therefore, were well affected to Louis XVIII. But the garri son, newly arrived from France, were not. To a man, they were for their former master; on which account they were, no doubt, selected for that employment. No sooner was the arrivál of Bonaparte in France known, than the governor, arming the militia, on whom he knew he could depend, placed them in the forts; and assembling the troops, he informed them of what had taken place in the mother country, and declared his intention to remain faithful to Louis XVIII. He called upon the garrison to do so also, which they refused; and, to a man, shouted out for their beloved Napoleon. Count Vangirard then informed them, that so situated, they had but one course left to choose, which was to return to France in vessels which he had provided for that purpose; as he was determined, with the aid of the inhabitants, to preserve the colony to the King, till the assistance which he was certain he would receive from the British, put it in his power to do so with safety. This expected assistance soon appeared, under Sir James Leith and Admiral Durham. The refractory garrison were embarked for France; and Martinique was put in possession of the British, as a deposit for Louis XVIII. Having thus secured this important place; the British officers immediately proceeded to Guadaloupe, with the forces under their command, and there offered Linois, who was governor of that valuable island, and under him General Boyer, as the commandant of the troops, any assistance they might wish, to secure the colony to Louis XVIII. This Linois declined, stating that his force was sufficient to protect the place, which he assured the British commanders he intended to retain for Louis XVIII. The British Generals satisfied with this declaration, departed; and no sooner were they gone, than the faithless Linois and his odious coadjutor, Boyer, abandoned the cause of Louis, and espoused that of Napoleon. Their former professions of fidelity made to the British commanders were only made to deceive, and to get them out of the way, with the force which they had at that moment, under their command which was sufficient, in the unprepared state in which they were to have reduced them to obedience, and to have captured the colony. This island was in a very different state to that of Martinique. The horrors of the revolution had visited and taken up their abode in it; and 1794 saw in Guadaloupe horrors and crimes perpetrated, such as yielded in no respect, or rather that surpassed the most barbarous proceedings of the Revolutionary Tribunal in France. They too had such a judgment seat-they too had their guillotines; which, too slow in their operations to satiate their vengeance, the unhappy victims were taken out by hundreds, and being placed in trenches dug for the purpose, were murdered by discharges of artillery, loaded with grape shot; and their mangled remains immediately covered over with quicklime and earth to hide them from view, and prevent a pestilence from their putrid remains. Under the infamous Victor Hughes, it became a den of robbers, and the refuge for all that was evil in the western world. The greater number of the ioyal and peaceable inhabitants were dispoiled of their properties, which were confiscated and sold to the children of the revolution; who therefore preferred the government which succeeded it, to that of their legitimate Sovereign. In Guadaloupe he had but few friends, and those insulted and despised. Linois and Boyer having assembled the garrison, and the leading men of the colony, proclaimed their intention to declare for Bonaparte; which resolution was heard with satisfaction, and eagerly put in execution. An early day was appointed for that purpose. It was a most inauspicious one; it was the 18th of June. On this day the tri-coloured flag was hoisted on all the forts of Guadaloupe and its dependencies. On this occasion, Linois addressed them in a proclamation, which it is needless to quote, as it is similar to many we have already considered; informing them, in short, that Napoleon was the only man fit to govern the French dominions, and swearing eternal love and obedience to him, and hatred to his enemies; and congratulating the inhabitants of Guadaloupe at the certain glory which awaited their future destiny, under the gentle sway of Napoleon; and applauding them for the very ready manner in which they had then so clearly expressed their true feelings and genuine patriotism. Their triumph and their exultation was very great; but it was doomed to be very short indeed. No sooner was this act of treachery, baseness and deception made known to the British commanders, than preparations were made to attack the place. So vigorous were these measures, that with out any supplies from Britain, by the end of July a force calculated as sufficient to capture the Colony, was assembled under the directions of Sir James Leith and Admiral Durham. The first division sailed from Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, on the 31st July, and was met at the Saintes, already occupied by the British troops of the second division, assembled from the isl ands to Leeward. With this united force, the commanders proceeded to Guadaloupe, where Linois and Boyer had assembled a force of 6000 men, regulars and militia, with armed negroes; the whole considerably exceeding the number of the British forces brought against them. The fortifications also, were extensive and strong; yet, nevertheless, so judicious and decided were all the movements of the British commanders, that on the 10th of August, the British flag waved in triumph over all the fortifications of Guadaloupe. All the garrison and militia who were found in arms were to be sent to France, as prisoners of war, under the directions of Lord Wellington; and all publie property of every description, was given up to the British govNo other terms would be granted to the garrison; and little time was allowed for them to accept or reject these! The British loss in this important operation was 16 killed, 51 wounded, and 4 missing. The capture of this island saved it from another scene of revolutionary fury. That abominable spirit was not laid to sleep; nor could it be expected under such a wretch as Boyer, one of the most ferocious of all its tools, as St. Domingo can bear witness. During the short period that Linois and this man reigned, terror and proscription became the order of the day. It is a fact, that many of the royalists were already condemned to death, before the arrival of the British armament; and, incredible as it may seem, were reserved in dungeons, to celebrate the birth day of Napoleon with greater eclat, by their murder. Such a set of monsters were never produced since Nero made a sport of human misery. They are enemies of human nature, against whom all its outraged principles call out for stern retribution. It was remarkable how this atrocious, cool, and deliberate deed of wickedness was passed over, almost without notice, by those men who were for ever conjuring up atrocities in the adherents of ernment. Louis XVIII. We were even called upon to disbelieve the fact, which was indisputable. The pen of a British General was never used in communicating falsehood; nor his, who drew a sword under Wellington, in publishing exaggeration. Let us hear his words in this instance: "Under the flag of the most unprovoked rebellion," said Sir James Leith, "the slaves had been called to arms, and many were wrought up to a pitch of sanguinary phrenzy, threatening the immediate destruction of the Colony. Every sanguinary measure had been devised, and the worst scenes of the revolution were to be re-commenced; and the 15th of August, the birth day of Bonaparte, was to have been solemnized by the execution of the Royalists, already condemned to death."* These proceedings were in the pure and unadultered style of the Goddess of Reason, and sufficiently established the source from whence they sprang. When, in the month of April preceding, Bonaparte, or rather the party which governed him, made him abolish the slave trade, few were aware of their real views in this measure. It was not because this trade was inhuman, or unjust: it was not because by abolishing it, that they and he might gain popular applause for the moment: No, they had a deeper object in view. If we lose our Colonies, we shall at least make them useless to our enemies, was their calculation; and if we are to have no Colonial establishments, neither shall they. With these feelings, their intentions, no doubt, were to emancipate again, as they had done before, all the slaves in their own islands; from whenee they would have scattered the firebrands of rebellion, insurrection, destruction and death, over all the British Colonies, which they had once before attempted, and with too much success. Such, unquestionably were their real views; and the conduct of their commanders at Guadaloupe in this instance, in arming the slaves, and working them "up to a pitch of sanguinary phrenzy," was only the beginning of that system, which was to have been scattered over the Caribbean Archipelago; and which would have left every island in it, one general scene of mourning, misery, and ruin. Such are the ultimate views and general pursuits of what are called French humanity, always dictated by a Machiavelian policy, which it would require the Sir James Leith's dispatch,. August 12th. wings of a demon to follow in its progress, and the pen of a Machiavel to trace. After considerable delay and apparent inaction, the King began to take more serious and decisive measures with regard to the numerous traitors, whose treason had driven him from his throne. A decree was issued, degrading some from the rank of Peers of France, for having sat in the Assembly of that name under Bonaparte's usurpation. Some were ordered to be arrested, and carried before a council of war for punishment; and a still greater number were by this measure directed to place themselves under the surveillance of the police, and to take up their abodes in whatever part of France it might direct or command them. Amongst the former were Counts Clement de Rio, Colchen, Cornudet, d'Abbeville, de Croix, Dedelay d'Agier, Dejean, Fabre de l' Aude, Gassendi, Lacepede, Latour Maubourg, de Barral (Archbishop of Tours,) Boissy de Anglas, de Conclaux, Cassabianca, de Montesquiou, Pontecoulant, Rampon, de Segur, Valnee, and Belliard; Marshalls the Dukes of Dantzic, Elchingen, Albufera, Cornegliano, Treviso; and the Dukes of Praslen, Plaisance, and de Cadore. From this number was to be excepted all those who within one month, should prove they had not sat, nor been willing to sit in the soi-disant House of Peers. Amongst the number directed to be arrested, and earried before a council of war for trial and punishment were, Ney, Labodeyere, the two Lalle mand's, Drouet d'Erlon, Lefebre Desnouettes, Amulb, Brayer, Gilly, Mouton Duvernet, Grouchy, Clauzel, Laborde, Debele, Bertrand, Drouet, Cambrone, Lavalette, and Rovigo. Amongst those who were commanded to quit Paris in three days, and to retire into the interior, to such places as were pointed out to them by the police were, Soult, Alex, Excelmans, Bassano, Marbot, Felix Lepelletier, Boulay de la Meurthe, Mehee Fressinet, Thibadeau, Carnot, Vandamme, Lamarque, Lobau, Harel, Peré, Barrere, Arnard, Pommereuil, Regnault de St. Jean de Angley, Arrighi (Padua) Dejean (the son) Garnau, Real, Bouvier, Dumolard, Merlin of Douay, Durbach, Dirat, Defremont, Bory St. Vincent, Felix Despor tes, Garnier de Saintes, Mellinet, Hullin, Cluys, Courten, Forbin Janson (the eldest son) and Lorgue Dideville. These men |