'9I2.J TO THE UNITED STATES. 245 



plete and publish the results of his work. From 1784 to 1790 

 appeared successively the six volumes of his well-known collection 

 of laws, entitled " Loix et Constitutions des Colonies frangaises de 

 I'Amerique sous le \^ent." 



At his return to Paris, Moreau quickly won admission into the 

 intellectual and political life of the capital. He became one of the 

 founders of the Musee de Paris and contributed much to its effi- 

 ciency. At the outbreak of the revolution in 1789, he became one 

 of its ardent champions. He was chosen as one of the electors of 

 Paris, who at one time virtually ruled over all France. He boasted 

 afterwards during his exile that in serving as their president he was 

 " king of Paris for three days." He was deputy of Martinique in 

 the Constituante, and played an important part, especially in matters 

 which related to the administration of the colonies. 



But with Robespierre's accession to power and the inauguration 

 of the Reign of Terror in 1793, Moreau was forced to flee from 

 Paris and seek refuge in Normandy. It was only a temporary 

 refuge that he found, however, for Robespierre placed his name 

 upon the fatal list of those for whose blood he thirsted. Gathering 

 up all that he held most precious, among them the manuscripts of 

 some unpublished works, Moreau escaped with his family to Havre, 

 where by good fortune a ship was ready to sail for the new world. 



It was therefore in quality of an emigre that Moreau de Saint- 

 Mery set out upon a voyage to the United States. He sailed from 

 Havre on November 9, 1793, aboard the Sophie (Lowther, Captain) 

 bound for New York. After a long struggle against head winds and 

 frequent storms, lasting for one hundred and nineteen days the 

 vessel was forced to put in at Norfolk, where it cast anchor on March 

 8, 1794.*^ After a stay of two months at Norfolk, Moreau proceeded 

 by water to Baltimore, passing thence to New York by way of Wil- 

 mington, Philadelphia and Princeton. He remained at New York 

 from May 25 to August 21, being forced to earn his living by hard 

 work as shipping clerk for the house of Daniel Merian, which was 

 only a " prete-nom" to conceal the shipment of provisions to the 

 French government. During his residence in New York, Moreau 



^ The diary contains a most interesting account of this voyage. 



