estates in the island. He was the
man who planned the renovation of its agriculture after the abolition of
slavery, and one of the great instruments in bringing it to the
perfection mentioned by Lacroix. In the year 1801, he was called upon by
Toussaint to repair to Paris, to lay before the Directory the new
constitution, which had been agreed upon in St. Domingo. He obeyed the
summons. It happened, that he arrived in France just at the moment of
the peace of Amiens; here he found, to his inexpressible surprise and
grief, that Buonaparte was preparing an immense armament, to be
commanded by Leclerc, for the purpose of _restoring slavery in St.
Domingo_. He lost no time in seeing the First Consul, and he had the
courage to say at this interview what, perhaps, no other man in France
would have dared to say at this particular moment. He remonstrated
against the expedition; he told him to his face, that though the army
destined for this purpose was composed of the brilliant conquerors of
Europe, it could do nothing in the Antilles. It would most assuredly be
destroyed by the climate of St. Domingo, even though it should be
doubtful, whether it would not be destroyed by the Blacks. He stated, as
another argument against the expedition, that it was totally
unnecessary, and therefore criminal; for that every thing _was going on
well_ in St. Domingo. _The proprietors were in peaceable possession of
their estates; cultivation was making a rapid progress; the Blacks were
industrious, and beyond example happy_. He conjured him, therefore, in
the name of humanity, not to reverse this beautiful state of things. But
alas! his efforts were ineffectual. The die had been cast: and the only
reward, which he received from Buonaparte for his manly and faithful
representations, was banishment to the Isle of Elba.

Having carried my examination into the conduct of the Negroes after
their liberation to 1802, or to the invasion of the island by Leclerc, I
must now leave a blank for nearly two years, or till the year 1804. It
cannot be expected during a war, in which every man was called to arms
to defend his own personal liberty, and that of every individual of his
family, that we should see plantations cultivated as quietly as before,
or even cultivated at all. But this was not the fault of _the
emancipated Negroes_, but of _their former masters_. It was owing to the
prejudices of the latter, that this frightful invasion took place;
prejudic