_Cape Francois._
It is not often in the tranquillity of domestic life that the poet or
the historian seek their subjects! Of this I am certain, that in the
calm that now surrounds us it will be difficult for me to find one for
my unpoetical pen.
Clara is dull, St. Louis contented, and I pass my time heavily,
complaining of the fate which brought me here, and wishing to be
away. We go sometimes to the concerts given by monsieur d'Or, where
madame P----, a pretty little Parisian sings; and where madame
A----, accompanied by her daughter, presides with solemn dignity.
This lady, who is at present a most rigid censor of female conduct,
and not amiable either in person or manners, lived many years with
monsieur A----, who raised her from the rank of his housekeeper, to
that of his mistress. But he fell in love with another lady, whom he
was going to marry. The deserted fair one threw herself in despair
at the feet of Toussaint, with whom she had some influence, and so
forcibly represented the injustice of the proceeding, that Toussaint
ordered A---- to be confined, saying he should not be released till he
consented to marry the lady he had so long lived with. A---- resisted
some time, but at length yielded, and exchanged his prison for the
softer one of her arms.
Before the revolution there was a convent at the Cape. The nuns in
general were very rich, and devoted themselves chiefly to the education
of young ladies: some of their pupils, I have heard, would have done
honour to a Parisian seminary.
When religion was abolished in France, the rage for abolition, as well
as that of revolutionizing reached this place, and the nuns were driven
from the convent by Santhonax, a name which will always fill every
Frenchman's breast with horror: he caused the first destruction of
the Cape. On the arrival of general Galbo, who was sent to supercede
him, he said, "if Galbo reigns here, he shall reign over ashes," and
actually set fire to the town. The convent was not then burned; but the
society was dissolved, the habit of the order laid aside; and some of
the nuns, profiting by the license of the times, married. One of these
became the wife of a man who, during the reign of the negroes committed
crimes of the deepest die. He has not yet received the punishment due
to them; but he awaits in trembling the hour of retribution. I often
see her. She has been very handsome, but her charms are now in the
wane; she has a great deal of vivacity, and that fluency of expression
in conversing on the topics of the day, which gives to a French woman
the reputation of having _beaucoup d'esprit_.
I know also the lady abbess, who is an excellent woman of most engaging
manners. She lives in a miserable chamber, and supports herself by her
industry. The greatest part of the community have perished; and general
Le Clerc found it more convenient to have the convent fitted up for his
own residence, than to restore it to its owners, the government house
having been entirely destroyed.
There are also here two hospitals, neither of which have been injured,
though the town has been twice burned. The _Hopitale de la Providence_
is an asylum for the poor, the sick and the stranger; the building
is decent: but the _Hopitale des Peres de la Charite_ is superb,
surrounded by gardens, ornamented with statues and fountains, and
finished with all the magnificence which their vast revenues enabled
its owners to command.
The streets of the town cross each other at right angles, like those of
Philadelphia, and there are several public squares which add greatly
to the beauty of the place. In the centre of each is a fountain,
from which the water, clear as crystal, flows into marble basons.
The houses are commodious, particularly those of two stories, which
have all balconies; but the streets are narrow, and the heat would be
intolerable if it was not for the relief afforded by bathing, which is
here an universal custom, and for the sea-breezes which, rising every
afternoon, waft on their wings delicious coolness.
The mulatto women are the hated but successful rivals of the Creole
ladies. Many of them are extremely beautiful; and, being destined from
their birth to a life of pleasure, they are taught to heighten the
power of their charms by all the aids of art, and to express in every
look and gesture all the refinements of voluptuousness. It may be said
of them, that their very feet speak. In this country that unfortunate
class of beings, so numerous in my own,--victims of seduction, devoted
to public contempt and universal scorn, is unknown. Here a false step
is very rarely made by an unmarried lady, and a married lady, who does
not make one, is as rare; yet of both there have been instances: but
the _faux pas_ of a married lady is so much a matter of course, that
she who has only one lover, and retains him long in her chains, is
considered as a model of constancy and discretion.
To the destiny of the women of colour no infamy is attached; they
have inspired passions which have lasted through life, and are
faithful to their lovers through every vicissitude of fortune and
chance. But before the revolution their splendor, their elegance,
their influence over the men, and the fortunes lavished on them by
their infatuated lovers, so powerfully excited the jealousy of the
white ladies, that they complained to the council of the ruin their
extravagance occasioned to many families, and a decree was issued
imposing restrictions on their dress. No woman of colour was to wear
silk, which was then universally worn, nor to appear in public without
a handkerchief on her head. They determined to oppose this tyranny,
and took for that purpose a singular but effectual resolution. They
shut themselves up in their houses, and appeared no more in public.
The merchants soon felt the bad effects of this determination, and
represented so forcibly the injury the decree did to commerce, that it
was reversed, and the olive beauties triumphed.
But the rage of the white ladies still pursued them with redoubled
fury, for what is so violent as female jealousy? The contest however
was unequal, and the influence of their detested rivals could not be
counteracted. Some of them were very rich. There is a friendliness
and simplicity in their manners which is very interesting. They are
the most caressing creatures in the world, and breathe nothing but
affection and love. One of their most enviable privileges, and which
they inherit from nature, is that their beauty is immortal--they never
fade.
The French appear to understand less than any other people the delights
arising from an union of hearts. They seek only the gratification of
their sensual appetites. They gather the flowers, but taste not the
fruits of love. They call women the "_beau sexe_," and know them only
under the enchanting form of ministers of pleasure. They may appear
thus to those who have only eyes; by those who have hearts they will
always be considered as sacred objects of reverence and love. A man who
thinks and feels views in woman the beneficent creature who nourished
him with her milk, and watched over his helpless infancy; a consoling
being who soothes his pains and softens his sorrows by her tenderness
and even by her levity and her sports. But here female virtue is
blasted in the bud by the contagious influence of example. Every girl
sighs to be married to escape from the restraint in which she is held
whilst single, and to enjoy the unbounded liberty she so often sees
abused by her mother. A husband is necessary to give her a place in
society; but is considered of so little importance to her happiness,
that in the choice of one her inclination is very seldom consulted.
And when her heart, in spite of custom, feels the pain of being alone,
and seeks an asylum in the bosom of her husband, she too often finds
it shut against her; she is assailed by those whose only desire is to
add another trophy to their conquests, and is borne away by the torrent
of fashion and dissipation till all traces of her native simplicity
are destroyed. She joins with unblushing front, the crowd who talk of
sentiments they never feel, and who indulge in the most licentious
excesses without having the glow of passion to gild their errors. These
reflections were suggested by a most preposterous marriage, at which
I was present. A girl of fifteen was sacrificed by her grandmother
to a man of sixty, of the most disagreeable appearance and forbidding
manners. The soul of this unfortunate victim is all melting softness;
she is of the most extraordinary beauty; she is now given to the world,
and in those who surround her she will find the destroyers of her
delicacy, her simplicity, and her peace.