about  its  acquisition,  and  that  Bonaparte,  from  whom  it
was  at  last  purchased,  said :  "  This  accession  of  territory
strengthens  forever  the  power  of  the  United  States."

The  Mississippi  Valley,  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and
its  tributaries,  contains  an  area  of  over  a  million  square
miles.  It  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  slopes  of  the  Pacific
and  the  Atlantic  together,  and  one  third  larger  than  the
whole  domain  of  the  republic  upon  the  adoption  of  the
present  Constitution.  (Census,  1850.)  In  future  centuries
it  may  be  a  great  republic  by  itself— the  Great  Republic
of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  a  friendly  sister  of  a
Great  Pacific  and  of  a  Great  Atlantic  Republic.  But  at
present,  and  probably  for  some  centuries  to  come,  such
a  separation  will  not  be  necessitated  by  any  demands
of  self-interest,  of  executive  expediency,  or  of  economy.
Now,  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  is  to  the  West,  and
thus  to  the  United  States,  the  same  as  the  mouth  of  the
Thames  is  to  England,  or  that  of  the  Rhone  to  France,  or
that  of  the  Volga  to  Russia,  and  it  will  be  claimed  as  a
national  river,  and  be  defended  as  such.
Therefore,  we  must  expect  many  and  earnest  efforts  on
the  part  of  the  United  States  to  keep  the  extensive  terri-
tory of  old  Louisiana  and  the  present  State  in  harmonious
connection  with  the  main  body.  It  is,  beyond  the  faintest
doubt,  an  integral  part  of  the  Union,  and  will  regard  itself
as  such,  and  be  so  regarded.  Patriotic  counsels  and  com-
mon interests  will  tend  to  suppress  undue  excitement  and
re-establish  peace  and  harmony.
