No. XVII. The Act announcing the nomination of the "Emperor," (DESSALINES) shall be read in a loud and intelligible voice! A discharge of musketry and of cannon, which shall be repeated by all the forts of the city, and vessels in the harbour, shall follow the reading of the act. The ceremony of the Coronation shall next take place on a throne, elevated in the midst of the Amphitheatre, and surrounded by all the great Officers of the Empire. The ceremony shall be announced by a triple discharge of cannon and musketry. After the ceremony, the troops shall file off to the church, and form in order of battle. The Procession, in the order abovementioned, shall also advance to the Church, where a Te Deum, in thanksgiving for this memorable day, shall be sung. During the Te Deum, a third discharge of cannon and musketry shall take place. After the Te Deum, the Procession shall return, in the same order, to the house of the General of Division. The Fete shall terminate by a grand illumination in all parts of the city. Done at Port-au-Prince, the 6th September, 1804, the first year of independence, No. XVIII. (Referred to in Page 91, &c. ) A View of the Distribution of the Black Force in the French Colonies at the Revolution of St. Domingo, from the Official Returns. The difference between the above total and that furnished in page 91, is to be accounted for by the erroneous statements of the planters to lessen the amount of the taxes, and other causes. No. XIX. No. XIX. ADDITIONAL REMARKS, &c. IT was intended to insert in this place a number of papers with which the author has been furnished, as collateral evidence of the sentiments which occur in his work in favor of the people of color; but, on re-considering the accumulation of matter on this subject produced by the discussion of the slave trade, and the accessibility of the works of Barbot,* Bosman,+ Smith, &c. which all tend to shew the capacity of the African, and the eligibility of his native state, he has been led to think it less necessary; and shall, therefore, merely add the communication of an ingenious friend on the subject of substituting European laborers for African cultivators; and a quotation from an intelligent and respectable writer, § which as perfectly accords with his own sentiments, as it surpasses his powers of describing them. "It is significantly enquired by Postlethwaite, || • Whether Africa will not admit of a far more extensive and profitable trade with Great Britain than it ever yet has done? and whether the * Account of Africa. Voyage to Guinea. Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. latter latter might not supply their colonies and plantations with whites No. XIX. instead of blacks?'. "The first of these enquiries may be readily answered in the affirmative; and the latter demonstrated without difficulty. The condition of Africa is now, only what Britain was once; and the slavery of its inhabitants, that which has existed in every age. The one can be remedied by the means which have constituted the rise of all states; and the existence of the latter is inconsistent with the present refinement of the other three quarters of the world.* * The author desires not to be considered as adopting this writer's sentiments. He is, however, of opinion with M. de Charmilly, (so often quoted in this work, and never unprofitably,) who has the following judicious ideas of negro amelioration, which have been, he is happy to be informed, partly acted on. "If I require (says he) the continuation of the trade, I also require that it should be conducted under more vigilant laws than exist at present, for the advantage of the negroes, the planter, and the merchant, in short, that well digested laws be established for regulating the tonnage of the trading ships. They should not exceed three hundred tons, nor be less than two hundred; for if the ship be large, it continues trading too long, and the scurvy and other diseases breed among the negroes first acquired; and if too small, they are too ill at ease. It ought to be settled how many negroes should be carried in each ship, according to the size, without a possibility of evading the law. It should be prohibited to export from Africa any negro more than twenty years old. Man at this age is yet capable of attaching himself to a new country, climate has but little influence upon him, and he leaves in his native land few objects of attachment, compared with the older negro, who leaves a wife and children. No negro should be embarked without first being inoculated; several surgeons should be attached to a ship, who should all make oath, before the sale of negroes commences in the colony to which they may be brought, that they have not by any means driven in, or repelled the maladies of negroes, which kill so great a number. These measures I admit would be more expensive, and the fitting out a trading ship would at first cost the person equipping it a still greater sum, which would finally be borne by the planter, who would be well indemnified; for, instead of purchasing two or three negroes, he would only purchase one, whom he would more easily preserve. and who would work more readily, &c." Without, No. XIX. "Without, however, referring to humane, or even refined considerations, the proposition about to be made takes its stand solely on the ground of expedience. Among the numerous reasons assigned for a rigorous treatment of negroes, are, besides their constant inclination to revolt, a decided inefficiency, and incredible expence. The high price of their first purchase, the risk of desertion, or of death, by a variety of peculiar maladies; and if neither occur, that their labor is not, by many degrees, equal to that of an European. That many Europeans support the climate with great ease, and particularly those who are abstemious, is certain; it becomes then an obvious fact, that if a sufficient number of laborers could be obtained from Europe for the cultivation of the colonies, no objection could arise to their adoption. The purchase of the negro would be saved, and the colonies relieved from his maladies, while the acquisition of property, and the evitation of the invidious distinction of complexion, would suppress that inclination to rebellion which the very character of slavery inspires; while the steady toil of the European laborer, even under every disadvantage, could not fail to equal the lax exertion ascribed to the negro. 66 With regard to obtaining cultivators for her colonies from the population of Britain, little doubt can exist when the advanced state of this country is considered, and the various means, which, under the appearance of inflictions, are ordered for checking the exuberance of that population that would otherwise tend to its own destruction; * and surely moderate toil, even under a vertical * See Malthus on Population. sun, |