the duty which has been assigned to me, therefore, doubly pleasant.
Memorable as was this event, and of great importance to the future
growth of the Republic, it left its imprint not only upon America, but
upon Europe as well. Through it the Napoleonic ambition to develop a
vast plan of colonization which threatened the peace of the world was
thwarted. The dismemberment of the French possessions which soon
followed resulted in the grouping together of the various states of
Europe into vast empires whose relations with our country are such that
encroachment or territorial aggrandizement upon this hemisphere are
forever impossible. Spain, whose waning power was then apparent, was no
longer a menace, and thus rendered possible the acquisition of the
remaining stretch of territory which made our possessions secure from
the Gulf to the Canadian line. While, therefore, as Americans we are
prone to the belief that if the necessity had arisen we should have been
able to wrest this rich and fertile territory from even the strongest
hands, it is well for us to understand, however, that even the diplomacy
of which we boast would have been futile except for the failure of
Napoleon in San Domingo and his pressing need of funds to permit him to
face the enemies of the French. 'Westward Ho!' was the cry of the Old
World. From the time when the genius of Columbus accepted the theories
of the earlier astronomers the imagination and cupidity of adventurous
spirits had been excited by tales of 'far off Cathay.' One hundred years
ago the protocol for this territory was signed; one hundred years of
history has been written; a nation of three millions has expanded into
an empire of eighty millions of souls. Our country has not only become a
power among the nations of the world, but has taken an advanced position
in the progress and work of civilization. A westward passage to India
was sought by Columbus and was still the aim of La Salle in his
adventurous voyage along the mighty Mississippi. To-day the American
flag floats at the very gates of China, and almost in sight of its