The Rays Of Their Sun
Seem To Urge Them Irresistibly To Dissipation And Pleasure:
On the
contrary, the women, from being abstemious, reach to a longer period
of life, and seldom die without having had several husbands.
An
European at his first arrival must be greatly surprised when he sees
the elegance of their houses, their sumptuous furniture, as well as
the magnificence of their tables. Can he imagine himself in a
country, the establishment of which is so recent?
The three principal classes of inhabitants are, lawyers, planters,
and merchants; this is the province which has afforded to the first
the richest spoils, for nothing can exceed their wealth, their
power, and their influence. They have reached the ne plus ultra of
worldly felicity; no plantation is secured, no title is good, no
will is valid, but what they dictate, regulate, and approve. The
whole mass of provincial property is become tributary to this
society; which, far above priests and bishops, disdain to be
satisfied with the poor Mosaical portion of the tenth. I appeal to
the many inhabitants, who, while contending perhaps for their right
to a few hundred acres, have lost by the mazes of the law their
whole patrimony. These men are more properly law givers than
interpreters of the law; and have united here, as well as in most
other provinces, the skill and dexterity of the scribe with the
power and ambition of the prince: who can tell where this may lead
in a future day?
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