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MEMOIR OF MR. DUNCAN M'INTOSH.

DUNCAN MINTOSH, the subject of the present article, and, of whom, we regret, we can present only a profile likeness, is a native of Scotland, and an American citizen. He resided a considerable time in Baltimore, from whence he removed to Aux Cayes, in the Island of St. Domingo, and established himself in the character of an American Merchant, in which capacity, he carried on a very extensive business with great reputation and success.

When that unfortunate colony became the prey of the revolted Blacks; and the white inhabitants had no other alternative than to fly from their homes, and abandon their all, or fall the victims of their unrelenting slaves, Mr. M'Intosh, though enabled, by his character of an American citizen, to remove unmolested with his ample fortune, conceived the heroic idea of remaining in that scene of murder and conflagration, to assist the unfortunate whites, even at the risk of his life, and the destruction of his property. How important were his efforts in this noble cause, will best be shewn by the following brief, but energetic description of them, which we have from the pen of one of the unfortunate exiles whom he saved:

"In an age of selfishness, immorality and irreligion, in a country abandoned for twelve years to all the horrors of intestine war, where the very air that was breathed, may be said to have been tainted with crimes; where sensibility was blunted daily by the death and sufferings of the numerous victims of a cruel war, and a still more destructive VOL. 1.

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clinate; at a crisis the most terrific ever recorded in history; when 400,000 assassins, thirsty for blood, intoxicated with fury, and rendered confident from the certainty of impunity, devoted to death a population of 25,000 unarmed individuals, there was found one man, a foreigner, and a stranger in the proscribed land, who might have departed without interruption, and taken with him the whole of an immense fortune, which he had by his own industry amassed in trade, one man who dared to brave the tempest; who opposed virtue to wickedness, benevolence to barbarity, and even made the insatiate cupidity of the assassins subservient to his humane undertakings; with his gold he bought victims out of the hands of their executioners; and others he rescued by force, in defiance of the decrees of death pronounced against all those who should conceal the French; he, for three months, maintained them in the different places where they had hid themselves; and was himself more than once thrown into those dungeons from which hundreds were daily led to the scaffold; and each time left his confinement only to renew with the same ardor his glorious, but perilous task of benevolence; by his indefatigable exertions, his perseverance, his pecuniary sacrifices (the amount of which he probably never calculated, or thought of, though it could not be less than 100,000 dollars) he was able, in the midst of a political tempest, of between seven and eight months continuance, to save in vessels which he freighted for that purpose, 1500 WOMEN AND CHILDREN, and more than 900 MEN! And this man was DUNCAN MÔINTOSH!”

To an inhabitant of New-Orleans, we are indebted for the following more detailed account of the actions of Mr. M'Intosh, derived from the relations of those who were eye-witnesses of his exertions in the cause of humanity. We hope, soon, to have it in our power, to gratify our readers with the tribute of affection, with which the exiles are preparing to commemorate his virtues, by " exhibiting his heart” as portrayed in the principal, though secret acts of his dangerous career. These acts, though now registered only in the grateful remembrance of the objects of his benevolence, will be drawn from obscurity, and form a wreath of glory, worthy of the HOWARD of St. Domingo.

"The inhabitants of St. Domingo became acquainted with the uncommon worth of Mr. M'Intosh, during his agency among them as an American merchant. His cares, his attentions, were not confined to the protection and relief of the citizens of America only, but he appeared to study the happiness and interest of every individual; alleviating, as far as he possibly could, their distress whenever it met his notice, and while the manly firmness he displayed on all occasions

where it was necessary, commanded the highest respect, his mild and gentle manners, and the benevolence which appeared in all his words and actions, gained him universal esteem, and all ranks of people were desirous of cultivating his friendship, previous to that unfortunate era, when he became their sole protector, under Heaven.

Every person in this country is in some measure acquainted with the horrors attending the dreadful revolution in St. Domingo, but to form an adequate idea of the sufferings of the wretched white inhabitants, they must have been residents among them at the time, for language fails in the attempt of delineating the soul-harrowing scenes, which deluged their fertile fields, with the blood of thousands of their innocent citizens, who fell victims to the ungovernable fury of these monsters of cruelty, the brigands; no age, no sex, were spared; the amiable' lovely female, with her infant smiling and clinging to her breast, implored in vain for mercy. It was then the sublime virtues of Mr. M'Intosh became so brightly conspicuous. In the commencement of this unnatural revolution, when his unwearied exertions to stop the torrent of outrage and oppression, proved ineffectual, his anxious cares were then directed to afford the unfortunate sufferers every aid the peculiar circumstances of the moment required. When driven from their peaceful homes by their persecutors, they were received and sheltered under his hospitable roof; his sympathizing tenderness soothed their sorrows, his purse relieved their pecuniary necessities; his bounty, like the gentle dews of Heaven, knew no discrimination, but fell on all alike; great as had been the sufferings of the unhappy citizens of St. Domingo already, Heaven for its wise purposes, had reserved it seems, harder trials of their fortitude, and M'Intosh's virtues; for soon the merciless savages rushing from all parts, like clouds of locusts darkening the face of day, and threatening destruction to all around them; against whose multitudes every hope and idea of defence were precluded, seized on the unoffending, terror-struck whites, and in their insatiate thirst for blood, would have sacrificed them on the spot; but in that moment of horror, when their fate seemed inevitable, this God-like man, ever tenderly alive to the calls of humanity, flew to their aid; careless, fearless of his own danger, he rushed amidst the sanguinary multitude, overawing the assassins by the bold intrepidity of his manner, and by his persuasive eloquence, arresting their fury; and although the divinity who spoke within him, could not so far change the nature of these ruthless monsters, as to incline them to forego their barbarous purposes altogether, yet when glowing with compassion he plead a respite for the victims, pledging his life as the forfeit if he did not produce them when called for, his irresis tible power was felt, they consented to suspend their murderous intentions.

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