[United States-France Relations]:

$2,750 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE DEBILITATED SITUATION OF A MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT WHEN PUFFED UP BY PRIDE AND SELF-IMPORTANCE, WHOSE RESOURCES MUST BE WRUNG FROM THE PEOPLE'S HANDS...THE FLOURISHING CONDITION OF A WELL-FORMED, ... An impressive and handsome lithographic print, forcefully illustrating the differences between the strong, wealthy, and secure United States and the corrupt, bankrupt, and fearful French monarchy in the 1830s. The image shows President Andrew Jackson and a group of six Americans standing on the left, facing King Louis Philippe, and six Frenchmen standing on the right, the two parties separated by a narrow strip of water symbolizing the Atlantic Ocean. Jackson holds in his hand the treaty of July 4, 1831, made between the United States and France to settle the issue of outstanding debts (in the amount of some twenty-five million francs) caused by French depredations during the Napoleonic Wars. The French were to pay over a number of years, but soon pled poverty and balked on their payments. This is symbolized in the illustration by an overturned treasure chest on the French side, with no money in it, but with unpaid bills spilling out, including those for the army and the civil list. Louis Philippe holds in his hand a slip of paper reading: "fortunate speculation 25 millions." By contrast, the chest on the American side is filled with bags of money, showing the great government surpluses available at the time. The American treasure chest has an image of the U.S. Capitol on its

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