%images;]> rbfr-0032 A particular account of the insurrection of the negroes of St. Domingo, begun in August, 1791: translated from the French : speech made to the National Assembly the third of November, 1791, by the deputies from the General Assembly of the French part of St. Domingo.: a machine-readable transcription. rbfr Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.

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Front cover of the book 1

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O V S'Te-n c'x C PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE INSURRECTION OF THE NEGROES of St. DOMINGO, Begun in AUGUST, 1791 : TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. The FOURTH EDITION: With Notes and an Appendix extraaed from authentic original Papers. SPEECH made to the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, the third of November, 1791, by the D e P u t i e s from the General Assembly of the French Part of St. Domingo. SIRS, THE General Aflëmbly of the French part of St. Domingo has appointed us a deputation to addrefs you. ¦ Jn that charadler, our firft duty is to aflure you of the inviolable at-i tachment of this important part of the empire to the mother-country, before we defcribe to you the terrible events which are now working its deftruition, and folicit the earlieft and moft effectual fuccour, to kve, if it be yet poffible, its wretched remains. Long have we forefeen the evils which affliclus, and which, doubtlefs, will er.d in our annihilation, if the national juftice and power interpofe not fpecdify for our relief. We come to lay before you fome particulars which yet will give but an imperfe£t idea of our difaflers and of our fituation. The General Affembly of the French part of St Domingo, after having been conftituted at Leogane, had appointed to hold its leffions A in

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I 2 3 in the town of the Cape. The deputies were gradually afTembii ion. ~p7 _ there for the purpoles of their mifii ' ^ Several of them arriving" on the 16th (Auguft) at the diftrict -.. S^ 35Limbe, diftant fix leagues from the Cape, were there witnelles of th burning of a trafti-houfe on Ghahaud's plantation. The incendiary was a negro-driver* of Defgrieux's plantation. A med with a cutlafs, he fled ; M. Ghahaud faw, purfued, and overtoc him ; they fought ; the negro was wounded, taken, and put in irons. Being interrogated, he depofed, ".that all the drivers, coachuie " domeftics, and confidential negroes, of the neighbouring plantatio " and adjacent diflriâs, had formed a plot to fet fire to the plantatio "and to murder all the whites." He marked out, as ring-leaders, f verai negroes of his matter's plantation, four of Flaville's, (fituated at Acul, three leagues from the Cape,) and the negro Paul, driver c.' Blin's plantation at Limbe. The* municipality of Limbe proceeded to M. Chabaud''s ; and, on putting; the fame queftions, received the like anfwers from the ince: i diary negro. The municipality prefented the examination, in form of a verbal procefs, to the Northern Provincial Affembly; and, informk Flaville's attorney (or manager) of the names of the confpirators th were about him, advifed his fecuring and lodging them in the prifon the Cape. ' This man, of a mild and gentle difpofition, inclined more to con; dence than fufpicion, afïembled the negroes under his command, an communicating the information he had received from the municipal:; told them he could not give credit to a plot fo attrocions, and oftti I them his head if they dclired it. With one voice they anfwercd, that the depcfition of Defgrieux's driver was a deteftable calumny, and fwore an inviolable attachment to their manager. He had the weal iiefs to believe them, and his credulity has been our ruin. The mi nicipality of Limbe demanded from M Planteau, attorney of Bin plantation,-that they might examine the negro Paul, 'i his flav being interrogated, replied, " That the accufation brought againfl " him was faite and injurious; that, full of gratitude to his mafterxro " whom he was daily experiencing acls of kindnefs, he would never r " found concerned in plots that might be framed againfl: the exitten " of the whites and againfl: their property." In return for this perfidious déclaration, and under affurance from If. Pianiem that Paul deferved credit, he was releafed. ' Iri this ft-ate matters continued till the 2lft, when the pubhe force ol Limbe, at the requifition of the municipality, proceeded to Dejgrteu* plantation., to take into cuftodv the the negro cook, accufed-of ben a ring- leader : the negro fled ; round out the negro Paul, of Elm s r.r.- ration, and, in coniuntrion With the other confpirators, they prcr-.i~ Are and fword, deftined for the completion of their horrible deigns. ' 'In the night, between the 22d and 23d, twelve negroes reached Me lu- gar-home on Noé's plantation at Acuî* feized upon the apprentice ren- .ttruftedwltlithecareofato'1?-' - XT * The French word is commandeur, fignifjing a negro 1 «rhci at work.

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il c 3 3 ner ; dragged him before the great houfe, where he expired under their wounds. His cries brought out the attorney or the effete, who was hid brcathlcfs on the ground by two mufket-bafls. The wretches pro- c eded to the apartment of the head refiner, and affaffinated him in his Ld. A young man, lying fick in a neighbouring-chamber, they left for dead under* the blows of their cutlafles; yet he had ftrength 10 crawl 10 the next plantation, where he related the horrors he had wit- rcffed, and that the fiurgeon only was fpared; an exception wh.ch was repeated in reined! to the forgeons in general, of whofe abilities the neeroes had reckoned they might ftanu in neec. **« The plunderers proceeded to Clement's plantation, and there killed the Dronrietor and the refiner. Day be^an to break, and favoured the jundion of the ,11-d.fpofed, who, fpread over the plain, with dreadful fhouts, fet fire to houfes and canes, and maffacred the inhabitants. On that fame night the revolt had broken out on the three planta- tions of Galifet* At one of which, tne blacks, with arms in their hands, mS way into the chamber of the refiner, w.th a defign to "flaffinate him, but only wounded him in the arm ; favoured by the night, he efcaped, and ran to the great houfe. I he whites, who re- flated there, united for their defence. M, Odeluc, a member of the Ge- neral Affembly, and attorney for the concerns of Galifet, came to tne Cane, and °-ave information there of the indirection of his negroes. Éfcortedby the patrole, he reached the plantation, feized the r.ng-lea- ders, and returned at their head to the town. Immediately he went out a^ain, with twenty men in arms, that he might reftore tranquilli- ty and maintain order. But the negroes were all embodied, and at- tacked him. Theirfiandard was the body of a white infant impaled upon a flake M. Odeluc, addrefling himfelf to his coachman, whom he perceived among the foremoft, exclaimed, « Wretch 1 have ever « treated thee with kindnefs, why doft thou feek my death ? I rue, he replied, "but I have promifed to cut your throat:" and, that in- ftant, a hundred weapons were upon him. .The majority of the whites perifhed with him, particularly M. Averoult alfo a member of the General Affembly. . At the very fame time Flaville's gang (that which had io recently fworn fidelity to the attorney) armed themfelves, and revolted, entered the apartments of the whites, and murdered five of them who refided on the plantation. The attorney's wife, on her knees, befought the life of her hufband. The inexorable negroes affaffinated the huiband, and told the wife that flie and her daughters were referved for their pleafures. ... c. M. Robert, a carpenter, employed on the fame plantation, was lei- zed by the negroes, who bound him between two planks, and fawed him deliberately in two. A youth, aged fixteen, wounded in two places, efcaped the fury of the cannibals," and it is from him we learned thefe fads. The fword * At the Cape, it was a proverbial mode of expieffing any man's happinefs-«: Ma fii. il «' eft heureux comme «a negre de Galifet." " He is as happy as one of Calitet's negroes.' A 2 was

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en the neighbouring plantations; wherever there were whites were fo many victims flauphtered; men, women, the infant, and the aged, expired indifcriminatejy under the knife of the affaftms. _ A colonift was murdered by the very negro whom he had moft dif finguiOidd by acts of kmdnefs. His wife, flretched upon his body was forced to fatisfy the brutality of the murderer. ' M. Cagnet, inhabitant of Acul, feeking to efcape from thefe horror* embarked for the Cape. His domeftic negro begged permiffion to attend him. Such a mark of attachment determined his mafter t« leave him as a guard upon the plantation, that he might endeavour to prelerve it. But M. Cagnet had hardly fet foot on-board, when he Jaw that Have, with a torch in his hand, letting fire to his property. Expreffes being fent to the Cape, armed citizens and troops of the line were djfpatched thence; they proceeded towards the ftrongeft bo- dy of mutineers, and deftroyed a part of them ; but, finding the num- ber of reyolters increasing in centuple proportion to their loffes, and, being unable to maintain their ground, they retreated in expectation, of a reinforcement, which arrived, but not before night, headed by M. de Touzard, who took the command of the little army. ¦ M. de Touzard, perceiving that the revolters were rallying on La- tour's plantation, marched thither. Their number might be from three to four thoufand. The moment the artillery was ready to play, to dif- pe.rfe them, the negroes pretended to furrender. M. de fftzardzd* var.ced; many of them exclaimed they would return to their duty. He trufted to their repentance, and retired. Humanity and the interefts of the colony enjoined his forbearance, but it was hot long before he was undeceived ; the negroes Separated indeed^ but only that they might recruit their numbers with all the neighbouring gangs. The army returned into the town to take new fteps for putting an end to the diforder. The revolters profited by this interval to fill up the fneafure of their depredations. Our communications wjth the adja- cent diftricls became impeded. We were alarmed left the diforder had reached them, and bur fears were foon realifed. We learned, by means of perfons efcaped by the fea, that Limbe, Plaifance, Port Margot, were a prey to like horrors, and every citizen, in detailing his misfor- tunes, difepvered to us new crimes. M. Potier, inhabitant of Port Margot, had taught his negro-driver to read and write. He had given him his liberty, which the fellow en- joyed 3 he had granted him 10,000 livres, which were foon to be paid to him ; he had alfo given to this negro's mother a piece of land, on which fire cultivated coffee, The monfter feduced-the gang of his be- nefa£ior and of his mother, burned and deftroyed their poffefiions, and obtained, for this a&ion, a promotion to the rank of general. At Great River, an inhabitant, M. Gardhieau,. had two natural fon§ ©f colour,* to whom he had given their liberty, and who, in their child- * In the French colonies) the free negroes, as well as the mulattoes and other; of the mixe4 race, are denominated people of colour. hoods 1 x

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*** C s 1 hood, had been the objefts of his tendereft cares. Th^ccofte^him dies whites, was tied down by a iavag: ring to favifhed the eldeft in his Pref*ncy "d *f ^T flattered both the one of his fatellites ; their paffion finished» they liaugn &tM £d MaTÊut with their fbn-in-law and daughter e^coura- there was" not an inftant to be loft, and ofter«*J*»^^^ailbn's old fervant engaged to^ conduct the.^^fta had ob- nurfe was wife of Paul Bun, one 01 tut IK-&1U & ., ' A . ; _ Ta Ïd from him fome provifions for her mafter's rami y A her m_ ' ,. _,,. fwed Again they applied to Pbk/, and his wite rcpio^.-cu beh'g twemy-oL days in performing a journey; of on y five leagues -every day encompaffed with dangers, they arrived at Port Margot, whence they reached the Cape. Mean time tlie flames gained ground on all fides. La Fetite Anie la Pldne du Nord, the diftricts of Moiin, Limonade, prefented on.y heansofafb.es and of mangled carcafes. Nothing one would think, could deepen the horrors of this rectal ; and yet, Sirs, it is marked with features of a ftill more dreadfm charac- ter, when we fee that thofe flaves, who hsd been moft kindly treated by their mafters, were the very foul of the infurrea.on. It was they who betrayed and delivered thofe humane mafters to the aiîaffin s fwor1 ; .t was they who reduced and ftirred up to revolt the gangs difpo.ed to fide- lity ; it was they who maffacred all who refufed to become their accom- plices. What a leffon for the Amis des Noirs I* What a heart-break- tng difcovery to the colonifts themfelves, to whom futurity could fug- geft nothing but profpeds of defpair, if, in the midft of io many crimes There had hot yet been found flaves who gave proofs of an invincible fidelity, and who made manifeft their determination to rejeft with du- dain the fedudfoos of thofe who have endeavoured by promifes of liber-l ty to enveigle them into certain deftruction. Liberty is now theirs, bud * Or frlemh of the Hacks, by which name are diftinguiflied, in France, thefe who havl fecr-ded" the BDJIift projet tar aboliihing the Slave-Ttade. . I A 3 «

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^a^ ^oneft attachmcnt> tranfportsof univerfal gratitude of the colony, aniidft the and deluged with U^T^ST^r^f Wkh Ca4* where to feekre^e; onefl£foJfiJ% SC^ Jg ^ »« ed by his negroes, and ftabbed : another confia II ^ betra^ gang; a rebel ring-lender fteals in , ," the Prom'feofhiS the proprietor is their firft Sm "g ^ tlle èanS nies, and 4cvX*x fl7inegiXblcri;r intefaed b>' «- «* lives dearly; The^d we? bïo kaS"? t0 ^ and t0 fdI the" and maffacred. Blockaded, they were taken prifoners exertions for felf-prefervatio ' Thefe' fijPT* '" t0rtUres th^ the very gate of the town of he Cane T ^nes were a^ing at feffion of every mind vet all fehth, " ^ ^^ t0ok P0<"- common fafety! They Iffe.lta aLT^7 °f pK?idin8 for ** arms, and thef Generaf aE ^placed rh" "^ the dtizens *><* command of the governor 7 P he patn°t,C trooPs u'^er the h^i^n^^É^b t1hrithoufand men at Ae »«*, ^a?ds^s^^^ vation from internal enemies. Th relitKX^rT r^ tification, w.thout a delay of feveral days and immenfe !bS I extremely to be feared left the revolted ne^roeXoulc °A the town, and, favoured and feconded by £ÏÏ P " Up°n maffacre of the whole race of the white/ On r ' ^ * Seneral remained ; to take pofleffiof ofÏ pafl 's ^elfeS"^ °^ town; to eftablifh a commanding poïwÏi h Ïfthe SF°f^° ^ joining marfb.es, might protect if/and ^det Af^L PeS" Anfe by a battery of cannon and boats lathed toother Th r '^ tion was adopted and executed; thenceWarSr' r ^ "" by a folid pallifade? by ^M^^tt^^S^ might feel its fituation lefs alarmino-. y connae'aWe polts,- During this interval, not a minute was loft in fendino- information, by fea, to the panflies which were yet uncontaminated, LdfcSS? ting to them the proper precautions to be taken The Î*L£Sg V thofeearifh.es formed a l/ague, andeflabhmed "mps 1 ^tr Scon flderable thefe were fW.ed at Trou, Valliere, Great R ver Moruet" Doncon, laMarmelade, PortMargot, and other places in danger The m ohers followed the fame plan ; they flationed camps in all "he d'iflricts they

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C 7 1 they bad ravaged. Moreover, they forced the camp of the whites af ¦ Great River, and killed or put to flight all the inhabitants of that dil- triet ; the camp at Dondon fhared the fame fate, after a conteit ot te- ven hours, in which more than one hundred whites fell. The few un- fortunate people, who efcaped on that occafion, fought refuge among the Spaniards, but were driven back. MM. Gramal, Raynaud^ and Lambert, inhabitants of Great River and Dondon, reached, however, the houfe a Spamfh colomft, their inti- mate friend : this worthy man, on one fide urged by the ftrongeit feel- ings, on the other by the fear of being burnt out by his countrymen, determined to keep the three Frenchmen locked up m his clofet, whence he let them efcape at night, in the midft of deferts, and under advan- tage of a ftorm. . . ,. .,-,,. Shall it be told you, that you may feel the indignation which the con- duct of our neighbours muft have excited, that depofitions and the pub- lic report ftate, that feveral inhabitants of Dondon, who took refuge amonp- the Spaniards, were driven beyond the limits, and fold to the rebel negro chiefs, in confideration of three Portugal pieces (132 livres of France) per head, and that they were put to death. The-diftrictsofRocou, Maribaroux, le Terrier Rouge, Jacquefy, Caracole, Ouanaminthe, and Fort Dauphin, forming the Eaftern part of the Northern province,-Were ftill uninjured; their defence was an object of inftant neceffity.* . ; A camp was eftablifhed under the orders of M. de Rouvrai, which completely anfwered the purpofe for which it was formed, in fpite ot the continual efforts of the banditti. While thefe alarming tranfadions were paffing, the town of the Cape was refortel to by tne inhabitants cf the neighbouring hills and plains, efcaping from the -fword of the affaffins. It was then that M. Blanche* lande\ thought it prudent to march out two fmall bodies of troops, which, joined by M. de Rouvrai, attacked and carried, in fucceflion, feveral camps ot ihe revolters, fituated on the plantations of Ghabanon, La Chevallerie, Bullet, Duplat, Gharitte, Denort, Dagout, and Galifet ; in each of which many female tvhite prifoners were jet at hbertu It is from them, Sirs, that we learnt to what an excels the revolters had Car- rie.' their brutality. Your fenfibility, already excited, could not endure the narrative of thofe horrid fcenes which thefe women witneiled. From the rebel prifoners, we difcovered that the different chiefs of thefe banditti are at bitter enmity with each other ; every troop forms a party, and thefe parties are always at variance, always ready for mutu- al deftruclion. The authority they have eftabUilied is abfolute defpo- tifm. The chiefs exercife unheard-of tyranny over thofe they-com- mand: the leaft difobedience, the flighteft fig 11 of hefitation, is punch- ed with death; and it is a notorious truth, that mere negroes have been facrificed to their own ignorant rage and fufpicion than we have been compelled to deftroy in our defence, although we have obtained over them feveral iignal advantages. Their acts of cruelty fall even ou thofe * Thefe diitrifts have all been fince ravaged and defeojni. -{- Co-.ernor Ger.enl. A 4 wise

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C 8 3 who have vo.untarily engaged in the revolt. But who will not fhud- der to hear in what manner they punifh thofe who determine to remain faithful to their matters! They feize them by force and roaft them at the next fire. They have been feen, with the cruelty of cowards, placing, in the front of battle, the aged, the infants, and the women; and, finding them unfit for action, making ufe of them to parry our blows. Have they any wounded, and for want of furgeons cannot drefs their wounds ? they confine them in a hut and fet fire to it. In fhort, take this for certain; if the fanguinary defigns of thefe unci- viiifed and ferocious men fhould be realifed in refpecl to the whites ; fhould they accoinplifh the extermination of the Europeans in the co- lony ; foon would you fee St. Domingo prefenting a pi£lure of all the atrocities of Africa. Subjected to the moft arbitrary maflers, diffract- ed by the moft bloody wars, they would render their prifoners fubfervi- ent to their caprices ; and the moderated fervitude, under which they are held by us, would be exchanged for a Jlavery, aggravated by all the re- finements of barbarifm. In the deplorable fituation we have defcribed, M. Blanchelande, who a£ted in concurence with the General Affembly, thought it right to fuggeft a proclamation which might contribute to bring back the revol- ters to their duty. The General Affembly, compofed of planters perfectly acquainted with the character of the negroes, reprefented to him the danger of fuch a proclamation, and pofitively refufed it their fanction. The week following, M. Blanchelande renewed his propo- fal. The fame motives diâated the fame refufal. He perfifted, and determined to iffue it in his own name, and he did it, becaufe he learn- ed that the negroes were willing to fubmit themfelves. The proclama- tion was made, and delivered by twelve dragoons. What effect was produced by this meafure ? Seven of them were aflaffinated in the camp of the rebels, and the others faved themfelves with the utmoft diffi- culty. It would anfwer no end, Sirs, to defcribe to you all the horrors to which, our unfortunate fellow-citizens have been a prey. Pofterity will be fhecked at fo many cruelties, committed in the names of philofophy and liberty. , Yet have we only, in this relation, fketched to you fome lcattered outlines of the dreadful pidure of thofe evils, which have vifited, proba- bly ftill vifit, a country, but lately fo peaceful, fo" flourifhing, fo valua- ble to the French emphe ! You will better judge by a iummary of the loffes which the colony had experienced at the period of our de-^ V" They reckoned, in the parifhes ofPlaifance, Port Margot, Limbe, Marmelade, Acul, la Plaine du Nord, la Petite Anfe, Morin, Limo- nade, Sainte Sufanne, Moka, Cottellettes, Great River, Dondon, and ether diftrids, more than two hundred fugar-works, twelve hundred cof- fee zvorks, many indigo-zvorks, entirely burned doiun ; numerous potteries, difiilUrics, many confiderable villages, public magazines, an immenfe quan- tity efmerchandifi, hadjbared the fame fate. By adding to thefe inappre- ciable cljeMs, all the inftruments of hifbandry, uterfds for manufaaures, Iwdehotd-furniture, afidfpecu ; hcrfis, mules, and other cattle ; fome taca ¦ J J ' ¦"¦ -J may

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f 9 J May be formed of the enormity of our lofes, which we value at upwards of fix hundred millions of livres. The affiftance of the nation, the exertions of commerce, and our induftry, may, perhaps, repair them: but what lhall dry the tears that flow for more than one thoufand of our fellow- citizens flaughtered, the vidirns of this cruel revolt ! Can fenflbility be mute, when we reflect, that fifteen thoufand negroes will be deftroy- ed before order and tranquillity can be re-eftablifhed, and that, fhould they fucceed in their projects, St. Domingo will become the'tomb of fifty thoufand Frenchmen !* ' Hitherto we have only fpoken of the misfortunes of the Northern parts. They are not all we have to lament. Blood was fpilt in the Weftern province ; fire deftroyed feveral properties there ; the gano-s of Grandfionds, Charbomere, and Fond Ferrier, revolted. ° The deletion of a confpiracy at Leogane preferved that diftri£t from carnage and conflagration, as well as thofe Archaie, Des Vafes, and le Cul de Sac. Jeremie experienced fome commotions, but a timely &rrelt of the exciters of them faved that place from the impending The Southern parts had alfo great caufe of alarm. The precautions taken there had, to the time of our departure, maintained their tran- quillity; yet the population there is fo thin, that the meafures employed are more the proofs of timidity than the pledges of fecurity. Thuf, Sirs,_you behold on every fide the colony threatened ; and, if there be co otnfts who are yet to be faved from fo many Complicated angers, ftill will they have to contend with treachery and famine, with epidemical difeafes caufed by fo many unburicd carcafes in a burning climate, with diforders more acute, the effeds of fatigue, terror, and Vexation; m a word, with every evil that nature engenders for the 7 brucuon of mankind. What juft reafon have we not to dread the total rum of the colony, a ruin which muft accelerate that of the mo- ther-country ! 1 he deflation of our plantations will caufe the {tar- nation of your manufactories, fucceffive bankruptcies will injure pub- na'te lo-lJ-'^fuff? "'f ' m *UtbenÛQ acc0"m of'«*» caI ^'"« of this unfortu. after his atriral at Pari,' from St Dcminfo. * ^^ * FW0Ch ^^^ * ** da}S « hofrorr31 l°7nnalVhi,Ve takeVr^d;ble P»in. to foftcn the reprefentation of this rnafs of « of October had ÎZ \ f' f°Tr3 AiTCmb!y' Wh0''° meCtin»S * *'^d tii! the "ft * d «boction'of t-n1 , f °/ the preCedl"S m°nth> receivcd a Partl la>' ?c<=ount °f <>>« « Sfd C0fl4 In-t" anJd-tWenC7tW0 fuSa'-<*«« and i-tween eleven and twelve « MitCdf^tT-h0^ :'nd»c"fd"otthe be (cnbwn how far the mifchief had ex. «.« ariJcorntlS J ' ^ **** f? town °f *« Cape could no longer maintain « tlwcnlThZtl iHS? "fVT'"* "* CKMra,> whofc thr05ts had b«" «t or who « tr £.7?h JfebÉbr -t^: a fr "f enUmemC '"' "* tfftMty the revo,. « then id es S ! f ^T * <«ai» <^ of PhilofcPhers fo warmly intereft " dei-ed without e ¦ 7 77 " the uiat"!> ^'l^n have in many places been mur. « r-o he's "rl h-tj' a'!d mûn' rc^e«.y before the eyes, or clinging to he bofom, of thei* « bru a 'iuftof hfy°rS"y0m< "T'*? "ot been murdered befcre they have fatked the - of bo cfl »a ¦ . P-2kCS haVC ^ *cir enfiSr's- Th'- Sie«r B -"- C" Cf.- r S"4> S- vççn two planks and fawed aAjpaer." Afor a'c VtVue'. Pa- Iic

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lo 3 lie credit, and, even in Paris, will be felt by the moneyed man and the tradefman ; in the inmoft of your provinces it will check the collec- tion of taxes; the decreafe of {hipping in the fea-ports will reduce to beo-o-ary an innumerable body of labourers and of feamen: then will cries of^rage and defpair afcend from every quarter, calling upon you for iuftice ao-ainft the authors of fo many calamities ; and can they fail to be detedted, by the perfidious cunning, by the cruelperfeverance, with which they have fo long been contriving a cataftrophe, now lo terribly confpicuous! ; ; - -. . ; ¦ n Wepaffed our lives in tranquillity, Sirs, in the midft of our flaves. n A paternal P-overnment had, for many yeart paft, meliorated the con- ation ofoufnegroes; and we dare affirm, that millions of Europeans, attacked by every want, fubjea to every mifery, poflefs fewer enjoy- ments than thofe who have been reprefented to you, and to the world in general, as loaded with chains and perifhing by a dilatory death. The fituation of the negroes, in Africa, without property, without political or civil exiftence, continually a prey to the weak capricious fury of tyrants, who divide among them that vaft uncivilized country,,, is changed in our colonies for a condition of comfort and enjoyment. They are deprived of nothing ; for, liberty, which, ius true, they have not, is a plant that has never yet proved fertile in their native foil; and, whatever the fpirit of party may aflert, whatever imagination may in- vent, well-informed men'aie not to be perfuaded that the negroes m AfrkaLve the enjoyment of freedom. The traveler,* who has moft recently vif.ted a part, hitherto almoft unknown, of that extenfive coun- try, hal given USP, in his long and interefting work a htftory only ot bo'od ana defolat'ion. The^men ^o inhabit ^«, Nuha he. Galla and the Funge, from the coafts of the Indian ocean co the very fronSrs of E'yPt, feem to rival, in ferocity and barbarity, thebrena arid he tSers^fhich nature has there created. Slavery is, wth theni, a t t e o honom and life, in thofe horrible climates, is a pofleffion mipLldTy any laws/and held only at the will of a fanguinary aefT°et'anvman offeelin- and information, compare the deplorable ftale of ïeTgroe, in Africa, with the mild and comfortable lot they 2m Lour colonies ; let him let afide declamation, the pictures which a lite philofophy has been pleafed to delineate; (far more horn a pur- Lit of popularity than from zeal in the vindication of humanity ; ) let hlm r'caUhe regulations which governed our negroes before they we d educed and alienated from us; provided agamft every want; upphed S accommodations, unknown in the greater part of the: cotageot Europe; fecure in the enjoyment of their properties;< (/">*£*£ proplrty, and it was facred;) nurfed, in times of ficknef ith an « Sols OibSed to a labour calculated according to the ftrength %Tndividual becaufe individuals and employments were clafleo; Id ireft Sen Luld humanity fail) enjoined an attention to the «VideBruce, ii. 2l6, îv.4591 «*¦ prefervâtion

page 11-20 18 0011

f » p.-efervation of their numbers; enfranchifed whenever they had meri- ted it by important fervices. Such was thejuït, unflattered, piâureof the government of our negroes ; and th:s domeftic government had been"meliorated (particularly in the laft ten years) with an anxiety, of which you will find no example in Europe. The fincereft attach- ment connected the mafter and his flaves. We flept in fecurity in the midft of men that were become our children, and many of us had nei- ther locks nor bars to our houfes. Not, Sirs, that we would difguife to you, that there did exift, among tb/é planters, a very fmall number of hard and ferocious mafters. But what was the lot of thefe wicked men ? Elafted in their fame, de- tefted by men of charadler, outcafts of fociety, difcredited in their, bufmefs, they lived in difgrace and difhonour, and died in mifery and defpair. Their names are never pronounced without indignation in the colony, and the bad eftimation in which they are held ierves as a warning to thofe, who, yet unverfed in the management of their flaves, might be led, by the impetuofity of their tempers, into excefles, pro- vect, by experience, to be as contrary to good policy, as they are, by inbreafe of knowledge and humanity, become infamous. Here we appeal, not to thofe who write romances to gain a name as men of fenfibility, to acquire a momentary popularity, foon to be v/refted from them by general indignation, but to thofe who have vi- fited, who know,'the colonies. Let them fay if the recital we have made is faithful, or if we have coloured it to intereft you in our caufe. We repeat it, Sirs, we paffed our lives in this flate of tranquillity and happinefs, and we returned to the mother-country, the protec- trefs of our properties, the entire tribute of our produce, which was applied in adding to the wealth of the metropolis, to her internal ftrength, and to her fuperiority in foreign commerce. Meantime, Sirs, a fociety fprings up in the bofom of France,* and prepares, at a diftance, the deftruétion and convulfions to which we- are now a prey. Unobtiufive and model! in their outfet, they pro- fefled only a defire to alleviate the lot of our flaves; but that allevia- tion, already fo far advanced in the French ifland?, muft refult from means which were totally unknown to this fociety, although they were objects of our unceafmg attention, until obliged to abandon them, by thefe incompetent meddlers having excited, among our flaves, a fpirit of mutiny, and, among up, a fpirit of diftruft. In order to meliorate gradually the lot of the flaves, and to increafe the number of the emancipated, there fhould certainly be a previous folicitude of attention to the perfect fafety of their mafters. But, an expedient fo wife would have gained no applaufe in their temple of re- nown. Vanity commanded that meafures of prudence fhould be re- linquiflied for fpecious declamations, that we fhould be furrounded with, terror and alarm, and that calamities fhould be contrived, the fame which we have predicted fince the earlieft proceedings of the Amis des Noirs, and which have fo lately been realifed. * « A fociety which foreigners and bud men have inftitutcd for our derbruiHion and for the « humiliation of France." Addrefs of the French planters of St. Damirgo to the king. On

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12 3 On a fudden this fociety demands an Abolition 'of the Slave-lfrade ; that is to fay; that the profits, which may refait from it to the French comme-- .*, ihould be transferred to foreigners; for, never will their ro- mantic philofophy petfuadé ad the European pôWers, that it is incum- bent upon therii to abandon the culture of their colonies, and to leave the natives oe Africa a prey to the barbarity of their native tyrants; rather than employ mem elfewhere, and under more humane mafters, in cultivating a foil, which, without them; muft remain uncultivated; and whofe valuable pi- duclions are, to the nation which pofièllci them; a fertile fource ol induftry and prosperity. Combining itfelf next with the Revolution in. France, this fociety confounds its extravagant and irrational fyftem with the plan which the nation had conceived for its enfraîïchifement; and, profiting by the tiftiverfal ardour of all Frenchmen in the caufe of liberty, interefts' them, from the remembrance of their fervitude, ill its defign to put an end to that of the negroes. Its blind enthuuafm, or its pelverfity, forgets, that thofe favag : men are incapable of knowing in what true fecial liberty cortfifts, or of enjoying it with moderation ; and that the rafh law, which fhouid deftroy their prejudices, would be, to them and to us, a fentefice of death. Thenceforward*, this fociety, or at leaft fome of its members, have given an unbounded loofe to their enterprifé; all means have feemed to them good, fo they might but tend to its accomplifhment. 1 heopen attack, the deep and ftudied inuendo, the bafeft and moft defpicable calumnies, have been pracStifed to forward their defigns; ingenioufly mixino- cunning with audacity, the fociety, at one time, flatters us by an invitation to fhake off the yoke of the French merchants, aflii- rino- us of its fupport if We will unite with it for obtaining a free com- mence ; at another time, it arm!, the mercantile body againfl us.» af, firming that we have in view a difgrâceful bankruptcy, a chimerical independence, and that, in our career of vanity, we would build up a Separate power on a level with that of France. Thus, after having endeavoured to irritate the planters and the merchants againfl: each o* ther, after having offered us principles incompatible with the interefts of the mother-country, when," in fpite of its infidious counfels, we have declined to adopt them, fl ill are we accufed, by the fociety, of fuch intentions, and they lay hold of the declaration of the Rights of Man, an immortal work, anu beneficial to highly enlightened men; but in- aplicable, and therefore dangerous, to our colonial regulations: they fend it with profufion into our colonics; the journals in their pay, or under their influence, publifh this declaration in the midft of our gangs; the writings of the Amis des Noirs openly announce, that the freedom of the negroes is proclaimed by the declaration of rights. The decree of the 8th of March* feemed calculated to check thefe d-fterate plots, but can the Amis des Noirs reverence any law but thofe oaths by which they are bound together, and that vow which they have formed to carry fue and fword into our habitations? If a law be favourable to their theories, they adopt, they promulgate, they * A recrée, which left internal regulations, for the moft part, under control of the colonial le£inatures- ' interpret,

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--f fà # 13 interpret, that law. If repugnant, they mifconftrue, difavow, infult, it, without fhame; they endeavour to degrade the authority on which it is founded. The planters, merchants, and men enlightened enough not to be the dupes of their falfities, are indijcriminatdy the objects of their abufe It is net enough that they have made themfelves the arbiters of our property and our peace, they affumc oner us a jupremacy of defamation; nor moy W, de- fend ourfielves, and ftr'tve to parry their bloivs, without uncbrgoing a tor- rent of their low fcurrility. Thus, prejudicing againfl us the public opi- nion, Jhutting up from its the channels of defence, they undermine in fiecu- ¦ity the rock on which our poffeffions. are placed; they furround it with ' fifares, and our rvjn mvfl follow ! ¦When it was found that they had vainly flattered th:mfe!ves with ob- taining from the National Affembly the emancipation of cur flaves, they attempted tp iptroduce diffention among us, by perfuading that Affembly to take on itfelf to d.feufs the queftion of the People "of Co- lour. We had demanded that we fhould ourfelves make if laws upon this fubjeil, winch require great delicacy and prudence in their applica- tion. We had pledged ourfelves that thofe laws ihould be juft and hu- mane. J But, that boon, which, then granted by the white planters, would have eternally cemented the ties of affection and benevoience exift- ing between thofe low claffes of men, is prefented to them, by the Amis des Noirs, as an offering of vanity, and a means of avoiding equi- table ftipulations. Other meafures were tried to gain their point : they olleded toge- ther at Paris fome people of colour ; they extolled their underftand- ings ; they invited them to unite their caufe with that of the negroes. Thefe men palled over to M Domingo, in the fort of delirium occa- floned by fuch doctrine ; they communicated to the flaves thofe hope? wish which they had been amufed; they were loaded with libels and pa.'nphlets, which encouraged the men of colour and the flaves to a o-e- neral mftirrection, and fo a,general maffacre of the whites. Ogé was the firft vidtim of this fatal error; one of his brothers, mif- led by him, declared, the 9th of March, in his death-bed teftimony, that, had not the fwelling of the rivers prevented the jundion of the confpimtors, eleven thoufand rebel negroes were ready to pour down upon the Cape fo early as the month of February, and to caufe the devaftation winch took place only the 23d of Auguft. He named the ring-leaders, gave particulars of the confpiracy, and offered proof. It was the voice of his confe-fence which fPo!ce out at that moment, the {aft that remained to him'for difcoveringthe truth. In the midft of" this fermentation, in this general delirium, while the whites were agitated by diftruft and terror, and while the negroes were indulging themfelves in a thoufand fatal dreams, was the dif. cuiiion of the decree of the 15th of May agitated amono- you.* A inoai of writings, previous and fubfequent, have been effeminated among our gangs. There have been read, and commented upon, f March! <JeCr<!e W3S fjimei °" i ?^8 dire4lly 0W&* *° à * »f tlie «ecfce ?f *e Sth thou

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14 thofe terrible words! thofe words, the fignal of blood and confla- gration ! T> /- 45 Perish the Colonies, f It was then that a Minifter of the Gofpel of Peace, in a letter, ad- dreffed to his brethren, the Men of Colour, announced to our flaves that foon flxiuld the fun finne on none but freemen !% Could the negroes, affailed by fo many temptations, worked upon by fo many man uvres, ftimulated by libels, written in cha- racters of blood, read at evenings in their huts, in the midft of affem- blies of their chiefs, by men breathing only diforder and pillage : Could they long refift the vertigo with-which they were ftricken ? All memory of the kindnefs of their mafters was erafed from their minds; a defire of novelty was all they felt; they became the apt in- ftruments of thofe men, inveterately malevolent, who have greedily feized, in the writings of the Amis des Noirs and in the interpretation of decrees, fuch arms as were beft fuited to lead the way to infur- recfion. Is our meafure of misfortune fufficiently full, that we may hope at laft to have the truth no more difguifed? Have we a valid claim, to the retribution of the laws, without waiting thefe proofs, which uhift refolt from the proceedings now on-foot at St. Domingo, and which will be tranfmitted to us ? The fatal influence of the authors of fo f The words ufed by M. Robertfpicrre, in the National Affembly, when attempting to prove that the declaration of rights implied an enfranchifement of all the negroes in the co- lonies. " Let the colonies perifh," {aid he, "rather than one of our principles .'" His fpecch was printed; and, with many other writings of fimilar tendency, was difieminated in St. Do- mingo. Videappendix(E.) J This is theexpreffion of the Abbé Grégoire, the mofl zealous and aSive of the fociety of the Amis des Noirs. M. Baillio, in the. pamphlet before quoted, fays : " He is looked upon ". at the Cape in the light he deferves, and it is upon him the refentment of the planters " particularly falls."__" In one of his writings he feems to foretel the ruin of the colonies, of " the maritiir.e towns, and manufacT:.-ries, in conféquence of an emancipation of the negroes. " Unworthy mortals, exclaims this holy man," « Eat graft, and be juft.' « Hear tn& ye « induftrious planters, ye numerous fLamen, inhabitants of the fea-ports, cultivators, Bfcuiu- " faOurers, all ye four millions of Frenchmen who direBly and Indirectly live and prifper " by the rich produaions of the colonies !" ' Eat grafs ! ' " So prays the pious Abbe Gré- « goire___Foulon, the deteftable Foulon, wifhed alfo that the people of Paris might live upon " bay, and therefore was his hideous head borne upon a pike. The juftice of the colonifts " has hitherto on'y emblematically overtaken the abbé. He was hanged in effigy, before the « poft-office at Cape François, in July laft." Baillio, Mot de Vérité, pages 8, 9. " Many of the mulattoes had eftablilhed a correfpondence with confiderable perfons in France ^ from fome of w'^om, particularly the Abbé Grégoire, letters of a very extraordinary tendency were received and dijtributed through the colony. In one of thefe letters, after promifing pro- tection and fupporr, the abbé declares, that " the day will fon come when the fun pall fame « upon free people only." " The beams of the morning," fays he, "fhall no longer give " light to the fetters of fiavery." Thefe and fimilar gçrcffions were exaggerated into one point : that the King had given freedom to all the flaves in it. Domingo ; and the Abbe Grégoire, to whole good off ces this benevolence was imputed, was immediately confidered as the patron of all the mulattoes and negroes in the ifland : It is no wonder, therefore, that, conhdenng tneir mafters uniuftly to withhold from them thofe privileges which they believed were granted them in France, they determined to do juftice to themfelves by murdering their oppreliors. The above conieQure is confirmed by the following circumftance : ...... « In the fiift of the engagements, one of the chiefs of the rebels being killed, there was found about his neck a medal of San Gregorio, a Saint in the Romifli calendar ; and it apP«red "» evidence that this medal was worn by the negro as the portait of his patron, Uie abl>e ._ u e fimilarity of the name giving countenance to the conceit. An .mpreflioaof this medal is sow in the poffeffionof B. E. Bfq. It has this defcription : .am gregorio magno, p. m. Particulars of the hfurrcciicn it: ft. Do,nin(o, printed m the Jamaica m-ws-pafeis, ftr obvious rcafons fupprejfed in that ifland. -.¦¦¦'¦. but

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r 15 many calamities, is it not already evidently proved by the whole of their tranfadtions and by their criminal wrhings ? Can it be doubted, at this time, that our ruin is their work? And fhall France ftill reftrain the cry of indignation, due to the guilt of our enemies? Flattered with hopes that misfortunes like ours would find confola- tion in the bofom of the mother-country, that, on our arrival in the capital, where we haye at leaft a claim to pity, the hearts of our fellow-citizens would be open to our complaints, we find ourfelves preceded by calumny! They, who have made light of our properties and our blood, reckoned upon being objects of our bitter reproaches, and have endeavoured to anticipate them. SIcilled in the arts of defa- ' mation, which are habitual to them, after having rendered us the vic- tims of their machinations, it remained to caft upon us the reproach and the fhame. With a cruelty, equalled only by their difregard for probability, they have dared to fabricate and to report, that our confti- tuents were themfelves the contrivers of their own afflictions ! they have dared to affirm, that the abfurd and barbarous project of effecting a Counter-Revolution was the objecb, to which they have facrificed their properties, their.families, their lives! They have dared to fay Jthat we wiihed to offer ourlelves to Great-Britain ! ' In return, we wiil aik of you, Sirs, with the boldnefs of Freemen and of French Citizens, ; for, after all, we too are Frenchmen and Citizens,) we will afk of you, whether it be permitted to any fet of men, of any nation upon earth, to infult, with fuch effrontery, thofe whom they have injured! What ! We place fire and fword in the hands of our negroes ! We . light the torch that has deftroyed our plantations ! wTiharpen the daggers that have affaffmated our brethren and our friends! We prompt the brutal pafhons of which our females have been the haplefs ¦icTims ! We kindle in our country the volcano which has already co- fered it with allies, and which perhaps will reduce it to nothih ! '-. Thefe defolators, calling themfelves patriots, accufe us of having lotted a counter-revolution. They are then uninformed, that, from the earheft days of the Revolution, it has had our veneration; and lat, as being more expofed under a defpotic government to oppreffion, e have, with greater ardour, fprung towards liberty. Our moft re- eiit tranfaffions feftify in our favour. Is it the a£f of a counter-re- volutionift to have declared, in conftituting our Affembly, that «We" would, protejt with all the power of the law and of public opinion, the recovery cf the debts due to the mother-country ? Is it the aft of a counter-revolutionift to have there recorded, that to the National AfTem- -ly belongs toe right of injliming our political and commercial reVala- . nns ? ¦ ù Is it the aft of a counter-revolutionift to have written to the repre- mtatives of the nation, while the grave was opening beneath our feet, >a\ our lajtfigh and our laft vow fhould be for our country?* he IclZlTZthl Z^fl ^1 ^ufe has produced our calamities : ycu ought fuffieiently ,. laft eves 'fhall he ' '.' a you will learn from us is, that, if we muft perifh, our 'V a 1UJ r awards France-our laft wilhes lhall be for her." F.ftT' Vt ffetionai Affinity, h "=c members of the General Af-mbly of the Frtncbf,art of St. Domingo. JP. Dz Cahusch, frefiUnt. Had

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i6 Had we been counter-revo'utioniits, is it to the National Affembly we fhould have addreffed fuch fentiments ? It is afferted, it is printed and published, that we wifhed to offer ourfelves to Great Britain. Our reply to this falfehood is very fhi- ple., it is written in every page of our verbal procefs. There we have manifefted our principles, and, we can fafely affirm, the full perfor- mance of our duty. But we will go yet farther : permit us an hypothefis, which our fitua- tion, Angular in the recoids of hiftory, authorifes us to ftate. At the moment of the infurrection breaking out, all the inhabitants cf the town of the Cape were anxious to difcover the caufe of an event fo horrible. A journalift had printed the decrees of the 13th and 15th of May laft, with the fpecch of M. Monneron, deputy of the ITe of France. The firft depofitions ftated, that thefe papers, with all thofe of the pre- tended philanthropifts, were read and commented upon, by a mu- latto upon Normand's plantation, in the nocturnal affemblies where the negro-drivers met, who are now the ring-leaders of the rebels. We learnt that the town of the Cape was to be included in the con- flagration, and that within that town were lurking thofe who were? to fet it on fire and maiTacre all its inhabitants. Immediately a cry or) rage and defpair arofe on all fides. The philanthropifts, France itfelf, were accufed of this dreadful plot: diffra&idn and fury were impreffed on every countenance ; every heart was in agitation; everything me- naced a'horrible butchery, a general confufion. Already the report of mufquets was heard ! Negroes and mulattoes received their contents at the very door of the General Affembly. Some affirmed a white cockade, fome loudly called for the protection of the Fnglifh, fome affu- med a black cockade. Thofe words, The Nation, i'.f Law, and the Kin?, difappeared from the hall which was preparing for the Genera' Aflemblyj' a hand, bewildered by rage, obliterated them. Exclama-- rions were heard, that the government at home had yielded us to tj» murderer's fword, to the torch of incendiaries ! that, in fhort, they had delivered us over to every human crime in one day, believed to be the laft of the colony ! Furious voices blafphemed againfl: a country, to whom they were indebted not for their protection but their death! -, . , In the midft of this frenzy, of which no power could reprefs the firft effufion, tlie General Affembly was yet attentive to meafures of fecurity. The moments were precious. A proclamation was^ifiued, forbidding, under pain of death, any one to take away another's life. Four of the members made it public even whilft it was writing. 1 hefe commiffioners carried it from place to place ; and met, in every pWe, mobs, and fhouts, and even infults ; but they fucceeded in favmg this mulattoes, who, being accufed, would otherwife have been maflacred; and their care and their intreaties fufpended the fury of the people. \The remaining part in our next. The original French may be had.at the European Magazine Warehoufe, No. 32, Cornhill; and another interefling Jratl on th:s fubjeel, intitled Sur les Troubles des_ Glonm, et l'unique Moyen d'affurer la Tranquillité, la Profpérité, et la Fvlefh V . ces Dépendances de l'Empire, en Réfutation des deux Difcours de OU Brifjot des 1er et yr.e Décembre, 1791, par M. Dumonierf

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si C *7 Concludedfrom our laft." A new alarm was fuggefted. The General Affembly was accufed Of participating in the crime of the people of colour, and was. threat- teried. Its courage remained unabated, The mulattoes offered to arm themfelves for~the common defence, and to leave as hoftages their wives and children. The Affembly ventured to arm them, and, uni- ting ihem with the foldiers of the régiment of the Cape, thus convert- ed Tnto defenders thofe who had been nearly facrificed as enemies. At this violent crifis, which betokened a fubverfion of all things? had us tniS VlOieilL CUll!) WU1U1 ui,iun.^iiv>. .. .----------------------------------------o ing way to impreffions fo calculated to infpire terror, we h; meed its effeils; if, like thofe who furrounded and threatened 1 if, givir experienced .. at that moment, we had regarded our country in no other light than as the caufe of our misfortunes ; if we had called in a foreign power to inarch the colonifts from their butchers, to fave their properties, to preferve the very credit of the metropolis? Where is that man, having a confeience, who would have dared to condemn us? Yet were we flill Frenchmen ! And fhall wf, after this, be reduced to the abjedt neceflity of juftifying ourfelves from the reproach of having aimed at independence? Let them examine all our adts: if there be a fingle one that tends to loofhn us from thofe indiffoluble ties which ¦attach us to the empire ; our head? are here to fuffer the punifhment due to fuch perfidy. We know that fori e captains of fhips, whole vanity has been wounded becaufe their inhumanity was made public, have been ready to join the Amis des Noirs in finding us guilty; but the groans of dejected commerce, feeling for our calamities and for their confequences, {hall teach them their error; and that, Ihould they fucceed in rendering us odious by their calumnies, they will them- felves have, ere'o g, to lament their fuccefs. True, we have afked, we glory in having afked, (for, it was the duty of men invefted with a truft by their fellow-citizens,) affiftance from all who furrounded us ! That affiftance we implored in concert with the Governor-General, and therefore, as Frenchmen and as men, and fince, without diftindtion, we applied at the fane time to three different nations, we have fufficientlv proved that our folicitations, the dictates of misfortune, could cover no project inimical to the mother- country. Who, indeed, will dare accule' us tor having had recourfe to the Englifh of Jamaica, fince trie National liembSy then inform- ed of our calamities and of our dangers only by imperfect reports) thought fit, of itfelf, to exprefs the national gratitude to that generous people !* But even, Sirs, had we called in the Englifh,, not to lend us affif- tance but to govern us, to whom ought the guiit 10 be imputed? Place, for a moment, in our fituation, that department of the fcingd m which you believe to be the moft patriotic, the moit proud oi the appellation of Frenchmen; fuppofe that the lowers of (edition had -furred up, in its bofom, fervants againfl mafters banditti againft poffefl'ors of property; that a hundred times the peaceable inhabi- tants had lenionitrated againft fucn practices with no return but con- * Vide appendix (C.) B tempt 3

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i8 1 tempt -, that, fo far from receiving fuccour from the mother-countryV all that iflued from its bofom feemed to teem with the feeds of re- volt that already the houfes and properties of a multitude of citizens had fallen a prey to the difturbances; that they had feen the moft abominable murders committed under their eyes; that they were hopelefs of proteaionv if, at fuch a time, fo deft i tu te and abandon- ed, thefe haplefs citizens fhould have indulged an idea of forming new Eonnedions and of imploring the affiftance of another country ; - To whom think you, Sirs, ought the reproach to be made ? lo wretches, bewildered bv defpair? or to the mifcreants, who took pleafure in wearing out'their patience, and in breaking afunder the deareit and moft facred ties by an excefs of mifery ? We know our duty. Sirs, and we love it ; but we know too and boldly claim our rights. We dedicate, to the profperity of the mother-country, the entire produce of our labours. She owes us protection againft foreign force; fhe mes us the fecurity of our properties and peace againft the plots of the turbulent. . . . , It is now proved that the influence of the Amis des Noirs Is fatal to the colonies.* Let them weave what fophifms they pleafe,_they cannot hide the evidence of our calamities. There is not an unprejudiced man exiftin* who can doubt, that their labours, their declamations, their writings, their infamous emiffaries, have been the adive, perfevenng, caufe, which, for two years paft, has paved the way for our ruin, and which at length has fucceeded. ./-«* ,. * France owes us protean; but her ftrength will be inefficient to give us confidence, while fhe fuffers the contrivers of our revolts and maflacres to lurk in her bofom. She owes us protean; but in vain would fhe render it effeftive, if fuch attempts are to-remain unpunifhed; that, which ought to dit- grace our enemies, affords them matter of triumph and exultation. g She owes us proton ; but to what end her fleets and her armies if fhe permit that feditious writings fhould mceffantly fcatterxn our houfes the feeds of every trouble ! if fhe permit us to be preffed down to the earth with humiliations ! and if to encompafs us with murder and Sth blood become, in the eyes of the country to whom we facn-fke curfelves, the road to glory and to fame ! * The fociety of the Amis des Noirs has beer^ery anxious «?*^*£fe$^ the expence pf every thing, _wh.«h undor,myf gf £««£ f he h;tes », the men fervation, it has been mduftnoufly fpread abroad, that theMnjufhce ot t occafloned ,Jy f colour has been the fole caufe ot this inlur *»*£°«'h^Ub ^ £ various contradictory decree.,, fome exemng, « « «P ?-'*\ *££ But t0 whom U it colour, has had its fhare in bringing this "lamitou, bufinefs t^ a c , ^ rf #wingthat the National Affembly took at any * l \^%knmhn, 0f the moft vio- framing their own mternal regulations ? To the fe'h^n/0^ the men of colour been fud- lent of the Amis des Noirs. By whom have the F^0 °f c f prejudices, and of den!y elevated to an extravagant height, fubverfiveot al. «^ » \ %& Abbé këgoïre the harmony of the colon, r By the Am, *£»>£>£ ^ ?h J levelling doftrines tend, in hi. famous circular letters. A?j'^f^^io.flydiffeminated inrhecolonies, but which the writings of the Amis des Noirsfiffl^mou y ^ ^ ^^ fe-ft to fet the whites and the men of colour by the ears, and tne ΫU, of aninWtipn «f the flavor See appcnUixiA,) (fi-H^^ ^ Fo-rgive-, «kH

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r ? 3 Forgive, Sirs, the- warmth of our language. So many calatnitie « , have given us a privilege to fpeak out. Grief) bitter grief, is at our hearts! _ A hundred times_ have we foretold the evils of which we are ihe victims a hundred times have we imprecated the public ven-* geanceon the hateful man uvres of thofe men, who convulfe our coun- try Under the mafk'-of humanity : We have obtained no tedrefs! Oh! may the dreadful cataftrophej of which we havefketched to you the picture, ferve as a leffon for futurity, and preferve, from like calami- ties, all thofe of our fellow-citizens to whofe lot they have not yet fallen ! It is to your fteadincfs, in ptinifhing the authors of bur difafters, and in checking their new.efforts, that the Weftern and Southern'pro- vinces have to look for their fecurity. As for the, Northern province, its 1 pile s are irreparable. Immenfe capitals are funk; the reftoration of its induftry requires fitch an ad^ vance of funds as the merchants and proprietors cannot wholly ac^ complifh. We fpeak not to you of individuals, but you.will examine, Sirs, what, on your part, is required by the intereft of the colony and that of the nation. ._,-, , Representatives of tUe people of France, ybu have îieard a recital of the greateft calamity that has vifited the human race in the courfe of the eighteenth century. . . You have heard the complaint of the firft Colony in the world- of.à Colony neceffary to the exiftence of that nation whofe concerns arc placed in your hands.* That colony wifhes to intereft you only by its feelings and its fufferings !......, It demands, from you, Justice, Safety, Succour! Signed^ j. B. MILLET» COUGNACQ M ION. SAINTE-JAMES. CHENEAU de la MEGRIERE» fc LA-GOURGUE, LE BUCQUET. REPLY of the PRESIDENT. _ TO love our country is a fource of heart-fat fâtisfa&ion ' To ferve A in time of diftrefs is the firft of civic virtues, and it is yours I 7'he calamjt.es of the colony are dreadful ! The National Aflimbly views them with horror, with indignation, with grief! You afk its Tus ttice ; that is due from it to all the citizens of the empire. Its Pro Tection; that is due to your courage, your patriotifm, yourmisfor^ tunes j its Succour ; that it is already occupied in providing. It will give your application its moft ferkms attention* and invites voia to toe honours of the fefliOn. yw * S*C appendix (fit) an« (E.J B 2 Reply

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t ao 3 REPLY of the DEPUTIES of ST. DOMINGO to the CHARGES of M. BRISSOT. Addreffed, on the $th of December, to the Préfident of the National Affembly.* Mr. President, . AT the bar of the National Affembly we have pointed out the fo- ciety of the Amis des Noirs as the inftigators of the troubles in St. Do- minée No candid and well-informed man can doubt the fadt. Yet M. Briffot, one of the members of that fociety which has been incef- fantly bufied in the ruin of the colonies, dares accufe us of having our- felves excited the infurredlion of our flaves, that we might call in a foreign power to our aid and protedtion ; and, as if the trealon exifted and was proved, he two days ago moved that the General Affembly of St Domingo fhould be fummoned before the Supreme National Court. Incumbered by the weight of thofe evils which he has brought upon his country, he feeks to divert the public attention from himfelf; he would intereft the representatives of the Nation in his perfonal defence; he hopes to miflead the juftice of the National Affembly, that he may ftielter himfelf from its decrees. We challenge him, Mr. Préfident, to exhibit his proofs. We intreat the National Affembly to require them. And as for us, intrufied by a great colony with the duty of profecutmg its vengeance, we will bring forward, upon the queftion, fuch an accu- mulation of evidence as fhall leave neither to the public opinion nor to. the fentence of the law any room to hefitate in diftinguifhing the guilty. We are, refpedtfully, Mr. President, #* Your, &c. Signed, J. B. MILLET, COUGNACQ.MION. ' SAINTE-JAMES. CHENAU de la MEGRIERE. LA-GOURGUE. LE BUCQUET. ft» * This letter was, ont he morning of the 5th of December, delivered by two of the deputies thrpTefidenti the fecretary, who had his order, to lay it before the aiiembiy, thought pro- to the prefideni . jer to defer its reading tot he next day APPEN-

page 21-30 28 0021

!-¦¦¦ t « 3 APPENDIX. 'X (A.) Extracts from the Addrefs of the St. Domingo Planters, affembled at Paris, to the King, Dec. II, 1791. ON the firft report of our calamities, France has feen thofe men, whofe philofophy is a dagger and whofe virtue is a flaming torch, fettino- their writers and their clubs to work to counteradt that lmprei- fion of pity which our fituation was calculated to infpire; and, at the very moment of the accomplifhment of their prophetic vow, « Perifh the Colonies rather than our Principles!" M. Condorcet pubhfhed, in his Journal, " that the accounts were fabricated, and had no other objecl « than to create, to the king of the French, an empire beyond the fias, in « which there fiiould be mafiers and in which there fhould be flaves." When the news was confirmed, when the manufacturers, the fea- men, fliip-owners, and the whole commercial body of the kingdom, dis- covered their alarm, the anti-focial fe£ (through its organ, Mr. Briffot) exclaimed, that the blood of our brethren, and the afhes of our habi- tations, covered a crime of high treafon; and this friend of humanity propofed to fummon, before the High National Court, whatever rem- nant of the planters fhould be left unmurdered by the negroes. Thefe horrid propofals were agitated, difcuffed, in the National Affembly. Perhaps it was the firft time that a civilized people have fuffered, in a legal form, the impious affault of guilt againft misfor- tune, iti n.-e The contempt, confequent on fuch charges, obliged them to inift their~ground. The colonial regulations are inimical to their levelling; fyftem. Sworn enemies are they to all great property: for, they fpurn, they perfecute, they would annihilate, all wealth and all au- thority in which they cannot participate. Their hypocrify would pre- ferve facred the rights only of that multitude of which they are the defpots. Therefore the people of colour, in the colonies, were, for them, fit inftruments, into whofe hands they muft put arms, and they have fucceeded ! ¦ 7 Such, Sire, is the orisrin of our calamities. It is rendered obvious by fucceflive fadts, from the firft infurreftion of the mulatto Ogé, to the devaftation of the plain of the Cape plotted by the accomplices. of Ogé, B3 ¦<* )

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t *2 3 (B.) Xi Extrait from an Addrefi of the fame Planters to the National Affembly, IT is abfurd to believe, that thofe, who have tried every means to abolifh flavery and the flave-trade, have a fingle meafure to propofé, friendly in its nature, to thofe very colonies which cannot fubfift with- out fiavery and the flave-trade. ' ' It is abfurd to believe, that thofe, who declare themfelves enemies of thé 'white planters becaufe they have hegro-flàves, fhould have taken up the caufe of the people of colour, vyho alfi have negro-flaves, for any other purpofe than that of fetting the whites and the people of co- lour together by the ears, of making them cut one another's throats, in order to fecure the freedom of the negroes, who would remain fole mafters of the territory. Thefe are the beneficent projects of thefs friends of humanity ! .' (C.) Extraa from the Journal of the Colonial Affembly of the French Part of Hifpaniola, Sept. ib, 1791. THE committee, appointed to repair on-board the Englifh frigate, reported, « That-Cpmmodore Affleck, and Bryan Edwards, Efq. « member of the Jamaica Affembly, attended to be preiented; who were accordingly admitted, in company with the Governor-General; wb freupoh' the Préfident addreffed them as fellows: J (« We were not miftaken, Gentlemen, when we placed our con- « fidcrtcein your generofity; but wecoyld hardly entertain^the hopes, « that, befides fending us fuccours, you would come 111 perfontogive « us confection. You bave quitted, without reliance, the peace- « ful enjoyment of happinefs at home, to come and Parnate: m our « mbfoitunes and blend your tears with ours. Scenes of wfery (the « contemplation of which, to thofe who are unaccuftomed to,m sfor- « tune, is commonly difgufting) have not fuppreffed your feelings. « S live ù4e* Certain the full extent of our d.ftrefles» ** and to pour into ourVounds the falutary balm of your ienfibrhty 8 ? fj£ '^S which I have drawn of our calamities is frill far fhort * f Thaï verdure, with which our fields were lately arrayed is no «¦Jongerviuble; difcoloured by the flames, and laid wafte bj ^ « devafUtions of war, our f oajU «=xbhU no profped but that of h *- iâm

ror*

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n 3 « tot.. The emblems which we wear on our perfons* are the tokens " of .our grief for the lofs of our brethren, who were furprifed, and « bafely affaffinated, by the revolters. " It is by the light of thefe conflagrations, that every way furround " us, that we now deliberate; we are compelled to fit armed and « watchful, through the night, to keep the enemy from our fandui- " ary. For a long time paft our bofoms have been depreffed by for- " row; they experience this day, for the firft time, the fweet emo- u tions of pleafure, in beholding you among us. -" Generous iflanders! humanity has operated powerfully on your "hearts; you have yielded 10 tlie firft emotion of your generofity, * in the hopes -of fnatching us from death; for, it is already too late K to fave us from mifery. What a contraft between your conduct " and that of other nations ! We will avail ourfelves of your bene- " violence: but the days you preferve to us will not be fufficient to ma- " nifeft our gratitude : Our children fhall keep it in remembrance. " Regenerated France, unapprifed that fuch calamities might be- " fal us, has taken no meafures to protect us againft their effects : " with what admiration will fhe learn, that, without your affiftance, " we fhould no longer exift as a dependency to any nation. " The Commiffioner, deputed by us to the ifland of Jamaica, has <c informed us of your exertions to ferve us. Receive the affurancs " of our attachment and fenfibility. " The Governor-general of this ifland, whofe fentiments perfectly ** accord with our own, and who is ftrongly attached to the inte- " refts of this country, participates equally in the joy we feel at your " prefence and in our gratitude for the affiftance you have brought 44 us." (D.) Extract from the Addrefs of the Merchants find Iraders of Amiens to the National Affembly, Dec. 10, 1791.

THE freedom of the negroes in the Weft-Indies, fo eagerly defired by the fociety of the Amis des Noirs, has fubmitted, to public enquiry, a queftion of too much importance, at this time, to be regarded with indifference. This queftion, fo clofely connected with the commer- cial interefts of Europe, has divided opinions and formed parties. In the eye of reafon, both experience and policy unite in dictating, that we fhould abide by the cuftomary regulations; meliorating, if it be yet poffible, the lot of the negroes. >'.i * The Affembly apprared in white dreffes, with black filk falhes. The rewere upwards o two hundred members prefent. B 4 T**

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24 The pretended philanthropifts, not having fuccefeded In eftablifh. in°- anarchy by means of an unqualified emranchifement of the ne- gro-s have direded their attention %o the men of colour, whom time would naturally have conduded to all the lights of other citizens. _ We draw the veil over fcenes of horror, tlie bare recital of which has made you fhudder. We leave to journflifts, for the moft part coldly felfifh or irrationally enthufiaftic, to reafon over them in their manner. Let them tell us that France, to be profperous, needs no co- lonies; that the lofs of fugar and coffee is an evil only to wealthy perfons who confume them, 1 hefe are not arguments that wdl per- fuade the patriotic -citizen, flill lefs the enlightened merchant. Let fads convince us, that France owes her fplendour only to her colo- nies; and that, in the prefent ftate ot the European nations, i ranee, without her colonies, cannqt be fupported. It is needlefs, Sirs, to fix your attention upon the nature ot the French commerce, but, perhaps, it may be neceffary to examine what is the bafts'of its commercial induftry; an object fo. important, that it is the principle of our immenfe population. The Greater part of our manufactories are nounfhed by raw mate, rials imported, and which we muft purchafe from foreigners; and what have we, of the produce of our foil or of the fruits of our induf- 2 to give them in return ? Before the eftablLnment of our manu, Ïàaoricl which bave fo prodigioufly augmented the number of con, fume's, it was politic to export corn, but we now hnd, by experience, IrTatobections to an export of that article. There remain then Srwîn, brandies, fome fruits, a little dried fifli, fome cattle, and fall; we have alfo to offer them linens, fiiks, woollens, cottons, and mill'enerv and haberdafhery wares. AhhoU thefe differeni! manufactories occafion a confiderable ex. port to foreign nations, their amount does not form a çompenfat.on For thVraw° materials, drugs, and dye fluffs, winch we are com. Sled to take from them. Other riches become neceffary in order £ pay for the furplus and to give a balance advantageous to France. Thrfp riches our colonies fupply. . . France received annu% from her American colonies about ,00000 000 value in their produce, of which about one half was exported It is hy this value^hat we pay for thole materials, wh:ch Ire the fû-poit of our manufactures, and for other articles, whether o7\ xuryorS neceflity; and, by this value, there accrued to France a balance of *r>de amounting to between 40 and 50,000,000 of livres. What becomes of this balance, what becomes of the kingdom, n JS hefeZ aluable pofleflions? Should that lofs happen from our ^1 we have to anfwer to our brethren, rendent m the colonies Uf\ I £ the mother-country for protecbon; we have to anfwer to P;7s, v.-bofe bands = employed b, the coUm.es, ot by thofe con >-l frc (£ ) Ito

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t M 3 (E,) rx

Extrait of the Speech of M. Roustan, in the National Affembly, Dec, 10, 1791. (Ne was deputed, by the Colony of St. Domingo, t» aft: Succours of the American States.) BUT, Sirs, by what fatality are all our meafures to be confidered as fufpicious? By what fatality are we reduced to our j unification ? We, that are the vidlims, whilft the charges of our enemies, I might fay of our executioners, are looked upon as indifputable truths! By what right does M. Briffot,* and thofe other members of the National Affembly, who are ignorant of the internal regulation which is fuita- ble to our own colonies, becaufe that regulation depends on locali- ties that can be known only to the inhabitants, permit themfelves to load us with abufe ? Whence comes it that, when we require them to bring proof of what they affert, the National Affembly, which has pro- mifed us juftice, fhould not compel them to their own vindication^ whilft we, on our parts, offer proof of all we have affirmed? To what an excefs of defpair fhall we not reduce our haplefs con- ftituents, when we relate to them, as we muft, all that has paffed during the difcuflion of their dreadful fituation ! What confidence will they derive from a journalift, member of the National Affembly, who piiblifhes, (1 quote his own expreflion,) that thofe celebrated words, " Perifh the Colonies rather than we fhould facrifice a Princi- P pie have been pronounced in vain from the tribunal of the Conftituent /" Affembly." Pronounced in vain ! then it is the wifh, the prayer, of M. Condorcet, that thefe words had not been a fruitlefs ineffectual decla- mation. Pronounced in vain! Then he would have had pleafure in feeing a maffacre of 50,000 Frenchmen, 20,000 mulattoes, and 500,000 negroes, in the colony of St. Domingo only, rather than have facrificed what he calls a principle. I fhould conceive myfelf to be wounding the delicacy of the National Affembly, fhould I attempt %q prove all the horrors thefe dreadful words convey ! (F-)

¦ Extracts from the Speech of Mr. Bertrand, Marine Minifler of France, in the National Affembly, Dec. 19, 1791. I HAVE explained to you, Sirs, the meafures taken by the king, for affording relief to the inhabitants of St. Domingo, fo foon as * M. Rouftan no focner mentioned the name of M. Briffot than there was a great clamour ?n the Affembly. Seyeral members exclaimed, " To prilbn with him J'' their

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I 26 tfeeir calamity and danger were made known to his majefty : inade- quate, doubtlefs, of themfelves, their fuccefs depends wholly on «heir promptitude, and on the affurance that they fhall be followed by others more effedtive. But, previous to thefe being determined upon, it was fitting we fhould know the true caufes of the *--- bks which have led to this terrible cataftrophe. I have m means of difcovering them, becaufe by fuch difcovery ah be diredled in the application of thofe meafures which are its return. Some accufe the Colonifts of wifhing to furrender th the Englifh, &c. &c* - Others, on the contrary, fee no other caufe of their r but in the incendiary writings, diffeminated in the Colon view to ftir the negroes to revolt ; in the correfpondence r for fome time paft, between the people of colour and a fociety called Philanthropifts ; founded, fay they, upon a fyftem, deftruaive of all colonial property, and whofe origin and principles are thus fta- £ed. . \ It is eafy to conceive, that a free people, always worthy of being £0, mutt have felt an alloy to its enjoyment of colonial eftablifh- jmentl from the circumftance of their being founded on fiavery. This fentiment of a generous and humane nation (certainly efti- mable, however juft or well founded) was fure to gain ground, and a milder treatment of our negroes was its natural refult. But the philofophie fpirit, fo prevalent in France, aimed at farther conquefls, and has been employed inftrengthening, with all the force ©f argument, the theory of a fentiment, which, perhaps, might have been more prudently left to its own operations. According to its doctrines, the Colonies, thofe poffeflions for which humanity has been wounded and juftice fet afide, have not that valifl which cupidity has affixed to them, but are ruinous to the deluded mother-country. The pofiibility of replacing them by fettlements more contiguous, and under a climate more fimilar to our own ; (that of Africa ©r the Mediterranean iflands for inftance ;) trie ne- ceflity there muft one day arife of refigning poffeflions fo diftant, in- habited by men whofe ingratitude and treachery there is reafon to forefee, &c. &c.' all thefe motives united-lead us to regard a volun- tary abandonment as no more than an anticipation of events inevi- table, with the advantage of a previous preparation and a provifion of more durable refources. Our wifer neighbours have made fim.lar calculations refpeding their North-American colonies, proving, by the fums expended in their defence, how burthenfome they have ^Although fuch calculations (natural enough by way of confcla- tion for having loft them) related only to the continental colonies, lefembline but in name the colonies of the American Archipelago, yet this difference did not ftrike every mind. Commercial policy ap- peared to fécond the dictates of humanity, and the number ot the * Thefe accufations have been omitted by the tranlktor, as being now generally difcredited. See Mr. Bertrand's own opinion of ih«n in the fubfeauent part of his lpeecn, Philanthropifts

'

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.' m ri. . t n 3 ste Philanthropifts was fwelled by all thofe, whofe fenfibility, in order to be excited, needed other ftimulatives than thofe of philanthropy itfelf. «' This is the fyftem, (fay the planters,) which has erroneoufly " and cruelly occafioned thofe bloodv fc<*nes of which we are the " vidtims. Follow, ftep by ftep, the proceedings and effects of " this profelyte-making zeal., which began by preaching an aboli- " tion of fiavery and unqualified liberty to our negroes ; which then " moderating its pretenfions, the better to graduate its progrefs, " afked only a fuppreflion of the trade; and which at laft, wich a f ' more plaufible and fecure aim, has feemed to confine its attention " to the elevation o£ the people of colour, the more effedrually to " wark our defbudtion. Will it not be deemed impoffible, that a fyftem, « affuming humanity as its bafts, fhould be capable of producing effetls fit " cruel? Has not the tnftory of thofe very climates furnifhed us with *'* a fadl, a reference to which cannot but do honour to the moft fcru- " puious philanthropift ? It is to the humane and pious Las Cazai «« that America owes her negroes ; touched with the evils which bis " ^-How-citizens inflicted upon the native Caribbs, he fought in " Africa for men already doomed to fiavery, who, without aggra- " vation of mifery and by a fimple exchange of fetters, under a «* climate fimilar to their own, might fupply the place of the Ame- " ricans, alike unfit for labour and for chains, if this pious miflio- *' nary was deceived by his humanity ; if, to fave from labour and " fiavery a remnant of the Caribbs, he has been the means of doom- " ing to that lot millions of Africans, let the modern philofophers, who cannot pretend purer motives, fee that they alfo fail not of their object. In their attempt, to put an end to the fiavery of the negroes, they may reduce to mifery five or fix millions of their White fellow-citizens, friends and brethren, and may overturn the ftrongeft pillars of the national profperity : nor will they do eftec- " tual good to thofe whom they wifh to fèrve. Without a concur- " rence of all the intereftea powers the Colonies have only to choofe " their protector, the flaves their mafter. Thefe laft may, indeed, " as they have lately too dreadfully proved, attempt to cut the f* throats of ourfelves, our wives, and children, and of all who are *' fet over them ; but it will be only that they may exchange one fer» " vitude for another."------- Sucftj Sirs, are the arguments advanced, in their turns, by the planters and their antagonifts. In my adminiftrative capacity, folely, have I endeavoured todifcriminate the caufes, whatever they may be, which have led the way to the troubles in St. Domingo, that I might the more effectually apply the means of prevention. As to the accufations, againft the Colonifts, of defigns to fubmk * themfelves to the Englifh ; to render themfelves independent ; to effedt a counter-revolution : I know nothing; I have found no- thing, in evidence, of projedls, fo culpable, extravagant, or ab- furd ! As to the accufaiion brought againft the partifans of the liberty of the I ilffds3 / canwt conceal that it appears much better founded- But, 0I1 ¦ ¦ whatever

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f 28 whatever be the caufe, where are we to look for the remedy of theft ^"7? How are we to prevent their repetition? * lhenrftand moft ufeful ftep is, doubtlefs, to become acquainted With our true interefts, and real commercial relation with the colo nies ; ftnee an ignorance of thefe principles has been the primary fource ¦cf our errors and of their calamities. ' J Wrt, l010"1^ confider our Colonies as fo many manpfaaories, efta- Dliuied at 1800 leagues diflance from the mother-country, and the mother-country herf.-lf as the moneyed firm, which has furnifhed tne expence of thefe eftablifhments of agriculture and induftry, whe- ther for their firft foundation, maintenance, or protection. Every member of the mother-country is a ftock holder in this important Speculation; to fhare the benefits of which, it is enough to have been born in France; and all French citizens, I repeat "it, all, are la- tere it ed in its fuccefs, though in different decrees : fome as farmers or proprietors of lands, which, in whole or in part, are cultivated to luppiy the wants of thefe diftant confumers, and who would be ruined without fo important a demand for their produce ; fome as embarked in various departments of induftry, wholly or partially occupied in Supplying the Colonies, and whofe produdtions without them would remain on hand; fome, again, as commercial people, navigators, coaitmg traders, &c. forming a third clafs, bulled in carrying on with the Colonies the connection of the other two. Whatever be our rank in this firm, whatever be the fum and nature of our fhares, from the laborious hufbandman to the lazy money-lender, from the induftrious maiiufadurer to the ufelefs ftock-jobber, from the adven- turous fpeculator to the cautious annuitant, all, yes, all, are inte- refted in the fate of thefe valuable eftablifhments, by whofe aid even Calumny herfelf (ells her poifon to a profit. Regulated and governed in whatever manner, thefe eftablifhments ftill keep their primitive character of an enterprife, in which? the mother-country has embarked, and of which fhe alone ought to reap the profit or the lofs. As to calculations of the fums thefe eftablifhments hare coft, fup- pofing them not exaggerated, how are we to appreciate, in gold or in figures, the advantages which refu/t to Europe from her Colonies ? Is it poflible we fhould be blind to the obvious increafe of our population I the only true criterion of national profpeiity, an infallible fio-n at once of the plenty of food and of the need of hands ; for, men mul- tiply where fubfiftence abounds and where labour invites. Can we fail to fee, that an obligation to fell their produce only to the mem- bers of the mother-country, and to buy of them alone every article they want, forms a double fource of riches, of which the meafure isimmenfe? In fhort, the Colonies take from us all they want at fuch prices as we pleafe to impofe ; they return us a fufficiency" of their valuable produce, not only to ferve the confumption of twenty- five millions of inhabitants, but to form a very great furplus, which fell with profit to the nations who have no Colonies of their we own. And fhall all thefe advantages be eftimated by a feries of fi gures, which, expreffing only the relations of quantity, are applica- ble to none but to material and inanimate objects X Obfeive3 *»* '.-¦¦ -. . - 1 '.-

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C 29 Obferve, Sirs, that the effba of fuch erroneous calculations, re- fn-aine our Colonies, muft neceffarily impofe a retrograde courfe unon the public fortune. It is not to moderate the fpeed, but to ftoP at once the motion, of this powerful wheel, that we are invited in an inftant, we are to condemn to inaaivity thofe millions of arms, which are now employed to move it : in an inftant, we are to cut all the threads, which condua us to fuch an .mmenfjty of wealth ! Eftimate, I befeech you, Sirs, the dreadful effects of fuch. a fudden feparation ! (G.) With the following Poftftript to Mr. de Blanchelande'* Letter, of the ¦20th of November, to the Minifter of Marine, (which is among the late ft authentic advices from St. Domingo,) the Tranfiator clofes this imperfect ftetch of the mifiries of the ncheft and moft important Cowny in the world. ¦ " THIS inftant I have received a Letter from the Municipality c-f Port au Prince, of which 1 fubjoin a copy.* The truth of its contents has been confirmed to me by Mr. Saule de baulmir. borne curfe from above has, I fear, been pronounced agamft this wretched Colony doomine it to entire deftrudtion ! Calamities of every descrip- tion are furely to fall to its lot ! A ray of hope, on the arrival of the Commiffioners fent by the National Affembly, feemed deftmed to fofren my anxieties and my pain : that momentary fatisfaaion is now cru- elly difturbed ; and the more fo as our fituation in the northern pro- vince and the exhaufted flate of our refources form obftacles to rhy wifhes of flying to the fuccour of the ravaged departments. But that would require fuperior forces, and fcarceiy have we fufficient to maintain a humiliating defence. If our brethren in Europe come not fpeedily to our fuccour, what will become of us !" * This letter rives an account of the burning of that rich and flourishing town on the sad of November. Tlie moft moderate eftimation makos the lois, fuftamed on that occafi^n, j 30,000,000 of livres. .if''-*.' Poftfcript by the Tranfiator. SINCE the above papers were publifhed in their prefent form I have feen a printed letter, addreffed to a member of parliament, and figned T. Clarkfon, the objedt of which is to remove, from the Amis des Noirs va. France, and, confequently, from their Englilh predeceffors in the fame career, (among whom Mr. Clarkfon fo confpicuoufly figures,) all imputation of having, in the moft diftant manner, occafioned the miurreftioii m St. Do- mingo, which he either lays at the door of the nature cf fiavery and the flave-trade, or attributes to circumitances attendant upon tue revoiution in France. THs

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i 30 ) ¦ Tfhis letter appeared, without iignature, fome time ago, in the MornW- Chronicle, where it has been ably replied to by a Writer who figns DeWr and another under the name of Philo-DeteSor. Indeed Mr. C. in ' meafure refutes himfe; for while he feeks to draw a parallel berWeerfS tt?JTÂVfnîhT 'f WWo:les' whether in the ancient world or in the VVefblndia iflands, he exprès fly tells us, from Mr. Long-, that-'all the mfurredtions, winch can be traced in the hiltorv of thofe iflands, were begun by theimported Africans and W by the créole, or ifiand-born, Ive '"' Now this finglefaft, well cohered, will lead us to a'vcry diff rem Con- cltifion from that whicn Mr. Clarkfon draws from it. Whoever hks Lten- pvclyperufed the preceding accounts will Be convinced,' that the infurreftW, m St. Domingo, manifeftmg itfelf in a different form and among a totï different deicripuon of perfons; cannot reafonably be imputed to the Ibne cauie which produced thofe former mfurreftions of which Mr C htX-' An event fb extraordinary muft be traced to fome origin equally extraordinary with itfelf Vpon Africans, newly imported, the inflammatory wr tinga and fpeeches of Enghfli or French fanades could have no influence the ferocity they brought with them from their own uncivilized country' and tneir own barbarous wars, muft have habitually difpbfed them to (burn & labour and to refill an authority, the nature and efrefts of which thev could not poffibly know. On the contrary, the Creole, or ifland-born.'ifcves, particularly thofe among them who were domefticated, and " moft kindly trim edby their mafters," were exaftly capable of receiving, though not of pm perly digefting, the poifon conveyed in our late doctrines. Many of them tan read, and fome few can write. It is notorious that they do read our journals and our pamphlets, and make them the fubjeét of their nightly lee tures to fuch of their brethren as affemblefor the purpofe of being inftructed ; Perfons of this defcription, as we have feen, though at no former time given to fedition, and certainly not incited by any recent grievances were " the foul of the infurreftion in St. Domingo." " It was they (andnot the lateh-im. ported Africans) ivbo delivered their humane mafters to the affajfin's fiword! It was they .-who feduced, and ftirred up to re-volt, the gangs difpofed to fidelity > It ivas they who mafifacred all that refufid to become their accomplices !" Arid hence arifes ftrong prefumptive evidence that the new ejfeijs fprang from\he new caufe; that an infurrection, more deep and deliberate in its plan, mite cxtenfive and atrocious in its execution, than any which preceded it, unlike them in its origin and all its circumftances, muft ftand connefted with thofe novel proceedings refpefting our iflands, the influence of which had been but too furely predicted by perfons beft acquainted with the charaâer of the negroes. And do not the abolitionifls themfelves confirm this preemption \ Are they not now anxious to difclaim their having aimed at the emancipation of the negroes? Witnefs the late advertifements from the Old Jewry; Mr. Wilberforce's declaration, on the 9th of March laft, in the Houfe of Com- mons ; the bold affertions of Mr. Clarkfon's defender, Scrutator, in the Morn- ing Chronicle; who tells us " the fociety for abolition have repeatedly denied that emancipation is their object:" witnefs, too, in France, Mr. Briffot's de- claration to Mr. Du Morier which, the latter reports, p. 37 of his printed fpeech, Sur les Troubles des Colonies; " that he had never thought of libera- ting the flaves.' that, during his refidence in Virginia, he was convinced that the negroes were as unfit for liberty as infants at two years of age ; that he was per- fiuaded the abolition of fiavery would be a great evil to them ; and that, in oppofi- tion to it, he would loft his life if neceffary." Whence this fudden retraction of fentiments and opinions, which I fhall prove to have been avowed, if not by thefe very perfons, yet by others with wh'org

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page 31-32 38 0031

Whom they Live affociated, and whofe writings they have been induftrious t* di&inmate ? Does it not proceed from a heartfelt conviftion a'mong there Pentlem-n, that the doctrines, which they are now fo anxious to dilclaim, lave occaiioned the fubfequent calamities I Yet, though every word which I muft recal to their recolkaion fhould feem to them, as it does to me, to be written in characters of blood; though I ihould conjure up to them " <tf * certain hour * " the wretched colonifts of St. Domingo, men, women, infants, murdered, violated, impaled; and thofe, the wretched objefts-of ; their err- ing benevolence, in prey to every evil from which tneir late fervitude pro- tect-d them with tyranny intolerable fuperadded, under the name, alas, of liberty ' "Though thefe be the fad impreffions that muft be produced in their minds bv every rude vibration of memory, yet mine is the tafk.to feleft and by before them, from volumes of a fimilar tendency, the following partages- '/<< We could not have imagined that the moment was fo near, in which the o'reat caufe of the liberty of the negroes, involved in that of the general liberty Sf the human fpecies, ihould be folemniy eflablifhed, avowed, and functioned; by the Nadonal Affembly." . .-.,,-',., Mirabeau's Comment on the Declaration of Rights, No. 30, Courier de Province. « In the colonies, the negrces have a right to refift their mafters without being confidered as rebellious." Clarkfon's Eflay,p. 241. fl confefs I think a different décifion" (from that refpeftmg the liberty of t«fe negro Somerfet) " could hardly have been given, if a fimilar caufe, after Teins; tarried through the inferior courts in the plantations, were regularly re- moved for a final décifion to this country." Cooper's Letters, p. 7. " How little do we value the caufe of freedom where our own emancipation js not concerned!" Ibid. p. 24. " The experiment of manumijfion, extenfively tried, has even lucratively anfwered." Ibid- P- 27 " The objections ftated would not lie to the gradual or even fiudden mcrnu- mijfion of the numerous negroes now holden in fiavery." Ibid. p. yl. ' «« I aro-ue upon the improbable fuppofition, that our Weft-Indian colonies would be'materially injured by the manumijfion of flaves and the abolition of the fiave-trade." . Ibid- P- 33- C '«' Soon fhall the fun Jhlne te none but freemen. The beams of the morning flail ceafe to illumine the "fetters-of'fiavery." Abbé Grégoire's circular Letters difperfed in the colonies. " Let us look with an eye of pity on thofe who are fall bound in miiciy and iron ; let us co'nfider thofe, who are thus bound, as being bound with them ; let us break their bonds afunder, &c. &c." Peckard's Sermon, p. 39. Prieftley, Dickfbn, Dean Nicholls, &c. alfo, in direâ terms, recom- aiend emancipation, though in fomewhat a more qualified manner,f What * Dean of MidJleham's letter. ¦f In evidence of the fpirit of fome writers on the fame fide, though too-recent to have pro- duced, as yet, any effeel in the Weft-India Aland's, I will add the following quotations from pamphlets dilfeminatcd with no fmall induftry and expence. The firft feems to prediil, the fécond exulti over, the atrocities committed at St. Domingo. " Surely we ftiall not limit our views merely to the abolition of the African Have-trade, feeing the colonial flaveiy, formed Upon it, is in its principle equally unjufl. The plan to be adopted, for putting the Haves in our illands- in poffeflron of their leg il and natural right, ought in be certain and fpeedy in its operation, Our exertions are not to be judged of merely by their immediate effects ; for, they may produce reinote ones of which we can form no eftimate': butft whatever they may Êe, after having done our duly, we may leave them with Him who governs all things after the counfels of his own will." Addrefs to the People of Great Britain. G'urney. A part of the immédiate effects, for which this pious writer leaves the Almighty anfwcrable, have now taken place in St. Domingo. The certain and fpeedy plan he recommends is a plan; Mi. filling our iflaods with ragine, pifiag-e, conflagration» and brood! fuch, and fuch oiily,. ..... being

39 0032

t 32 ) What effect thefe and many other fimilar writings produced we gather from the following facts. , . T , *-\/r . j An infurrection of the flaves happened m July, 1789, at Martinique, du- ring which the negro prifoners declared they had underftood » there was to be no more fiavery ; for, that it had beenfoordered inFrance. Another inlurrection followed in the fame ifland two months after the for. mer,' in which alfo it was publicly declared « that the king had abohpedfia* Tri 1790, the flaves rofe at Guadeloupe in the fame perfuafion, "that their liberty had been obtained in France." , ¦ ;. In that year and the beginning of 1791 there was an infurrection of the flaves at'Dominica, who claimed their rights but pretended no grievances. What affinity do thefe infurrections bear to thofe preceding ones, whWi Mr. Clarkfon allows with Mr. Long lo have been all begun by the ported Africans and never by the créole, or ifiand-born, flaves ? Can we be fo blind to the obvious relation between caufe and effect as not to fee, in theie calamities* harbingers of that more dreadful one which icon followed m St. Domingo, ' the direct and legitimate offspring of our late uiiculnons concerning the ilave- traBu't to the revolution in France, and to circumftarices attending it, 1 -a, according to Mr. Clarkfon, be imputed whatever of novelty tnerc be in u, ^ble eVents. What he would make a primary i will allow omy to been Secondary, cafe. To a Mirabeau, a Roberto, a Gregoue a I tliion de Villeneuve, (all eminent among the Am» desJoirsJ wno, , a dexterous man uvre, obtained the decree of.the 15th of May, contradicting the wife Preceding decree of the 8th of March, we owe thofe mea mes which fetrhe colonies in a flame. Suddenly to exalt the people of colour, without attention to local prejudices and long-eftabhfhed fubordination, was rS«Stwg from their principles ahJ preparatory to an emancipaaon of the D ack . Mr. Clarkfon has found himfelf under a necceffity glaringly to mifreprefent the proceedings i» refpect to Ogé and to the people or colour. H rSonents, Detector ana Philo-Detector, have in fome refpects expofed SfSlacfous ftâtement ; but, for a fuller account of the fickle and capricio£ ?rfio" S tracks o! *xolom«, and of S.. Do,r..ngo paracul.,,)-, are ?heïm rfià.= » remote «6,1= of .he difcuff.o» c,,x S negro-fla», «nd 7^'^7rhe7,«ri,,g co.d* »d «»W«d gove, . of logium if they exterminate their tyrants wtth Sre and fword «7^ moral ju/gementa the moll exJfie tortures on thofe ty.ants, would hey not beffffift'_ , d .; io n. of Âôfe who properly value thofe ineftimable blefimgs, perlon,:, rational, b %, eRRatuM.-p. J3- hn- to *ofs**»ieaii*°fcfws cUffw of meu' <J, %7}

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