This pamphlet is presented as being written "by a former colonist", although the British abolitionist Zachary Macaulay is later named as the author. It is prefaced by a letter from Macaulay to the French Society for the Abolition of Slavery submitting fifty copies for distribution, and a reply from the Society, thanking him for his overview of colonial slavery and hoping that it will affect French public opinion (the pamphlet was distributed to colonial representatives in Paris). The Tableau describes the conditions of colonial slavery, lack of basic legal rights, mortality, and punishments inflicted. Macaulay calls slavery an "infamous stain on the character of a nation" (9), and compares it at length with the condition of free labourers in France. He also summarises the stages by which British colonial slavery was abolished, suggesting that France should not follow the example of the apprenticeship system.