw in it a colony that was to counterbalance the Eastern establishment of Great Britain; he saw in it a provision for his Generals; and what was more important in the then state of things, he saw in it a pretense for the ostracism of suspected enemies. When I arrived here I found Louisiana a very favorite object. Some books were published representing it a paradise."

66

to sell. Napoleon knew that $15,000,000 was no compensation, and it is a remarkable fact that the treaty alludes to no pecuniary consideration for the sale. The language of the treaty, in this respect, is as follows:

"The First Consul of the French Republic, desiring to give the United States a strong proof of friendship, does hereby cede to it, forever, and in full sovereignty, the colony or province of Louisiana."

Thus did the United States become invested with the title to the whole valley of the Mississippi.

The great river, and its countless tributaries, were ours. Every bubbling fountain on the remote slopes of the Alleghanies; every spring and waterfall on the distant sides of the Rocky Mountains; all the intermediate rivulets, brooks, streamlets, streams, and rivers, were, by an undisputed title, ours. It is fortunate, not only for the United States, but for the race, that this magnificent domain passed into our hands. Only two generations have passed away, and see the results! Great and flourishing commonwealths line its banks from its source to its mouth. Civil and religious liberty, science, literature, religion, art, education and educational institutions, all that can adorn and bless a nation, have here found a home. Every 16th square mile has been set apart for common school purposes. The genius of our free institutions has been extended over it. What is there in all the diversified history of the Rhinewhat is there in all the entombed mysteries of the Nile-what is there any where, in all the records of the race, so remarkable as to be com

France, at that time, was at peace. Mr. Livingston urged the payment of the American debts, and hinted to one of the French Ministers, probably the celebrated Talleyrand, of a sale of the|pared to the marvelous growth and development Territory as a means. His reply was: "None but spendthrifts satisfy their debts by selling their lands."

of the Mississippi Valley? And yet the phenomenon is not a mystery. Its cause is not hid in occult hieroglyphics. The aid of no Layard The First Consul organized a fleet and an is needed to reveal or decipher it. It is known army to send to New Orleans. They were block-to the world. The down-trodden Irishman aded in the Dutch forts at first by ice, and the flames of war having again been lighted, then by the English. Mr. Livingston opportunely pressed the purchase of New Orleans, calling, with much shrewdness, the attention of France to a proposition in the London papers for rais-nothing else.

knows it. The countrymen of Kossuth and Kosciusko knew it. The liberty-loving German knows it. The oppressed of all nations and of every clime know it. That cause is the vivifying influence of our Free Institutions; and it is

Does the reader doubt it? Appeal for a moment to history. Look at Mexico! Cortéz, the Spanish robber, overthrew the Montezumas one hundred years before the Mayflower landed

at Plymouth, and the despotism, political and

intellectual, of the Spanish rule was established. Why has Mexico in the race of nations thus lagged behind? Pizarro overturned the Inca power, and established permanent Spanish settlements in Peru, three-quarters of a century before Virginia was colonized.

JONES'S METEMPSYCHOSES.

Quam bene Saturno vivebant rege."-TIBULLUS, El. III.
I.

having acquired a competency in the wholesale grocery business, retired from active participation in the affairs of the concern and purchased a country house-commonly called a villa-in the neighborhood of his native city of Gotham. It contains all the modern improvements: hot water, cold water, gas, etc., with a well-selected library and a well-filled wine cellar. There Jones, surrounded by his family-Mrs. Jones, and six young Joneses of both sexes-is passing the afternoon of his days in tranquil enjoyment.

ONES, after an eventful life of fifty years,

Why are Mexico and the nations of South America blanks on the map of the political world? Why does the Amazon to-day roll its vast course in sullen silence through an almost uninhabited wilderness? It is scarcely twelve years since the apathetic inhabitants and amazed Indians were startled by the shrill whistle of the first I would say in perfect happiness, were it not steamboat that ever plied its waters. It was for the fact that he is sometimes inclined to be found that steam navigation would not pay. Bra- dyspeptic-the doctor says from want of exerzil, as the owner of the mouth, claiming the cise; and when the symptoms are on him he is right to do so under the law of nations (how apt to be a little peevish, and complains (particjustly is not in our way to discuss), in A.D. ularly after his meals) of a loss of appetite, ac1852, made with one De Souza a contract, giv-companied by a sensation of fullness in the reing him the exclusive navigation of the river gion of the stomach. On such occasions nofor thirty years, through all the Brazilian terri-thing seems to please him unless it be to find tories; and in consideration that he would run fault. "Those muffins are cold, Mrs. Jones," six steamboats, agreed to pay him a bonus of he will say; and it is in vain that Miss Emily $100,000 per year. lisps, "Papa dear, I'll make one hot for you," or that his excellent wife insinuates that muffins are not good for him. If headed off on the muf

boiled half a minute too long, or that there is a fly in the butter, or a speck in the sugar, or that something is the matter with the mutton-chops.

A ride of a few miles on horseback (although he is not much of a cavalier) usually drives off the unpleasant feelings, and then he may be called a happy and an amiable man. He goes regularly to church (and as regularly to sleep), is benevolent to the poor, kind to his dependents, and, in short, is an estimable citizen and highly respected by his neighbors.

Think of it for a moment! One man having the exclusive right to navigate the Amazon! If this contract be carried out not a steam ves-fin question he discovers that the eggs have been sel from the outside world can enter the river. Nay more, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Bolivia are cut off from all direct river connection with the Atlantic. They must stop at the boundaries of Brazil, deposit their merchandise, and allow De Souza's steamboats, and no other, to carry it. They must import in the same way. Contrast this state of things with the vast, free, and profitable commerce and navigation of the Mississippi, and then again inquire into the cause of this difference. The question admits of but one answer: the Amazon has been cursed with despotism, while the Mississippi has been vivified by free institutions, and its free and unobstructed navigation, under the ownership of one nation, has lined its banks with great and growing free commonwealths.

I spent a day with Jones. Of course I had to go through the rather wearisome duty of accompanying him over his "place," and listening to a detailed account of all the various improvements: the ponds stocked with fish--"No trouble to catch trout here, Sir, catch 'em with a net;" the fruit trees trained against the walls; the shady walks; the gardens; the well-built stables; the hot-houses; the vineries—“Make our own Port in a few years, Sir."

We had an excellent though rather early dinner, with a bottle or two of fine old wine, after which we withdrew into what Jones called his "study" for a smoke and a chat. Through the half-opened blinds I spied Miss Emily sitting in the arbor in the garden, with a rather nicelooking young man by her side. They were reading a book together-Longfellow's "Evan

The sublime duty, the sublimest ever confided by Heaven to mortal man, that of preserving these free institutions from menaced destruction, was confided to the loyal people of the nation. Nobly, grandly, faithfully did they discharge this high trust. If the Confederates had been permitted to destroy the unity of this nation, what would have become of us of the Northwest, situate as we are, remote from the sea-board and markets of the world, in the centre and heart of a vast continent? If the Southern States may secede, so may the Pacific States, the Upper Mississippi States, and New York and New En-geline." gland. If the South could levy tribute on our southern outlet, why may not New York secede and levy tribute on our eastern outlet? Successful secession would have been national death.

"Young Smith, Sir," said Jones. "Son of my neighbor on the hill yonder; a very estimable young man. Old Smith used to be somewhat inclined to be litigious-had a long suit with

him about some property-but it was settled by the courts to the satisfaction of all parties, and we're the best of friends now."

A sable attendant came in with coffee and cigars, and as we reclined on the soft lounges, sipping the delicious Mocha and puffing our fragrant Havanas, I doubted if Solomon in all his glory ever experienced such comfort.

remains of a wild boar that had been roasted whole. The mirth was boisterous. At the head of the table sat a grim-visaged knight, with a bloody bandage around his head.

"A good day's work we've done, my trusty men," he said. "Much booty have we taken, and four score of the common herd have fallen beneath our good swords; but the escape of the caitiff Von Schmidt concerns me much. Had

"Jones," I exclaimed, "how lucky we are in coming into the world in this Nineteenth Cen-we caught him, by my troth his ears should tury, this age of civilization! The whole earth contributes its products to our enjoyment, and even many of the powers of nature, steam, electricity, etc., are at our command."

have decked our festive board this night. Let us drink to better luck to-morrow."

The voice of the knight seemed to me familiar though rather harsh. I scanned his features more closely, and started back with amazement. It was the face of Jones. He had a grizzly beard and mustache, it is true, and the gold

not mistake the rest.

"That," said Asmodeus, "is the robber Count Johannes."

"Sir," answered Jones, "I doubt your conclusion. When man existed in a more simple state his wants were fewer, and happiness of course more easily attainable; but we are get-rimmed spectacles were wanting, but I could ting super-civilized, the luxuries of the last age are the necessities of this. How much more contented-and better too, for that mattermust have been our unsophisticated ancestors!" The heat of the weather and the long walk over Jones's grounds, aided perhaps by the wine at dinner, made me somewhat drowsy, and in spite of my efforts to keep awake I began to doze, and dozing I had a dream.

II.

I dreamed that Asmodeus tapped me on the shoulder, and bade me follow him. On the wings of the wind we traveled with the rapidity of lightning through years and centuries of the past until we reached the banks of the Rhine, some time during the Middle Ages. It was night. Before us was a castle perched on an almost inaccessible crag. "Who lives here ?" I inquired of my companion.

The revel waxed high, with deep potations and many a ribald song and jest. At last all of the carousers had fallen under the table in a state of intoxication, excepting the old knight, and he was becoming unsteady in his seat, and his head was beginning to nod, when beckoning to an attendant, he said:

"Varlet, bid the Ladie Emilie come hither. I would a word with her."

The page went out. In a few minutes a young woman entered, bearing in her hand a lute, and seated herself on a stool at the feet of the knight.

"Fair daughter," said the latter, right well didst thou dress the boar this day. What guerdon dost thou ask?"

"Dear father," answered the maiden, "I crave that, when thou stormest the tower tomorrow, thou wouldst spare the life of that comely youth, the son of the Baron Von Schmidt."

"Dunder and blitzen," cried the Count, "the heir to my arch foe! Knowest thou not, child, I have vowed that ere another day be past the heads of those caitiffs, father and son, shall grace my portcullis ?"

The maiden wept. "It is but a trifling boon," she sobbed.

"The owner, or rather the possessor," answered Asmodeus, "calls himself the Count Johannes. His father was a robber, who, at the head of a gang of cut-throats, was accustomed to waylay passing travelers, rob, and not unfrequently murder them. He was killed in a brawl; but his son continued the business, until having amassed quite a store of his ill-gotten gains, he built this castle, whence he levies tribute on his weaker neighbors, and on all, in fact, who fall in his way. He has long been engaged in a bitter feud with a former companion in villainy, the Baron Von Schmidt, who lives in the tower we see yonder, near the smoking em- "Child, sing me that old song once more, bers of the ruined hamlets. The village was and perchance I may grant thy request, but as destroyed this morning, in a raid by Count Jo-to the Baron's son"-and he struck the table hannes, and nearly all the wretched serfs slain or carried into captivity. He is now celebrating his success with a drunken orgie; we can hear the sounds of revelry; let us enter."

So saying, Asmodeus carried me through a loop-hole in the highest turret, and passing down the spiral staircase, though we did not actually touch the steps, we entered the banquet-hallinvisible to mortal eyes. Some twenty or thirty mail-clad men were sitting around a rough table quaffing huge tankards of ale or goblets of golden wine. In the centre of the board were the

Her stern old father seemed moved, and smoothing her golden locks, he said:

with his clenched fist.

The maiden now passed her fingers lightly over the lute, and commenced the following rondeau :

"Ah! s'il passait un chevalier
Dont le cœur fût tendre et fidèle,

Et qu'il triomphât du geôlier
Qui me retient dans la tourelle,
Je henirais ce chevalier," etc.

Soothed by the melody and overcome by the fumes of the wine he had imbibed, the knight soon dropped asleep. Suddenly a crash was