Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/170

138 of the sale of Louisiana to France began to circulate in court circles and were communicated to the American government by their foreign ministers. The first intimation came from Mr. King, in a letter, March 29, 1801. The French minister, Talleyrand, refused to throw any light upon these rumors. They gained credence, how ever. (Annals of Congress, 1802-1803, p. 1017.)

Mr. Rufus King, the minister at London, in a subsequent letter, dated November 20, 1801, put all doubts at rest by forwarding to the secretary of state, James Madison, a copy of the treaty for establishing the prince of Parma in Tuscany, which made allusion to the secret treaty ceding Louisiana to France.

Previous to this letter, Mr. Madison, under date of July 29, 1801, wrote to Mr. Pinckney, minister at Madrid, instructing him to obtain information and to use what influence he could to dissuade Spain from the cession, if not already completed. September 28th, Mr. Madison wrote to Mr. Livingston, minister at Paris, instructing him, if the cession had &quot;irrevocably taken place,&quot; to make overtures for the cession of the Floridas, especially of West Florida, to the United States, but to be very careful to avoid irritating France in the methods of negotiation. Mr. Livingston, in obedience to these instructions, began the negotiations, which lingered more than a year, receiving no encouragement from France. (Ibid, 1013, 1014.) ——