SUE A TED PiA PE RS. 
ed to the worship of the true God, 
and the august blood of your kings, 
you, no doubt, prefer the loss and 
sacrifice of your property to the 
misfortune and disgrace of sub- 
mitting to the yoke of these new 
masters of your territory. Follow 
then, gallant Spaniards, that noble 
impulse of reason, honour, and 
feeling. Depart! the dominions 
of the Spanish monarch are open 
for you: go, honourably to live 
and die there in the shade of your 
altars, and under the protection of 
your king. But if any among you, 
chained down by necessity to the 
soil they cultivate, should not be 
able to leave it, let them not be 
uneasy : his majesty lends them his 
powerful and protecting hand. I 
wish they would, for their own 
happiness, fully rely on the gene-_ 
rosity and beneficence of so great 
amonarch. What other sovereign 
has fought with more zeal and glory 
for the sacred cause of religion, 
royalty, and humanity, against the 
fool-hardy innovators, who are bent 
on exterminating them from the 
whole surface of this globe. Ihave 
read, brave Spaniards, the ostensi- 
ble instructions given by the direc- 
. tory to the commissioners of the re- 
public; I have perused the procla. 
mations of those hypocritical and 
perverse agents, whose first mission 
to St. Domingo was marked with 
insurrections, with the firing of 
the plantations, and the assassina- 
tion of their owners. The choice 
of such men sufficiently shews the 
misfortunes you have to expect. 
Read and consider, brave Spaniards, 
the papers I have just quoted: com- 
pare the promises which they hold 
out with those the republic has 
made to every nation it wished to 
seduce. What advantages did it 
{135 
not hold-out to its own,colonies, to 
Savoy, Belgium, Holland ; in short, 
to all countries wherein it has 
established its’ strange regime,/-— 
Well, contemplate the horrid and 
deplorable situation to which are 
now reduced those provinces, once 
so populous and_ flourishing, and 
judge, brave Spaniards, what would 
be the result of your creduiity. 
Impressed with. your dangers, and 
feeling for your misfortune, -1 offer 
you my support., A faithful inter- 
preter of the beneficent disposition 
of his majesty, I promise and gua- 
rantee to you, under his banners, 
safety to your persons and property. 
Whatever is sacred to you, your 
religious worship, your priests, your 
laws, your customs, your privileges, 
shall be preserved to you, and you 
shall® also enjoy the advantage of - 
the most extensive and flourishing 
commerceinthe world. You have 
frequented our posts, and know 
the liberty, good faith, and plenty 
which reign there. Calculate the 
extent of those advantages, and 
prepare yourselves to-receive the 
only power able to grant them, 
As soon as the protection of your 
king shall be withdrawn from 
you, and you are given up to 
the new masters of your territory, 
arm against them, and, on the first 
signal you give me of your deter 
mination, I will fly to your assig- 
tance, and unite my whole force 
with yours, to repel and extermi- 
nate our common enemy. 
Given in the king’s house, at 
Port-au-Prince, the 12th of July, 
in the year of our Lord 1796, and 
the 35th of his majesty’s reign. 
G. Forsxs. 
By order of bis excellency, 
James EstxN, secretary. 
des 
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