CHAPTER V
THE PELL-MELL AND SOME CONSEQUENCES
It was late in the afternoon when the secretary to the Presidentlooked up from the crowded desk. "Mr. Jefferson," ventured he, "youwill pardon me----"
"Yes, my son?"
"It grows late. You know that today the British minister, Mr. Merry,comes to meet the President for the first time formally--at dinner.Senor Yrujo also--and their ladies, of course. Mr. Burr and Mr. Merryseem already acquainted. I met them riding this morning."
"Hand and glove, then, so soon? What do you make of it? I have a guessthat those three--Burr, Merry, Yrujo--mean this administration nospecial good. And yet it was I myself who kept our Spanish friend fromgetting his passports back to Madrid. I did that only because of hismarriage to the daughter of my friend, Governor McKean, ofPennsylvania. But what were you saying now?"
"I thought perhaps I should go to my rooms to change for dinner. Yousee that I am still in riding-clothes."
"And what of that, my son? I am in something worse!"
The young man stood and looked at his chief for a moment. He realizedthe scarce dignified figure that the President presented in his longcoat, his soiled waistcoat, his stained trousers, and his woolenstockings--not to mention the unspeakable slippers, down at the heel,into which he had thrust his feet that morning when he came into theoffice.
"You think I will not do?" Mr. Jefferson smiled at him frankly. "I amnot so free from wisdom, perhaps, after all. Let this British ministersee us as we are, for men and women, and not dummies for finery.Moreover, I remember well enough how we cooled our heels there inLondon, Mr. Madison and myself. They showed us little courtesy enough.Well, they shall have no complaint here. We will treat them as well aswe do the others, as well as the electors who sent us here!"
Meriwether Lewis allowed himself a smile.
"Go," added his chief. "Garb yourself as I would have you--in yourbest. But there will be no precedence at table this evening--rememberthat! Let them take seats pell-mell--the devil take the hindmost--afair field for every one, and favor to none! Seat them as nearly aspossible as they should not be seated--and leave the rest to me. Allthese--indeed, all history and all the records--shall take meprecisely as I am!"
An hour later Meriwether Lewis stood before his narrow mirror, welland handsomely clad, as was seeming with one of his family and hisplace--a tall and superb figure of young manhood, as proper a man asever stood in buckled shoes in any country of the world.
The guests came presently, folk of many sorts. With Mr. Jefferson asPresident, the democracy of America had invaded Washington, takingmore and more liberties, and it had many representatives on hand. Withthese came persons of rank of this and other lands, dignitaries,diplomats, officials, ministers of foreign powers. Carriages withoutriders came trundling over the partially paved roads of the crudecapital city. Footmen opened doors to gentlemen and ladies in fulldress, wearing insignia of honor, displaying gems, orders,decorations, jewels, all the brilliant costumes of the Europeancourts.
They came up the path to the door of the mansion where, to theiramazement, they were met only by Mr. Jefferson's bowing old darky Ben,who ushered them in, helped them with their wraps and asked them tomake themselves at home. And only old Henry, Mr. Jefferson's butler,bowed them in as they passed from the simple entrance hall into theanteroom which lay between the hall and the large dining-saloon.
The numbers increased rapidly. What at first was a general gatheringbecame a crowd, then a mob. There was no assigned place for any, nopresentation of one stranger to another. Friends could not findfriends. Mutterings arose; crowding and jostling was not absent; hereand there an angry word might have been heard. The policy ofpell-mell was not working itself out in any happy social fashion.
Matters were at their worst when suddenly from his own apartmentsappeared the tall and well-composed figure of Mr. Jefferson's youngsecretary, social captain of matters at the Executive Mansion, andpersonal aide to the President. His quick glance caught sight of thegathering line of carriages; a second glance estimated the plight ofthose now jammed into the anteroom like so many cattle and evidentlyin distress.
In a distant corner of the room, crowded into some sort of refuge backof a huge davenport, stood a small group of persons in full officialdress--a group evidently ill at ease and no longer in good humor.Meriwether Lewis made his way thither rapidly as he might.
"It is Mr. Minister Merry," said he, "and Mme. Merry." He boweddeeply. "Senor and Senora Yrujo, I bring you the respects of Mr.Jefferson. He will be with us presently."
"I had believed, sir--I understood," began Merry explosively, "that wewere to meet here the President of the United States. Where, then, ishis suite?"
"We have no suite, sir. I represent the President as his aide."
"My word!" murmured the mystified dignitary, turning to his lady, whostood, the picture of mute anger, at his side, the very aigrets on herginger-colored hair trembling in her anger.
"'Mistah Thomas Jeffahson!' was his sole announcement"]
They turned once more to the Spanish minister, who, with his Americanwife, stood at hand. There ensued such shrugs and liftings of eyebrowsas left full evidence of a discontent that none of the four attemptedto suppress.
Meriwether Lewis saw and noted, but seemed not to note. Mr. Merrysuddenly remembered him now as the young man he had encountered thatmorning, and turned with an attempt at greater civility.
"You will understand, sir, that I came supposing I was to appear in myofficial capacity. We were invited upon that basis. There was to havebeen a dinner, was there not--or am I mistaken of the hour? Is it notfour in the afternoon?"
"You were quite right, Mr. Minister," said Meriwether Lewis. "Youshall, of course, be presented to the President so soon as it shallplease his convenience to join us. He has been occupied in manyduties, and begs you will excuse him."
The dignity and courtesy of the young man were not without effect.Silence, at least, was his reward from the perturbed and indignantgroup of diplomats penned behind the davenport.
Matters stood thus when, at a time when scarce another soul could havebeen crowded into the anteroom, old Henry flung open the folding doorswhich he had closed.
"Mistah Thomas Jeffahson!" was his sole announcement.
There appeared in the doorway the tall, slightly stooped figure of thePresident of the United States, one of the greatest men of his own orof any day. He stood, gravely unconscious of himself, tranquillylooking out upon his gathered guests. He was still clad in the garbwhich he had worn throughout the day--the same in which he had climbedto the pigeon loft--the same in which he had labored during all theselong hours.
His coat was still brown and wrinkled, hanging loosely on his longframe. His trousers were the stained velveteens of the morning; hiswaistcoat the same faded red; his hose the slack woolen pair that hehad worn throughout the day. And upon his feet--horror of horrors!--hewore still his slippers, the same old carpet slippers, down at theheel, which had afforded him ease as he sat at his desk.
As Thomas Jefferson stood, he overtopped the men about him head andshoulders in physical stature, as he did in every other measure of aman.
Innocent or unconscious of his own appearance, his eye seeking forknowledge of his guests, he caught sight of the group behind thedavenport. Rapidly making his way thither, he greeted each, offeringhis hand to be shaken, bowing deeply to the ladies; and so quicklypassed on, leaving them almost as much mystified as before. OnlyYrujo, the Spanish Minister, looked after him with any trace ofrecognition, for at this moment Meriwether Lewis was away, among otherguests.
An instant later the curtained folding doors which separated theanteroom from the dining-saloon were thrown open. Mr. Jeffersonpassed in and took his place at the head of the table, casting nota single look toward any who were to join him there. There was noannouncement; there was no _pas_, no precedence, no reserved placefor any man, no announcement for any lady or gentleman, no servantto escort any
to a place at table!
It had been worse, far worse, this extraordinary scene, had it notbeen for the swiftness and tact of the young man to whom so much wasentrusted. Meriwether Lewis hastened here and there, weeding out thosewho could not convince him that they were invited to dine. Heseparated as best he might the socially elect from those not yetsocially arrived, until at length he stood, almost the sole barrieragainst those who still crowded forward.
Here he was met once more by the party from behind the davenport.
"Tell me," demanded Mr. Merry, who--seeing that no other escortoffered for her--had given his angry lady his own arm, "tell me, sir,where is the President? To whom shall I present the greetings of hisBritish Majesty?"
"Yonder is the President of the United States, sir," said MeriwetherLewis. "He with whom you shook hands is the President. He stands atthe head of his table, and you are welcome if you like. He asks you toenter."
Merry turned to his wife, and from her to the wife of the Spanishminister.
"Impossible!" said he. "I do not understand--it cannot be! Thatman--that extraordinary man in breeches and slippers yonder--it cannotbe he asks us to sit at table with him! He _cannot_ be the Presidentof the United States!"
"None the less he is, Mr. Merry!" the secretary assured him.
"Good Heavens!" said the minister from Great Britain, as he passed on,half dazed.
By this time there remained but few seats, none at all toward the headof the table or about its middle portion. Toward the end of the room,farthest from the official host, a few chairs still stood vacant,because they had not been sought for. Thither, with falteringfootsteps, ere even these opportunities should pass, stepped theminister from Great Britain and the minister from Spain, their ladieswith them--none offering escort.
Well disposed to smile at his chief's audacious overturning of allsocial usage, yet not unadvised of the seriousness of all this,Meriwether Lewis handed the distinguished guests to their seats asbest he might; and then left them as best he might.
At that time there were not six vacant places remaining at the longtable. No one seemed to know how many had been invited to the banquet,or how many were expected--no one in the company seemed to know anyoneelse. It was indeed a pell-mell affair.
For once the American democracy was triumphant. But the leader of thatdemocracy, the head of the new administration, the host at thisofficial banquet, the President of the United States, ThomasJefferson, stood quietly, serenely, looking out over the long table,entirely unconcerned with what he saw. If there was trouble, it wasfor others, not for him.
Those at table presently began to seat themselves, following thehost's example. It was at this moment that the young captain ofaffairs turned once more toward the great doors, with the intention ofclosing them. Old Henry was having his own battles with the remainingaudience in the anteroom, as he now brought forward two belatedguests. Old Henry, be sure, knew them both; and--as a look at thesudden change of his features might have told--so did Mr. Jefferson'saide.
They advanced with dignity, these two--one a gentleman, not tall, butelegant, exquisitely clad in full-dress costume; a man whom you wouldhave turned to examine a second time had you met him anywhere. Uponhis arm was a young woman, also beautifully costumed, smiling,graceful, entirely at her ease. Many present knew the two--Aaron Burr,Vice-President of the United States; his daughter, Theodosia BurrAlston.
Mr. Burr passed within the great doors, turned and bowed deeply to hishost, distant as he was across the crowded room. His daughtercurtsied, also deeply. Their entry was dramatic. Then they stood, asomewhat stately picture, waiting for an instant while seeminglydeciding their future course.
It was at this moment that Meriwether Lewis approached them,beckoning. He led them toward the few seats that still remainedunoccupied, placed them near to the official visitors, whose ruffledfeathers still remained unsmoothed, and then stood by them for aninstant, intending to take his departure.
There was one remaining chair. It was at the side of Theodosia Alston.She herself looked up at him eagerly, and patted it with her hand. Heseated himself at her side.
Thus at last was filled the pell-mell table of Mr. Thomas Jefferson.To this day no man knows whether all present had been invited, orwhether all invited had opportunity to be present.
There were those--his enemies, men of the opposing political party,for the most part--who spoke ill of Mr. Jefferson, and charged that heshowed hypocrisy in his pretense of democratic simplicity in officiallife. Yet others, even among his friends, criticised him severely forthe affair of this afternoon--July 4, in the year of 1803. They saidthat his manners were inconsistent with the dignity of the highestofficial of this republic.
If any of this comment injured or offended Mr. Jefferson, he nevergave a sign. He was born a gentleman as much as any, and was as fullyacquainted with good social usage as any man of his day. His life hadbeen spent in the best surroundings of his own country, and at themost polished courts of the Old World. To accuse him of ignorance orboorishness would have been absurd.
The fact was that his own resourceful brain had formed a definiteplan. He wished to convey a certain rebuke--and with deadly accuracyhe did convey that rebuke. It was at no enduring cost to his own fame.
If the pell-mell dinner was at first a thing inchoate, awkward,impossible, criticism halted when the actual service at table began.The chef at the White House had been brought to this country by Mr.Jefferson from Paris, and no better was known on this side the water.
So devoted was Mr. Jefferson known to be to the French style ofcooking that no less a man than Patrick Henry, on the stump, hadaccused him of having "deserted the victuals of his country." Histable was set and served with as much elegance as any at any foreigncourt. At the door of the city of Washington, even in the summerseason, there was the best market of the world. As submitted by his_chef de cuisine_, Mr. Jefferson's menu was of no pell-mell sort. Ifwe may credit it as handed down, it ran thus, in the old French ofthat day:
Huitres de Shinnecock, Saulce Tempete Olives du Luc Othon Marine a l'Huile Vierge Amandes et Cerneaux Sales Pot au Feu du Roy "Henriot" Croustade Mogador Truite de Ruisselet, Belle Meuniere Pommes en Fines Herbes Fricot de tendre Poulet en Coquemare, au Vieux Chanturgne Tourte de Ris de Veau, Financiere Baron de Pre Sale aux Primeurs Sorbet des Comtes de Champagne Dinde Sauvage flambee devant les Sarments de Vigne, flanquee d'Ortolans Aspic de Foie Gras Lucullus Salade des Nymphes a la Lamballe Asperges Chauldes enduites de Sauce Lombardienne Dessert et Fruits de la Reunion Fromage de Bique Cafe Arabe Larmes de Juliette
Whatever the wines served at the Executive Mansion may have been atlater dates, those owned and used by President Jefferson were the bestthe world produced--vintages of rarity, selected as could have beendone only by one of the nicest taste. Rumor had it that none otherthan Senor Yrujo, minister from Spain, recipient of many casks of thebest vintages of his country that he might entertain with properdignity, had seen fit to do a bit of merchandizing on his own account,to the end that Mr. Jefferson became the owner of certain of theserare casks.
In any event, the Spanish minister now showed no fear of the wineswhich came his way. Nor, for that matter, did the minister from GreatBritain, nor the spouses of these twain. Mr. Burr, seated with theirparty, himself somewhat abstemious, none the less could not refrainfrom an interrogatory glance as he saw Merry halt a certain bottle ortwo at his own plate.
"Upon my word!" said the sturdy Briton, turning to him. "Such wine Inever have tasted! I did not expect it here--served by a host inbreeches and slippers! But never mind--it is wonderful!"
"There may be many things here you have not expected, yourexcellency," said Mr. Burr.
The Vice-President favored the little party at his left with one ofhis brilliant smiles. He had that strange faculty, admitted even byhis enemies, of making another speak freely what he wished to hear,himself reticent the while.
The face of the English dignitary clouded again.
"I wish I could approve all else as I do the wine and the food; but Icannot understand. Here we sit, after being crowded like herrings in abox--myself, my lady here, and these others. Is this the placing hisMajesty's minister should have at the President's table? Is this whatwe should demand here?"
"The indignity is to all of us alike," smiled Burr. "Mr. Jeffersonbelieves in a great human democracy. I myself regret to state that Icannot quite go with him to the lengths he fancies."
"I shall report the entire matter to his Majesty's government!" saidMr. Merry, again helping himself to wine. "To be received here by aman in his stable clothes--so to meet us when we come formally to payour call to this government--that is an insult! I fancy it to be adirect and intentional one."
"Insult is small word for it," broke in the irate Spanish minister,still further down the table. "I certainly shall report to my owngovernment what has happened here--of that be very sure!"
"Give me leave, sir," continued Merry. "This republic, what is it?What has it done?"
"I ask as much," affirmed Yrujo. "A small war with your own country,Great Britain, sir--in which only your generosity held you back--thatis all this country can claim. In the South, my people own the mouthof the great river--we own Florida--we own the province of Texas--allthe Southern and Western lands. True, Louis XV--to save it from GreatBritain, perhaps, sir"--he bowed to the British minister--"originallyceded Louisiana to our crown. True, also, my sovereign has ceded itagain to France. But Spain still rules the South, just as Britainrules the middle country out beyond; and what is left? I snap myfingers at this republic!"
Senor Yrujo helped himself to a brimming glass of his own wine.
"I say that Western country is ours," he still insisted, warming tohis oration now. "Suppose, under coercion, our sovereign did cede itto Napoleon, who claims it now? Does Spain not govern it still? Do wenot collect the revenues? Is not the whole system of law enforcedunder the flag of Spain, all along the great river yonder? Possession,exploration, discovery--those are the rights under which territoriesare annexed. France has the title to that West, but we hold the landitself--we administer it. And never shall it go from under our flag,unless it be through the act of stronger foreign powers. Spain willfight!"
"Will Spain fight?" demanded a deep and melodious voice. It was thatof Aaron Burr who spoke now, half in query, half in challenge. "WouldSpain fight--and would Great Britain, if need were and the time came?"
He spoke to men heated with wine, smarting under social indignity, menowning a hurt personal vanity.
"Our past is proof enough," said Merry proudly.
Yrujo needed no more than a shrug.
"Divide and conquer?" Burr went on, looking at them, and raising aneyebrow in query.
They nodded, both of them. Burr looked around. His daughter andMeriwether Lewis were oblivious. He saw the young man's eyes, somber,deep, fixed on hers; saw her gazing in return, silent, troubled,fascinated.
One presumes that it was at this moment--at the instant when AaronBurr, seeing the power his daughter held over young Meriwether Lewis,and the interest he held for her, turned to these foreign officials athis left--at that moment, let us say, the Burr conspiracy began.
"Divide that unknown country, the West, and how long would thisrepublic endure?" said Aaron Burr.
The noise of the banquet now rose about them. Voices blended withlaughter; the wine was passing; awkwardness and restraint had givenway to good cheer. In a manner they were safe to talk.
"What?" demanded Aaron Burr once more. "Could a few francs transferall that marvelous country from Spain to France? That were absurd. Bywhat possible title could that region yonder ever come to thisrepublic? It is still more absurd to think that. Civilization does notleap across great river valleys. It follows them. You have saidrightly, Senor Yrujo. To my mind Great Britain has laid fair graspupon the upper West; and Spain holds the lower West, with which ourstatesmen have interested themselves of late. By all the rights ofconquest, discovery, and use, gentlemen, Great Britain's traders havegained for her flag all the territory which they have reached ontheir Western trading routes. I go with you that far."
Merry turned upon Burr suddenly a deep and estimating eye.
"I begin to see," said he, "that you are open to conviction, Mr.Burr."
"Not open to conviction," said Aaron Burr, "but already convinced!"
"What do you mean, Colonel Burr?" The Englishman bent toward him,frowning in intentness.
"I mean that perhaps I have something to say to you two gentlemen ofthe foreign courts which will be of interest and importance to you."
"Where, then, could we meet after this is over?"
The minister from Great Britain surely was not beyond close and readyestimate of events.
"At my residence, after this dinner," rejoined Aaron Burr instantly.His eye did not waver as it looked into the other's, but blazed withall the fire of his own soul. "Across the Alleghanies, along the greatriver, there is a land waiting, ready for strong men. Are we such men,gentlemen? And can we talk freely as such among ourselves?"
Their conversation, carried on in ordinary tones, had not been markedby any. Their brows, drawn sharp in sudden resolution, their glanceeach to the other, made their ratification of this extraordinaryspeech.
They had no time for anything further at the moment. A sound came totheir ears, and they turned toward the head of the long table, wherethe tall figure of the President of the United States was rising inhis place. The dinner had drawn toward its close.
Mr. Jefferson now stood, gravely regarding those before him, his keeneye losing no detail of the strange scene. He knew the place of everyman and woman at that board--perhaps this was his own revenge for areception he once had had at London. But at last he spoke.
"I have news for you all, my friends, today; news which applies not toone man nor to one woman of this or any country more than to another,but news which belongs to all the world."
He paused for a moment, and held up in his right hand a tiny scrap ofpaper, thin, crumpled. None could guess what significance it had.
"May God in His own power punish me," said he, solemnly, "if ever Ihalt or falter in what I believe to be my duty! I place no bounds tothe future of this republic--based, as I firmly believe it to be, uponthe enduring principle of the just and even rights of mankind.
"Our country to the West always has inspired me with the extremestcuriosity, and animated me with the loftiest hopes. Since the year1683 that great river, the Missouri, emptying into the Mississippi,has been looked upon as the way to the Pacific Ocean. One hundredyears from that time--that is to say, in 1783--I myself asked one ofthe ablest of our Westerners, none other than General George RogersClark, to undertake a journey of exploration up that Western river. Itwas not done. Three years later, when accredited to the court atParis, I met a Mr. Ledyard, an American then abroad. I desired him tocross Russia, Siberia and the Pacific Ocean, and then to journeyeastward over the Stony Mountains, to find, if he could, the head ofthat Missouri River of which we know so little. But Ledyard failed,for reasons best known, perhaps, to the monarch of Russia.
"Later than that, and long before I had the power which now is mine toorder matters of the sort, the Boston sailor, Captain Grey, in 1792,as you know, found the mouth of the Columbia River. The very next yearafter that I engaged the scientist Michaux to explore in thatdirection; but he likewise failed.
"All my life I have seen what great opportunities would be ours ifonce we owned that vast country yonder. As a private citizen I plannedthat we should at least explore it--always it was my dream to knowmore of it. It being clear to me that the future of our republic laynot to the east, but to the west of the Alleghanies--indeed, to thewest of the Mississippi itself--never have I relinquished the ambitionthat I have so long entertained. Never have I forgotten the dreamwhich animated me even in my younger years. I am here now to announceto you, so that you
may announce to all the world, certain news whichI have here regarding that Western region, which never was ours, butwhich I always wished might be ours."
With the middle finger of his left hand the President flicked at themysterious bit of crumpled paper still held aloft in his right. Therewas silence all down the long table.
"More than a year ago I once more chose a messenger into thatcountry," went on Thomas Jefferson. "I chose a leader of exploration,of discovery. I chose him because I knew I could trust in his loyalty,in his judgment, in his courage. Well and thoroughly he has fittedhimself for that leadership."
He turned his gaze contemplatively down the long table. The gaze ofmany of his guests followed his, still wonderingly, as he went on.
"My leader for this expedition into the West, which I planned morethan a year ago, is here with you now. Captain Meriwether Lewis, willyou stand up for a moment? I wish to present you to these, myfriends."
With wonder, doubt, and, indeed, a certain perturbation at thePresident's unexpected summons, the young Virginian rose to his feetand stood gazing questioningly at his chief.
"I know your modesty as well as your courage, Captain Lewis," smiledMr. Jefferson. "You may be seated, sir, since now we all know you.
"Let me say to you others that I have had opportunity of knowing mycaptain of this magnificent adventure. In years he is not yet thirty,but he is and always was a leader, mature, wise, calm, and resolved.Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance ofpurpose which nothing but impossibilities can divert from itsdirection; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, andyet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate withthe Indian character, customs, and principles; habituated to thehunting life; guarded by exact observation of the vegetables andanimals of his own country against duplication of objects alreadypossessed; honest, disinterested, liberal; of sound understanding, andof a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he shall reportwill be as certain as if seen by ourselves--with all thesequalifications, I say, as if selected and implanted by nature in onebody, for one purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding thisenterprise--the most cherished enterprise of my administration--to himwhom now you have seen here before you."
The President bowed deeply to the young man, who had modestly resumedhis place. Then, for just a moment, Mr. Jefferson stood silent,absorbed, rapt, carried away by his own vision.
"And now for my news," he said at length. "Here you have it!"
He waved once more the little scrap of paper.
"I had this news from New York this morning. It was despatchedyesterday evening. Tomorrow it will reach all the world. The mailswill bring it to you; but news like this could not wait for the mails.No horse could bring it fast enough. It was brought by a dove--thedove of peace, I trust. Let me explain briefly; what my news concerns.
"As you know, that new country yonder belonged at first to any one whomight find it--to England, if she could penetrate it first; to Spain,if she were first to put her flag upon it; to Russia, if first sheconquered it from the far Northwest. But none of these three evercompleted acquisition by those means under which nations take title tothe new territories of the world. Louisiana, as we term it, has beenunclaimed, unknown, unowned--indeed, virgin territory so far asdefinite title was concerned.
"In the north, such title as might be was conveyed to Great Britain byFrance after the latter power was conquered at Quebec. The lowerregions France--supposing that she owned them--conveyed, through hermonarch, the fifteenth Louis, to Spain. Again, in the policy ofnations, Spain sold them to France once more, in a time of need.France owned the territory then, or had the title, though Spain stillwas in possession. It lay still unoccupied, still contested--until butnow.
"My friends, I give you news! On the 2d of May last, NapoleonBonaparte, First Consul of France, sold to this republic, the UnitedStates of America, all of Louisiana, whatever it may be, from theMississippi to the Pacific! Here are seven words which carry an empirewith them--the empire of humanity--a land in which democracy,humanity, shall expand and grow forever! This is my news:
"General Bonaparte signed May 2--Fifteen millions--Rejoice!"
A deep sigh rose as if in unison all along the table. The event wastoo large for instant grasping. There was no applause at first.Some--many--did not understand. Not so certain others.
The minister from Great Britain, the minister from Spain, Aaron Burrand a few other men acquainted with great affairs, prominent in publiclife, turned and looked at the President's tall figure at the head ofthe table, and then at that of the silent young man whom Mr.Jefferson had publicly honored.
The face of Aaron Burr grew pale. The faces of the foreign ministersshowed sudden consternation. Theodosia Alston turned, her own eyesfixed upon the grave face of the young man sitting at her side, whomade no sign of the strong emotion possessing his soul.
"I have given you my news," the voice of Mr. Jefferson went on, risingnow, vibrant and masterful, fearless, compelling. "There you have it,this little message, large as any ever written in the world. The titleto that Western land has passed to us. We set our seal on it now! Costwhat it may, we shall hold it so long as we can claim a flag or acountry on this continent. The price is nothing. Fifteen millionsmeans no more than the wine or water left in a half-empty glass. Itmight be fifty times fifteen millions, and yet not be one fiftiethenough. These things are not to be measured by known signs or marks ofvalues. It is not in human comprehension to know what we have gained.Hence we have no human right to boast. The hand of Almighty God is inthis affair! It was He who guided the fingers of those who signed thiscession to the United States of America!
"My friends, now I am content. What remains is but detail. Our duty isplain. Between us and this purpose, I shall hold all intervention ofwhatever nature, friendly or hostile, as no more than details to beignored. Yonder lies and has always lain the scene of my own ambition.Always I have hungered to know that vast new land beyond all maps, asyet ignorant of human metes and bounds. Always I have coveted it forthis republic, knowing that without room for expansion we must fail,that with it we shall triumph to the edge of our ultimate dream ofhuman destiny--triumph and flourish while governments shall remainknown among men.
"I offer that faith to the eyes of the world today and of all the daysto come, believing in every humility that God guided the hands ofthose who signed this title deed of a great empire, and that God longago implanted in my unworthy bosom the strong belief that one day thismight be which now has come to pass. It is no time for boasting, notime for any man to claim glory or credit for himself. We are in theface of events so vast that their margins leave our vision. We cannotsee to the end of all this, cannot read all the purpose of it, becausewe are but men.
"Gentlemen, you Americans, men of heart, of courage! You also, ladies,who care most for gentlemen of heart and courage, whose pulses beateven with our own to the stimulus of our deeds! I say to you all thatI would gladly lay aside my office and its honors--I would lay asideall my other ambitions, all my desires to be remembered as a man whoat least endeavored to think and to act--if thereby I might lead thisexpedition of our volunteers for the discovery of the West. That maynot be. These slackened sinews, these shrinking limbs, these fadingeyes, do not suffice for such a task. It is in my heart, yes; but theheart for this magnificent adventure needs stronger pulses than myown.
"My heart--did I say that I had need of another, a better? Did I saythat I had need of eyes and brains, of thews and sinews, of calmnerves and steady blood? Did I say I had need of courage andresolution--all these things combined? I have them! That Providencewho has given us all needful instruments and agents to this point inour career as a republic has given us yet another, and the last oneneedful. Tomorrow my friend, my special messenger, Captain MeriwetherLewis, starts with his expedition. He will explore the country betweenthe Missouri and the Pacific--the country of my dream and his. It isno longer the country of any other power--it is our own!
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br /> "Gentlemen, I give you a toast--Captain Meriwether Lewis!"
The Magnificent Adventure Page 6
