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92 have recovered it on paper through some lines in a treaty; but I have hardly done so when I am about to lose it again. The English * * * have already twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico. They swagger over those seas as sovereigns. * * * The conquest of Louisiana will be easy if they will only take the trouble to descend upon it, * * * even a short delay will leave me nothing but a vain title to transmit to those Republicans, whose friendship I seek. Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. It is not only New Orleans I will cede; it is the whole colony without reservation. * * * I direct you to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States * * * have an interview this very day with Mr. Livingston. * * * I want 50,000,000 francs, and for less than that sum I will not treat."

It now developed upon Livingston and James Monroe, who had been sent to collaborate with him, to conduct this momentous project with Barbé-Marbois. They had