But have the people of Spain acquiesced? No, sir; the instant publicity was given to the transaction they became indignant, and with one voice rose, resolved to resist this usurpation. To this hour they have not submitted.
But the gentleman has said that Spain is no longer able to hold Florida; that foreign emissaries will take it if the United States do not, and that it may be lawfully taken by the United States on the ground of the law of occupancy.
That title may be acquired by occupancy is not to be doubted. It is the mode by which title to property was originally acquired; but to obtain a title in this way the country must be vacant, uninhabited and not claimed by another proprietor. But in this instance is the territory vacant—or uninhabited—or abandoned by its proprietors? No, sir. The territory is either in the possession of Spain and claimed by her, or of the revolutionists, and if either be in possession, by the law of occupancy, you have no right to disturb them. Clearly then, sir, upon the principles and admissions of the honorable gentleman from Vermont, the United States have no title to Florida.
And now, sir, with the indulgence of the Senate, I will proceed to consider as briefly as possible the nature of this title as derived under the Treaty of St. Ildefonso. Here, it will be granted, I meet the question fairly. This, I presume, is the title relied upon, as well by the Executive as the majority of the supporters of this bill.
In order fully to understand this subject, it is necessary to inquire into the principal cause of the war of 1756. The eastern boundary of Louisiana, I believe, was the chief cause of that war. The French were in the possession of the Mississippi, and claimed as part of Louisiana not only the country to the west of that river, but east as far as the Alleghany mountains. France, having this claim, and being in possession of Canada, conceived the project of uniting Louisiana with Canada. To accomplish her purpose she established a line of posts from the Lakes to the Ohio, and commenced encroachments upon the then British colonies. These encroachments she was pressing so far that Great Britain perceived it would be necessary to repel them. This brought on the war of '56, which, after a bloody conflict of seven years, terminated disastrously to France and her allies, and resulted in the establishment of the Mississippi, the Iberville, and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, as the boundary of Louisiana, giving to Great Britain all the territory on the east of that boundary, except the island and town of New Orleans, and to France all upon the west, including the island and town of New Orleans.
A more particular examination of the results of this war is important. By it France lost Canada and most of her West India islands. Spain, the ally of France, lost Cuba. By the preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain, France, and Spain, signed at Fontainebleau, and dated the 3d November, 1762, France renounced all pretensions to Nova Scotia, and ceded and guarantied to his Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada with all its dependencies. The 6th article stipulates, "In order to re-establish peace on the most solid and lasting foundations and to remove every subject of dispute with regard to the limits of the British and French Territories on the continent of North America, it is agreed that for the future the confines between the dominions of His Britannic Majesty and those of his most Christian Majesty, (French King,) in that part of the world, shall be irrevocably fixed by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi from its source, as far as the river Iberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and of the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea; and to this purpose, the most Christian King cedes in full right, and guaranties to His Britannic Majesty, the river and port of Mobile, (now West Florida,) and every thing that he possesses, or ought to have possessed on the left (east) side of the river Mississippi, except the town of New Orleans, and the island on which it is situated, which shall remain to France." By the 18th article, Great Britain restores to Spain all that she had conquered in the island of Cuba, with the fortress of Havana. In consequence of which His Catholic Majesty (King of Spain) by the 19th article "cedes and guaranties in full right, to His Britannic Majesty, all that Spain possesses on the continent of North America, to the east or the south-east of the Mississippi, including Florida, with Fort St. Augustine and the bay of Pensacola." (Now consisting of East and a part of West Florida.) By the definitive treaty of peace and friendship between the Kings of Great Britain, France, and Spain, concluded at Paris on the 10th day of February, 1763, the preliminary articles were adopted, ratified, and confirmed. By another treaty bearing date the 3d day of November, 1762, the same day and year the preliminary articles are dated, as appears by the letter to M. L'Abbadie, which I will presently refer to, France cedes Louisiana to Spain, together with the town and island of New Orleans. This last-mentioned treaty has never been published, but the letter of the King of France to M. L'Abbadie recites the purport as well as date of it. This letter purports to be an order signed by the King of France, dated at Versailles, the 21st April, 1764, and directed to M. L'Abbadie, director-general, and commandant for His Majesty in Louisiana. This letter was published at New Orleans in October, 1764, and circulated amongst the French inhabitants there. It recites:
"By a special act, done at Fontainebleau, November 3, 1762, of my own will and mere motion, having ceded to my very dear and best beloved cousin the King of Spain, and to his successors, in full property, purely and simply, and without any exceptions, the whole country known by the name of Louisiana, together with New Orleans, and the island in which the said city is situated; and by another act done at the Escurial, November 13, in the same year, His Catholic Majesty having accepted the cession of the said country of Louisiana, and the city and island of New Orleans, agreeably to the copies of the said acts, which you will find hereunto annexed; I write you this letter to inform you, that my intention is, that on the receipt of these presents, whether they come to your hands by the officers of His Catholic Majesty or directly by such French vessels as may be charged with the same, you are to deliver up to the governor, or officer appointed for that purpose by the King of Spain, the said country and colony of Louisiana, and the posts thereon depending, likewise the city and island of New Orleans, in such state and condition as they shall be found to be in on the day of the said cession, willing that in all time to come they shall belong to His Catholic Majesty, to be governed and administered by his governors and officers, and as possessed by him in full property, without any exceptions."
From this document, and the treaties referred to, it appears that in the month of October, 1764, when the whole of Louisiana, with the island and town of New Orleans, was delivered to Spain, that Great Britain was in the peaceable possession of all the country on the east of the Mississippi. That with respect to Florida particularly, Great Britain was in possession, and nobody dreamed at that time, that Florida either East or West, was any part of Louisiana. Had it been so considered under the orders of the French King, to deliver the whole of the province to Spain, undoubtedly Florida would have been delivered.
Immediately after the cession of '62-3, Great Britain took possession of all the country on the east of the Mississippi, except only the town and island of New Orleans, and, in the year 1763 or '4, erected Old Florida, Pensacola, the river and port of Mobile, &c., into two distinct provinces, under the name of East and West Florida, names which they have borne ever since. In 1783, at the close of our Revolutionary war, Great Britain ceded to Spain East and West Florida, which, from that period to the present time, have been held by Spain under these names, as separate provinces from Louisiana. In the year 1800, when Spain was in possession of East and West Florida and Louisiana, as three several and distinct provinces, the famous Treaty of St. Ildefonso was concluded, whereby Spain "retrocedes to France the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it; and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States." This treaty likewise has not been published, but the part just referred to is cited in the treaty between the United States and France of the 30th of April, 1803, whereby France cedes to the United States Louisiana, as fully and in the same manner as she acquired it of Spain by the Treaty of St. Ildefonso. Spain delivered possession in pursuance of the Treaty of St. Ildefonso to France, and France, in pursuance of the treaty of 1803, delivered possession to the United States, both powers receiving the country on the West of the Mississippi, with the island and city of New Orleans, like Spain originally received it from France, as the whole of Louisiana.
I have now, I believe, sir, given a full and I trust fair and correct statement of the evidences and facts relative to the question of title. A few remarks will close what I have to say on this head. The letter from the King of France to M. L'Abbadie, is a very important document. It shows that the King of France, under whom we claim, and by whose admissions we are bound, so long ago as 1764, treated and considered the country on the west of the Mississippi as the whole of Louisiana. That, so considering it, he ceded and delivered it to Spain, together with the island and town of New Orleans, from which latter words it may be inferred that even the island and town of New Orleans were then not considered a part of Louisiana. In 1800, when Spain ceded back the colony of Louisiana to France, that country was only known on the west of the Mississippi. The war '56, and the treaties of '62-3, had fixed the line and obliterated forever the name of Louisiana on the east of that river.