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farmer say, Doctor, don't be afeard about your pay, I'll see you satisfied: money, you know's, out of the question, but I've plenty of good buck-wheat."""

In the course of the journey to New York, the following incident occurs, as the reader will guess, after Mr Howison has passed the frontier of the United States:

"About six in the morning we drove up to a small house, which appeared to be a sort of tavern. The landlord was at the door ready to receive us, and the following conversation took place:

"Landlord. Good morning, gentlemen. "Driver. Good morning, mister. "L. Very warm, but pretty consider able of air stirring.

"D. I guess so. Can we get any thing

to drink?

"L. Well, I suppose you can. What liquor would you propose to have?

D. Brandy, I guess.

"L. We've got nothing in the house but whisky, sir.

"D. Let us have some then-by God, I'll treat; but where's Bill?

"L. Cleared out, I guess. "D. What an almighty shame! and where's his family?

"L. Cleared out too, mister.

"D. "Tarnation! well, I vow one feels pretty damned cheap, when a fellow clears out without paying scores.

"L. By the life he does-but here's success to Bill, (drinking,) though he owes me for a pair of shoes.

"D. Bill owes me eight dollars, and fifty-seven cents and a half.

"L. Cash?

"D. Ho, good morning to you! no, no, I'll be satisfied with three hundred rails and some leather-(a pause.) Bill knows what he's about; did he clear out slick? "L. Yes, mister, right off; but I guess he's still in the bush; and I swear I could

find him if I had a mind.

"D. Bill will steer southward.

"L. I guess he will-howsomever, here's success to Bill, and damn the shoes." The following is the last we shall quote:

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"About six in the evening we arrived at the village of Auburn, and I abandoned the stage there, intending to go to Utica by way of the Grand Canal. Having seen my portmanteau disposed of, I entered the tavern, and desired that water might be sent into a room. • Water!' exclaimed the

6

landlord, why, here's water and towels enough in the bar--I guess all the gentle. men washes there.' I surveyed the bar from curiosity, and found things in such a state, that I would rather have worn the coat of dust I had received while in the stage, than attempted ablution in it. However, after some parley and hesitation, my apparently

unheard of request was granted, and soon afterwards they rung a bell to announce that tea was ready. I immediately obeyed the summons; and, on entering the public room, found eighteen or twenty people already seated at a table, which was abun dantly furnished with beef-steaks, ham, fowls, preserved fruit, cake, cheese, &c. The hostess, who was rather pretty, stood at one end of the table, and poured out tea, gracefully enough, to those who called for it, and occasionally joined in the conversation, with the same ease as if she had been one of the guests. Most of the people were respectable enough in appearance, but very plain in their manners. A good deal of detached unconnected conversation passed among them; but some of it was in such extraordinary language, that I found no difficulty in remembering the expressions verbatim, until tea was over, when I wrote them down, and shall now give the reader the following specimens:

"Take some beef, 'squire.-No, I guess not, I don't feel much like eating tonight.-'Squire, is your cip out ?--It will be so right off, ma'am. My tea is too strong. I conclude you're nervous, sir.I vow, ma'am, I can't sleep when I take much tea. Indeed I like tea, it makes me feel good. I agree with you, I never feel so spry as when I've got a good raft of tea aboard of me. I calculate upon there being some electricity in tea, it makes one feel so smart.-An't you from Canada lately, mister? how are politics there ?-Nothing stirring in that way, sir. I conclude to go there very soon, and hope to see you; and if I can rip out your quarters, I'll give you a damned blow up. Well now, I shall feel pretty considerably tickled to see you.

-You didn't stay long at Canandaguia? -No, I dined at full jump, and went right off in the stage, which carried me slick to this place. I fear that little shaver (child) is troubling on you, sir.-Not at all, ma'am, pretty considerable of a boy, I guess.Yes, sir, only three years old, and knows last week.-Hemust be awfully smart!!!'" his letters. He was in the abbs and ebbs

if he

We are pleased with the smartness and liveliness of these sketches; but we cannot allow ourselves to quote them without expressing our honest belief, that Mr Howison is quite wrong thinks such vulgarity, as they record, at all peculiar to transatlantic manners. The probability is, that this young author went abroad without having ever enjoyed any great opportunities of travelling through his own country, or, at least, without ever having had occasion to mingle very closely with the lower orders of his own countrymen. If Mr Howison had visited Manchester, Paisley, Glasgow, and such towns,

ere he sailed for Canada, he would, it is likely, have regarded the exhibitions of Yankee petulance with a somewhat more tolerant eye.

At the same time, nothing can be more just and true, than the general conclusions which Mr Howison draws from his own observation of the state of manners on the New Continent, both in Canada and in the United States. Himself apparently by no means tinged with any deep aristocratical notions, he is constrained to acknowledge that the equality (as it is called) of American society, is the greatest curse of that society; that the manners of the vulgar are brutalized to a horrible degree by that almost total absence of superior models, which is observable in Canada more particularly; and, finally, that external manners, although not certainly in themselves the first objects of philosophical attention, are fit objects of very serious consideration, in as much as, be they good or ill, they cannot fail to

re-act for evil or for good on the character (properly so called) of those who wear them. In these views, we have no doubt our intelligent readers in America will perfectly coincide with Mr Howison; and, altogether, as we have already hinted, we think his book will be a favourite one in America as well as in England.

Mr John Howison, the author of these Sketches of Upper Canada, is, we understand, the brother of that Mr William Howison, who has already excited so many bright expectations by his beautiful Fragments and Fictions, published under the name of M. de Peudemots; and by his Essay on the Sentiments of Adaptation, &c. We doubt whether there be another family in the empire that can boast the possession of two such rising lights of letters, and hope both brothers will exert themselves to keep up the hopes that have been formed, or, as we may more properly express it, to redeem the pledges that have been given.

CHRISTOPHE, LATE EMPEROR OF HAYTI.

To Christopher North, Esq.

SIR, AS Supplementary to an Article which appeared in your fifty-first number, relative to the late Emperor of Hayti, the subjoined Letter will perhaps gratify some of your readers. They will be glad to recognize, in an independent document, statements verifying the inferences, which I then considered as fairly deducible from the Imperial Rescript, addressed to Mr W., and which it would not be difficult abundantly to sustain by other collateral proofs. As it is, I feel a melancholy pleasure in thus offering to the once powerful Christophe, on the good old principle, my sacrifice after sunset!

It may, probably, create a farther interest in the fame of the Departed, if I add, that his daughters, (now, with their mother, in England,) are represented by their hospitable friends, as well-bred and simple-minded young women, characterized chiefly by their timidity, and a tinge of seriousness, which the recent events of their life have been but too well adapted to create. One does not, surely, readily derive such dispositions and habits from a bloody and luxurious parent,

Nec imbellem feroces
Progenerant.-

But, if they pluck the "precious jewel" from adversity, they will have no cause to regret their fallen fortunes. The widow is said to be a good-humoured and pleasing woman; but less refined, as might be expected, and less accomplished than her daughters.

Out of the wrecks of their shattered greatness, it is trusted that enough has been collected to render them independent. If Christophe had been as rapacious for private purposes, as his calumniators contend, would he not have invested, out of his millions, large sums in foreign funds, for his family's use; in the contemplation of that αστάθμητον το μελλούλος, which his own observation must so forcibly have impressed on his mind?

After the testimony, indeed, borne by Lord Byron to the courtesy of Ali Pacha, it may now, perhaps, be questioned, whether the civilities (hearty and unpretending as they appear to have been,) recorded in the annexed epistle,

contain evidences of a friendly disposition or a kind heart. But, at the risk of being classed among the dupes of a mock patriotism, or a spurious humanity, I am willing to regard the efforts of Christophe to purify the morality of his recently liberated and ill educated countrymen-particularly with respect to adultery and duelling, as establishing his magnanimity in its best acceptation. The concupiscible and irascible passions, which prompt the Venerem et prælia, were not likely to be easily controlled in bosoms drawing intensity of feeling of every kind, from the region which has supplied our stage with its Oroonokos, its Zangas, and its Othellos; warped as they must farther have been, by a sense of many wrongs, and stimulated, for the first time, by the intoxicating cup of sudden emancipation.

Neither does his unceasing zeal to introduce a better education throughout his new dominions, or the enthusiasm with which the toast, proposing his health, was received at the governor's table, naturally announce the savage or the tyrant.

I might also appeal to his excellent character, as a husband and a father; for, though instances of conjugal and parental affection are not wanting among barbarians and despots, they seldom show themselves in so rational and so consistent a manner as in the case of the Emperor of Hayti.

But I leave these, and other deductions, to the good sense of the public.Yours, &c.

Yorkshire, Dec. 1, 1821.

IPHIGENIA, PORT ROYAL,
JUNE 6, 1819.
(On board of which the writer was a
Lieutenant.)

MY DEAR *****
ACCORDING to promise, I sit down
to give you as full an account of our
reception at Cape Henry, as my recol-
lection will furnish me with, as I am
promised a conveyance for it by a pri-
vate hand.

The Admiral landed at six in the morning of May 16; his party consisting of Captains Parker and Cox, Lieutenant King of the Beaver, Mr Gahan, Dr Macnamara, surgeon of the Port Royal Hospital, and myself. Sir Home Popham was received at the landing-place by a guard of honour, where carriages were waiting to convey the party to the house allotted for our reception, which we found to be a very good one-uncommonly clean, well furnished, and provided with a library and plenty of servants; the lower part, with the exception of the kitchen and other offices, being fitted up as a temporary guard-house, which was occupied during our stay by a guard commanded by a Captain, who always turned out on the Admiral's going from or returning home. Two centinels were constantly posted at the door, and one at the head of the staircase. Baron Dupuy here received the Admiral, and did the honours during the first day, giving us all a most hearty welcome. The Baron is a Mustiferio, (the fourth remove from black,) and though

F. W.

not immediately about the King, is said to have greater influence than any other man. The Admiral then waited on the Duke of Marmalade, governor of Cape Henry; after which we sat down to breakfast, and found a most sumptuous entertainment provided. The only difference between our breakfasts and dinners, was the addition of tea at the former, and more wine drank at the latter; in other respects they were quite the same; soup, fish, and all the other component parts of a splendid dinner being provided at both, together with wine of every description; in short, the greatest gourmand would have smiled at the succession of courses and the good things that constituted them. Sixteen places were provided for whatever guests Sir H. Popham thought proper to invite. Carriages and horses were constantly kept in readiness; but in consequence of the extreme heat of the weather, (the sun at this time being exactly vertical,) we seldom rode out, except early in the morning, and after dinner, when the cavalry by no means held sinecure places; his Haytian Majesty's champaigne promoting wonderful emulation among the horsemen.

In these excursions, we visited the places most worthy of notice in the neighbourhood of the town, particularly the scenes of several desperate battles fought between the natives and the French, during their struggle for emancipation from slavery. In some of these battles, the enthusiasm and

devotion of the undisciplined negroes in the cause of liberty, overcame the best troops France could send against them; although they frequently were armed with no other weapons than a long stick with a spike-nail at the end. The Haytians feel an honest pride in pointing out these places, rendered sacred by their heroic achievements.

Cape Henry, when in possession of France, (then called Cape François,) was considered one of the richest, and certainly was the most splendid city in the West Indies—with a population of sixty thousand. It was so celebrated for its magnificence, luxury, and dissipation, that it bore the name of the "Western Paris." But with all this, scarcely any town ever fell so completely a victim to revolutionary fury. Not a single house or church escaped conflagration. Their ruins still denote their former splendour. The remains of the cathedral are among the most striking objects. These occupy one side of a large square, at the head of which the king's palace now stands. This square was the theatre for numberless inhuman spectacles, during the struggle between liberty and oppression. The French at that time made a practice, when they captured a black officer, of nailing his epaulettes to his shoulders; and, after allowing these unfortunate men a sufficient time to suffer under their tortures, they generally put a period to their lives by nailing their caps to their heads, by way of derision. The private men were tortured to death in various ways; the most common of which was, to boil them alive over a slow fire, or to consume them gradually, by commencing at their feet, and burning upward. In addition to these, whole ship-loads were taken outside the harbour, and there scuttled; and where they were not despatched by wholesale, four or five were sewed up in a bag together, and so thrown overboard. After suffering these horrible cruelties, can their present antipathy to their former tyrants be wondered at? Although at the conclusion of this inhuman war, the Haytians had an opportunity of visiting their oppressors with the same cruelties they had themselves suffered, they shewed much more moderation, and in the end suffered the remnant of the French to embark on board a British squadron. To the present time a native of Hayti never mentions a

Frenchman without expressing a generous indignation. It is said to be Christophe's intention to restore the town to its former state, when the independence of his country is acknowledged by France, and guaranteed by England; for without Great Britain being a third party, such is their opinion of French perfidy, they will not even enter into a negociation with them. In the meantime, as he is in constant expectation of an attempt on the part of France to recover her colonies in St Domingo, he does not much encourage building in the sea-port towns; as it is his policy, in the event of an attack, to render them useless to the enemy, and retire to the inland fortresses or mountains, where their active harassing system of warfare, aided by their climate, (so fatal to Europeans,) will soon destroy any force France can send against them.

Individuals, however, have repaired and fitted up their houses in a very handsome manner, and all that are inhabited are of a very comfortable description.

In my humble opinion, an attempt to subjugate Hayti, would be perfect madness. The people have tasted the blessings of liberty and independence; and the obnoxious recollection of their former state is too fresh in every man's memory, to admit of their again submitting their necks to so galling a yoke. Their mountains and forests afford a natural defence, from which no human power can dislodge a people so devoted to their country. Besides this, the talents of the King as a general, as well as of many of his officers, are by no means despicable. This he has manifested during the revolutionary war, and in his wars with the republican part of the island. His army (which is uncommonly well armed, clothed, and disciplined) at present consists of three nominal, but only two complete regiments of cavalry, three nominal, and two complete regiments of artillery, one regiment of engineers, and nineteen complete regiments of infantry, each of two battalions; the whole amounting to 35,000. Their high state of discipline is admirable; in fact, the minutia of military duty are entered into with the same precision as in the British army. The arms are all of English manufacture, with the Tower mark upon them, purchased from the Austrians, Prussians, and

Spaniards, who were so liberally supplied during the late war by Great Britain. The centinels are obliged to stand like statues from the time they are posted, until relieved, without being permitted to move one way or other. Those at the palace have little pedestals to stand upon. Nothing, even of a very.minor consequence, can occur without the King's knowledge. His memory is so good, that he is acquainted with every man in the army, as well by name and person, as by character.

The laws of Hayti are very severe; but, when it is considered that the King, on his accession to the throne, found his country in the utmost confusion, insubordination, and demoralization, the necessary severity of the "Code Henry" will appear obvious. This great and wonderful man, in the space of ten years, has corrected all the numberless abuses which he found existing; and his endeavours to establish morality have been eminently successful. The penalty for adultery, is death to both parties; but I understand there is not an instance of its having been rigidly put in force. On a recent occasion, however, the Countess of Rosiene (a white woman) was obliged to ride through the streets of Sans Souci in a state of perfect nudity, at noon-day, on the back of a donkey, with her face toward the tail, for a breach of chastity, her paramour suffering a still more severe punishment. A great proportion of the coloured women are kept mistresses. Some months ago, heavy rains occasioned a river to overflow its banks, and change its course, to the almost total destruction of several plantations. The King immediately determined to dam it up in its proper channel. To carry this into effect, he issued an order for all women of bad or doubtful character, of whatever rank, to be employed in carrying clay, and the other requisite materials to the workmen, which was strictly put in force under the inspection of black female overseers. Duelling is not allowed, without the King's permission being first obtained, which he very seldom grants. An infringement on this law is certain death to both parties, and imprisonment for the seconds. Every person has the privilege of appeal to the King, from the courts of law, if he conceives himself to have been unjustly dealt with.

A short time ago, three Judges were sent to the Citadel Henry, to work as labourers, on being convicted of partiality, and were kept at hard labour for a month!

The King is in all things absolute. He is the sole proprietor of land, the produce of which is sold for the benefit of the State. No other person whatever can have a freehold: but tracts of land are granted by lease at a nominal rent, in reward for services, the King constantly retaining the royalty. Cattle and sheep are also a royal monopoly. The revenue arising from the above, and 10 per cent duty levied indiscriminately on all imports and exports, more than double the expenditure of the country. The whole treasure collected at Sans Souci is immense. Twelve millions sterling is considerably below the medium statement I heard respecting it. Whatever gold or silver is deposited in the treasury, never again sees day-light. All payments are made in produce, which the merchants are obliged to purchase with gold or silver, or European goods; so that money is constantly flowing into the country, without any leaving it.

Several manufactures are brought to considerable perfection. Mahogany chairs and tables, together with most other descriptions of furniture, are as highly finished here as in England. The magnificent palace of Sans Souci is almost entirely fitted up with things of native manufacture. What most surprised me were the carriages (one belonging to the King, the other to the Prince Royal) both built at Sans Souci, and finished with equal taste, lightness, and elegance with some that stood beside them of English build. All the ornamental parts were of solid silver; and that metal was substituted for iron wherever it was possible. The royal stud is very large, and the stables are kept in the most beautiful order, under the direction of an English groom, with a salary of 1600 dollars a-year. Gun-powder mills are worked, also founderies for casting shot.

Among other things, the education of the rising generation is not neglected. Schools on the Lancastrian principle are established at all the principal towns, under the direction of English masters, whose language is to be introduced instead of French. An academy for instruction in geography,

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