Through the columns of leading journals in New York, St. Louis, and other localities, we have had occasion to acknowledge the fact that the political views which gave rise to the present volume, though comparatively new, have generally met the approval of distinguished statesmen and philanthropists, North and South. [A] The following note from the venerable Mr. Giddings indicating the proposition, is but one of a large number which we have received from various parts of the country:— Jefferson,

The free colored American, of whatever shade, sees that his destiny is linked with slavery. Where his face is a crime he can not hope for justice. In the country which enslaves his race he can never be an acknowledged man. That it is his native country does not help him. The author of this book is an American as much as James Buchanan. He is more so: for the father of Mr. Buchanan was born in Ireland, and the father of Mr. Harris was born in North Carolina. But the one becomes president; the oth

FROM NEW YORK TO PUERTO DEL PLATA—SMOOTHNESS OF THE VOYAGE—HAYTI IN THE DISTANCE—DESCRIPTION OF THE STANDING ARMY—UNPARALLELED SCENIC BEAUTY. I T was a mild, showery morning on the 19th of May, 1860, that the brig John Butler, on board of which we were, left her dock at New York and anchored off the Jersey Flats. From this point we enjoyed the pleasantest and decidedly most satisfactory view of the great commercial city and its environs. The many white-sailed vessels and finely-painted steamers

WANT OF INFORMATION—ONE SIDE OF A QUESTION. T HERE is no school-boy but remembers, when tracing the history of Columbus on his perilous voyage across the sea in search of a new world, how eagerly he watched each favorable indication of bird or sea-weed, and ultimately with what rapture he greeted the joyous cry of land; nor who, looking back through the vista of centuries past, but brings vividly to mind the landing of Columbus, the simplicity of the natives, the cupidity of the Spaniards, and t

CORPUS CHRISTI. B ETWIXT midnight and daylight this morning I was lying sleeping and dreaming under the halcyon influences of the lingering land breezes, when suddenly a harmonious sound of partly brass and partly string instrumental music rang upon the air. It appeared just as music always does to any one in a semi-transparent slumber—not quite awake nor yet asleep—when, as everybody knows, it is sweet as love. One boom from the cannon, and I stood square on my feet; and, as it is not very rema

FIRST RIDE IN THE COUNTRY—PASTORISA PLACE. “A YANKEE is known by the shortness of his stirrups;” so they say here, and I do not know that the criticism is at all too severe. Except Willis and one or two others, who of the Americans know any thing about riding? The Dominicans are good on horseback. In fact, it is their boast that they can ride or march further in two days than Americans want to go in a week. On the other hand, if “Los Yankees” had this country they would soon fix it so that a man

VALLEY OF THE ISABELLA—CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES—CHAPTER ON SNAKES—A CALL FOR DINNER. T HERE had been one or two invigorating showers previous to our ride down the valley of the Isabella, and so there remained a great deal of slippery clay along the narrow pathways, which paths lay usually on the very verge of some mountain slope, embankment, or more exciting precipice. To have come off with only one or two bones broken, I should have been perfectly satisfied. We forded the river with impunity, cro

ON THE WAY TO PORTO CABELLO—ANTILLE-AMERICANA—EMIGRATION ORDINANCE. W HEN the saffron sunlight lingers on the fleecy edges of these mountain clouds, there is a singular solemnity and peculiar fascination about them which can not be likened to any thing earthly. More than any thing else, the resemblance is that of a dark mourning-gown, lined with white satin and trimmed with silver tassels. This reminds me that the sign of mourning here is somewhat novel. It is that of a spotless white kerchief w

PROPOSED AMERICAN SETTLEMENT—PICTURE OF LIFE—TOMB OF THE WESLEYAN MISSIONARY. I HAVE scarcely time to inform you of an American settlement really begun. It is near the sea, not far from Porto Plata, on a large commonality or tract of land embracing about twelve square miles, (not twelve miles square,) having a water power running full length. The land being in common is considered of the first importance, for by this means a small outlay of capital—say one hundred dollars—secures to the settler

SUMMARY OF STAPLES, EXPORTS, AND PRODUCTS. “I CAME across a copy of Rousseau this morning,” said an American scholar, whom we had met before; and he added, “I should not have been more surprised had I seen it drop out of the clear sky.” There are but very few books in Dominicana of any kind, and no reliable statistics. The government on the south side of the island appoints custom-house officers on the north side, allowing them little or nothing for their services. The consequence is, these offi

HISTORICAL SKETCH—GENERAL DESCRIPTION PREVIOUS TO 1790. I HAVE given you Dominicana as a garden of poetry and the home of legendary song. Well, Hayti is a land of historical facts, and the field of unparalleled glory. Consulting one day with Mr. Redpath, the talented author of the series of letters to which I have previously referred, he suggested the impossibility of any one forming even a comparatively correct opinion respecting affairs in Hayti, without being guided by a sketch of the country

AFFAIRS IN FRANCE—THE CASE OF THE MULATTOES—TERRIBLE FATE OF OGÉ AND CHAVINE. I T was towards the close of the year 1788 that the revolutionary spirit which had been fermenting among the French people from the conclusion of the American war first manifested itself in the mother country; and although that extraordinary event convulsed the empire in every part, in no place was the shock so great as in Hayti. The mulattoes, notwithstanding their oppression and degradation, it should have been obser

A CHAPTER OF HORRORS (WHICH THE DELICATE READER MAY, IF HE CHOOSES, OMIT). A MONG the various transactions which had taken place, both in the island and in France, little or no attention had been paid to the condition of the slaves. It is true an abolition society had been early established in Paris, called the “Friends of the Blacks,” ( Amis des noirs ). Their sufferings had also been used to give energy to a harangue, or to enforce the necessity of general reformation, but their situation was

TRAGEDY OF THE REVOLUTION CONTINUED—RIGAUD SUCCEEDED BY TOUSSAINT—TOUSSAINT DUPED BY LE CLERC. W E omit, as unnecessary to the thread of this narrative, the contentions between the French and English, in consequence of the British invasion, from 1792 to 1798; during which time Rigaud was succeeded by Toussaint L’Ouverture, whose superior military genius had won for him the appointment of Commander-in-Chief of the native forces. But there is yet another “lesson of the hour” to be gleaned from the

THE WAR RENEWED—“LIBERTY OR DEATH”—EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH—THE AURORA OF PEACE—JEAN JACQUES DESSALINES, FIRST EMPEROR OF HAYTI—PRINCIPAL EVENTS UP TO PRESENT DATE—GEFFRARD AND EDUCATION—POSSIBLE FUTURE. T HE violent and perfidious measures to which Le Clerc had resorted produced an effect diametrically opposed to that which he intended. On the distant mountains, particularly toward the Spanish division, innumerable hosts of blacks had taken up their residence and assumed a species of lawless vio

AN ISLAND OF SALT—SIR EDWARD JORDAN, OF JAMAICA—HONOR TO THE BRITISH QUEEN—A STORY IN PARENTHESIS—THE POETRY OF SAILING. I T is usually no more to “dangle round” this sea than it is to cross Lake Erie. On this particular occasion, however, I very willingly reached these shores, for the little schooner Enterprise in which we had ventured was not much larger than a good-sized yawl—certainly not over six tons burthen. The waves inundated us at pleasure, wetting even the letters in my breast coat-po

THE ISLAND OF RUATAN—THE SAILOR’S LOVE STORY—THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE BAY ISLANDS—ENGLISH VS. AMERICAN VIEW OF CENTRAL AMERICAN AFFAIRS. Off Ruatan the New “Gibralter,” Flower of the Bay Islands, and “Key to Spanish America." I T certainly takes the impatience out of one to travel very much on a sail vessel. The dead certainty of your getting becalmed annihilates even contrary anticipation. But instead of murmuring at the irksome roll of this spell-bound ship, which flaps its sails as vainly as a

CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE SPANISH MAIN—DOMINICANA REVIEWED—THE MAGNIFICENT BAY OF SAMANA—CONCLUSIVE SUMMARY. T HUS have I endeavored to seize on whatever might seem to be of importance, and at the same time interesting to such of your readers as desired to have some more general information respecting tropical America. I am aware that I have not analyzed the soil, nor (so long as it produced well) have I cared whether it was “composed of the débris of these limestones and lava mountains,” or “t