It is a highly romantic
work, full of dramatic episodes, and replete with humor. The abundance and
variety of interesting characters in this romance evidence the great
fertility and power of invention possessed by Cable. First of all, there is
the splendid Creole, Honore' Grandissime, the head of the family,--a man
who sees far into the future, and places his trust in the young American
republic. Combating the narrow prejudices of his family, he leads them in
spite of themselves to riches and honor. Opposing him in family counsels is
his uncle, Agricola Fusilier, the brave, blustering, fire-eating
reactionary. There is also the beautiful quadroon, Palmyre Philosophe. The
"united grace and pride of her movement was inspiring, but--what shall we
say?--feline? It was a femininity without humanity,--something that made
her, with all her superbness, a creature that one would want to find
chained." Beside her are the dwarf Congo woman and Clemence, the
sharp-tongued negress, who sells her wares in the streets and sends her
bright retorts back to the young bloods who taunt her. There is Bras
Coupe', the savage slave, who had once been a chief in Africa and who
fights like a fiend against enslavement, blights the broad acres with his
curse, lives an exile in snake-infested swamps, and finally meets a most
tragic fate.
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