In October
last, I received a letter, dated Montpelier, October the 2nd, 1786,
announcing to me that the writer was a foreigner, who had a matter
of very great consequence to communicate to me, and desired I would
indicate the channel through which it might pass safely. I did so.
I received soon after, a letter in the following words, omitting only
the formal parts. [_A translation of it is here given._]
'I am a native of Brazil. You are not ignorant of the frightful
slavery under which my country groans. This continually becomes more
insupportable, since the epoch of your glorious independence; for
the cruel Portuguese omit nothing which can render our condition more
wretched, from an apprehension that we may follow your example. The
conviction, that these usurpers against the laws of nature and humanity
only meditate new oppressions, has decided us to follow the guiding
light which you have held out to us, to break our chains, to revive
our almost expiring liberty, which is nearly overwhelmed by that force,
which is the sole foundation of the authority that Europeans exercise
over America.
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