#MD28
1785
Folio bifolium (ca. 33 x 21.5 cm or 13 x 8 ½ in). 4 pp. Brown ink on creamy laid paper. Paper slightly age-toned, fold marks, minor tears and losses on extremities affecting several words, but overall a very good manuscript.
An interesting manuscript letter to Comte Francois Malet du Gravier from his former secretary “Bal,” outlining incidences of poor treatment during his employment in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) that led to him quitting his position and requesting compensation.
Francois Malet du Gravier was a French count, governor of Villeneuve d'Agen, Pennes, and Montflanquin (in southwestern France), and major of Cap-Tiburon (Saint-Domingue). He appears to have been the major of Cap-Tiburon starting in 1780 and ending in 1782, when he was court-martialed. Du Gravier also owned a sugar plantation in Saint-Domingue.
A collection of his letters can be found in the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer in France (see more).
Bal accompanied Du Gravier in the capacity as his secretary to Saint Domingue and stayed there sometime between 1782 and 1783. He outlines several grievances, including Du Gravier attempting to knock him out with a chair in August 1783 at the estate of Count de Vergennes (Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, 1719-1787), due to Bal trying to prevent him from insulting an “honest” Cayes merchant; Du Gravier punching him in the face on the main path of the same estate over the issue of an important parcel; and Du Gravier holding him, at least in part, responsible for a deficit of 1200 livres. Bal asks for compensation in the form of one hundred “Portugaises.”
The letter is signed with “Bal, Chez MM G Papillon et Comp., Négociant,” likely where he worked at the time in Saint-Domingue.
Overall, an interesting, content-rich letter providing insight into attitudes of the upper classes in the French colony of Saint-Domingue during the ancien régime.
