318 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



this country was for him as against England, the mistress 

 of the sea. He needed money. He was land poor; and 

 so, with his laconic brevity, he fixed his terms and star- 

 tled the American commissioners by the magnitude of the 

 transaction. Fortunately, there was no Atlantic cable or 

 steamship line, and the responsibility had to be assumed 

 without further instructions, and the future author of the 

 Monroe Doctrine was there, ready, willing, and brave 

 enough to take the responsibility. 



Monroe landed April 1st, and on the 30th the contract 

 was signed. We usually look upon great battles alone 

 as the turning points of history. Arbela, Zama, Actium, 

 Waterloo, Sedan, and such bloody scenes are usually the 

 pivotal points in the affairs of men. But the habeas 

 corpus, the bill of rights, the Declaration of Independence 

 stand out with as much importance in the progress of 

 mankind as do any of the bloody contests which have so 

 changed the affairs of the world. 



Among the greatest of these peaceful landmarks in the 

 world's history is the treaty that was finally consumma- 

 ted on the 30th of April, 1803. It has been said that 

 "Diplomacy can trot all day in a bushel measure," but it 

 was not so with the diplomacy of Napoleon. When the 

 treaty was finally signed, Bonaparte said in substance : 

 "This strengthens forever the power of the United 

 States. I have given England a rival who will some day 

 take dominion of the sea. ' ' When the Spanish flag came 

 down at New Orleans, that of France was raised, and 

 floated for the brief period of twenty-five days, and then 

 the stars and stripes were thrown to the breeze, and the 

 American governor said to the surrounding people : 

 "This cession secures to you and your descendants the 

 heritance of liberty." 



In 1904, at St. Louis, we will celebrate this great event. 

 In its effect upon human happiness it is one of the great- 



