ST.
DOMINGO.
C H A P .
81
VII.
Of the Motives which induced the People of Colour to join the r e volted Negroes—Conduct of the Britifh Association for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and of the Society in Paris called Les Amis des Noirs—Letter from Abbé Gregoire to the People of Colour—Repeal of the Decree of the 15th May 1791—Ef fects cf that Meafure—Civil War with the Mulattoes re newed—Port au Prince destroyed by Fire—Cruelties exercised by both Parties—Arrival at Cape Francois of the Civil Commiffioners.
BEFORE
I proceed
to a renewal of thofe difgufting fcenes of devaftation, flaughter, and ruin, which my duty, as a faithful hiftorian, calls upon me to defcribe (happy if they ferve as an impreffive leffon to other nations !) it feems neceffary to remove fome difficulties which may poffibly have arifen in the mind of the reader, concerning the original and primary caufe of the junction and co-operation of fo large a number of the negro flaves, in this rebellion, with the men of colour. That the whole body of the latter in St. Domingo had folid ground of complaint and diffatisfaction, cannot be denied. There is a point at which oppreffion fometimes arrives, when forbearance under it ceafes to be a virtue ; and I fhould readily have ad mitted that the actual fituation and condition of the mulattoes in the French iflands would have made refiftance a duty, if it M did
CHAP. VII.