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dies to market, and procuring themselves what is necessary for their habitations, to the obvious prejudice of the whole colony:

The commanders in chief, in order to remove an evil of fuch importances and which is daily increafing, enact and ordain as follows:

I. The civil commiffaries, each in his refpective parish, are to draw up and deliver, as foon as poffible, exact lifts of the habitations fituated in the faid parishes, containing the number of flaves, cattle, acres of land, buildings, and plantations, an eltimate of thofe objects, and a specification of all forts of productions made and gathered on each eftate, wherein ought to be distinguished thofe that bona fide had been made and collected before the twenty-third of laft March.

II. The civil commiffaries in the parishes of the different towns and boroughs are likewise to draw up and deliver a lift of the houses, flaves, and fervants, to be found in the faid towns and boroughs, ftating the proprietors thereof, the yearly rent of each houfe, and enumerating all forts of property, comprised under the denomination of goods, commodities, or merchandise in the faid towns and boroughs.

III. The civil commiffaries are alfo ordered, in their respective quarters, to demand the ledgers, and all account-books, notes, and deeds belonging to captains or agents of the French trade, as well as an exact account of all forts of property, falling under the defcription of vacant fucceffion, in each quarter of the colony, with a correct inventory of all the goods, effects, and chattels, belonging to fuch perfons as have taken arms in hand, or been killed during the fiege, or banished the island; and further, a specification of all property belonging to perfons of any defcription whatever, refiding in

France.

IV. The civil commiffaries are to name in their reports all perfons, without exception, that fhould delay giving in the different specifications required. or be fufpected of making a falfe declaration, or fail to give the ufual affittance neceffary for the exactness and impartiality of reports of that kind; it being the intention and wish, that the intended levy be made in the most equitable manner, and in exact proportion with the means of each individual.

V. The faid reports are to be made with all poffible expedition, fo that on Saturday the 31ft inft. or fooner, they may be delivered by the civil commiffaries to the commiffioners appointed to receive them, and who, for this purpofe, will repair either to the Intendant's Hotel at St. Pierre, or to the Governor's Houfe at Fort Royal: The commanders in chief having, on their part, manifefted their ardent with to adopt the mildelt meafures, declare berewith, that it is their firm refolution to have this prefent measure fully executed, or, on failure of it, to avail themselves of the power, with which they are invested, to order and enforce a general confijca

tion.

Given under our fignature, on board the Royne, Fort Royal Bay, on the twenty-fit of May, the year of our Saviour one thoufand feven hundred

hundred and ninety-four, and the thirty-fourth year of his Majesty's

reign.

By order of their Excellencies,

(Signed) G. FISHER.

G. PURVIS.

(Signed)

CHARLES GREY.
JOHN JERVIS.

By thefe proclamations, nothing could be more clear than that a general contribution and a general confifcation were intended, and there was no fpecies of property that was not enumerated under them. How it was to be proved that these proclamations were not intended to be carried into effect, he could not conceive. The next thing to be confidered was, whether there was any neceflity for this? whether the inha bitants had oppofed his Majefty's troops, fo as to make it neceffary?. He had carefully perufed the dispatches, and there was not the leaft proof of any fuch refiftance having been offered by the inhabitants, perfons of any property whatever. The Whites were always well inclined to the British Government, but were kept in fubjection by the Mulattoes, and the Negroes, and the Petits Blancs, which are a fet of people poffeiling no property. The Emigrants alfo, he afferted, had been driven into exile, and their property confifcated. There might have been fomething of the kind done by a banditti, but he thought it really fair to conclude there was none of the refiftance to make thofe proclamations neceffary. These inhabitants, in confequence of the first proclamation, had joined us; and from the manner in which they were treated afterwards, they faw clearly it would have been better for them if they had oppofed us. This appeared to him to be highly injurious to our character, as a people generally renowned for juftice and humanity. It was inconfiftent with the reft of our conduct in this war; and while in various parts of the globe, we were covering our enemics with bounty, thofe who truffed to our good faith met with ruin.

With regard to the idea of thefe iflands having been taken by ftorm, the thing appeared to him to be aftonishing. St. Pierre was formed without reafon or neceffity, it being nothing but an open town without wall or ditch; and when the British troops advanced, refiftance was only made by a few negroes and mulattoes. Nor was this all; the whole island of Martinique was formed; and Gentlemen might judge of the neceflity of fuch a measure, by imagining what their furprife would be to hear of the ftorming of Hampshire. He would afk, if there was any infurrection here, would any

perfon

perfon talk of taking Hampshire by ftorm? At Martinique, an ifland strongly fortified and capable of the greatest refiftance, as it contained fifteen thoufand white inhabitants, befides negroes and people of colour, the conteft lafted for twenty-eight days, and only eighty-four men were faid to be loft. Guadaloupe held out for eight days; St. Lucia, three days, and was faid to be taken without lofs. If, under fuch circumstances, thefe places could be faid to be taken by ftorm, the conclufion to be drawn from it was, that the fate of war was wonderfully altered, and the French must have lost entirely, in this cafe, their character for fighting. Very different was his conclufion from fuch premifes; he thought the circumftances proved beyond a doubt that the inhabitants did not at all oppofe us. But even fuppofing that they actually refifted us, it would then be a queftion how far thefe proclamations were agreeable to the law of nations, and compatible with our interefts as a ftate; and upon this he thought the Houfe ought to come to a decifion, otherwife the law of nations would appear to be nothing but a chimera, an idea that would be very injurious to the intereft of all well-regulated states. He laid it down as a principle, that enemies when conquered immediately became fubjects entitled to protection. The inhabitants of the islands had not been fo regarded in this cafe, and therefore the Houfe ought to annul the proceedings of the commanders. He contended that this mode of levying contributions, and subjecting to confifcation, had never been the practice in former wars, and that the manner in which the commanders in the West Indies had allowed the taking of booty, was contrary to the Act of Parliament which regulated that point on our part. He infifted alfo, that the conduct of thefe commanders was contrary to their inftructions. He then proceeded to fhew that the proclamations he had read, had been acted upon; and he read a petition that he faid had been prefented to the commanders, reminding them of their declaration in March, promising protection, &c. and complaining that the fubfequent proclamations for contribution and confifcation had been enforced against them. Even fuppofing that thefe proclamations had not been acted upon, in his opinion, they ought to be dif avowed. He would afk, by way of illuftration, whether the manifefto of the Duke of Brunfwick ought not to have been cenfured, although it had never been acted upon? For these reafons he trufted the Houfe would come to a declaration upon the proclamations, and that no fhift would be made ufe of to get rid of the fubje&, by moving the previcus queftion, or any thing of that fort; the Houfe fhould not fuppofe that by palling this fubject by, they would be doing nothing; they

would

would be doing that which was very dangerous. He concluded with moving, "That an humble addrefs be prefented to his Majefty, reprefenting that it appears to this Houfe, that certain proclamations were ifiued by Sir Charles Grey and Sir John Jervis in the island of Martinique, and dated May the 10th and 21ft, 1794, which this Houfe conceives to contain principles not warranted by the law of nations, and of dangerous precedent in all future cafes of hoftility, and which occafioned great alarm and diffatisfaction in his Majefty's colonies; and therefore humbly praying his Majefty, that he will be graciously pleafed to take fuch meafures for recalling the fame, and removing the apprehenfion of his faithful fubjects, as to his Majetty thall feem good."

Mr. Manning, in rifing to fecond the motion, began with vindicating the memory of General Dundas, upon whofe character no imputation was intended to be thrown. He referred to the declaration publifhed in 1793, as explanatory of the principles upon which the war was to have been conducted, and from which he conceived the proclamations which it was the object of the prefent motion to difavow, to be a wide deviation. He referred alfo to the infìructions to the commanders in the Weft Indies, which, in fpeaking of booty, exprefsly excepted the property of the fettled inhabitants; that very fpecies of property against which their proclamations were directed. He found himfelf called upon to fupport the motion not merely as a Weft India merchant who had a confiderable intereft in that quarter, but as a British fubject who demanded that the character of the nation fhould be vindicated from the reproach of injuftice. The affidavit of General Myers ftated, that a general refiflance had been made to the British arms in the island of Martinique. It was to be recollected that this ifland was thirty leagues in length, and feven in breadth, from which it would appear how far it was probable that fuch a refiftance had been made. He could refer to many former inftances, where there had been a confiderable degree of refiftance, and yet no fach principles as thofe contained in the proclamations, had been attempted to be enforced. As a proof of the loyal difpofitions of the inhabitants of Martinique, he quoted the authority of General Bruce, who men tioned, that eight hundred French planters had taken up arms in the British caufe, all of whom muft have either been removed or maffacred; yet there appeared no evidence that in the late expedition any fteps had been taken to fecure their property for the ufe of their heirs.

As an additional proof of the loyalty of the inhabitants in that quarter, he stated that at the time appointed for taking

the

the oath of allegiance, the concourfe was fo great, that the perfon employed to adminifter the oath was obliged to fend many of them away. He referred to the diftinction between the laws of war and the rights of conqueft. When the con queft took place in the iflands, no refervation had been made of the rights of war; the inhabitants took the oaths of al legiance, and were recognized as British fubjects; yet foon after an affembly was convened for the purpose of levying a contribution, who by declining to meet, gave evident proof of their fatisfaction. The first inftance of contribution had taken place in St. Lucia. A fum of three hundred thoufand pounds was impofed, which was afterward reduced to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Of this, the largest fum faid to have been raifed, amounted to thirty-five thoufand pounds, a plain symptom that the original impofition was felt to be exorbitant and oppreffive. It had been urged, that during the command of Sir Charles Grey and Sir John Jervis, no complaints had been tranfmitted to this country. The reason was easily accounted for: No notary could be found to draw up a remonftrance, with the certainty of incurring the difpleafure of the fuperior council, and the confequent rifk of being expelled from the islands. He inftanced fome particular cafes of oppreffion which had taken place, among others, that of Mr. Thornton, who had an eftate of about twenty thousand a year in the neighbourhood of St. Pierre, who was at that time difmiffed the island, without a fhirt to his back, and under the neceflity of borrowing a guinea from a friend to purchase his paffage to France. He affirmed that the proclamations of the 10th of April and the 21ft of May, were neither juftified by the principles of the law of nations, nor the practice of former times. He contrafted the conduct of the Marquis of Bouille with refpect to St. Kitt's, with that which had been obferved by the British command

ers.

After the French had taken the ifland, he himself continued regularly to receive his remittances through Oftend, Bruges, or Hamburgh. The complaint on this occafion had been afcribed entirely to disappointed fpeculators. He himfelf had received hundreds of letters from refpectable planters in different places, unconnected with commerce, and not perfonally interefted in the French West India islands, that reprobated in the ftrongest terms the conduct of the British commanders. From thefe he read fome extracts to the Houfé: Thefe extracts talked of the inhuman and avaricious conduct of the British commanders as having fixed a ftain upon the name of the country; and of the example which they had exhibited of rapacity and oppreffion, as being calculated in a

VOL. III.

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