DenUao. 



O O M 



In i Oniivnica contained O n ,<* Cnribi, 



and :: whi-h 



had been abandoned by the: :,d which they 



cidmuted by the sid of 2:? free 



. At the peace of 17" 



600 whites, and 2000 blacks ; and, in 17S8, the popula- 

 tion consisted of 



1236 



f'nv \;-!jroes 44.5 



Slaves lJ-,967 



Total population 1<>,648 



There are still alxwt 20 or 550 families of the alx>ri- 

 ginal inhabitants, who are industrious and inoffensive. 

 They arc of :i clear copper colour, with long sleek 

 black hair, and are short, stout, and well made. They 

 subsist chiefly by fishing, and by shooting with the 

 bow and arrow. 



The principal towns in the island are Portsmouth 

 and Roseau, or Charlotte's town. 



At the peace of l~G3, Dominica was confirmed in 

 the possession of the English, who had subdued it in 

 17.V). In 1778, it was taken, after an obstinate 

 ance, by the French, under the Marquis dc Bouillc, 

 governor of Martinico, and, after continuing in their 

 ' possession for more than five years, it was restored to 

 England by the peace of 1783. 



In 180.5, a formidable French squadron made a de- 

 scent upon the island, and burned the capital, Roseau : 

 but the island was preserved to Great Britain by the 

 skilful management of Sir George Prevost. 



The position of Roseau, the capital, according to so- 

 lar observations, is in West Long. 61 3'2' 15", North 

 Lat. 15V 18'2.'J". f 



DOMINICAL LETTER See CnnoxoLoov, p. 409. 



DOMITIAN, one of the Emperors of Rome, and 

 the last of the twelve Osars. was the second son of 

 Vespasian, and was bom at Rome on the 24th of Oc- 

 tober, A. D. 51. He bore the name of Titus, Flavins 

 Sabinus Domitianus ; and appears to have spent his 

 youth in idleness, indigence, and vice. When his ta- 

 ther Vespasian was contesting the empire with Vitelli- 

 us, he retired with his uncle Sabhms to the Capitol, 

 where he made a narrow escape by concealing himself 

 in an apartment of the temple, and secretly withdraw- 

 ing to the house of a friend. Upon the death of Vitel- 

 !ius, A. D. 69, when Vespasian was still in Judea, Do- 

 mitian was proclaimed Ciesar at Home ; and continued, 

 during his father's absence, to bear the chief sway. 

 His first appearances in the senate were modest and prc- 

 poMessing, and his first acts of government were con- 

 ciliatory and popular ; but he soon abandoned himself 

 to the pursuit of his pleasures, and employed his power 

 only for the gratification of his vicious inclinations. 

 Ambitious at the same time that he was dissolute, lie 

 pretended to usurp every kind of authority ; and, in 

 one day, bestowed so great a number of offices, both 

 in the city and the provinces, that his father is said to 

 have written in one of his letters, " I thank you for 

 not having yet sent me a successor, and for your kind- 

 ness in vouchsafing to let me enjoy the empire." Jea- 

 lous of the fame which his brother Titus had acquired 

 in the Jewish war, he resolved to take the. command 

 against Civilii in Gaul, and had actually reached Lyons 

 with that design ; but was persuaded by Mucian, who 

 knew his inexperience in military affairs, to content 

 himself with making a di.-play of his princely power 



12 DOM 



in that city. During his residence in, that quarter, he 

 secretly endeavoured to corrupt the fidelity of (Vrcalis, 



u.uided in ( laid, either for t 

 of making war upon his father, or forming a 



! his brother : but the general evaded all his pmpo. 

 ' . t'lem a* nothing more than childish laii- 

 Dtsappainted in his plans of revolt, he had ] 



iiible his ambitious schemes, relinquished all 

 the functions of -JON eminent, renounced even the natu- 

 ral pr. i.l' his rxnk : and, burying him 

 solitude, pretended a great zeal for leaniinu, and par- 

 ticularly applied himself to the composition of . 

 With all tliis affected fondness for retirement, he made 

 frequent applications for a military command ; but his 

 father, well acquainted with his di-ipn.ition and de- 

 . invariably declined entrusting him with an ar- 

 my. At the death of Vespasian, he manifested a dis- 

 position to dispute the succession with his brother 

 Titus ; pretended, that it was the will of his father, 

 that they should jointly inherit the empire ; and even 

 proceeded tly to solicit the troops to re- 

 volt. But, hi* courage failing him, or his attempts- 

 proving ineffectual, he continued during the reign of 

 Titus without any other title, but that of Ca-.-ar, a prince 

 of the Roman youth, except that his brother, who al- 

 ways treated him with civility and kindness, made him 

 his colleague in the consulship. 



As soon as Titus expired A D. 81, Domitian has- 

 tened to Rome ; and promising to the pnrtorian guards 

 the usual donation, was immediately saluted emperor, 

 in the 30th year of his age. The commencement of 

 his reign was highly auspicious ; and he gained the af- 

 fections of the people by conduct truly worthy of a 

 great monarch. He was assiduous and impartial in 

 the administration of justice ; punished, with the ut- 

 most severity, all those judges who were convicted of 

 taking bribes ; and kept the magistrates of cities and 

 provinces strictly within the bounds of legal authority. 

 He enacted various useful laws for the reformation of 

 manners, the prevention of libels, the regulation of the 

 theatres, ike. lie displayed the greatest munificence 

 in presenting large sums to his officers, in order to raise 

 them al)o\e the temptation of accumulating wealth by 

 unwarrantable means; in refusing to accept estates 

 which were left to him by those who had children of 

 their own; in forgiving all debts above five years stand- 

 ing due to the treasury ; in augmenting tlie pay of the 

 soldiers, and completing the public works which had 

 been begun by Titus. Even amidst these more com- 

 mendable transactions, however, he displayed the most 

 consummate vanity, and puerile ostentation; causing him- 

 self to be appointed consul ten years sucec.-sivclv. doub- 

 ling the number of lictors that were carried before him, 

 appearing always in the senate in his triumphal . : 

 continually proclaiming himself " Imperator," or \ ic- 

 torious general, though his armies were generally sus- 

 taining defeats ; filling every corner of Home with tri- 

 iimph.il arches in honour of his pretended \ictorics, 

 crowding the temples with statues of himself, which 

 he required to be either of gold or silver, and always 

 of a certain height ; and continually amusing himself 

 with the most expensive shows ;uid extravagant enter- 

 tainments. At a very early period, also, he began to 

 give indications of his cold-blooded cruelty ; and it is 

 affirmed by some ancient authors, that even while he 

 was professing the most exalted sentiments of humani- 

 ty, and proposing to forbid the offering of any living 

 creature in j-.ierilice, he u-ed daily to retire to his apart- 

 ment to amuse himself with catching flics, and trans- 



