714 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



can be done to advance the general 

 ROod? Are questions within the 

 limits of your fnn6tions, which Mill 

 necessarily occupy your attention. 

 In these and ail other matters which 

 you, in your wisdom, may propose 

 for the good of our country, you 

 may count with assurance on my 

 hearty co-operation and faithful exe- 

 cution. 



Thomas Jefferson. 



Proclamation bij De<tsali>ies, as Go- 

 vernor-General of the Island, 

 dated at the Cape, April 28, 1 804 ; 

 Jirst } ear of Independence. 



Crimes, the most atrocious, such 

 as were until then unheard of, and 

 ■would cause nature to shudder, have 

 been perpetrated. Tiie measure 

 ■was overheaped. At length the 

 hour of vengeance has arrived, and 

 the implacable enemies of the rights 

 of man have suffered the punish- 

 ment due to their crimes. My arm, 

 raised over their heads, has too 

 long delayed to strike. At that 

 signal, which the justice of God has 

 urged, your hands, righteously 

 armed, have brought the axe upon 

 the ancient tree of slavery aiul pre- 

 judices. In vain had time, and more 

 especially the infernal politics of 

 Europeans, surrounded it with triple 

 brass; you have stripped it of its 

 armour; you have placed it upon 

 your heart, that you may become 

 (like your natural enemies) cruel 

 and merciless. Like an overflowing 

 mighty torrent, that tears down all 

 opposition, your vengeful fury has 

 carried away every thing in its im- 

 petuous course. Thus perish all ty- 

 rants over innocence, all oppressors 

 of mankind! — What then? Bent 

 for many ages under an iron yoke : 



the sport of the passions of men, Of 

 their injustice, and of the caprices 

 of fortune ; niutilated victims of 

 the cupidity of white Frenchmen ; 

 after havin- fattened with oin- toils 

 these insatiate blood-suckers, with a 

 patience and resignation unexani- 

 pjeil, ^^e should again have seen that 

 sacrilegious horde making an attempt 

 upon our destruction, without any 

 distinclion of sex or age; and we, 

 men without energy, of no virtue, of , 

 no delicate sensibility, should not m'c 

 have plunged in their breast the dag- 

 ger of desperation? Where is that 

 vile Hay tian, so unworthy of his re- 

 generation, who thinks he has not •; 

 accomplished the decrees of the Eter- 

 nal, by extLiminating these blood- 

 thirsty tygers ? If there be one, 

 let him fiy ; indignant nature dis- 

 cards him from our bosom; let him 

 hide his shame far from hence: the 

 air we breathe is not suited to his 

 gross organs ; it is the pure air of 

 liberty, august and triumphant. — 

 Yes, we have rendered to these"; 

 true cannibals war for war, crime 

 for crime, outrage for outrage: 

 yes, I have saved my country ; I 

 have avenged America. The avow- 

 al I make of it, in the face of earth 

 and heaven, constitutes my pride 

 and my glory. Of what conse- 

 quence to me is the opinion which 

 contemporaiy and future genera- 

 tions will pronounce upon my con- 

 duct ? I have performed my duty; 

 I enjoy my own approbation ; for 

 me that is sufficient. But what do 

 I say ? The preservation of my 

 unfortunate brothers, the testimony 

 of my OM n conscience, are not my 

 only reeom[)ence: I have seen two 

 classes of men, born to cherish, as- 

 sist, and succour one another — - 

 mixed in a world, and blended to- 

 gether — crying for vengeance, and 



disputing 



i 



