SAINT-DOMINGUE. 21 L.A.S. from Louis GUÉRAULT... - Lot 249 - Rossini

Lot 249
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SAINT-DOMINGUE. 21 L.A.S. from Louis GUÉRAULT... - Lot 249 - Rossini
SAINT-DOMINGUE. 21 L.A.S. from Louis GUÉRAULT to his sister, Mrs. widow Bazin then Mrs. Sauger, in Bourgesthen in Tours, 1792-1805; 90 pages in-4, some addresses (edges faded and tears to some letters). Interesting correspondence on the troubles in Saint-Domingue and the changing attitude of a French colonist and journalist. The letters are written from St. Mark's, Philadelphia, the French Cape, Santiago de Cuba. It is about the colonial assembly, the arrival of troops, and the decree of general liberty: "We recognize, said Mr. de Polverel [civil commissioner of the Republic in Santo Domingo], in Santo Domingo, only two species of men, the free and the slave, and we would rather die than suffer the latter to remain for a long time in the criminal state of insurrection in which the enemies of the revolution have pushed it. We are saved at last, dear friend, and there is reason to believe that we will no longer be so foolish as to serve the projects of the counter-revolutionaries, for [...] it is not philantropy that has caused our misfortunes. To question the revolted negroes, they only speak of the king who, they say, is not free" (October 4, 1792)... Comparison between their day of October 19 and August 10: "Ah! Violence and hope to see order restored, especially after the departure of Blanchelande, the governor... Request to have his parents intervene with deputies, so that he could obtain an administrative post... After a stay in Philadelphia, he returned to the Cape in 1798 to inquire about his sister's affairs and his interests with regard to his in-laws, Bazin-Delongval. He thought of returning to France by investing in coffee farms. "You know how much I loved this country and you must judge by my determination what it is today" (25 brumaire VII, November 15, 1799)... Because the country is lost, the evil without remedy: "It lost 20 thousand men since eight months and we are in a much more alarming state since two months especially. The insurrection, which was only partial, has begun to become general. Everything is burned, ravaged, devastated: the blacks no longer fight for freedom, they fight as desperate men and everything falls prey to this blind fury. We cannot go out three leagues to the plain without running the risk of being kidnapped, and we will soon be shut up in the cities"... The sentries at the gates of Port-au-Prince have been killed, the South has just risen up, and "this whole country will soon be nothing but ashes" (5 Vendémiaire X, 27 September 1801)... Discouragement of the troops, slaughter of his sister's brother-in-law, annihilation of the army by disease, waiting for fresh troops to take back the country from the black and yellow brigands... It would take considerable means to tear off his sister's properties "from the fury of these African monsters": it will be necessary to make the sacrifice, because "without slavery there is no colony", it is "a war to death, a war of destruction that it remains to make" (11 brumaire XI, November 2, 1802)... again expatriated in Cuba, he repents, and yet he would probably have died in Saint-Domingue: "All the unfortunate whites whom blind trust, misery, or ambition had determined to remain there, were all massacred, with the exception of the women who sold themselves from 10 to 100 gourdes according to their age, to serve as slaves, or to be employed to satisfy the brutality of a congo or an arada. Here is the fruit of the brigandage of the generals who had been sent to us - there is no doubt that having delivered St. Domingue before as many means as they had, they were not part of the conspiracy that wanted to overthrow the present government of France, only a few months ago" (June 10, 1804)... And yet, he will always refuse the mediocrity of life in France...
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