6o Ethel Lee Howie 



good. They have without letters of convocation caused to as- 

 semble certain people to elect deputies to the states-general. This 

 lack of convocation seemed to close the door to them but the 

 nation has seen fit to reject this defect in form. It has recognized 

 that the colonies like all other provinces had and have the right to 

 be represented in the assembly of the nation. The undersigned 

 colonists thankfully accept such a declaration. Removed by the sea, 

 they felt themselves forgotten. Let thanks be given to the as- 

 sembly which has just signified, in a most striking manner the 

 rights of humanity. The assembly is not satisfied with this gener- 

 ous declaration, it has admitted provisionally the deputies who pre- 

 tend to have been named at San Domingo. Nothing wiser or more 

 prudent. At a distance of two thousand leagues from the capital 

 what certainly could there be regarding the legality of such a nomi- 

 nation? It is with sorrow that the colonists, in spite of their high 

 esteem for the pretended deputies of San Domingo ask the as- 

 sembly to suspend judgment until they have sufficient time to vali- 

 date the credentials and verify the elections by a more regular, 

 more public, freer convocation, conforming to the rules of elec- 

 tion." The claim was made that these men who pretended to be the 

 deputies had been elected in an assembly of fifteen or twenty 

 people. The signatures attached to the proces-verhal of this first 

 deputation were, according to this letter, procured after the elec- 

 tion had taken place. This letter started another debate as to 

 whether this protest should be considered. Gouy d'Arsy, accord- 

 ing to the Proccs-verhal,^'^^ claimed that some of the protestants had 

 been witnesses of the first election. He insisted that the election 

 had taken place in regular form and that this regularity had been 

 recognized by the assembly. The only question to be considered 

 was the number of deputies which should be granted, for the other 

 request, being presented after the verification, could not be re- 

 ceived.^^^ The assembly was ready to go to vote when a considera- 



^'i-o Proces-verhal, I, No. 15, 4; Point du jour, 1, 108; Assemblee na- 

 tionale, I, 349-52; Bulletins de I'assemblee nationale, July 4. The Point 

 du jour speaks of this as an "act of opposition " of some of the colonists; 

 the Proccs-vcrbal and the Bulletins de I'assemblee nationale say it was a 

 letter from a second deputation of San Domingo. 



311 Proccs-verbal, I, No. 15, 4. 



