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AMERICAN PAPERS. When governor Claiborne took possession of Louisiana in the name of the United States, he issued the following proclamation :

BY HIS EXCELLENCY
WM. C. C. CLAIBORNE,

Governor of the Mississippi territory, exercising the powers of governor-general and intendant. of the province of Louisiana. Whereas, by the stipulations between the governments of France and Spain, the latter ceded to the former the colony and province of Louisiana, with the same extent which it had at the date of the above-mentioned treaty in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other states; and whereas the government of France has ceded the same to the United States by a treaty duly ratified, and bearing date the 30th of April in the present year, and the possession of the said colony and province is now in the United States according to the tenor of the last-mentioned treaty; and whereas the congress of the United States, on the S1st day of October

in the present year, did enact, that until the expiration of the session of congress then sitting (unless provisions for the temporary government of the said territories be sooner made by congress), all the military, civil, and judicial powers exercised by the then existing government of the same, shall be vested in such person or persons, and shall be exercised in such manner as the president of the United States shall direct for the maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of Louisiana in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion; and the president of the United States has, by his commission, bearing date the same 31st day of October, invested me with all the powers, and charged me with the several duties heretofore held and

exercised by the governor-general and intendant of the province :

as

I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, making known the premises, and to declare that the government heretofore exercised over the said province of Louisiana, as well under the authority of Spain as of the French republic, has ceased, and that of the United States in America is established over the same; that the inhabitants thereof will be incorporated in the union of the United States, and admitted as soon possible, according to the princi ples of the federal constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citi zens of the United States; that in the mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess; that all laws and municipal regulations which were in existence at the cessation of the late government, remain in full force

and

!

and all civil officers charged with their execution, except those whose powers have been specially vested in me, and except also such officers as have been intrusted with the collection of the revenue, are continued in their functions during the pleasure of the governor for the time being, or until provision shall

otherwise be made.

And I do hereby exhort and enjoin all the inhabitants and other persons within the said province, to be faithful and true in their allegiance to the United States, and obedient to the laws and authorities of the same, under full assurance that their just rights will be under the guardianship of the United States, and will be maintained from all force or violence from without or within.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

Given at the city of New Orleans, the 20th day of December, 1803, and of the independence of the United States of America the 26th.

WM. C. C. CLAIBORNE.

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moment the minister and executor, is less pleasing though equally flattering to me, inasmuch as it supplies me with a consolation derived from the belief that it will be generally more advantageous to you.

In virtue of their powers and authority, the commissioners of his catholic majesty have surrendered to me this country, and you every where see the unfurled standard of the French republic, and hear the repeated roar of her cannon, announcing to you that on this day she resigns her dominion over those regions. People of Louisiana, this event will immediately take place; for I am on the eve of transmitting this country to the commissioners of the United States, who are charged to take possession of it in the name of their government their arrival I momentarily expect.

The approaches of a war, which commenced under such bloody and terrible auspices, and which menaced the four quarters of the globe, induced the French government to turn its attention and its cares to these regions. Motives of prudence and humanity, uniting with a more enlarged and solid policy-motives, in a word, worthy of the genius of that power which balances the great destinies of nations, have given a new direction to the beneficent intentions of France, and have determined her to cede Louisiana to the United States of America.

You thus become, people of Louisiana, the interesting pledge of a friendship between two republies, which cannot fail of increasing, and becoming every day more secure and more strong; a pledge which will powerfully contribute to their common repose and their common prosperity,

The

The third article of the treaty will not escape your notice; it is there said, The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the federal constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoy ment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess.

The epoch will soon arrive, in which you will choose for your selves a form of government; which, while it be conformable to the sacred principles of the social compact of the federal union, will be adapted to your manners, to your necessities, to your climate, to your customs, soil, and local circumstances.

There never has been, nor ever can be, a metropolis without a colonial monopoly, more or less exclusive: on the contrary, on the part of the United States, you have a right to expect a liberty of exportation without limits, and that the privileges of importation will accord with your public wants and internal industry. From a happy concurrence, you will be able to buy cheaply and sell at high rates, and will besides reap immense advantages from a place of deposit. The Mississippi, the Nile of America, borders not on deserts of burning sands; but plains more fertile and extensive than any known in the new world, will, at the quays of this new Alexandria, be covered with thousands of vessels from all nations., Among these vessels, I trust, people of Louisiana, you will always distinguish with

complaisance the French flag, and its sight will never cease to gladden your heart.-Such is our firm hope; I formally avow it in the name of my country, and its go

vernment.

Bonaparte, in stipulating by the seventh article of the treaty, that the French shall be admitted during twelve years to carry on commerce. with your shores on the same conditions, and without paying other duties than the citizens of the United States, has wished to renew and perpetuate the ties which unite the French of Louisiana and the Frenchmen of Europe; new strength will be given to the relations already subsisting between these inhabitants of the two continents.

At New Orleans, the 8th Fri-
maire, year 12 of the French
republic (Nov. 30, 1803.)
(Signed) LAUSSAT.

Letter from the department of war at the city of Washington, to his excellency the governor of

this state.

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There being reason to suspect that the officers of the Spanish government at New Orleans may decline or refuse to give possession of the country of Louisiana, ceded to the United States by the French republic, and which congress have by law authorised the president of the United States to take possession of; and the president having judged it expedient to pursue such mea sures as will ensure the possession ; I have therefore been directed by the president of the United States, to request your excellency to assemble, with the least possible delay, 500 of the militia of the state

of

of Ohio, including a suitable number of officers, and cause the same to be formed into a regiment of eight companies, to be engaged to serve four months, unless sooner discharged; to be mustered by companies, and ready to march, if called, by the 20th of December at farthest. After having been so mustered in companies by suitable persons, appointed by your excellency, the men may return to their homes, but must hold themselves in readiness to join their companies, and march at the shortest notice. Each officer and soldier will be entitled to pay from the day they shall receive orders, and march to join their respective regiments, until discharged. They will be entitled to the same pay as regular troops in the service of the United States.

I have the honour to be respectfully, your humble servant, H. DEARBONE. To his excellency Edward Tiffin, governor of the state of Ohio.

FRENCH REPUBLIC. ACTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Exposition of the state of the republic. 25 Nivose, 12th year of the republic (16th Jan. 1804.)

The republic has been forced to change its attitude, but it has not changed its situation; it continues to preserve, in the consciousness of its strength, the pledge of its prosperity. Every thing was calm in the interior of France, when, at the commencement of the last year we still entertained the hope of a durable peace. Every thing has remained calmer since a jealous power has rekindled the torches of war: but in this last epoch the union of interests and

sentiments has shown itself more full and entire; the public mind has developed itself with more energy. In the new departments, which the first consul has traversed, he has heard, as well as in the old, the accents of a truly French indignation: he recognised in their hatred against a government hostile to our prosperity, even more than in the bursts of public joy and personal affection, their attachment to the country, and their devotion to his destiny. In all the departments the ministers of worship have exerted the influence of religion to consecrate this spontaneous movement of the minds of individuals. Depôts of arms, which fugitive rebels had committed to the earth in order to take them up again at a future opportunity, which a culpable foresight suggested to them, have been dis. closed at the first signal of the danger, and delivered to the magistrates for the purpose of arming our defenders. The British govern*ment will attempt to throw, and perhaps has already thrown, on our coasts, some of those monsters whom it nourished in its bosom during the peace, in order to tear in pieces the land which gave them birth: but they will no longer find in it those impious hands which were the instruments of their former crimes; terror has dissolved them, or justice has purged our territory of them: they will find neither that credulity which they abused, nor that animosity, the poniards of which they wetted. Experience has enlightened every mind; the moderation of the laws, and the administration of them, has reconciled every heart. Surrounded every where by the public force. overtaken every where by the tribunals, these dreadful men will in future neither be able to make

rebels,

rebels, nor to re-organise, with impunity, their hoard of brigands and assassins. It is but now that a mise rable attempt has been made in La Vendée; the conscription was made the pretext for it: but citi zens, priests, soldiers, all classes exerted themselves for the common defence; those who in other times were the movers of disturbances, came to offer their aid to the public authority, and to give their persons and their families as pledges of their fidelity and devotion. Finally, what characterizes above all things the security of the citizens, the return of social affections, beneficence displays itself every day more and more. On every side donations are offered to the unfortunate, and foundations are made for useful establishments. The war has not interrupted the intentions of the peace; and the government has pursued with constancy every thing that tends to establish the constitution in the manners and disposition of the citizens, every thing likely to attach all interests and all hopes to its duration. Thus, the senate has been placed in that elevation to which its institution called it; an endowment such as the constitution had fixed, encircles it with an imposing grandeur. The legislative body will no longer appear, except surrounded with the majesty which its functions demand; it will no longer be looked for in vain, except in its sitting. An annual president will be the centre of its motion, and the organ of its thoughts and its wishes in its relations with the government. This body will have at length that dignity which could not exist with forms changeable and undetermined. The electoral colleges have conducted themselvs every where with that calmness and wisdom which

secures happy elections. The legion of honour exists in the higher parts of its organization, and in a part of the clements which are to compose it. These elements, still equal, await, from a final choice, their functions, and their plaees. How many honourable traits have been displayed by the ambition of being admitted into it! What treasures will the republic have in this institution to encourage and recompense service and virtues! In the council of state, another institution proposes for the choice of the go vernment men for all the superior branches of administration: auditors are formed there in the laboratories of regulations and laws; they perpetuate themselves there with the maxims and principles of public order. Always surrounded with witnesses and judges, often under the eyes of government, often on important missions, they will arrive at the public functions with the maturity of experience, and with the security which is given by a character, a conduct, and a skill proved by repeated trials. Lycæa and secondary schools are erecting on every side, and are not yet erected with sufficient rapidity to satisfy the impatience of the citizens. Common regulations a common discipline, the same system of instructions, are forming in the generations which will support the glory of France by their talents, and its institutions by their principles and their virtues. A single prytaneum, the prytaneum of St. Cyr, receives the children of those citizens who died for their country. Education already breathes forth there a military enthusiasm. At Fontainbleau, the special military school numbers many hundreds of soldiers, who are rendered pliant to discipline, and inured to fatigue,

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