Procès-verbal of the session of the General Council of the Commune (23 Pluviôse, Year I

Procès-verbal of the session of the General Council of the Commune (23 Pluviôse, Year II)Excerpt from the procès-verbal of the session of theGeneral Council of the Commune of 23 Pluviôse, Year II of the Republic.The three Representatives of the People, deputies fromthe Colonies, the one black, the other métis, and the third white, enter the General Council of theCommune, and, in the name of their constituents, they present the feelings of affectionand esteem that the virtues [and] the courage of the people of Paris and of itsmagistrates have inspired in them.Speech of the métis Deputy at the General Council ofthe Commune of Paris.Citizens Magistrates of the people,We come to consolidate a pact of union and fraternitywith the people of Paris, in the name of the 6 or 7 hundred thousandindividuals who inhabit Saint-Domingue ; it has started the revolution, it hasfought the tyrant, it has overthrown despotism, and it has served the cause ofliberty and equality so well, that the Republic is finally one and indivisible.We come to pay the homage of our administration to it, for its glorious worksand for its successes ; it is by hearing the account of its efforts [and] ofits victories, that we have found, within ourselves, the energy whichcharacterises the free man, the republican, and which was smothered by thedegradation wherein we were buried. It is to the progress of the spirit whichit has developed, that we owe the fortunate regeneration which has, firstly,made us citizens, and which finally comes to restore the name men to our brothers, in exchange for theone of slaves. This odious word willno longer sully the dictionary of the French ; henceforth, there will, in allparts of France, only be a people of friends and brothers.The name of the People of Paris will, in our memory,eternally unite with the idea of liberty, of the French Republic, of theNational Convention, and with the one of the submission and the inalterableattachment to one’s laws.People of Paris, these are the feelings that I presentto you, in the name of my brothers, and I present them in the hands of yourmagistrates.Signed, MILLS.Speech of the black deputy.Citizens,I was a slave in my childhood. 36 years ago, I becamefree through my industry ; I was bought [by] myself. Since, in the course of mylife, I felt worthy of being French.I served my patriewith the esteem of my leaders of the last war, in the campaign of New England,under General d'Estaing. In the very memorable days of the last 20 and 21 June(old style), when the traitor Galbaud, at the head of thecounter-revolutionaries, wanted to have the delegates of France slaughtered ; Iarmed myself with my brothers in order to defend them ; my blood flowed for theFrench Republic, for the noble cause of liberty: I do not claim to make myselfa merit out of it, I only did my duty.Having barely escaped the dangers of my wounds, I wasappointed, by my concitoyens, inorder to represent them in France and to bring you the homage of their devotionand their eternal fidelity to the French Nation ; citizens, these are my onlytitles ; this is my glory.I have only one thing to tell you: it is the tricolourflag that has called us to liberty ; it is under its auspices that we haveregained this liberty, our heritage and the treasure of our posterity ; as[long as] a single drop of blood will be left in our veins, I swear to you, inthe name of my brothers, that this flag will always float on our shores and inour mountains.Signed, BELLEY.Speech of the white deputy.Citizens,When all French [people] were free, between 6 and 7hundred thousand individuals were still slaves in Saint-Domingue, and just asmany on our other islands. – They were surrounded by evils ; they were onFrench territory as in a foreign country ; they did not have the permission tohave a patrie ; they fertilisedFrench soil ; they contributed to the prosperity of the metropolis, and theydid not draw any benefit from their sweat ; they did not have anything, noteven hope.I have had the pleasure of pleading their cause, andof attaching them to France ; the National Convention has been their liberator,it has broken their chains, it has restored the Rights of Man to them ; forthem, misfortune is not eternal: nature lies in the joy of seeing such abeautiful triumph ; my happiness is complete.In addition to my bliss, having been born in Paris, Ifind myself amidst my concitoyens, mycompatriots ; I have nothing left to desire, if not their esteem, and to provemyself worthy of them in the Convention ; and until my last breath, I will be[worthy], I swear it, and I will keep my oaths.Signed, DUFAY.The president responds: « Citizens, the Rights of Manwere violated for a long time ; crooks [and] kings had, through a long slavery,debased humankind ; they did not blush about trading humans. Thanks to our sacredrevolution, we have recovered our rights, [and] we will keep them ; unite withus ; let us form an unwavering faisceau; let us vow the death of the tyrants. Soon, our pledges will be fulfilled, andearth, [having been] purged of the monsters that sully it, will henceforth onlyoffer the touching sight of truly free men. »Then, CHAUMETTE takes the floor, and says: « In thedays when, for pusillanimous souls, it was dangerous to proclaim the Rights ofMan and to apply them to People of Colour, the Commune of Paris, braving bothprejudices and fears, dared to welcome, in its midst, the victims of egotism,and received from them, as a reward for their attachment, the flag that you seehanging over our heads. The visit of our brothers, the deputies ofSaint-Domingue, compensates us today for the feigned disdain that we haveexperienced, when, at the bar of the National Convention, we led the Americans,preceded by a woman of 114 years of age…, a woman who bore the trace of acentury of misfortunes on her face, of a century of crimes on behalf of ourunfortunate fathers, or rather the seal of their own enslavement ; but then,the Convention was not itself: itcould only dedicate its efforts to delivering the French People from thetyranny of the federalists who infected everything, even the senate itself.I remember it well, it was the year after theexpulsion of the kings, that Rome, upon the motion of Valerius Publicola, pronounced the laws on the liberation [of theslaves] ; and, among us, it was in the year after the death of the tyrant, thatthe very name slave has beendestroyed.Citizens, we have more than one Valerius Publicola, more than all his assembled works: we have aNational Convention, which does not content itself with making laws on theliberation, but which, with a single word, pronounced the abolition of slavery; we have a Publicola Convention!… long live the Convention… long live thePublicola Convention!… (The people fromthe tribunes repeats it.) Long live the Publicola Convention!…And you, men from the Colonies, applaud with us to theworks of a new people which wants to make our concitoyens forget the crimes of the old man ; no, no, themurderous nabot will no longer crushthe ankle of the unfortunate slave’s foot. Ah! he shall depart immediately,this fortunate being, which, as the voice of our legislators, will also be thevoice of the sacred laws or nature in our Colonies ; he shall fly, he shall cryLiberty! – He shall advance in thehome of arrogant avidity ; he shall set forth with the speed of light upon thebarbarous piqueur, while crying:stop, you wretch, you are striking a free man…Oh you, unfortunate mothers, obliged to curse yourfertility, rest assured, your children will be citizens ; the source of crimes is exhausted: no, you will nolonger smother your children in order to shield them from slavery and from the murderouswhip ; you will no longer smother them in order to shield them from the longordeal of life ; you will nourish them for the patrie, you will nourish them sothat they can enjoy their liberty and bless their liberators. And you, BlackMen, you… (I must use your expression) youwill no longer swallow your tongue, in order to be able to hide yourdegradation and your torments under the tomb ; on the contrary, you willpreserve them in order to pronounce the death sentence of tyranny, in order toinveigh against your oppressors, regardless of the skin with which nature hascovered them ; you will preserve them in order to proclaim, in both worlds, theimmortal declaration of the Rights of Man, [which has been] buried for you fortoo long under the jumble of astute speeches, and the tiresome paperwork of thelong process of humanity against despotism. For you, Commune of Paris, enjoy, for a moment, thelittle good that you have done. It is nothing, this is true, in comparison withwhat our Legislators have done ; but nature, which makes the Cedar of the Lebanongrow, also grants asylum to the simple violet, under the shadowy vaults of our forest.Our legislators deposit, at the feet of the Patrie, at the feet of liberty, theimmortal trophies of their glory. Let us gather the humble field flower, andlet us also bring our offering to the common divinity. The legislatorproclaims, in the name of the French People, the rights of humanity, and markshis works with new good deeds ; we shall be allowed to celebrate them ; let ussing of sacred equality, and our songs shall resound in the mountains of the landof the children of the sun.One the next Décadi, [30 Pluviôse], as our decrees command, we willassemble with our brothers, in the Temple of Reason, in order to read out theRights of Man there and to sing the hymns of liberty. Let us also celebrate theabolition of slavery there. I proposethat a member of the General Council delivers a speech on this subject, andthat this festival is dedicated to celebrating this pleasant period of ourrevolution. »The Council, adopting the proposal of the nationalagent, decides that he will himself be invited to deliver the speech that heproposes ; that all constitutional authorities, the electoral body, thesections, the popular societies, the civil and revolutionarycommittees, will be invited to this festival: finally, decides that theadministration of public works will take the measures [that are] necessary forthe order that is to be observed there.[Brief account of the Festival of 30 Pluviôse]And on Décadi, 30 Pluviôse, the People of Parisgathered with its magistrates, in the Temple of Reason. The crowd was immense.Upon the arrival of the deputation of the National Convention, which includedthe deputies of the Colonies, repeated cries of Long live the National Convention, and applause, mingling with thenoise of the instruments of war, resounded in the vaults of the building andwere repeated outside.The citoyensand citoyennes of Colour were placed,along with the deputation of the National Convention, in an enclosure [thatwas] decorated with garlands and crowns.The ceremony began with an overture by Gossec, performed by the National Institute of Music. Thepresident of the Council then read the declaration of the Rights of Man.After this reading, another piece of music wasperformed ; during which the most pleasant effusions of fraternity manifested themselves. Cries of Long live the Republic put an end tothis touching scene.The secrétaire-greffierthen read out the analysis of all the beautiful deeds that the past month hadwitnessed. Another piece of music followed. Finally, Citizen Chaumette delivered [his famous] speech,which was often interrupted by applause: tears of affection flowed from alleyes, they were charming. Once the speech ended, the citizens of colour came togive the kiss of fraternity to the orator. A black child, lifted by the arms[of the citizens] and thus handed over to the Representatives of the People,produced the greatest effect ; but soon, the Men of Colour, followed by themunicipality, advanced to the sound of a military march, beside theRepresentatives of the People, their hands carrying the crowns that theypresented to them. It would have been necessary to have seen this beautifulscene, in order to really feel it. Men of all colours, formerly slaves, pressedbetween the arms of the Representatives of the French People, soaked with theirtears… The arms of all spectators raised towards the sky, cries of Long live the Republic, Long live the Convention [were] repeateda thousand times… On this day, the Legislators must have felt how expressivethe gratitude of the People is.After a drum roll, everyone resumed their place, andthe Men of Colour, always pressed around the representatives of the People,remained in this attitude, during the Hymn to Liberty, which closedthisinteresting festival.Upon leaving the Temple, the crowd had grown outside ;the nearby squares and streets were filled with Republicans who, in their turn,demonstrated their gratitude to the popular representation, as well as the rolewhich they played in the festival that had just been celebrated. -- source link

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