Part 5
These representations emphasized the apprehension of those charged with governmental affairs that the course of deliberate caution and waiting, which up to that time had appeared to be the only one permissible, might be insufficient to meet the situation, and that whatever the result might be, a more pronounced position and more urgent action should be entered upon. President Jefferson wrote to a friend on the 1st of February, 1803: "Our circumstances are so imperious as to admit of no delay as to our course, and the use of the Mississippi so indispensible that we can not hesitate one moment to hazard our existence for its maintenance." He appointed an additional envoy to cooperate with our representative already at the French capital in an attempt to obtain a concession that would cure the difficulty, and, in a communication to him, after referring to the excitement caused by the withdrawal of the right of deposit, he thus characterizes the condition which he believed confronted the nation: "On the event of this mission depend the future destinies of this Republic. If we can not by a purchase of the country insure to ourselves a course of perpetual peace and friendship of all nations, then, as war can not be far distant, it behooves us immediately to be preparing for that course, though not hastening it."
I have not recited these details for the purpose of claiming that this accelerated speed and advanced position on the part of our Government had any important effect in hastening final results. I have thought it not amiss, however, to call attention to the fact that a century ago the people of this country were not seeking to gain governmental benefit by clandestine approach and cunning pretense, but were apt to plainly present their wants and grievances, and to openly demand such consideration and care from the General Government as was their due under the mandate of popular rule, and that in making their demands they relied on the mutual obligation of the relationship between the governed and those invested with authority, and invoked the reciprocity in political duty which enjoins that for the people's obedience and support of government, there shall be given in exchange, by the Government to the people, defense of their personal rights and the assurance that in safety and peace they shall surely reap the fruits of their enterprise and labor.
It may also be well to note the efficacy of the people's call upon the Government in those early days, and how quickly the response came; not by yielding to gusts of popular whim and caprice; not by conferring benefits upon the few at the expense of the many; but by a quick observation of the fact that the withdrawal of certain rightful privilege by another nation from American settlers had caused them distress, and by a prompt determination to relieve their distress, even if the unwelcome visage of war frowned in opposition.
Another incident which, it seems to me, we may recall to-day with profit and satisfaction, grew out of the conduct of the President when the treaty of 1803 had been formulated and was returned to him for ratification and final completion. He was, as is well known, originally quite firm in his belief that the Constitution as it stood did not authorize such an extension of our limits by purchase as the treaty for the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory contemplated. Holding this opinion, and at the same time confronted with the clear conviction that the treaty, with all its stupendous advantages, could not be allowed to fail without positive peril, if not to our national life, at least to its most vital object and aspirations, his perplexity was increased by the receipt of an authoritative intimation that any delay in final action on the treaty might open the way to a recession on the part of France. In these circumstances, not daring to risk the delay of an amendment to the Constitution prior to such final action, he proposed reconciling consistency with duty by procuring confirmation of the treaty by the Senate and compassing its unquestionable validation by a subsequent constitutional amendment.
In view of the conclusive statement, since that time of this constitutional question by every branch of the Government against Mr. Jefferson's original opinion and in favor of the nation's power to acquire territory, as was done under the treaty of 1803, and considering the fact that we have since that time immensely increased our area by the acquisition, not only of neighboring territory, but of distant islands of the sea, separated by thousands of miles from our home domain, we may be inclined to think lightly of President Jefferson's scruples concerning the acquisition of lands, not only next adjacent to us, but indisputably necessary to our peace and development.
There were wise men near our President in 1803 who differed with him touching the nation's power to acquire new territory under the original provisions of the Constitution; and these men did not fail to make known their dissent. Moreover, in the Senate, to which the treaty was submitted for confirmation, there was an able discussion of its constitutional validity and effectiveness. The judgment of that body on this phase of the subject was emphatically declared, when out of 31 votes 24 were cast in favor of confirmation. An amendment to the Constitution was afterwards presented to Congress, but its first appearance was its last. It does not appear that the President interested himself in its fate, and it died at the moment of introduction.
While in this day and generation we may wonder at the doubts which so perplexed Jefferson in 1803 and at his estimate of the limitation of our fundamental law, and may be startled when we reflect that if they had been allowed to control his action we might have lost the greatest national opportunity which has been presented to our people since the adoption of the Constitution, we can not fail at the same time to be profoundly grateful that these doubts and this estimate were those of a man sincere enough and patriotic enough to listen to wise and able counselors and to give his country the benefit of his admission of the fallibility of his judgment.
Thomas Jefferson never furnished better evidence of his greatness than when, just before the submission of the treaty to the Senate, he wrote to a distinguished Senator who differed with him on this question: "I confess that I think it important in the present case to set an example against broad construction by appealing for new power to the people. If, however, our friends shall think differently, certainly I shall acquiesce with satisfaction, confiding that the good sense of our country will correct the evil of construction when it shall produce ill effects."
A recent writer on American diplomacy, who is not suspected of partiality for Jeffersonian political doctrine, gave in strong and graceful terms a good reason for our gratitude to-day, when, in referring to this subject, he wrote: "It was fortunate for the future of America that we had at the head of affairs a man of such broad views of our country's future. A less able President, with the same views as entertained by Jefferson as to the constitutionality of the measure would have put aside the opportunity. Jefferson put aside his preconceived views as to the fundamental law; or subordinated them to the will of the nation and welcomed the opportunity to open up the continent to the expansion of American democracy and free institutions."
We are glad at this hour that Jefferson was wrong in his adverse construction of the Constitution and glad that he was liberal minded enough to see that he might be wrong. And yet may we not profitably pause here long enough to contrast in our thoughts the careful and reverent manner in which the restrictions of our fundamental law were scrutinized a hundred years ago with the tendency often seen in later times to flippantly attempt the adjustment of our Constitution to the purposes of interest and convenience?
In conclusion, I hope I may be permitted to suggest that our thoughts and surroundings on this occasion should lead us to humble recognition of the providence of God in all that has made us a great nation. From our beginning as a people our course has been marked by concurrences and incidents so striking, so significant and so constant, that only superstitious dullness or intellectual blindness will place them to the credit of luck or chance.
In the midst of our rejoicing to-day it is peculiarly fitting that we recall with soberness and meekness some of the happiness in connection with the great event we celebrate, which impressively illustrate the interposition of Divine Providence in our behalf. We sought from a nation ruled by one whose ambition was boundless and whose scheme for aggrandizement knew neither the obligations of public morality nor the restraints of good faith, the free navigation of the Mississippi River, and such insignificant territory as would make such navigation useful. While our efforts toward the accomplishment of this slight result languished and were fast assuming a hopeless condition, the autocrat of France suddenly commanded one of his ministers to enter into negotiations with our waiting and dispirited representatives and exclaimed: "I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans I cede. It is the whole colony without reserve."
It was only nineteen days thereafter that the treaty transferring to us the magnificent domain comprised within the Louisiana Purchase was concluded.
This astonishing change in our prospects, which dissipated the fears and apprehensions of our Government and revived the promise of our perpetuity and happy destiny, came at the very moment that Bonaparte was organizing a force to occupy the Louisiana Territory in the prosecution of colonial occupation and development, which, if consummated, would probably have closed the door even to the slight acquisition which we originally sought. The French colony of Santo Domingo was, however, a prime factor in this scheme of occupation, and it was essential to its success that this colony and Louisiana should both be included and should supplement each other. A serious revolt then raging in Santo Domingo delaying proceedings, the occupation of Louisiana was postponed until this revolt should be overcome. The troops sent from France to accomplish this apparently easy task were so stubbornly resisted by hundreds of thousands of freed blacks fighting against their reenslavement, and they suffered so terribly from climatic conditions and deadly fever, that after the sacrifice of 25,000 soldiers, many of whom were intended for the subsequent occupation of Louisiana, Bonaparte's plan for the occupation of both colonies miscarried. The disappointment and the conception of new schemes of war and conquest by the restless dictator of France, and his need of money to carry out these schemes, were controlling circumstances in leading him to throw in our lap the entire Louisiana Territory. None of these circumstances were within our procurement or knowledge; but who shall say that God was not accomplishing His designs in our behalf amid the turmoil and distressing scenes of Santo Domingo's revolt? And how can it be said that there was no Providence in the unexpected unyielding and successful fight for continued freedom on the part of the negroes of Santo Domingo, or in the fatal pestilence that vied with bloody warfare in the destruction of the army of subjugation, or in the fever of war and aggression which heated the blood of Bonaparte, all combining to turn him away from the occupation of the Louisiana Territory? All these things, so remote and so far out of sight, pointed with the coercion that belongs to the decrees of God to a consummation which restored to our people peace and contentment, and secured to our nation extension and development beyond the dreams of our fathers.
Thus we may well recall in these surroundings the wonderful measure of prophecy's fulfillment within the span of a short century, the spirit, the patriotism, and the civic virtue of Americans who lived a hundred years ago, and God's overruling of the wrath of man and His devious ways for the blessing of our nation.
We are all proud of our American citizenship. Let us leave this place with this feeling stimulated by the sentiments born of the occasion. Let us appreciate more keenly than ever how vitally necessary it is to our country's weal that everyone within its citizenship should be clean minded in political aim and aspiration, sincere and honest in his conception of our country's mission, and aroused to higher and more responsive patriotism by the reflection that it is a solemn thing to belong to a people favored of God.
Eighth. "America," with full chorus and band accompaniment.
Ninth. Prayer by Bishop E.R. Hendrix:
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we devoutly thank and worship Thee, the Author of our being, and the gracious source of all our blessings. We are because Thou art; and Thou hast made us in Thy image capable of fellowship with Thee and delighting in a fellowship with one another as we resemble Thee. Thou hast given us our reason and the power of cooperation with one another in all worthy ends looking to the well-being of our race. Civilization with its conquests over the material world is possible only with Thy aid. Christianity with its conquests over evil is the work of God and man, as Thou dost call us to be Thy fellow-workers and dost inspire us with courage and faith.
This wonderful achievement of human effort and skill which we dedicate this day is possible only by Thy help and as we have imitated Thy example. Thou art the great Architect and Builder. Thou art the great Mathematician and Engineer. Thou art the great Chemist and Electrician. Thou art the great Thinker and Artist. Our works are but pale and feeble copies of Thine, and are possible only because Thou workest until now and dost bless our works. The uniformity of Thy laws bids us work in confidence, and the unity of nature bids us work intelligently, because we work with Thee. We praise Thee for thy growing confidence in man, as Thou dost place in his hand the keys of every laboratory and dost trust him with the secrets of nature that have been hid from the foundation of the world. Again Thou dost give man dominion, whether in science, or art, or government, nor wilt Thou remove his scepter if he wield it for the betterment of his kind and for Thy glory. As the high priest and interpreter of nature may he prove worthy of his great trust.
We thank Thee for this great exposition, whose stately and noble exterior gives promise of being the home of a mighty spirit of worldwide fellowship of the nations. It is not only another milestone of progress, it is a timekeeper of civilization. We thank Thee for the pioneers and the prophets, the statesmen and the patriots who secured for us this great inheritance, and for their sons who have cultivated and developed it. Help us that we may realize the high ideals of our fathers who sought to establish and maintain good and righteous government, and to reap the harvests of patient industry. May no evil occurrence mar the happiness and good will which we invoke for the council of nations which shall here be held. May the commerce of ideas no less than of products be borne by favoring tides around the globe. To this end we implore Thy blessings upon the rulers of the nations of the earth which may be presented here. Grant peace in our time, O Lord, and may the victories of peace abound.
And now, O Lord, our God, we dedicate to Thee and to the welfare of our common humanity these buildings and grounds which Thy providence has made possible. Bless with Thy presence and favor this great festival of the nations that it may help to make stronger the bonds of human brotherhood in all the world. And all this we ask in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Tenth. Benediction by Right Rev. Henry C. Potter:
May the blessing of the Lord God Almighty, without whom all our labor is but vain, rest upon this work, and all who are or shall be engaged in it.
May He take these buildings under His gracious keeping and crown this great undertaking with His enduring favor, making it the school of truth and beauty and so a revelation of His infinite mind working and through the mind of man. And to Him be glory and honor and power now and always.
The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us; the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon us and give to us and to all the people of this land peace, purity, and prosperity, both now and forevermore. Amen.
Eleventh. Centennial salute of 100 guns.
At 8 o'clock p. m. a grand pyrotechnic display took place on the open grounds south of the Administration Building.
PROGRAMME
DIPLOMATIC DAY, MAY 1, 1902.
At 10.30 a. m. the members of the Diplomatic Corps, the representatives of the foreign governments to the exposition, and other official guests assembled at the St. Louis Club, and they were then conducted by military escort to the Liberal Arts Building.
At 12 o'clock m. the assembly was called to order by Mr. Corwin H. Spencer, chairman of the committee on ceremonies of the Exposition Company, and the following programme was carried out:
First. Invocation by Rev. Carl Swenson:
Great God, the God of our fathers and of their children, accept our heartfelt worship and gratitude. We bless Thy holy name for that wonderful providence of bountiful love and inspiring benevolence by which Thou hast made us a great and mighty nation out of an insignificant, struggling, and sorrow-laden beginning.
We render willing and adoring worship to Thee for that divine guidance and wisdom so admirably exhibited in the wide-visioned policy in the nation's most inspired leaders a hundred years ago, and to-day the policy which in one brief century has created an empire of a dozen magnificent Commonwealths of an unknown expanse of uninhabited wilderness and desert.
Vouchsafe ever to us as a people leaders of prophetic understanding, who in an uncertain present fathom the true inwardness of conditions pregnated with the greatest possibilities for a future of ever increasing proportions and realizations.
We thank Thee for the wealth of hope and promise implied in the dedication and completion of this unparalleled congress of peace, good will, and universal fraternity, made possible not only by the enterprise, patriotism, and gratitude of this splendid Commonwealth and our own entire people, but also by the responsive, generous, and helpful cooperation of the nations of the whole world.
We pray for Thy blessing, guidance, and love upon every national life here represented. May, in Thy beneficent providence, the inspiring competitions and tournaments so necessary between one people and another become an ennobling race for a higher culture of the human heart and mind; a more universal usage of the forces of nature for the best interests of man and for the full fruition for each and every one of the unexampled industrial and commercial activities which has taken possession of the civilized world.
We pray Thee that the forces ever jointly employed in producing the advance of a free people may learn better to understand their mutual relationship.
Liberate and save capital from every alleged and real form of a grasping, destructive, and disloyal selfishness, which may turn even the present midday of national prosperity and contentment into the threatening deepening gloom of an advancing cyclone of unavoidable loss and destruction.
Give to the possessors of our fabulous wealth an ever-increasing philanthropy, devoting a surplus of possessions unheard of by our fathers to education, literature, arts, and mercy, thereby making themselves the beloved and blessed favorites of a happy and grateful people.
We pray Thee that labor and toil may ever be held in due honor and respect in our broad land. Help us to realize that labor, be it of hand or brains, is the sinews and backbone alike of our past, present, and future as a free people.
Grant, O God, to the leaders in the world of labor the highest and most patriotic ideals of citizenship--ideals and purposes commending themselves to the intelligence and justice of the entire people.
And as neither capital alone, nor labor alone, could have built this wonderful exposition, grant, O God, that capital and labor all over our glorious land may learn to join hands in fair-minded cooperation for the upbuilding of such conditions of society which will prove an inspiration to ourselves and a worthy example to others, ending all forms of illegal coercion by one party or the other, and calling into permanent existence that truest and greatest America which is ever the dream of loyal and patriotic hearts.
We pray Thee help us to realize and profess, amidst the justifiable joy of a happy people, that Thou art God alone, and that there is salvation only in the name of the Blessed Redeemer. Grant that we may continually see in the cross on Calvary the tested emblem of a new life for time and eternity, a life of insight, energy, and the power of universally recognized leadership ever characterizing the nation whose boon is the Bible and whose master is Christ. Bless and protect the President of our nation, the governor of the State, the mayor of this city, and the president of this exposition, with all their associations. God of our fathers, give unto us all that sincerity of purpose, that rectitude of action so necessary for the preservation of our rights and privileges. Make us the toiling means for promulgating for Thee, and ever more successfully, the divine message of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and to Thee, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, shall be glory now and forevermore. Amen.
Second. The following is a brief outline of the sentiments expressed by Mr. Thurston, president of the day:
We are here to welcome the ambassadors, ministers, and representatives of friendly foreign nations.
Here we gather to commemorate an event which changed the whole history of America, for the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase extended the boundaries of the young Republic, which up to that time had no seacoast, except that of the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and gave us a continental domain extending from ocean to ocean.
We come here to celebrate, through this magnificent exposition, the centennial anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. This is not an exposition of a city or of a State, or even of the United States; it is an exposition of and for the world.
Gentlemen, our visitors and our friends, in this temple of peace, dedicated to the progress of man, your presence is significant of the friendliness to us and toward each other of the nations of the world. May we not hope that in the electric splendor of the twentieth century there will come to all peoples a living exemplification of the words of the Master, "Peace on earth, good will toward men."
Third. Greeting to the representatives of foreign governments, from the Universal Exposition of 1904, by Hon. David R. Francis, president of the Exposition Company:
The Universal Exposition of 1904 extends a cordial greeting to the distinguished representatives of foreign countries who favor us with their presence on this memorable occasion.