An inhabitant of St. Domingo had a negro, who for a long time had solicited for his liberty, and which he had fully merited by his services; but that which ought to have procured it for him, was precisely what prevented his master from granting it, namely, his being essentially useful to him. The more the negro pressed to obtain his freedom, which had been promised him, the more pretences were found for eluding and deferring the execution of the promise; the master himself no longer hid from his slave his great attachment to him. Yet flattering as this kind of refusal was, far from diminishing his desire of liberty, it served to encrease it. He resolved then to employ another means, which was to buy his freedom; appreciating himself according to the reasons his master had given him, for not fulfilling his promise. In some parts of St. Domingo, the inhabitants do not enter into the detail of the food and clothing of their negroes. They give them two hours in a day for cultivating a certain portion of land, granted to them for their subsistence; those who are industrious, not only obtain what is necessary, but even that which enables them to carry on a commerce, more or less considerable, according to their ability. Our black, at the end of some years, gained more money than was requisite to redeem himself, and presenting the gold to his master, told him that he was resolved to gain his liberty, and offered to pay the price of another negro. The planter surprized, says to him, “Go, I have sufficiently trafficked in my fellow-creatures, enjoy what is your own: you have restored me to myself.” He immediately sold his plantation, and only remained long enough at St. Domingo to collect his property. He returned to France, and in the way to his province, was obliged to pass through Paris. Remaining in that seductive town, he spared nothing that could give an idea of that opulence which is attached to the name of an _American_. Women, high living, gaming, parties of pleasure of all kinds, he gave himself up to, without restraint, embracing every opportunity of expence. His fortune was soon dissipated. In that wretched situation, it was necessary to determine on something, but on what was the question. To remain in France a ruined man was impossible; to return to the islands, what an embarrassing humiliation. Nevertheless, on reflection, he flattered himself he should find more resources there than elsewhere, depending rather on the attachment of those whose fortunes he had made in St. Domingo, than on the friendship of those who had been the promoters of his ruin in France, he determined to embark. His arrival at the Cape surprized every body acquainted with his misfortune. They pitied him, but no one gave him the least assistance. His ancient friends only permitted him to be a witness of the pleasures he had procured them, without making him a partaker in their enjoyments. Many who had