tion of trans-Allegheny Americans for a raid upon the Spanish territory of Louisiana, aimed to recover that province for the power to which it had formerly belonged, and make it a basis for revolutionary movements in Canada, the West Indies, and ultimately all Spanish America.[1] This minister arrived in Charleston in February, 1793, and selected Michaux as his agent to communicate with the Kentucky leaders. An ardent republican, already in the pay of the French government, and friendly with influential men in government circles, Michaux seemed a most desirable as well as the most available agent possible. One characteristic was not, however, sufficiently considered. Whatever may have been his interest in the intrigue, whatever accounts thereof are through caution or prudence omitted from the journal here printed, one fact is evident—that Michaux was chiefly devoted to the cause of science; these pages reveal that a rare plant or new tree interested him much more than an American general or a plot to subvert Spanish tyranny.
His first Kentucky journey was, from the point of view of the diplomats, but moderately successful. With the collapse of the enterprise—due to the imprudence of Genet, the firmness of Washington, the growing loyalty of the Westerners to the new federal government, and the change of leaders in France—Michaux returned to botanical pursuits, and his later journeys appear to have been undertaken solely in order to herborize. There are, however, some slight indications in the text that he entertained hope of continuing the enterprise, and of its ulti-
- ↑ See Turner, "Origin of Genet's Projected Attack on Louisiana and the Floridas" in American Historical Review, July, 1897; also documents in American Historical Association Report, 1896 and 1897.
