DUKE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Treasure %oo7n 
 
SECRET HISTORY; 
 THE HORRORS OF ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 IN 
 
 A SERIES OF LETTERS, 
 
 WRITTEN BY A LADY AT CAPE FRANCOIS 
 
 TO 
 
 COLONEL BURR, 
 
 LATE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 PRINCIPALLY DURING THE COMMAND OF 
 GENERAL ROCHAMBEAU. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PUBLISHED BY BRADFORD INSKEEF 
 
 R. CARR, PRINTER. 
 
 1808, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I AM fearful of having been led into an 
 error by my friends, when taught by them to 
 believe that I could write something which 
 would interest and please ; and it was chiefly 
 with a view to ascertain what confidence I 
 might place in their kind assurances on this 
 subject, that I collected and consented, though 
 reluctantly, to the publication of these letters. 
 
 Should a less partial public give them a 
 favourable reception, and allow them to pos= 
 sess some merit, it would encourage me to en- 
 deavour to obtain their further approbation by 
 a little work already planned and in some for= 
 wardness. 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 
 Philadelphia^ J^ov.oOth^ \Q07^ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryorh1808hass 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 WE arrived safely here, my dear friend, 
 after a passage of forty days, during which I 
 suffered horribly from sea- sickness, heat and 
 confinement; but the society of my fellow- 
 passengers was so agreeable that I often for- 
 got the inconvenience to which I was exposed. 
 It consisted of five or six French families who, 
 having left St. Domingo at the beginning of 
 the revolution, were now returning full of joy 
 at the idea of again possessing the estates from 
 which they had been driven by their revolted 
 slaves. Buoyed by their newly awakened 
 hopes they were all delightful anticipation. 
 There is an elasticity in the French charac- 
 ter which repels misfortune. They have an 
 inexhaustible flow of spirits that bears them 
 lightly through the ills of life. 
 
2 HORRORS or 
 
 Towards the end of the voyage, when I 
 was well enough to go on deck, I was delight^ 
 ed with the profound tranquillity of the ocean, 
 the uninterrupted view, the beautiful horizon, 
 and wished, since fate has separated me from 
 those I love, that I could build a dwelling on 
 the bosom of the waters, where, sheltered from 
 the storms that agitate mankind, I should be 
 exposed to those of heaven only. But a truce 
 to melancholy reflections, for here I am in St. 
 Domingo, with a new world opening to my 
 view. 
 
 My sister, whose fortunes, you know, I 
 was obliged to follow, repents every day hav- 
 . ing so precipitately chosen a husband : it is 
 impossible for two creatures to be more dif- 
 ferent, and I foresee that she will be wretched. 
 
 On landing, we found the town a heap of 
 ruins. A more terrible picture of desolation 
 cannot be imagined. Passing through streets 
 choaked with rubbish, we reached with diffi- 
 culty a house which had escaped the general 
 fate. The people live in tents, or make a kind 
 of shelter, by laying a few boards across the 
 half-consumed beams; for the buildings being 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 3 
 
 here of hewn stone, with walls three feet thick, 
 only the roofs and floors have been destroyed. 
 But to hear of the distress which these unfor- 
 tunate people have sufiered, w^oiild fill with 
 horror the stoutest heart, and make the most 
 obdurate melt w^itli pity. 
 
 When the French fleet appeared before 
 the mouth of the harbour, Christophe, the 
 Black general, who commanded at the Cape., 
 rode through the town, ordering all the women 
 to leave their houses — the men had been taken 
 to the plain the day before, for he was going 
 to set fire to the place, which he did with his 
 own hand. 
 
 The ladies, bearing their children in their 
 arms, or supporting the trembling steps of 
 their aged mothers, ascended in crowds the 
 mountain which rises behind the tovvTi. Climb- 
 ing over rocks covered with bramblas, where 
 no path had been ever beat, their feet were torn 
 to pieces and their steps marked with blood. 
 Here they suffered all the pains of hunger and 
 thirst; the most terrible apprehensions for their 
 fathers, husbands, brothers and sons; to wiiich 
 was added the sight of the town in flames s and 
 
4 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 even these horrors were increased by the ex- 
 plosion of the powder magazine. Large mas- 
 ses of rock were detached by the shock, which, 
 rolling down the sides of the mountain, many 
 of these hapless fugitives were killed. Others 
 still more unfortunate, had their limbs broken 
 or sadly bruised, whilst their wretched com- 
 panions could offer them nothing but unavail- 
 ing sympathy and impotent regret. 
 
 On the third day the negroes evacuated 
 the place, and the fleet entered the harbour. 
 Two gentlemen, who had been concealed by 
 a faithful slave, went in a canoe to meet the 
 admiral's vessel, and arrived in time to pre- 
 vent a dreadful catastrophe. The general, 
 seeing numbers of people descending the 
 mountain, thought they were the negroes com- 
 ing to oppose his landing and was preparing 
 to lire on them, vv^hen these gentlemen inform- 
 ed him that they were the white inhabitants^ 
 and thus prevented a mistake too shocking to 
 be thought of. 
 
 The men now entered from the plain and 
 sought among the smoaking ruins the objects 
 of their affectionate solicitude. To paint these 
 
ST. BOMlMGrO. 
 
 heart-rending scenes of tenderness and woe, 
 description has no powers. The imagination 
 itself shrinks from the task. 
 
 Three months after this period we arrived 
 and have now been a month here, the town is 
 rapidly rebuilding, but it is extremely difficult 
 to find a lodging. The heat is intolerable and 
 the season so unhealthy that the people die in 
 incredible numbers. On the night of our ar- 
 rival, Toussaint the general in chief of the ne- 
 groes, was seized at the Gonaives and em- 
 barked for France. This event caused great 
 rejoicing, A short time before he was taken, 
 he had his treasure buried in the woods, and 
 at the return of the negroes he employed on 
 this expedition, they were shot without being 
 suffered to utter a V/ord. 
 
 Clara has had the yellow fever. Her hus» 
 band, who certainly loves her very much, 
 watched her with unceasing care, and I be- 
 lieve, preserved her life, to vv^hich however she 
 attaches no value since it must be passed with 
 him. 
 
 Nothing amuses her. She sighs continuaL 
 ly for the friend of her youth and seems to 
 
 b 2 
 
6 HORRORS OF 
 
 exist only in the recollection of past happiness. 
 Her aversion to her husband is unqualified and 
 unconquerable. He is vain, illiterate, talkative. 
 A silent fool may be borne, but from a loqua- 
 cious one there is no relief. How painful 
 must her intercourse with him be ; and how 
 infinitely must that pain be augmented by the 
 idea of being his forever? Her elegant mind, 
 stored with literary acquirements, is lost to 
 him. Her proud soul is afflicted at depending 
 on one she abhors, and at beholding her form^ 
 and you know that form so vilely bartered. 
 Whilst on the continent she was less sensible 
 of the horrors of her fate. The society of her 
 friend gave a charm to her life, and having 
 married in compliance with his advice, she 
 thought that she would eventually be happy. 
 But their separation has rent the veil Avhich 
 concealed her heart; she finds no sympathy in 
 the bosom of her husband. She is alone and 
 she is wretched. 
 
 General Le Clerc is small, his face is in- 
 teresting, but he has an appearance of ill 
 health. His wife, the sister of Buonaparte^ 
 lives in a house on the mountain till tliere cari 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 be one in town prepared for her reception. 
 She is offended, and I thiflk justly, with the 
 ladies of the Cape, who, from a mistaken pride^ 
 did not wait on her when she arrived, because 
 having lost their cloaths they could not dazzle 
 her with their finery. 
 
 Having heard that there were some Ame» 
 rican ladies here she expressed a desire to see 
 them; Mr. V— proposed to present us; Clara^ 
 who would not walk a mile to see a queen^ 
 declined. But I, who walk at all times, mere- 
 ly for the pleasure it affords me, went; andy 
 considering the labour it costs to ascend the 
 mountain, I have a claim on the gratitude of 
 Madame for having undertaken it to shew her 
 an object which she probably expected to find 
 in a savage state. 
 
 She was in a room darkened by Venetian 
 blinds, lying on her sofa, from which she half 
 rose to receive me. When I was seated she re== 
 clined again on the sofa and amused general 
 Boyer, who sat at her feet, by letting her slip« . 
 per fall continually, which he respectfully put 
 on as often as it felL She is small, fair, with 
 blue eyes aud Haxen hair. Her face is expres. 
 
HORRORS OF 
 
 sive of sweetness but without spirit. She has 
 a voluptuous mouth, and is rendered interest- 
 ing by an air of languor which spreads itself 
 over her whole frame. She was dressed in a 
 muslin morning gown, with a Madras hand- 
 kerchief on her head. I gave her one of the 
 beautiful silver medals of Washington, en- 
 graved by Reich, with which she seemed 
 much pleased. The conversation languished, 
 and I soon withdrew. 
 
 General Le Cierc had gone in the morning 
 to fort Dauphin. 
 
 I am always in good spirits, for every thing 
 here charms me by its novelty. There are a 
 thousand pretty things to be had, new fashions 
 and elegant trinkets from Paris ; but we have 
 no balls, no plays, and of what use is finery if 
 it cannot be shewn? 
 
 The natives of this country murmur alrea- 
 dy against the general in chief ; they say he 
 places too much confidence in the negroes. 
 When Toussaint was seized he had all the 
 black chiefs in his power, and, by embarking 
 them for France, he would have spread terror 
 throughout the Island^ and the negroes would 
 
ST. DOMIXGO. 
 
 9 
 
 have been easily reduced, instead of which he 
 relies on their good faith, has them continual- 
 ly in his house, at his table, and Vvastes the 
 time in conference \vhicli should be different- 
 ly employed. The Creoles shake their heads 
 and predict much ill. Accustomed to the cli- 
 mate, and acquainted with the manner of fight- 
 ing the Negroes, they offer advice, which is not 
 listened to ; nor are any of them employed, 
 but all places of honour or emolument are 
 held by Europeans, who appear to regard the 
 Island as a place to be conquered and divided 
 among the victors, and are consequently view- 
 ed by the natives with a jealous eye. Indeed 
 the professed intention of those who have come 
 with the army, is to make a fortune, and return 
 to France with all possible speed, to enjoy it. 
 It cannot be imagined that they will be very 
 delicate about the means of accomplishing 
 their purpose. 
 
 The Cape is surrounded; at least the plain 
 is held by the Negroes; but the tow^n is tran- 
 quil, and Dessalines and the other black chiefs 
 are on the best terms with general Le Clerc. 
 
 We are to have a grand review next weekr 
 
10 
 
 Horrors of 
 
 The militia is to be organized, and the gene- 
 ral is to address the troops on the field. He 
 has the reputation of being very eloquent, but 
 he has shocked every body by having ordered 
 a superb service of plate, made of the money 
 intended to pay the army, while the poor sol- 
 diers, badly cloathed, and still more badly fed, 
 are asking alms in the street, and absolutely 
 dying of want. 
 
 A beggar had. never been known in this 
 country, and to see them in such numbers, 
 fills the inhabitants with horror; but why 
 should such trilling considerations as the pre- 
 servation of soldiers, prevent a general in chief 
 from eating out of silver ^shes? 
 
 W e have neither public nor private balls, 
 nor any amusement except now and then a 
 little scandal. The most current at this mo- 
 ment is, that Madame Le Clerc is very kind 
 to general Boyer, and that her husband is not 
 content, which in a French husband is a little 
 extraordinary. Perhaps the last part of the 
 anecdote is calumny. 
 
 Madame Le Clerc, as I learned from a 
 gentleman who has long known her, betrayed 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 from her earliest youth a disposition to gallant- 
 ry, and had, when very young, some adven- 
 tures of eclat in Marseilles. Her brother, 
 whose favourite she is, married her to general 
 Le Clerc, to whom he gave the command of 
 the army intended to sail for St. Domingo, 
 after having given that island, as a marriage 
 portion, to his sister. But her reluctance to 
 come to this country was so great, that it was 
 almost necessary to use force to oblige her to 
 embark. 
 
 She has one child, a lovely boy, three years 
 old, of which she appears very fond. But for 
 a young and beautiful woman, accustomed to 
 the sweets of adulation, and the intoxicating 
 delights of Paris, certainly the transition to this 
 country, in its present state, has been too vio- 
 lent. She has no society, no amusement, and 
 never having imagined that she would be 
 forced to seek an equivalent for either in the 
 resources of her own mind, she has made no 
 provision for such an unforeseen emergency. 
 
 She hates readmg, and though passionate- 
 ly fond of music plays on no instrument ; ne- 
 yer having stolen time from her pleasurable 
 
12 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 pursuits to devote to the acquisition of that 
 divine art. She can do nothing but dance, 
 and to dance alone is a triste resource; there- 
 fore it cannot be surprising if her early pro- 
 pensities predominate, and she listens to the 
 tale of love breathed by General Boyer, for 
 never did a more fascinating votary offer his 
 vows at the Idalian shrine. His form and face 
 are models of masculine perfection ; his eyes 
 sparkle w^ith enthusiasm, and his voice is mo- 
 dulated by a sweetness of expression which 
 cannot be heard without emotion. Thus si- 
 tuated, and thus surrounded, her youth and 
 beauty plead for her, and those most disposed 
 to condemn would exclaim on beholding her: 
 
 If to her share some female errors fall, 
 Look in her face, and you'll forget them all." 
 
 I suppose you'll laugh at this gossip, but 
 'tis the news of the day, nothing is talked of 
 but Madame Le Clerc, and envy and ill-na- 
 ture pursue her because she is charming and 
 surrounded by splendor. 
 
 I have just now been reading Madame De 
 Staei on the passions, which she describes 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 13 
 
 very well, but I believe not precisely as she 
 felt their influence. I have heard an anecdote 
 of her which I admire ; a friend, to whom she 
 had communicated her intention of publishing 
 her memoirs, asked what she intended doing 
 with the gallant part, — Oh, she replied, je ne 
 me peindrai qu'en buste. 
 
15 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Cape Francois* 
 
 What a change has taken place here since 
 my last letter was written ! I mentioned that 
 there was to be a grand review, and I also 
 mentioned that the confidence General Le 
 Clerc placed in the negroes was highly blam- 
 ed, and justly, as he has found to his cost. 
 
 On the day of the review, when the troops 
 of the line and the guarde nationale were as- 
 sembled on the field, a plot was discovered, 
 which had been formed by the negroes in the 
 town, to seize the arsenal and to point the can- 
 non of a fort, which overlooked the place of 
 review, on the troops ; whilst Clairvaux, the 
 mulatto general, who commanded the advanc- 
 ed posts, was to join the negroes of the plain, 
 overpower the guards, and entering the town, 
 complete the destruction of thfe white inhabit 
 
16 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 tants. The first part of the plot was discov- 
 ered and defeated. But Clairvaux made good 
 his escape, and in the evening attacked the 
 post General Le Clerc had so imprudently 
 confided to him. The consternation was 
 terrible. The guarde nationale, composed 
 chiefly of Creoles, did wonders. The Ame- 
 rican captains and sailors volunteered their 
 services ; they fought bravely, and many of 
 them perished. The negroes were repulsed; 
 but if they gained no ground they lost none, 
 and they occupy at present the same posts as 
 before. The pusillanimous General Le Clerc, 
 shrinking from danger of which his own im- 
 prudence had been the cause, thought only of 
 saving himself. He sent his plate and valu- 
 able effects on board the admiral's vessel, and 
 was preparing to embark secretly with his 
 suite, but the brave admiral La Touehe de 
 Treville sent him word that he would fire with 
 more pleasure on those who abandoned the 
 town, than on those v/ho attacked it. 
 
 The ensuing morning presented a dread- 
 ful spectacle. Nothing was heard but the 
 groans of the wounded., who were carried 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 17 
 
 through the streets to their homes, and the cries 
 of the women for their friends who were slain. 
 
 The general, shut up in his house, would 
 see nobody ; ashamed of the weakness which 
 had led to this disastrous event, and of the 
 want of courage he had betrayed : a fever 
 seized him and he died in three days. 
 
 Madame Le Clerc, who had not loved him 
 whilst living, mourned his death like the 
 Ephesian matron, cut olF her hair, which was 
 very beautiful, to put it in his coffin ; refused 
 all sustenance and all public consolation. 
 
 General Rochambeau, who is at Port au 
 Prince, has been sent for by the inhabitants of 
 the Cape to take the command. Much good 
 is expected from the change, he is said to be 
 a brave officer and an excellent man. 
 
 Monsieur D'Or is in the interim Captain 
 General, and unites in himself the three prin- 
 cipal places in the government : Prefect Go» 
 lonial, Ordonnateur, and General in Chief. 
 
 All this bustle would be delightful if it 
 was not attended with such melancholy con- 
 sequences. It keeps us from, petrifying, of 
 which I was in danger. 
 
 c 2 
 
18 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 I have become acquainted with some Cre- 
 ole ladies who, having staid in the Island dur= 
 ing the revolution, relate their sufferings in a 
 manner which harrows up the soul; and dwell 
 on the recollection of their long lost happiness 
 with melancholy delight. St. Domingo was 
 formerly a garden. Every inhabitant lived ofi 
 his estate like a Sovereign ruling his slaves 
 with despotic sway, enjoying all that luxury 
 could invent, or fortune procure. 
 
 The pleasures of the table were carried to 
 the last degree of refinement. Gaming knew 
 no bounds, and libertinism, called love, was 
 without restraint. The Creole is generous 
 hospitable, magnificent, but vain, inconstant, 
 and incapable of serious application ; and in 
 this abode of pleasure and luxurious ease vices 
 have reigned at which humanity must shudder. 
 The jealousy of the women was often terrible 
 in its consequences. One lady, who had a 
 beautiful negro girl continually about her per- 
 son, thought she saw some symptoms of te?i- 
 dresse in the eyes of her husband, and all the 
 furies of jealousy seized her soul. 
 
 She ordered one of her slaves to cut off the 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 19 
 
 head of the unfortunate victim, which was in- 
 stantly done. At dinner her husband said he 
 fek no disposition to eat, to which his w^ife, 
 with the air of a demon, repUed, perhaps I can 
 give you something that Avill excite your ap^ 
 petite ; it has at least had that effect before. 
 She rose and drew from a closet the head of 
 Coomba. The husband, shocked beyond ex- 
 pression, left the house and sailed immediately 
 for France, in order never again to behold such 
 a monster. 
 
 Many similar anecdotes have been related 
 by my Creole friends ; but one of them, after 
 having excited my warmest sympathy, made 
 me laugh heartily in the midst of my tears. 
 She told me that her husband was stabbed in 
 her arms by a slave whom he had always treat- 
 ed as his brother ; that she had seen her chil- 
 dren killed, and her house burned, but had 
 been herself preserved by a faithful slave, and 
 conducted, after incredible sufferings, and 
 through innumerable dangers to the Cape. 
 The same slave, she added, and the idea seem- 
 ed to console her for every other loss, saved 
 all my madrass handkerchiefs. 
 
2(D 
 
 HbtRORS OF 
 
 The Creole ladies have an air of voluptu- 
 ous languor which renders them extremely 
 interesting. Their eyeSj their teeth, and their 
 hair are remarkably beautiful, and they have 
 acquired from the habit of commanding their 
 slaves, an air of dignity which adds to their 
 charms. Almost too indolent to pronounce 
 their words they speak with a drawling accent 
 that is very agreeable : but since they have 
 been roused by the pressure of misfortune 
 many of them have displayed talents and found 
 resources in the energy of their own minds 
 which it would have been supposed impossible 
 for them to possess. 
 
 They have naturally a taste for music; 
 dance with a lightness, a grace, an eleg^ce 
 peculiar to themselves, and those who, ha- 
 ving been educated in France, unite the French 
 vivacity to the Creole sweetness, are the most 
 irresistible creatures that the imagination can 
 conceive. In the ordinary intercourse of life 
 they are delightful; but if I wanted a friend on 
 any extraordinary occasion I would not ven- 
 ture to rely on their stability. 
 
ST. DOMINGOo 
 
 21 
 
 LETTER III 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 The so much desired general Rochambeau 
 is at length here. His amval was announced, 
 not by the ringing of bells, for they have none, 
 but by the firing of cannon. Every body, ex- 
 cept myself went to see him land, and I was 
 prevented, not by want of curiosity, but by in- 
 disposition. Nothing is heard of but the pub- 
 lic joy. He is considered as the guardian, as 
 the saviour of the people. Every proprietor 
 feels himself already on his habitation and I 
 have even heard some of them disputing about 
 the quality of the coffee they expect soon to 
 gather ; perhaps these sanguine Creoles may 
 find that they have reckoned without their host. 
 
 However, eii attendant^ the General, who 
 it seems bears pleasure as well as conquest in 
 
22 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 his train, gives a grand ball on Thursday next. 
 We are invited, and we go. 
 
 Clara is delighted ! for the first time since 
 our arrival her eyes brightened at receiving the 
 invitation, and the important subject of w^hat 
 colours are to be worn, what fashions adopted, 
 is continually discussed. Her husband, whose 
 chief pleasure is to see her brilliant, indulges 
 all the extravagance of her capricious taste. 
 She sighs for conquest because she is a stran- 
 ger to content, and will enter into every scheme 
 of dissipation with eagerness to forget for a 
 moment her internal wretchedness. She is 
 unhappy, though surrounded by splendor, be- 
 cause from the constitution of her mind she 
 cannot derive happiness from an object that 
 does not interest her heart. 
 
 My letter shall not be closed till after the 
 ball of which I suppose you will be glad to 
 have a description. 
 
 But why do you not write to me ? 
 
 I am ignorant of your pursuits and even 
 of the place of your abode, and though con- 
 vinced that you cannot forget me, I am afflic. 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 ted if I do not receive assurances of your friend= 
 sliip by every vessel that arrives ! 
 
 Clara has not uTitten, for nothing has 
 therto had power to rouse her from the lethar- 
 gy into which she had sunk. Perhaps the 
 scenes of gaiety in which she is now going to 
 engage may dispell the gloom which threaten- 
 ed to destroy all the energy of her charming 
 mind. Perhaps too these scenes may be more 
 fatal to her peace than the gloom of which I 
 complain, for in this miserable world we know 
 not what to desire. The accomplishment of 
 our wishes is often a real misfortune. We 
 pass our lives in searching after happiness, 
 and how many die without having found it ! 
 
 In Continuation, 
 
 Well my dear friend the ball is over — that 
 ball of which I promised you a description. 
 But who can describe the heat or suffocating 
 sensations felt in a crowd ? 
 
 The General has an agreeable face, a sweet 
 mouth, and most enchanting smile ; but 
 
 Like the sun, he shone on all alike," 
 
24 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 and paid no particular attention to any object. 
 His uniform was a la hussar ^ and very brilliant; 
 he wore red boots :— but his person is bad, he 
 is too short ; a Bacchus-like figure, which ac- 
 cords neither with my idea of a great General 
 nor a great man. 
 
 But you know one of my faults is to create 
 objects in my imagination on the model of my 
 incomparable friend, and then to dislike every 
 thing I meet because it falls short of my expec- 
 tations. 
 
 I was disappointed at the ball, because I 
 was confounded in the crowd, but my disap- 
 pointment was trifling compared with that 
 felt by Clara. Accustomed to admiration she 
 expected to receive it on this occasion in no 
 moderate portion, and to find herself undis- 
 tinguished was not flattering. She did not 
 dance, staid only an hour, and has declared 
 against all balls in future. But there is one 
 announced by the Admiral which may perhaps 
 induce her to change her resolution. 
 
 Madame Le Clerc has sailed for France 
 with the body of her husband, which was em- 
 balmed here. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 25 
 
 The place is tranquil. The arrival of Ge- 
 neral Rochambeau seems to have spread terror 
 among the negroes. I wish they were reduced 
 to order that I might see the so much vaunted 
 habitations where I should repose beneath the 
 shade of orange groves ; walk on carpets of 
 rose leaves and frenchipone; be fanned to sleep 
 by silent slaves, or have my feet tickled into ^ 
 extacy by the soft hand of a female attendant. 
 
 Such were the pleasures of the Creole ladies 
 whose time w^as divided between the bath, the 
 table, the toilette and the lover. 
 
 What a delightful existence ! thus to pass 
 away life in the arms of voluptuous indolence; 
 to wander over flowery fields of unfading ver- 
 dure, or through forests of majestic palm-trees, 
 sit by a fountain bursting from a savage rock 
 frequented only by the cooing dove, and in- 
 dulge in these enchanting solitudes all the re- 
 veries of an exalted imagination. 
 
 But the moment of enjoying these plea- 
 sures is, I fear, far distant. The negroes have 
 felt during ten years the blessing of liberty, 
 for a blessing it certainly is, however acquired, 
 and they will not be easily deprived of it. they 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 have fought and vanquished the French troops, 
 and their strengh has increased from a know- 
 ledge of the weakness of their opposers, and 
 the cUmate itself combats for them. Inured 
 to a savage Ufe they lay in the woods without 
 being injured by the sun, the dew or the rain. 
 A negro eats a plantain, a sour orange, the 
 herbs and roots of the field, and requires no 
 cloathing, whilst this mode of living is fatal to the 
 European soldiers. The sun and the dew are 
 equally fatal to them, and they have perished 
 in such numbers that, if reinforcements do 
 not arrive, it will soon be impossible to defend 
 the town. 
 
 The country is entirely in the hands of the 
 negroes, and whilst their camp abounds in 
 provisions, every thing in town is extremely 
 scarce and enormously dear. 
 
 Every evening several old Creoles, who 
 live near us, assemble at our house, and talk 
 of their affairs. One of them, whose annual 
 income before the revolution was fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, which he always exceeded in his 
 expenses, now lives in a miserable hut and 
 prolongs with the greatest difficulty his wretch- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 27 
 
 ed existence. Yet he still hopes for better 
 days, in which hope they all join him. The 
 distress they feel has not deprived them of 
 their gaiety. They laugh, they sing, they join 
 in the dance with the young girls of the neigh- 
 bourhood, and seem to forget their cares in the 
 pr-ospect of having them speedily removed. 
 
29 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 The ball announced by the admiral ex- 
 ceeded all expectations and we are still all ex- 
 tacy. Boats, covered with carpets, conveyed 
 the company from the shore to the vessel, 
 which was anchored about half a mile from 
 the land, and on entering the ball room a fairy 
 palace presented itself to the view. The decks 
 were floored in; a roof of canvas was suspen- 
 ded over the whole length of the vessel, which 
 reached the floor on each side, and formed a 
 beautiful apartment. Innumerable lustres of 
 chrystal and wreaths of natural flowers orna- 
 mented the cieling; and rose and orange -trees, 
 in full blossom, ranged round the room, filled 
 the air with fragrance. The seats were ele= 
 vated, and separated from the part appropri- 
 ated to dancing, by a light balustrade. A gal- 
 
 d 2 
 
30 
 
 Horrors of 
 
 lery for the musicians was placed round the 
 main-mast, and the whole presented to the eye 
 an elegant saloon, raised by magic in a wil- 
 derness of sweets. Clara and myself, accom- 
 panied by her husband and Major B , 
 
 were among the first who arrived. Never had 
 I beheld her so interesting. A robe of white 
 crape shewed to advantage the contours of her 
 elegant person. Her arms and bosom were 
 bare ; her black hair, fastened on the top with 
 a brilliant comb, was ornamented by a rose 
 which seemed to have been thrown there by 
 accident. 
 
 We were presented to the admiral, who 
 appeared struck by the figure of Clara, and 
 was saying some very flattering things, when 
 a flourish of martial music announced the ar- 
 rival of the General in chief. The admiral 
 Jbastencd to meet him, and they walked round 
 the room together. 
 
 When the dances began the general leaned 
 against the orchestra opposite Clara. Her eyes 
 met his. She bent them to the ground, raised 
 them timidly and found those of the general 
 £xed on her : a glow of crimson sufliised itself 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 51 
 
 over her face and bosom. I observed her at- 
 tentively and knew it was the flush of triumph ! 
 She declined dancing, but when the walses 
 began she was led out. Those who have not 
 seen Clara walse know not half her charms. 
 There is a physiognomy in her form ! every 
 motion is full of soul. The gracefulness of 
 her arms is imequalled, and she is lighter than 
 gossamer. 
 
 The eyes of the general dwelt on her alone, 
 and I heard him inquire of several who she 
 was. 
 
 The walse finished, she walked round the 
 
 room leaning on the arm of Major B . 
 
 The general followed, and meeting her hus- 
 band, asked (pointing to Clara) if he knew the 
 name of that lady. Madame St. Louis, was 
 the reply. I thought she was an American said 
 the general. So she is, replied St Louis, but 
 her husband is a Frenchman. That's true, ad- 
 ded the general, but they say he is a d d 
 
 jealous fool, is he here "? He has the honour of 
 answering you, said St Louis. The general 
 was embarrassed for a moment, but recover- 
 ing himself said, I am not surprised at your 
 
32 
 
 HORRORS OF' 
 
 being jealous, for she is a charming creature. 
 And he continued uttering so many flattering 
 things that St. Louis was in the best humour 
 imaginable. When Clara heard the story, 
 she laughed, and, I saw, was delighted with 
 a conquest she now considered assured. 
 
 When she sat down. Major B pre- 
 sented the General to her, and his pointed at- 
 tention rendered her the object of universal 
 admiration. He retired at midnight : the ball 
 continued. An elegant collation was served 
 up, and at sunrise we returned home 1 
 
 The admiral is a very agreeable man, and 
 I would prefer him, as a lover, to any of his 
 officers, though he is sixty years old. His 
 manners are affable and perfectly elegant ; his 
 figure graceful and dignified, and his conver- 
 sation sprightly. He joined the dance at the 
 request of a lady, with ail the spirit of youth, 
 and appeared to enjoy the pleasure which his 
 charming fete diffused. 
 
 He told Clara that he would twine a wreath 
 of myrtle to crown her, for she had vanquish- 
 ed the General. She replied, that she would 
 mingle it with laurel, and lay it at his feet for 
 
ST. D0MI2siG0. 
 
 33 
 
 having, by preserving the Cape, given her an 
 opportunity of making the conquest. 
 
 Nothing is heard of but balls and parties. 
 Monsieur D'Or gives a concert every Thurs- 
 day ; the General in chief every Sun da}' : so 
 that from having heid no amusement we are in 
 danger of falling into the other extreme, and 
 of bemg satiated with pleasure. 
 
 The Negroes remain pretty tranquil in 
 this quarter; but at Port-au-Piince, and in its 
 neighbourhood, they have been very trouble- 
 some. 
 
 Jeremie, Les Cayes, and all that part of the 
 island which had been preserv-ed, during the 
 revolution, by the exertions of the inhabitants, 
 have been lost since the appearance of the 
 French troops 1 
 
 The Creoles complain, and they have 
 cause ; for they find in the army sent to de- 
 fend them, oppressors who appear to seek 
 their destruction. Their houses and their ne- 
 gi'oes are put under requisition, and they are 
 daily exposed to new vexations. 
 
 Some of the ancient inhabitants of the 
 island, vrho had emigrated, begin to think 
 
34 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 that their hopes were too sanguine, and that 
 they have returned too soon from the peace- 
 ful retreats they found on the continent. They 
 had supposed that the appearance of an army 
 of thirty thousand men would have reduced 
 the negroes to order; but these conquerors of 
 Italy, unnerved by the climate, or from some 
 other cause, lose all their energy, and lly be- 
 fore the undisciplined slaves. 
 
 Many of the Creoles, who had remained 
 on the island during the reign of Toussaint, 
 regret the change, and say that they were less 
 vexed by the negroes than by those who have 
 come to protect them. 
 
 And these negroes, notwithstanding the 
 state of brutal subjection in which they were 
 kept, have at length acquired a knowledge of 
 their own strength. More than five hundred 
 thousand broke the yoke imposed on them by 
 a few thousand men of a different colour, and 
 claimed the rights of which they had been so 
 cruelly deprived. Unfortunate were those 
 who witnessed the horrible catastrophe which 
 accompanied the first wild transports of free- 
 dom ! Dearly have they paid for the luxuri- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 35 
 
 ous ease in which they revelled at the expense 
 of these oppressed creatures. Yet even among 
 these slaves, self- emancipated, and rendered 
 furious by a desire of vengeance, examples of 
 fidelity and attachment to their masters have 
 been found, which do honour to human na- 
 ture. 
 
 For my part, I am all anxiety to return to 
 the continent. Accustomed from my earliest 
 infancy to wander on the delightful banks of 
 the Schuylkill, to meet the keen air on Ken- 
 sington bridge, and to ramble over the fields 
 which surround Philadelphia, I feel like a 
 prisoner in this little place, built on a narrow 
 strip of land between the sea and a mountain 
 that rises perpendicularly behind the town. 
 There is to be sure an opening on one side to 
 the plain, but the negroes are there encamp- 
 ed ; they keep the ground of which general 
 Le Clerc suffered them to take possession, 
 and threaten daily to attack the town ! 
 
 There is no scarcity of beaux here, but 
 the gallantry of the French officers is fatiguing 
 from its sameness. They think their appear- 
 ance alone sufficient to secure a conquest, and 
 
36 HORRORS Qi 
 
 do not conceive it necessary to give their 
 yielding mistresses a decent excuse by pay- 
 ing them a litde attention. In three days a 
 love-affair is begun and finished and forgot- 
 ten; the first is for the declaration, the se- 
 cond is the day of triumph if it is deferred so 
 long, and the third is for the adieu. 
 
 The Creoles do not relish the attacks made 
 on their wives by the officers. The husband 
 of Clara in particular is as jealous as a Turk, 
 and has more than once shewn his displeasure 
 at the pointed attentions of the General-in- 
 chief to his wife, which she encourages, out 
 of contradiction to her husband rather than 
 from any pleasure they afford her. The bois- 
 terous gaiety and soldier-like manners of ge- 
 neral Rochambeau, can have made no impres- 
 sion on a heart tender and delicate as is that 
 of Clara. But there is a vein of coquetry in 
 her composition which^ if indulged, will cven^ 
 tually destroy her peace, 
 
 A tragical event happened lately at Port- 
 au-Prince. At a public breakfast, given by 
 the commandant, an officer just arrived from 
 France, addressing himself to a lady, called 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 37 
 
 her citoyenne, — The lady observed that, she 
 would never answer to that title. The stran- 
 ger replied that she ought to be proud of be- 
 ing so called. On wliich her husband, inter- 
 fering, said that his wife should never answer 
 to any mode of address that she found dis- 
 pleasing. No more passed at that time, but 
 before noon Monsieur C received a chal- 
 lenge : the choice of weapons being left to 
 him, he said that it w^as absolutely indifferent: 
 the stranger insisted on fighting with a rifle ; 
 
 Monsieur C replied that he should have 
 
 no objection to fight with a cannon : it was 
 however, finally settled, that the affair should 
 be decided with pistols ; and at sun-rise next 
 morning they met : the officer fired without 
 
 effect. Monsieur C , with surer aim laid 
 
 his antagonist lifeless on the ground. 
 
 On what trifles depends the destiny of 
 man ! but the Europeans are so insolent that 
 a few such lessons are absolutely necessary to 
 correct them. 
 
 Monsieur C is a Creole, and belongs 
 
 ed to the Staff of the general who commands 
 at Port-au-Prince, from which he has been 
 
 E 
 
38 
 
 HORRORS Oi 
 
 dismissed in consequence of this affair, which 
 is another proof of the hatred the French offi- 
 cers bear the inhabitants of this country. 
 
 We have here a General of division, who 
 is enriching himself by all possible means, 
 and with such unblushing rapacity, that he is 
 universally detested. He was a blacksmith 
 before the revolution, and his present pursuits 
 bear some affinity to his original employment, 
 having taken possession of a plantation on 
 which he makes charcoal, and which he sells 
 to the amount of a hundred dollars a day. A 
 carricature has appeared in which he is repre- 
 sented tying up sacks of coal. Madame A—-, 
 his mistress, standing near him, holds up his 
 embroidered coat and says, "Don't soil your- 
 " self. General." 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 39 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Calje Francoh* 
 J. 
 
 Three of your letters arriving at the same 
 time, my dear friend, have made me bkish for 
 my impatience, and force me to acknowledge 
 that I have wronged you. But your friend- 
 ship is so necessary to my happiness that the 
 idea of losing it is insupportable. You know 
 what clouds of misfortune have obscured my 
 life. An orphan without friends, without sup- 
 port, separated from my sister from my infan- 
 cy, and, at an age when the heart is most alive 
 to tenderness and affection, deprived by the 
 unrelenting hand of death, of him who had 
 taught me to feel all the transports of passion, 
 and for whose loss I felt all its despair — Cast 
 on the world without an asylum, without re- 
 source, I met you: — you raised me — soothed 
 me — ^ whispered peace to my lacerated breast ! 
 
40 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 Ah ! can I ever forget that delightful moment 
 when your care saved me ? It was so long 
 since I had known sympathy or consolation 
 that my astonished soul knew not how to 
 receive the enchanting visitants; fleeting as 
 fervenf was my joy : but let me not repine ! 
 Your friendship has shed a ray of light on 
 my solitary way, and though removed from 
 the influence of your immediate presence, I 
 exist only in the hope of seeing you again. 
 
 In restoring me to my sister, at the mo- 
 ment of her marriage, you procured for me a 
 home not only respectable, but in which all 
 the charms of fashionable elegance, all the at- 
 tractions of pleasure are united. Unfortu- 
 nately, Clara, amidst these intoxicating scenes 
 of ever- varying amusement, and attended by 
 crowds, who offer her the incense of adulation, 
 is wretched, and I cannot be happy ! 
 
 You know her early habits have been dif- 
 ferent from mine ; affluence might have been 
 thought necessary to her, yet the sensibility 
 of her heart rejects the futile splendour that 
 surrounds her, and the tears that often stain 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 41 
 
 her brilliant robes, shew that they cover a bo-^ 
 som to which peace is a stranger ! 
 
 The fortune of her husband was his only- 
 advantage. The friend who had been charg- 
 ed with Clara from her infancy had accustom- 
 ed her to enjoy the sweets of opulence, and 
 thought nothing more desirable than to place 
 her in a situation where she could still com- 
 mand them. Alas her happiness has been the 
 sacrifice of his mistaken, though well meant, 
 intentions. St. Louis is too sensible of the 
 real superiority of his wife not to set some 
 value on that which he derives from his mo- 
 ney, and tears of bitterest regret often fill her 
 eyes when contemplating the splendor which 
 has been so dearly purchased. Though to me 
 he has been invariably kind yet my heait is torn 
 with regret at the torments which his irascible 
 temper inflict on his wife. They force her to 
 seek relief in the paths of pleasure, whilst des- 
 tined by nature to embellish the sphere of do= 
 mestic felicity. 
 
43 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Cape Francois, 
 
 General Rochambeau has given Clara a 
 proof of his attention to her wishes at once 
 delicate and flattering. She dined with a large 
 party at the Government. house, where, as 
 usual, he was entirely devoted to her. After 
 dinner, he led her, followed by the company, 
 to a saloon, that was fitting up for a dining- 
 room. It was ornamented with military- tro- 
 phies, and on every pannel was written the 
 name of some distinguished chief. 
 
 On one Buonaparte, on another Frederic, 
 on another Massena, &c. 
 
 Clara said it was very pretty, but that 
 Washington should also have found a place 
 there ! 
 
 A few days after, a grand ball was given, 
 
44 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 and, on entering the ball-room, we saw, on a 
 pannel facing the door, 
 
 Washington, Liberty, and Independence ! 
 
 This merited a smile, and the general re- 
 ceived a most gracious one. It was new- 
 year's eve. When the clock struck twelve, 
 Clara, approaching the general, took a rose 
 from her bosom, saying, let me be the first to 
 wish you a happy new-year, and to offer you 
 les etrennes. 
 
 He took the rose, passed it across his lips, 
 and put it in his bosom. 
 
 The next morning, an officer called on her, 
 and presented her a pacquet in the name of 
 the general in chief. On opening it she found 
 a brilliant cross, with a superb chain, accom- 
 panied by an elegant billet, praying her accept- 
 ance of these trifles. 
 
 Take it back, she exclaimed, I gave the 
 general a flower, and will accept nothing of 
 greater value. — The officer refused, and, as 
 the eyes of her husband expressed no disap- 
 probation, she kept it. 
 
 We have since learned that it is customa- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 45 
 
 ry to make at this season, magnificent pre- 
 sents, and this accounts for the passiveness of 
 St. Louis on this occasion. 
 
 Shortly after, at a breakfast given by Ma- 
 dame A , Clara appeared with her bril- 
 liant cross : the General was there. 
 
 When they sat down to table, he offered 
 her an apple, which she declined accepting. 
 Take it, said he, for on Mount Ida I would 
 have given it to you, and in Eden I would 
 have taken it from you. 
 
 She replied laughing, no, no ; since you 
 attach so much value to your apple I certainly 
 will not accept it, for I wish equally to avoid 
 discord and temptation. 
 
 Her husband looked displeased, and with* 
 drew as soon as possible. 
 
 On their return home, he told her that her 
 flirting with the General, if carried much far- 
 ther, would probably cost her too dear. She 
 became serious, and I foresee the approaching 
 destruction of all domestic tranquillity. 
 
 Clara, proud and high spirited, will sub- 
 mit to no control. If her husband reposed 
 confidence in her she would not abuse it. But 
 
46 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 ilis soul cannot raise itself to a level with that 
 of his wife, and he will strive in vain to re- 
 duce her to that of his own. 
 
 He has declared that she shall go to no 
 more balls ; and she has declared as peremp- 
 torily, that she will go where she pleases. So 
 on the first public occasion there will be a 
 contest for supremacy, which will decide for- 
 ever the empire of the party that conquers. 
 
 Their jarrings distress me beyond mea- 
 sure. I had hoped to find tranquillity with 
 my sister, but alas 1 she is herself a stranger 
 to it. 
 
 I have no pleasure but that which the re- 
 collection of your friendship affords, which 
 will be dear to my heart whilst that heart is 
 conscious of feeling or affection. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 *47 
 
 LETTER VIL 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 The brigands have at length made the at- 
 tack they so long threatened, and we have 
 been terribly alarmed. 
 
 On Thursday last, one party approached 
 the fort before day break, whilst another, 
 passing behind the baiTier, w^hichis at the en- 
 trance of the plain, unobserved by the guard, 
 surprised fort Belleair, which stands on an ele- 
 vation adjoming the to^.vn, and killed the offi- 
 cer and twelve soldiers. The wife of the of- 
 ficer, who commanded that post, had gone, 
 the day before to stay with her husband. Her- 
 self and her child were pierced by the same 
 bayonet. The body of the officer lay across 
 the bed, as if he had died in the act of defend- 
 ing them. 
 
 The negroes vv'ere advancing silently into 
 
48 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 the town, when they were discovered by a cen- 
 tinel who gave the alarm. 
 
 The troops rushed to arms. The Brigands 
 were repulsed : but those who had taken pos- 
 session of fort Belleair made a vigorous resist- 
 ance. 
 
 St, Louis, who commands a company in the 
 guarde nationale, was the first on the field. 
 It was discovered that the negroes in the town 
 intended to join those who attacked it from 
 without and to kill the women and children, 
 who where shut up in their houses, without 
 any one to defend them ; but the patroles of 
 the guarde d'honneur prevented, by their vi- 
 gilance, the execution of this design. 
 
 At nine o'clock the general sent to tell 
 Clara that the part of the town she lived in 
 being very much exposed, she had better come 
 to his house and he would send her on board 
 the admiral's vessel. 
 
 She replied that it was impossible for her 
 to go, her husband having desired her on no 
 account to leave the house ; therefore she 
 added, Here 1 must stay if I am sure to 
 perish." 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 49 
 
 The action conimued at the barrier and ad - 
 vanced posts during the day. The negroes, 
 depending on their numbers, seemed deter- 
 mined to decide at once the fate of the town, 
 and we passed the day in a situation which I 
 cannot describe. 
 
 In the evening the general sent an officer 
 to tell Clara that he had some news from her 
 husband which he could communicate to none 
 but herself. 
 
 The first idea, that presented itself was, 
 that St. Louis had been killed. She seized 
 my arm and without waiting to take even a 
 veil hurried out of the house. 
 
 A gloomy silence reigned throughout the 
 streets. She arrived breathless at the govern- 
 ment house. The general met her in the hall, 
 took her gravely by the hand and led her into 
 a parlor. 
 
 What have you to tell me ? slie cried^ 
 where is St. Louis ? 
 
 Calm your spirits said the genei\aL Your 
 agitation renders you unfit to hear any thing ! 
 But seeing that his hesitation encreased her 
 distress, he said, laughing, your husband is 
 
50 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 well, has behaved gallantly, and seems invuL 
 nerable; for though numbers have been killed 
 and womided at his post, he has remained un- 
 hurt ! 
 
 Then v\^hy, she asked, have you alarmed 
 nie so unnecessarily, and made me qome here, 
 Vv hen you knew he ha.d desired me not to leave 
 the house ? He will never believe my motive 
 for coming, and I shall be killed ! 
 
 The general strove to soothe her, said that 
 it would be highly improper to pass the night 
 in her house, that several ladies had embark- 
 ed, and that she must go on board, which she 
 positively declined. 
 
 At that moment the officer who had ac- 
 companied us, entered, and presenting some 
 papers to the general, they both went into ano- 
 ther room. 
 
 Directly after the general called Clara. 
 She went, and I followed her. He was alone, 
 and looked as if he thought me an intruder, 
 but I continued at her side. 
 
 The papers he held in his hand were dis- 
 patches from the camp. He told her that St. 
 Louis would remain out all night, and again 
 
 V 
 
ST. BO MIX GO. 
 
 requested her tc tliiiik of her ovvtx safety. 
 But she would not listen to his proposal of 
 sending her on board; and, attended by the of- 
 ficer who had accompanied us, we returned 
 home, 
 
 Vv hilst the general was talking with Clara, 
 I examined the apartment, which had been 
 Madame Le Clerc's dressing-room. 
 
 The sofas and curtains were of blue sattin 
 with silver fringe. A door, which stood open, 
 led into the bedcham.ber. The canopy of the 
 bed was in the form of a shell, from which 
 little cupids descending held back with one 
 hand, curtains of Vvdiite sattin trimmed with 
 gold, and pointed with the other to a large 
 mirror vvhich formed the tester. On a table, 
 in the form of an altar, which stood near the 
 bed, Vv'as an alabaster figure representing si- 
 lence, with a finger on its lips, raid bearing in 
 its hand a waxen taper. 
 
 The first thing we heard on our return 
 was that a soldier, sent by St. Louis, had en- 
 quired for Clara, and not finding her, had re- 
 turned immediately to the camp. 
 
HORRORS OF 
 
 She was distressed beyond measure, and 
 exclaimed, " I had better go forever, for St, 
 "Louis will kill me! 
 
 I endeavoured to console her, though I felt 
 that her apprehensions were not groundless. 
 She pa.ssed the night in agony, and awaited 
 the return of her husband in the most painful 
 agitation. 
 
 At ten the next morning he arrived, ha* 
 vlng left his post without orders, and thus 
 exposed himself to all the rigours of a court- 
 martial. 
 
 He was trembling with rage, transported 
 with fury, and had iriore the air of a demon 
 than a man, ■ 
 
 I know your conduct madam, he cried, on 
 entering, you left tlie house contrary to my 
 desire ; but I shall find means of punishing 
 you, and of covering with shame the monster 
 who has sought to destroy me I 
 
 lie seized her by the arm, and dragging 
 her into a little dressing-room at the end of 
 the gallery, locked her in, and, taking the key 
 in his pocket, went to the government house, 
 and v/ithout waiting till the officers in the an- 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 53 
 
 tichamber announced him, entered the room 
 where the general was alone, reclining on a 
 sofa, who arose, and approaching him fami- 
 liai'ly said, " St. Louis, I am glad to see you, 
 and was just thinking of you ; but did not 
 know that you had been relieved." 
 
 I have not been relieved, replied St, Louis, 
 but have left a post where I was most unjust- 
 ly placed and kept all night, to give you an 
 opportunity of accomplishing your infernal 
 designs. You expected, no doubt, that I 
 would have shared the fate of my brave com- 
 panions, which I have escaped, and am here 
 to tell you what every body believes but which 
 no body dares utter, that you are a villain I — - 
 I know to what I am exposed in consequence 
 of leaving my post. You are my superior, it 
 is true ; but if you are not a coward you will 
 v\"ave all distinction, and give me the satisfac- 
 tion due to a gentleman you have injured. 
 
 He then w^alked hastily away, before the 
 general could recover from his surprise. 
 
 The officer, who had accompanied us the 
 night before, followed and attempted to soothe 
 him. 
 
 F 2 
 
54 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 He said that he had been sent by the ge- 
 neral to take Clara to his house because the 
 part of the towil in which she lived was abso- 
 lutely unsafe, and that he had used a little 
 stratagem to induce her to come, but that she 
 had absolutely refused staying ; — that Made- 
 moiselle, ' (meaning my ladyship) had gone 
 with her, and that he had not left her till he 
 had conducted her home. 
 
 This a little softened the rage of St. Louis ! 
 He has a good opinion of this young man, who 
 by the bye, is a charming creature. They 
 entered the house together. I was alone, and 
 joined my assurances to those of the officer, 
 that we had not quitted Clara an instant. 
 
 He w^as now sorry for having treated her 
 so harshly ; but did not regret the scene that 
 had passed at the general's. 
 
 At this moment a soldier entered, who told 
 him that they had been relieved directly after 
 he had left them, and that no notice had been 
 taken of his departure. 
 
 I now learned that St. Louis, with sixty 
 men, had been placed in the most advanced 
 post, on the very summit of the mountaia., 
 
ST. DOMIKG0* 
 
 55 
 
 where they were crowded together on the point 
 of a rock. In this disadvantageous position, 
 they had been attacked by the negroes ; forty 
 men were killed ; and the troops of the line, 
 who were a little lower dow^n, had offered them 
 no assistance. It being the first time that the 
 guarde nationale had been placed before the 
 troops of the line the common opmion is, that 
 it was the general's intention to have St. Louis 
 destroyed, as it was by his order that he was 
 so stationed, and kept there all night, though 
 the other posts had been relieved at midnight. 
 
 St. Louis forgot his rage and his sufferings 
 in the assurance that Clara had not been faith- 
 less. He went to the room in which he had 
 confined her, threw himself at her feet, and 
 burst into tears. 
 
 Clara, affected by his pain, or ashamed of 
 having so tormented him, — or fatigued with 
 their eternal broils, leaned over him, -and min- 
 gled her tears with his. 
 
 When the violence of her emotion subsid- 
 ed, she entreated him to forgive the inconside- 
 rateness of her conduct, and vowed that she 
 xvould never again offend him.- — But you have 
 
56 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 destroyed yourself, she continued, the general 
 will never pardon you : let us leave this hated 
 country, where tranquillity is unknown. 
 
 After much debate, it was agreed that he 
 should send us to Philadelphia, and that he 
 would follow himself as soon as he had ar- 
 ranged his affairs. 
 
 Clara keeps her room and sees nobody, 
 her husband is in despair at parting with her, 
 but proposes following her immediately. 
 
 We embark in ten days. What power 
 shall I invoke to grant us favourable winds ? 
 Whose protection solicit to conduct me spee- 
 dily to my native shores, and to the society of 
 my friends ? 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 LETTER VIIL 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 We are still here, my dear friend, and my 
 disappointment and vexation have been so 
 great, that ten days have passed since I have 
 written a single line. 
 
 The general, thinking Clara was sent away 
 against her will, and determined to thwart the 
 intentions of her husband, laid an embargo on 
 all the vessels in the port. 
 
 St. Louis raved, and swore she should not 
 leave her room till he conducted her on board. 
 
 To prevent all intercourse from widiout. 
 he keeps her locked up in a small room, ad= 
 joining her chamber. — Nobody, not even my^ 
 self, can see her, except in his presence ; and 
 thus all confidence is at an end between them 
 
 She weeps continually, and I am afraid the 
 torments she suifers will destrov her health. 
 
 4m 
 
58 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 St. Louis is unworthy of her : he thinks 
 it possible to force her to love him : — How 
 much more would a generous confidence in- 
 iiuence a heart like her's ! 
 
 Many of his friends have represented to 
 him the impropriety of his conduct. The 
 challenge he gave general Rochambeau filled 
 every body with terror, for it exposed him to 
 certain death. To have left his post without 
 orders was a crime equally serious ; and, if 
 the general has passed them both over in si- 
 lence, it is supposed that his vengeance only 
 slumbers for a time to be more sure in its ef- 
 fect. 
 
 He thinks Clara attached to the general. 
 I know she is not! her, vanity alone has been 
 interested. To be admired was her aim, and 
 she knew that, by attracting the notice of the 
 general in chief, her end would be accomplish^ 
 ed. She succeeded even beyond her wishes, 
 but it has been a dangerous experiment ; and 
 will cost her, I fear, the small portion of do- 
 mestic peace she enjoyed.— Domestic y^/i<7?Yz^ 
 she never knew ! I am convinced that she 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 59 
 
 has never been less happy than since her mar- 
 riage ! 
 
 Nothing can be more brutal than St. Louis 
 in his rage ! The day of his affair with the 
 general, he threw her on the ground, and then 
 dragged her by the hair : — I flew to her, but 
 his aspect so terrified me that I vv^as obliged 
 to withdraw : and when his fits of tenderness 
 return he is as bad in the other extreme. He 
 kneels before her, entreats her pardon, and 
 overwhelms her with caresses more painful to 
 her than the most terrible effects of his ill-hu- 
 mour. And then his temper is so capricious 
 that he cannot be counted upon a moment. I 
 have seen him obhge her to stay at home and 
 pass the evening alone with him. after she had 
 dressed for a ball. 
 
 This does not accord with the liberty 
 French ladies are supposed to enjoy. But I 
 believe Clara is not the first wife that has been 
 locked up at St. Domingo, yet she excites lit- 
 tle sympathy because she has not the good for^ 
 tune to be one of the privileged. 
 In Continuation. 
 
 Certain events, which shall be related, pre- 
 
60 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 vented me from finishing my letter. The same 
 events have produced an entire change in our 
 affairs, and we are now fixed at St. Domingo 
 for some time. 
 
 The embargo is raised :— the general in 
 chief is gone to Port-au-Prince ; all the belles 
 of the Cape have follow^ed him. Clara is at 
 liberty, and her husband content 1 
 
 As soon as we had an opportunity of con- 
 versing together, Clara related to me occur- 
 rences which seem like scenes of romance, 
 but I am convinced of their reality. Under 
 the window of the little apartment in which 
 she was confined, there is an old building 
 standing in a court surrounded by high walls« 
 The general informed himself of the position 
 of Clara's chamber, and his intelligent valet, 
 who makes love to one of her servants, found 
 that it would not be difficult to give her a let-^ 
 ter, which his dulcinea refused charging her- 
 self with. He watched the moment of St. 
 Louis's absence, entered the deserted court, 
 mounted the tottering roof, and, calling Clara 
 to the window, gave her the letter, glowing 
 vnXh the warmest professions of love, and su^^ 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 61 
 
 gesting several schemes for her escape, one of 
 which was, that she should embark on board 
 a vessel that he would indicate, and that he 
 would agree with the captain to put into Port- 
 au-Prince, whither he would speedily follow 
 hen — Another was, to escape in the night by 
 the same window, and go to his house, where 
 he would receive and protect her. But the 
 heart of Clara acknowledged not the empire 
 of general Rochambeau, nor had she even the 
 slightest intention of listening to him. 
 
 If her husband knew all this it would cure 
 him, I suppose, of his passion for locking up. 
 But, incapable of generosity himself, he can- 
 not admire it in another, and would atti'ibute 
 her refusal of the general's offers to any mo- 
 tive but the real one. 
 
 How often has she assured me that she 
 ivouid prefer the most extreme poverty to her 
 present existence, but to abandon her husband 
 was not to be thought of. Yet to have aban- 
 doned him, and to have been presented as the 
 declared mistress of General Rochambeau, 
 would not have been thought a crime nor have 
 excluded her from the best society! 
 
 G 
 
HORRORS OF 
 
 Madame G — — , who has nothing but her 
 beauty to recommend her, (and no excess of 
 that) lives with the admiral on board his ves- 
 sel. She is visited by every body ; and no 
 party is thought fashionable if not graced by 
 her presence, yet her manners are those of a 
 poissarde and she was very lately in the lowest 
 and most degraded situation. But she gives 
 splendid entertainments : and when good cheer 
 and gaiety invite, nobody enquires too mi- 
 nutely by whom they are offered. 
 
 Clara laughs at the security St. Louis felt 
 when he had her locked up. Yet in spite of 
 bolts and bars love's messenger reached her. 
 The general's letters were most impassioned, 
 for, unaccustomed to find resistance, the diffi- 
 culty his approach to Clara met added fuel to 
 his flame. 
 
 You say, that in relating public affairs, or 
 those of Clara, I forget my own, or conceal 
 them under this appearance of neglect. My 
 fate is so intimately connected with that of my 
 sister, that every thing concerning her must 
 interest you, from the influence it has on my- 
 self ; and, in truth, I have no adventures. I 
 
ST. DOMIXGO. 
 
 63 
 
 described in a former letter, the gallantry of 
 the French officers, but I have not repeated the 
 compliments they sometimes make me, and 
 which have been offered, perhaps, to every 
 Vv'oman in town before they reach my ear. 
 But a civil thing I heai'd yesterday, had so 
 much of originality in it that it deserves to be 
 remembered. I was copying a beautiful 
 dra,wing of the graces, when a Frenchman I 
 detest, entered the room. Approaching the 
 table he said. What mademoiselle do you 
 paint? 1 did not know that you possessed that 
 talent. Vexed at his intrusion. I asked if 
 he knew I possessed any talents. Certainly, he 
 replied, every body acknowledges that you 
 possess that of pleasing. Then looking at the 
 picture 'lat lay before me, he continued : The 
 modesty of the graces would prevent their at- 
 tempting to draw you. Why? I asked. Be- 
 cause in painting you, they would be obliged 
 to copy themselves. 
 
 With all this bavardage receive my aifec 
 tionate adieu ! 
 
65 
 
 LETTER IX, 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 We have had some novelty here my dear 
 friend, for general Closelle, who commands 
 during the absence of the general in chief, has 
 taken a new method to amuse the people, and 
 courts popularity under the veil of religion. 
 He gives no balls, no concerts ; but he has had 
 the church fitted up, and the fete dieu has been 
 celebrated wdth great order, magnificence and 
 solemnity. ^ 
 
 At break of day the fete was announced 
 by the firing of cannon : at eight o'clock the 
 procession left the church, and passed throua;h 
 the principal streets, which were strewn with 
 roses; the fronts of the houses were decorated 
 with green branches, formed into arches, in- 
 termingled with wreaths of fiowers. Tr»e troops 
 under arms v/ere placed in double ranks on each 
 
 G 2 
 
66 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 side of the street. The procession was opened 
 by a number of young boys dressed in white 
 surphces, singing a hymn in honour of the day. 
 They were followed by young girls, crowned 
 with myrtle, bearing in their hands baskets of 
 flowers, which they strewed on the ground as 
 they passed along. The band of music fol- 
 lowed, and then the priests, bearing golden 
 censors, in which were burning the most ex- 
 quisite perfumes, preceded by four negroes, 
 carrying on their shoulders a golden temple, 
 ornamented with precious stones, and golden 
 angels supporting a canopy of crimson velvet, 
 beneath which the sacred host was exposed in 
 a brilliant sagraria. After them marched ge- 
 neral Clos^lle, and all the officers of the civil 
 and military departments. The procession 
 was closed by a number of ladies, covered with 
 white veils. As the temple passed along, the 
 soldiers bent one knee to the ground; and when 
 it returned to the church, high mass was sung, 
 accompanied by military music. 
 
 Clara and myself, attended by her everlast- 
 ing beau, major B , went all over the 
 
 town, and so fatigued our poor cavalier, that 
 
ST. DOMINGOe 
 
 67 
 
 he actually fell down ; but he is fifty years old, 
 and at least five hundred in constitution ; he 
 has been ytry handsome, has still the finest 
 eyes in the world, is full of anecdote, and infi= 
 nitely amusing. 
 
 General Closelle is very handsome, tall, 
 and elegantly formed, but not at all gallant, 
 consequently not a favourite with the ladies; 
 and for the same reason, a great one with the 
 gentlemen, particularly those who are married. 
 Since the departure of the general in chief he 
 has put every thing on a new footing; the for- 
 tifications are repairing, and block -houses are 
 erecting all round the town, 
 
 A few days since the negroes attacked a 
 block-house which was nearly finished, A de- 
 tachment commanded by general Mayart, was 
 instantly sent out to support the guard. As 
 he passed under my window, I told him to 
 hasten and gather fresh laurels. He replied, 
 that at his return he would lay them at my 
 feet; but, alas ! he returned no more. The 
 negroes were retreating when he arrived : a 
 random shot struck him, and he fell dead from 
 his horse. This young man came from France 
 
68 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 about a yeai' ago, a simple lieutenant; he was 
 very poor, but being powerfully protected, ad- 
 vanced rapidly in- the army; and, what is infi- 
 nitely surprising, thirty thousand dollars, and a 
 great quantity of plate, were found in his house 
 at his death. 
 
 Madame G , a pretty little Parisian, 
 
 who was his favourite, is inconsolable. She 
 faints when any body enters the room, and re- 
 peats his name in gentle murmurs. In the 
 evening she languishingly reposes on a sopha 
 placed opposite the door, and seems to invite 
 by the gracefulness of her attitudes, and the 
 negligence of her dress, the whole world to 
 console her. 
 
 The most distressing accounts arrive here 
 daily from all parts of the island. 
 
 The general in chief is at Port-au-Prince, 
 but he possesses no longer the confidence of 
 the people. He is entirely governed by his 
 officers, who are boys, and who think only of 
 amusement. He gi^es splendid balls, and ele- 
 gant parties* but he neglects the army, and 
 oppresses the inhabit^^ 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 69 
 
 A black chief and his wife were made pri- 
 soners last week, and sentenced to be shot. 
 As they walked to the place of execution the 
 chief seemed deeply impressed with the hor- 
 ror of his approaching fate : but his wife went 
 cheerfully along, endeavoured to console him, 
 and reproached his want of courage. When 
 they arrived on the field, in which their grave 
 was already dug, she refused to have her eyes 
 bound; and turning to the soldiers who were 
 to execute their sentence, said " Be expedi- 
 tious, and don't make me linger." She re- 
 ceived their fire without shrinking, and ex- 
 pired without uttering a groan. Since the 
 commencement of the revolution she had been 
 a very devil ! Her husband commanded at St. 
 Marks, and being very amorously inclined, 
 e^'Cry white lady who -was unfortunate enough 
 to attract his notice, received an order to meet 
 him. If she refused, she was sure of being 
 destroyed, and if she complied she was as sure 
 of being killed by his wife's orders, which 
 were indisputable. Jealous as a tygress, she 
 watched all the actions of her husband ; and 
 never failed to punish the objects of his amo» 
 
70 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 rous approaches, often when they were en» 
 tirely innocent. 
 
 How terrible was the situation of these un- 
 fortunate women, insulted by the brutal pas- 
 sion of a negro, and certain of perishing if they 
 -resisted or if they complied. 
 
 This same fury in female form killed with 
 her own hand a white man who had been her 
 husband's secretary. offended her ; she 
 had him bound, and stabbed him with a pen- 
 knife till he expired! 
 
 How often, my dear friend, do my sighs 
 bear my wishes to your happy country; how 
 ardently do I desire to revisit scenes hallowed 
 by recollection, and rendered doubly dear by 
 the peaceful security I there enjoyed, contrast- 
 ed with the dangers to which we are here ex- 
 posed. Yet the Creoles still hope ; for 
 
 " Hope travels through, nor quits us when 
 we die." 
 
 They think it impossible that this island 
 can ever be abandon- d to the negroes. They 
 build houses, rebuild those that were burned, 
 and seem secure in their possession. The 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 71 
 
 measures of general Closelle inspire them 
 with confidence ; and they think that if he was 
 commander in chief, all would go well. But 
 when general Rochambeau was second in 
 command, he was a favorite with every body ; 
 and it is only since he has attained the sum- 
 mit of power that he has appeared regardless 
 of public opinion ! He is said to have the ta- 
 lents of a soldier, but not those of a general. 
 Whatever may be the fate of this country, here 
 I must wait with patience, of which mulish 
 virtue I have no great share, till some change 
 in its affairs restores me to my own. Yet when 
 there, I can hope for nothing more than tran- 
 quillity. The romantic visions of happiness I 
 once delighted to indulge in, are fading fast 
 away before the exterminating touch of cold 
 reality.— 
 
 The glowing hand of hope grows cold. 
 And fancy lives not to be old. f 
 
 But whilst your friendship is left me life will 
 still have a charmo 
 
73 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Cape Francois, 
 
 It is not often in the tranquillity of domes- 
 tic life that the poet or the historian seek their 
 subjects! Of ihis I am certain, that in the 
 calm that now surrounds us it ^vill be difficult 
 for me to find one for my unpoetical pen. 
 
 Clara is dull, St. Louis contented, and I 
 pass my time heavily, complaining of the fate 
 which brought me here, and wishing to be 
 away. We go sometimes to the concerts given 
 
 by monsieur d'Or, where madame P ^ a 
 
 pretty little Parisian sings; and where madame 
 A , acccompanied by her daughter, pre- 
 sides with solemn dignity. This lady, who is 
 at present a most rigid censor of female con- 
 duct, and not amiable either in person or man- 
 ners, lived many years with monsieur A , 
 
 who raised her from the rank of his house- 
 
 H 
 
.74 
 
 HORROKS OF 
 
 keeper, to that of his mistress. But he fell in 
 love with another lady, whom he was going to 
 marry. The deserted fair one threw herself 
 in despair at the feet of Toussaint, with whom 
 she had some influence, and so forcibly repre- 
 sented the injustice of the proceeding, that 
 Toussaint ordered A— to be confined, say- 
 ing he should not be released till he consent- 
 ed to marry the lady he had so long lived with. 
 A- — — resisted some time, but at length yield- 
 ed, and exchanged his prison for the softer one 
 of her arms. 
 
 Before the revolution there was a convent 
 at the Cape. The nuns in general were very 
 rich, and devoted themselves chiefly to the 
 education of young ladies : some of their pu- 
 pils, I have heard, would have done honour to 
 ^ Parisian seminary. 
 
 When religion was abolished in France, 
 the rage for abolition, as well as that of revo- 
 lutionizing reached this place, and the nuns 
 were driven from the convent by Santhonax, 
 a name which will always fill every French- 
 man's breast with horror: he caused the first 
 destruction of the Cape. On the arrival of ge~ 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 75 
 
 neral Galbo, who was sent to supercede him, 
 he said, " if Galbo reigns here, he shall reign 
 over ashes," and actually set fire to the town. 
 The convent was not then burned; but the 
 society v/as dissolved, the habit of the order 
 laid aside; and some of the nuns, profiting by 
 the license of the times, married. One of 
 these became the wife of a man who, during 
 the reign of the negroes committed crimes of 
 the deepest die. He has not yet received the 
 punishment due to them; but he awaits in 
 trembling the hour of retribution. I often see 
 her. She has been very handsome, but her 
 charms are now in the wane ; she has a great 
 deal of vivacity, and that fluency of expression 
 in conversing on the topics of the day, which 
 gives to a French woman the reputation of 
 having beaiicoiip (Pesprit. 
 
 I know also the lady abbess, %vho is an 
 excellent woman of most engaging manners. 
 She lives in a miserable chamber, and sup- 
 ports herself by her industry. The greatest 
 part of the community have perished; and ge- 
 neral Le Clerc found it more convenient to 
 have the convent fitted up for his own resi- 
 
76 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 dence, than to restore it to its owners, the 
 government house having^ been entirely de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 There are also here two hospitals, neither 
 of which have been injured, though the town 
 has been twice burned. The Hopitale de la 
 Providence is an asylum for the poor, the sick 
 and the stranger; the building is decent: but 
 the Hopitale des Peres de la Charlie is superb, 
 surrounded by gardens, ornamented with sta- 
 tues and fountains, and finished with all the 
 magnificence which their vast revenues ena- 
 bled its owners to command. 
 
 The streets of the town cross each other 
 at right angles, like those of Philadelphia, and 
 there are several public squares which add 
 greatly to the beauty of the place. In the 
 centre of each is a fountain, from which the 
 water, clear as crystal, flows into marble ba- 
 sons. The houses are commodious, particu- 
 larly those of two stories, which have all bal- 
 conies; but the streets are narrow, and the 
 heat would be intolerable if it was not for the 
 relief afforded by bathing, which is here an 
 universal custom, and for the sea-breezes 
 
ST. DOMIMGOo 
 
 which, rising every afternoon, waft on their 
 wings deUcious coohiess. 
 
 The mulatto women are the hated but suc- 
 cessful rivals of the Creole ladies. Many of 
 them are extremely beautiful; and, being des- 
 tined from their birth to a life of pleasure, 
 they are taught to heighten the power of their 
 charms by all the aids of art, and to express 
 in every look and gesture all the refinements 
 of voluptuousness. It may be said of them, 
 that their very feet speak. In this country that 
 unfortunate class of beings, so numerous in my 
 own, — victims of seduction, devoted to pub- 
 lic contempt and universal scorn, is unknowUo 
 Here a false step is very rarely made by an un-- 
 married lady, and a married lady, who does 
 not make one, is as rare; yet of both there 
 have been instances: but the faux pas of a 
 married lady is so much a matter of course, 
 that she who has only one lover, and retains 
 him long in her chains, is considered as a mo- 
 del of constancv and discretion. 
 
 To the destiny of the women of colour no 
 infamy is attached; ^hey have inspired pas- 
 sions which have lasted through life, and are 
 
 H 2 
 
78 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 faithful to their lovers through every vicissi- 
 tude of fortune and chance. But before the 
 revolution their splendor, their elegance, their 
 influence over the men, and the fortunes la- 
 vished on them by their infatuated lovers, so 
 powerfully excited the jealousy of the white 
 ladies, that they complained to the council of 
 the ruin their extravagance occasioned to many 
 families, and a decree was issued imposing re- 
 strictions on their dress. No woman of co- 
 lour was to wear silk, which was then univer- 
 sally worn, nor to appear in public without a 
 handkerchief on her head. They determined 
 to oppose this tyranny, and took for that pur- 
 pose a singular but effectual resolution. They 
 shut themselves up in their houses, and ap- 
 peared no more in public. The merchants 
 soon felt the bad effects of this determination, 
 and represepted so forcibly the injury the de- 
 cree did to commerce, that it was reversed, 
 and the olive beauties triumphed. 
 
 But the rage of the white ladies still pur- 
 sued them with redoubled fury, for what is so 
 violent as female jealousy? The contest how- 
 ever was unequal, and the infipence of their 
 
ST. DOMINGO* 
 
 7^ 
 
 detested . rivals could not be counteracted. 
 Some of them were very rich. There is a 
 friendliness and simplicity in their manners 
 which is very interesting. They are the most 
 caressing creatures in the world, and breathe 
 nothing but affection and love. One of their 
 most enviable privileges, and which they in- 
 herit from nature, is that their beauty is im- 
 mortal — they never fade. 
 
 The French appear to understand less than 
 any other people the delights arising from an 
 union of hearts. They seek only the gratifi- 
 cation of their sensual appetites. They gather 
 the flowers, but taste not the fruits of love. 
 They call women the " beau sexe^'^ and know 
 them only under the enchanting form of mi- 
 nisters of pleasure. They may appear thus 
 to those who have only eyes; by those who 
 have hearts they will always be considered as 
 sacred objects of reverence and love. A man 
 who thinks and feels views in woman the be- 
 neficent creature who nourished him with her 
 milk, and watched over his helpless infancy; 
 a consoling being who soothes his pains and 
 softens his sorrows by her tenderness and even 
 
80 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 by her levity and her sports. But here female 
 virtue is blasted in the bud by the contagious 
 influence of example. Every girl sighs to be 
 married to escape from the restraint in which 
 she is held whilst single, and to enjoy the un- 
 bounded liberty she so often sees abused by 
 her mother. A husband is necessary to give 
 her a place in society; but is considered of so 
 little importance to her happiness, that in the 
 choice of one her inclination is very seldom 
 consulted. And when her heart, in spite of 
 custom, feels the pain of being alone, and 
 seeks an asylum in the bosom of her husband, 
 she too often finds it shut against her; she is - 
 assailed by those whose only desire is to add 
 another trophy to their conquests, and is borne 
 away by the torrent of fashion and dissipation 
 till all traces of her native simplicity are de- 
 stroyed. She joins with unblushing front, the 
 crowd who talk of sentiments they never feel, 
 and who indulge in the most licentious ex- 
 cesses without having the glow of passion to 
 gild their errors. These reflections were sug- 
 gested by a most preposterous marriage, at 
 which I was present. A girl of fifteen was sa- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 81 
 
 crificed by her grandmother to a man of sixty, 
 of the most disagreeable appearance and for- 
 bidding manners. The soul of this unfortu- 
 nate victim is all melting softness; she is of 
 the most extraordinary beauty; she is now 
 given to the world, and in those who surround 
 her she will find the destroyers of her delica- 
 cy, her simplicity, and her peace. 
 
83 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Cape Francois, 
 
 To give you some idea of the despotism 
 that reigns in this country, I must relate an 
 event which, though it originated with Clara, 
 was certainly carried farther than she either 
 expected or desired. 
 
 On our arrival here she engaged a young 
 Frenchman to give her lessons in his language, 
 which she spoke tolerably before, but in which 
 she wished to acquire perfection. After he 
 had attended her some time she perceived that 
 his lessons were considerably lengthened and 
 that he chose for his themes the most amorous 
 and affectionate pieces. Some observations 
 made on the subject, drew from him a confes- 
 sion of the extraordinary passion she had in- 
 spired. After laughing at his folly, she dis- 
 
84 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 missed him, and thought of him no more; but 
 shordy after was informed that he had circu- 
 lated reports highly injurious to her. General 
 Rochambeau, whose ears they had reached, 
 asked her from whence they arose? and she 
 related to him with great simplicity the whole 
 affair. The general said he should be em- 
 barked, and the next morning he was actually 
 sent on board an armed vessel which was to 
 sail in a few days. Whilst there he wrote a 
 pathetic and elegant little poem in which he 
 represented himself as the victim of the gene- 
 ral's jealousy, who thus sought to destroy him 
 for having interfered, and not unsuccessfully, 
 with his pursuits. This paper was sent to the 
 man with whom he had lived, and who handed 
 it to every body. Clara was in despair. She 
 informed the general in chief that he had ren- 
 dered the affair, which was at first only ridi- 
 culous, seriously provoking: in consequence 
 of which the house of this man was surround- 
 ed by guards, who, without giving him time 
 to take even a change of clothes, conducted 
 him on board the vessel where his friend was 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 85 
 
 confined; it sailed immediately for France, 
 and his house and store, which were worth at 
 least thirty thousand dollars became the prey 
 of the officers of the administration : but the 
 poem was heard of no more. 
 
87 
 
 LETTER Xn 
 
 Cape Francois, 
 
 The general in chief has returned from 
 Port-au-Prince. Three days after his aiTival 
 the Cape was blockaded by nve British ships, 
 and ncAvs was received of war having been 
 declared between England and France. 
 
 Every body is m the greatest consterna- 
 tion, for inevitable ruin threatens the place. 
 The English wiU no doubt prevent all vessels 
 from entering the port, and ts^ke all that go 
 oiU; at the same time the negroes are said to 
 be preparing another attack. 
 
 The general brougiit in his train all the 
 belles of Port-au-Prince, and has given a ball, 
 at which, incredible as it may appeau' to you, 
 Clai'a and myself appeared. \Mien the cards 
 of invitation were brought, St. Louis decb-red 
 hat they should not be left; but major B , 
 
88 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 who was present, represented so forcibly the 
 danger of irritating the general, who has shewn 
 some symptoms of a disposition to tyrannize, 
 since his return which were never remarked 
 in him before, that he consented to our going. 
 When we entered the room attended by B, 
 every eye was fixed on Clara, who never was 
 so lovely. Dressed in a robe ornamented with 
 wreaths of flowers, she joined the sweetness 
 of Flora to the lightness of the youngest of the 
 graces, and the recollection of certain late 
 events gave an air of timidity to her looks 
 which rendered her enchanting. General Ko- 
 chambeau, by the warmth of his manner eh- 
 creased her confusion, and fixed on her more 
 pointedly the attention of every beholder. He 
 was surprized at seeing her without her hus- 
 band, and enquired what had wrought so won- 
 derful a change ? She replied that he had found 
 a very good representative in major B— , 
 and that he had acquired a little confidence in 
 herself. She waltzed with more than her 
 usual grace, and the general seemed flattered 
 by the notice she attracted. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 89 
 
 Most of the ladies from Port-au-Prince 
 are widows 
 
 " Who bear about the mockery of woe 
 To midnight dances and the pubUc shew.'* 
 
 None of them are remarkable for their beauty 
 or elegance. The only new face worth look- 
 
 ing at was a madame V , lately arrived 
 
 from France ; her hair was dressed a la Ninon 
 de VEnclos^ part of it fastened on the top of 
 the head, the rest hpjiging about her neck in 
 loose curls. 
 
 The ball room had been newlv furnished 
 with regal splendor; all the chairs were re- 
 moved, and long sophas wiUi large cushions 
 offered delightful seats. A recess at one end 
 of the room had been fitted up a la Turc \ the 
 walls were entirely concealed with large look« 
 ing glasses, which reached the ceiling; the 
 floor was covered with carpets and the only 
 seats w^ere piles of crimson sattin cushions 
 thrawn on the ground. The lustres, veiled 
 with green silk, gave a soft light, imitating that 
 of the moon, and the ensemble breathed an air 
 of tranquillity that invited to repose after the 
 
 I 2 
 
90 HORRORS 01< 
 
 fatigue of dancing, and offered a retreat from 
 the heat which it was almost impossible to re= 
 sist. To this retreat general Rochambeau led 
 Clara. A lady was lolling in one corner, and 
 I entered at the same moment. He looked as 
 if he wished us both away, but I never attend 
 to looks that I am resolved not to understand. 
 
ST. DOMINGO 
 
 91 
 
 LETTER XIIL 
 
 Cape Francois, 
 
 A few days after the ball mentioned in my 
 last, St. Louis determined to send Clara and 
 myself to St. Jago de Cuba, and to follow us 
 as scton as possible. This measure was op- 
 posed by major B ; but Clara insisted, 
 
 and the day of our departure was fixed. The 
 
 next day B breakfasted with us; and as 
 
 soon as we were, alone, told Clara that she was 
 wrong in being so entirely governed by her 
 husband. She replied, that she had suffered 
 much in consequence of coquetting with ge- 
 neral Rochambeau, in which her only inten^ 
 tion had been to find amusement ; but she was 
 now convinced of its being highly dangerous 
 and improper; and that it had been produc- 
 live of much ill. She added, that she lived in 
 continual inquietude, and that nothing would 
 
92 
 
 HORRORS OP 
 
 induce her to stay in the Cape if she could get 
 away. 
 
 B spoke of the passion of the general^ 
 —said he had seen him that morning, and as 
 a proof of her having been the subject of their 
 conversation, gave her a letter from him. Is 
 it possible, (she exclaimed) you in whom my 
 husband has so much confidence? You ate a 
 
 fool, replied B- , and your husband is no 
 
 better : and if his insolence to the general has 
 not been punished it is owing to my inter- 
 ference, 
 
 Clara read the letter. It was filled with 
 professions of admiration and unalterable love. 
 He begged her not to think of leaving the 
 Cape, which was in no danger; and further 
 said he had taken measures to prevent her 
 being sent away. He requested her to write 
 to him, but this she positively refused. 
 
 Towards noon a proclamation was issued 
 ordering all the passports which had been 
 granted during the last three months to be re- 
 turned. St. Louis was in despair: he had in- 
 tended sending Clara off without eclat, having 
 procured passports before^ but B — betray- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 93 
 
 ed him. Yet in B he has the most mi-- 
 
 bounded confidence; and suffers Clara to re- 
 eeive nobody else. She walks with him when 
 she pleases, and he never fails on such occa- 
 sions to give the general an opportunity of 
 speaking to her. 
 
 A few days ago we went to Picolet, to see 
 the fort. The road to it winds along the sea- 
 shore at the foot of the mountain. The rocks 
 are covered with the Arabian jessamin, which 
 grows here in the greatest profusion. Its flex- 
 ible branches form among the cliffs moving 
 festoons and fantastic ornaments, and its flowers 
 whiter than snow, fill the air with intoxicating 
 fragrance. After having visited the fort we 
 were preparing to return, when we saw a troop 
 of horsemen descending the mountain. They 
 came full speed. We soon discovered they 
 were the general and his suite ; and as they 
 followed the windings of the road, with their 
 uniform a la mameluc^ and their long sabres, 
 they appeared like a horde of Arabs. 
 
 The general arrived first, and jumping from 
 his horse, told Clara that he had left the table 
 an hour sooner than usual to have the plea- 
 
94 HORRORS OF 
 
 sure of seeing her. Then, said she, looking 
 
 reproachfully at B , you have a familiar 
 
 spirit who informs you of my movements ! 
 Why not, he replied, are you not an enchan-= 
 tress, and have you not employed all the 
 powers of magic to enslave me ? You are in 
 an error said Clara; I was flattered by - our 
 admiration, and gratified by the attentions with 
 which you honoured me; but I used no art to 
 attract the one, and am too sensible of my own 
 defects not to feel that I am indebted for the 
 other entirely to your goodness. That is too 
 modest to be natural, cried the general. No- 
 body who possesses your charms can be igno- 
 rant of their power ; nor could any one mis- 
 take the passion I have evinced for you, for 
 the common attention every lady receives as 
 her due. Then you do not believe a woman 
 can be modest? asked Clara. Modest if you 
 please, but not insensible, he replied. And 
 
 suffer me to observe,- Oh no observations, 
 
 I entreat, interrupted Clara ; for this interview 
 will, I fear, occasion too many.- — But tell me, 
 how did you learn I was to be here ; and why 
 have you left the table where you so often sa- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 95 
 
 crifice till a late hour to the rosy god, to wan- 
 der among these rugged rocks where despair- 
 ing lovers alone would seek a retreat? And 
 tire you of that number? he enquired. No, 
 she replied : but I have not your motives for 
 staying at home : I was led here by curiosity; 
 It is my first visit to this spot. Then believe^ 
 said the general, that I came here to offer at 
 your feet that homage which envious fate has 
 hitherto deprived me of an opportunity of pay- 
 ing. During this conversation, he had drawn 
 her to a point of the rock ; and the officers of 
 his suite, surrounding me, sought to divert my 
 attention by all the common place compli- 
 ments of which they are so profuse. I had 
 forgotten Clara for a moment, when, turning, 
 I beheld the general, who bending one knee 
 to the ground, seized her hand passionately, 
 and at the same time I saw St. Louis ascend- 
 ing the mountain. 
 
 Pressing through the crowd I flew to her, 
 saying, are you mad? Rise general, for heaven's 
 sake ! her husband approaches ! what means 
 this exhibition of folly ? Yes I am mad, he re- 
 plied, I adore your sister, and she refuses to 
 
96 
 
 HORRORS Oi 
 
 listen to me. My sister is married, I answer^ 
 ed. But, said he, she loves not her husband. 
 At least I love no one more than him, said 
 Clara, trembling at the idea of having been 
 seen by St, Louis. Fortunately I had disco- 
 vered him at the foot of the mountain, and the 
 road winds round its base with so many turn- 
 ings that it is of considerable length and be- 
 fore he arrived she was tolerably composed. 
 
 You have deceived me, said the general. 
 I never listened to you, she replied. But you 
 have read my letters.— I could not avoid re- 
 ceiving, but I never answered them. Still, he 
 observed, interrupting her, I will hope ; for 
 your eyes cannot utter falsehood, and from 
 them I have received encouragement. 
 
 At that instant St. Louis arrived; he ap- 
 peared astonished at seeing Clara so surround- 
 ed, and advancing involuntarily, as if to defend 
 her, took her arm. 
 
 The general, with his usual levity, told St. 
 Louis, that he came in time to prevent him 
 from running away with his wife. Then twin- 
 ing round her arm a wreath of jessamin he had 
 t^en from my hand, said, with such fetters 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 97 
 
 only you should be bound! Does she fmd 
 those that bind her too heavy ? asked her hus- 
 band. No, replied the general, she seems con- 
 tent. Then casting a look of disappointment 
 at Clara, he mounted his horse and rode off. 
 
 Major B engaged St. Louis in a con- 
 versation on the situation of the colony, which 
 made him forget the dangerous one in which 
 he had found his wife. 
 
 Clara, leaning on my arm, seemed op- 
 pressed by a variety of sensations, among 
 which indignation predominated. The secu- 
 rity and presumption of the general shocked 
 her, and the recollection of having, at least ne- 
 gatively encouraged him, gave an additional 
 pang to her heart. We returned slowly home. 
 Our meeting with general Rochambeau w^as 
 thought accidental by St. Louis, and was taken 
 no notice of. 
 
99 
 
 LETTER XIV, 
 
 Cape Francois. 
 
 Ah, my dear friend, where shall I find ex- 
 pressions to convey to you an idea of the hor- 
 ror that fills my soul ; how describe scenes at 
 which I tremble even now with terror ? 
 
 Three negroes were caught setting fire 
 a plantation near the town. They wxre sen- 
 tenced to be burnt alive ; and the sentence was 
 actually executed. When tliey were tied to 
 the stake and the fire kindled, one of them, I 
 understand, held his head over the smoke and 
 was suffocated immediately. The second 
 made horrible contortions, and howled dread- 
 fully. The third, looking at him comtemptu-- 
 ously said, Peace ! do you not know how to 
 die? and preserved an unalterable firmness lill 
 the devouring flames consumed him. This 
 cruel act has been blamed by every body, as 
 
lOQ 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 giving a bad example to the negroes, who will 
 not fail to retaliate on the first prisoners they 
 take. But it has been succeeded by a deed 
 which has absolutely chilled the hearts of the 
 people. Every one trembles for his own safe- 
 ty, and silent horror reigns throughout the 
 place. 
 
 A young Creole, who united to the great- 
 est elegance of person the most polished man-- 
 ners and the most undaunted courage, had in- 
 curred, I know not how, the displeasure of ge- 
 neral Rochambeau, and had received a hint of 
 approaching danger, but neither knew v/hat he 
 had to fear, nor how to avoid it, when he re- 
 ceived an order to pay into the treasury, be- 
 fore three o'clock, twenty thousand dollars on 
 pain of death. This was at ten in the morn- 
 ing. He thought at first it was a jest; but 
 when assured that the order was serious, said 
 he would rather die than submit to such injus- 
 tice, and was conducted by a guard to prison. 
 Some of his friends went to the government^ 
 house to intercede for him. Nobody was ad- 
 mitted. His brother exerted himself to raise 
 the Sum required; but though their house has 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 101 
 
 a great deal of property, and government is 
 indebted to them more than a hundred thou^ 
 sand dollars, it was difficult, from the scar- 
 city of cash, to raise so large a sum in so 
 short a time, and nobody thought there was 
 any danger to be apprehended. At half after 
 two o'clock he was taken to the fosset, where 
 his grave was already dug. The captain of 
 the guard sent to know if there was no re = 
 prieve : and vvas .told that there was none. He 
 sent again, the same answer was returned, 
 w^ith an order to perform his duty, or his life 
 would be the forfeit of his disobedience. He 
 was a Creole, the friend, the companion of 
 the unfortunate Feydon. Ah ! how^ could 
 he submit to be the vile instrument of tyran- 
 ny ? how coukl he sacrifice his friend ? Why 
 did he not resign his commission on the spot^ 
 and abide by the consequence ? Approaching 
 Feydon, he offered to bind his eyes ; but he 
 refused, saying, No, let me witness your hor- 
 rors to the last moment. He was placed on 
 the brink of his grave. They fired : he fell ! 
 but from the bottom of his grave cried, I am 
 
 K 2 
 
102 HORKOKS 01 
 
 not dead — iinish me ! My heart bleeds : 1 
 knew him ; and while I hve, the impression 
 this dreadful event has made on me will never 
 be effaced. At the moment he was killed his 
 brother, having collected the required sum, 
 carried it to the general, who took the money, 
 and sent the young man, who was frantic when 
 he heard of his brother's fate, to prison. It i^ 
 said a reprieve had been granted, but had been 
 suppressed by Nero the commandant de la 
 place, who is as cruel, and as much detested 
 as was the tyrant whose name he bears. 
 
 A few days after, nine of the principal mer-- 
 chants w^ere selected. One hundred thousand 
 dollars was the sum demanded from them ; 
 and they were imprisoned till it should be 
 found. It was then the virtuous Leaumont 
 approached, fearless of consequences, the re- 
 treat of the tyrant, and obliged him to listen 
 to the voice of truth. He represented the im- 
 possibility of finding the sum demanded from 
 these unfortunate men, and entreated to have 
 a tax laid on every individual of the place in 
 proportion to his property, whichj after tmch 
 
STe DOMINGO. 
 
 103 
 
 debate was consented to. The money was 
 soon furnished, and the prisoners released. 
 
 Since the death of Feydon the general ap 
 pears no more in public. A settled gloom per= 
 vades the place, and every one trembles lest he 
 should be the next victim of a monster from 
 whose power there is no retreat. St. Louis, 
 above all, is in the greatest danger, for he has 
 the reputation of being rich, and, having ex- 
 cited the aversion of general Rochambeau, it 
 is not probable that he will escape without 
 some proof of his animosity. 
 
 Clara is in the greatest dejection. Shere= 
 pents bitterly the levity of her conduct, and is 
 torn with anxiety for the fate of her husband. 
 She loves him not, it is true, but would be in 
 despair if through her fault the least evil befel 
 him, and feels for the first time the danger of 
 awakening the passions of those who are ca- 
 pable of sacrificing all considerations to gratis 
 fy their wishes or revenge their disappoint^ 
 ment. She requested the general to give her 
 a passport for St. Jago de Cuba. He replied 
 that he could only grant them to the old and 
 
104 
 
 HGRROPvS or 
 
 Ugly, and she, not bfeing of this description, he 
 was obhged to refuse her ; however, after 
 much solicitation, she obtained one for herself 
 for me and her servants, and we shall sail in 
 a few days. All the women are suffered to 
 depart, but no man can procure a passport. 
 Some it is true, find means to escape in dis- 
 guise, and they are fortunate, for, it is much 
 feared that those who remain will be sacrificed. 
 Every vessel that sails from hence is seized 
 and plundered by the English ; but, as wq are 
 Americans, perhaps we may pass. 
 
 Our intention is to stay at St. Jago till St, 
 Louis joins us. God knows whether we shall 
 ever see him again. With what joy I shall 
 leave this land of oppression ! how much that 
 joy would be increased if I was going to the 
 continent ; but in all places, and in all coun- 
 tries I shall be affectionately yours, 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 105 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 ^P^Pjl^ JBarracoa. 
 
 You will no doubt be surprised al receiv= 
 ing a letter from henCe, but here we are my 
 dear friend, deprived of every tiling we pos- 
 sessed, in a strange country, of whose lan- 
 guage we are ignorant, and where, even with 
 money, it v»^ould be impossible to procure what 
 v/e have been accustomed to consider as the 
 necessaries of life. Yet here v/e have found 
 an asylum, acid met%vith sympathy; not that 
 of Vv'ords, but active and effectual sympathy, 
 from strangers, Vv^hich, perhaps, vve should 
 have sought in vain in giur ovvn country, and 
 among our own people. • 
 
 We embarked at the Cape, Clara, myself 
 and six servants, in a small schooner, w^hich 
 was full of women, and bound to St. Jago. 
 As soon as we wxre out of the harbour a boat 
 
106 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 from a British frigate boarded us^ condemned 
 the vessel as French property, and, without 
 further ceremony, sent the passengers on board 
 another vessel which was lyi^ig near us, and 
 was going to Barracoa, where we arrived in 
 three days, after having suffered niuch from 
 want of provisions and water. Every thing 
 belonging to us had been left in the schooner 
 the English made a prize of. St. Louis, hav- 
 ing forseen the probability of this event, had 
 made Clara conceal fifty doubloons in her 
 corset. 
 
 On our arrival at Barracoa, a Frenchman 
 we had known at the Cape came on board. 
 He conducted us ashore, and procured us a 
 room in a miserable hut, where we passed the 
 night on a board laid on the ground, it being 
 impossible to procure a mattrass. The next 
 morning the first consideration was clothes. 
 There was not a pair of shoes to be found in 
 the place, nor any thing which we would have 
 thought of employing for our use if we had 
 not been obliged by the pressure of necessity. 
 Clara had given a corner of our hut to a lady 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 107 
 
 who, with two children, was without a shil- 
 hng. 
 
 While we were at breakfast, which we 
 made of chocolate, served in little calabashes, 
 lent us by the people of the house, a priest of 
 most benign aspect entered, and addressing 
 Clara in French, which he speaks fluently, told 
 her that having heard of our arrival and mis- 
 fortunes, he had come to offer his services, 
 and enquired how we had passed the night ? 
 Clara shewed him the boards on which we had 
 slept. He rose instantly, and calling the mis- 
 tress of the house, spoke to her angrily* I 
 afterwards learned that he reproached her for 
 not having informed him of our distress as soon 
 as we arrived. He took his leave and returned 
 in half an hour with three or four negroes who 
 brought mattrasses, and baskets filled with 
 fowls, and ever}^ kind of fruit the island pro« 
 duces. Then, telling Clara that his sister 
 would call on her in the evening, and begging 
 her to consider him as her servant, and every 
 thing he possessed at her disposal, he went 
 away. In the afternoon he returned with his 
 sister. She is a widow. Her manners are in-r 
 
108 
 
 HORRORS 01 
 
 teresting, but she speaks no language except 
 her o^vn, of which not one of us understood a 
 word. 
 
 Father Philip sent for the only shopkeeper 
 in the place, who furnished us with black silk 
 for dresses, and some miserable linen. By 
 the next day we were decently equipped. We 
 were then presented to the governor, whose 
 wife is divinely beautiful. Nothing can equal 
 the lustre of her eyes, or surpass the fascinat- 
 ing power of her graceful and enchanting man- 
 ners. The changes of her charming counte- 
 nance express every emotion of her soul, and 
 she seems not to requh e the aid of words to 
 be understood. She conceived at once a fer- 
 vent friendship for Clara, and having learned 
 our misfortunes from father PhiUp, insisted on 
 our living in her house whilst we remained at 
 Barracoa. This point was disputed by Don- 
 na Angelica, who said she had provided a 
 chamber for us in her own. But madame la 
 Governadora was not to be thwarted ; she 
 seized Clara by the arm, and dravt^ing her 
 playfully into another room, insisted on dress- 
 ing her a la Espagnole^ which is nothing more 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 109 
 
 than a cambric chemise^ cut very low in the 
 bosom, an under petticoat of Hnen, made very 
 stiff widi starch, and a musHn one over it, both 
 very short. To this is added, when they go 
 out, a large black silk veil, which covers the 
 head and falls below the waist. By this dress 
 the beauty of the bosom, which is so carefully 
 presented by the French is lost. 
 
 Clara looked very well in this costume, 
 but felt uncomfortable. As Donna Jacinta 
 v/ould not hear of our leaving her we consent- 
 ed to stay ; and a chamber w^as prepared for 
 us. In the evening we walked through the 
 town, and were surprised to see such extreme 
 want in this abode of hospitality. The houses 
 ai'e built of tvv^igs, interwoven like basket 
 work, and slightly thatched with the leaves of 
 the palm tree, with no other floor than the 
 earth. The inhabitants sit on the ground, and 
 eat altogether out of the pot in which their 
 food is prepared. Their bed is formed of a 
 dried hide, and they have no clothes but what 
 they ^vear, nor ever think of procuring any till 
 these are in rags. 
 
 L 
 
110 
 
 HORRORSi OF 
 
 There are only three decent houses in the 
 place, which belong to the governor, to father 
 Philip, and his sister ; yet these good people 
 are happy, for they are contented. Their 
 poverty is not rendered hideous by the con- 
 trast of insolent pride or unfeeling luxury. 
 They dose away their lives in a peaceful ob- 
 scurity, which if I do not envy, I cannot des- 
 pise. There are many French families here 
 from St. Domingo; some almost without re- 
 source; and this place offers none for talents 
 of any kind. It is not uncommon to hear the 
 sound of a harp or piano from beneath a straw 
 built shed, or to be arrested by a celestial 
 voice issuing from a hut which would be sup- 
 posed uninhabitable. 
 
 Clara studies with so much application the 
 Spanish language that she can already hold 
 with tolerable ease a conversation, especially 
 with the seignora Jacinta, whose eyes are so 
 eloquent that it would be impossible not to un- 
 derstand her. She is a native of the Havanna, 
 was married very young, and her husband 
 having been appointed governor of Barracoa^ 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 Ill 
 
 was obliged to leave the gaiety and splendour 
 of her native place for this deserted spot, 
 where fashion, taste or elegance had never 
 been kno^7v^l. It has been a little enlivened 
 since the misfortunes of the French have 
 forced them to seek in it a retreat. 
 
 Jacinta has too much sensibility not to re- 
 gret the change of situation ; but she never re= 
 pines, and seeks to diffuse around her the 
 cheerfulness by which she is animated. From 
 early prejudice she loves not the French cha- 
 racter. Fortunately Clara is an American; 
 and the influence of her enchanting qualities 
 on the heart of her fair friend is strengthened 
 by the charm of novelty. 
 
 We are waiting for a vessel to carry us to 
 St. Jago, and its arrival, I assure you will fill 
 us with regret. 
 
113 
 
 LETTER XVL 
 
 St, Jago de Cuba, 
 
 We have left Barracoa, the good Father 
 Philip, his generous sister, aiid the beautiful 
 Jacinta. Removed from them for ever, the 
 recollection of their goodness will accompany 
 me through life, and a sigh for the peaceful 
 solitude of their retreat will often heave mv 
 breast amid the mingled scenes of pleasure 
 and vexation in which I shall be again enga- 
 ged. Fortunate people ! who, instead of ram^= 
 bling about the world, end their lives beneath 
 the roofs where they hrst drew breath. For- 
 tunate in knowing nothing beyond their hori- 
 zon ; for whom even the next town is a strange 
 country, and vrho find their happiness in con- 
 tributing to that of those who surround them ! 
 The wife of the governor could not separate 
 herself from us. Taking from her neck a ro^ 
 
 ■ . 2 
 
114 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 sary of pearls, she put it round that of Clara, 
 pressed her in her arms, wept on her bosom, 
 and said she never passed a moment so pain- 
 ful. She is young, her soul is all tenderness 
 and ardour, and Clara has filled her breast 
 with feelings to which till now she has been a 
 stranger. Her husband is a good man, but 
 without energy or vivacity, the direct reverse 
 of his charming wife. She can never have 
 awakened an attachment more lively than the 
 calmest friendship. She has no children, nor 
 any being around her, whose soul Is in unison 
 with her own. With what devotion she would 
 love 1 but if a stranger to the exquisite plea- 
 sures of that sentiment she is also ignorant of 
 its pains ! may no destructive passion ever 
 trouble her repose. 
 
 She walked with us to the shore and waited 
 on the beach till we embarked » She shrieked 
 with agony when she clasped Clara for the last 
 time to her breast, and leaning against a tree, 
 gave unrestrained course to her tears. 
 
 The good father Philip accompanied us 
 to the vessel, and staid till the moment of our 
 departure. He bad previously sent aboard 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 115 
 
 every thing that he thought would be agreea- 
 ble to us durmg the voyage. His friendly 
 soul poured itself forth in wishes for our hap- 
 piness. ]May all the blessings of heaven be 
 showered on his head 1 
 
 It is Clai*a's fate to inspire great passions. 
 Nobody loves her moderately. As soon as 
 she is kno^ra she seizes on the soul, and cen- 
 times ever}' desire in that of pleasing her. Tht 
 friendship she felt for Jacinta. and the impres- 
 sion father Philip's goodness made on her. 
 rendered her insensible to all around her. 
 
 The vessel was full of passengers, most 
 of them ladies, who were astonished at behold- 
 ing such grief. One of them, a native of Je- 
 remie, was the first vrho attracted the attention 
 of Clara. This lady, who is very handsome, 
 and very young, has three children of the great- 
 est beauty, for whom she has the most impas- 
 sioned fondness, and seems to view in them 
 her own protracted existence. She has all the 
 bloom of youth, and when surrounded by her 
 children, no picture of ^^enus with the loves 
 and graces was ever half so interesting. She 
 'is going to join her husband at St. Jago, Vv'ho 
 
116 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 I hear, is a great libertine, and not sensible of 
 her worth. An air of sadness dwells on her 
 lovely countenance, occasioned, no doubt, by 
 his neglect and the pain of finding a rival in 
 every woman he meets. 
 
 There is also on board a beautiful widow 
 whose husband was killed by the negroes, and 
 who, without fortune or protection, is going 
 to seek at St. Jago a subsistence, by employ- 
 ing her talents. There is something incon- 
 ceivably interesting in these ladies. Young, 
 beautiful, and destitute of all resource, sup- 
 porting with cheerfulness their v/ayward for - 
 tune. 
 
 But the most captivating trait in their 
 character is their fondness for their children ! 
 The Creole ladies, m.arrying very young, ap- 
 pear more like the sisters than the mothers of 
 their daughters. Unfortunately they grow up 
 too soon, and not unfrequently become the 
 rivals of their mothers. 
 
 We are still on board, at the entrance of 
 the harbour of St. Jago, which is guarded by 
 a fort, the most picturesque object I ever saw* 
 It is built on a rock that hangs over the sea. 
 
ST. DGMINGOe 
 
 117 
 
 and the palm trees which wave their lofty, 
 heads over its ramparts, add to its beauty. 
 
 We are obliged to wait here till to-mor- 
 row ; for this day being the festival of a saint, 
 all the offices are shut. No business is trans- 
 acted, and no vessel can approach the town 
 without permission. 
 
 This delay is painful ; I am on the wing 
 to leave the vessel, though it is only four days 
 since we left Barracoa. — I wish to know whe- 
 ther we shall meet as much hospitality here as 
 in that solitary place. Yet why should I ex= 
 pect it ? Hearts like those of father Philip 
 and the lovely Jacinta do not abound.— How 
 many are there ^^o, never having witnessed 
 such goodness, doubt its existence ? 
 
 We have letters to several families here, 
 from the governor of Barracoa and father Phi= 
 lip, and St. Louis has friends who have been 
 long established at this place. Therefore, on 
 arriving, we shall feel at home ; perhaps too, 
 we may find letters from the Cape ; — God 
 gi'ant they may contain satisfactory intelli- 
 gence. 
 
119 
 
 LETTER XVIL 
 
 St. Jago de Cuba. 
 
 A month has passed, since our arrival in 
 this place, in such a round of visits and such 
 a variety of amusements, that I am afraid, my 
 dear friend, you will think I have forgotten 
 you. We were received by the gentleman, 
 to whom Clara was directed, with the most 
 cordial friendship. He is an ancient Cheva» 
 lier de St. Louis, and retains, with much of 
 the formality of the court of France, at which 
 he was raised, all its elegance and urbanity ; 
 and having lived a number of years in this 
 island, he is loved and respected by all its in= 
 habitantss. 
 
 The letters which father Philip and the 
 governor of Barracoa gave us to their friends, 
 have procured us great attention. 
 
 The people here are much the same as at 
 
120 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 Barracoa ; perhaps they are a little more civi- 
 lized. There is some wealth, with much po- 
 verty. The women have made great progress 
 towards improvement since such numbers of 
 French have arrived from St. Domingo. — ^ 
 They are at least a century before the men in 
 refinement, but women are every where more 
 susceptible of polish than the lords of the cre- 
 ation. Those of this town are not generally 
 remarkable for their beauty. There are some, 
 however, who would be admired even in Phi- 
 ladelphia, particularly the wife of the governor; 
 but they are all remarkable for the smallness 
 of their feet, and thev dress their hair with a 
 degree of taste in which they could not be ex- 
 celled by the ladies of Paris. 
 
 We arrived in the season of gaiety, and 
 have been at several balls ; but their balls 
 please me not ! — Every body in the room dan- 
 ces a minuet, which you may suppose is tedi- 
 ous enough ; then follow the country dances, 
 which resemble the English, except that they 
 are more complicated and more fatiguing. 
 
 There are in this town eleven churches, 
 all of them splendid, and the number of priests 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 121 
 
 is incredible ! Many of them may be ranked 
 among the most worthless members of the 
 community. It is not at all uncommon to see 
 them drunk in the street, or to hear of their 
 having committed the most shocking excess- 
 es. Some, however, are excellent men, who 
 do honour to their order and to human nature. 
 But the thickest veil of superstition covers the 
 land, and it is rendered more impervious by 
 the clouds of ignorance in which the people 
 are enveloped 1 
 
 Clara, who speaks the language with the 
 facility of a native, asked some of her Spanish 
 friends for books, but there was not one to be 
 found in the place. She complained some 
 days ago of a head- ache, and a Spanish lady 
 gave her a ribbon, which had been bound 
 round the head of an image of the Virgin, telL 
 ing her it was a sovereign remedy for all pains 
 of the head. 
 
 The bishop is a very young man and very 
 handsome. We see him often at church, 
 where we go, attracted by the music. But 
 one abominable custom observed there, de^ 
 stroys our pleasure. The women kneel on 
 
 M 
 
122 
 
 IIORRORS OF 
 
 carpets, spread on the ground, and when they 
 are fatigued, cross then- legs, and sit Turkish 
 fashion ; whilst the men loll at their ease on 
 sofas. From whence this subversion of the 
 general order ? Why are the women placed 
 in the churches at the feet of their slaves ? 
 
 The lower classes of the people are the 
 greatest thieves in the world, and they steal 
 %vith so much dexterity, that it is quite a sci- 
 ence. The windows are not glazed, but se- 
 cured by wooden bars, placed very close to- 
 gether. The Spaniards introduce between 
 these bars long poles, which have at one end 
 a hook of iron, and thus steal every thing in 
 the room, even the sheets off the beds. The 
 friars excel in this practice, and conceal their 
 booty in their large sleeves ! 
 
 In the best houses and most wealthy fa- 
 milies there is a contrast of splendour and po- 
 verty which is shocking. Their beds and fur- 
 niture are covered with a profusion of gilding 
 and clumsy ornaments, while the slaves, who 
 serve in the family, and even those who are 
 about the persons of the ladies, are in rags and 
 filthy to the most disgusting degree ! 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 123 
 
 How different were the customs of St. Do^ 
 mingo ! The slaves, who served in the houses, 
 were dressed with the most scrupulous neat- 
 ness, and nothing ever met the eye that could 
 occasion an unpleasant idea. 
 
 The Spanish women are sprightly, and 
 devoted to intrigue. Their assignations are 
 usually made at church. The processions at 
 night, and the masses celebrated before day- 
 light, are very favourable to the completion of 
 their w^ishes, to which also their dress is well 
 adapted. They wear a black silk petticoat ; 
 their head is covered with a veil of the same 
 colour, that falls below the waist ; and, this 
 costume being universal, and never changed, 
 it is difficult to distinguish one woman from 
 another. A man may pass his own wdfe in 
 the street without knowing her. Their attach- 
 ments are merely sensual. They are equally 
 strangers to the delicacy of affection or that 
 refinement of passion which can make any sa^ 
 orifice the happiness of its object may require. 
 
 To the licentiousness of the people, more 
 than to their extreme poverty, may be attri-^ 
 buted the number of children which are con- 
 
124 
 
 HORRORS 0F 
 
 timially exposed to perish in the street. Ah 
 most every morning, at the door of one of the 
 churches, and often at more than one, a new- 
 born infant is found. There is an hospital, 
 where they are received, but those who find 
 them, are (if so disposed,) at Hberty to keep 
 them. The unfortunate httle beings who hap- 
 pen to fall into the hands of the lower classes 
 of the people, increase, during their childhood, 
 the throng of beggars, and augment, as they 
 grow up, the number of thieves. 
 
 The heart recoils at the barbarity of a 
 mother who can thus abandon her child ; but 
 the custom, here, as in China, is sanctioned by 
 habit, and excites no horror ! 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 125 
 
 LETTER XVIIL 
 
 St. Jago de Cuba, 
 
 We have received no news from the Cape, 
 my dear friend, but it is generally expected 
 that it will be evacuated, as several parts of 
 the island have been already. 
 
 This place is full of the inhabitants of that 
 unfortunate country, and the story of every 
 family would offer an interesting and pathetic 
 subject to the pen of the novelist. 
 
 All have been enveloped in the same ter- 
 rible fate, but vv^ith different circumstances ; 
 all have suffered, but the sufferings of each 
 individual derive their hue from the disposi- 
 tion of his mind. 
 
 One catastrophe, which I witnessed, is 
 dreadfully impressive ! I saw youth, beauty 
 and affection sink to an untimely grave, with- 
 
 M 2 ^ 
 
126 
 
 HORRORS- OF 
 
 out having the power of softening the bitter- 
 ness of their fate. 
 
 Madame C a native of Jeremie, had 
 
 been sent by her husband to Philadelphia, at 
 the beginning of the revolution, where she 
 continued several years, devoting all her time 
 to improving the mind and cultivating the ta- 
 lents of her only child, the beautiful Clarissa. 
 
 Sometime after the arrival of the French 
 fleet, Madame C , and her daughter re- 
 turned to Jeremie. She had still all the charms 
 of beauty, ail the bloom of youth. She was 
 received by her husband with a want of ten- 
 derness which chilled her heart, and she soon 
 learned that he was attached to a woman of 
 colour oi\ whom he lavished all his property. 
 This, you may suppose, was a source of mor- 
 tification to Madame but she suffer- 
 ed in silence, and sought consolation in the 
 bosom of her daughter. 
 
 When the troubles of Jeremie encreased, 
 and it was expected every day that it would 
 
 be evacuated. Monsieur C— resolved to 
 
 remove to St. Jago de Cuba. He sent his wife 
 and child in one vessel 5 and embarked with 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 127 
 
 liis mistress in another. Arri\-ing nearly at the 
 same time, he took a house in the country, to 
 which he retired with his superannuated fa-^^ 
 vourite, leaving his family in town, and in 
 such distress that they were often in want of 
 bread. 
 
 Madame C , too delicate to expose' 
 
 the conduct of her husband, or to complain, 
 concealed from her friends her wants and her 
 grief. 
 
 A young Frenchman was deeply in love 
 with her daughter, but his fortune had been 
 lost in the general wreck, and he had nothing 
 to offer to the object of his adoration except a 
 heart glowing with tenderness. He made ]Ma= 
 
 dame C the confidant of his affection. She 
 
 was sensible of his worth, and would willingly 
 have made him the protector of her daughter, 
 had she not been struggling herself with all 
 the horrors of poverty and therefore thought 
 it wrong to encourage his passion. 
 
 He addressed himself to her father, and 
 this father was rich ! He lavished on his mis= 
 tress all the comforts and elegancies of life, 
 yet refused to his family the scantiest pittance ! 
 
128 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 He replied to the proposal that his daughter 
 might marry, but that it was impossible for 
 him to give her a shilling. 
 
 Clarissa heard the unfeeling sentence with 
 calm despair. She had just reached the age 
 in which the affections of the heart develope 
 themselves. The beauty of her form was un- 
 equalled, and innocence, candour, modesty, 
 generosity, and heroism, were expressed with 
 ineifable grace in every attitude and every fea- 
 ture. Clarissa was adored. Her lover was 
 idolatrous. The woods, the dawning day, 
 the starry herivens, witnessed their mutual 
 vows. The grass pressed by her feet, the air 
 she respired, the shade in which she reposed, 
 were consecrated by her presence. 
 
 Her mother marked, with pity, the pro- 
 gress of their mutual passion, which she could 
 not forbid, for her own heart was formed for 
 tenderness, nor could she sanction it, seeing 
 no probability of its being crowned with suc- 
 cess. But the happiness of her daughter was 
 her only wish, and moved by her tears, her 
 sighs, and the ardent prayers of her lover, she 
 at length consented to their union. They were 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 129 
 
 maiTied and they were happy. But alas ! a few 
 days after their marriage a fever seized Cla- 
 rissa. The distracted husband fiew to her fa- 
 ther who refused to send her the least assist- 
 ance. She languished, and her mother and 
 her husband hung over her in ail the bitterness 
 of anguish. The impossibility of paying a 
 physician prevented their calling one, till it 
 was too late, and, ten days after she had be- 
 come a wife, she expired. I have held this 
 disconsolate mother to my breast, my tears 
 have mingled with hers : all the ties that bound 
 her to the world are severed, and she wishes 
 only for the moment that will put a period to 
 her existence, when she fondly hopes she may 
 be again united to her daughter. To the hus- 
 band I have never uttered a word. His sorrow 
 is deep and gloomy. He avoids all conversa- 
 tion, and an attempt to console him would be 
 an insult on the sacredness of his grief. He 
 has tasted celestial joys. He has lost the ob- 
 ject of his love, and henceforth the earth is for 
 him a desert. 
 
 For the brutal father there is no punish- 
 ment. His conscience itself inflicts none, for 
 
130 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 he expressed not the least regret when inform^ 
 ed of the fate of his daughter. 
 
 But when the story became known, the 
 detestation his conduct excited was so violent, 
 that the friends of Madame C have caus- 
 ed her to be separated from him, and obliged 
 him to allow her a separate maintenance. Un» 
 fortunately their interest has been exerted too 
 late. A few weeks sooner it might have saved 
 her daughter. 
 
 How terrible is the fate of a woman thus 
 dependent on a man who has lost all sense of 
 justice, reason, or humanity; who, regardless 
 of his duties, or the respect he owes society, 
 leaves his wife to contend with all the pains of 
 want, and sees his child sink to an untimely 
 grave, without stretching forth a hand to assist- 
 the one or sa^-e the other ! 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 131 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 St. Jago de Cuba. 
 
 I write continually, my dear friend, though 
 the fate of my letters is very uncertain. If 
 they arrive safe they will prove that I have 
 not forgotten you, and that I suffer no oppor- 
 tunity to pass without informing you that I 
 exist. 
 
 I understand that, after our departure from 
 the Cape, the tyranny of the general in chief 
 encreased, and that the inhabitants were daily 
 exposed to new vexations. St. Louis, in par- 
 ticular, was the distinguished object of his 
 hatred. Eternally on guard at the most dan- 
 gerous posts, it was finally whispered that 
 something, more decidedly bad, was intended 
 him, and he thought it was time to try to 
 escape from the threatening danger. Being 
 informed of a vessel, that was on the point of 
 
132 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 sailing, he prevailed on a fisherman to put 
 him outside of the fort in his boat, and wait 
 till it came out, the captain not daring to take 
 him on board in the harbour. On the day 
 appointed, St, Louis, disguised as a fisherman, 
 went into the boat, and, working at the oar, 
 they were soon beyond the fort. The vessel 
 approached shortly after, and St. Louis, em- 
 barking, thought himself out of danger. As 
 soon as they were in reach of the English ships 
 they were boarded, plundered and sent to 
 Barracoa 
 
 St. Louis had no trunk, nor any clothes but 
 what were on him, in which however was con- 
 cealed gold to a great amount. 
 
 A gentleman, who left the Cape the day 
 after him, informed us of his escape, and of his 
 having been sent to Barracoa, and also that, as 
 soon as the general had beard of his departure, 
 he had sent three barges after the vessel with 
 orders to seize him, take him back, and, as 
 soon as he was landed, shoot him without 
 further ceremony. 
 
 The whole town was in the greatest con- 
 sternation. The barges were well manned and 
 
ST. BOMINGO. 
 
 133 
 
 gained on the vessel, but a light wind spring- 
 ing up put it soon beyond their reach, and it 
 was even believed that the officer, who com- 
 manded the barges, did not use all possible 
 diligence to overtake them. 
 
 We were rejoiced to hear of the fortunate 
 escape of St. Louis but felt some anxiety at 
 his not aiTiving, when lo ! he appeared and 
 gave us himself an account of his adventures. 
 
 He is in raptures with the governor of Bar- 
 racoa, his charming wife and the good father 
 Philip, who, hearing that he was the husband 
 of Clara, shewed him the most friendly atten- 
 tion. He brought us from them letters glow« 
 ing with affectionate recollection. 
 
 He talks of buying a plantation and of 
 settling here. If he does I shall endeavour to 
 return to the continent, but poor Clara ! she 
 Weeps when I speak of leaving her, and when 
 I consider the loneliness to which she will be 
 condemned without me, I have almost heroism 
 enough to sacrifice my happiness to her com- 
 fort. 
 
 Before the aif ival of St. Louis we lived in 
 •the house of the gentleman to whose care he 
 
 3Sr 
 
134 HORRORS OF 
 
 had recommended us. He is a widower, the 
 most cheerful creature in the world, but he 
 lives in the times that are past ; all his stories 
 are at least forty years old. - He talks continu- 
 ally of the mystification of Beaumarchais, and 
 of the magic of Cagliostro. He told me, with 
 all the solemnity of truth, that a lady at the 
 court of France, who was past fifty, bought 
 from Cagliostro, at a great price, a liquid, a 
 single drop of which would take off, in appear 
 ance, ten years of age. The lady swallowed 
 two drops, and went to the opera with her 
 charms renewed, and her bloom restored to 
 the freshness of thirty. — At her return she 
 called her waiting woman, who had been her 
 nurse and was at least seventy. She was no- 
 p/here to be found, but a little girl came skip- 
 ' ping in. The lady, enquiring who she was, 
 learned that old Ursula, intending to try the 
 effect of the drops, had taken too large a dose, 
 and was skipping about with all the sprightli- 
 ness of fifteen. 
 
 Nothing enrages the old gentleman so 
 much as to doubt the truth of what he relates., 
 or even to question its probability. He assur^ 
 
ST. DOMIN'GQ. 
 
 135 
 
 ed me that he knew the lady, and that he wit- 
 nessed the effect of the drops on herself and 
 the chambermaid. As I can discover no pur^ 
 pose the invention of such a tale would an- 
 swer, I listen without reply, and almost suffer 
 myself to be persuaded of its reality. 
 
 Nothing can equal the unpleasantness of 
 this town : it is built on the declivity of a hill ; 
 the sti'eets are not paved ; and the soil, being 
 of white clay, the reflection is intolerable, and 
 the heat insupportable. The water is brought 
 on mules, from a river three miles off, and is 
 a very expensive article. The women never 
 walk, except to church, but every evening 
 they take the air in an open cabriolet, drawn 
 by mules, in which they exhibit their finery, 
 and, not unfrequently, regale themselves with 
 a segar. 
 
 Every body smokes, at all times, and in 
 all places; and from this villanous custom ari- 
 ses perhaps, the badness of their teeth, which 
 is universal. 
 
 The American consul, who has lived here 
 many years, says that the people are much 
 improved since he resided among them. At 
 
136 HORRORS oy 
 
 his arrival there was not a gown in the place. 
 They are now generally worn. 
 
 This old consul is the greatest beau in the 
 place. He gives agreeable parties, and makes 
 love to every body, but I believe with little 
 success. His very appearance would put all 
 the loves to flights 
 
3T. DOMINGO. 
 
 137 
 
 LETTER XX, 
 
 St. Jago de Cuba. 
 
 The French emigrants begin to seek in 
 their talents some resource from the frightful 
 poverty to which they are reduced, but meet 
 with very little encouragement. The people 
 here are generally poor, and unaccustomed to 
 expensive pleasures. A company of come- 
 dians are building a theatre; and some sub- 
 scription balls ha\'e been given, at which the 
 Spanish ladies were quite eclipsed by the 
 French belles, notwithstanding their losses. 
 
 Madame D , of Jeremie, who plays 
 
 and sings divinely, gave a concert, which was 
 very brilliant. 
 
 The French women are certainly charm- 
 ing creatures in society. The cheerfulness 
 with vv^hich thev bear misfortune, and the in^ 
 dustry they employ to procure themselves a 
 
 . N 2 
 
138 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 subsistence, cannot be sufficiently admired. I 
 know ladies who from their infancy were sur . 
 rounded by slaves, anticipating their slightest 
 wishes, now working from the dawn of day 
 till midnight to support themselves and their 
 families. Nor do they even complain, nor 
 vaunt their industry, nor think it surprising 
 that they possess it. Their neatness is wor» 
 thy of admiration, and their taste gives to their 
 attire an air of fashion which the expensive, 
 but ill- chosen, ornaments of the Spanish la- 
 dies cannot attain. With one young lady I 
 am particularly acquainted whose goodness 
 cannot be sufficiently admired. Ah! Eliza, 
 how shall I describe thy sweetness, thy fide- 
 lity, thy devotion to a suffering friend. Why 
 am I not rich that I could place thee in a situ- 
 ation where thy virtues might be known, thy 
 talents honoured. Alas! I never so deeply re- 
 gret my own want of power as when reflect- 
 ing that I am unable to be useful to you. 
 
 This amiable girl was left by her parents, 
 who went to Charleston at the beginning of 
 the revolution, to the care of an aunt, who was 
 y very rich, and without children. At the eva- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 139 
 
 cuation of Port-au-Prince, that lady embark- 
 ed for this place. Her husband died on the 
 passage ; and they were robbed of every thing 
 they possessed by an English privateer. The 
 father of Eliza wrote for them to join him in 
 
 Carolina; but the ill health of madame L 
 
 would not suffer her to undertake the voyage, 
 and Eliza will not hear of leaving her, but 
 v/orks day and night to procure for her aunt 
 the comforts her situation requires. She is 
 young, beautiful and accomplished. She 
 wastes her bloom over the midnight lamp, 
 and sacrifices her health and her rest to soothe 
 the sufferings of her infirm relation. Her pa- 
 tience and mildness are angelic. Where will 
 such virtues meet their reward? Certainly not 
 in this country ; and she is held here by the 
 ties of gratitude and affection which, to a heart 
 like hers, are indissoluble. 
 
 In the misfortunes of my French friends, 
 I see clearly exemplified the advantages of a 
 good education. Every talent, even if pos- 
 sessed in a slight degree of perfection, may be 
 a resource in a reverse of fortune; and, though 
 I liked not entirely their manner, whilst sur- 
 
140 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 rounded by the festivity and splendour of the 
 Cape, I now confess that they excite my warm- 
 est admiration. They bear adversity with 
 cheerfuhiess, and resist it with fortitude. In 
 the same circumstances I fear I should be in- 
 ferior to them in both. But in this country, 
 slowly emerging from a state of barbarism, 
 what encouragment can be found for industry 
 or talents ? The right of commerce was pur-^ 
 chased by the Catalonians, who alone exercise 
 it, and agriculture is destroyed in consequence 
 of the restraints imposed on it by the govern- 
 ment. The people are poor, and therefore 
 cannot possess talents whose acquisition is be- 
 yond their reach ; but they are temperate, 
 even to a proverb, and so hospitable that the 
 poorest among them always find something to 
 offer to a stranger. At the same time they are 
 said to be false, treacherous, and revengeful, 
 to the highest degree. Certainly there are 
 here no traces of that magnanimous spirit, 
 which once animated the Spanish cavalier, who 
 was considered by the whole world as a mo-^ 
 del of constancy, tenderness and heroism. 
 
ST» DOMINGO. 
 
 141 
 
 They feel for the distressed, because they 
 are poor; and are hospitable because they 
 know want. In every other respect this is a 
 degenerate race, possessing none of the quali- 
 ties of the Spaniards of old except jealousy, 
 which is often the cause of tragical events. 
 
 A young gentleman of this place fell in 
 love with a beautiful girl who rejected him be-^ 
 cause she was secretly attached to another. 
 Her lover was absent; and she feared to avow 
 her passion lest his rival might use some meatis 
 to destroy him, for she knew he was cruel and 
 vindictive; but her lover returning, she de- 
 clared her attachment, and declined receiving 
 the visits of him who had pretended to her 
 hand. A few evenings previous to that fixed 
 on for her marriage, she was returning from 
 church with her mother, when at the door of 
 her house a man, wrapped in a large cloak, 
 seized her arm, and plunging a dagger in her 
 breast, fled, leaving her lifeless on the ground. 
 The cries of her affrighted mother brought 
 people to her assistance, but the blow was di^ 
 rected by a secure hand; she breathed no 
 more. Every body was convinced that the 
 
142 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 perpetrator of this abominable act was her re^ 
 jected lover; but, as no proofs existed, the 
 law could not interfere. Shortly after he was 
 found dead in the street ; and probably it was 
 the hand of him he had driven to despair, that 
 inflicted the punishment due to his crime. 
 
 Nothing is more common than such events. 
 They excite little attention, and are seldom 
 enquired into. How different is this from the 
 peaceful security of the country in which I 
 first drew breath, and to which I so ardently, 
 but I fear hopelessly, desire to return. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 143 
 
 LETTER XXL 
 
 St, Jago de Cuba, 
 
 General Rochambeau, after having made 
 a shameful capitulation with the negroes, has 
 evacuated the Cape. He presented his su- 
 perb horses to Dessalines, and then embarked 
 with his suite, and all the inhabitants who 
 chose to follow him, intending to fight his way 
 through the British ships. They were, how- 
 ever, soon overpowered and taken. The 
 English admiral would not admit the general 
 in chief into his presence. He has been sent 
 to Jamaica, from whence he will be transport- 
 ed to England. 
 
 Many of the inhabitants of the Cape have 
 arrived here, after having lost every thing they 
 possessed. Numbers have remained. After 
 the articles of capitulation were signed three 
 days were allowed for the evacuation, during 
 
144 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 which the negroes entered the town, and were 
 so civil and treated the inhabitants with so 
 much kindness and respect, that many who 
 had embarked their effects, allured by the 
 prospect of making a fortune rapidly, paid 
 great sums to have them relanded, supposing 
 they would be protected as they had been in 
 the time of Toussaint. But in less than a 
 week they found that they had flattered them- 
 selves with false hopes. A proclamation was 
 issued by Dessalines, in which every white 
 man was declared an enemy of the indigenes-, 
 as they call themselves, and their colour alone 
 deemed sufficient to make them hated and to 
 devote them to destruction. The author of 
 this eloquent production, a white man, be- 
 came himself the first sacrifice. 
 
 The destined victims were assembled in a 
 public square, where they were slaughtered 
 by the negroes with the most unexampled 
 cruelty. One brave man, who had often dis- 
 tinguished himself in the defence of the Cape, 
 and who had been weak enough to stay in it, 
 seized with desperate fury the sword of one of 
 the negroes, and kiUing several, at length fell. 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 U5 
 
 overpowered by numbers. A few were pre- 
 served from this day's massacre by their slaves. 
 Some were concealed by the American mer* 
 chants, though it was very dangerous to ven-= 
 ture on such benevolent actions. One vessel 
 was searched, and several inhabitants being 
 found on board, they were taken and hanged* 
 The mate of the vessel, though an American, 
 shared their fate. The captain saved himself 
 by declaring that he was ignorant of their be- 
 ing on board. Major B whom I have so 
 
 often mentioned, had also the folly to stay. 
 One of his slaves concealed him on the day of 
 the massacre, and, shut up in a hogshead, he 
 was put on board an American vessel. Aftei- 
 many perilous adventures he has arrived here, 
 and relates scenes which cannot be thought of 
 without horror. 
 
 The women have not yet been killed ; hnt 
 they are exposed to every kind of insult, are 
 driven from their houses, imprisoned, sent to 
 work on the public roads ; in fine, nothing can 
 be imagined more dreadful than their situa» 
 tion. 
 
 Two amiable girls, whom I knew, hung 
 
 o 
 
146 
 
 HORRORS Oi- 
 
 to the neck of their father when the negroes 
 seized him. They wept and entreated these 
 monsters to spare him ; but he was torn rudely 
 from their arms. The youngest, attempting to 
 follow him.j received a blow on the head with a 
 musquet which laid her lifeless on the ground. 
 The eldest, frantic with terror, clung to her 
 father, when a ruthless negro pierced her with 
 his bayonet, and she fell dead at his feet. The 
 hapless father gave thanks to God that his un- 
 fortunate children had perished before him, 
 and had not been exposed to lingering suffer^ 
 ings and a more dreadful fate. 
 
 Some ladies have found protectors in the 
 American merchants, who conceal them in 
 their stores. Some have been saved by the 
 British officers ; but the greatest number have 
 been driven into the streets, and many are 
 forced to carry on their heads baskets of can- 
 non balls from the arsenal to the fosset, a dis- 
 tance of at least three miles. 
 
 I enquired after a most accomplished and 
 exemplary woman, who with three beautiful 
 daughters remained at the Cape after the eva- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 147 
 
 cuation, and I have wept at the story of their 
 sufferings till I am unable to relate them. 
 
 What could have induced these infatuated 
 people to confide in the promises of the ne- 
 groes ? Yet to what will not people submit to 
 avoid the horrors of poverty, or allured by the 
 hope of making a rapid fortune. 
 
 During the reign of Toussaint the w^hite 
 inhabitants had been generally respected, and 
 many of them, engaging in commerce, had 
 accumulated money which they sent to the 
 United States, where they are now living at 
 their ease. Even at the arrival of the French 
 fleet, the lives of the people, except in a few 
 solitary instances, had been spared. These 
 considerations had without doubt great weight, 
 but alas ! how soon were their hopes blasted, 
 and how dearly have they paid for their credu- 
 lity. Yet even these monsters, thirsting after 
 blood, and unsated with carnage, preserved 
 from among the devoted victims those whose 
 talents could be useful to themselves. A 
 printer and several artists have been suffered 
 to live, but are closely guarded, and wai'ned 
 that their lives will be the forfeit of the first 
 
148 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 attempt to escape. With the sword suspended 
 over their heads they still cherish perhaps a 
 secret hope of eluding the vigilance of their 
 savage masters. 
 
ST. DOMINGO^ 
 
 149 
 
 LETTER XXIL 
 
 St, Jago de Cuha-^ 
 
 Madame G , a native of the Gonaives^ 
 
 having lost her husband at the beginning of 
 the revolution, left St. Domingo, and sought 
 a retreat from the horrors that ravaged that 
 devoted island in the peaceful obscurity of 
 Barracoa. Three infant daughters cheered 
 her solitude ; and she found in culti^'ating their 
 minds a never failins: source of delisrht. Some 
 faithful slaves who had followed her, supplied 
 by their industry her wants. The beauty of 
 her person, the elegance of her manners,, and 
 the propriety of her conduct, rendered- her the 
 admiration of all who beheld her, whUsJ.. hejf 
 benevolence, which shared with the poor tlie 
 scanty pittance she possessed, made her the 
 idol of those whose wants she relieved. Thus 
 she lived, contented, if not happy, till the ar- 
 
150 HORRORS OF 
 
 rival of the French army at St. Domingo re= 
 called its inhabitants to their deserted homes, 
 Madame G , lured by the hope of re- 
 instating her children in their paternal inheri- 
 tance, left Barracoa, followed by the blessings 
 and regret of all to whom she was known. 
 On arriving at the Cape she found a heap of 
 ashes, and shuddered with horror at the dreary 
 aspect of her native country. But she viewed 
 her children, recollected that on her exertions 
 they depended, and determined to sacrifice 
 every thought of comfort to their advance- 
 ment. Some houses she owned in the Cape, 
 upon being rebuilt, promised to yield her a 
 handsome revenue ; and she passed in anxious 
 expectation the time during which the army 
 kept possession of the Cape. At length the 
 noment of the evacuation arrived, and the 
 ivretched Creoles were again reduced to the 
 dreadful alternative of perishing with want in 
 tbreign Countries, or of becomi.ic victims to 
 the rage of the exasperated negroes in their 
 
 own. Whilst Madame G hesitated, she 
 
 received a letter from one of the black chiefs, 
 who had been a slave to her mother. He ad- 
 
ST. DOMINGO- 
 
 151 
 
 vised her not to think of leaving the country; 
 assured her that it was the intention of Dessa- 
 lines to protect all the white inhabitants who 
 put confidence in him, and that herself and her 
 children would be particularly respected. The 
 dread of poverty in a strange country with 
 three girls, the eldest of whom was only fif- 
 teen, induced her to stay. Many others, with 
 less reason to expect protection, followed her 
 example. 
 
 When the time allowed for the evacuation 
 had expired, the negroes entered as masters. 
 During the first days reigned a deceitful calm 
 which was followed by a dreadful storm. 
 
 The proclamation of Dessalines, mention- 
 ed in my last letter was published. Armed 
 negroes entered the houses and drove the in- 
 habitants into the streets. The men were led 
 to prison, the women were loaded wiihchains; 
 
 The unfortunate madame G y chainerd ti> 
 
 her eldest daughter, and the two .youngest 
 chained together, thus toiled, exposed to tile 
 sun, from earliest dawn to setting day, follow- 
 ed by negroes who, on the least appearance of 
 faintness, drove them forward with wliips. A 
 
152 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 fortnight later the general massacre took places 
 but the four hopeless beings of whom I parti- 
 cularly write, were not led to the field of 
 slaughter. They were kept closely guarded, 
 without knowing for what fate they were re- 
 served, expecting every moment to hear their 
 final sentence. They were sitting one day in 
 mournful silence, when the door of their pri- 
 son opened, and the chief, whose letter had in- 
 duced them to stay, appeared. He saluted 
 
 madame G- with great familiarity, told 
 
 her it was to his orders she owed her life, and 
 said he would continue his friendship and pro- 
 tection if she would give him her eldest daugh- 
 ter in marriage. The wretched mother caught 
 the terrified Adelaide, who sunk fainting into 
 her arms. The menacing looks of the negro 
 became more horrible. He advanced to seize 
 the trembling girl. Touch her not, cried the 
 frantic mother; death will be preferable to 
 such protection. Turning coldly from her he 
 said, You shall have your choice. A few mi- 
 nutes after a guard seized the mother and the 
 two youngest daughters and carried them out, 
 leaving the eldest insensible on the floor. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 153 
 
 They were borne to a gallows which had been 
 erected before their prison, and immediately 
 hanged. Adelaide was then carried to the 
 house of the treacherous chief, w^ho informed 
 her of the fate of her mother, and asked her if 
 she would consent to become his wife? ah! 
 no, she replied, let me follow my mother, A 
 fate more dreadful awaited her. The monster 
 gave her to his guard, who hung her by the 
 throat on an iron hook in the market placCj 
 where the lovely, innocent, unfortunate victim 
 slowly expired. 
 
DOMING^. 
 
 LETTER XXIIL 
 
 St. Jago cle Cuba, 
 
 I iiiiished my last letter abruptl}-, my dear 
 Iriend, but a good opportunity offered of send- 
 ing it, and the story of madame G had 
 
 so affected me that I could think of nothing 
 else. 
 
 St. Louis is determined to buy a planta- 
 tion here, and establish himself on it till he 
 can return to St. Domingo. His old disease 
 has seized him with fresh violence, and he in- 
 tends to carry his wife beyond the reach of 
 men. He is jealous of an interesting Spaniard 
 who has lately been very assiduous towa^'ds 
 my sister; and who is, I beUeve, much more 
 dangerous than the redoubted general Ro= 
 chambeau. His person is perfectly elegant, 
 his face beautiful; his ku'ge black eyes seem 
 to speak every emotion of his soul, but I be--. 
 
HORRORS or 
 
 lieve they express only what he pleases, Clara 
 listens to him, and looks at him as if she was 
 fully sensible of his advantages, and frequently 
 holds long conversations with him in his own 
 language, which, if gestures deceive not, are 
 on no uninteresting subject. But I hope, and 
 would venture to assert, that she will never^ 
 to escape from the domestic ills she suffers, 
 put her happiness in the power of a Spaniard. 
 She is violent in her attachments, and preci- 
 pitate in her movements, but she cannot, will 
 not, be capable of committing such an unpar- 
 donable act of folly. All idea of her going to 
 the continent is abandoned ; and when I only 
 breathe a hint of leaving her, she betrays such 
 agony that I yield and promise to stay ; yet I 
 render her little service, and destroy myself, 
 being wearied of this place, which has no 
 charm after the gloss of novelty is gone, and 
 that has been long since worn off. 
 
 A company of French comedians had built 
 a theatre here, and obtained permission from 
 the governor to perform. They played with 
 eclat, and always to crowded houses. The 
 Spaniards were delighted. The decorations. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 157 
 
 the scenery, above all the representation of the 
 sea, appeared to them the effect of magic. But 
 the chai-m was suddenly dissolved by an order 
 from the bishop to close the theatre, saying, 
 that it tended to corrupt the morals of the in- 
 habitants. Nothing can be more ridiculous, 
 for the inhabitants of this island have long 
 since reached the last degree of corruption ; 
 devoted to every species of vice, guilty of 
 every crime, and polluted b}' the continued- 
 practice of every species of debauchery. But 
 it is supposed the order was issued to vex the 
 governor, with whom the bishop is at variance, 
 and the orders of the latter are indisputable. 
 It is impossible for him not to know that even 
 the vices of the French lose much of their de- 
 formity by the refinement that accompanies 
 them, whilst those of his countrymen are 
 gross, disgusting, and monstrously flagrant. 
 Gaming is their ruling passion ; from morning 
 till night, from night till morning, the men are 
 at the gaming table. They all wear daggers, 
 and a night very seldom passes without being 
 marked by an assassination, of which no no- 
 tice is taken. The women have recourse to 
 
/ 
 
 / 
 
 158 HORRORS OF 
 
 intrigue, sipping chocolate, or reciting prayers 
 on their rosaries. The custom is to dine at 
 twelve, then to sleep till three, and this is the 
 hour favourable to amorous adventures. Whilst 
 the mother, the husband or the guardian sleeps, 
 the lover silently approaches the window of his 
 mistress, and in smothered accents breathes 
 his passion. It is not at all uncommon to see 
 priests so employed ; nor are there more dan- 
 gerous enemies to female virtue, or domestic 
 tfanquillity, than these pretended servants of 
 the Lord. 
 
 I was at first shocked beyond measure, at 
 their licentiousness, for I had been taught to 
 consider priests as immaculate beings ; but 
 when I reflect that thev are men, and doomed 
 to an unnatural condition, I pardon their aber- 
 rations, and abhor only their filth, which is 
 abominable. Consider how agreeable a monk 
 must be in this hot country, clothed in wool- 
 len, without a shirt, without stockings, and hir 
 legs so dirty that their colour cannot be distin- 
 guished, to which is added a long beard; and 
 yet these creatures are favourites with women 
 of all ranks and all descriptions. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 159 
 
 There are many religious orders here, 
 among which the Franciscan friars are the 
 richest, and they are also the most irreoTilar in 
 their conduct. They had begun, a number of 
 years since, to build a church, which they 
 w^re obliged to discontinue for want of funds. 
 Shordy after our arrival here the wife of a 
 very rich merchant fell dangerously ill. When 
 her life was despaired of by the physicians, 
 she made a yow to St. Francis, that if she re- 
 coy ered, she would finish his church. The 
 saint, it seems, was propitious, for she vras re- 
 stored to health, and her husband instantly 
 performed the promise of his wife, which has 
 cost him a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 The church was consecrated last week, with 
 great pomp and due solem.nity. The lady, 
 vvho is certainly yery beautiful, assisted at the 
 ceremony, coyered with diamonds, and dis- 
 playing in her dress almost regal .splendour. 
 She kneeled on the steps of the great altar, and 
 more than shared the adoration offered to the 
 saint by the admiring multitude. 
 
 Half the money expended in this pious 
 work would haye raised thousands of the in- 
 
160 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 habitants of this place, who are in the greatest 
 want, to comparative ease. But it would not 
 if thus employed, have had such an effect on 
 the minds of the people;* nor would the lady 
 have had any hope of becoming herself a saint, 
 an honour to which she aspires, and which she 
 may perhaps attain^ 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 161 
 
 LETTER XXIV, 
 
 St. Jago de Cuba. 
 
 Clara and her husband are separated for 
 ever ! St. Louis is frantic, and I am distressed 
 beyond measure. My heart is torn with anxiety 
 for her fate, and I shall know no tranquillity 
 till I hear that she is at least content. Being 
 acquainted with many of the circumstances 
 which led to this event, I pity and pardon her. 
 As for the world, its sentence is already pro= 
 nounced, and she will be condemned by those 
 who possess not a thousandth part of her vir- 
 tues. Her husband spares neither pains nor 
 expense in searching after her retreat; but, 
 though I am absolutely ignorant of it, I be= 
 lieve she is beyond his reach. His house is 
 so disagreeable to me, since she left it, and 
 the wry faces made by all our friends, seem- 
 ing to involve me in the scandal occasioned by 
 
162 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 her elopement, excite such unpleasant sensa- 
 tions that it will be impossible for me to re- 
 main here. Therefore I shall leave this place 
 immediately with a lady who is going to esta- 
 blish herself in Jamaica. I have always de- 
 sired to see that island, and there I intend to 
 stay till I have some positive information of 
 Clara. If she is gone to the continent I shall 
 follow her immediately ; if she is in Cuba my 
 friendship, my presence will console her, and 
 they shall not be wanting. One of my friends, 
 a man of intelligence and discretion, has pro- 
 mised to find her, if possible, and has promised 
 also not to betray her, for she must never be 
 restored to the power of her husband. Far 
 from being an advocate for the breach of vows 
 so sacred as those which bound her to St. 
 Louis, I have always expressed with unqualie 
 fied warmth, my disapprobation of the levity 
 of many women who had abandoned their hus- 
 bands. But there are circumstances which 
 palliate error. Many of those which led to 
 Clara's elopement plead for her; but if she 
 has sought protection with another, if she will 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 163 
 
 not accompany me, my heart renounces her, 
 and she will no longer have a sister. 
 
 We sail in three days. St. Louis makes 
 no objection to my going, and I leave Cuba 
 without regret, for in it I have never been hap- 
 py. Write to me at Kingston. Never was 
 the assurance of your friendship more neces- 
 sary to my heart than at this moment. 
 
165 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Kingston^ Jamaica. 
 
 We arrived at Kingston after a passage of 
 twenty-four hours. On entering the harbour 
 our httle vessel, as it passed near the admiral's 
 ship, appeared like an ant at the foot of a 
 mountain. Nothing is more delightful than 
 the bustle and continual movement that strikes 
 the eye on entering this port. Innumerable 
 boats are continually plying round the vessels, 
 offering for sale all the fruits of the season. I 
 like the to\vn. There is an air of neatness in 
 the houses which I have no w^herc seen since 
 I left my own country; but the streets are de- 
 testable ; none of them are paved, and at every 
 step you sink ankle deep in sand. 
 
 I have found numbers of my French friends 
 
 here, and among others madame M , who 
 
 was more than gallant at the Cape, and who at 
 
166 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 St. Jago appeared not. insensible to the plea- 
 sure of being loved. She left her sister in a 
 fit of jealousy and went to Jamaica, hoping to 
 captivate some Enghshman, or at least to rival 
 him in his attachment to roast beef and Ma- 
 deira. But it seems she has been disappointed, 
 no lover having yet offered his homage to her 
 robust attractions. She accuses them of want- 
 ing taste, and hates the place and all who in- 
 habit it. 
 
 I have also met here my little friend Co- 
 ralie, whose adventures since I parted with her 
 at the Cape, have been distressing and ro» 
 mantic. 
 
 Her mother and herself had been persua- 
 ded to remain at the Cape, after the evacua- 
 tion, by a brother on whom they entirely de- 
 pended, and who, seduced by the hope of 
 making a fortune, staid and shared the melan- 
 choly fate of the white inhabitants of that 
 place. Coralie and her sister were concealed 
 by an American merchant in his store, among 
 sacks of coffee and boxes of sugar. Their 
 mother had been led, with the rest of the wo^ 
 men, to the field of slaughter. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 167 
 
 The bene^-olent nian who concealed these 
 unfortunate girls at the risk of his life, after 
 some weeks had elapsed, and the vigilance of 
 the negroes a little relaxed, entreated the cap- 
 tain of an Enghsh frigate to receive them on 
 board his vessel, to which he readily agreed. 
 Disguised in sailors' clothes, and caiTving bas- 
 kets of provisions on their heads, they follow- 
 ed the captain to the sea side. As they ap- 
 proached the guard placed on the wharf to ex- 
 amine all that embarked, they trembled, and 
 involuntarily drew back. But their brave pro= 
 tector told them that it was too late to recede 
 and that he would defend them with liis life. 
 As the English were on the best terms with 
 the negroes, the supposed boys were suffered 
 to pass. On entering the ship the captain con^ 
 gratulated them on their escape, and Coralie, 
 overpowered by a ^'ariety of sensations, faint- 
 ed in the arms of her generous protector. 
 
 A few days after, they sailed for Jamaica. 
 On entering Port Royal, the frigate was dri- 
 ven against a small vessel, and so damaged it, 
 that it appeared to be sinking. The boat was 
 instantly hoisted out, and the captain of the 
 
168 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 frigate went himself to the assistance of the 
 sufferers. The passengers and crew jumped 
 into the boat, and were making off, when the 
 screams of a female were heard from below, 
 and it was recollected that there was a sick 
 lady in the cabin. The English captain de- 
 scended, brought her up in his arms, and put 
 her in the boat. Then, saying that the vessel 
 was not so much injured as they imagined, 
 ordered some of his people to assist him in 
 saving many things that lay at hand. Four 
 sailors jumped on board, and followed their 
 commander to the cabin, where they had 
 scarcely descended, when the vessel suddenly 
 filled and sunk. They were irrecoverably 
 lost. 
 
 Coralie, standing on the deck of the fri- 
 gate, beheld this catastrophe, saw perish the 
 man to whom she owed her life, and whose 
 subsequent kindness had won her heart. 
 
 The lady found in the sinking vessel was 
 her mother, who had escaped almost miracu- 
 lously from the Cape, fully persuaded that her 
 daughters existed no longer. The joy of their 
 meeting was damped by the melancholy fate 
 
sr. DOMINGG, 
 
 169 
 
 of their deliverer, which has been universally 
 lamented. 
 
 The scenes of barbarity, which these girls 
 have w^itnessed at the Cape, are almost incre- 
 dible. The horror, however, which I felt on 
 hearing an account of them, has been relieved 
 by the relation of some more honourable to 
 human nature. In the first days of the mas- 
 sacre, when the negroes ran through the town 
 killing all the white men they encountered, a 
 Frenchman was dragged from the place of his 
 conceahnent by a ruthless mulatto, who, draxv- 
 ing his sabre, bade him prepare to die. The 
 trembling victim raised a supplicating look, 
 and the murderer, letting fall his uplifted arm, 
 asked if he had any money. He replied, that 
 he had none ; but that if he would conduct 
 him to the house of an American merchant, 
 he might probably procure any sum he might 
 require. The mulatto consented, and when 
 they entered the house, the Frenchman with 
 all the energy of one pleading for his life, en- 
 treated the American to lend him a consider- 
 able sum. The gentleman he addressed was 
 too well acquainted with the villainy of the 
 
170 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 negroes to trust to their word. He told the 
 mulatto, that he would give the two thousand 
 dollars demanded, but not till the Frenchman 
 was embarked in a vessel which was going to 
 sail in a few days for Philadelphia, and en- 
 tirely out of danger. The mulatto refused. 
 The unfortunate Frenchman wept, and the 
 American kept firm. While they were dis- 
 puting, a girl of colour, who lived with the 
 American, entered, and having learned the 
 story, employed all her eloquence to make the 
 mulatto relent. She sunk at his feet, and 
 pressed his hands which were reeking with 
 blood. Dear brother, she said, spare for my 
 sake this unfortunate man. He never injured 
 you; nor will you derive any advantage from 
 his death, and by saving him, you will acquire 
 the sum you demand, and a claim to his gra- 
 titude. She was beautiful; she wept, and 
 beauty in tears has seldom been resisted. Yet 
 this unrelenting savage did resist; and swore, 
 with bitter oaths to pursue all white men with 
 unremitting fury. The girl, however, hung 
 to him, repeated her solicitations, and offered 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 171 
 
 him, in addition to the sum proposed, all her 
 trinkets, vdiich were of considerable value. 
 
 The mulatto, enraged, asked if the French- 
 man was any thing to her? Nothing, she re- 
 plied; I never saw him before; but to save 
 the life of an innocent person how trifling 
 %vould appear the sacrifice I offer. She con- 
 tinued her entreaties in the most caressing 
 tone, which for some time had no effect, when 
 softening all at once, he said, I will not de- 
 prive you of your trinkets, nor is it for the 
 sum proposed that I relent, but for you alone, 
 for to you I feel that I can refuse nothing. He 
 shall be concealed, and guarded by myself till 
 the moment of embarking' but, when he is 
 out of danger, you must listen to me in your 
 turn. 
 
 She heard him. with horror; but, dissem- 
 bling, said there would be always time enough 
 to think of those concerns. She was then too 
 much occupied by the object before her. 
 
 The American, who stood by and heard 
 this proposal, made to one to whom he was 
 extremely attached, feh disposed to knock the 
 fellow down, but the piteous aspect of the al- 
 
172 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 most expiring Frenchman withheld his hand. 
 He gave the mulatto a note for the money he 
 had demanded, on the conditions before men- 
 tioned, and the Frenchman was faithfully con- 
 cealed till the vessel was ready to sail, and then 
 embarked. 
 
 When he was gone, the mulatto called on 
 the girl, and offering her the' note, told her 
 her that he had accepted it as a matter of form, 
 but that he now gave it to her ; and reminded 
 her of the promise she had made to listen to 
 his wishes. Her lover entering at that mo- 
 ment told him that the vessel was then out of 
 the harbour, and that his money was ready. 
 He took it, and thus being in the power of the 
 American gentleman, who had great weight 
 with Dessalines, he probably thought it best 
 to relinquish his projects on the charming Zu- 
 line, for she heard of him no more. 
 
 The same girl was the means of saving 
 many others, and the accounts I have heard 
 of her kindness and generosity oblige me to 
 think of her with unqualified admiration,- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 173 
 
 LETTER XXVL 
 
 Kingston^ Jamaica. 
 
 I pass my time agreeably enough here, 
 though I am obhged to stay in a boarding 
 house till madame L— — - can be fixed in her 
 own. A few days ago a Spanish sloop of war 
 was captured by a British frigate, and brought 
 into Jamaica. The officers were suffered to 
 land, and came to lodge in the house where I 
 stay. When called to dinner I was surprized 
 at finding myself among a group of strangers. 
 As the mistress of the house never dines at 
 
 table, and madame L was abroad, I would 
 
 have retreated, but curiosity prompted me to 
 remain. 
 
 The Spanish captain is an elderly man of 
 most respectable appearance. All the rest are 
 young, full of spirits, and two of them remark- 
 ably beautiful. Taking it for granted that I 
 
 ^2 
 
174 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 was French, and not imagining I could under ^ 
 stand their language, as soon as they were 
 seated at table they indulged very freely in 
 their remarks on myself. One said I was not 
 pretty; another, that I was interesting; ano- 
 ther, that I resembled somebody he had seen 
 before ; and one elegant young man, who sat 
 next me, having brushed his arm against mine 
 made in Spanish an apology, which I appear- 
 ed not to understand. He then asked me if 
 I spoke English? I shook my head ; and he 
 observed to his companions, that he had never 
 so much regretted his ignorance of the French. 
 They laughed ; and he continued lamenting 
 the impossibility of making himself under- 
 stood. After dinner I withdrew, and having 
 been engaged by Coralie to pass the evening 
 at her house, I forgot the strangers, and 
 thous:ht of them no more till the next morn- 
 ing at breakfast, where they were all assem- 
 bled, and where madame L related to me 
 
 an adventure she had met with the day before. 
 She spoke English, and as I was answering 
 her my eyes met those of the young officer, 
 and his look covered me with confusiono Ah ! 
 
ST. DOMINGG. 
 
 175 
 
 he said, you speak English, and were cruel 
 enough to refuse holding converse with a 
 stranger and a prisoner. I speak so little, I 
 replied. No, no, he cried, your accent is not 
 foreign ; I could almost swear that it is your 
 native language. He looked at the others 
 with an ir of triumph; and the one who had 
 said I was not pretty, observed, that he was 
 glad I did not speak Spanish; but I under- 
 stand it perfectly, I answered in the same lan=- 
 guage. 
 
 He looked petrified ; and the old captain 
 was delighted. He made many inquiries after 
 his friends at Cuba, with all of whom I was 
 acquainted. The young officer who speaks 
 English, is by birth an Irishman. He eriter= 
 ed the Spanish service at the age of fifteen; 
 had been several years at Lima ; had return- 
 ed to Europe, and was on his way to Vera 
 Cruz when they were taken by the English, 
 With him my heart claimed kindred, for in 
 every Irishman I fancy I behold a brother and 
 a friend. His manners are elegant and inte° 
 resting beyond expression^ 'There is an ap^ 
 ' pearance of sadness in his face, which height 
 
176 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 ens the interest his fine form creates ; and if I 
 had an unoccupied heart, and he a heart to of- 
 fer, I beheve we should soon forget that he is 
 a prisoner and I a stranger! 
 
 I have learned from him, that on his arri- 
 val at Lima, he was lodged in the house of a 
 gentleman who had a beautiful daughter. She 
 was a widow, though very young. The se- 
 clusion in which the ladies of this county live 
 rendred such a companion as Don Carlos 
 doubly dangerous, and the beauty and sweet- 
 ness of Donna Angelina, made an indelible 
 impression on his heart. Their mutual passion 
 was soon acknowledged ; but obstacles, which 
 appeared insurmountable, seemed to deprive 
 them even of hope. 
 
 Angelina had inherited the immense for- 
 tune left by her husband, on condition of re- 
 maining a widow. Her father was very rich, 
 but avarice was his ruling passion. He had 
 sacrificed his only child at the age of thirteen 
 to an old man, merely because he was weal- 
 thy, and there was no reason to expect that he 
 would suffer her to abandon the fortune she 
 had so dearly acquired, and marry a man who 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 177 
 
 had no inheritance but his sword. Though 
 these considerations cast a cloud over their 
 mutual prospects, they still cherished their 
 mutual affection, and hoped that some fortu- 
 nate event would at length render them happy. 
 The father of Angelina never suspected the 
 situation of his daughter's heart, and her in- 
 tercourse with Don Carlos was without res- 
 traint. Delightful moments of visionary hap- 
 piness how quickly ye passed; delivering in 
 your flight two victims to the gripe of despair ! 
 
 A new viceroy arrived from Spain and 
 Angelina was obliged to appear at a ball given 
 to celebrate his entry into Lima. 
 
 She danced with Don Carlos, and her 
 beauty, eclipsing all other beauty, attracted 
 universal notice, but particularly that of the 
 viceroy, vdio went the next day to offer at her 
 feet the homage of his adoration. She re- 
 ceived him coldly, but the father was trans- 
 ported with joy, and when, a few days after, 
 the viceroy demanded her hand, without hesi=. 
 tation favoured his suit. Angelina declined, 
 and acquainted him with the conditions on 
 which she inherited her husband's wealth, and 
 
178 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 her resolution to remain a widow. He told 
 her that his own fortune was more than suffi- 
 cient to replace that he wished her to sacrifice, 
 but her evident aversion raised a suspicion of 
 other reasons than those she avowed, and his 
 jealous watchfulness soon discovered her at- 
 tachment to Don Carlos. He informed her 
 father of his discovery, who, furious at seeing 
 his hopes of aggrandizing his family thwarted 
 by a boy, forbad all intercourse between them. 
 
 The means employed by the viceroy to se- 
 parate them were still more effectual. A ves- 
 sel was on the point of sailing for Spain, and 
 Don Carlos received orders to embark instant- 
 ly to bear dispatches of importance to the 
 court. Resistance would have been vain. He 
 sailed without being permitted to see the ob- 
 ject he had so long adored. 
 
 When he arrived in Spain, he learned that 
 his rival had taken every precaution to pre- 
 vent his return to Lima. Fortunately he 
 knew the heart of his Angelina, and felt as- 
 sured that the hopes of that detested rival 
 w^ould never be crowned with success; nor 
 was he disappointed. 
 
ST. DOMING0. 
 
 179 
 
 She had been deprived by her father and 
 die viceroy of the man she loved, but their 
 power extended no farther. There was an 
 asylum to which she could retreat from their 
 tyranny ; that asylum was a convent. She en- 
 tered one, took the vows, and gave her im- 
 mense fortune to the society of which she be- 
 came a member. 
 
 On the eve of entering the convent she 
 wrote to Don Carlos, informing him of her in- 
 tention ; of the impossibility of preserving her- 
 self for him, and her determination never to 
 belong to another. He received this letter the 
 day on which he sailed for Vera Cruz, and I 
 believe, does not regret being a prisoner, since 
 he has found in the place of his captivity a kind 
 being who listens to his tale of sorrows and 
 seeks to pour the balm of consolation into his 
 wounded heart. 
 
 He amuses me continually with his stories 
 of Lima; describing the splendour of its pa- 
 laces, the magnificence of its churches, filled 
 with golden saints and silver angels, and the 
 beautiful women with which it abounds. He 
 tells me there can be nothing more fascinating 
 
180 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 than their manners; nor more singular and 
 picturesque than their dress, which consists of 
 a petticoat, reaching no lower than the knee, 
 and a veil that covers the head and waist, but 
 through which a pretty face is often shewn in 
 a most bewitching manner. At the same time 
 I perceive that he talks on every subject with 
 reluctance, except on that nearest his heart; 
 and when speaking of this, he seems animat- 
 ed by all the energy of despair. 
 
 I have heard of Clara by a person just ar- 
 rived from Cuba, and have written to her. 
 My heart is torn with anxiety for her fate, and 
 will remain a stranger to repose till I receive 
 more satisfactory intelhgence. I fear she was 
 not born to be at ease. She lives continually 
 in an ideal world. Her enthusiastic imagina- 
 tion filled with forms which it creates at plea- 
 sure, cherishes a romantic hope of visionary 
 happiness which never can be realized. 
 
 Yet with all my fine sentiments of correct- 
 ness and propriety, and the duty of content and 
 resignation, my heart refuses to condemn her 
 for having left her husband. Never was there 
 any thing- more directly opposite than the soul 
 
ST. DOMIXGO. 
 
 181 
 
 of Clai*a, and that of the man to whom she was 
 united. Their tempers, their dispositions, were 
 absolutely incompatible. And should I aban- 
 don this poor girl to misfortune? should I 
 leave her to perish among strangers ? ah ! no, 
 she is twined round my heart, and I love her 
 with more than a sister's affection. As soon 
 as I heai' from her again, you shall be inform- 
 ed of my intentions. If I can induce her to 
 return with me to Philadelphia, in rejoining 
 you I shall think myself no longer unhappy. 
 
183 
 
 LETTER XXVn. 
 
 To Clara. 
 
 Kingston^ Jatnaica, 
 
 I have received the message, sent me by 
 Anselmo, my dear Clara, and my joy at hear- 
 ing of your welfare, made me forget for a mo- 
 ment, the many causes you have given me of 
 complaint. Yet what more have I learned 
 than that you exist ? of all that concerns you 
 I remain ignorant. Unkind Clara ! thus you 
 repay my friendship ! thus console me for all 
 the solicitude I have felt for you ! To have 
 staid with St. Louis, after you left him, was 
 not possible, for he did not conceal his suspi- 
 cions of my having been in your secret, nor 
 could I find in Cuba an eligible retreat ; for 
 all my friends were his, and all disposed to 
 condemn you. I accepted therefore, with plea» 
 
184 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 sure, the offer made by Madame L— ^ to 
 take me with her to Jamaica. 
 
 Write to me, my dear sister, immediately. 
 Tell me every thing. Does not your heart 
 require the affectionate sympathy it has been 
 accustomed to receive from mine ? Can you 
 live v^ithout me ?— without me who have fol- 
 lowed you, and love you with an affection so 
 tender ? Dearest Clara, speak, and I will fly 
 to you ! Means shall be found to return to 
 Philadelphia, where, in peaceful obscurity we 
 may live 5 free from the cares which have tor- 
 mented you, and filled myself with anxiety. 
 
 Anselmo will be careful of your letter. 
 Write fully, and remember that you are wri- 
 ting to more than a sister ; to a friend, who 
 loves you, who adores your virtues, and who* 
 pardons, while she weeps, your faults ! 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 185 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 To Mary . 
 
 Bayam^ 20 leagues from St, Jago. 
 
 I know your heart, my dear Mary ! On 
 the affection which glows for me in that heait, 
 I have counted for the pardon of my errors, 
 and your letter convinces me that I have not 
 been deceived. You know, for you v/itnessed, 
 my domestic infelicity ; . yet, how many of my 
 pains did I not conceal, to spare you the an- 
 guish of lamenting sorrows which you could 
 not alleviate ! 
 
 St. Louis, after his arrival at St. Jago, had 
 connected himself with a company of game- 
 sters, and with them passed all his time. — 
 Often returning at a late hour from the gam- 
 ing table, he has treated me with the m.ost 
 brutal violence, — this you never knew ; nor 
 
 R 2 
 
186 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 many things which passed in the loneliness of 
 my chamber, where, wholly in his power, I 
 could only oppose to his brutality my tears and 
 my sighs. To his intolerable and groundless 
 jealousy at Cape Francois you were no stran- 
 ger : it embittered my days. Since our arri- 
 val in this island it increased. In every man 
 that approached me he saw a rival ! and the 
 more amiable the object, the more terrible 
 were his apprehensions. 
 
 He became acquainted, at some of the 
 
 haunts of gaming, with Don Alonzo de P 
 
 and brought him to our house, but, when his 
 visits had been repeated two or three times, 
 all the tortures of jealousy were awakened in 
 the breast of St. Louis. 
 
 If I received this young stranger w^ith plea- 
 sure, it was because I found him interesting. 
 If I avoided him it was an acknowledgement 
 of his power 1 
 
 He had insisted on my learning the Spanish 
 langueige, yet if I spoke in that language it was 
 to express sentiments I sought to conceal from 
 him. How often, in the bitterness of anguish, 
 have I thought that the direst poverty would 
 
ST, DOMINGO, 187 
 
 be prefemble to the ease I had purchased at 
 the expence of my peace ! but alas I the co- 
 lour of my fate was fixed,' — I was united to 
 St. Louis by bonds which I had been taught 
 to consider sacred, and, though my heart shud- 
 dered at the life-long tie, yet I always recoiled 
 with hoiTor from Ae idea of breaking it, — 
 That tie however is broken ; those bonds are 
 dissolved and there is no fate so dreadful to 
 which I would not submit, rather than have 
 them renewed. 
 
 Believe me when I assure you that my 
 flight was not premeditated. It is true, the elo- 
 quent eyes of Don Alonzo often spoke vo- 
 lumes, but I never appeared to understaM 
 their language, nor did a look of encourage- 
 ment ever escape me. For some days previ- 
 ous to my elopement the ill humour of St. 
 Louis had been intolerable. My wearied soul 
 sunk beneath the torments I endured and death 
 would have been preferable to such a state of 
 existence. The night before I left him he came 
 home in a transport of fuiy, dragged me from 
 my bed, said it was his intention to destroy nie, 
 and swore that he would render me horrible 
 
188 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 by rubbing aqua-fortis in my face. This last 
 menace deprived me of the power of utterance; 
 to kill me would have been a trifling evil, but 
 to live disfigured, perhaps blind, was an in. 
 sufferable idea and roused me to madness. I 
 passed the night in speechless agony. The 
 only thought I dwelt on was, how to escape 
 from this monster, and, at break of day, I was 
 still sitting, as if rendered motionless by his 
 threats. From this stupor I was roused by 
 his caresses, or rather by his brutal approach- 
 es, for he always finds my person provoking, 
 and often, whilst pouring on my head abuse 
 which would seem dictated by the most vio- 
 lent hatred, he has sought in my arms gratifi- 
 cations which should be solicited with affec- 
 tion, and granted to love alone. 
 
 You must recollect my unusual sadness 
 that day; for well do I remember the kind ef- 
 forts you made to divert me. 
 
 I awaited the approach of night with 
 gloomy impatience,- determined that the dawn 
 of day should not find me beneath that hated 
 roof. When I left you in the evening it was 
 with difficulty I restrained my tears. My heai t 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 189 
 
 was breaking at the idea of being separated 
 from you, if not forever at least for a consider- 
 able time, and the thought of the pain my flight 
 would occasion you almost determined me to 
 rehnquish it. 
 
 But St. Louis ^vas in my chamber, and his 
 presence dispelled every idea, except that of 
 avoiding it forever. x\fter seeing me undress- 
 ed, he left me, as usual, to pass the greatest 
 part of the night abroad. His vigilant guard, 
 the faithful Madelaine, lay down near the 
 door of my apartment, and I, taking a book, 
 appeared to read. At eleven o'clock I knew 
 by her breathing that she was asleep. 
 
 Taking off my shoes, I passed her softly- 
 opened the door that leads into the garden, 
 and was instantly in the street. 
 
 The moments were precious, for I had the 
 whole town to pass, in order to gain the road 
 to Cobre, where I intended to request an asy- 
 lum of Madame V . 
 
 I flew with the rapidity of lightning, nor 
 stopped to breathe till I had passed the town. 
 Beginning to ascend the mountain, I paused, 
 and leaning against a tree, reflected for a mo- 
 
190 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 ment on the singularity of my situation.—- 
 Alone, at midnight, on the road to an obscure 
 village, whose inhabitants are regarded as lit- 
 tle better than a horde of banditti ! — Flying 
 from a husband, whose pursuit I dreaded more 
 than death; leaving behind me a sister, for 
 whom my heart bled, but whom I could ne- 
 ver think of involving in my precarious fate ! 
 
 The night was calm. The town, which 
 lies at the foot of the mountain, was buried 
 in profound repose. The moon-beams glit- 
 tered on the waves that were rolling in the 
 bay, and shed their silvery lustre on the mo- 
 ving branches of the palm trees. The silence 
 was broken by the melodious voice of a bird, 
 who sings only at this hour, and whose notes 
 are said to be sweeter than those of the Euro- 
 pean nightingale. As I ascended the moun- 
 tain, the air became purer. Every tree in this 
 delightful region is aromatic ; every breeze 
 wafts prefumes ! I had six miles to walk, and 
 wished to reach the village before day, yet I 
 could not avoid frequently stopping to enjoy 
 the delightful calm that reigned around me ! 
 
 4 knew that, as soon as I was missed, the 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 191 
 
 lown would be diligently searched for me, but 
 of the retreat I had chosen St. Louis could 
 have no idea, for he was totally unacquainted 
 
 with the residence of Madame V . To 
 
 this ladv I had rendered some essential servi- 
 ces at the Cape, which gave me a claim on 
 her friendship. She left that place before us, 
 and on her arrival here, bought a little planta- 
 tion in Cobre, where she lives in tlie greatest 
 retirement. I had heard of her by accident, 
 and thought it the surest retreat I could find. 
 As the day broke I perceived the straggling 
 huts which compose this village, and, ap- 
 proaching the most comfortable one of the 
 group, found to my great satisfaction, that it 
 was inhabited by the lady I sought. She had 
 just risen, and was opening the door as I drew 
 near it. Her surprise at seeing me was so 
 great, that she doubted for a moment the evi- 
 dence of her senses ; but, seizing my hand, 
 she led me to her chamber, where, pressed in 
 her arms, I felt that I had found a friend, and 
 the tears that flowed on her bosom were proofs 
 of my gratefulness. 
 
 I began to explain to her my situation. ^'I 
 
192 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 know it all !" she cried, you have escaped 
 from your husband. My predictions are ve- 
 rified, though a little later than I expected.- — 
 But where" continued she, is your sister?" 
 I replied that my flight had not been preme- 
 ditated, and that you had not been apprised of 
 it. There was no necessity for giving her a 
 reason for having left my husband. She had 
 always been at a loss to find one for my stay- 
 ing with him So long. The next considera- 
 tion was my toilette. I was bare-headed, with- 
 out stockings:— my shoes were torn to pieces 
 by the ruggedness of the road, and I had no 
 other covering than a thin muslin morning 
 gown. The kind friend, who received me, 
 supplied me with clothes, and checked her ea- 
 gerness to learn the particulars of my story till 
 I had taken the repose I so much required. 
 
 Towards evening she seated herself by my 
 bedside, and I related to her all that I had suf- 
 fered since she left me at the Cape. 
 
 But when I spoke of the threat which had 
 determined me to the step I had taken, she 
 made an exclamation of horror. 
 
 I told her tliat my intention was to remain 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 193 
 
 concealed till the search after me was over, 
 and then to embark for the continent. 
 
 She approved the project, and said, that 
 I could be no where in greater security than 
 with her; for, though the village is only six 
 miles from town, it is as much secluded as if 
 it was in the midst of a desert, except at the 
 feast of the holy Virgin which is celebrated 
 once a year. 
 
 The festival lasts nine days, and all the in- 
 habitants of St. Jago come to assist at its cele- 
 bration. Unfortunately the season of the feast 
 was approashing, during which it would have 
 been impossible for me to remain concealed in 
 the village. However, as there was still time 
 to consider, she bade me be tranquil, and pro- 
 mised to find me a retreat. Two davs after 
 she went to town and at her return I learned 
 that nothing was talked of but my elopement. 
 
 St. Louis, in the first transports of his rage, 
 has entered a complaint against Don Alonzo 
 and, declaring that he had carried me off, had 
 him imprisoned ! 
 
 It v/as feared this step w^ould be attended 
 Vvith ill consequences, for this young Spaniard, 
 
 s 
 
194 
 
 HORRORS Cri- 
 
 being related to the bishop and some of the 
 most distinguished families, it was supposed 
 the indignity of his imprisonment would be 
 resented by them all ! 
 
 Besides, he was entirely innocent of the 
 charge exhibited against him, not having had 
 the slightest idea of my flight 
 
 This information filled me with alarm. I 
 felt insecure so near the town and entreated 
 
 madame to indicate a more remote and 
 
 safe asylum. 
 
 She told me that she had a friend, twenty 
 leagues from town, to whom she had often 
 promised a visit; that the inconvenience of tra- 
 veiling in this barbarous country, had hithert9 
 prevented her going, but that these considera- 
 tions vanished before the idea of obliging me, 
 and that the pleasure of making the journey 
 in my company would be a sufficient induce, 
 ment. 
 
 Two days were past in procuring horses 
 and making preparations for our departure. 
 In the evening we walked among the rocks, 
 which surround the village, aud, had my heart 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 195 
 
 been at ease, I should ha^-e wandered with 
 delight in these romantic regions. 
 
 The place was once famous for its valua- 
 ble copper mines, from which it takes its name, 
 but they have been long abandoned. The inha- 
 bitants, almost all mulattos, are in the last grade 
 ef poverty, and too indolent to make an exer- 
 tion to procure themselves even the most ne- 
 cessary comforts. Yet, in this abode of wretch- 
 edness, there is a magnificent temple, dedica- 
 ted to the blessed Virgin. Its ornaments and 
 decorations are superb. The image of the 
 Virgin, preserved in the temple, is said to 
 be miraculous and performs often wonderful 
 things. The faith of these people in her power 
 is implicit. The site of the temple is pictures- 
 que, and the scenery, that surrounds it, beauti- 
 ful beyond description, standing near the sum- 
 mit of a mountain, at the foot of which lies 
 the village. You ascend to it by a Vvdnding 
 road, and see its white turrets, at a great dis- 
 tance, glittering beneath the palm trees that 
 gracefully wave over it. 
 
 After passing through the miserable village 
 and following the winding path through crag- 
 
196 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 gy cliffs, over barren rocks and precipices 
 ^vhich the eye dares not measure, the mind 
 almost invokmtarily yields to the belief of su- 
 pernatural agency. On entering the church 
 the image of the Virgin, fancifully adorned 
 and reposing on a bed of roses, appears like 
 the presiding genius of the place. The waxen 
 tapers, continually burning, the obscurity that 
 reigns within, occasioned by the impenetrable 
 branches of the trees which overshadow it, and 
 the slow solemn tone of the organ, re-echoed 
 by the surrounding rocks, fill the mind with 
 awe; and we pardon the superstitious faith of 
 the ignorant votaries of this holy lady, cherish- 
 ed as it is by every circumstance that can tend 
 to make it indelible ! 
 
 At the appointed time, before the dawn of 
 day, our little cavalcade set out. Madame 
 V — — and myself on horseback, preceded by 
 a guide, and followed by a boy, leading two 
 mules charged with provisions, and every 
 thing requisite for the journey. We wore 
 large straw bats, to defend us from the sun, 
 with thick veils, according to the custom of 
 the country. Leaving Cobre behind us^ v^e 
 
ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 197 
 
 ascended the niountaiii. The road pissed 
 through groves of majestic trees, intermingled 
 with the orange and the hme, ^vhicli being in 
 blossom, the senses were ahmost overpowered 
 by the odours v/hich filled the air. V>'e pro- 
 ceeded slowly and silently. — I thought of }"oii 
 my dear sister !— My tears flowed at the idea 
 of your pain, and I trembled to think that I 
 was not out of danger of being discovered. 
 
 About eight o'clock our guide said it vvas 
 time to breakfast, and, tying our horses, he 
 struck a light, kindled a fire, and made cho- 
 colate. The repast finished, we continued on 
 our way through the same delightful country; 
 still breathing the purest air, but Vvfithout dis- 
 covering any 'v'estige of a human habitation. 
 
 About noon we savv' a iitrle hut. The 
 guide, alighting, half opened the door, say- 
 ing " May the holy virgin bless this house !" 
 This salutation brought out a tail sallow man, 
 who gravely taking his seg?a from his mouth, 
 bowed ceremoniously, and bid us enter. Wq 
 followed him, and saw, sitting on a.n ox hide, 
 stretched on the ground, a woman, whose rag- 
 ged garments scarcely ansv/ered the fi.rst pur- 
 
 s 2 
 
198 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 poses of decency. She was suckling a squalid 
 naked child, and two or three dirty children 
 were lolling about, without being disturbed 
 by the appearance of strangers. A hammock, 
 suspended from the roof, was the only article 
 of furniture in the house. Whilst the guide 
 was unloading the mules to prepare our din- 
 ner, I went out to seek a seat beneath some 
 trees ; for the filth of the house, and the ap- 
 pearance of its inhabitants filled me with dis- 
 gust. 
 
 To my infinite astonishment, the plains 
 which extended behind the house, as far as 
 the eye could reach, were covered Vv^ith innu- 
 merable herds of cattle, and on enquiring of 
 the guide to whom they belonged, I learned, 
 with no less surprise, that our host was their 
 master. Incredible as it may appear, this mi- 
 serable looking being, whose abode resembled 
 the den of poverty, is the owner of countless 
 multitudes of cattle, and yet it was ^h the 
 greatest difficulty that we could procure a lit- 
 tle milk. 
 
 A small piece of ground, where he raised 
 tobacco enough for his own use, was the only 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 199 
 
 vestige of cultivation we could discover. No- 
 thing like vegetables or fruit could be seen. 
 When they kill a beef, they skin it, and, cut^ 
 ting the flesh into long pieces about the thick- 
 ness of a finger, they hang it on poles to dry 
 in the sun ; and on this they live till it is gone, 
 and then kill another. 
 
 Sometimes they collect a number of cattle 
 and drive them to town, in order to procure 
 some of the most absolute necessaries of life. 
 But this seldom happens, and never till urged 
 by the most pressing want. As for bread, it 
 is a luxury with which they are entirely unac- 
 quainted. After dinner the guide, and the host, 
 and all the family, lay down on the ground to 
 sleep the siesta, which, you know no consider- 
 ation would tempt a Spaniard to forget. Ma- 
 dame V walked with me under the trees, 
 
 near the house, and remarked the striking dif- 
 ferenpe between this country and St. Domingo. 
 There-^'^every inch of ground was in the highest 
 state of cultivation, and every body was rich, 
 here, the owners of vast territories are in the 
 most abject poverty. 
 
 This she ascribed to the different genius of 
 
200 ^ HORRORS OF 
 
 the people, but I think unjustly, believing that 
 it is entirely owing to their vicious government. 
 
 After our guide had taken his nap he led 
 up the horses, and bidding adieu to our hosts, 
 we continued our journey. 
 
 We passed during the afternoon several 
 habitations similar to the one where we dined. 
 The same wretchedness; the same poverty 
 exhibited itself, surrounded by troops of cat- 
 tle, who bathed in plains of the most luxuriant 
 pasturage. 
 
 As the sun declined our guide began to 
 sing a litany to the Virgin, in which he was 
 joined by the boy who followed us. The 
 strain was sweet. 
 
 And round a holy calm diffusing 
 In melancholy murmurs died away.'' 
 
 At the close of day we stopped at a hut, 
 where the guide told us we must pass the 
 nidit, and I learned that we had come ten 
 leagues, though we had advanced at a snail's 
 p'ace. The hut we entered was inhabited by 
 an old man who, retiring with the guide to an 
 adjoining shed, left us the house to ourselves. 
 
ST. DOMINGOo 
 
 201 
 
 The couch, which invited us to repose, was a 
 
 hide laid on the ground. Madame V 
 
 had brought sheets, and, spreading them on 
 the hide, I soon sunk to rest. But my slum- 
 bers were interrupted by a most unaccount- 
 able noise, which seemed to issue from all 
 parts of the room, not unlike the clashing of 
 swords ; and, as I listened to discover what 
 it was, a shriek from Madame V— in- 
 creased my terror. In sounds scarcely arti- 
 culate, she said a large cold animal hcfd crept 
 into her bosom., and in getting it out, it had 
 seized her hand. 
 
 Frightened to death I opened the door and 
 called the guide, who discovered by his laugh- 
 ing that he had foreseen our misfortune, and 
 guarded against it by suspending his hammock 
 from the branches of a tree. When I asked 
 for a light to search for what had disturbed us, 
 he said it was nothing but land crabs, which, 
 at this jseason, descend in countless multitudes 
 from the mountain, in order to lay their eggs 
 on the sea shore. 
 
 The ground was covered with them, and 
 paths were worn by them down the sides of 
 
202 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 the mountain. They strike their claws to- 
 gether as they move with a strange noise, and 
 no obstacle turns them from their course. 
 Had they not found a passage through the 
 house they would have gone over it; and one 
 finding madame V— — - in his way, had crept 
 into her bosom. The master of the house 
 
 gave his hammock to madame V . I 
 
 mounted in that of the guide; but the curio- 
 sity excited by our visitors, rendered it im- 
 possible for us to sleep. I asked the guide if 
 it was common to see them in such numbers. 
 He said that it was; and told me that the En- 
 glish having some years ago made a descent 
 on the island, had seized a Spaniard whom 
 they found in a hut, and threatened to kill him 
 if he Vv^oold not shew them the way to St. 
 Jago, which they had always wished to pos- 
 sess, but which they could not approach by 
 sea. The terrified Spaniard promised to com- 
 ply. In the night, as they were encamped on 
 the mountain, waiting for daylight in order to 
 proceed, they heard a noise stealing through 
 the thickets, like that of an approaching host. 
 They asked their prisoner what it meant? he 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 205 
 
 replied, that it could be nothing but a body of 
 Spaniards who, apprized of their descent, were 
 prepai'ing to attack them. The noise increas- 
 ing on all sides, the English, fearful of being 
 surrounded, embai'ked, and in their haste suf- 
 fered the prisoner to escape, who by his address 
 probably prevented them from becoming mas- 
 ters of the island, for the pretended host was 
 nothing more than an army of these crabs. 
 
 The man, I understand, received no re- 
 ward ; but the anniversary of this event is still 
 celebrated ; and if the crabs have not been ca- 
 nonized, they are at least spoken of with as 
 much reverence as the sacred geese, to which 
 Rome owed its preservation. 
 
 During the night their noise prevented me 
 effectually from sleeping. They appeared like 
 a brown stream roiling over the surface of the 
 earth. Towaixls morning they gradually dis- 
 appeared, hiding themselves in holes during 
 the day. 
 
 At the first peep of daT^Ti we set out, and 
 arrived in the evening at Bay am. The friend 
 
 of madame V received us with great cor> 
 
 dialit}'. She lost her husband soon after her 
 
204 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 arrival in this country. She is very handsome, 
 and has an air of sadness which renders her 
 highly interesting. She wsls informed of my 
 story, and requested me to think myself at 
 home in her house. 
 
 It was determined that I should pass for a 
 relation of her husband; and soothed by her 
 kindness and attentions 1 began to hope that 
 beneadi her roof I should find repose. 
 
 Madame V , after staying with us 
 
 eight days, returned to Cobre, promising to 
 inform herself of you, and to write me all that 
 was passing. She wrote me immediately that 
 you had sailed for Jamaica: that Don Alonzo 
 was out of prison ; that he had commenced a 
 suit against St. Louis for false imprisonment, 
 and that the latter was actually confined. Don 
 Alonzo is powerfully supported by the bishop 
 and all his family, who have long been at va- 
 riance with the governor, and gladly seek this 
 opportunity of revenging themselves. She 
 finally told me, my dear Mary, that she had 
 discovered a young man who owned a small 
 vessel in which he goes constantly to Jamaica, 
 and that she held entreated him to find you, to 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 205 
 
 tell you that I am weU, and to charge himself 
 with your letter, not doubting but you would 
 wite. That kind letter I received yesterday, 
 and it has given me the first agreeable sensa- 
 tion I have known since we parted. I am 
 convinced of your affection for me, but do not 
 let that affection hurry you into iraprudencies 
 which may perhaps betray me. Do not think 
 of returning to St. Jago ; and, may I add, do 
 not think of leaving Jamaica till I can join you. 
 We will return to the continent together, and 
 I hope together we shall he happy. Two or 
 three doubloons, which I brought with me, 
 prevent my being dependant on the lady in 
 whose house I am, for any thing but her friend^ 
 ship. 
 
 I was struck with the resemblance of a 
 Spanish lady who lives near us to Don Alon- 
 zo, and found, on enquiring, that she is his 
 sister. She spoke to me of her brother, but is 
 as ignorant of his affairs as if he dwelt in the 
 moon. 
 
 This place is the abode of poverty and dull- 
 ness, yet the people are so hospitable that from 
 
206 HORRORS OF 
 
 the little they possess they can always spare 
 something to offer to a stranger. And they 
 are content with their lot — how many reasons 
 have I not to be so with mine ! 
 
STo DOMINGOo 
 
 207 
 
 LETTER XXIX, 
 
 To Mary — 
 
 Bayam- 
 
 I thank you a thousand times, my dear 
 sister, for your affectionate letter, and for the 
 parcel that accompanied it. I knew with what 
 pleasure you would share with me all you pos-- 
 sess, and to be indebted to you adds to my 
 happiness. 
 
 What you have heard of St. Louis is true. 
 The affair of Don Alonzo and himself was 
 made up by the interposition of some of their 
 mutual friends who represented him as half 
 mad; and somebody having spread a report 
 that I had sailed for the city of Santo Domin= 
 go, he embarked immediately for that place. 
 What he could think I should seek at Santc^ 
 Domingo, I am at a loss to imagine. 
 
208 
 
 Horrors of 
 
 * My retreat has been discovered, and though 
 by one who would not betray me, yet he is the 
 last person on earth, except St. Louis, to whom 
 I could have wished it to be known. 
 
 The husband of Donna Maria, the Spanish 
 lady whom I mentioned to you before, had 
 gone to St. Jago, some days previous to my 
 arrival here. Having, as is the universal cus- 
 tom, visited a gaming house, he had a dispute 
 with a gambler of bad reputation, and on leav- 
 ing the house received a blow with a poinard, 
 which proved mortaL 
 
 Such occurrences are too frequent to create 
 much public interest, and it is considered use- 
 less to seek the assassin. 
 
 When the senora Maria expected the re- 
 turn of her husband, she heard that he existed 
 no longer. The news was brought by her bro- 
 ther. Her house joins the one I live in. Hear- 
 ing the most lamentable cries from her cham- 
 ber I ran in. Judge of my surprise at seeing 
 Don Alonzo. His, I believe, was not less, for 
 abandoning his sister, he approached me; but 
 ' I was too much terrified at her situation, to 
 attend to him. When informed of the caiise. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 209 
 
 I felt that in that moment she could not be 
 consoled, and I saw also that the violence of 
 her sorrow would soon exhaust itself. 
 
 Don Alonzo sought an opportunity of speak- 
 ing to me, which I avoided. Learning after- 
 wards where I lived, he so ingratiated himself 
 with madame St. Clair, that he received an in- 
 vitation to her house, and in that house he nov/ 
 passes all his time. He has been the innocent 
 cause of much of my suffering, yet I cannot 
 find fault with his conduct ; and madame St. 
 Clair, devoting much of her time to his vridow- 
 ed sister, I have no means of escaping from 
 him. He has informed me of m^any of the fol- 
 lies of St, Louis, of the obstinacy vrith Vvhich 
 he affirmed that Don Alonzo had aided my 
 flight, and of the means he had employed to 
 discover me. And why, he sometimes asks, 
 did you not suffer me to aid you? why did you 
 not repose confidence in me? 
 
 You know my dear Mary, how eloquent 
 are his eyes! you know the insinuating soft- 
 ness of his voice ! Sometimes, when listening 
 to him, I forget for a moment all I have suf- 
 
 T 2 
 
210 HORROllS 'OF 
 
 fered, and almost persuade myself that a man 
 can be sincere. 
 
 The governor of Bayam is an Irish Spa- 
 niard, at least he is of an Irish family, and was 
 born in Spain. I have become acquainted 
 with him since the arrival of Don Alonzo, and 
 felt, the instant I beheld him, as if I was in the 
 society of an old acquaintance. His Irish vi=- 
 vacity is a little tempered by Spanish gravity. 
 He speaks English as if he had been raised in 
 his own country, and his mind is stored with 
 literary treasures. He has a handsome collec- 
 tion of books, which he offered me. Judge of 
 my delight at meeting with Shakspeare in the 
 wilds of Cuba. 
 
 What could have induced him to accept 
 this sorry government I have not yet learned, 
 but he certainly possesses talents which merit 
 a more important employment, and his elegant 
 manners would add lustre to the most distin- 
 guished situation. He laughs heartily at his 
 ragged subjects, by whom however he is re- 
 garded as a father and a friend. He says with 
 better laws they would be the best fellows in 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 211 
 
 the world; but situated as they are, their indo- 
 lence is their best security. 
 
 We often make excursions in the beatiful 
 environs of this place and dine beneath the 
 shade of the palm tree, or the tall and graceful 
 cocoa, which offers us in its fruit a delicious 
 dessert, whilst the gaiety of the governor dif- - 
 fuses around us an mdescribable charm. 
 
 But my deal' sister, think not that I forget 
 you in these delightful scenes. On the con= 
 trary I long to see you, and am hastening the 
 moment of my depai'ture. 
 
 Madame St. Clair, seduced by the descrip- 
 tion I have made of our peaceful country, and 
 wearied of a place where she has known nothing 
 but misfortune, where the talents she possesses 
 are absolutely lost, intends going with me to 
 Philadelphia, as soon as she can arrange her 
 affairs, and has consented to accompany me 
 to Kingston, from whence we can all sail to- 
 gether. You will love her, I am sure, for her 
 kindness to me; but, independently of that 
 consideration, her beauty, the graceful sweet- 
 ness of -her mannersj and her divine voicej 
 
212' 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 render it impossible to behold or listen to her 
 with indilFerence. 
 
 The gwernor says, if he loses his two 
 most amiable subjects, his little empire will 
 not be worth keeping. Don Aionzo 
 
 " Looks and sighs unutterable things," 
 
 and sometimes hints, in broken accents, the 
 passion he has felt for me since the first mo- 
 ment he saw me, at all which I laugh. For 
 me, henceforth all men are statues. I was so 
 ill-fated as to meet that phenomenon a jealous 
 Frenchman, and with my wounds still bleed- 
 ing, would I put my happiness in the power 
 of a Spaniard? Ah! no, let me avoid the dan- 
 gerous intercourse, let me fly to my sister ! 
 Why are you so far removed from me ? why 
 did you so hastily leave the island, where you 
 knew I must be, and in a situation too in 
 which your counsel, your support is doubly 
 necessary. 
 
 It will be impossible for me to leave Bay- 
 am in less than a month. We shall sail for 
 Kingston with Anselmo. Much precaution 
 must be osedj for I must embark from St. 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 213 
 
 Jago, and if I was discovered, should certain- 
 ly be arrested by the governor, who is exas- 
 perated against me. Write to me, my dear 
 girl, by the return of the vessel; and believe 
 me that I wait with the utmost impatience for 
 the moment that will reunite us. 
 
215 
 
 LETTER XXX, 
 
 To Clara. 
 
 Kingstoji. 
 
 Let me enti'eat you, my dear sister, to 
 leave Bayam as soon as possible. I cannot 
 describe the pain with which I heard of Don 
 Alonzo being near you. You pass hours, 
 days with him ; you talk of his eloquent eyes, 
 his sweet voice. Ah ! fly, dearest creature, 
 fly from the danger that surrounds you. Lis- 
 ten not to that insinuating Spaniard. If you do 
 you are irrecoverably lost. 
 
 Why indeed am I not near you ? yet after 
 your flight, to stay in Cuba was impossible, 
 and my leaving it was, I believe, one of the 
 principal reasons which determined St. Louis 
 to leave it also : so far it was fortunate. My 
 heart always acquitted you for having taken 
 
216 
 
 HORRORS OF 
 
 the resolution to abandon your home ; for 
 though, as you say, I knew not all, I knew 
 enough to awaken in my breast every sensa- 
 tion of pity. Yet it is not sufficient that you 
 are acquitted by a sister, who will always be 
 thought partial; and if you cannot conciliate ge- 
 neral approbation, at least endeavour to avoid 
 meriting general censure. Who that hears of 
 your being at Bay am, in the house of the sis- 
 ter of Don Alonzo, knowing that he had been 
 publicly accused of having taken you off, and 
 learns, that as soon as the affair was hushed up 
 in St. Jago, that he went to Bayam, that he 
 passes all his time in your society, that at 
 home and abroad he is ever at your side, who 
 can hear all this, and not believe that it was 
 preconcerted ? Ah ! Clara, Clara, I believe 
 that it was not, because I love you, and can- 
 not think you would deceive me. But why 
 stay a month, a week, a day, where you are ? 
 Why not come to me when Anselmo returns ? 
 when with me, my friendship, my alfection, 
 will soothe and console you. I will remove 
 from your lacerated breast the thorns which 
 have been planted there by the hand of misfor- 
 
ST. DOMINGO. 217 
 
 tune. You shall forget your sorrcwvs, and I 
 will aid you against your own heart, for I be- 
 lieve at present that is your most dangerous 
 eneray. 
 
 XT 
 
Q19 
 
 LETTER XXXL 
 
 To Mary — — - 
 
 Bayam» 
 
 You frighten me to death, my dear sister, 
 with your apprehensions. You paint my situa- 
 tion in terrifying colours ; yet could I forsee 
 that I should be led into it, when alone and 
 friendless I fled at midnight from a house 
 where I suffered continual torture? Did I 
 imagine that in Bayam I should become ac- 
 quainted with Don Alonzo's sister, and that I 
 should meet him in her house ? Sentence, I 
 know, has been passed against me, and that 
 sentence will be confirmed by what has hap- 
 pened subsequent to my elopement. The tes- 
 timony of my own heart will be of little avaiL 
 But will you also join against me? I cannot 
 believe it. Condemn me not, at least suspend 
 
220 
 
 HORRORS OT 
 
 all opinion till we meet, which will be in a 
 fortnight. To av®id the danger of passing 
 through St. Jago, we go by land to a place 
 tailed Portici, from whence we shall embark. 
 The journey will be delightful. We intenii 
 making it on horseback. The governor and 
 Don Alonzo will accompany us. Start not at 
 this, for it cannot be otherwise; nor could I, 
 by refusing his services, discover that I thought 
 it dangerous to accept them. 
 
 In my anxiety to see you, every mottient 
 seems an age, yet I feel something like re~ 
 gret at leaving this country. The friendli- 
 ness of the people can never be forgotten. 
 Here, as in Barracoaj they are poor but con- 
 tented. They sip their chocolate, smoke a 
 segarj and thrum the guitar undisturbed by 
 care. Often, when reviewing the events of 
 my past life, 1 wish that their calm destiny 
 had been mine ; but alas ! how different has 
 been my fate. 
 
 I write this letter to prepare you for my ar- 
 rival. When Anselmo goes next, I go with 
 him ; and, when I embrace my sister, I shall 
 be happy. 
 
ST. DOMINGO^^. 
 
 221 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 'Kingston, Jamaica, 
 
 Clara, my dear friend, is at length arrived » 
 I have held that truant girl to my heait, and 
 have forgotten whilst embracing her all the re- 
 proaches I intended to make, and which I 
 thought she deserved. I cannot help loving 
 her, though I approve not of all she does; but 
 I will blame her fate rather than herself, for 
 who can behold her and not believe that she is 
 all goodness? w^ho can witness the powers of 
 her mind and withhold their admiration ? 
 Whatever subject may engage her attention^ 
 she seizes intuitively on what is true, and by 
 a sort of mental magic, arrives instantaneous, 
 ly at the point where, even very good heads, 
 only meet her after a tedious process of rea- 
 soning and reflection. Her memor}^, surer 
 than records, perpetuates every occurrence. 
 
 u 2 
 
222 
 
 HORRORS Of 
 
 She accumulates knowledge while she laughs 
 and plays : she steals from her friends the 
 fruits of their application, and thus becoming 
 possessed of their intellectual treasure, with- 
 out the fatigue of study, she surprises them 
 with ingenious combinations of their own ma- 
 terials, and with results of which they did not 
 dream. Her heart keeps a faithful account, 
 not only of every word but of every look, of 
 every movement of her friends, prompted by 
 kindness and affection, and never is her socie- 
 ty more delightful than in those moments of 
 calm and sublime meditation, when her ge- 
 nius surveys the past, or wanders through a 
 fanciful and novel arrangement of the future ^ 
 Who that thus knows Clara, and is sensible 
 of her worth, can have known her husband, 
 mid condemn her? 
 
 It is true, Clara is said to be a coquette, 
 but have not ladies of superior talents and at^ 
 tractions, at all times and in all countries been 
 subject to that censure ? unless indeed theirs was 
 the rare fortune of becoming early in life attach- 
 ed to a man equal or superior to themselves ! 
 Attachments between such people last through 
 
3T. DOMINGO. 
 
 life, and are always new. Love continues be^ 
 cause love has existed; interests create inte- 
 rests ; parental are added to conjugal affec- 
 tions; with the multiplicity of domestic ob- 
 jects the number of domestic joys increase. 
 In such a situation the heart is always occu- 
 pied, and always full. For those who live in 
 it their home is the world ; their feelings, their 
 powers, their talents are employed. They go 
 into society as they take a ramble ; it affords 
 transient amusement, but becomes not a habit. 
 Their thoughts, their wishes dwell at home, 
 and they are good because they are happy. 
 But if on the contrary a woman is disappoint- 
 ed in the first object of her affections, or if se- 
 parated from him she loved, fate connects her 
 with an inferior being, to what can it lead ? 
 You might as well expect to confine a spright- 
 ly boy, in all the vigour of health to sedate in- 
 action, as to prevent talents and beauty, thus 
 circumstanced, from courting admiration. A 
 feehng heart seeks for corresponding emo- 
 tions; and when a woman, like Clara, can fas- 
 cinate, intoxicate, transport, and wiiiist un- 
 happy is surrounded by seductive objects, she 
 
HORRORS OF 
 
 will become entangled, and be borne away by 
 the rapidity of her own sensations, happy if 
 she can stop short on the brink of destruction^ 
 
 If Clara's husband had been in every re- 
 pect worthy of her she would have been one 
 of the best and happiest of human beings, but 
 her good qualities were lost on him; and, 
 though he might have made a very good hus= 
 band to a woman of ordinary capacit}^, to Clara 
 he became a tyrant. 
 
 Sensible of the impossibility of her leaving 
 him, he took it for granted that she bestowed 
 on another those sentiments he could not hope 
 to awaken himself. Yet Clara never deceived 
 him. There is in her character a proud frank- 
 ness which renders her averse to, and unfit for 
 intrigue. When at the Cape, she was not 
 dazzled by splendor, though it courted her ac- 
 ceptance ; nor could the ill-treatment of her 
 husband fofce her to seek a refuge from it in 
 the arms of a lover who had the means of pro- 
 tecting her. At St. Jago his conduct became 
 more insupportable, and when at length she 
 fled from his house, alone and friendless, she 
 was unseduced by love, but impelled by a re- 
 
DOMINGO, 
 
 225 
 
 pugiiance for her husband which had reached 
 its height, and could no longer be resisted. % 
 
 Delivered from the weight of this oppres- 
 sive sentiment, she now enjoys a delightful 
 tranquillity, which even the thought of many 
 approaching struggles with difficulty and dis= 
 Iress, cannot disturb. 
 
 In such a situation I am more than ever 
 necessary to my sister; and, perhaps, it is the 
 consciousness of this, that has given birth to 
 many of the sentiments expressed in this letter. 
 
 We have learned that St. Louis sailed from 
 the city of Santo Domingo to France, from 
 which I hope he may never return^ 
 
 Clara and myself will leave this for Phila= 
 delphia, in the course of the ensuing week. 
 There I hope we shall meet you ; and if I can 
 only infuse into your bosom those sentiments 
 for my sister which glow so warmly in my 
 own, she will find in you a friend and a pro= 
 tector, and we may still be happy. 
 
 THE END. 
 
5^ 
 
 9 
 
i 
 
CO