The Sun.
London, England, 1805-01-01 00:00:00

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE SUPERCARGO

OF AN AMERICAN VESSEL AT CAPE FRANCOIS,
TO HIS OWNERS IN NEW.YoRK, DATED
Cape Francois, oet. 19, 1803.
Yesterday I returned to this place from Port-au.,
Prince, after having witnessed a spetlacle, to me,
both 'new and extr.tordinary—l mean the Creation
of an. Emperor, and that too of as ugly, as ill-shaped,
and as disgusting a little Black fellow as I ever be.
held on any of the Plantations .of Virginia or South
Carolina. .

•
For three days previously to the ceremony the
Blacks from all parts of the country flocked to Port.
au.Prince, and th.! avenues and roads to the
town, even at midnight, were crowded with males
and females, of all ages and sexes—most of them
unencumbered with cluthinf, and, agreeable to the
fashion of the olimate, destitute of covering even to
afig leaf, their clothes and provisions being packed
tip on asses.
On the morning of the Coronation (the Bth) the
Troops were under arms at three o'clock, and in a
few minutes after a most tremendous roar of cannon
and mubcpterry commenced, which lasted for above
an hour widiout the smallest intermission.

- - -
This was the signal for joy and confusion. The
Blacks, from all quarters, at the first discharge,start.
ed frOm their huts and tents, and flew like mad-
men tothe Champ de Mars. T4ere the Troops, to
the number of about 7000, were drawn up in a hol.
low square ; and on a stage creed for the purpose,
after'Many ineffedual attempts to procure silence,
etiRTSTOPHE at length commenced the
,reading of
the At, nominating DessALl N Es Emperor for life;
hut the confused noise of the sable multitude corn.
pletely drowned every syllable he said.
When he had finished, the people, men, women,
and children, together with the Troops, set up such
a:yell, as (mingled with the clashing of the Soldiers
armi, and the n"ise of cannon) you would have
thought could have proceeded only from the Infernal
Regions. Never did I behold such a, scene. The
multitude then, in the form of a Procession, moved
to a large temporary hall, ereded to the right of
the Parade ; 'here fate interposed her curtain,
and shut me out from rime remainder of the Imperial
Rites.

In plain language, myself, and a party of my
Countrymen, among whom was our mutual friend
- , had posted ourselves on that aide of the
Parade which we vainly thought would secure us an
easy access to the Hall of Coronation; but we were
mistaken. NO sooner was the signal given for t4e
Procession to move to the Hall, than the frantic
multitude rushed in a body towards the doora, sur.
mounting all impediments, and sweeping every thing
before them ; indeed, I• am not certain whether it
was nut fortunate that we were excluded from the
Hall, as, horn the temper of these '' Sovereign
People," it might have been dangerous for a white
face to have shewn itself among them.
The ceremony concluded about one o'clock,
P. M. and I have received the following account
from an Officer of the ist Cape Division, who
dined with me yesterday, and whose station during
the Ceremony was within a few steps of the Coro-
nation Altar.

After the Civil and Military Officers had taken
Otit'SeatS,DE•SAL I NES, the Emperor eleel. with M.
PETION on his left, and the Abbe DEst►oNmAtN on
his right, entered the Hall from an Anti-Chamber.
Their entrance was greeted by an Anthem from a
large splendid organ and a choir of singers. The
Flail was fitted up in amphitheatrical order, and in
the centre washa large stage,accessable by two flights
of steps, by one of which the Emperor ascended,
and by the other the Abbe DRSFONTAIN aiid M.
PITION. The whole ceremony consisted of an oath,
and that was administered by the Abbe, amidst the
most profound silence. The mob who, just before,
were noisy even to madness, appeared to he struck
dumb at the sight of the altar, and whilst the oath

administering the " I.ollhig r.}r a tear night have
been heard.

ThC substance of the oath was, that the Emperor
.would preserve the Independence of the Island—.
that he would be always ready to sacrifice his life
for the Liberties of the People, and 'that he' would
deliver up the,trust reposed in him to that Military
or Civil Officer who shall render himself most wor-
thy of it by his services, and by tns_atta.chment to
the. Country.
When this Wl3 concluded; the Emperor descended
from the stage, and received the. congratulations Of
the Officers; and happy .were they who %Vete permit.
ted to approach his person.
This done the procession withdrew from the Hall,
and the Troops having formed again, :the Emperor
immediately placed himself on font at the head of the
Grenadiers of the ad ,Division of the
,Cape. He
wore on the occasion nothing besides his ordinary
dreqs,.• except a large cap or head-dress, encircled
with diamonds.. The moment he- drew his sword
to place himself at• the head cf the Troops, the noise
of cannon and mtorquetry was again heard, and the
cries of " DessaliNes!" " Five Jaques
rent the air. The whole then moved to the Church
in the upper part of the town, where, in the presence
Of the Emperor, and of the Public Bodies, the
Troops remaining under arms without, Te Drum
was performed., and prayers offered up for the safety
of the Empire.; The Procession then returned to
the Champs de Mars, and the Troops being dismiss.
ed, the Emperor and his Officers immediately re-
paired to the house of the General Commandant of
Port-au-Prince. During the Procession the 'Ern-
peror was not attended by any guard for his person,
and he refused to mount his horse until the Troops
had been dismissed. •
Of the night which followed I can give but an
imperfed picture. One thing I remarked, that
amidst the CXCeS3 of joy and unrestratretl pleasure
which prevailed every wliere, instances of inroxica.
lion were .very rare. I perambulated the streets
during the principal part of the nigh', under tire
proteCtion of an Officer of the garrisbn of Port-au:-
Prince, and amidst the • crowd a drunken Black was
scarcely seen. The same could not he said of the
Men of Colour, many of whom lay in the gutter's
dead drunk until the next morning. But very few
of the military seemed to mix with the crowd dur.
ing the night.
Their joy, or their enthusiasm, certainly stood in
need of no factitious assistance. Although sober,
they were merry even to intoxication, and their
exultation was that of the most extravagant mad. ,
ness. They danced, sang, arid leaped through the
streets, males and frmales mixed, ball, and some
mote than half, naked, like beings broke from Bed-
lam. Most of them, although neatly in a state., of
nakedness, had their head full dressed ; indeed, this
seemed to be the only part the natural Colour or
formation of which they seemed studious to con-
ccal. Figure to yourself, then, a brilliant illumine.
tion—an immense multitude flying to and fro, with
the greasy mixture from their heads streaming doss n
each black visage—and you will have no imperfeCt
idea of the night succeeding the late Coronation' at
Port-au-Prince.

The Magistrates and Officers of the Garrison
gave a grand dinner to the Emperor and his Officers,
after the Ceremony, at the h-use of the Coin.
mindant. Next morning, at day-break, the Em.
peror, and his suite, set off for the Cape.
There were no Females, at least none of those
related to the Imperial Family, present on the oc.
casion. The Emperor himself is a Bachelor, and
his mother is the wife of a Municipal Officer at the
Cape. He is about five feet six inches high, and
setting aside a row of white teeth, peeping. through
a jet black countenance, he has -nothing to distin.
guish him from his brethren of the African race in
general. Many of his Officers are of uNe faille very
different. CHRISTOPfIa and GARR AltD are both
stout swaggering fellows, and their military dress
and long sabres give them a very formidable appear-
ance. As to their mental faculties, I believe there
is none of them ovethtirtliened . with sense; but
they have some painied Europeans among them,
who, whilst they direCt their Counsels, are content
to remain in the hack ground as lung as they are
well paid for managing the proceedings before-the
curtain.

The Emperor is now employed in preparations
to march against the remainder of the Wit TE
TROOPS in the quarter of St. Domingo, and if
have not formed a mistaken opinion of the zeal and
resolution of his Troops, I think I may prediit
that there will not he a wittrz left in that quarter
of the Island in less than two months. These
Blacks are well disciplined, although less so, per.
haps, than European Troops in general; but they.
have that, which, with being naturalized to the
climate, renders them superior to any equal ntimber
of White Troops that can ever be brought against
them.

In general they treat our Countrymen.and the
British with civility and respect, but the-wink: of a
Frenchman is never mentioned-without pointed exe.
cration. Their hatred is carried so far, that it is
in contemplation to change the langu3ge of the
Island fOr that of the English ; or, as the B►ack4
call it, American Language, and for this purpose
I understand that seminaries are shortly to he csta.
Wished by ,Government in d:•fferent parts •of she
Island. At all events, my opinion is, that slavery
can never be reestablished in Sr. Domingo, but by
the total extirpation of its present :race of inhabi.
tants.

P. S. Port.au.Prince was, in the reign of Rep*,
limism here, nicknamed Port Republicain, by the
French ; but the Blacks have restored its former
name, and pulled down one or two of the town.
houses, upon which the arms of Liberty were cu-
graved by their former oppressors.

By accounts which have been receive►l from. one
of our cruiiing Frigates which looked into the
Texel on the 231 of De:Tr:her, it appears, that two
line.of.battle Ships, which had been lying for some
time at anchor in-that place, had been compelled, by
stress of weather, to go. into the ?Nett Diep,
where they, with the whole of the Dosch Fleet,
were entirely frozen in,

Died, on Wednesday, the 19th December last,
in the Island of Goernsey, Rtowt EY, Es'ti.
fornictly rjt Town,llll4ling, in Kurt.

c4T.RovrO.L:OO-.67.4.'t 'sk,Ettfi

OF THS

MOST REMARKAI3LE EVENTS or rut YEAR

TANUARY

who had been driven off' Brest*
'a tremenJous gale of Wind on the 24th and 25th of Dec. 1.863;
s.ukn main this day from lorbay, and resumed his station
beiiire the Eoeiny's Port. . .
3. The •Inliabitants of Harnriiersinitii havnig been alai-Med
by the nightly pfrana.bdiaitori* of ay;:rsori dres,..ed
and caller; -The Ghost, Frincit, Smith, en E%.cise, went this night in quest or the disturrtir of the village.; bUt
meeting wirii TnilnaS Milwood, a lai:oure,r, dressed in a
smock frockkhe Unfortunately imagined that ha,mis the pre.
ten;led.speare, and shot him dead on the spot,. . .
• 7. .;`,. great 1 lee in ;,IS extensive Cotton AlanufadoiY atpur-
ham, by prop:rty va1.:1...d at up .ands or
destroyed, -•

.
1 1 • •Frpeis Smith was trkri at the Old Bailey for shootitt
Thotnas. ALI Al f01....4. 'guilty of
• ts. Mrs. llolton. row, was carried oft
troth her house by the Rev. Mr. (..;orcion and Mr.
Lauden•Gorti brothers. in a past-chaise': and coin!4elled.'
As she stated, ro sleep with the latter at all kit, in Tets-
wort h, ()xtbrdshire.

18. The Settlenient of*Cortte, oil the ;oast of Afr;ca, taken
by a French Expedition from Cayenne.
21. IntelligCnC4 MIS received of the 'evacuation of th 4.
French part of St. Domingo by Clencral aocthembeau and
the troops tinder his comutami. This eve :t took place. opt
the 28t11 of November, in ConSet:All:110:0i a Capitulation bc:-
tween Itochambeau and-the Blacfit, General Deasaidnes
the same time Admiral Duckworth captured the French
Shipping, consisting of three Frigates, serif smaller Ships
or war, and a nuriber at Merciimitaien. It was a treivr4rn4
learned that this event. W.ll fbirOWttii by the most iliocking
cruelties, all the White Inhabitants oi.Cai.a t ran.uis, and
()vita- places, of which tit: Blzo.ks obtained bang
massacred. •