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HZSTOHY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 a^iLiiSFJ) ©IF m^^ iB®ssiasi(i®9 
 
 FROM ITS FIRST 
 
 DISCOVERY BY COLUx^lBUS 
 
 THE PRESENT PERIOD. 
 
 LOJ^DOX: PRmTED, 1813 : 
 
 REPRINTED BY MAHLON DAY 
 NO. 372, PEARL-STREET. 
 
 1824. 
 
The following work is but little known ; and although it has not, 
 
 in all respects, the rigid accuracy' of a history, the impartiality with 
 
 which it is vvritten, does honour to its author, and it may serve as an 
 
 introduction to the History of the Republic of Hayti, which will 
 
 shortly appear. 
 
 J. GRANVILLE. 
 f^eW'Yorh, August 16, 1824. 
 
ABVSRTISHI^SSrT. 
 
 The island of St. Domingo presents an object of interesting con- 
 templatioQ to every observer of the past and present state of the world. 
 The circumstances which invest it with peculiar interest are, — the 
 fertility of its soil, Ihe beauty of its scenery, and the general advantages 
 of its situation ; — its distinction as the first spot colonized by Europe- 
 ans in the western hemisphere ; — the barbarous extirpation of its 
 original inhabitants; — the importation of Africans, forcibly dragged 
 from their native shores ; — the oppressions and cruelties endured by 
 one generation after another of these hapless beings ; — the signal 
 vengeance which it pleased Divine Providence to permit them, at 
 length, to inflict upon thtir tyrants; — and, above all, the acquisition 
 of independence, the introduction and progress of civilization, and the 
 establishment of social order and regular government, among a people 
 whom their oppressors had denounced as incapable of these benefits. 
 With such claims to attention, it is hoped that the following attempt 
 to furnish a sketch of the History of St. Domingo, derived from au- 
 thentic sources, and condensed into a more commodious form than has 
 yet appeared, will not be unacceptable to the public. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CH/\PTER T. 
 
 FROM THE PERIOD OP THE DISCOVKRY OF THE ISLAND TO THE 
 
 YEAR 1600. 
 
 Situation. — General description — Discovery by Columbus. — Slate of the inhabi- 
 tants. — Anecdote of Gnacanahari. — A settlement formed. — Its domolition and re- 
 establishment. — Battle witli the natives. — Subjection of the island. — Dissentions 
 among the colonists. — BovadiUo sent as governor. — Superceded by Ovaiido. — Co- 
 lumbus refused admittance. — His second visit. — Spanish oppression of tiie natives. 
 — The Lucayans reduced into slavery. — Diego Columi)Us obtains tlie government. 
 — Opposition of the Dominicans to the treatment of the natives. — Albuquerque's 
 administration — Account of Las Casas — Attack of Sir Francis Drake. — Demo- 
 lition of the sea-ports and wretched state of the islanders. . . . . 1 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1600 TO THE PEACE OP RYSWICK IN 1697. 
 
 The English and French go to the West Indies. — Fxpelled from St. Christo- 
 pher's by Toledo.— The remnant of those dispersed settle at Tortuga. — Account of 
 the Buccaneers. — The English party expelled from Tortuga, and the French re- 
 tain possession. — Anecdotes of Peter le Grand. — Michael de Basco and others. — 
 Montbar and Morgan. — The French colony settled in 1665, under the judicious 
 government of Bertrand D'Ogeron. — His character and conduct. — His wish to 
 subdue the whole island for France. — His death at Paris. — Account of his succes- 
 sors. — First regular cession of the western part of the island to the Frencii at the 
 peace of Ryswick. . . . . . . . . .32 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1697 TO THE YEAR 1789. 
 
 Company of St. Louis. — M. Auger succeeds Ducasse and Deslandes. — Destruc. 
 lion of the cocoa trees on the island. — Commotion in 1722. — increasing prosperity 
 of the French colony — A view of the ecclesiastical and politicai constitution of 
 the French and Spanish divisions of the island previous to the year 1789 . . 58 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 PROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF I HE REVOLUTION OF 1789 TO THE 
 
 DECREE OF MAY 1791. 
 
 States General summoned in France — Society of Amisde Noirs — Declaration of 
 rights. — Confused state of the colony. — Decree of March 8th, 1790 — Colonial as- 
 sembly meet at St. Marc. — Decree of 28th of May. — Proceedings of Peynier and 
 Mauduit. — Rebellion of Oge. — Committee for the colonies in France. — Death of 
 Mauduit— Decree of the 15th of May, 1791. ' • - • .67 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 FROM THE MONTH OF. MAY, 1791, TO THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE 
 TOWN OP CAPK FRA>g0IS IN 1793, 
 
 Resentment against the decree of the 15th ofMay. — Revoltof the Negroes in the 
 North — Anecdote of the extraordinary fidelity of a Negro. — Insurrection of the 
 -Western division. — Concordat of the ! 1th of September. — Proclamation of the 
 general Assembly. — .\ew disturbances. — Civil commissioners sent by the national 
 assembly. — Decree of the 4th of April, 1792.— A new governor and other commis. 
 sioners appointed. — Their violence. — M. Galbaud made governor. — Disputes with 
 the commissioners, and dispossession of his office. — His brother unites with him to 
 oppose the commissioners by force. — The latter call in the aid of the revolted 
 negroes. — Conflagration of the capital, and massacre ol the white inhabitants. . 83 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 FROM MIDSUMMER, 1793, TO THE EVACUATION. OF THE ISLAND BY 
 
 TH!:, BRITISH TROOPS IN 1798. 
 
 Emigrations — Overtures to the British government. — Strength of the republican 
 party. — Tsegro slavery abolished by the French commissioners. — Jeremie and the. 
 Mole at Cape St. Nicholas surrendered to the British. — Failure of attack on Cape 
 Tiburon. — A second attempt succeeds. — Further operations of the British troops — 
 Reinforcements under General Whyte. — Conquest of Port-au-Prince. — Fuj-ther re- 
 inforcement. — Great mortality among the troops. — General Whyte succeeded by 
 Brigadier general Horneck. — Leogane taken by the negroes — Successes of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Brisbane in Artibonite. — Insurrection of nmlattoes at St. Marc— 
 Rigaud attacks Fort Bizotton. takes Fort Tiburon — Conspiracy of the French 
 against the British at St Marc, and at Port au-Prince. — Lieutenant-colonels Bris- 
 bane and Tviarkham killed. — British reinforcements. — Ravages of disease. — Major- 
 general Williamson, commander-in-chief, succeeded by Major-general Forbes. — 
 The Spanish part ot St. Domingo ceded to the French republic. — Reinforcements 
 under Brigadier-general Howe. — Leogane fortified by the mulattoes. — Major-Gene- 
 ral Simcoe succeeds to the chief comhiand — Toussaint appointed by the French 
 government general in chief — General Whyte succeeds (General Simcoe, and is 
 soon succeeded by Brigadier-general Maitland. — St. Domingo wholly evacuated 
 by the iiritish troops ......... 96 
 
 CHAP. vn. 
 
 FROM THE EVACUATION OF THE ISLAND BY THE BRITISH IN 1798, 
 TO THK DiCLARATlON OF INDi.PKND'r ^CE IN JULY, 1801. 
 
 Several Negro chiefs. — All superseded by Toussaint. — His birth. — His early 
 character. — His kind treatment by his master. — His diligence and proficiency in 
 learning — Not concerned in the first insurrection. — His gratitude and generosity 
 to his master. — Joins tlie black army, and is appointed an officer. — Soon advanced 
 to the command of a division. — His talents for war and governmeitf. — His prudence, 
 benevolence, activity, and veracity. — First espoused the cause of royalty, — but 
 afterwards acknowledged the republic. — His kindness to General Laveaux. — For- 
 
COl^TENTS. Vii 
 
 jjiveness of injuries. — Honourable conduct towards General Maitland — Promotion 
 of agriculture. — The increase of population. —State of society — Tour of Toussaint 
 througli tiie isljind. — Constitution formed. — Declaration of independence. . 110 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 FROM JULY, 1801, TO THE SEIZURE AND TRANSPORTATION OF 
 TOUSSAINT IN JUNE, 1802. 
 
 Peace between France and England. — The French Government resolves on the 
 re-conquest of St. Domingo. — Sailing of the expedition. — Its arrival at the island, 
 and formation into several divisions. — Capture of Fort Dauphin by General Ro- 
 chambeau. — LeClerc with the main body arrives off Cape Francois. — Correspon- 
 dence with Chrisiophe — Proclamation of Bonaparte. — Landing of the French. — 
 Cape Frangois burnt and evacuated by the blacks. — Toussaint in the interior — 
 His letter to Domage. — Mission of Coisnon to Toussaint. — Letter to him from 
 Bonaparte. — His interview with his sons — He prefers resigning them rather than 
 betraying his country.— Le Clerc's attempts to produce defection among the blacks. 
 — Commencement of the campaign — Operations of the different divisions. — Battle 
 with Toussaint. — Defection of the negroes. — Toussaint driven to the mountains. 
 Successful operations of the French in the south. — Le Clerc orders the restoration 
 of slavery. — The blacks renew the war with fresh vigQur. — Great reverses sustain- 
 ed by the French. — Le Clerc deceives them by a new proclamation. — Megociations. 
 — Peace with the negroes. — Retirement of the chiefs. — Toussaint siezedby order of 
 Le Clerc. — Sent to France with all his family. — His separation from tliem, — impris- 
 onment, — and death. . . . , , . ... 126 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 FROM JUNE, 1802, TO THE EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH FOR- 
 CES IN DECEMBER, 1803. 
 
 Colonial regulations of Le Clerc. — The blacks again take up arms. — Distressed 
 state of the French, from disease, £md defection. — Their cruel attempts to extermi- 
 nate the negroes, by massacres, by drownings, and by blood-hound^ employed to 
 hunt them down. — Death of General Le Clerc. — The chief command devolves on 
 
 General Rochambeau. — Further decline of French affairs. — Several skirmishes. 
 
 Battle of Acul— Five hundred prisoners murdered by tiie French. — Retaliation of 
 the blacks. — War renewed between Great Britain and France. — A British squad- 
 ron appears on the coast. — The French in Cape Frangois blockaded by sea and 
 land. — Their extreme distress, capitulation, and final evacuation of the island. , 162 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 FROM DECEMBER, 1803, TO THE SIEGE OF THE CITY OF ST. 
 DOMINGO AT MIDSUMMER, 1804. 
 
 Preparations for the new order of things on the departure of the French. — Pro- 
 Qlaraations. — Revival cf the name of Ha?ti. — Dessalines appointed governor for 
 
VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 life. — Measures to increase the army, and tlie male population. — Inflammatory 
 Proclamations of Dessalines against the French. — General massacre of them. — 
 Attempt to conquer the S^janish part of the island. . . . .173 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 PROM MIDSUMMER, 1804, TO THE D ATH OF DESSALINFS, IN OCTO- 
 
 BLR, 1805. 
 
 Dessalines takes the title of emperor. — His coronation. — New constitution 
 framed. — Outline of it. — Remarks. — State of the cultivators. — Productions. — 
 Population and military force.— Plan of defence — Religion. — Education. — Char- 
 acter and anecdotes of Dessaliries. — His tyranny and death. . . . 189 
 
 CHAP. XH. 
 
 FROM OCTOBER, 1806, TO THE ACT OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE 
 
 ESTABLISHING ROVALTT, AND CONFERRING ON CHRISTOPHE 
 
 THE TITLE OF KING, IN 1811. 
 
 Christophe assumes the government at Cape Francois. — Character and Anec- 
 dotes of him. — Proclamation on his accession. — Petion assumes the government at 
 Port-au-Prince. — ,'>ome account of him. — Fierce contest between these two rivals. — 
 Battle. — Petion defeated. — Christophe besieges Port-au-Prince, but soon retires. — 
 Calls a council at Cape Fran5ois. — New constitution formed. — Outline of it. — 
 The title of president given to Christophe. — His proclamation on the publication 
 of the new constitution — He frustrates a conspiracy for the disturbance of.famai- 
 ca. — Sangumary war between Christophe and Petion — The surrender of the Mole 
 of St. Nicholas to Christophe, followed by a cessation of ho^tilities. — Friendly 
 eommunications between the Spanish part of the island and the part under the 
 government of Christophe. — The French expelled from the city of *t. Domingo. — 
 The title of king given to Christophe by an act of the Council of State. . . 19(7 
 
 CHAP. XIU. 
 
 FROM MARCH, 1811, TO THE END OF THE YEAR 1817. 
 
 Christophe and Petion suspend hostilities, and apply themselves to the improve- 
 ment of their people. — Coronation of Christophe. — Regular organization of his 
 dominions, and those of Petion. — The French, on the accession of Louis the 
 Eighteenth, entertain thoughts of attempting to recover the island — .Absurdity of 
 their expectations. — Sentiments and feelings of the Haytians on hearing of the 
 peace in Europe, — and afterwards on being informed of the designs of France 
 against their independence. — Manifesto of Christophe. — Commissioners from 
 France to gain information concerning Hayti, and to sound the dispositions of 
 the chiefs — Correspondence with Christophe. — Resolutiwis of the council. — Nego- 
 ciations with Petion. — Answer of the public authorities. — President's proclama- 
 tion. — French prejjarations for an expedition — frnstrated by the return of Bona- 
 parte. — Overtures from Bonaparte, — and from the cabinet of Louis after his res- 
 toration, — all rejected with disdain. — Patriotic labours both of Christophe and 
 Petion. — Progress of education, cind prospect of its general extension. . 210 
 
 Appkkdix. . . . . . . • 231 
 
OF 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FROM THE PERIOD OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE ISLAND, TO 
 THE YEAR 1600. 
 
 Situation. — General description. — Discovery hy Columhus. — State of 
 theinhahitants. — Anecdote of Guaranahari. — A settlement formed. 
 — Its demolition and re-establishment. — Bottle with the natives. — 
 Subjection of the island. — Dissentions among the colonists. — 
 Bovadillo sent as governor. — Superceded by Ovando. — Columbus 
 refused admmittance. — His second visit. — Spanish oppression of the 
 natives. — The Lucayans .sedxiced into slavery. — Diego Columbus 
 obtains the government. — Opposition of the Dominicans to the treat' 
 nient of the natives. — Albuquerque^s administration.— -Account of 
 Las Casas. — Attack of Sir Francis Drake. — Demolition of the 
 sea-ports and wretched state of the islanders. 
 
 Between Porto Rico on the east, and Jamaica and Cuba on 
 the west, and at the distance of about three thousand five hun- 
 dred miles from the Land's End in England, the island of St. 
 Domingo, the abode of fertility, and the scene of important 
 political changes, appears upon the surface of the Atlantic 
 Ocean. It extends one hundred and forty or fifty miles in 
 breadth, from north to south, and about four hundred in length 
 from east to we'st,* and lies in the latitude of 18. 20. north, and 
 in longitude 63, 40. west from Greenwich. It is surrounded by 
 
 * Edwards states the length of the island at three hundred and ninety, Rains- 
 ford says it is more than four hundred and fifty ; the Abbe Raynal represents it as 
 two hundred leagues in length, and sixty, in some places eighty, in breadth ; the 
 reader must judge between these discrepances. 
 
 2 
 
2 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 rocks and dangerous shoals, with the Bahama islands not far 
 distant in a northerly direction, while it is bounded on the south 
 by the Carribbean sea. 
 
 It was originally called Hayti, by the natives, and afterwards 
 Espagnola or Hispaniola, in honour of the country which sent 
 out the squadron under Columbus. 
 
 The general salubrity of climate, the productiveness of the 
 soil, and the beauty of the scenery — comprising mountains of 
 prodigious altitude and plains of magnificent extent, every 
 where well watered, and in consequence spread over with the 
 most luxuriant vegetation — render this island a most inviting 
 spot ; and we do not wonder that Columbus boasted of having 
 discovered the original seat of paradise. " In these delightful 
 vales, all the sweets of spring are enjoyed v\iihout either winter 
 or suujmer. There are but two seasons in the year, and they 
 are equally fine ; the ground always laden with fruit and cover- 
 ed with flowers, realizes the delights and riches of poetical 
 descriptions. Wherever we turn our eyes, we are enchanted 
 with a variety of objects. c<ili)ured and reflected by the clearest 
 light. The air is temperate in the day time, and the nights are 
 constantly cool."* The land is generally considered as best 
 in the vicinity of the city from which the present name of the 
 island is derived : the interior is now occupi* d by large savan- 
 nahs or plains, scattered with wild swine, horees, and horned 
 cattle, which have been introduced by the Spaniards, who bav- 
 ins: exterminated the natives, allowed their coinestic animals to 
 run wild, and people the wilderness. From the situation of 
 this island, it might be supposed to suffer from intense heat, du- 
 ring at least one half the year, but this is provided against by an 
 easterly wind which blows with great regulaiity at certain sea- 
 sons, and refreshes what would otherwise prove a sultry and 
 oppressive climate. This wind is not much fek till about nine 
 o'clock in the mopning ; it then increases as the sun advances 
 to his meriflian, and decreases as he descends again to the hori- 
 zon, and sinks with him. 
 
 * Raynal's East and West Indies. 
 
THE BEAUTY OF THE ISLAND. 3 
 
 St. Domingo is also extremely benefitted by frequent rain, 
 especially during the months of severest heat : the same kind 
 provision for the comfort of man is observable in most countries 
 within the torrid zone, and Providence has generally propor- 
 tioned the supply to the ardour of the climate. While this 
 remark, however applies generally to our island, it is notorious 
 for the vaiiety of its climates as well as of its soil. In two 
 adjoining districts, the one is continually inundated with show- 
 ers, the other almost as destitute of them. The clouds stop 
 at a certain point as on the line of boundary, whence they dis- 
 perse into vapours, seldom bestowing more than a few drops 
 upon the thirsty region beyond this division. This difference 
 regularly takes place between the north and south sides, and 
 at the end of November the south side, and even the west 
 suffers extienjely by drought, while the northeast continues 
 to be favoured with abundant rain.* Thunder, which duiing 
 the summer is often tremendous, is seldom beard between the 
 months of November and April. The nights are very clear, 
 and the moon is not only sufficienily bright to enable a person 
 to read, but frequently powerful enough to exhibit the rainbow."!* 
 Whenever the rain ceases at any place, the dew descends in the 
 greatest abundance, which is of material consequence to vege- 
 tation Sometimes the cold is considerable, so that a fire is 
 by no means unwelcome. 
 
 But notwithstanding what we have remarked on the different 
 temperature of the air in different places, the inhabitants can 
 scarcely agree upon what periods of the year ought to be 
 designated winter and summer. Those who live to the west and 
 south, and midland parts, consider the time between April and 
 November as including the winter months or season of storms; 
 the inhabitants of the northern districts reckon just the reverse, 
 but neither of them speak either of spring or autumn, so sudden 
 are the transitions. 
 
 It has been found by experience, that the island is not favour- 
 able to European constitutions, which usually decline under the 
 
 * Charlevoix, Hisf. de 1' Isle Espagnole, Tom. 1 
 t Charlevoix. 
 
4 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 combined influences of heat and humidity. Another cause, 
 indeed, unhappily exists to prevent their attaining that longevity 
 for which many of the natives are distinguished. Instead of that 
 disciphned temperance which is beneficial to life in all places, 
 particularly to those who have removed fiom cold to warmer 
 climates, most of the settlers in the West Indies have indulged 
 in luxury and dissipation, in consequence of which, apart from 
 the direct effect of the elements, they have been usually hasten- 
 ed to a premature grave, or have exposed themselves as a prey 
 to weakness and disease. 
 
 Allliough a consiikrable proportion of the island is mountain- 
 ous, it is every where capable of cultivation, in most places even 
 to the very summits of the loftiest bills. None are absolutely 
 barren, though steep, and rising to a great elevation ; especially 
 towards Cape Tibouron. Some of them serve as embanknients 
 against I he octan, and ascend fiom its waters in high perpen- 
 dicular crags to the extrenie danger of tlie mariner. 
 
 In sooje placesj after digging a few feet, we meet with soft 
 gravel or sandy stone, in others with clay potter's earth, or a 
 bed of sand ; and frequently the best soil is of a considerable 
 depth ; but what at first sight appears astonishing, tliis last soil is 
 often found destitute of trees; but the reason is obvious — the 
 excessive drought which prevails during three or four months 
 in the year over the greatest part of the island ; in consequence 
 of which the soil cannot supply vegetation wiih sufficient nutri- 
 ment. It might be imagined from this statement, that none of 
 the larger species of trees were to be found upon the island : 
 but it is otherwise — for the roots seldom striking deeper into the 
 soil ihan two feet, diffuse themselves in a horizontal direction, 
 according to the superincumbent weight they have to sustain. 
 The fig-tree is the most remarkable for the extension of its roots, 
 which sometimes reach to seventy feet. The palm, on the 
 contrary, pushes its roots to a much shorter distance, but they 
 are so numerous as equally to answer the purpose of giving 
 firmness and stability to the tree. 
 
 The rivers are numerous, though most of them ought to be 
 rather regarded as torrents or brooks, which flow with great ra- 
 
RIVERS AND MINES. ' 5 
 
 pidity. The water is usually wholesome, but so cold that it 
 ought to be drank with care, and is dangerous for bathing. There 
 are fifteen large streams, besides the six most important rivers : 
 of which latter, Ozama forms at its mouth the port of St. Do- 
 mingo, the Macoris is the most navigable, and the best stocked 
 with fish, the Yaquey is remarkable for a gold mine at its source, 
 and for the particles of that precious metal to be found amongst 
 its sands, the Una has a copper mine at its source, and is very 
 rapid, the Hattibonite or Ai libonite is the largest and makes 
 the longest circuit. In the interior are several small lakes. 
 
 The island is pre-eminently distinguished for its mines of gold ; 
 it possesses also some of silver, copper, and iron : and besides 
 these a variety of marble quarries and mines of sulphur, talc, 
 and various chrystallized substances. Numerous species of 
 stones are also found, some of a valuable kind. The most com- 
 mon are fire-stones, some of which are white, and formed into 
 diamond points capable of cutting glass, very biiglil and dear. 
 In many places there arQ natural salt-pits along the coast, and 
 in one of the mountains that enclose the lake Xaragua, a mine- 
 ral-salt, harder and more corrosive than sea salt The Spanish 
 historian Oviedo slates, that the whole mountain is in fact a rock 
 of salt. The island furnishes a variety of shells. Its birds, 
 insects, fishes, and other peculiarities are either too well known 
 to need enumeration, or must be left to the ornithologist and 
 others, to whom It belongs to classify and describe them. 
 
 The sixth of December, 1492, is the memorable date of the 
 discovery of this remarkable island. Columbus landed at a 
 small bay, which he nanred St. Nicholas, whence he sailed along 
 the northern coast till he arrived at a harbour which seemed to 
 ofiTer him better accommodations than St. Nicholas, and Vt^here 
 he obtained an intercourse with the inhabitants by means of a 
 female whom his people had conciliated with a few presents j 
 he called it Conception. 
 
 The island was at this period divided into five considerable 
 kingdoms, united in perfect amity. Their kings were denomi- 
 nated caziques, and seemed to have acquired an ascendency 
 over their subjects, which might be called the tyranny of love. 
 
6 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 The Spanish adventurers found the male inhabitants naked, and 
 like most other barbarous people, addicted to painting their 
 bodies: the women were clothed in a kind of cotton petticoat, 
 reaching down to the knees, but the girls wore no article of ap- 
 parel. Having already, since the month of October, become 
 acquainted with the neighbouring islands, they had an opportu- 
 nity of comparing the complexion of their respective inhabitants, 
 and found that those of St. Dofningo were the fairest. Their 
 food consisted of maize, roots, fruit, and shell-fish, in the use of 
 which they observed great temperance : but though naturally 
 nimble and active they were averse to all laborious employment, 
 which may no doubt be accounted for by considering the 
 soothing warmth and benignity of the climate, and the richness 
 of the soil, which superseded the necessity of any great exer- 
 tions. Reclining therefore in the lap of ease, and on the couch 
 of indolence, diversion was their only business, and sleep their 
 recreation. 
 
 It can excite no astonishment, to find that the Spaniards re- 
 present them as of a feeble understanding, for what opportuni- 
 ties did they possess for mental cultivation and improvement.'' 
 Mere ignorance, however, in a people divested of the means of 
 acquiring information by books, or by an extensive connection 
 with the world, is no just criterion of their intellectual incapaci- 
 ty ; and it has been actually seen in various remarkable instan- 
 ces, that the degradation of mind and character which has too 
 hastily been imputed to nations placed at a distance from those 
 sources of knowledge which abound in civilized and enlightened 
 countries, has resulted from no other cause than their unfortu- 
 nate circumstances. True philosophy disdains to adopt those 
 prejudices against nations which have no better foundation than 
 accidental diversities of colour, and refuses to determine without 
 substantial evidence and incontestable fact, as the basis of her 
 judgment. 
 
 Most of those amiable qualities which adorn human nature in 
 its improved state were exhibited by the Haytians. It appears 
 that all the islanders were soon conciliated with presents, and 
 were so susceptible of the kind treatment of the strangers as to 
 
CHARACTER OF THE INHABITANTS. 7 
 
 appear on shore without arms — many of them venturing on 
 board the ships giving fruits to their visitors, and assisting them 
 to get on shore. In all their conduct they evinced the very re- 
 verse of the malignant passions ; in fact they were gentle even 
 to indifference and dullness, and the worst part of their mental 
 character was, that they manifested no desire for improvement. 
 All their history was comprised in songs which they had learned 
 in childhood, and in fables which, while they amused the idle 
 hour, furnished no authentic information. Some persons would 
 pronounce them happy, and so far as the nature of their situation 
 tended to preclude a multitude of evils which thrive in the less 
 retired -and less peaceful abodes of civilization and refinement, 
 the terra may be admitted, supposing it to b*^ employed only in 
 its negative sense ; but as to all positive enjoyment, arising from 
 the enlarged exercise of the faculties, and the knowledge of the 
 great principles of morality and religion, they must be pronoun- 
 ced destitute and wretched. They possessed the ease of lassi- 
 tude, but knew nothing of the pleasure and reward of successful 
 activity. Properly speaking, therefore, they were only, not 
 miserable. 
 
 Their domestic economy does not seem to have been much 
 adapted to promote comfort. They had a plurality of wives, 
 although their affections were usually concentrated in one, who 
 was beloved above the rest, yet without possessing any superior 
 authority. This distinguished favourite would sometimes im- 
 molate herself in the same grave with her departed husband : 
 but this was considered merely as a sacrifice to affection, and 
 not practised, as it is in some other parts of the world, as a mat- 
 ter of honour or conscience. 
 
 Of their religion little can be ascertained : they are represent- 
 ed as paying adoration to a number of malevolent beings, which, 
 if true, probably resulted from motives of fear and superstition. 
 It is certain also that they had sorcerers among them. 
 
 An incident related by Columbus in a report to Ferdinand 
 and Isabella of Spain, merits insertion. When that celebrated 
 navigator was wrecked on the eastern coast of the island Gua- 
 canahari, the cazique, or king of that district, being informed 
 
b HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 of the disaster, immediately expressed the gr*»atest sorrow, sent 
 all the people of the place on board in a number of large ca- 
 noes, who in a short time secured every thing which could be 
 saved -from the shattered vessel. " He himself," says Colum- 
 bus, " with his brother and relatives, took all possible care that 
 every thing should be properly done both aboard and on shore : 
 and from time to time he sent some of his relations weeping, to 
 beg of me not to be dejected, for he would give me all that he 
 had. I can assure your Highnesses that so much care would 
 not have been taken of securing our effects in any part of Spain ; 
 as all our property was put together in one place near his pal- 
 ace, until the houses which he Vt'anted to prepare for Ihe cus- 
 tody of it were emptied, he immediately placed a guard of 
 armed men who watched during the whole night, and those on 
 shore lamented as much as if they had been interested in 
 our los><." 
 
 An interchange of mutual esteem and friendship was continu- 
 ally carried on between the islanders and their visiters; the for- 
 mer regarded the latter as preternatural beings, and tiie cazique 
 was extremely courteous, presenting Columbus with numerous 
 articles of curious workmanship : while the Spaniards availed 
 themselves of the opportunity of exchanging their trifles of 
 beads, knives, pins, and other articles for pieces of gold, of which 
 they were in eager pursuit, and which the inhabitants, without 
 any knowledge of their value to the Europeans, procured from 
 the beds of rivers, whither they were brought down from the 
 mountains by the stream. 
 
 While, however, the islanders were made sensible of the 
 friendship of the strangers, (a friendsliip alas! of whose interest- 
 ed motive they could form no adequate conception) they were 
 overawed by the display of the effects of aitillery which was giv- 
 en in their presence as a measure of necessary precaution. The 
 policy of the Spaniards was to induce the natives at once to love 
 and to fear them, and they so far succeeded as to produce the 
 conviction that what they presented to them were sacred things; 
 an idea which their subsequent conduct could not eradicate. 
 But we must not too heartily condemn the Spaniards, unless we 
 
COLUMBUS LEAVES THE ISLAND. V 
 
 are willing to coniprehend in the well-merited censure, the pro- 
 digious multitudes of the designing and the wicked of every age 
 and country, who are perpetually practising upon the credulity 
 of mankind, and congratulating themselves but too justly upon 
 the skill with which they circulate delusion and inflict pain. 
 
 Columbus was soon placed in circumstances which rendered 
 it important to him to form a settlement upon the island, and 
 to depart for Spain. Having lost one of his ships, and received 
 no intelligence since his arrival of another, the third was insuffi-, 
 cient for the whole of the crew, a part of which, therefore he was 
 anxious to leave during his voyage home. In this he found no 
 difliculty ; and selected accordingly thirty-eight or thirty-nine 
 Castllians, whom he entrusted to the command of Roderigo de 
 Arado, or Arana, of Cordova; promising to recommend them 
 to European patronage and protection. The simple-hearted 
 Haytians assisted in the erection of the fort which was to give 
 the mastery to their wiser discoverers ; and Columbus, after re- 
 connoitering the island, quitted the colony on the fourth of 
 January 1493, and arrived in Spain the following March. Pro- 
 ceeding instantly to Barcelona, where the court resided, he was 
 welcomed with extraordinary demonstrations of joy : the no- 
 bility and people went out to meet him, and accompanied hioi 
 in crowds to his sovereign, to whom he presented so.iTie of the 
 Islanders who had voluntarily attended him to Europe. Birds, 
 cotton, and various curiosities were exhibited as the fruit of his 
 discoveries ; but above all, as most attractive to avaricious eyes, 
 pieces of gold, which Immediately convinced every one that he 
 had found Inexhaustible riches, and was at once the most fortu- 
 nate and the most honourable of mankind. It was not enough 
 to load him with caresses and praises, their enthusiasm allowed 
 bira to sit as a grandee of Spain at the public audience of the 
 sovereigns. 
 
 The stay of Columbus at Barcelona was not prolonged a sin- 
 gle hour for the purpose of indulging himself In inglorious ease. 
 When the purpose of his visit was accomplished he felt anxious 
 to depart ; which, however, he was desirous not to do, till the 
 natives who had accompanied him to Europe, among whom was 
 
 S 
 
10 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 the father of the cazlque beforementione<l, were baptized into 
 the Catholic faith, and publicly received into the Communion 
 of that church. This was accordingly done in the presence and 
 with the co-operation of the royal family. The Catholics car- 
 ried their zeal still further, and chose a number of ecclesiastics 
 out of the religious orders, who were deputed to go abroad 
 under a superior, to whom the pope entrusted extraordinary 
 powers, with a view of proselyting the inhabitants of the new 
 world to their religion.* 
 
 At the expiration of about six months, being furnished with a 
 fleet of. seventeen sail, under the papal sanction. Containing 
 fifteen hundred persons, most of them- gentlemen, and some of 
 distinguished rank, with soldiers, artificers and missionaries, with 
 abundant provisions, instruments for working the mines, the 
 seeds of all the plants considered likely to thrive in the climate, 
 and with the domestic animals of Europe, which were unknown 
 in the newly discovered region, Columbus set sail in the au- 
 tumn from the Bay of Cadiz, and arrived at St. Domingo on the 
 twenty-second of November. But how extrenje his disappoint- 
 ment to witness devastation instead of prosperity, and silence 
 instead of notes of welcome and congratulaiion ! 
 
 During the interval of his absence, and indeed veiy soon after 
 his depai^ure, the gariison revolted from the authority of their 
 commander, and in defiance of all wholesome restraint as well 
 as of every prudential consideration, indulged in riot and licen- 
 tiousness, seizing the provisions and the gold of the natives. The 
 evil becoming past further endurance, the cazique of Cibao de- 
 stroyed the fort and colony ; so that in the expressive words of 
 the Abbe Haynal, *^' Columbus found nothing but ruins and car- 
 cases upon the spot where he had left fortifications and Span- 
 iartis." Instead of uselessly wasting his time in retaliations, he 
 induced his companions to begin the erection of a city in a spa- 
 cious plain, conveniently situated with respect to a bay, and at 
 length dignified with the name of Isabella, in honour of the 
 queen his patroness. A fort was also built on the mountains of 
 
 * Charlevoix Hist, de I'Isle Espagnole. 
 
ENTIRE SUBJUGATION OF THE ISLAND. 11 
 
 Cibao, where they collected gold in considerable quantities 
 from the torrents, and where they determined to open mines. 
 
 Intent on the grf-at purpose of making further discoveries, 
 Columbus appointed his brother Diego to govern during his 
 absence and debarked on the twenty-fourth of April ; but after 
 a disastrous navigation of five months, returned to witness new 
 calamities. The soldiery had been placed under the command 
 of Don Pedro Margarita, and were commissioned to undertake 
 the establishment of the Spanish authority in different parts of 
 the island. Tiiey committed similar excesses to those who had 
 previously produced the destruction of the first colony ; and 
 Columbus was necessitated to lake up arms to repel those attacks 
 which had before proved successful. The battle was fought in 
 the plain of Vegal Real, and notwithstanding the extreme dis- 
 parity of numbers, there being a hundred thousand Indians, and 
 only two hundred foot, twenty horse and twenty dogs to com- 
 pose the Spanish armament, it will n6t appear surprising that 
 European discipline should obtain an easy conquest over the 
 military incompetence of the Haytians.* The prisoners were 
 condemned to the mines, excepting three hundred, who were 
 sent into Spain as slaves; but to the immortal honour of the 
 Q^ueen of Castile be it recorded, she restored them to their 
 country, accompanied with orders to give them their liberty, 
 and at the same time to' pay particular attention to conciliate 
 the islanders to the Christian religion, and to bring them by per- 
 suasion, not by compulsion, to submit to the crown of Castile. f 
 
 These orders, however, arrived too late. The entire subjec- 
 tion of the island was the natural consequence of this victory, 
 which was achieved in March, 1495. A lax was imposed on 
 
 * " Ces pauvres insulaires, accoutumes la pliipart a se battre en se poussanl 4 
 force de bias, ou tout au plus a coups de Macanas furent etrangcment surpris de 
 v( ir les Kspagnols a battre des lignes entieres aven leurs armes a feu, dont aucun 
 coup ne portoit a laux sur des corps tout nuds et qu'on approchoit aussi pres qu'on 
 vouloit, enfiler trois ou quaire hommes a la fois avec leurs longues epees, les 
 fouler aux pieds des chevaux and lacher sur eux de gros matins qui ieur sautarit 
 a la gorge, les etraugloient d'abord et les mettotent en pieces." — Charlevoix. 
 
 t Charlevoix. 
 
1:^ HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 all the natives above the age of fourteen, to be paid in gold 
 every taree months by those who lived in the vicinity of the 
 mines, by others in cotton ; the consequence of which was an 
 attempt on their part to reduce the Spaniards to starvation, by 
 tearing up the roots of vegetables, and retiring from the labours 
 of the field to the inaccessible parts of the mountains. By this 
 means, however, they became themselves the victims of their 
 own inconsideration and inexperience, and upwards of a third of 
 their number perished. Previously to this terrible disaster they 
 were estimated at a million. It was not, however, famine 
 merely that occasioned their destruction ; the ferocious colonists 
 pursued them to their fastnesses, and even trained up dogs to 
 hunt and devour them It has even been said, that some of 
 the Caslilians had made avow to massacre twelve Indians every 
 day in honour of the twelve apostles ! ! * 
 
 Should an unlucky moralist here interpose the question, 
 What right had the Spanish adventurers to the soil of St. Do- 
 mingo, and the service of its inhabitants .^ Should he further 
 inquire by what authority they or the European masters under 
 whom they acted, plundered their possessions, shed their blood, 
 and taxed their tamiii< s ? The reply must be given in that 
 single word which comprehends the entire policy of half the 
 nations of the earth, and which is so legibly written in the an- 
 nals of every country — Power. The well-known feelings of 
 Columbus himself, upon this subject, who only aimed to gra- 
 tify the avaricious spirit of his court, exempt him in some 
 measure, from that unmingled sentiment of abhorrence, which 
 must fill every enlightened individual at the recital of such de- 
 testable enormities. 
 
 " Man is to man the worGt an<3 surest itl." 
 
 Had it not been for the actual proceedings of these servants of 
 Spain, we should have said, that they had in trust the arts of 
 civilization, and the elements of superiur character to convey 
 to these barbarous islanders ; and to communicate them should 
 
 " *" Abbe Raynal's Hist, of the East and West Indies, Book 0. 
 
^'EW DIFFICULTIES AWAIT COLUMBUS. 13 
 
 have been the legitimate object of their mission — should have 
 been the delight of their existence. If discovery be not made 
 subservient to the promotion of human happiness, it may well 
 be deprecated as an evil; for if misery follow in the train, who 
 could wish for the extension of our geographical knowledge, at 
 the expence of the comfort and the peace of millions of our 
 fellow-creatures ? And who can help burning with indignation 
 to see the demon of Avarice binding St. Domingo in chains, in 
 order to rob her of her gold ? 
 
 In the mean time, difficulties of a new kind awaited Columbus. 
 His adversaries in Spain had intrigued to procure Aguado, a 
 groom of the bed-chamber, to be sent out as commissioner, and 
 our great discoverer felt himself compelled lo return to Europe 
 to meet and obviate the accusations which were contrived 
 against him. His brother Bartholomew was left lieutenant- 
 governor upon the island, and soon began the building of the 
 town of St. Domingo. Francis Roldan, a man of rank, was chief 
 justice. This was in 1496. 
 
 The precise causes of the dissentions whtch instantly arose 
 among the colonists, it may perhaps be somewhat difficult to 
 explain. A pretence was unquestionably afforded by the re- 
 moval of the settlers to the opposite side of the island, that is, 
 from Isabella to St. Domingo ; which Columbus had considered 
 a more eligible situation, and whither his brother after his de- 
 parture transferred them. Instead of maintaining order, Roldan 
 encouraged insubordination ; and thinking that Columbus was 
 not likely to return, he formed the design of seizing the go- 
 vernment. For this purpose, he insinuated himself into the 
 confidence and affection of the people, misrepresenting the 
 conduct of others. Having been commissioned to head a band 
 of soldiers to enforce the payment of tribute from one of the 
 refractory caziques, he availed himself of the favourable oppor- 
 tunity of disseminating rebellious feelings, and upon his return, 
 openly seized the keys of the royal magazine, distributing the 
 arms and provisions to his party. Don Diego was obliged to 
 shut himself up in the castle, and procure defenders from Con- 
 ception. Bartholomew was of course on his side filled with 
 
14 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 apprehensions at the progress of the revolt, especially when he 
 found that several persons of consideration were engaged in it. 
 He obtained an interview with Roldan, but the latter was resolv- 
 ed to carry things to the utmost extremity. The troops began 
 to desert from the garrison, and Bartholomew was beginning to 
 despair, when he received information of the arrival of two 
 ships at St. Domingo laden with provision Instantly he hasten- 
 ed towards the capital, followed by Holdan, who halted at 
 the distance of five leagues. Here the rebel chief received 
 new proposals for peace through the commander of the Vessels, 
 who entreated him to desist, but in vain. Withdrawing into 
 the province of Xarangua, he told the cazique that he came to 
 release him from the tribute which had been imposed by the 
 king, and that for his part he did not desire the possessions, but 
 the hearts of his allies. He held the same language to other 
 caziques, while in fact he made them pay dearly for his friend- 
 ship. 
 
 News very soon reached St. Domingo that a chief named 
 Guarionex, had fled with a considerable number of his subjects 
 to the protection of another chief named Mayobanex, who ruled 
 over a warlike district in the vicinity of Cape Cabron. Dis- 
 appointed of his expectations from these tributaries in conse- 
 quence of this movement, the governor immediately went in 
 pursuit. He met an army of the natives in the plains, aiid in- 
 stantly dispersed them into the mountains, whither however he 
 did not deem it prudent to follow. Some days aftei wards, the 
 Indians perceiving that the Spaniards were off their guard, rush- 
 ed upon them and slew many, but the troops recruiting, abun- 
 dantly retaliated upon their enemies, whom they chased unto 
 their defiles. Mayobanex was at no great distance fiom this 
 field of action, and Bartholomew having discovered the place 
 of his retreat, marched upon it with his entire force. 
 
 Before the commencement of actual hostilities, he sent to 
 offer terms to the cazique upon condition of his delivering up 
 Guarionex. The brave Indian replied, that " Guarionex was a 
 man of honour, who had never done an injury to any person ; 
 while the Spaniards were thieves and murderers, who adopted 
 
NOBLE-SPIRirEDNESS OF MAYOBANEX. 15 
 
 every unworthy method of despoiling others of their posses- 
 sions — that he would never suffer himself to abandon an unfor- 
 tunate prince, who was besides his benefactor and his friend, 
 and had cast himself under his protection." He spoke in a 
 similar manner to his courtiers, who seeing the ravages made 
 all over their country by the invaders, and affected by the com- 
 plaints of the people that the war would be their ruin, repre- 
 sented that he would destroy himself and not save his friend. 
 "Let what will happen," said he, "I am resolved rather to 
 perish than deliver him up to his enemies." To the prince 
 himself he repeated the same resolution, and they sealed their 
 mutual attachment with vows and tears. 
 
 • After thisj.Mayobanex took care to occupy all the defiles 
 of the mountains, and to issue orders to his army to fall upon 
 their enemies whenever they could do it with any probable 
 advantage. The governor considered it of great importance in 
 the mean time rather to gain than compel the islanders, and 
 with this view he sent three prisoners whom he had just taken, 
 and drew near himself with ten foot soldiers and only four horse. 
 All thereply of the indignant cazique, consisted in killing the pri- 
 soners and preparing for battle. It was hence obvious that no 
 further conciliatory measures would avail, and force must decide 
 the quarrel. The natives were soon routed, and two days after- 
 wards the governor having learnt by two prisoners the hiding 
 place of Mayobanex, he made use of the following stratagem. 
 Having chosen twelve of his men whom he disguised as natives, 
 he sent them with the two already mentioned as guides, and 
 concealed their swords in palm-leaves. In this manner they 
 proceeded to the cazique's retreat, where they found him sur- 
 rounded with his wife, his children, and many of his relations. 
 He was instantly secured without resistance, and conveyed to 
 the general, who carried him as his prisoner on his way to Con- 
 ception. One of the cazique's daughters was in the train j she 
 was in the highest estimation among her father's subjects, the 
 Ciguayans, and had married one of the .principal lords of the 
 country. Her husband upon hearing of her captivity, collected 
 his dependants together, and hastened after the Spaniards whom 
 
16 HISTORY OF ST, DOMINGO. 
 
 he overtook in a few days. Instantly he cast himself at the 
 feet of the governor, entreating with tears the restoration of his 
 wife ; which was granted without exacting any ransom. This 
 act of clemency, however, was greatly subservient to the interests 
 of .the ambitious foreigners, by impressing upon the mind of this 
 man an eternal sense of gratitude. In a few days he came with 
 four or five hundred of his subjects vpith the sticks they were 
 accustomed to use in turning the soil, and requested to mark 
 out a space for them to cultivate and possess. His offer was 
 accepted, and in a few days'the ground was cleared. 
 
 Conceiving hopes from the conduct of the Spaniards on this 
 occasion, the subjects of Mayobanex indulged the expectation 
 of procuring his release, and they spared neither tears, prayers, 
 nor presents to procure it ; but it was determined to make an 
 example of this chief who exercised an entire influence over 
 many others ; his family was restored, but himself detained in 
 bondage. This refusal filled the poor islanders with the utmost 
 resentment against Guarionex whom they considered as the 
 occasion of this calamity : but in vain did they deliver him up 
 to the Spaniards. Mayobanex \;as taken to the capital, where 
 after a formal trial he was convicted of rebellion and publicly 
 executed. Let not the year of this transaction be forgotten : 
 it was in 149S. 
 
 At this juncture Columbus arrived from Spain ; he was receiv- 
 ed with every demonstration of joy in the capital, but his own 
 gratification was spoiled by the melancholy state of affairs. He 
 advised and adopted every conciliatory measure to gain the 
 malcontents, and the commandant of Conception was dispatch- 
 ed to Roldan to obtain terms of accommodation. The rebel 
 was still inexorable, Columbus afterwards sent him a kind letter 
 by a messenger whom he had wished to see^ which seemed to 
 make some impression upon his mind and induced him to ex- 
 press a wish to see his admiral ; to this his followers strongly 
 objected, so that he was necessitated to content himself with 
 sending a letter, in which he threw all the blame of the revolt 
 upon the governor, and wished for a safe conduct for himself 
 and associates to the capital. This occasioned great embar- 
 rassment. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE LANDS. 17 
 
 On the ninth of November, he adopted the measure of pub- 
 lishing a manifesto, in which it was declared that all persons 
 who returned to their duty within a limited time should receive a 
 full pardon for past revolt, and that all who desired it should be 
 conveyed into Spain. In addition to this, a safe conduct was 
 transmitted to Roldan, who at leno;th repaired to the capital ; 
 not however for the purpose of re-establishing union, but of 
 secretly exciting dissatisfaction and increasing his own party. 
 As soon as he returned, he sent an insolent letter and marched 
 upon Conception. The place being well defended, he attempt- 
 ed to subdue it by a prolonged siege ; but an officer named 
 Carrajal coming up, dexterously entered into negociatlons with 
 Roldan, who gave his signature to terms in a few days, of which 
 the principal one was, that those who wished to return into 
 Spain should be allowed to do so and be provided with the 
 means. The vessels which were provided for this purpose hav- 
 ing been wrecked, in a violent tempest, on their way to the 
 port where they were to have received their passengers, Roldan 
 availed himself of the circumstance to refuse adherence to his 
 agreement, but upon fresh ships being provided, he was at 
 length, with difficulty, brought anew to his engagement. After 
 every preparation was made, Roldan presented a request on 
 behalf of a hundred and two of his companions who wished to 
 remain in the island, and they were ultimately allowed to dis- 
 perse themselves in distinct settlements in the Vega Real, at 
 Bonao, and beyond St. Vago. The neighbouring caziques 
 were obliged to send their subjects to cultivate these lands, so 
 that instead of tribute, the Indians were reduced to labour for 
 these new masters, who were the refractory portion of their 
 European invaders. Hence originated the names of repariimen- 
 ios, or departments, distributions, commands, and concessions. 
 In the mean time, Roldan continued to behave towards Colum- 
 bus rather like a conqueror than a pardoned rebel j but the 
 latter felt it necessary to dissemble his resentment, hoping that 
 the affair would be ultimately investigated and adjusted in Spain,* 
 
 • Charlevoix, Hist, de I'lsle Espagnole, Tom. I, 
 4 
 
18 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 ■ The conduct of Columbus had been so shamefully misrepre- 
 sented, that Francis de Bovadilio, a knight of Calatravia, was 
 sent over in 1500, to supersede him, with orders to disniiss him 
 to Spain in irons. He found considerable difficulty at first in 
 establishing his authority, as those already in possession were 
 disposed to retain it : but having obtained it by a sort of inva- 
 sion, which the resistance of the present occupants rendered 
 necessary, rather than by a dignified entrance conceded to him 
 by general affection, he acted with great indiscretion. Instead 
 of suppressing, he cherished Roldan and the other malcontents, 
 bestowing upon them marks of high distinction ; while Colum- 
 bus, his brother, and their friends were treated with every indig- 
 nity, till the discovei-er and rightful lord of the island was in fact 
 dismiissed to Europe in a disgraceful manner. 
 
 It was the incessant aim of the new governor to aggravate 
 the detestation of every one against the whole family of Co- 
 lumbus, especially the natives, and his misconduct drew around 
 him and placed in his confidence the refuse of society. His 
 unworthy care was more completely to enslave the inhabitants; 
 for which purpose he contracted with the different caziques lo 
 furnish every Spaniard with a certain number of his subjects 
 whom he was to make use of as his beasts of burden ; and in 
 order to prevent any possible escape from the infamous servi- 
 tude, he numbered the igative population ; and reducing them 
 into different classes, distributed them among his adherents, by 
 whose afTection he was well aware that he held the precarious 
 tenure of his new authority. 
 
 This proceeding threatened their total extinction, and Bova- 
 dillo was in his turn superseded by another knight of the name 
 of Nicholas de Ovando, who carried with him the largest arma- 
 ment that had ever yet been witnessed, consisting of thirty-two 
 ships with two thousand five hundred settlers ; and upon his 
 arrival, the former governor with Roldan and his accomplices 
 was oi'dered back. 
 
 Ovando is represented as a man of merit and capable of in- 
 spiring others with respect ; modest, and disinterested : but his 
 employment was infectious, so much so as to transform the 
 
BOVADILLO AND OVANDO. 19 
 
 very greatest of men into tyrants. None of the governors of this 
 unhappy island appear to have been sufficiently principled to 
 resist the combined influence of the love of rule and the love 
 of money.* 
 
 In the mean time Columbus remained in a state of irksome 
 inactivity, soliciting attention in vain, til! he commenced a fourth 
 voyage to attempt discoveries in the East, May, 1502. Having 
 steered to St. Domingo to obtain of Ovando the exchange of a 
 vessel, he requested permission to enter the harbour, which was 
 denied. Twenty-one ships were at the moment departing for 
 Spain, nearly the whole of which were lost in a tempest, then 
 evidently gathering, and of which Columbus in vain forewarned 
 them : Bovadillo, Roldan, and most of the persecutors of Co- 
 lumbus and the Indians, with the whole of their wealth, amount- 
 ing in value to upwards of fifty thousand pounds sterling, perish- 
 ed in the general wreck ; the effects of this tremendous storm 
 were not limited to the ocean : the city of St. Domingo was 
 almost wholly destroyed, but in a short time afterwards was 
 rebuilt with considerable improvements. 
 
 Notwithstanding the humanity of our great discoverer, he had 
 very much increased the miseries of the island by fixing Ameri- 
 cans upon the lands distributed to his soldiers, a plan which was 
 extended by Bovadillo, but destroyed by Ovando. The latter 
 relieved the Indians from a toil which had been so utterly in- 
 compatible with their habits and tempers, but it was soon found 
 that the claim of expedience and the plea of necessity superseded 
 
 * " Ovando etoit un homme de merite, fort sense, d'un abord gracieux et qui 
 inspiroi.t eu meme-tems un grand respect pour sa personne : mudeste, jusqu a ne 
 pouvoirsouffrir les marques de distinction, ni les litres, quilui eiorient dus, grand 
 amateur de la justice, et fort desinteresst-. Le Nouveau Monde eut ete heu- 
 reux d'etre gouverne par un homme de ce caractere, s'il I'eut soutenu tout entier 
 jusqu au bout Mais il sembloit que I'emploi, dont on le revetit, fut contagieux, 
 es transformat d'abord les bommes les plus doux et les plus modr6es en tyrans 
 suscites pour la destruction des malheureux Indiens: a I'egard meme des Espag- 
 nols, il ne parut pas se comforter toujours avec ce desinteressment et cette 
 cquite, qu'on lui avoitconnus, ni etre asses en garde contra les rapports de gens 
 mal intcntionnes : ce qui le fit quelquefois donner dans de grands travers." 
 Charlevoix, Hist, de I'lsle Espagnole, Tom. I. 
 
20 HISTORY OF ST. DOIVflNGO. 
 
 that of justice. The natives wandered up and down through 
 the island without any regular employment, and relapsed into a 
 state of indolence which was productive of famine. Their op- 
 pressors soon a^ain demanded their services, and urged upon 
 the court the consideration that they would always be disposed 
 to revolt, unless prevented by puflGcient dispersion- After seve- 
 ral discussions, it was resolved to divide the island into a greater 
 number of districts, which the Spaniards obtained in proportioa 
 to their rank or interest : the Indians attached to them were 
 slaves, whom the law was in vain bound to protect. 
 
 In 1504, Columbus again visited St. Domingo, after having 
 been stopped in the career of discovery by shipwreck and de- 
 tention in the island of Jamaica twelve months. Though cau- 
 tious of receiving him, Ovando at length procured his escape 
 and admission into the island with every public honour. Here 
 he remained but a single month, and returned with difficulty and 
 in a tempest into Spain, where, instead of being welcomed in a 
 manner suited to the greatness of his character, and the magni- 
 tude of his discoveries, he experienced coldness and injustice : 
 he died in May, 1506, at Valladolid, only fifty-nine years af age. 
 " Such was the end of this uncommon man, who, to the asto- 
 nishment of Europe, added to a fourth part of the earth, or ra- 
 ther, half a world to this globe which had been so-long desolate 
 and so little known. It might reasonably have been expected, 
 that public gratitude would have given the name of this intrepid 
 seaman to the new hemisphere, the first discovery of which was 
 owing to his enterprising genius. This was the least homage of 
 respect that could be paid to his memory; but either through 
 envy, inattention, or the caprice of fortune even in the distribu- 
 tion of fame, this honour was reserved for Amerieus Vespucius, 
 a Florentine; who did nothing more than follow the^ footsteps 
 of a man whose name ought to stand foremost in the list of great 
 characters."* 
 
 Ovando is represented by all the historians as exercising a 
 considerable degree of wisdom and justice in his administration, 
 
 • Abb6 Raynal. 
 
REVOLT IN HIGUET. 21 
 
 SO far as regarded his countrymen, while he swayed a rigorous 
 sceptre over the poor natives. His constant aim was to pro- 
 mote the prosperity of the settlement, and with a discretion 
 that does him credit, he endeavoured to excite the attention of 
 the Spaniards to the cultivation of the land, the forming of 
 plantations of sugar cane, which he had obtained from the 
 Canary isles, and the establishment of sugar works. 
 
 Various symptoms of dissatisfaction, with Spanish oppression, 
 from time to time presented themselves in different provinces. 
 In the year 1502, exasperation had led to the assassination of a 
 few Spaniards in Higuey, which led to a more extended mani- 
 festation of a spirit of revolt. The governor considered it im- 
 portant to adopt instant measures to check this growing evil, 
 and accordingly dispatched an officer with four hundred men to 
 the spot. He met however, with much greater resistance than he 
 had anticipated, and some detachments of his force were cut 
 off J upon this, Esquibel, the commanding officer, acting upon 
 instructions which he had received from Ovando, offered the 
 Indians conditions of peace, but they were rejected with disdain, 
 and continued for a time to wage successful war with their in- 
 vaders. But the tide at length turned, and they were vigorously 
 pursued into the mountains, the usual place of their retreat 
 after disastrous engagements. Here they were slain in such 
 numbers that their well-peopled province appeared afterwards 
 like a desert : the cheftain who had formerly refused, was now 
 reduced to the necessity of soliciting peace ; and Esquibel 
 erected and garrisoned a fortress upon his territory. 
 
 A still more formidable insurrection was in J 503, beginning 
 to display itself in the province of Xaragua. Ever since the 
 affair of Roldan, a considerable number of his accomplices had 
 remained in this part of the country, who were perpetually sow- 
 ing the seeds of impiety and discontent. Anacoana, the prin- 
 cess who governed this district, had been at first extremely well 
 inclined towards the Spaniards, but their misconduct converted 
 her affection into hatred, at least so they persuaded themselves, 
 conscious that there was too much cause for the existence of 
 such an altered state of feeling. Information was accordingly 
 
ZZ HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 communicated to the capital, that the queen of Xaragua was 
 meditating some rebellious project ; and it was suggested that 
 no time ought to be lost in taking measures to prevent it. 
 
 Ovando was too well aware of the character of his informers 
 to place implicit reliance upon their representations, and too 
 liitle confident in them to feel much disposed to adopt their 
 quarrel ; still he deemed it a necessary precaution to undertake 
 a journey into the neighbourhood ; and after a public announce- 
 ment of his intention to visit the province of Xara2;ua for the 
 purpose of receiving the tribute which was due to the crown of 
 Castile, and of seeing a princess who had always professed the 
 greatest friendship for the Spanish nation, he set out at the hea,d 
 of three hundred foot and seventy horse, upon the expedition. 
 Anacoana publicly testified the utmost joy at the honour of tl)is 
 visit, whether from motives of policy or aflection it may be 
 difficult to determine. She went forth to meet Ovando, atten- 
 ded by the entire body of her nobility and an incalculable mul- 
 titude of people, dancing and singing as they proceeded. Af- 
 ter the first compliments, the governor was conducted to the 
 royal palace amidst the most rapturous and universal acclama- 
 tion's, and a feast was prepared which was kept for several suc- 
 cessive days in the most magnificent manner. 
 
 The historian Herrera, states, that Ovando was soon con- 
 vinced of the existence of a conspiracy against the Spaniards, 
 but by v.hat evidence it does not appear : Oviedo represents a 
 confession as having been extorted from three hundred caziques, 
 who were the queen's vassals, by torture, a proceeding which 
 has been strongly condemned by most of the other Spanish 
 historians.' The governor accordingly adopted the following 
 mode of sacrificing the accused to the security of the colony. 
 Having invited the queen to a feast, which he said should be 
 celebrated after the manner of his country, with all the pomp 
 of his assembled nobility, the whole Indian court, as h<-r atten- 
 dants, were thus collected on one spot : the Spaniards at length 
 appeared in the order of battle, the infantry marching bffore 
 and occupying all the avenues to the place as they advanced : 
 the cavalry followed, with the governor at their head, and 
 
afASSACRE OF THE XARANGUANS. 2S 
 
 moved on to the queen's residence, who was not a little alarm- 
 ed to see them approaching sword in hand. In obedience to a 
 preconcerted sign, the multitude were instantly put to the sword, 
 while the unfortunate queen with her whole court were secured : 
 the caziques. were fixed to the stakes used in the temporary 
 construction for the feast, and perished in the flames in which 
 the building was consumed, while the queen was reserved for a 
 more disgraceful end, being conducted to the capital, and there 
 tried, condemned, and publicly executed on a gallows. Of the 
 people who were thus treacherously assassinated, the numbers 
 of all ranks and conditions cannot be reckoned ; — high and low, 
 rich and poor, men and women, the innocent and guilty were 
 alike indiscriminately massacred. The few who escaped fled 
 of course in every direction, and souje of them settled in far 
 distant places. 
 
 After the conclusion of this military visit, Ovando gave his 
 attention to the establishment of towns and villages, selecting 
 the most advantageous situations for their erection, so that in 
 1504, the Spaniards possessed fifteen cities or towns filled with 
 their own population, besides two fortresses in Higuey, Isabella, 
 and other places, formed at first for the mines of Cibao and 
 Christopher, but which had now been some time abandoned.* 
 
 In the year 1506,. the province of Higuey where it was sup- 
 posed tranquillity had been fully restored, was again in a state of 
 open revolt. The bad faith of the Spaniards having led them 
 to violate the conditions of the treaty which had been conclu- 
 ded with Esquibel, the Indians after preferring many useless 
 complaints, attacked and burned the fortress and massacred the 
 garrison. A resolution was instantly taken to revenge this pro- 
 ceeding in the most signal manner, and Esquibel was again dis- 
 patched to chastise the insurgent district. Having subsidized a 
 number of Indians of the neighbouring province, he hastened 
 to the place destined to feel the weight of Spanish indignation. 
 With little resistance he overran the country: the despaii-ing 
 natives slew themselves with their own weapons — in other 
 
 * Charlevoix. 
 
24 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. * 
 
 instances, prisoners who were compelled to become guides 
 through the defiles of the mountains, threw themselves down 
 headlong to avoid the treachery to which they were compelled ; 
 in many cases the islanders displayed prodigious courage and 
 equal skill. 
 
 At length the seizure of the cazique, Cotubanama, put an 
 end to the war: he was bi ought to the capital and executed as 
 other, rebels against the government had been before j and in him 
 terminated for that age, the race of native Haytian kings. 
 
 The lamentable success of this contest, and the death of 
 queen Isabella in Spain, completed the misfortunes of the isl- 
 anders. 
 
 Oppression now laid an iron hand upon the Indians ; their la- 
 bour was increased, and they became exposed to the unrestrain- 
 ed cruelty of those who with a singularly ill grace called the 
 islanders sai'a^cs. They were given as property by Ferdinand to 
 his grandees and favorites, whose agents treated them as so many 
 animals destined to work for the sole purpose of enriching their 
 European lords. What was the consequence ? The accumula- 
 tion indeed of treasure, but the destruction of human life. In 
 less than six years, sixty thousand American families were redu- 
 ced to fourteen thousand j and of the native population, in the 
 course of fifteen years, there remained only sixty thousand out 
 of a million. How could it be otherwise, when they were worn 
 out by excessive fatigue, being compelled to labour, chained 
 together and lashed to tasks, under which their untrained 
 constitution inevitably sunk; and when desperation excited them 
 to suicide as a refuge from oppression ? 
 
 Roused to a sense of danger from the rapid decrease of the 
 population, not by the cries of humanity, or the requirements of 
 outraged religion, their oppressors began to study some expedi- 
 ent which might remove, or mitigate at least, the existing ca- 
 lamities ; and the one they adopted tends to display even more 
 than any previous transaction, the diabolical principles which in- 
 fluenced their whole conduct. Arrested in their cruelties only 
 by the overwhelming conviction that in the total extinction of 
 the native inhabitants they were hastening their own ruin, did 
 
THE LUCAYANS ENTICED TO ST. DOMINGO. - 2o 
 
 they retrace their impious steps, adopt measures for ameliora- 
 ting the condition or prolonging the lives of the islanders, and 
 thus eventually multiplying ihe population ? — Did they, smitten 
 by a rebuking conscience within, or alarmed lest the tempests 
 that frequently burst around them in that sultry legion, should be 
 commissioned by indignant Heaven to launch the thunderbolt 
 or dart the lightning upon their guilty heads — aim to heal the 
 wounds inflicied by the chains of servitude, with which they had 
 galled and destroyed unoffending thousands, who, but for them, 
 migrht have been at ease in their native wilds? O no ! — It vras 
 the miserable /?o/icz/ of their ruler to supply the waste of human 
 life in St. Domingo, by adopting a system of — what shall it be 
 called ? — a system of man-stealing, practised upon the unsus- 
 pecting inhabitants of neighbouring islands which had been un- 
 fortunate enough to be discovered — now to be sacrijiced to the 
 Moloch of Spanish avarice. This was in the year 1507. 
 
 It might seem a mere anti-climax to talk of treachery after 
 recording scenes of atrocious murder, but in fact the conduct of 
 the colonists to the Lucayans involved both ; and the treachery 
 was so much the more detestable, as it was committed under the 
 sacred name of religion. They were persuaded that in being 
 transported to St. Domingo, they should meet their departed 
 ancestors, and participate with them in the blessedness of that 
 happy region ; and in consequence of this statement, more than 
 forty thousand were seduced to share the blessedness of starving 
 in the happy region of avaricious and sanguinary Spaniards.* 
 
 In the year 1509, Diego Columbus, the son of the great dis- 
 coverer, after encountering a variety of obstacles to his promo- 
 tion, at length obtained the government of St. Donnngo, whither 
 he repaired with a splendid retinue. Ovando of course retired : 
 
 * " On n'imagiiieroit pas les fourberies, qui furent mises en usage, pour engager 
 ces pauvres iasulaiies a suivre leurs Tyrans. La plupart les assurerent qu'ils 
 venoieni d'une region delicieuse, oii etoient les ames de leurs parens et de leurs 
 amis defuncts, qui les invitoient a les venir joindre, 40,000 de ces barbares furent 
 assez simple pour se laisser seduire ; mais quand ils virent, en arrivanl alEspag- 
 iiole, qu'on les avoit abuses, ils en congurent un chagrin qui en fit pgrir un grand 
 nombre et porta plusieurs a entreprendre des choees incroyables pourse sauver.'' 
 Charlevoix Hist, de I'lsle Espagnole, torn. 2. 
 
 5 
 
26 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 the natives experiencing no other effect from the change than a 
 confirmation of their slavery. But this occasioned a powerful 
 re-action upon their masters, who finding the supplies of wealth 
 proportionably diminish with the waste of life, had long been 
 engaged in other speculations. They had established a pearl- 
 fishery at the insignificant island of Cabagua, and formed a 
 colony on the continent at the gulph of Darien. Diego propo- 
 sed another similar establishment in Cuba, an island which was 
 discovered in 1492, but not subdued till the present period of 
 1511, when Diego de Velasquez, one of the companions of 
 Columbus in his second voyage, came with four ships, and land- 
 ed on the eastern point. * 
 
 This district was under the government of Hatuey, a native 
 of St. Domingo, who had fled Ihither with multitudes of his 
 countrymen, as to an asylum from the despotic dominion of the 
 Castilians. Having observed their approach from a distance, 
 he collected together the bravest of his followers and allies, and 
 used every argument to urge them to a vigourous defence of 
 iheir liberties. He suggested at the same time the necessity of 
 endeavoui ing to propitiate the God of their enemies. " Behold 
 him there," said he, pointing to a vessel filled with gold. ''behold 
 that mighty divinity, let us invoke his aid." Upon which the 
 people danced and sung before the rude ore, and resigned them- 
 selves to its protection. 
 
 But Hatuey again addressed them and the caziques in these 
 words, " We must not expect any happiness so long as the God 
 of the Spaniards remains among us. He is no less our enemy 
 than they. They seek for him in every place ; and where they 
 find him there they establish themselves. Were he hidden in 
 the cavities of the earth, they would discover him. Were we 
 to swallow him, they would plunge their hands into our bowels 
 and drag him out. There is no place but the bottom of the sea 
 that can elude their search. When he is no longer among us, 
 doubtless we shall be forgotten by them." The effect of this 
 appeal was to induce every one to throw whatever gold he pos- 
 sessed into the sea. 
 
 The Spaniards advanced, and having soon dispersed their 
 
ANECDOTE OF HAGUEY. 
 
 27 
 
 opponents, pursued the fugitive Haguey through the woods, 
 where they took him and condemned him to be burnt as a re- 
 bellious slave. When he was fastened to the stake previous to 
 the kindling of the flames, a Franciscan friar advanced to try to 
 convert him, and promised after being baptiz.-d, that he should 
 ascend to the joys of paradise. " Are there." said he, " any 
 Spaniards in that happy place ?" The friar of course answered 
 in the affirmaiive, adding, "but there are none but good ones." 
 " The best of them," replied Hatuey, " are good for nothing. 
 I will not go to a place where I should be in danger of meeting 
 any one of them. Talk no more to me of your religion, but 
 leave me to die !" — This story is instructive — it needs no com- 
 ment — but appeals at once and most forcibly to every enlight- 
 ened mind in behalf of practical religion. 
 
 Political artifices at home perpetually obstructed the measures 
 of Diego in his government ; and at length Roderigo Albuquer- 
 que, a relation of Zapata, one of the king's confidential servants, 
 was appointed to the newly created office of distributing the re- 
 partimentos ; upon which the governor determined to return 
 to Spain, for the purpose of obtaining redress, which, however, 
 he soon found was not likely to be accorded. Albuquerque 
 was, as might be supposed, a being of extreme selfishness, for 
 no one of another description was likely to be a court favourite, 
 and to obtain a commission to St. Domingo. He ordered the 
 Indians to be again numbered, and sold them in different lots. 
 They now amounted only to fourteen thousand, and the mise- 
 ries necessarily consequent upon such a proceeding, which sepa- 
 rated them from their habitations and families, and exposed 
 them to any increased labour or inhuman treatment which their 
 purchasers might impose, were highly calculated to hasten the 
 period of their extermination. 
 
 To the honour of the monks, be it remembered, that they 
 raised their voices against the practices of their countrymen. 
 The Franciscans indeed, were silent, or acquiesced in the exis- 
 ting system of barbarity, though they were sent to preach what 
 indeed they did not understand or feel, the enlightened princi- 
 ples of Christianity J but the Dominicans advocated the righteous 
 
28 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 cause, and anathematized from their pulpits the authors of such 
 baseness, injustice, and cruelty. Both parties appealed to the 
 king : the Franciscans triumphed, and Albuquerque continued 
 to be the curse of the island, and a blot in creation. 
 
 This application, however, excited the benevolent exertions 
 of Bartholomew Las Casas, a clergyman, who was worthy of a 
 belter age.* He had originally come to the island at the pe- 
 riod of the second voyage of Columbus, and had even mani- 
 fested a deep interest in the state of its aboriginal inhabitants. 
 INo notice being taken by the governor of his representations, 
 be returned to Europe for the express purpose of appealing on 
 their behalf to the emperor Charles V. with whom and with 
 cardinal Ximenes, the regent, he was so successful, that three 
 superintendents of the colonies were appointed in conjunction 
 with Zuazo a lawyer, and Las Casas himself, distinguished by 
 the flattering but well merited title of protector of the Indians. 
 Upon their arrival in 1517, they immediately commenced the 
 liberation of those natives which had been bestowed on the 
 Spanish courtiers or persons not resident in America ; but when 
 the rod of power ceased to compel them, they naturally 
 ceased to labour, and the colony suffered proportionate dis- 
 advantage. 
 
 Las Casas still anxious for the more complete emancipation 
 of the natives, deemed it necessary again to repair to bpain, 
 and prevailed on the emperor to recal the superintendent and 
 Zuazo, and substitute Roderigo de Figuerra or Figueron as 
 chief justice of the island, with orders to mitigate their suffer- 
 
 * " C'eloit un bomme d'une erudition sure, d'un esprit solide, d'un nafurel ar^ 
 deut, d'un courage que les difficult^3 faisoient croitre et d'une vertu herolque rien 
 ir'etoit capable de lui f;iire cliaiiger de seuliment, quand tl etoit persuade qu'il y 
 alloit de la gloire de Dieu de le soutenir ; et comnie il avoit rendu a la religion 
 et a i'estat des services essentiels dans I'isle de Cuba, son credit etoit grand dans 
 toutesleslndes. Son seul defaut etoit d'avoir I'imagination trop vive et de s'en 
 trop laisser dominer. Un hommc de ce caracteue ne pouvoit gueres manqucr 
 d'enlrer dans les sentiraens de PP. de St Dominique, et personne n'ttoit plus 
 propre a pousser vivement cette attaire comrae il fit, sans se laisser jamais, jus- 
 qu'a la mort." — Charlevoix. 
 
PROJECT OF LAS CASAS. 29 
 
 ings. Thus as the Abbe Raynal remarks,* " he was continually 
 hurrying from one hemisphere to the other, in order to com- 
 fort those for whom he had conceived such an attachment, or 
 to soften their tyrants. The inutility of his efforts convinced 
 him that he siioujd never do any good in settlements that were 
 already formed ; and he proposed to himself to establish a colo- 
 ny upon a new foundation. 
 
 " His colonists were all to be planters, artificers, or missiona- 
 ries. No one was to be allowed to mix with them without his 
 consent. A particular dress, ornamented with a cross, was to 
 prevent them from being thought to belong to that race of 
 Spaniards which had rendered itself so odious. He reckoned 
 that with these kinds of knights he should be able without war, 
 violence, or slavery, to civilize the Indians, to convert them, to 
 accustom them to labour, and even to employ them in working 
 the mines. He asked no assistance from the treasury at first, 
 and he was afterwards satisfied with the twelfth of the tributes 
 which he should sooner or later bring into it. 
 
 " The ambitious who govern empires, consider the people as 
 mere objects of trade, and treat as chimerical every thing that 
 tends to the improvement and happiness of the human species. 
 Such was, at first, the impression which the system of Las Casas 
 made upon the Spanish ministry. He was not discouraged by 
 denials, and at length succeeded in having the district of Cu- 
 mana ceded to him, to put his theory in practice. This man 
 of ardent genius immediately went through all the provinces of 
 Castile, in order to collect men accustomed to the labours of 
 the field and to those of manufactures. But these peaceful 
 citizens had not so eager a desire to leave their country as sol- 
 diers or sailors have. Scarce could he prevail upon two hun- 
 dred of them to follow him. With these he set sail for America, 
 and landed at Porto Rico, in 1519, after a fortunate voyage. 
 
 *' Although Las Casas had only quitted the new hemisphere 
 two years before, yet he found a total alteration in it at his 
 return. The entire destruction of the Indians in the islands 
 
 * History of the Settlements and Trade in the East and West Indies, Book 7. 
 
30 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 subject to Spain, had excited the resolution of going to the 
 conlinent in search of slaves, to replace the unfortunate meii 
 who had perished from oppression. This cruelty disgusted the 
 independent minds of the savages. In the height of their re- 
 sentment, they massacred a.« many of the Spaniards as fell into 
 their hands by chance ; and two missionaries, who probably 
 CLme to Cumana with a laudable design, were the victims of 
 these just retaliations. Ocampo immediately went from St. 
 Domingo to punish an outrage committed, as it was said, 
 against Heaven itself; and after having destroyed all by fire and 
 sword, he built a village upon the spot, which he called Toledo. 
 
 " It was within these weak palisades that Las Casas was obliged 
 to plar.e the small number of his companions who had resisted 
 the intemperance of the climate, and ihe attempts made to 
 seduce them from him. Their residence was not long here. 
 Most of them were pierced with the darts of an implacable 
 enemy ; and those who escaped were forced in 1521 to seek an 
 as}lum somewhere else." 
 
 The impolitic cruelty of the European settlers who regarded 
 the bluod of humanity as nothing in comparison with the accu- 
 mulation of wealth, together with the rapid progress of the 
 small-pox, continued to hasten the decline of the island; so 
 that by the middle of the sixteenth century, ^scarcely a hundred 
 and fifty of the natives remained. The city of St. Domingo 
 presented however a splendid and prosperous appearance amidst 
 the surrounding desolation of the empire. It is described in 
 1528, as not inferior to any in Spain : the houses being built of 
 stone and fit for the reception of any nobleman, and the palace 
 of Don Diego adapted for the reception of an European mo- 
 narch. The cathedral was of exquisite workmanship, and well 
 endowed ; the dignity of its bishop and canons well supported. 
 There were three monasteries dedicated to St Dominic, St. 
 Francis, and St. Mary de Mercedes, and a hospital founded by 
 Michael Passamont, the treasurer-general.* 
 
 * Account of the Spauish writer Oviedo, with whom the other Historiems per- 
 fectly agree. 
 
DECLINING STATE OF THE ISLAND. 31 
 
 In 1586, Queen Elizabeth of England desirous of crippling 
 the power of Spain, especially in the West Indies, dispatched 
 the celebrated admiral Sir Francis Drake, who seized upon St. 
 Jago, Carthagena, St. Domingo, and various other places, and 
 captured many valuable ships. Of St. Domingo he held pos- 
 session a month, during the latter part of which terrible reign, 
 every means were adopted to effect the destruction of the most 
 beautiful buildings, till one-third of the town only having been 
 ruined, the conquerors accepted of seven thousand pounds sterl- 
 ing as a ransom for the remaining part. 
 
 The Government of Spain becoming extremely negligent of 
 this and other colonies, they sunk into a state of inactivity, 
 having neither the spirit to quit their situation, nor to pursue 
 any kind of improvement. In consequence of their licentious- 
 ness, a race of people sprung up of every degree of coloui, and 
 only worthy of being called semi-barbarians. The mines were 
 unused, — the cultivation of the land altogether abandoned ; and 
 the inhabitants became habituated to piratical depradations and 
 illegal trade; and the Spanish court sought its revenge in the 
 demolition of the sea ports, instead of devising a remedy by a 
 renovated system of government. The islanders were conse- 
 quently driven into the interior where they lived in mean habi- 
 tations, without clothes, and upon precarious methods of subsis- 
 tence. In this state, they beheld the close of the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
N 
 
 CHAP. U. 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1600 TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK IN 1697. 
 
 The English and the French go to the West Indies. — Expelled from 
 St. Christopher'' s by Toledo. — The remnant of those dispersed, settle 
 at Tortiiga. — Account *of the Buccaneers. — The English party ex- 
 pelled from Tortuga,and the French retain possession — Anecdotes 
 of Peter le Grand. — Michael de Basco and others. — Montbar and 
 Morgan. — The French colony settled in 1665, tinder the judicious 
 goverjiment of Bertrand D^Ogeron. — His character and conduct. — 
 His tvish to subdue the tchole island for France. — His death at 
 Paris. — Account of his successois. — Fi7st regular cessiofi of the 
 teestern part of the island to the French at the peace of Ryswick. 
 
 After making some efforts to subdue the Caribs, or inhabi- 
 tants of the Windward islands, which were not always successful, 
 and finding that no gold mines were to be obtained, and that 
 the people died when reduced to slavery, the Spaniards con- 
 tented themselves with stopping all European ships that sailed 
 beyond the tropics, determined that no other nation should share 
 in their adventures or possessions. The English and French, 
 whose mutual jealousies have so often kept them asunder^ united 
 however upon this occasion to check these piratical settlers ; 
 already were they acquainted with the Windward islands, but 
 had never yet adopted any measure with a view to occupy them. 
 At length some Englishmen, headed by a leader named War- 
 ner, and some Frenchmen under the captain of a Fiench pri- 
 vateer, named Desnambuc, landed at St. Christopher's on the 
 same day at two opposite points of the island, and divided it 
 between them; while the natives retired before their invaders, 
 bantering Ihem for coming to such a distance to seek land 
 among savages, which they intimated must of course be very 
 scarce with them. 
 
 These transactions excited no little alarm in Spain ; and 
 Frederic Toledo, who was going with a powerful fleet to attack 
 
OCCUPATION OF TORTUGA. 33 
 
 the Dutch in Brazil in 1630, was ordered to destroy these new 
 settlers in his way. This was not a very difficult undertaking. 
 They had no adequate means of resistance, and they were all 
 either killed, taken prisoners, or dispersed. Of the latter most 
 returned, after the immediate danger, from the neighbouring 
 islands whither they had tied. Spain, probably from the belief 
 that they were pretty well annihilated, or at least, reduced to 
 total insignificance, no longer interfering with them, a few re- 
 mained at Tortuga, a small and barren island to the north-west 
 of St. Domingo, within a few leagues of Port de Paix. The 
 Caribs were usually considered, at the earliest period of Euro- 
 pean settlement, as the common enemy, against whom both 
 French and English united ; but artfully availing themselves of 
 subsequent disputes, they sometimes joined one nation and 
 sometimes the other, by which means they had only one enemy 
 at a time instead of two. In the mean time, the mother coun- 
 tries continued to neglect their subjects in the new world, in con- 
 sequence of which, in January, 1660, an alliance was forn)ed, 
 securing to each those possessions w'hich war had thrown into 
 their hands. This was accompanied with an offensive and de- 
 fensive league to compel the natives of the country to join them. 
 France obtained Guadaloupe, Martinico, Granada, and some 
 others : to England were allotted Barbadoes, Nevis, Antigua, 
 Montserrat, with a few inconsiderable islands. St. Christopher's 
 
 belonsred to both, The Caribs were confined to Dominica and 
 
 * . 
 St. Vincent's, and did not at this period exceed in number six 
 
 thousand men. 
 
 The French and English planters, whom we have just men- 
 tioned as occupying the small island of Tortuga, after their ex- 
 pulsion from St. Christopher's, were joined by a number of., 
 Dutch emigrants from Santa Cruz, who had been compelled in 
 the same manner to roam the ocean in search of a shelter from 
 Spanish vengeance, after their numbers had been considerably 
 diminished. "Companions in adversity," says Mr. Edwards, 
 " their misfortunes probably taught these poor exiles, mutual 
 forbearance ; for although they were composed of three differ- 
 ent nations, they appear to have lived for some years in perfect 
 
 6 
 
34 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 harmony with each other. Their mode of life contributed to 
 produce the same beneficial effect : finding a country of im- 
 measurable extent in their neighbourhood, abounding in cattle, 
 their time was chiefly occupied in hunting; an emp!()yn)ent 
 which left no leisure for dissension, and affurd«^d them both ex- 
 ercise and food. The plains of St. Domingo were considered, 
 however, merely as their hunting grounds: Tortuga continued 
 their home and place of retreat. Here their women and young 
 people cultivated small plantations of tobacco, (an herb, of 
 ■which in hot and moist climates, the practice of inhaling the 
 smoke seems to be pointed out by nature); and as the coast was 
 rugged, and of difiicult approach, they fondly hoped that their 
 obscurity would protect them from further persecution. 
 
 " If the government of Spain had been actuated at this time 
 by molives of wisdom, it would indeed have left these poor peo- 
 ple to range over the wilderness unmolested. It ought to have 
 known, that the occupation of hunting, diverted them from pro- 
 jects of vengeance and deeds of greater enterprize; but tyranny 
 is without foresight, and the restless and remorseless bigotry of 
 the Spanish nation, allowed the fugitives no respite. An arma- 
 ment was collected, and preparations made to effect their utter 
 extermination; the commanders of which, taking occasion when 
 the ablest of the men had resorted to the larger island in their 
 usual pursuit, landed a body of soldiers at Tortuga, and making 
 captives of the women and children, the old^nd infirm, caused 
 them all to be massacred without mercy. 
 
 *' It does not appear that the miserable people who were thus 
 pursued to destruction, like beasts of prey, had hitherto been 
 guilty of any outrages or depredations on the ships or subjects of 
 Spain, which called for such exemplary vengeance. Neither 
 was it imputed to them, as a crimr, that they had possessed 
 themselves of Tortuga, or that they roamed about the deserts 
 of St. Domingo in pursuit of cattle which had no owners. Their 
 guilt consisted in the circumstance of being born out of the 
 Spanish territories, and presuming neverthekss to venture into 
 any part of the new world ; for the arrogant presumption and 
 extravagant selfishness of this bigotted nation, led them to ap- 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 25 
 
 propriate all the countries of America to themselves. They 
 claimed even the sole and exclusive right of sailing on any such 
 part of the ocean as, in their judgment, constituted a portion of 
 the newly-discovered hemisphere ; and strict orders were issued 
 to all their commanders, by sea and land, to seize on the ships 
 and subjects of all other people that should be found within the 
 boundaries which they had prescribed, and to punish the intruders 
 with slavery or death. 
 
 " It is evident, therefore, that no alternative remained to the 
 occupiers of Tortuga, but to turn on their pursuers, and wage 
 offensive war on those who would allow of no peace with them. 
 If the justice of the cause be still a question, let the records 
 of time be consulted : let an appeal be made to that rule of 
 conduct, which, (to use an eloquent expression of Lord Coke,) 
 is written by the finger of God on the heart of man ; and let his- 
 tory and reason determine whether any instance of hostility, in 
 the annals of mankind, can be defended on better grounds. 
 To such men, in such a cause, no dangers were too formida- 
 ble, no obstacles too great. Inured by their mode of life to the 
 vicissitudes of climate, united among themselves, and animated 
 by all ihe motives and passions which can inflame the human 
 mind to great exertion, they became the most formidable anta- 
 gonists which the Spaniards had ever encountered, and display- 
 ed such deeds of valour and successful enterprize as (all cir- 
 cumstances considered) have never been equalled before or 
 since." 
 
 These people were called Buccaneers,* because they imitated 
 the custom of savages in drying the food they lived upon by 
 smoke over fires of green wood, in places designated from this 
 practice by the Spanish term buccan. They are described by 
 
 * This term is commonly used as synonymous with frecbootRrs, but in strict 
 propriety, tiiey apply to different classes of people. The former name is particu- 
 larly applied to the French inhabitants in Si . Di mingo. Anciently the island was 
 peopled i)y four descriptions of men — 1. The l)uccaneers, whose employment was 
 to hunt the bulls or wild boars in the woods. — 2. The freebooters who roamed the 
 seas, and were in fact pirates ; both these classes of people were of a warlike 
 character.— 3. The hushandimn who devoted theajselves to the cultivation of th« 
 land.— 4. The slaves. 
 
36 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 the Abb^ Raynal in the following manner. " As they had no 
 wives nor children, they usually associated two in a company, 
 to assist one another in family duties. In, these societies pro- 
 perty was common, and the last survivor inherited all that re- 
 mained. Theft was unknown among them, though no precau- 
 tions were taken against it ; and what was wanting at home was 
 freely borrowed from some of the neighbours, without any other 
 restriction than that of a previous intimation, if they were at 
 home, if not, of making them acquainted with it at their return. 
 Caesar found in Gaul the same custom, which bears the double 
 character, both of a primitive state, in which every thing was 
 in common, and of times posterior to that in which the idea 
 of private property was known and respected. Differences 
 seldom arose, and, when they did, were easily adjusted. If the 
 parties, however, were obstinate, they decided the matter by 
 fire-arras. If the ball entered at the back or the sides, it was 
 considered as a mark of treachery, and the assassin was imme- 
 diately put to death The former laws of the country were 
 disregarded, and by the usual sea baptism they had received in 
 passing the tropic, they considered themselves exempted from 
 all obligation to obey them. These adventurers had even 
 quilted their family name to assume others, borrowed from 
 times of war, most of which have been transmitted to their 
 posterity. 
 
 " The dress of these barbarians consisted of a shirt dipped 
 in the blood of the animals they killed in hunting ; a pair of 
 drawers dirtier than the shirt, and made in the shape of a brew- 
 er's apron ; a girdle made of leather, on which a very short 
 sabre was hung, and some knives; a hat without any rim, except 
 a flap before, in order to take hold of it; and shoes without 
 stockings. Their ambition was satisfied, if they could but pro- 
 vide themselves with a gun that carried balls of an ounce 
 weight, and with a pack of about five-and-twenty or thirty dogs. 
 
 "The buccaneers spent their life in hunting the wild bulls, 
 of which there were great numbers in the island, since the Span- 
 iards had brought them. The best parts of these animals, when 
 seasoned with pimento and orange juice, were the most com- 
 
SEPARATION OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH. 37 
 
 mon food of their des^j-oyers, who had forgotten the use of 
 bread, and who had nothing but water to drink. The hides of 
 these animals were conveyed to several ports, and bought by the 
 navigators. They were carried thither by men who were called 
 engages, or bondsmen, a set of persons who were used to sell 
 themselves in Europe to serve as slaves in the colonies during 
 the term of three years." 
 
 During the time in which the French and English buccaneers 
 were united, they appointed a leader of the latter nation, of the 
 name of Willis ; but no sooner was a governor general sent to 
 the French Windward islands, than he fitted out a force from St. 
 Vincent's, which being joined by the Frenchmen on the island, 
 ordered the English to quit it. They instantly obeyed and never 
 returned, but pursuing their former career, they finally obtained 
 regular commissions from the British government to act against 
 the common enemy. 
 
 At length, after alternate reverses and successes in their con- 
 tests with the Spaniards, the French retained the island of Tor- 
 tuga, and spread themselves on the northern coast of St. Domin- 
 go, of which they retained a firm possession : the English went 
 to Jamaica. These banditti were formed into companies con- 
 sisting of fifty, a hundred, or a hundred and fifty men each, who 
 took their predatory excursions in boats, generally of a very 
 small size. It was their custom to board every ship they could 
 discover, of whatever size, and such was the terror they inspired, 
 that the moment they had fixed the grappling, the ship was al- 
 most certain of being captured. Their enmity to the Spaniards 
 was implacable ; they attacked them at all limes : if the cargo 
 proved to be a rich one, the crew were suffered to live, otherwise 
 they were frequently thrown into the sea. Several anecdotes 
 are preserved respecting them, of which we shall select the fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 Peter le Grand, a native of Dieppe, with only four pieces of 
 cannon and twenty-eiglit men in his boat, attacked the vice-ad- 
 miral of the galleons. Having first given orders to sink his own 
 vessel, he boarded that of his antagonist, and the Spaniards were 
 so astonished at this boldness that they were paralized into inac- 
 
38 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 tivity. When he ca-iie to the captain's cabin, be presented a 
 pistol to him, and demanded an instant surrender. The ter- 
 rified and unresisting comtnander, with the greatest part of the 
 cievv, they landed at the nearest cape, reserving only a sufficient 
 number of sailors to work the ship. 
 
 Michael de Basco, Jonqu6, and Lawrence le GraiF, were 
 cruising before Carthagena, with three small bad vessels, when 
 two men-of-war sailed out of the harbour to attack these free- 
 booters and bring them live or dead. The Spaniards, however, 
 were miserably deceived in their anticipations, for they were 
 taken prisoners themselves; the ships were retained, but the 
 crews sent back with scorn, and bearing all the shame of so 
 mortifying a defeat. 
 
 Another singular specimen of daring courage is recorded. 
 Michael and Brouage having heard of a valuable cargo being 
 shipped from Carthagena, in vessels carrying a foreign flag, for 
 the purpose of preserving it from their rapacity, attacked the 
 ships and plundered them. The Dutch captains exasperated 
 at being captured by such an inferior force, told one of the 
 buccaneers, that ifhe had been alone, he would not have ventur- 
 ed upon the attack ; then replied he, " let us begin the fight 
 again, and my companion shall remain a quiet spectator of the 
 engagement. If I should conquer again; both your ships shall 
 also be mine." This challenge, however was not accepted, 
 and the Dutchman very gladly made off. 
 
 The Spanish colonies were reduced to a state of despair by 
 these hordes of desperadoes, which only tended to inspire them 
 with increasing confidence ; and no longer confining their depre- 
 dations to the sea, they laid waste the richest and most popu- 
 lous countries of the continent. The spirit of the haughty 
 Spaniards was at length so depressed, that they maintained no 
 other communication with the mother country than that of a 
 single ship, which alone ventured upon the perilous navigation. 
 Of the three most distinguished heroes of this piratical history, 
 the reader will accept a brief notice : the subject being inti- 
 mately connected with an account of St. Domingo. 
 
 A gentleman of Languedoc, whose name was Montbar, acquir- 
 
MONTBAR. 39 
 
 ed particular distinction among his people. From his earliest 
 youth, he had imbibed the utmost detestation for the Spaniards, 
 as the authors of those enormities which had been so long prac- 
 tised in the West Indies. When at college, he is said to have 
 manifested this feeling in an extreme degree, for being called to 
 act the part of a Frenchman in a play, in which he was to quarrel 
 with a Spaniard, he was transported so suddenly from fictitious 
 representation to the exercise of real hatred, that the poor youth 
 who personated the Spaniard, was almost strangled before he 
 could be rescued from his fury. This feeling increased with his 
 years, and nothing could atlength satisfy him till he quiited his na- 
 tive shores to join the banditti of buccaneers, of whom he had heard 
 as being confederated against the objects of his own inveterate ab- 
 horrence. Having met a Spanish ship on their way, they instant- 
 ly attacked, and boarded it. Muntbar was the first to rush upon 
 the enemy's deck, sword in hand. Nothing could resist his 
 impetuosity, or arrest his progress till he had twice hurried from 
 one end of the ship to the other, cutting down every thing that 
 opposed him. The booty, rich as it proved, was no temptation 
 to his romantic spirit, which only hovered with satisfaction over 
 the many Spaniards that had fallen before his victorious sabre. 
 
 Soon after this encounter, they arrived upon the French coast 
 of St. Domingo, where the buccaneers apologized for the small 
 supply of refreshments they furnished that the Spaniards had 
 laid waste their settlements. This was sufficient to enrage Mont- 
 bar, already enough excited by a knowledge of their inhumani- 
 ties; and he indignantly demanded why they suffered such in- 
 sults.? To which they replied, "we do not; the Spaniards have 
 experienced what kind of men we are, and have therefore taken 
 advantage of the time we were engaged in hunting. But we 
 are going to join some of our companions who have been still 
 more ill treated than we, and then we shall have warm work." 
 " If you approve it," said Montbar, ''I will head you, not as your 
 commander, but as the foremost to expose myself to danger.'' 
 To this they readily assented ; and having overtaken the ene- 
 my on the same day, Montbar displayed such bravery, that they 
 were struck with astonishment and admiration. He was more 
 
40 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 than bold, he was furious, and drove on with irresistible impetu^ 
 osity. Nor was this the only occasion wherein he manifested 
 such a determined and enthusiastic character, his whole remain- 
 ing life, which he passed among his new friends was marked by 
 a similar energy, and the Spaniards, sufficiently terrified at his 
 performances, distinguished him by the epithet o^ exterminator. 
 His zeal inspired the buccaneers with a resolution of attempting 
 more than merely repelling the Spaniards from their settle- 
 ment ; they henceforth determined to attack them in their own 
 territory, which, as it required superior forces, led them to form 
 more extensive and numerous associations. In these, Lolonois, 
 who was named from the sands of Olone, the place of his birth, 
 and Michael de Basco, were the two most celebrated leaders. 
 The former, from a bondsman, had raised himself to the com- 
 mand of two canoes, and took a Spanish frigate on the coast of 
 Cuba J and soon afterwards, four other ships lying at Port-au- 
 prince, which had been fitted out on purpose to sail in pursuit of 
 him ; the latter captured a Spanish ship, under the very cannon 
 of Porto Bello, valued at five or six millions of livres, that is, be- 
 tweerl two hundred and two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. 
 
 These two adventurers having united their forces, and being 
 joined by four hundred and forty men, sailed to the bay of Vene- 
 zuela, and put the whole garrison consisting of two hundred and 
 fifty men to the sword. Thence proceeding to Maracaybo, 
 built on the western coast of the lake of that name at ten leagues 
 from its mouth, they found it deserted by the terrified inhabi- 
 tants who had retired to the opposite side of the bay. Enraged 
 at the disappointment, they set fire to Gibraltar after considera- 
 ble resistance ; but the inhabitants had availed themselves of a 
 fortnight which the banditti had devoted to dissipation, to 
 remove their most valuable property. Maracaybo was saved by 
 a sum being paid for its ransom ; besides which, they carried 
 off all the crosses, pictures and bells of the churches, in order 
 to furnish, as they stated, a chapel which they intended to erect 
 in Tortuga. Banditti? consecrating a place of divine worship 
 with the spoils of sacrilege — O tempora ! O mores ! ! 
 
 We are here introduced to the first exploit of Morgan, a 
 
ADVENTURES OF MORGAN. 41 
 
 Welchman, and one of the most famous of the bucraneers. 
 He was descended from respectable parents in G!amorg;ansljire, 
 whence be soon went to Biistol in the spirit of adventure, and 
 apprenticing himself to serve a planter for four years, he sailed 
 for the West Indies. At the expiration of his lime, he joined 
 the brethren of the coast, as the buccaneers designated themselves, 
 and at the time when they were rioting amidst the spoils of 
 Venezuela and the neighbouring places, he sailed from Jan;aica 
 to attack Porto Bello, which he captured by surprise. The 
 fort, however, was not yet in his power, but he attempted to 
 gain it by the artifice of compelling the women and priests to 
 fix the scaling ladders, from a conviction that the Spaniards 
 would not fire at persons so loved and reverenced. But the 
 garrison were not to be deceived into submission, and were only 
 conquered by force of arms. 
 
 Panama was the next object of Morgan's ambition ; to secure 
 which, he deemed it necessary to procure guides from the 
 island of St. Catharine, whither the Spaniards were accustomed 
 to transport their malefactors. This place, which was capable 
 of resisting for a longtime even the niost skiiCul commander, 
 was treacherously given up to our adventurer. Hence he steer- 
 ed to the river Chagre ; at the entrance of which was a fort 
 built upon a rock, and well defended by a garrison which had 
 an officer of distinguished abilities. The freebooters, however 
 succeeded, in consequence of the commander being killed, and 
 the fort accidentally taking fire. 
 
 Morgan sailed on in boats to Cruces, and then proceeded by 
 land to Panama, then distant only five leagues. In the plain 
 before the city, he instantly put to flight a large body of troops, 
 and entered the place without further resistance. Here he 
 found prodigious tieasuies secreted in wells, caves, and adja- 
 cent forests : but the short residence of his party was disgraced 
 by outrages and barbarities, exercised for the puipose of extort- 
 ing from the Spaniards, Negroes, and Indians, the places where 
 they had concealed the wealth of their respective masters. 
 
 " In the midst of such scenes of horror, the savage Morgan 
 fell in love. His character was not likely to inspire the object 
 
42 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 of his attachment with favourable sentiments towards him : he 
 was resolved, therefore to subdue by force the beautiful Span- 
 iard that inflamed and tormented him — " Stop," cried she to 
 this savage, as she sprung with eagerness from his arms, " stop : 
 thinkest thou then that thou canst ravish my honour from me, 
 as thou hast wrested from me my fortune and my liberty ? Be 
 assured that I can die and be revenged." Having said this, 
 she drew out a poignard from under hf^r gown, which she would 
 have plunged into his heart had he not avoided the blow. 
 
 " But Morgan, still inflamed with a passion, which this deter- 
 mined resistance had turned into ragf^, instead of the tenderness 
 and attention be had made use of to prevail upon his captive, 
 now proceeded to treat her with the greatest inhnmanily. The 
 fair Spaniard immoveably resolute, stimulated at the same time 
 that she resisted the frantic desires of Morgan ; till at last the 
 pirates expressing their resentment at being kept so long in a 
 state of inactivity by a caprice which appeared extravagant to 
 them, he was under the necessity of listening to their complaint* 
 and giving up his pursuit. Panama was burnt. They then set 
 sail with a great number of prisoners, who were ransomed a few 
 days after, and came to the mouth of the Chagre with a pro- 
 digious booty. 
 
 " Before the break of the day that had been fixed upon for the 
 division of the spoil, Morgan,- while the rest of the pirates were 
 in a deep sleep, with the principal freebooters of his own coun- 
 try, sailed for Jamaica, in a vessel which he had laden with the 
 rich spoils of a city that served as the staple of commerce 
 between the old and the new world. This instance of treachery, 
 unheard of before, excited a rage and resentment not to be de- 
 i^cribed. The English pursued the robber in hopes of wresting 
 from him the booty of which their right and their avidity had 
 been frustrated. The French, though sharers in the same loss, 
 retired to the island of Tortuga.*'* 
 
 After this period, the character of Morgan seems to have 
 considerably improved : unless, as Mr. Edwards believes, he was 
 
 " AbbdRavnal. 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF MORGAN's CHARACTER. 43 
 
 before greatly traduced.* The Spanish writers no doubt, in 
 the language of exaggeration, represent him as a most inhuman 
 monster ; but the probability is, that after he disengaged him- 
 self from the society with which he bad hitherto acted, better 
 sentiments and feelings gradually took possession of his breast, 
 till he became worthy of the recommendation of the earl of 
 Carlisle as his successor in the government of Jamaica, where 
 he was appointed lieutenant-governor in the absence of the 
 earl. He had previously puichased a plantation in the island, 
 which he cultivated with great industry. The duties of his 
 new station were discharged with the utmost zeal and fidelity ; 
 Chailes the Second conferred the honour of knighthood upon 
 him J and Mr Edwards states, that " by the kindness of a friend 
 in Jamaica, he had an opportunity of perusing some of Sir 
 Henry Morgan's original private letters, and " this " he adds, 
 " 1 will say, thai they manifest such a spirit of humanity, justice, 
 liberality, and piety, as prove that he has either been grossly 
 traduced, or that he was the greatest hypocrite living; — a cha- 
 racter ill-suited to the ftank and fearless temper of the man. 
 
 The French colony first attracted the attention of the mother 
 country in 1665, at which period, though the adventurers were 
 numerous, the regular planters who were properly speaking, the 
 only colonists, were extremely few, amounting it is said, to not 
 more than four hundred. The multiplication of these settlers, 
 was perceived by the government to be an object of the first 
 importance, and the difiicult undertaking was very wisely confided 
 to a gentleman of Anjou, named Bertrand D'Ogeron, who was 
 endowed with all those personal qualities and comprehensive 
 views which fitted him for the post to which he was appointed. 
 
 At the period of his fiist emigration to America, in 1656, he 
 had served fifteen years as captain in the marines : but as the 
 best concerted plans do not always prosper, he was first deceiv- 
 ed, and finally shipwrecked, with the loss of the principal part of 
 the merchandize and provisions; which calamity reduced him 
 to the necessity of living, during a very considerable period 
 
 * Hiitorical Survey of the French Colonies in St. Doraingo,--4to p. 128, note. 
 
44 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 with the buccaneers, who did not fall to 'cherish for him the 
 highest respect. His misfortunes continued to multiply ; for on 
 his leaving France, he had directed his correspondents to send 
 their communications and merchandize to Martinique, whither 
 he repaired in vain to receive them. D'Ogeron was under the 
 neces^ity of proceeding to France, where having collected all 
 his property together, he embarked in a vessel which he had 
 equipped and laden : but unfortunately confiding the disposal 
 of the cargo to a faithless servant at Jainaica, he had to sustain 
 the entire loss. These and other calamities however, though 
 they cteated great embarrassment, did not produce desponden- 
 cy ; on the contrary, his fortitude in supporting, and his skill in 
 extricating himsslf from diflicullies, acquired bin) the highest re- 
 putation in St. Domingo and Tortuga, and induced the govern- 
 ment to . ive him the superintendence of the colony. 
 
 This situation was obviously critical : he had to establish the 
 authoriiy of government aujongst a lawless and irregular tribe of 
 men, whose wandering and piratical habits rendered them pe- 
 culiarly unprepared to submit to the restraint of laws Habitu- 
 ated to crimes, they were not easily to be iii-piied with humane 
 sentiments — accustomed to idleness, they were not readily to be 
 brought to industrious and laborious occupations — and trading 
 freely with all nations, they couW not, without the utmost care 
 and prudence, be led to respect the privileges of an exclusive 
 company, v\hich had been formed in 1664, to include all the 
 French settlements. 
 
 The intercourse which he had previously maintained with his 
 new subjects, enabled him to perceive their peculiarities of 
 character, of which knowledge he availed himself with great sa- 
 gacity. It was of importance to detain the freebooters who 
 were resolved to go in search of new and more advantageous 
 settlements, by remitting the share of the booty to which he was 
 entitled, and by procuring commissions from Portugal for attack- 
 ing the Spaniards even after the conclusion of peace with 
 France : by which means, he secured their friendship instead of 
 exposing himself to the danger of encountering their hostility. 
 To the buccaneers or huntsmen he advanced money, or pro- 
 
WOMEN SENT TO THE ISLAND. 45 
 
 cured it without interest, to enable tbem to erect habitations ; 
 and to the planters he conceded every possible privilege and 
 encouragement. 
 
 There was another advantage which he seized with judg- 
 ment, and procuied with promptitude. It was of material con- 
 sequence to maintain and increase the population, by a measure 
 which would diffusa present comf ,rt and secure future stability 
 to the settlement. In vain could he expect internal prosperity, 
 unless he inspired a relish for domestic habits, wliich became 
 therefore an object of most solicitous attention. Fifty young 
 women were sent from France, and afterwards an equal number 
 to supply the colonists with wives, but they were disposed of 
 without any regard to the choice which affection might be in- 
 duced to make, and with a chief view to polilical expediency. 
 A certain sum was required to be paid for them, which, while 
 it tended to encourage industry in order to procure the requisite 
 deposit, must have reduced the character of marriage to a de- 
 grading merchandize. This was however found to be the only 
 means of preventing quarrels and bloodshed ; but it opened 
 the way for an importation of females, of a uiore unworthy 
 cast, who were engaged to their new masters for a period of 
 three years :* but this allowance proved inexpressibly prejudi- 
 cial to the interests of the colony : it had the effect of driving 
 from the island many brave youths who might otherwise have 
 been its ornament and defence, but who found it impossible to 
 live in comfort amidst universal profligacy. Notwithstanding 
 
 • The declaration which each of the tiuccaiieers was accustomed to make to 
 the woman that fell to his share, was in the loUowing terms : — " I take thee with- 
 out knowing, or caring to know, who thou art If any body from whence thoti 
 comest would have had thee, thou wouldst not Lave come iu quest of me ; but no 
 ra itter. I do not desire thee to give me an account of thy past conduct, because 
 Ihave no right to be offended at it. at the time whenthuu wast at liberty to behave 
 either well or iil, according to th\ own pleasure ; and because I ^hnll have no 
 reason ;o be ashamed of any thing thou wast guilty of when thou didst not belong 
 to me. Give me only thy vvor.i for the future, I acquit thee of what is past." 
 Then striking his hand on the barrel of his gun, he added, •' This will revenge 
 me of thy breach of faith 3 if thou shouldst prove false, this will certainly be true 
 tomyaitp." 
 
46 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 this error, the number of planters were increased by the man- 
 agement of D'Ogeron, from four hundred to the number of 
 fifteen hundred, in four years. 
 
 Although this judicious governor had only prevailed upon 
 the inhabitants to submit to his government at first by the 
 promise of opening all the ports to foreign commerce, yet he 
 had succeeded hy degrees in establishing the exclusive privilege 
 of the India company, which at length secured the entire trade; 
 but they were so elated with success as to venture to raise the 
 price of their goods two-thirds, which produced an immediate 
 and dangerous insurrection. Accustomed to deeds of violence, 
 they had no difiicully in taking up arms and were at length only 
 conciliated upon the promise that all French ships should be 
 free to trade with them, paying five per cent, to the company 
 on their arrival and departure. Having effected this accommo> 
 dation, the governor generously procured two ships, apparently 
 for his own use ; but really intended for the benefit of the colony. 
 Their destination was to convey the crops into Europe, and 
 every one shipped his own commodities at a moderate freight. 
 On their return, the cargo was exposed to public sale for prime 
 cost ; and in addition to this, no interest was taken for the long- 
 est credit, and even no security was required. This was a pro- 
 ceeding founded in a thorough acquaintance with the human 
 heart, and highly calculated to inspire the loftiest sentiments of 
 gratitude and affection. 
 
 M. D'Ogeron had for a long time meditated the conquest of 
 the whole island for France, and even pledged his life to the 
 ministry at Versailles for the success of his enterprize, provided 
 they would send him a squadron sufficiently powerful to blockade 
 the harbour of the capital. In the year 1675, he went into 
 France for the express purpose of urging this design upon the 
 consideration of the court. His representations, however, did 
 not produce all the effect which his ardent mind had anticipa- 
 ted ; it v.;as considered as an impracticable undertaking, while 
 the danger to which the colony was exposed by the perpetual 
 hostilities of their neighbours was overlooked. The Spaniards, 
 however, were usually foiled ; but the spirit of retaliation and 
 
DEATH OF M. d'oGERON. 47 
 
 plunder, checked the progress of agriculture and indisposed 
 the people for regular labour. Under the direction of so saga- 
 cious a mind as that which distinguished the projection of this 
 conquest, it can scarcely be doubted that its achievement was 
 at least highly probable, and would have prevented many cala- 
 mities which the French afterwards suffered. 
 
 When at Paris, M. D'Ogeron was seized with a flux, which 
 terminated his career there, at the close of this year or at the 
 commencement of 1676, without having seen either the king or 
 ministry ; it is honourable to his character, that notwithstanding 
 the opportuniiies which he had of accumulating riches, he died 
 poor ; but left behind him, virtues not unrecorded in the hearts 
 of the colonists, or in the memory of an admiring posterity. 
 
 Difficult as the virtues of the last governor had rendered it 
 to succeed him, the post was occupied with considerable ho- 
 nour to himself by M. de PoUancey, who, to his personal quali- 
 fications united the claim of relationship, being the nephew of 
 M. D'Ogeron. Although somewhat more haughty than his 
 predecessor, he possessed a similar power of attracting the 
 universal affection and confidence of those by whom he was 
 immediately surrounded, or over whom he had to exerise au- 
 thority. Instead of adopting new and speculative plans of ad- 
 ministration, the whole of his proceedings were designed to 
 consolidate and complete the judicious system which had been 
 previously arranged. His views, however, were considerably limit- 
 ed, perhaps by the circumstances in which he was placed ; for 
 he seems only to have contemplated the preservation of the 
 colony in its present state of prosperity, not to have thought of 
 extending it. As the peninsula of Samana was much exposed to 
 the incursions of the Spaniards, he ordered the removal of the in- 
 habitants to the plain of Cape Francois, who reluctantly obey- 
 ed. This new residence he took care to fortify ; and it was 
 ever after regarded with jealousy by the rival nation. At the 
 beginning of 1 678, M. Puiiancey received advice of an intention 
 having been formed to attack it, which he prevented by timely 
 and well concerted movement. 
 
 In 1679, a revolt of the Negroes which took place at Port de 
 
48 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 Palx. occasioned the governor considerable trouble. The cir- 
 cumstances were, in brief, as follow : a black slave called Padre- 
 jan, having killed the Spanish master in whose s<^rvice he bad 
 been for many years, fled for refuge to Tortuga, where he was 
 allowed to be at liberty ; and going afterwards into the neigh- 
 bourhood of St. Domingo, he there cultivated a piece of land 
 now called St. Louis, opposite the eastern point of Tortuga. 
 Slill bent upon wickedness, Padrejan seduced some of the slaves, 
 to whom he proposed to massacre all the French inhabitants, 
 hoping that such an action would sufficiently recommend him 
 to the Spaniards, from whom his crimes had previously driven 
 him away. There were at this period, but few Negroes in the 
 colony ; and most of them had been originally among the Span- 
 iards, to whom they felt some inclination to return. Padrejan 
 consequently found little difficulty in arranging his plan ; and 
 having speedily assembled his partizans together, overran the 
 country as far as Port Margol, pillaging and massacreing in 
 every direction. At length he posted himself on a lofty moun- 
 tain, between St. Anne and St. Louis, entrenching himself with 
 trees; and from this fortress made perpetual and desolating ex- 
 cursions in the neighbourhood, destroying all the Frenchmen 
 he could find, and releasing the Negroes from their servitude. 
 
 Poiiancey, who was at Port de Paix, felt himself prodigious- 
 ly embarrassed by these hostile proceedings, for not only did he 
 feel reluctant to expose his troops to these infuriated revolters 
 who were in possession of an almost inaccessible post ; it was 
 even doubtful whether he had sufficient force to subdue them, 
 should he resolve upon the hazardous experiment. In addition 
 to this, he perceived an universal reluctance among his people 
 to engage in the enteiprizs', although the evil daily and hourly 
 increased. At this critical juncture, a small band of buccaneers 
 came into the Port de Paix, to whom the governor proposed 
 the labour of terminating the revolt. This they readily ac- . 
 cepted ; and instantly repairing to the mountain, they climbed 
 it with so much resolution, and attacked the fortress with such 
 vigour, as to put the poor Negroes into the utmost consternation, 
 many of whom, and among them Padrejan, they killed, dispers- 
 ing the rest. 
 
DEATH OF M. DE POUANCEY. 49 
 
 Such was the restlessness under oppression, and such the .in- 
 dications of the lovp of liberty, so natural to the human bosom, 
 which from time to time, broke forrti in this much injured 
 island. It would have been well for their rulers, had they duly 
 considered how much the instigator to crimes, who becomes 
 such no less by a severity of condu't that occasions them, than 
 by direct encouragement and dictation, is himself a participator 
 in their guilt, and answerable for their consequences. However 
 we must condemn wickedness wlierever practised, and under 
 whatever circumstances of temptation we cannot but pity those 
 wretched people, who in seeking dt-livt ranee from unmerited 
 degradation, were treatetl as rebels and miscreants. 
 
 In 163!, Puiiancey went into Fiance, whence he returned in 
 the spring of the following year, and about the close of it, died, 
 much and deservedly regretted by all who knew him. With 
 regard to the colony, notwithstanding all his care, zeal, and 
 persevering attention to its interests, he left it in a very deplora- 
 ble condition. The buccaneers were almost reduced to nothing, 
 while the other classes of the population were infected with an 
 untractable spirit, owing to their dissatisfaction with certain 
 commercial regulations respecting the cultivation of tobacco, 
 by which they considered themselves aggrieved. The piratical 
 freebooters were of little service in opposing the enemies of 
 the colony, though they spread universal terror through the Indies 
 by their depredations; and on the other hand, they prevented the 
 interchange of trade by the alarms their conduct spread around, 
 and exposed the settlement to the continual retaliations of ex- 
 asperated foes. At the same time, they scarcely acknowledged 
 
 ' the government, and submitted but imperfectly, and with a very- 
 ill grace to its regulations. Besides these evils, the Spaniards 
 refused to allow the right of the French to form any establish- 
 ment on the island of St. Domingo, where they not only regard- 
 
 j ed them as intruders and rubbers, but as the encouragers of 
 rebellion and piracy. It was their anxious witjh to confine them 
 toTortuga; whde the English who were settled in Jamaica, 
 carried their views still further, by wishing totally to expel thera 
 from the West Indies. 
 
 8 
 
 w^ 
 
50 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 It was not till 16S3, that de Cussy was appointed as successor 
 to M, de Poiiancey — De Franquesnay having commanded in the 
 mean time as the king's lieutenant; and upon his arrival, the 
 new governor found enough to do in order to tranquillize the 
 mutinous dispositions of his people. The freebooters had spread 
 disord<-r in every direction, and the colony was throughout in 
 a very depraved stale, neither religion nor justice being admin- 
 istered. Two commissioners were therefore sent in 16S4, to 
 concert measures with De Cussy, for the better regulation of the 
 internal policy, and the chevalier St. Laurence and M. Bf gon 
 who were deputed to this important work, executed it with 
 judgment and fidelity. Courts of Judicature were established 
 f u the several districts, responsible to a supreme council at 
 Petit Goave. Other points were adjusted by means of a little 
 address, without any serious disagreement. Negociations were 
 entered into with the government at home, in order to obtain 
 relief from the restrictions which had been imposed upon com- 
 merce, pailicularly in the article of tobacco, but they proved 
 unavailable, although at several subsequent periods the colony 
 was on the point of destruction tbiough the failure of trade, 
 and tbe despondency of the inhabitants; till at length the 
 manufactuiH uf indigo became considerable and enriched a num- 
 ber of individuals. 
 
 When M. de Poiiapcey first took possession of his govern- 
 ment, the isle of Turtuga was alujost abandoned by the in- 
 habitants, and he had taken much but fruitless pains to re-peo- 
 ple it. De Cussy cherished a similar solicitude on the subject, 
 at least, at first, till finding that it was far less productive than it 
 bad formerly been, he remitted his exertions, and at length it 
 became entirely deserted. This tended to improve Port de- 
 Paix, which during the whole of this administration was always 
 regarded as tbe most important part of the colony ; and one 
 of the first concerns of this government was to erect a fort, 
 which the desertion of Tortuga rendered absolutely requisite 
 for the protection of tbe channel running between the two 
 islands : but it was not found possible to put this design int© 
 very speedy execution. 
 
MERCHANTS OF ST. MALO. 51 
 
 The court having entertained very serious designs of attempt- 
 ing the conquest of St. Domingo, M. de Cu&sy was in- 
 structed secretly to niake preparations for this achievement;* 
 while at the same moment (1688) the Spaniards were engaging 
 in perpetual incursions up ,«n the French boundaries, and medi- 
 tating on their part the capture of Cayenne, St. Croix, and 
 finally, the French portion of St. Domingo. De Cussy, how- 
 ever, was disconcerted by other occurrences. The king had 
 granted an exclusive privilege of trade with the Spaniards in 
 these seas to a cinnpany of merchants of St. Malo, which had 
 the effect of depriving some hundreds of the inhabitants of their 
 ordinary subsistence ; the tobacco did not sell, and the people 
 who could not engage in the indigo manufactures, found 
 themselves in circumstances of great distress ; in consequence 
 of which, discontent rapidly extended, till it issued in an open 
 revolt in the immediate vicinity of Cape Francois. Measures, 
 however, were instantly taken by M. de Franquesnay, the 
 commanding officer of the district, in concert with M. de 
 Cussy, at once conciliatory and firm, which issued in the total 
 suppression of the tumult. 
 
 In the summer of 1689, De Cussy planned an expedition 
 against St. Jago, of which he was determined, if possible, to 
 dispossess the Spaniards. With this view, he assembled a force, 
 consisting of four hundred cavalry and four hundred and fifty 
 infantry ; one hundred and fifty negroes, were employed as at- 
 tendants on the detachment. Having reached the neighbour- 
 hood, and in vain summoned them to surrender, he vigorously 
 pursued his project. On the sixth of July, he passed the river 
 Yaqu^, without opposition, and proceeded to a defile within 
 half a league of the town, where two men could scarcely pass 
 abreast. Instead of waiting for an attack, he continued to ad- 
 
 * How anxiously this was desired, may be conceived from some expressions 
 to De Cussy, in a letter from the minister, dated January 13, 1689, " vous pouvez 
 croire que vous n'aurtz de votre vie rien de plus grand a executer et vous pouvez 
 compter, en reussissant, sur des graces particulieres de sa majestS, surtout qu'elle 
 vous en dunneroit le gouvernement Je vous pris de m'iuformer des mesure.s qu* 
 vous prendrez pour I'execulion de ce project." 
 
 m 
 
52 
 
 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 vance, and the van proceeded without resistance, leaving the 
 centre and rear open to an attack, which they did nut sufficient- 
 ly anticipate from the enemy, who being posted on the high 
 ground above, possessed every a«Jvantage. The promptitude 
 and skill of the general however soon releasi^d bis troops from 
 this dilemma, and he obtained a decisive victory, when he drove 
 the enemy to the hills and took immediate possession of the 
 place. It was absolutely deserted — the churches all open, and 
 the houses stripped of their furniture : but a quantity of meat 
 and diink re nained behind, which, notwithstanding an order 
 issued to the contrary, some of the party ventured, to their 
 great detriment, to partake. This excited a siispicion of the 
 food having been poisoned, which so enraged them that an 
 universal request was presented for permission to set fire to the 
 town ; whicb was granted, upon the condition of sparing the 
 churches and chapels. As the clouds seemed to portend rain, 
 and the rivers were liable at those times to swell to such a 
 height as to render a passage difficult, it was determined to make 
 a timely retreat, satisfied with the wound that had been inflict- 
 ed upon their Spanish rivals. Accordingly in a few days the ex- 
 pedition returned with little molestation. At the same juncture, 
 the intelligence of the English having taken St. Christopher's, 
 reached the island, and prevented any further military attempt 
 at present. The fugitives from the captured island, were distri- 
 buted in Martinique and St. Domingo. 
 
 In the mean time, the Spaniards prepared to revenge their dis- 
 grace at St. Jago, by an attack upon Cape Fran(;ois : to which 
 place De Cussy repaired on the tenth of January. 1690, and set 
 about the necessary means of defence, contrary to his own opin- 
 ion, but at the earnest representation of Franquesnay, he issued 
 orders to meet the enemy in the plains at a distance of about a 
 league and a halffrom the town. This arrangement was fatal — the 
 French were outnumbered by treble their own force ; and De Cus- 
 sy, with thirty officers and four or five hundred of the bravest men, 
 amongvvhom was Franquesnay, perished on the field where the 
 Spaniards triumphed. Nor did the conquerors fail to retaliate 
 upon the surrounding country the injuries they had previously 
 
ARRIVAL OF DUCASSE. 53 
 
 sustained : neither man, woman, child, nor habitation, withia 
 their reach, escaping their vengeance. Many indeed fled to 
 the woods, and succeeded in saving their fatnilies, property, and 
 negroes; among the latter some remarkable instances occurred 
 of that fidelity, which has been always characteristic of these 
 poor oppressed people, who refused to avail themselves of the 
 present favourable opportunity of resuming their liberty and 
 sacrificing their oppressors. After committing various depreda- 
 tions, the Spaniards withdrew. 
 
 The only proper person that could be found to succeed to 
 the superintendence of the colony, was M. Ducasse, who was in- 
 timately acquainted with the island. He was a native of Beam, 
 and one of the directors of the Senegal Company, to which 
 he rendered very important services. Upon his arrival at Cape 
 Franqois, in October, 1691, he found the colony in a reduced 
 and wretched condition, the population diminished, the fortifi- 
 cations in almost luin, and the shores menaced by a formidable 
 Spanish fleet. This obliged him to hasten to Leogane and Pe- 
 tit Goave with the ships that had accompanied him from France. 
 The measures of a defensive and precautionary description 
 which he took, effectually prevented the enemy from making 
 any descent : they were in fact sufficiently alarmed at his pre- 
 parations. 
 
 Ducasse had to encounter another danger in the untractable 
 spirit of the freebooters. After the Spaniards had retired, five 
 or six of their vessels put to sea; the measures of the governor, 
 in which were blended firmness and moderation, not proving 
 agreeable to their taste : the mischief was the greater, owing to 
 the influence of their conduct upon the younger inhabitants who 
 partook of their dissatisfaction, and were solicitous of enjoying 
 their liberty ; so that to correct this roving spirit, and to con- 
 vert them into useful subjects, required all the address and 
 management of which the governor was possessed. 
 
 The English and Spaniards who continued, from time to time 
 to menace the island, were frequently enabled to ascertain 
 its state, by intercepting several of the governor's letters.' In 
 1693, however, this was retaliated upon the archbishop of St, 
 
54 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 Domingo, and it was found by communication to the president 
 of the council for India, that he entertained the greatest appre- 
 hensions lest the French should obtain the mastery of the whole 
 island, which he had not at present sufficient means to prevent. 
 Ducasse instantly addressed his court, urging them to take ad- 
 vantage of the present apprehensions and unprepared stale of 
 the Spanish settlement, and achieve the easy conquest which 
 now awaited them. These representations, from whatever 
 cause, failed. 
 
 In 1694, Ducasse made a descent upon the island of Jamaica, 
 where having done considerable mischief to the English towns, 
 he reimbarked with the gain of three thousand negroes, besides 
 a quantity of indigo and other valuable articles of merchandize. 
 The former were considered as an important acquisition, as the 
 greatest attention had long been paid to the cultivation of the 
 sugar cane. The English, as was to be anticipated, soon resolv- 
 ed upon returning the compliment, and m the sum[))er of 1695, 
 pi'epared to visit St. Domingo in conjunction with their Spanish 
 allies. Having entered with a considerable fleet into the bay of 
 Mancenille, after some days, partly through the mismanagement, 
 and partly through the cowardice of their opponents, they suc- 
 ceeded in penetrating the settlement of Cape Fran9ois, which 
 they plundered and reduced to ashes. Hence they pushed on 
 in two divisions towards Port de Paix, and very soon took 
 possession of the heights which commanded the fort, and placed 
 the town in a state of seige. It was not long before the discon- 
 tents that prevailed in consequence of being exposed to all the 
 miseries connected with such a situation, obliged the commander 
 to abandon it to the victorious enemy, who made many priso- 
 ners. It seemed at first mysterious, that after this they should 
 not persevere in further spreading devastation through the dis- 
 pirited colony, but the probability is. that the information they 
 received of formidable preparations for resistance at Leogane, 
 and the neighbouring places, deterred them. They had be- 
 sides fully revenged the injuries they had sustained in the preced- 
 ing year. 
 
 In addition to these evils, the king sent out express orders to 
 
AFFAIR OF CARTHAGENA. 65 
 
 transport the colony of St. Croix to St. Domingo, which in other 
 circumstances might have been regarded as a reinforcement of 
 its strength and population, but at this moment neither th-s one 
 nor the other were well able to subsist alone : the inevitable 
 consequence was, that that which ought to have proved an assis- 
 tance, became a very serious burden. 
 
 The succeeding years present no very interesting details to 
 the historian. Similar hostilities to those which had been 
 already manifested between the rival nations continued to prevail, 
 but with no very consiqierable effect on either side. The taking 
 of Carthagena, one of the richest towns and strongest fortresses 
 of the Indies, ma) however, be considered as an event of some 
 magnitude. It was achieved under the sanction of the govern- 
 ment, who authorised a few individuals in 1697, to fit out seven 
 ships of the line and other vessels of inferior size, under the 
 command of Commodore Pointis. The buccaneers joined the 
 expedition in which Ducasse also participated : but these two 
 commanders, neither before nor after the enterpiiseseem to have 
 maintained a very good understanding with each other. The 
 attempt completely succeeded — the place was taken and treated 
 with terrible severity. Pointis violated every article of the 
 capitulation, indulging his officers and soldiers in their appetite 
 for plunder. The commodore insisted that the value of the 
 spoils did not exceed seven or eigbt millions of livres, or from 
 two hundred and ninety-one thou:^and six hundred and sixty-six 
 pounds thirteen shillings and four pence to three hundred and 
 thirty- three thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds six 
 shillings and eight pence. Decasse estimated them at thirty mil- 
 lions, or one million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds; and 
 others at forty millions, or one million six hundred and sixty-six 
 thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds ten shillings and 
 four pence. The buccaneers were by agreement to receive 
 one quarter of the whole booty, but the real profit dealt out to 
 them did not exceed forty thousand crowns, or five thousand 
 pounds. This act of injustice so exasperated these adventurers, 
 that they instantly resolved to board the vessel which contained 
 Pointis, and wreak their vengeance upon his devoted head< 
 
56 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 •The Sceptre, for so the ship was called, was at the time by some 
 means so separated from the rest of the fleet, as to be beyond 
 the reach of any assistance : and the unhappy commander 
 would unquestionably have been sacrificed, bul for the excla- 
 mation of one of the party in these words, " Why should we 
 attack this rascal ? he has carried off nothing that belongs to us, 
 but has left our share at Carthagena, whither we must go to re- 
 cover it " This was received with great applause, and so easily 
 are brutal minds affected only by impulse, induced to change 
 their purposes, that they sailed back to the city without further 
 consideration. Here they shut up all the male inhabitants in the 
 church, where having defended themselves in an elaborate 
 speech against the anticipated accusations of those whom they 
 had treated with so much severity, and loaded Pointis with the 
 utmost reproach, they demanded, as in their estimate, a mode- 
 rate compensation and inducement to them to quit the city, the 
 sum of five million livres, or two hundred and eight thousand 
 three hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight 
 pence; but this sum could by no means be produced; so that 
 after repeated cruelties and extortions, they set sail, contenting 
 themselves as much as possible with the wealth already amassed. 
 Falling in, on their return, with a fltet of Dutch and Knglish 
 ships, several of their small vessels were taken or sunk, the re- 
 mainder escaping to St. Domingo. 
 
 During the expedition we have now related, the colony had 
 been left in charge of the Count du Boissy, who appears to have 
 fulfilled his trust with great zeal and skill. He personally in- 
 spected the principal places, and put every thing into the best 
 possible state of defence. An insurrection of the negroes, who 
 were ever panting for liberty, occurred, which he prumptly and 
 effectually suppressed ; and afterwards acted with great bravery 
 in repelling an irruption of the English. The fate of this officer 
 was melancholy. Having never enjoyed an interview with 
 Ducasse since his ai rival upon the island, he embarked in the 
 month of September at Cape Franqois on board a merchant 
 vessel, with a view of proceeding to Petit Goave ; but perceiv- 
 ing six ships which he took for enemies, he endeavoured to es- 
 
PEACE OF RYSWICK. 67 
 
 cape to land in a boat, accompanied with three negroes and a 
 soldier. The land was not more than a league and a half dis- 
 tant, notwithstanding which, every effort to gain it proved inef- 
 fectual, the boat was forced out to sea by the current, and the 
 unfortunate crew driven about for nine days without reaching 
 any shore, at the end of which period they were cast upon Cuba, 
 near the port of Barracoa. Here they remained five days with- 
 out provisions of any description, and at length perished. 
 
 Hostilities continued to prevail as before between the rival 
 nations, and with increased exasperation. The French inhabi- 
 tants were at length so wearied out, that they began to think of 
 removing from the island, and the governor of St. Jago had al- 
 ready sent a Spanish detachment of considerable force, which 
 had penetrated the plain of Cape Franqois, when intelligence of 
 the peace of UyswiCK in 1697 suspended all further proceedings ; 
 and the two rival settlements instantly sheathed their swords. 
 By this treaty, the French obtained the first regular cession of 
 the western part of St. Domingo. 
 
 9 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1697 TO THE YEAR 1789. 
 
 Company of St. Louis. — M. Auger succeeds Ducasse and Deslandes. — 
 Destruction of the cocoa frees on the island. — Commotion in 1722. — 
 Increasing prosperity of the French colony. — A view of the ecclesi- 
 astical and political constitution of the French and Spanish divisions 
 of the island previous to the year 1789. 
 
 It appears from the line of demarcation, traced out by the 
 arrangements at the peace of Hyswick, extending in a obhque 
 direction from Cape Francois on the eastern coast of Cape 
 l?osa on the west, and intercepting on one side the towns of 
 Isabella and Jago, and on the other Petit Goave and Port Louis, 
 that a large part of the colony southward remained in a consi- 
 derable degree unoccupied, the settlement of which was justly 
 considered by the government, as an object of importance. In 
 this district, there were not more than a hundred inhabitants, 
 who all lived in huts and were in a state of extretne wretched- 
 ness. With a view to the population and culture of this coun- 
 try, the government in 1698 granted it for thirty years to a 
 company which assumed the name of St. Louis. The condi- 
 tions were, that they should clear the ground and carry on a 
 contraband trade with the Spanish continent : they were all in 
 the first five years, to settle upon the lands fifteen hundred virhite 
 people, and two thousand five hundred negroes, and to distri- 
 bute portions to every applicant for their occupation. The 
 company, however, was soon ruined by the avaricious spirit of 
 its agents ; and in 1726 remitted all its rights to the king, who 
 transferred them to the India company. 
 
 Ducasse having been made admiral of the fleet in 1703, M. 
 Auger wlio had acquired considerable distinction by a well-con- 
 certed defence of Gaudaloupe, of which he was governor, was 
 appointed as his successor. He was a native of America, and 
 
DISTRESSES OF THE COLONY. 59 
 
 his previous life had been somewhat adventurous, having in his 
 youth passed a considerable time in astate of slavery. This had 
 softened liisdisposition, and he obtained the characterof beingthe 
 most accomphshed governor the Frt nch ever had upon the ii-land.* 
 Soon afterwards it was found expedient to separate more entire- 
 ly than had hitherto been done, the civil and military functions, 
 as the power vested in the governors was so extensive and dis- 
 cretionary, that it presented every temptation to despoti'^m. 
 M. Deslandes was accordingly placed in the situation of com- 
 missary and intendant : but neither he nor his colleague the 
 governor, with whom he lived in the utmost harmony, long sur- 
 vived their appointmenf : the former died in October 1705, 
 and the latter in the following February. Others followed 
 them in rapid succession, of whom nothing remarkable is re- 
 corded. 
 
 From the time of M. D'Ogeron, who planted the first cocoa 
 tree in 665, a considerable source of revenue and wealth had 
 originated. The plantations increased in every direction, parti- 
 cularly in the narrow vallies to the westward, where upon some 
 grounds there were no fewer than twenty thousand trees ; but 
 in 1715 and the succeeding year, all the cocoa trees in the colo- 
 ny perished. This calamity was soon followed by another. 
 Many of the proprietors of estates, after successive years of toil, 
 had acquired an easy competency, and even in some cases a 
 splendid fortune, with which to retire to France, and to extend 
 their means of enjoyment in advanced age : but their commo- 
 dities being paid for in the notes or securities chiefly of the 
 Mississippi company, which proved useless, they returned poor, 
 and were reduced to the necessity of soliciting employment 
 from those who had been their servants in their days of pros- 
 perity. 
 
 This naturally rendered the India company an object of ex- 
 treme, and in fact well merited aversion, and in 1722, when its 
 agents arrived, this dissatisfaction displayed itself in open hos- 
 tility — the buildings of the company were burnt down, while the 
 general cry was " Fine le Roi, point de Compagnie" Every 
 
 * Charlevoix. 
 
60 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 ship coming from Africa was either denied admiltance into the 
 harbour or interdicted from selling their cargoes : and the 
 governor himself was even put under arrest. The leaven of 
 discontent spread rapidly and extensively, and it was only after 
 the holding of many councils, frequent negocialion with the 
 revolters, and considerable concessions, that at the expiration of 
 two years, tranquillity was re-established. 
 
 The French colony from this period to the time of the 
 French revolution, progressively and rapidly advanced, exhibit- 
 ing a state of almost uninterrupted prosperity. In 1754, the 
 various commodities of the island amounted to a million and a 
 quarter sterling, and the imports to one million seven hundred 
 and seventy -seven thousand five hundied and nine pounds. 
 There were fourteen thousand white inhabitants, nearly four 
 thousand free mulattoes, and one hundred and seventy-two 
 thousand negroes : five hundred and ninety-nine sugar planta- 
 tions, three thousand three hundred and seventy-nine of indigo, 
 ninety-eight thousand nine hundred and forty-six cocoa trees, 
 six million three hundred thousand three hundred and sixty- 
 seven cotton plants, and about twenty-two million cassia trees, 
 sixty-three thousand horses and mules, ninety-three thousand 
 heads of horned cattle, six million banana trees, upwards of one 
 million plots of potatoes, two hundred and twenty-six thousand 
 of yams, and near three million trenches of raarrioc. 
 
 In 1767 they equipped, three hundred and forty-seven ships 
 fur France, in addition to at least a fifth of that number eu)ploy- 
 ed in various other ways. Several years previous to this date, 
 they had eight thousand seven hundred and eighty-six whites 
 capable of bearing arms- and one thousand four hundred and 
 fourteen mulattoes. The slaves had increased to two hundred 
 and six thousand. 
 
 In 1776 another line of demarcation between the French and 
 Spanish settlements was traced, which, though it encroached 
 considerably on the possessions of the former, was mutually ad- 
 %'antageou5.* After this time the Spaniards opened a more libe- 
 
 ♦ For statistical tables relating to the first part, the reader is referred to ^pjendlx I. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAND. 61 
 
 ral commercial intercourse with their neighbours, though they 
 were never able to rival them in success: but the Spanish govern- 
 ment, since 17S5, having paid increased attention to its posses- 
 sions in this quarter, they were better defended, and in every 
 view became more respectable as a colony. 
 
 Before entering upon the troublous times of the French revo- 
 lution, the remainder of this chapter may be properly devoted 
 to a general review of the ecclesiastical and political constitution 
 of St. Domingo. 
 
 With regard to the Spanish division, many of the church 
 benefices were filled by the secular clergy. It was made the 
 seat of an archi-episcopal see, and had all the minor dignities. 
 The inquisition was also established here as well as in the Other 
 American islands ; though independence on Rome was obtained 
 by express concession. The inhabitants were divided into pure 
 Spaniards called also Chopetones, who visited Acnerica for em- 
 ployment, and enjoyed every situation of power — Creoles, or 
 descendants of Europeans, settled in America — JMulattoes, or 
 the ofTspiing of Europeans and Indians — Mestizos^ or the off- 
 spring of Europeans and negroes — jVegroes or blacks, who not 
 only differ from other men in colour, but in the singularity of 
 their conformation, having high cheek bones, an elevated fore- 
 head, a short, broad, flat nose, thick lips, small ears, and great 
 irregularity of shape. 
 
 The towns were governed by a local municipality, which how- 
 ever was extremely feeble and inadequate, confining itself prin- 
 cipally to minor commercial regulations. Justice was adminis- 
 tered by six respectable judges, who formed one of the eleven 
 courts of audience distributed through the colonies. The de- 
 cisions of these courts were subject to an appeal to the council 
 for the Indies in Spain, excepting civil cases, where the object 
 of litigation did not amount to near fifteen hundred pounds. 
 The viceroy of New Spain represented the head of government. 
 The council overruled every department, civil and ecclesiasti- 
 cal, military and commercial, and originated every regulation 
 to be passed by the majority, of a third of the members — the 
 king being always understood to preside. A commercial assembly 
 
62 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 was also formed, and the local affairs below these comprised 
 commandants, and others still inferior, of every description. 
 
 In the French division, of the island, the ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment was lightly administered ; but the forms of the Koniish 
 church were regarded, and the Jesuits held a firm footing there. 
 The inhabitants of the French part of St. Domingo, as Mr. 
 Edwards, from whom the following statement is abridged, men- 
 tions, were composed, as in all the West Indian Islands, of three 
 great classes: \%U pure whites. 2d, people of colour, and blacks 
 of free condition. 3d, neg-roes in a slate of slavery. The class 
 which is called /)eo/>?^ o/'co/oM?-, originates from an inlermixtiire 
 of the whites and the blacks. While, as before stated, the genu- 
 ine offspring of a pure white with a negro is called a mulatto ; 
 there are various casts, produced by subsequent connexions, 
 some of which approximate the whites, till all visible distinction 
 between them is lost; whilst others retr«)grade to the blacks. 
 All these were known in St, Donjingo by the term sang-meUes, 
 ov gens de couleur, (in common parlance they are collectively 
 called mulattoes) and in all the Fiench islands, these people 
 abound in far greater proportion to the whiles than in those of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 The government before the revolution of 17S9. was exercised 
 by z, governor general, and an officer calfed Intendaut, both of 
 whom were nominated by the crown, on the reconimendation 
 of the minister of the marine, and generally considered as esta- 
 blished in their respective offices for three years. Their powers, 
 in some cases, were administered jointly ; in others, they pos- 
 sessed separate and distinct authority, which each of them ex- 
 ercised without the concurrence or participation of the other. 
 
 In their joint administration, their powers weie unlimited ; 
 comprehending every part of colonial government, and extend- 
 ing even to detail, in the minutest branches of finance and 
 police. They enacted the laws, nominated to all vacant offices, 
 and distributed the crown lands as they thought proper. They 
 respectively presided at the same time in each of the supreme 
 councils, or courts of justice in the dernier resort ; and as vacan- 
 cies happened in those courts, by the death or removal of its 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAND. 63 
 
 members, they filled up the vacant places. Against the abuse 
 of powers, thus extravagant and unbounded, the people had no 
 certain protection. Fortunately, it was rare that the governor 
 and intendant agreed in opinion on the exercise of their joint 
 authority, which therefore became necessarily relaxed ; and 
 the inhabitants derived some degree of security from the dis- 
 putes and dissensions of the contending parties. In all such 
 cases, however, the greatest weight of authority fell to the share 
 of the governor. He was, in truth, an absolute prince, whose 
 will, generally speaking, constituted law. , He was authorized 
 to impris^on any person in the colony, for causes of which he 
 alone was the judge ; and having at the same time the supreme 
 command of both the naval and military force, he had the means 
 of exercising this power whenever he thought proper. On the 
 other hand, no arrest, by any other authority, was valid without 
 the governor's approbation. Thus he had power to stop the 
 course of justice, and to hold the courts of civil and criminal 
 jurisdiction in a slavish dependence on himself. 
 
 It was the peculiar province of the intendant to regulate the 
 public revenues, or administer the finances of the colony. The 
 collectors and receivers of all duties and taxes were subject to 
 his controul. He passed or rejected their accounts, and made 
 them such allowances as he alone thought proper, and with him 
 rested entirely the application of all the public moneys. 
 
 The taxes and duties were laid and modified, as occasion re- 
 quired, by a court composed of the governor general, the inten- 
 dant, the presidents of the provincial councils, the attorney- 
 general, the con)missioner of the navy (oidonattur) and the 
 several commandants of the militia. This court was dignified 
 by the title of the Colonial Assembly, although the colonists had 
 not a single delegate in it. 
 
 For the better administration of justice, and the easier col- 
 lection of the levenues, the colony was divided into three pro- 
 vinces, the northern, the western, and the southern. In each of 
 these resided a deputy-governor, and in each were established 
 subordinate courts of civil and criminal justice ; from whose 
 determination appeals were allowed to the two superior councils; 
 
64 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 of which one was at Cape Francois for the northern province ; 
 the other at Fort-au- Prince for the western and southern. They 
 were composed of the governor-general, the intendant, the de- 
 puty-governors, the king's lieutenants, a president, and twelve 
 counsellors, four assexseurs, or assistant judges, together with the 
 attorney-general and register. In these courts of supreme juris- 
 diction, the king's edicts, and those of the governor and inten- 
 dant, were registered. Seven members constituted a quorum 
 for the hearing of appeal causes ; but a hint from the governor- 
 general was always sufficient to render much investigation un- 
 necessary. An appeal however lay to the king, in the last resort : 
 and on such appeals, substantial justice was generally obtained. 
 
 The number of the king's troops on the colonial establish- 
 ment, was commonly from two to three thousand men ; and 
 each of the fifty-two parishes into which the colony was divided, 
 raised one or more companies of white militia, a company of 
 mulattoes, and a company of free blacks. The officers, both of 
 the regular troops and the militia, were commissioned provi- 
 sionally by the governor-general, subject to the king's approba- 
 tion ; but the militia received no pay. 
 
 Although released from the dominion of individuals, yet the 
 free men of colour in all the French islands were still consider- 
 ed as the property of the public, and as public property, they 
 were obnoxious to the caprice and tyranny of all those whom 
 the accident of birth had placed above them. By the colonial 
 governments, they were treated as slaves in the strictest sense ; 
 being compelled, on attaining the age of manhood, to serve 
 three years in a military establishment called the marechaussee ;^ 
 and on the expiration of that term, they were subject, great part 
 of the year, to the burthen of the corvees ; — a species of labour 
 allotted for the repair of the highways, of which the hardships 
 
 * It consisted of certain companies of infantry, which were chiefly employed 
 as rangers in clearing the woods of maron or runaway slaves. This establishment 
 was afterwards very prudently dissolved, and the companies disbanded ; it ap- 
 pearing that the mulattoes acquired, by communication with each other, a sense 
 of common interest and of common strength, which was beginning to render 
 them formidable to their employers. — Edwards. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAND. 65 
 
 were insupportable. Tbey were compelled moreover to serve 
 in the militia of the province or quarter to which they belonged, 
 without any pay or allowance, and in the horse or foot, at the plea- 
 sure of the commanding officer : and at their own expense with 
 arms, ammunition, and accoutrements. Their days of muster. 
 were frequent, and the rigour with which the king's lieutenants, 
 majors, and aides-major, enforced their authority over these 
 people, degenerated into the basest of tyranny. 
 
 They were forbidden to hold any public office, trust, or em- 
 ployment, and were not even allowed to exercise any of those 
 professions, to which some sort of liberal education is supposed 
 to be necessary. All the naval and military departments, all 
 degrees in law, physic, and divinity, were appropriated exclu- 
 sively by the whites. A mulatto could not be a priest, nor a 
 lawyer, nor a physician,, nor a surgeon, nor an apothecary, nor 
 a schoolmaster. Neither did the distinction of colour terminate, 
 as in the British West Indies, with the third generation. The 
 taint in the blood was incurable, and spread to the latest pos- 
 terity. Hence no white man, who had the smallest pretensions 
 to character, would ever think of marriage with a negro or mu- 
 latto woman ; such a step would immediately have terminated 
 in his disgrace and ruin. 
 
 The courts of criminal jurisdiction, adopting the popular 
 prejudices against them, gave etfect and permanency to the 
 system. A man of colour being prosecutor, must have made 
 out a strong case indeed, if at any time he obtained the con- 
 viction of a white person. On the other hand, the whites never 
 failed to procure prompt and speedy justice against the mulat- 
 toes. To mark more strongly the distinction between the two 
 classes, the law declared that if a free man of colour presumed 
 to strike a white person of whatever condition, his right hand 
 should be cut off; while a white man, for a similar assault on a 
 free mulatto, was dismissed on the payment of an insignificant 
 fine. 
 
 In extenuation of this horrible detail, it may be said with 
 truth, that the manners of the white inhabitants softened, in 
 
 some measure, the severity of their laws : thus, in the case last 
 
 10 
 
66 HISTORY OF ST. DOM IN tiO. 
 
 mentioned, the universal abhorrence which would have attended 
 an enforcement of the penalty, made the law a dead letter. It 
 was the same with the Roman law of the Twelve Tables, by 
 which a fatlicr was allowed to inflict the punishment of death 
 on his own child : — manners, not law, prevented the exertion of 
 a power so unnatural and odious. 
 
 But the circumstance which contributed most to afford the 
 coloured people of St. Domingo protection, was the privilege 
 they possessed of acquiring and holding property to any anjount. 
 Sevfeial of them were the owners of con.siderable estates; and 
 so prevalent was the influence of money throughout the colony, 
 that n.'any of the great officers in the administration of govern- 
 ment, scj upled not, secretly to become their pensioners. Such 
 of the coloured people therefore as had happily the means of 
 gratifying the venality of their superiors, were secure enough in 
 their persons j although the same circumstance made them 
 more pointedly the objects of hatied and envy to the lower 
 orders of the whites. 
 
 The lowest class of people in the French island, were the 
 negroes in a state of slavety; of whom, in the year 1789, St. 
 Domingo contained no less than four hundred and eighty thou- 
 sand. It was in favour of this class that Louis XIV, in the year 
 1683, published the celebrated edict, or code of regulations, 
 which is well known to the world under the thle of the Code 
 ^oir ; and which, in many of its provisions, breathed a spirit of 
 tenderness and philanthruphy highly honourable to the memory 
 of its author. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1789 TO 
 THE DECUEE OF MAY 1791. 
 
 States General summoned in France. — Society of Amis de Noirs. — 
 Declaration of rights. — Co/ fused state of the colony. — Decree of 
 March 8th, 1790, — Colonial assembly 7neet at St. Marc. — Decree 
 of2Sth of May. — Proceedings of Peynier and Mauduit. — Rebellion 
 of Oge. — Committee for the colonies in France. — Death of Mau- 
 duit. — Decree of the 15th of May, 1791. 
 
 The state of things in Europe had been such, during a long 
 period, as to produce a political crisis, in the result of which 
 a very considerable portion of the habitable globe has been di- 
 rectly or indirectly interested. Intelligence of the commotions 
 which agitated the French empire, and of the different transac- 
 tions which began to excite the attention of the almost universal 
 world reached the colonies, and produced corresponding emo- 
 tions. The spirit of discussion went forth, and awakened 
 hopes of political alteration and improvement, even amongst 
 those who seemed doomed to the bondage of perpetual servi- 
 tude; while it elicited those feelings, and roused into action 
 those dormant capabilities which made the despot tremble, and 
 the oppressed exult in a consciousness of strength, and a know- 
 ledge of right. At this period, the European revolution unlock- 
 ed the door which the active benefactors of mankind have since 
 united to throw wide open, inviting the children of slavery to 
 go forth into freedoni. Reluctant senates have heard the voice 
 of sympathizing nations, and in despite of interest and pride, 
 have set their seal to the deed of emancipation. 
 
 On the 27th of December, 1788, the court of France hav- 
 ing come to the memorable determination to summon the states 
 general of the kingdom, resolved that the representation of the 
 tiers ^tat (or commons) should be equal to the sura of the rep- 
 resentation of the other two orders. 
 
68 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 This measure operated with immediate effect in all the Frencli 
 colonies. The governor of the French part of St. Domingo at 
 that period was M. Duchilleau, who was supposed secretly to 
 favour the popular pretensions, and was therefore allowed to 
 continue in his government ; but by attempting to prevent 
 the parochial and provincial meetings from assembling, his 
 proclamations were treated with contempt : the meetings were 
 held, and resolutions passed declaratory of the right of the 
 colonists to send deputies to the states general. These being 
 elected to the number of eighteen, without any authority either 
 from the French ministry or the colonial government, embarked 
 for France as legal representatives. 
 
 About a month after the states general had declared them- 
 selves tiie national assembly, they arrived at Versailles; but 
 their number being thought excessive, it was with some difficul- 
 ty that six of them only were admitted to verify their powers, 
 and assume their seat. 
 
 A very strong prejudice against the inhabitants of the sugar 
 islands, on account of the slavery of their negroes, prevailed at 
 this lime in France, a prejudice which was daily fomented and 
 increased by invectives against despotism of every kind : and 
 the public indignation was excited against the West Indian 
 planters. This spirit of hostility produced a society, entitled 
 Amis des Xoirs (Friends of the Blacks,) which circulated their 
 protests with such extraordinary zeal and rapidity, that their 
 measures became the topics of universal conversation. This 
 society having secretly in view to subvert the ancient despotism 
 of the French government, loudly called for a general and im- 
 mediate abolition of the slave trade, and of the slavery which it 
 supported. 
 
 Many of the mulattoes from St. Domingo and the other 
 French islands, were at this time resident in the French capital. 
 Some had been sent in early life for education : others were 
 men of property, and persons of intelligence. With these peo- 
 ple, the society oi Amis des JSoirs formed an intimate connex- 
 ion. Their personal appearance excited pity, and, cooperating 
 with the spirit of the times and the representations of those who 
 
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 69 
 
 deeply sympatliized upon principles of humanity with their 
 condition, ail ranks of people became clamorous aj2;ainst the 
 white colonists, and their total annihilation was threatened. 
 
 On the twentieth day of August, the national assembly made 
 their declaration of rights. One of the doctrines in particular 
 contained in this declaration was calculated to destroy all sub- 
 ordination in the lower classes, that " all men are born, and 
 continue free and equal as to their rights;" and, accordingly, a 
 general ferment prevailed among the French inhabitants of St. 
 Domingo All that had passed in the mother country concern- 
 ing the colonists, had been represented to them through the 
 medium of party, and doubtless with a thousand circumstances 
 of exaggeration and insult; and the French government, appre- 
 hensive that disorders of a very alarming nature might arise, 
 issued orders to the governor general of St. Domingo, to con- 
 vene the inhabitants for the purpose of forming a legislative 
 assembly for interior regulation. These orders, however, were 
 anticipated. The inhabitants of the northern district bad al- 
 ready constituted a provincial assembly at Cape Francjois, and 
 their example was followed in the western and southern provin- 
 ces; to which were added parochial committees, formed to 
 maintain more immediate communications. 
 
 They often differed greatly among themselves on many im- 
 portant questions, though all concurred in one opinion, the 
 necessity of a full and speedy colonial representation ; but they 
 determined that if the king should not send out instructions for 
 such an assembly within three month?, the colony should adopt 
 its own measures. 
 
 The mulattoes, during this period, aware of the favourable 
 disposition of the French nation towards them, and incited by 
 their brethren in the metropolis, determined instantly to claim 
 the full benefit of the privileges, which were enjoyed by the 
 whites. Large bodies of them appeared in arms, but they 
 were easily overpowered. It is said, that the provincial assem- 
 blies were disposed to make concessions to the mulattoes them- 
 selves ; but against such of the whites as had taken any part in 
 favour of the people of colour, the rage of the populace knew 
 
70 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 no limits. Hence M. Dubois, deputy procureur general, who 
 had sought occasions to declaim publicly against the slavery of 
 the negroes, was arrested by the northern assembly, but the 
 governor interposed successfully on his behalf. 
 
 M. Ferrand de Beaudierre, a magistrate at Petit Goave, was 
 however more unfortunate. The parochial committee commit- 
 ted him to prison ; whence the mob took him by force, and in 
 spite of the magistrates and municipality put him to death. 
 
 An order for convoking a general colonial assembly was re- 
 ceived in St. Domingo from the king in January 1790 — appoint- 
 ing the central town of Leogane, in the western province, for 
 the place of meeting. The instructions, however, being con- 
 sidered as inapplicable to the circumstances of the colony, were 
 disapproved ; and another plan of their own was adopted, chang- 
 ing both the place and time of meeting. 
 
 Intelligence of the confused state of the colony was received 
 in the mother country ; and the planters of Martinico were 
 said to be equally discontented and disaffected. Apprehensive 
 of the island being likely to declare itself independent, the 
 national assembly on the eighth of March, 1790, entered into 
 the consideration of the subject ; and after a full discussion, a 
 very large majority voted, " That it never was the intention of 
 the assembly to comprehend the interior government of the 
 colonies in the constitution which they had fcamed for the 
 mother country, or to subject them to laws which were incom- 
 patible with their local establishments: they therefore authorize 
 the inhabitants of each colony to signify to the National Assem- 
 bly their sentiments and wishes concerning that plan of interior 
 legislation and commercial arrangement, which would be most 
 conducive to their piosperity. To this decree was added a 
 declaration, *' That the National Assembly would not cause any 
 innovation to be made, directly or indirectly, in any system of 
 commerce in which the colonies were already concerned." 
 
 This decree, it is easy to imagine, occasioned among the 
 people of colour, and the society of Amis des Noirs, great agi- 
 tation : it was interpreted as a tacit sanction of the slave trade j 
 and it was even contended, that the National Assembly, bV 
 
MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 1 71 
 
 leaving the adjustment of the colonial constitution;} to the 
 colonists theniselves, had discharged them from their allegiance. 
 
 The general assembly of St. Domingo, consisting of two hun- 
 dred and thirteen members, twenty four from the city of Cape 
 Fran9ais, sixteen from Fort au-Prince, and eight from Aux 
 Cayes, met on the sixteenth of April 1790, at St. Marc Most 
 of the other parishes returned two representatives each. But 
 the provincial asseniblies continued in the exercise of their self- 
 appointed functions. 
 
 One of the first measures was to relieve the people of colour 
 fron, 4,he hardships to which they were subject under the mili- 
 tary jurisdiction ; so that in future no greater duty ttas to be 
 required of them in the militia tl)an from the whites. In the 
 next place they proceeded to rectify some gross abu|>es wiiicb 
 had prevailed in the courts of judicature, confining th^^mselves, 
 however, to such only as called for immediate redress, and 
 chiefly to the great object of preparing the plan for a i\^\v system 
 of colonial government ; which employed their deliberations till 
 the twenty-eighth of May. 
 
 From M. Peynier, the present governor general, the adherents 
 of the ancient despotism secretly derived encouragement and 
 support ; but while these persons opposed themselves to the new 
 order of things, the Chevalier Mauduit, colonel of the regiment 
 of Port-au-Prince, arrived at St. Domingo; and by his talents, 
 dexterity, zeal, and address, soon acquired an ascendency over 
 Peynier, and governed the colony in his name. He saw that it 
 was necessary to prevent a coalition of interests between the 
 colonial assembly, and the free people of colour. He therefore 
 proclaimed himself ihe patron and protector of the mulattoes, 
 and by his assiduity effectually gained over the entire body. 
 
 If the planters had remained united among themselves, it 
 seems probable that the tranquillity of the country would have 
 been preserved ; but the provincial assembly of the North, 
 counteracted by all possible means, the proceedings of the 
 general assembly at St. Marc. Appearances seemed to indicate 
 an approaching civil war, even before the plan for the new con- 
 stitation was published. This was contained in the decree of 
 
72 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 the general colonial assembly of the twenty-eighth of May, 
 which consisted of ten fundamental positions, which are prece- 
 ded by an introductory discourse or preamble (as usual in the 
 French decrees) wherein, among other considerations, it is sta- 
 ted, as an acknowledged principle in the French constitution, 
 that the right in the crown to confirm the acts of the legislature, 
 is a prerogative, inherent and incommunicable. The articles are 
 as follow : — 
 
 " 1. The legislative authority, in every thing which relates to 
 the internal concerns of the colony (regime interieur) is vested 
 in the assembly of its representatives, which shall be QJled 
 " The General Assembly of the French part of St. Domins^o.]'' 
 
 2. No act of the legislative body, in what relates to the inter- 
 nal concerns of the colony, shall be considered as a law definitive, 
 unless it be made by the representatives of the French part 
 of St. Domingo, freely and legally chosen, and confirmed by 
 the king. 
 
 3. In cases of urgent necessity, a legislative decree of the 
 general assembly, in what relates to the internal concerns of the 
 colony, shall be considered as a laiv provisional. In all such 
 cases, the decree shall be notified forthwith to the governor 
 general, who, within ten days after such notification, shall cause 
 it to be published and enforced, or transmit to the general assem- 
 bly his observations thereon. 
 
 4. The necessity of the case on which the execution of such 
 provisional decree is to depend, shall be a separate question, and 
 be carried in the afi&rmative by a majority of two-thirds of the 
 general assembly ; the names and numbers being taken down. 
 (Prise par Vappel nominal.) 
 
 5. If the governor general shall send down his observations 
 on any such decree, the same shall be entered in the journals of 
 the general assembly, wAo shall then proceed to revise the de- 
 cree, and consider the observations thereon in three several sit- 
 tings. The votes for confirming or annulling the decree shall be 
 given in the words Fes or JVo; and a minute of the proceedings 
 shall be signed by the members present, in which shall be enu- 
 merated thq votes on each side of the question ; and if there ap- 
 
DECREE OF MAY 1790. 73 
 
 pears a majority of two-thirds for confirming the decree, it shall 
 be immediately enforced by the governor general. 
 
 6. As every law ought to be founded on the consent of those 
 who are to be bound by it, the French part of St. Domingo 
 shall be*allo\ved to propose regulations concerning pommercial 
 arrangements, and the system of mutual connexion (rapports 
 coinmerciaux, et autres rapports communs,) and the decrees which 
 the national assembly shall make in all such cases shall not be 
 enforced in the colony, until the general assembly shall have con- 
 sented thereto. 
 
 7. In cases of pressing necessity, the importation of articles 
 for the support of the inhabitants shall not be considered as 
 any breach in the system of commercial regulations between 
 St. Dumingo and France ; provided that the decrees to be 
 made in such cases by the general assembly shall be submitted 
 to the revision of the governor general, under the same condi- 
 tions and modifications as are prescribed in articles three and 
 five. 
 
 8. Provided also, that every legislative act of the general 
 assembly, executed provisionally, in cases of urgent necessity, 
 shall be transmitted forthwith for the royal sanction. And if 
 the king shall refuse his consent to any such act, its execution 
 shall be suspended, as soon as the king's refusal shall be legally 
 notified to the general assembly. 
 
 9. A new general assembly shall be chosen every two years, 
 and none of the members who have served in the former assem- 
 bly shall be eligible in the new one. 
 
 JO. The general assentbly decree that the preceding articles, 
 as forming pait of the constitution of the French colony in St. 
 Domingo, shall be immediately transujitled to France for the 
 acceptance of the national assembly, and the king. They shall 
 likewise be transmitted to all. the parishes and districts of the 
 colony, and be notified to the governor general." 
 
 Some of these articles are evidently irreconcileable to every 
 just principle of colonial subordination : and the most prevalent 
 opinion was, that a serious intention was entertained of decla- 
 ring the colony an independent state, in imitation of the Ens- 
 
 11 
 
74 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 lish American provinces ; and it was said that the colony was 
 sold to the English at forty millions of livres. 
 
 Some of the Western parishes recalled their deputies; and 
 the inhabitants of Cape Francois instantly renouncing obedience 
 to the general assembly: presented a memorial to the governor, 
 requesting him forthwith to dissolvt it. This proceeding was 
 sufficiently agreeable to M. Peynier, whose views were promo- 
 ted by another circumstance. In the harbour of Port-au-Pii:ice 
 lay a ship of the line, called the Leopard, commanded by M. 
 Galisoniere, who in consequence of co-operating in the design 
 of Peynier and Mauduii, gave offence to his sailors, who with- 
 drew their obedience and declared themselves to be in the 
 interests of the colonial assembly ! M. Galisoniere at length 
 quitted the ship, upon which the crew gave the command to one 
 of the lieutenants. The assembly immediately transmitted a 
 vote of thanks, requiring of them, in the name of the law and 
 the king, to detain the ship in the road, and await their further 
 orders. The sailors promised obedience, affixed the vote of 
 thanks on the main mast of the ship; while some of their parti- 
 zans took possession of a powder magazine at l^eogane. 
 
 Two days afterwards, M. Peynier issued a proclamation to 
 dissolve the general assembly; charginii; the members with en- 
 tertaining projects of independency, and asserting that they had 
 treacherously possessed themselves of one of the king's ship by 
 corrupting the crew. He pronounced tbem and their adherents 
 traitors to their country and king : declaring his intention of 
 employing all the force he could collect to bring them to con- 
 dign punishment. 
 
 Having determined to arrest the committee of the western 
 provincial assembly, he commissioned M. Mauduit to undertake 
 the enterprise, who being informed that this committee ht Id 
 consultations at midnight, selected one hundred of his soldiers to 
 sieze the members. On arriving however at the house, he found 
 it protected by four hundred of the national guards. A skir- 
 mish ensued ; two men were killed on the part of the assembly ; 
 several were wounded on both sides, and M. Mauduit returned 
 without effecting any thing more than seizing, and bearing away 
 in triumph, the national colours. 
 
ATTACK ON THE WESTERN COMMITTEE. 76 
 
 On receiving intelligence of this attack, the general assembly 
 summoned the people to llie protection of tbeir representatives^ 
 from all parts of the colony, and most of them obeyed j but the 
 Northern provincial assembly joined the paity of the governor, 
 and sent to his assistance a detachment from the regular troops 
 in that quarter, which was joined by a body of two hundred 
 mulaitoes. A much greater force was collected at the same 
 time in the Western province by M. Mamiuit, and the prepara- 
 tions on both sides threatened a sanguinary conflict; when, a 
 sudden stop was put to thi? civil war, by the unexpected deter- 
 mination of the general assembly to undertake a voyage to 
 France, and justify their conduct to the king and the national 
 assembly in person. Their numbers were at this time reduced 
 by sickness and desertion to about one hundred members, tighty- 
 five (of whom sixly-fuur were fathers of families) embarked on 
 board the Leopard, and on the eigt)th of August took their de- 
 parture for Europe :— ^a proceeding which greatly surprised the 
 governor and his party, while it filled the populace with admi- 
 ration at what they conceived to be a signal instance of virtue 
 and forbeaiance ; for at this moment two thousand men from 
 the Southern and Western provinces, were in full march for Port- 
 au-Prince to undertake tbeir defence. Tears of sensibility and 
 affection were shed at their departure by all classes of people, 
 and the parties in arms appeared mutually disposed to submit their 
 differences to the king and the national assembly. M. Peynier 
 resumed the government : but with feelings of no inconsidera- 
 ble apprehension. 
 
 No sooner was one source of contention removed, than ano- 
 ther still more alarming presented itself in the rebellion of 
 James Oge, a young mulattoe, of about thirty years of age, 
 whose mother had a coffee plantation in the Northern province, 
 about thirty miles from Cape Francois. She lived very credit- 
 ably, and found means to educate her son at Paris, where she 
 supported him in some degree of affluence, after he had obtain- 
 ed the age of manhood. 
 
 Oge had been introduced to the meetings of the Amis de JVoirs, 
 under the patronage of Gregoire, Brissot, La Fayette, and Ro- 
 
76 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 bespierre, the leading members of that society ; and was by 
 them initiated into the popular doctrine of equality, and the 
 rights of man. 
 
 Induced to believe, that the whole body of coloured people 
 in the French islands were prepared to rise up against i»heir op- 
 pressors; and that nothing was wanting but a discreet leader to 
 set them in motion, he determined to proceed to St. Domingo; 
 and for this purpose the society procured him the rank of lieu- 
 tenant-colonel in the army of one of the German electors. The 
 chief diffirulty was to export arms and ammunition from France, 
 without attracting the notice of the government, and awakening 
 suspicion among the planters. Og6 was therefore recommend- 
 ed to njake a circuitous voyage to iN'orth Ameiica for that pur- 
 pose. His whole project, however, was publicly known at Paris 
 previous to Oge's embarkation, and notice of the scheme, and 
 even a portrait o^' Oge himself, were transmitted to St. Domin- 
 go, long befoic his airival in the island ; where he secretly land- 
 ed on the twelfth of October, 1790. 
 
 Six week? afterwards, he wrote to the governor (Peynier.) and 
 after reproaching him and his predecessors with the non-execu- 
 tion of tbe Code J\'oir, lie demanded that the provisions of that 
 statute should be enfuiced throughout the colony, and that the 
 privileges enjoyed by the whites should be extended to all, de- 
 claiing himself the protector of the mulattoes by force of arms, 
 unless their wrongs were redressed. The previous period from 
 the time of his landing had been occupied in conjunction with 
 his two brotlters, in spreading disaffection, and exciting revolt j 
 but Oge was able to alluie on!) abnut two hundred. followers to 
 his standard, uiostof whom were undisciplined and totally averse 
 to order. 
 
 His camp was established at Grande Hiviere, about fifteen miles 
 from Cape Francois, where his two brothers, and one Mark 
 Chavane, were his lieutenants. These men were of a different 
 character from their chief, who is represented as mild in tem- 
 per, though enthusiastic in principle; while they comniiltfd 
 many murders and exercised severe despotism with unhesitating 
 cruelty. A mulatto man of some property being urged to fol^ 
 
SUPPRESSION OF THE REVOLT. 77 
 
 iow them, excused himself by pointing to his wife and children, 
 which being considered as contumacious, the man and his whole 
 family were massacred. 
 
 Measures for suppressing this revolt were promptly adopted 
 and vigorously executed A body of troops, and the Cape re- 
 giment of militia, were dispatched to the camp of the revolters, 
 which they soon invested ; many of them were killed, about six- 
 ty made prisoners, and the rest dispersed. Oge himself, one of 
 his brothers, and Chavane his associate, took refuge amongst 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 These circumstances tended to aggravate the animosity alrea- 
 dy subsisting between the whites and mulaltoes ; the latter of 
 whom flew to arms, and formed encampments at Artibonite, 
 Petit Goaves, Jeremie, and Aux Cayes. But the largest and 
 most formidable body assembled near the small town of Verette; 
 at which place, singly and unattended, Colonel Mauduit had a 
 conference with their leaders, whom h#persuaded to influence 
 the mulattoes to retire to their habitations. By what means 
 this was- e flee ted, it has never been discovered, but they have 
 been represented as not very honorable. He was even charged 
 with traitorously persuading them not to desist from their pur- 
 pose, but only to postpone it to another opportunity ; assuring 
 them that the king himself, and all the friends of the ancient go- 
 vernment, were secretly attached to their cause, and would avow 
 and support it whenever they could do it with advantage. He 
 is said to have acted in a similar manner at other places ; hold- 
 ing secret consultations with the chiefs of the mulattoes, who, in 
 consequence of his intimations, every where dispersed imme- 
 diately. 
 
 In November, 1790, M. Peynier resigned the government 
 and embarked for Europe ; and M. Blanchelande, the new com- 
 mander in chief, made a peremptoiy demand of Oge and bis 
 associates from the Spaniards ; the wretched chief and his cocn- 
 panions were immediately delivered up to a detaclunent of 
 French troops, and safely lodged in the jail of Cape Francois, 
 when a commission was issued to bring them to trial Aft^r fre- 
 quent examinations, sentence was pronounced in the beginmng 
 
78 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 of March, 1791. Twenty of Oge's followers, among them his 
 own brother, were condemned to be hanged. Himself, and his 
 lieutenant Cbavane, were adjudged to be broken on the wheel. 
 The latter met his fate with unusual firmness ; but the fortitude 
 of Oge deserted him altogether. He earnestly implored mer- 
 cy, promising to make great discoveries, if bis life was spared : 
 a respite of twenty-four hours was accordingly granted ; but it 
 was not then known that he divulged any thing of importance ; 
 but it afterwards appeared that he not only made a full confes- 
 sion of the facts already recited, but also disclosed a dreadful 
 plot in ajjitation, and detailed the measures which the coloured 
 people had adopted to excite the negro slaves to rebellion. 
 
 The persons before whom this confession, sworn to and sign- 
 ed, was made, were commissioners appointed by the superior 
 council of the Northern province. For what reasons the evi- 
 dence was suppressed, has never been satisfactorily explained. 
 Such however was theTact; and the wretched Oge hurried to 
 immediate execution. 
 
 To return to the eighty-five members of the colonial assem- 
 bly, who embarked fur France. They airived at Brest on the 
 thirteenth of September, 1790, where they were received on 
 landing by all ranks of people, with every token of respect ; 
 but soon afterwards they met with a very different reception at 
 the capital, where deputies had already arrived from the pro- 
 vincial assembly of the North, who had effectually prejudiced 
 M. Barnave, the president of the committee for the colonies. 
 The national assembly indignantly dismissed them from their 
 bar. and refused their subsequent solicitation to be confronted 
 with their adversaries. In October, a rf^port of the committee 
 for the colonies was presented by M. Barnave, censuring all (he 
 proceedings of the colonial assembly, from its first meeting at 
 St. Marc's ; and concluding in these words, *' That all the pre- 
 tended decrees and acts of the said colonial assembly, should 
 be reversed, and pronounced utteily null and of no effect : that 
 the said assembly should be declared dissolved, and its members 
 rendered ineligible and incapable of being delegated in future 
 to the colonial assembly of St. Domingo j that testimonies of 
 
DISLIKE OP MAUDUIT. 79 
 
 approbation should be transmitted to the Northern provincial 
 assembly, to Colonel Mauduit and the regiment of Port-au- 
 Prince, for resisting the proceedings at St. Marc's; that the 
 king should be requested to give orders for the forming a new 
 colonial assembly on the principles of the national decree of 
 the eighth of March, 1790, and instructions of the twenty -eighth 
 of the same month ; finally that the ci-devant members, then in 
 France, should continue in a state of arrest, until the national 
 assembly might find time to signify its further pleasure concern- 
 ing them." 
 
 This decree excited the utmost indignation in St, Domingo, 
 where it was considered by most other persons as resulting from 
 a dereliction of all principle ; and many of the parishes posi- 
 tively refused to choose other deputies till the fate of their mem- 
 bers in France should be decided, whoTi they still considered 
 as the legal representatives of the colony. Mauduit and his 
 regiment became increasingly the objects of popular resentment, 
 but he vras in the end assassinated by those very men who had 
 once shewn him the most devoted attachment. 
 
 The circumstance of M. Mauduit's carrying off the colours 
 from a detachment of the national guards, has been already 
 mentioned ; the consequetice of which was, that not only that 
 detachment, but the whole of the guards throughout the colony 
 considered this act as an unpardonable insult, and were only 
 restrained from immediate revenge by the dread they felt of the 
 superior discipline of the veterans who composed the regiment 
 which Mauduit commanded. Hence both were regarded with 
 the utmost detestation. 
 
 In March, 1791, the frigates Le Fougueux and Le Boree ar- 
 rived from France with a reinforcement of troops, who having 
 communicated with the crew of the Leopard, the ship that car- 
 ried out the aiembers of the colonial assembly to France, on 
 their landing at Port-au-Prince, manifested the same hostility 
 towards Mauduit's regiment, as was evinced by the national 
 guards. They refused all intercourse, and treated them as ene- 
 mies to the colony and traitors to their country. This of course, 
 produced a powerful impression on both officers and privates, 
 
80 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 mutual reproach spread amongst them, the white feather was 
 indignantly torn from their hats, and dark and sullen looks indi- 
 cated that their confimander had lost their confidence and affec- 
 tion. M.iuduit perceived his danger, and fearing to involve the 
 governor and his family in the ruin he anticipated for himself, 
 advised them to make the best of their way to Cape Franqois, 
 which they accordingly did. Mauduit then harangued his grena- 
 diers, proposing to restore the colours which he had formerly 
 taken, and even with his own hands, at the head of hi? regiment, 
 to deposit them in the church ; adding, that he depended on them 
 to protect him from intuit, which the faithless grenadiers readi- 
 ly promised. 
 
 On the following day, the ceremony took place before a vast 
 crowd of spectators : but at the moment he turned to witness 
 the applauses of his soldiers, one of tluni tried aloud, that he 
 must ask pardon of the national gua7-ds on his knees. Mauduit 
 started, and presented them in>tead his bosom bared to their 
 swords: — it was instantly pierced with a hundred wounds, inflict- 
 ed by his own men, to whom he had so frequently shewn every 
 kindness. The spectators stood silent and motionless ; two of- 
 ficers only exerted themselves but in vain on his behalf;* and 
 dissatisfied with mere assassination, the most horrible enormities 
 were practised on the dead body. This dastardly proceeding 
 met its proper recompense ; the other troops detested the regi- 
 ment which had perpetrated the deed of blood, and being com- 
 
 * This is mentioned in tbe following coinniunication which Mr. Edwards states 
 that he received from St. Domingo. " Les grenadiers du regiment de Mauduit, 
 et d'autres voix parties de la foule. demandent que ie Colonel fasse reparation a 
 la garde nationale. On 6xige qu'il fasse des excuses pour I'insulte qu'il lui a fait. 
 II prononce les excuses qu'on lui demande ; ses grenadiers ne sont points satis- 
 faits, ils veulent qu'il les fasse a genoux. Une rumeur terrible se fait entendre : 
 ce fut alors que plusieurs citoyens, mcme de cnix que Mauduit aioit leplus vexc, 
 fendent ia foule, et cherclient a le soustraire au mouvement qui se preparoit. On 
 a VQ i!ans ce moment le hr'ive B'-ausoleil, apr^s avoir ete attient d'un coup de feu 
 ii laffaire du 29 au 30 luillet, en defendant le comite recevoicun coup de sabre en 
 prof<*geant les jour de Mauluit. On peutrendre justice aussi a deux offic'ers de 
 Mauduit: Gakseau et Gcmnin n'ayanf pasabandonn^ leur Colonel jusqu'au der- 
 nier moment; mais rinuignatiou des soldat 6loit a son comble, et il n'otoit plu.< 
 temp." 
 
NATIONAL DECREE. 
 
 8^1 
 
 pelied to lay down their arms, they were sent prisoners to 
 France. 
 
 During these transactions, the society of Amis des Jsfoirs In 
 the mother country, was employed in devising projects of still 
 greater enormity. There was reason to believe that the mulat- 
 toes were disposed to conciliation with the whites, who also had 
 obvious reasons on their part to desire it. M. Barnave alone, 
 the president of the colonial committee in France, avowed his 
 conviction that any further Interference of the mother country, 
 would be prejudicial to her essential interests, an opinion which, 
 hmvever entitled to respect from such a man, was heard without 
 effect. The principal members, Gregoire, La Fayette, Brlssot, 
 and others, determined to call in the supreme legislative authori- 
 ty of the French government to further their designs. The 
 reader will recollect the national decree of the eighth of March, 
 1790, by which the national assembly disclaimed all right of in- 
 terference in the local and interior concerns of the colonies ; 
 but as much as possible to nullify this resolution, it had been in- 
 sidiously proposed, within a few days after it had passed, to 
 transmit with it to the governor of St. Domingo, certain instruc- 
 tions for its due observance. • These consisted of eighteen arti- 
 cles, among which was a direction " that every person of the 
 age of twenty-five and upwards, possessing property, or having 
 resided two years in the colony, and paid taxes, should be per- 
 mitted to vote in the formation of the colonial assenibly.'' 
 
 The advocates of this measure, pretended that it went only to 
 the modification of the piivilege of voting in the parochial 
 meetings ; but no sooner were they adopted and converted into 
 a decree, than the mulattoes resident in the mother country, as 
 well as the society of Amis des J^jirs, hastened to apprize th^ir 
 agents in St. Domingo, that the people of colour, nut being ex- 
 cepted, were viitually comprised in it, and were at length per- 
 suaded to send deputies to France to obtain an explanation of it 
 from the national assembly. 
 
 Tlie su!)ject was brouglit forward by the Abbe Gregoire, who 
 supported with all his eloquence the claim of the free mulattoes 
 to the lull benefit of the instructions of the twenty-eighth of 
 
82 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 March, 1790, and to all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the 
 white inhabitants of the French colonies. The news of the 
 death of Oge arrived in Paris at the same time, and excited in- 
 dignation in the minds of all ranks of people against the planters, 
 who for a lin)e dared not appear in the streets of Paris. "Perish 
 the colonies," said Robt spierre, " rather than sacrifice one iota 
 of our principles." The majority reiterated the sentiment, and 
 the decree of the fifteenth of May, 1791, by which it was enact- 
 ed, " that the people of colour resident in the French colonies, 
 born of free parents, were entitled to, as of right, and should be 
 allowed the enjoyment of all the privileges of French citizens, 
 and, among others, to those of having votes in the choice of re- 
 presentatives, and o^ being eligible to seats both in the- parochial 
 and colonial assemblies,^^ w2isproT\oanced amidst the acclamations 
 of the people. The colonial committee, of which M. Barnave 
 was president, immediately suspended its functions, and declar- 
 ed itself useless, and the deputies from the colonies declined any 
 further attendance. The only effect, however, produced on the 
 national assembly, was an order that the three civil commission- 
 ers, who had been previously appointed for regulating the affairs 
 of the colonies on the spot, should immediately repair thither, 
 to see to the enforcement of the national decrees. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 FROM THE MONTH OF MAY, 1791, TO THE CONFLAGRATION OF 
 THE TOWN OF CAPE FRANCOIS IN 1793. 
 
 Resentment agai?ist the decree of the fifteenth of May. — Revolt of the 
 Negroes in the North. — Anecdote of the extraordinary fidelity (fa 
 Negro. — Insurrection of the Western division. — Concordat of the 
 eleventh of September. — Proclamation of the General Assembly. — 
 New disturbances. — Civil Commissioners sent by the National Assem- 
 bly. — Decree of the fourth of April, 1792. — A new governor and 
 other commissioners appointed. — Their violence. — M. Galbaud made 
 Governor. — Disputes with the Commissioners and dispossession of 
 his office. — His brother unites with him to oppose the Commissioners 
 by force. — The latter call in the aid of the revolted Negroes. — Con- 
 flagration of the Capital and Massacre of the fVhite Inhabitants, 
 
 Whe?j the intelligence of the decree of May, 1791, arrived 
 at Cape Franqois, the utmost rage and indignation circulated 
 throughout the colony ; especially in the town of the Cape, 
 which had hitherto been foremost in professions of attachment 
 to the mother country. It was now unanimously determined to 
 reject the civic oath, and even proposed to seize all the ships, 
 and confiscate the effects of the French merchants then in the 
 harbour. The national cockade was trodden under foot, and 
 the authority of the governor-general, with every idea of colo- 
 nial subordination, were annihilated in a moment. 
 
 The several parishes proceeded, without hesitation, to the 
 election of deputies for a new general colonial assembly, which 
 met at Leograve, on the ninth of August, to the number of one 
 hundred and seventy-six, and declared themselves the general 
 assem^bly of the French part of St. Domingo. 
 
 M. Bianchelande, during these transactions remained a politi- 
 
u4 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 cal cypher. He wrote to the king's ministers, and sent a copy 
 of his communication to the provincial assembly, with a solemn 
 assurance, that he would suspend the execution of the obnoxious de- 
 cree, whemver it should come out to him properly authenticated. 
 
 Alarmed at these proceedings, the n)ulaitoes began to collect 
 in armed bodies, without any hindrance from the wliites, whose 
 thoughts were universally directed towaids the meeting of the 
 new colonial assembly, fondly, but fallaciously expecting from it 
 the immediate redress of all existing grievances. 
 
 On the twenty-third of August, just before day-break, a gene- 
 ral alarm spread thioughout the town of the Cape, that all the 
 negro slaves in ihe neighbouring parishes had revolted, and were 
 carrying death and desolation over the plantations. The gover- 
 nor, assembled the military officers ; but the reports were too 
 confused and contradictory to gain much credit till day-light 
 brought with it tnany who had scarcely escaped the massacre, 
 and fled to the town ftjr proteclion. 
 
 They disclosed that the insurrection originated on a planta- 
 tion called Noe, in the parish of Vcul, nine miles only from the 
 city, where twelve or fourteen of the ringleaders, about the mid- 
 dle of the night, massacred the principal managers of the plan- 
 tation ; whence ihey proceeded to the house of a Mr. Clement, 
 by whose negroes also they were immediately joined, and both 
 he and his refiner were massacred. 
 
 Similar tragedies were peiformed on the plantations of M. 
 Galifet and M. Flaville, with circumstances of barbarity how- 
 ever indefensible and terrible, such as an infuriated people 
 were likely to practice. It was soon evident that the negroes 
 acted in concert, a general massacre of the whites was the 
 consequence,, with the exception only, on a few estates, of 
 the women, who were spared for a severer fate. 
 
 Consternation !H)w every where prevailed, and the screams 
 of the women and children, running from door to door, heigh- 
 tened the horrors of the scene. The citizens took up arms, and 
 the general assembly vested the governor with the command of 
 the national guards. The women and children were sent on 
 board the ships in the harbour; and most of the ablest men 
 
REVOLT OF THE NEGROES. 85 
 
 among the domestic negroes in ihe town, were sent on ship- 
 board under a strong guard. Still, however, there remained a 
 considerable body of free mulattoes, whose situation became 
 critical ; for the lower class of whites, considering the mulattoes 
 as the authors of the rebellion, marked them for destruction; 
 and they would undoubtedly have been murdered, if the gover- 
 nor and the colonial a^^sembly had not taken them under their 
 protection. Upon this, they otfered to march against the rebels, 
 leaving their wives and children as hostages for their fidelity. 
 Their offer was accepted, and they were enrolled in the militia. 
 
 The inhabitants being strengthened by a numbt-r of seamen 
 from the ships, and brought into some degree of military order, 
 M. de Touzard, who had distinguished himself in the service of 
 the North Americans, took the command of a parly of militia 
 and troops of the line, and marched to the plantation of a M. 
 Latour, where he attacked a body of about four thousand of the 
 rebel negroes. But though many were destroyed, Touzard 
 found their numbers so constantly renewed and increased, that 
 he was at length obliged to retreat, and thus expose the town to 
 the destruction which more skilful enemies would at that mo- 
 ment have easily accomplished. 
 
 At the eastern extremity of the town, the main road from the 
 plain is intersected by a river, which was crossed in ferry boats. 
 To defend this passage, a battery of cannon was raised on boats 
 lashed together ; while two small camps were formed on the 
 banks. The other principal road, towards the south, was through 
 a mountainous district, called le Haut du Cap, which was imme- 
 diately occupied by bodies of troops, with such artillery as could 
 be spared, while a strong pallisade and chevaux de frize, in the 
 erecting of which all the inhabitants laboured, encompassed the 
 place on the land side. At the same time, an embargo was laid 
 on all the shipping in the harbour. 
 
 Notice of the revolt had been transmitted to the different pa- 
 rishes as quickly as possible, and the white inhabitants of many, of 
 them had found time to establish camps, and form a chain of posts, 
 which for a short time seemed to check the revolt ; but two of 
 those camps at Grande Kiviere, and at Dondon, were attacked 
 
86 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 by the negroes, in conjunction with the mulattoes, and forced 
 with great slaughter. These two districts therefore; the whole 
 of the rich and extensive plain of the Cape, together with the 
 contigiU)Us mountains, were now wholly abandoned to the ene- 
 my, whose cruelties were not sparingly exercised, on such of 
 the miserable whites as fell into their liands. 
 
 Over particular instances which shock humanity, it is best per- 
 haps to draw the veil of concealment, and rather to adopt the 
 more agreeable plan of selecting one of extraordinary fidelity 
 and attachment in a negro, related by Mr. Edwards. Mons, 
 and Madame Baillon, their daughter and son-in-law, and two 
 white servants, residing on a mountain plantation about thirty 
 miles from Cape Francois, were apprised of the revolt by one of 
 their own slaves, who was himself in the conspiracy, but prom- 
 ised if possible, to save the lives of his master and his family. 
 Having no immediate means of providing for their escape, he 
 conducted them into an adjacent wood ; after which he went 
 and joined the revolters. The following night, he found an op- 
 portunity of bjin^ing them provisions from the rebel camp. 
 The second, night he returned again, with a further supply of 
 provisions : but declared that it would be out of his power to 
 give them iiny further assistance. After this, they saw nothing 
 of the negro for three days ; but at the end of that time he 
 came again, and directed the family how to make their way to 
 a river which led to Port Margot, assuring them they would find 
 a canoe, on a pait of the river which he described. They fol- 
 lowed his directions; fjund the canoe, and got safely into it; 
 but were overset by the rapidity of the current, and after a nar- 
 row escape, thought it best to return to their retreat in the 
 mouiitains. The negro, anxious for their safety, again found 
 them out, and directed them to a broader part of the river, 
 where he assured them he had provided a boat; but said it was 
 the last effort he could make to save them. They went accor- 
 dingly, but not finding the boat, gave theroselves up for lost, 
 when the faithful negro again appeared like the guardian angel. 
 He brought with him pigeojos, poultry, and bread ; and conduc- 
 ted the famil) by slow marcfies in the night, along the banks of 
 
REVOLT IN THE WEST. 81 
 
 the river, until they were within sight of the wharf at Port 
 Margot; when telling them they were entirely out of danger, 
 he took his leave for ever, and went to join the rebels. The 
 family were in the woods nineteen nights. 
 
 The town of the Cape being at length placed in a defensive 
 position, a small army, under the command of M. Rouvray, 
 was sent to the eastern part of the plain, and encamped at a 
 place called Roiicrou. A considerable body of the negroes 
 took possession at the same time, of the large buildings on the 
 plantation of M. Gallifet, and mounted some heavy pieces of 
 artillery, which they had procured at different shipping places 
 and harbours along the coast. From this plantation they sent 
 out foraging parties, with which the whites had frequent skir- 
 mishes. The negroes seldom stood their ground longer than to 
 receive and return a single volley ; as soon as one body was cut 
 off. another app»^ared, and thus they succeeded in harassing the 
 whites, and spreading desolation in every quarter. 
 
 In this terrible war, human blood was poured forth in torrents. 
 It was computed that, within two months after the revolt first 
 began, upwards of two thousand white persons of all conditions 
 and ages, had been massacred ; — that one burrdred and eighty 
 su2;ar plantations, and about nine hundred coffee, cotton, and 
 indigo settlements had been destroyed (the buildings thereon 
 being consumed by fire,) and one thousand two hundred chris- 
 tian families reduced from opulence, to such a state of misery, as 
 to depend altogether for their clothing and sustenance on public 
 and private charity. Of the insurgents, it was reckoned that up- 
 wards of tfn thousand had perished by the sword or by famine; 
 and some hundreds by the hands of the executioner. 
 
 The rebellion hitherto chiefly confined to the northern pro- 
 rince, soon began to break forth in the west, where the insur- 
 gents were chiefly men of colour, of whom upwards of two 
 thousand appeared in arms in the parish of Mirebalais. These 
 were joined by six hundred negro slaves, who began their ope- 
 rations by burning the coffee plantations in the mountains adja- 
 cent to the plain of Cul-de-Sac. Detachments sent against 
 them from Port-au-Price, were repulsed ; and they continued to 
 
89 HISTORY OF ST. DOMIiNGO. 
 
 ravage and burn the country thniugh an extent of thirty miles. 
 At length they approached Port-au-Prince, with intention of 
 setting it on fire ; and its destruction seemed inevitable, when 
 some of the mulattoe chiefs finding that their attempts to gain 
 over the negro slaves were not so successful as they expected, 
 intimated that they were not averse to a reconciliation. And 
 M. de Jumecourt, a planter of eminence, procured by a \yeli- 
 timed interposition, a treaty called the concordat, which was 
 agreed upon about the eleventh of September, between th e 
 free people of colour, and the white inhabitants of Port-au-Prince. 
 The chief provisions were, an amnesty for the past, and an en- 
 gagement to admit in full force the national decree of the fifteenth 
 of May. The general assrembly, by a proclamation of the twen- 
 tieth of September, declared their ratification of this agreement, 
 and announced an inttnlion to grant considei able indulgtnies 
 towards such free people of colour as were nut comprehended 
 in it, meaning those who were born of enslaved parents. They 
 voted at the same time the formation of certain free companies 
 of mulattoes, wherein the men of colour of all descriptions, pos- 
 sessed of certain qualifications, should be allowed to serve as 
 commissioned officers. But these concessions came too late, 
 and the flames only smothered, soon broke forth again with in- 
 creased fury. 
 
 It was singular enough, that almost at the very moment when 
 the justice and necessity of the obnoxious decree of the fifteenth 
 of May were acknowledged, and its faithful observance prom- 
 ised by the colonial assembly, its repeal vva§ actually voted by 
 the national legislature in the mother country by a large ma- 
 joiity. 
 
 No sooner was authentic information received in St. Domingo 
 of this repeal, than every hope of concord for ever vanished. 
 The mulattoes could not believe that the planters in the colony 
 were ignorant of the transaction ; and so great was their detesta- 
 tion of this supposed treachery, that they scrupled not to declare 
 that one party or the other, themselves or the whiles, must be 
 exterminated. In this disposition, the western and southern 
 provinces flew to arms. Port St. Louis was taken ; but Port- 
 
MUTUAL VIOLENCE. 89 
 
 au-Pilnce having been lately reinforced by some troops from 
 Europe, the revolters were driven from the city with great 
 slaughter, but nevertheless found means to destroy more than 
 one-third of the city by fire. 
 
 The contest now assumed a diabolical character : each -party 
 endeavoured to excel in the infliction of cruelties. The negroes 
 in many places joined the mulattoes, and in the district called 
 Cul de 5?ac, in a sanguinary engagement, by being ranged in 
 front, and acting without discipline, two thousand of their num- 
 ber were left dead on the field. The whites claimed the vic- 
 tory, which, if it were obtained, their want of cavalry render- 
 ed them unable to improve. Each party seemed anxious to 
 outdo the other in cruelty ; and on both sides, whatever priso- 
 ners could be obtained, were subjected to the most barbarous 
 executions. 
 
 About the middle of December, three civil commissioners, 
 nominated by the National Assembly, to restore peace apd su- 
 bordination in St. Domingo, arrived at Cape Francois- Two 
 of them, Mirbeck and Roome, had been known as advocates 
 in the parliaments of Paris ; and the third, St. Leger, a native 
 of Ireland, had practised many years in France as a surgeon. 
 They were received with respect and submission; military ho- 
 nours were shown them, and they were led in public procession 
 to the cathedral, where prayers were presented. After announc- 
 ing the new French constitution, they published the decree of the 
 twenty-fourth of September, 1791, by which the fatal decree of 
 the fifteenth of May was annulled. In a few days, they took upon 
 themselves to proclaim a general amnesty and pardon to all 
 who should lay down their arms, and within a prescribed time, 
 take the oaths required by the new constitution. This measure 
 lost the Ql*»'the confidence both of the white inhabitants and the 
 mulattoes ; by the former, it was considered as a justification of 
 the most horrible enormities, and as holdin- out a dangerous 
 example to such of the negroes as preserved their fidelity ; and 
 the latter disliked it on account of its bting accompanied with a 
 repeal of their favourite decree. 
 
 The indefinite authority claimed by the commissioners, exci- 
 
 13 
 
90 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 • 
 ted considerable alarm in the colonial assembly, who desired to 
 
 know the nature and extent of their powers : but no satisfactory 
 answer being given, the commissioners sunk into disrepute. 
 Their private conduct was besides calculated to lower them in 
 public opinion. Roome indeed was an inoffensive individual, 
 but destitute of the requisite abilities ; so that in a short time, 
 having no troops tosuppoit their authority, they returned sepa- 
 rately to France in the months of March and April. 
 
 Public affairs in France were now hastening to a great crisis, and 
 predicted important changes. Since the flight and seizure of the 
 king, in June 1791, the faction was hourly increasing iti num- 
 bers which was soon to lay the kingdom in ruins^ and bring the 
 monarch himself to the scaffold. The Jacobin party was becom- 
 ing all-powerful ; and the society of ^ mis des Aoirs had once 
 more acquired an ascendency in the legislative body On the 
 twenty-ninth of February, Garan de Coulon, after haranguing 
 against the planters in g(-neral, proposed the form of a decree 
 for abrogating that of the twenty fourth of September, declaring 
 a general amnesty throughout all the French colonies; and en- 
 acting, that new colonial assemblies should be funned, to trans- 
 mit their sentiments not only on the subject of the internal 
 government of the colonies, but also on the best method of effecting 
 the abolition of negro slavery in toto. A majority could not at 
 this time be found to vote fur this proposition; but in about two 
 months, this assembly passed the famous decree of the fourth 
 of April, 1792, of which the following is a copy. 
 
 The national assembly acknowledges and declares, that the 
 people of colour and free negroes in the colonies ought to enjoy 
 an equality of political rights with the whites ; in consequence 
 of which it decrees as follows : — 
 
 Article 1st. Immediately after the publication of tfee present 
 decree, the inhabitants of each of the French colonies in the 
 Windward and Leeward Islands shall proceed to the re-election 
 of colonial and parochial assemblies after the mode prescribed 
 by the decree of the eighth of March 1790, and the instructions 
 of the national assembly of the twenty-eighth of the same month. 
 
 2d. The people of oolour and free negroes shall be admitted 
 
DECREE OF APRIL 4, 1792. 91 
 
 to vote in all the primary and electoral sssemblies, and shall be 
 eligible to the legislature and all places of trust, provided they 
 possess the qualifications prescribed by the 4th article of the 
 aforesaid instructions. 
 
 3d. Three civil commissioners shall be named for the colony 
 of St. Domingo, and four for the islands of Martinico, Guada- 
 Imipe, St. Lucia, and Tobago, to see this decree enforced. 
 
 4th. The said commissioners shall be authorized to dissolve 
 the present colonial assemblies; to take every measure neces- 
 sary for accelerating the convocation of the primary and electo- 
 ral assemblies, and therein to establish union, order, and peace : 
 as well as to determine provisionally (reserving the power of ap- 
 peal to the national assembly) upon every question which may 
 arise concerning the regularity of convocations, the holding of 
 assemblies, the form of elections, and the eligibility of citizens. 
 
 5th. They are also authorized to procure every information 
 possible, in order to discover the authors of the troubles in St. 
 Domingo, and the continuance thereof, if they still continue ; to 
 secure the persons of the guilty, and to send them over to France, 
 there to be put in a state of accusation, &c. 
 
 6th. The said civil commissioners shall be directed for this 
 purpose, to transmit to the national assembly, minutes of their 
 proceedings, and of the evidence they may have collected con- 
 cerning the persons accused as aforesaid. 
 
 7ih. The national assembly authorizes the civil commission- 
 ers to call forth the public force whenever they may think it 
 necessary, either for their own protection, or for the execution 
 of such orders as they may issue by virtue of the preceding 
 articles. 
 
 Sth. The. executive power is directed to send a sufficient 
 force to the colonies, to be composed chiefly of national guards. 
 
 9tii. The colonial assemblies, immediately after their for- 
 mation, shall signify, in the name of each colony respectively, 
 their sentiments respecting that constitution, those laws, and the 
 administration of them, which will best promote the prosperity 
 and happiness of the people ; conforming themselves neverthe- 
 less to those general principles by which the colonies and 
 
d2 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 mother country are connected together, and by which their 
 respective interests are best secured, agreeably to the decree of 
 the 8th of March, 1790, and instructions of the 23th of the same 
 month. 
 
 10th. The colonial assemblies are authorized to send home 
 delegates for the purposes mentioned in the preceding article, 
 in numbers proportionate to the population of each colony, 
 which proportion shall be forthwith determined by the national 
 assembly, according to the report which its colonial committee 
 is directed to make. 
 
 Uih. Former decrees respecting the colonies shall be in 
 force in every thing not contrary to the present decree. 
 
 The new commissioners nominated for St. Domingo, were 
 Messrs. Sanlhonax, Polverel, and Ailhaud, and it was resolved 
 to fdfrfiish thf'm with a sufficient force to establish their authori- 
 ty, and speedily terminate the existing disturbances. Eight 
 thousand men were carefully selected from the national guards, 
 with officers whose principles were well known to their employ- 
 ers. M. Bl^inchelande was recalled, and a new commission of 
 commander-in-chief given to a Mons. Desparbes. Having land- 
 ed at Cape Francois on the thirteenth of September, and finding 
 M. Blanchelande at variance with the colonial assenjblv, the 
 commissioners instantly dissolved the assembly, and sent the 
 governor a slate piisoner to France, where, on the seventh of 
 April, 1793, he suffered on the guillotine. 
 
 The colony was now thrown into a state of extreme terror : 
 suspicions having arisen respecting the design afterwards avowed, 
 of declaring a general einancipation of the negro slaves, which 
 all parties concurred in reprobating. The commissioners deem- 
 ed it necessary to dissemble ; and accordingly stated that their 
 views extended no further than to see the decree of the fourth 
 of April, in favour of the free people of colour, properly enforc- 
 ed ; to reduce the rebellious slaves to obedience, and to settle 
 the government of the colony on a solid foundation. The white 
 inhabitants, however, soon perceived that the commissioners 
 held secret communications with the cliiefs of the mulatloes in 
 all parts of the colony, and they soon avowed themselves openly 
 
M. GALBAUD APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 93 
 
 the protectors of the free negroes and inulattoes, seizing the 
 persons and effects of all who opposed their proceedings, and 
 sending them in a state of arrest to Europe. Among the per- 
 sons thus transported, were the superior oflBcers of the Cape 
 regiment. 
 
 The white inhabitants now demanded the election of a new 
 colonial assembly, bat the commissioners, instead of complying 
 with their wishes, instituted what was called nne commission in- 
 termediaire, consisting of twelve persons, six of whom bad been 
 members of the last assembly, and ?ix mulaltoes; their comng^s- 
 sion extended chiefly to financial objects. Meanwhile, Despar- 
 bes, complaining of the disrefrard with which his authority was 
 treated, was sent after his predecessor as a state prii^oner to 
 France. Four out of the six white members of the commission 
 intermedimre, were served in the same manner. Having ventur- 
 ed to offer their opinion on a measure of finance, in opposition 
 to that of M. Santhonax, he treacherously seized theni at a sup- 
 per to which they were invited ; and exchanged the room of 
 festivity for the hold of a ship. After this, the commissioners 
 disagreed among themselves, and Santhonax and Polverel hav- 
 ing got rid of Alihaud, bestov-'ed largesses on the troops, and 
 by this and other means, became in the beginning of the year 
 1793, absolute masters of the colony. The lives and property 
 of tlie white inhabitants were at their unmerciful disposal, and 
 no other melioration of their condition was obtained than the 
 appointment of M. Galbaud, an c»fficer of artillery and a man of 
 good reputation, as governor. He was sent in one of the nation- 
 al frigates with orders to put the colony into the best possible 
 state of defence, war having been proclaimed against Great Bri- 
 tain and Holland. 
 
 At the period of Galbaud's arrival, in May, 1793, the civil 
 commissioners were in the western province, endeavouring to 
 quell an insurrection, so that Galbaud was received with accla- 
 mations and submission by the municipality of the town of the 
 Cape ; he took the necessary oaths, and entered on his govern- 
 ment. 
 
 In June, the civil commissionersj having reduced Fort-au- 
 
94 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 Prince and Jacinel, returned ; when a serious altercation took 
 place, highly disadvantageous to the gf)vernor. By a decree of 
 the national assembly, that no proprietor of, an estate in the 
 West Indies should hold the government of a colony wherein 
 his estate was situated, M. Galbaud, who had a coffee planta- 
 tion in St. Domingo, was dispossessed of his new office, and or- 
 dered instantly to embark on board of the sloop of war La Nor- 
 mande, and return to France ; while Mons. de la Salle, who 
 commanded Port-au-Prince, was invested with the superinten- 
 dence of the colony. 
 
 Galbaud's brother, a man of spirit and enterprize, could not 
 submit to these proceedings; and accordingly collected from 
 among the inhabitants, the Cape militia, and the seamen in the 
 harbour, a strong party to support the governor's authority. In 
 seven days, the two brothers landed at the head of one thousand 
 two hundred sailors, and being joined by a considerable body 
 of volunteers, immediately marched in array towards the govern- 
 ment house, in which the commissioners were stationed. The 
 latter were defended by the people of colour, a body of regu- 
 lars, and one piece of cannon. The conflict was fierce and 
 bloody. The volunteers manifested great firmness but the sea- 
 men getting possession of a wine cellar, soon became intoxica- 
 ted and ungovernable ; and the column was obliged to retire to 
 the royal arsenal, where they remained the ensuing night unmo- 
 lested. Many skirmishes took place the next day in the streets, 
 with various success; in one of which Galbaud's brother was 
 taken prisoner by the commissioner's troops, and in another the 
 seamen that were fighting on the part of Galbaud, made captive 
 Polverel's son. The governor sent a flag proposing to exchange 
 the commissioner's son for his brother ; but Polverel rejected 
 the proposal with indignation ; declaring in answer, that his son 
 knew bis duly, and was prepared to die in the service of the 
 republic. 
 
 A scene of horror now presents itself When Galbaud first 
 approached with so large a body of seamen, the commissioners 
 dispatched agents to obtain the assistance of the revolted ne- 
 groes ; offering them an unconditional pardon for the past, per- 
 
CITY OF CAPE FRAN9OIS BURNT. 95 
 
 feet freedom in future, and the plunder of the city. These of- 
 fers were rejected by the rebel generals, Jean Fran9ois and Bi- 
 assou, till the twenty-first, when a negro chief, called Macaya, 
 with upwards of three thousand of the revolted slaves, entered 
 the town, and began an indiscriminate slaughter of men, women 
 and children. The white inhabitants fled to the sea side, in 
 quest of protection with the governor on board the ships; but 
 their retreat being intercepted by a body of the mulattoes. a 
 dreadful butchery ensued- All the white inhabitants that could 
 be found were muidered, and more than half the city was con- 
 sumed. The commissioners themselves were terrified and sought 
 protection under cover of a ship of the line : whence they view- 
 ed with dismay the wide spreading mischief. 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 FROM MIDSUMMER, 1793, TO THE EVACUATION OF THE ISLAND 
 BY THE BRITISH TROOPS IN 1798. 
 
 Emigrations. — Overtures to the British government. — Strength of the 
 Republican party. — Negro slavery abolished by the French commis- 
 sioners. — Jeremie and the Mole at Cape St. Nicholas surrendered to 
 the British. — Failure of attack on Cape Tiburon. — A second attempt 
 succeeds. — Further operations of the British troops. — Reinforce- 
 ments under General Whyte. — Conquest of Fort-au- Prince. — Fur- 
 ther reinforcements. — Great mortality anvmg the troops. - General 
 Whyte succeeded by Brigadier General Honieck.—Leogane taken 
 by tJte negroes. — Successes of Lieutenant Colonel Brisbane in Arti- 
 honite. — Insurrection of mvlattoes at St. Marc. — Rigaud attacks 
 Fort Bizolton — takes Fort Tiburon. —Conspiracy of the French 
 against the British at St. Marc, and at Port-au-Prince.— Lieutenant 
 Colonels Brisbane and Markham killed. — British reinforcements — 
 Ravages of disease. — Major General Williamson, Cojnmander in 
 Chief, succeeded by Major General Forbes. — The Spanish part of 
 St. Domingo ceded to the French Republic. — Reinforcements under 
 Brigadier General Howe. — Leogane fortified by the midattoes. — 
 Major General Simcoe succeeds to the chief command. — Toussaint 
 appointed by the French government General in Chief. — General 
 Whyte succeeds Genercd Simcoe, and is soon succeeded by Briga- 
 dier General Maitland. — St. Domingo wholly evacuated by the 
 British ti'oops. 
 
 From the period of the revolt of the negroes in the northern 
 province, numerous emigrations had taken place from St. Do- 
 inuigo to the neighbouring islands, and not less than ten thou- 
 sand were supposed to have passed over to the continent of 
 America. Among these is to be reckoned M, Galbaud, who 
 was accompanied by many respectable families. The principal 
 planters bad repaired to Great Britain, many of whom had pre- 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY ABOLISHED. 9f 
 
 viously applied to the king's ministers for an armament to take 
 possession of the country for Great Britain. Their representa- 
 tions were at first disregarded ; but at length, after the com- 
 mencement of hostilities between Great Britain and Fiance, 
 the English ministry listened to the overtures again made to 
 them, by the planters of St. Domingo; and in 1793, M Char- 
 milly, one of their number, received dispatches from the secre- 
 tary of state to General Williamson, the governor of Jamaica, 
 intimating the king's pleasure that he should accept the sub- 
 mission of those inhabitants who solicited the protection of the 
 British government ; for which purpose he was to send a suffi- 
 cient force to hold possession of whatever places might be sur- 
 rendered. 
 
 The French commissioners. Santhonax and Polverel, had 
 brought from France six thousand chosen troops ; which, with 
 the national force already in the colony, and the militia of the 
 country, constituted a body of fourteen or fifteen thousand effec- 
 tive whites ; and to these were joined the greatest part of the 
 free negroes and mulattoes, besides a motley band, consisting 
 chiefly of slaves who had deserted from their owners, and ne- 
 groes collected from the jails, amounting altogether to twenty- 
 five thousand effectives, well arnied and inured to the clirnate. 
 Being however dispersed, they were less formidable, of which 
 the commissioners were fully sensible, and accordingly on the 
 first intimation of an attack from the Knglisb, they attempted to 
 strengthen their interest by proclaiming the abolition of every 
 species of slavery, declaring that the negroes were thenceforth 
 to be considered as free citizens. Numbers in all parts of the 
 colony availed themselves of this offer of liberty, and withdraw- 
 ing to the mountains, possessed themselves of the natural fast- 
 nesses in the interior. Upv.ards of one hundred thousand are 
 supposed to have formed themselves in this manner into a savage 
 republic, resembling that of the black Charaibes of St. Vincent. 
 
 In the northern province, a desperate band of revolted ne- 
 groes, amounting, as it was supposed, to upwards of forty thou- 
 sand, still continued in arms. 
 
 The armament formed at Jamaica amounted to about eight 
 
 14 
 
98 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 hundred and seventy rank and file, of which the first division, 
 consisiing ofsix hundred and seventy-seven rank and file, under 
 the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Whilelocke, sailed from 
 Port Royal the 9th, and arrived at Jereuiie, on the I9th of 
 September, accompanied by Commodore Ford, in the Europa, 
 and four or five frigates. The terms of capitulation having 
 been previously adjusted, the Biitish forces had only to take 
 possession of the town and iiarbour, which was done next morn- 
 ing; the oaths of fidelity and allegiance being taken by the in- 
 habitants with great apparent readiness and satisfaction. On the 
 22;l5 the fortress and haiboui at Cape St. Nicholas were occu- 
 pied, the grenadier conjpany of the I3lh regiment taking the 
 command of the garrison, which was soon afterwards strength- 
 ened by the second division from Jamaica. The town of St. 
 Nicholas, however, continued hostile ; most of the inhabitants 
 joined the republican army : in fact, the whole of what had 
 hitherto been acconjpli-hed was but an insignificant acquisition, 
 although from tife extent of the subjected coast, the people of 
 England glowed with high expectation of the result. It having 
 been represented to Colonel VVhitelocke that the acquisition of 
 Tiburon would prove important to the security of Le Grand 
 Ance, and a M. Duval, a planter, pledging himself to co-operate 
 in its reduction wiib five hundred colonial troops; the British 
 force proceeded from Jeremie, and arrived in Tiburon Bay on 
 the 4th of October. But the expedition completely failed, ei- 
 ther through untoward circumstances, or as some have repre- 
 sented, in consequence of the infideliiy of the Fiench to their 
 promises. The enemy were more formidable than was antici- 
 pated, and the invaders retreated with the loss of about twenty 
 inen killed and w^ounded. This proved an extreme discourage- 
 ment to the troops, among whom, in consequence of unusual 
 fatigue in an unfavorable climate, sickness began to make its 
 appearance to an alarming degree. . The general used his ut- 
 most endeavours to revive their spirits by sendit>g, though they 
 could be ill spared, the remaining pait of the 49th regiment, 
 the 20lh, and the Royals, amounting altogether to seven or 
 eight hundred men, as a reinforcement, till further assistance 
 
M. LAVAUX REFUSES A BRIBE. 99 
 
 should be obtained from England. This measure produced a 
 considerable effect among the French planters, and in the be- 
 ginning of December, the parishes of Jean Rabel, St. Marc, 
 Arcahaye, and Boucassin, surrendered on the sa-ne conditions 
 as had been granted to Jereujie : the example was soon follow- 
 ed by the inhabitants of Leogane, Nothing more was attempted 
 till the ensuing year : when the squadron arrived off Cape Ti- 
 buron on the evening of the 2d of February, for the purpose of 
 renewing the attack and retrieving the former failure, the ene- 
 my appeared in force, and deliberately waited the arrival of the 
 British ; but the fire of the ships soon cleared the bt ach : they 
 came forward again, and discharged their musquetry at the 
 boats. The troops however landed, and instantly forming, with 
 Major Spencer at their head, routed their line with great 
 slaughter, and immediately took possession of the post. Three 
 only of the English were killed, and seven wounded. Of the 
 enemy, one hundred and fifty surrendered prisoners of war. 
 The magazines were found well stored with ammunition. 
 
 The British squadron now commanded the navigation of the 
 whole of that extensive bay which forms the Bight of Leogane ; 
 and on the arrival of a large armament now daily and anxiously 
 expected from England, Port-au-Prince was regarded as a cer- 
 tain conquest. It was.deemed important in the mean while, to 
 obtain the town of Port Paix, an important station to the east- 
 ward of Cape St. Nicholas, by the offer of the sum of five thou- 
 sand pounds, to M. Lavaux, an old general in the French ser- 
 vice, and a man both of bravery and probity, to whom Colonel 
 ^\hitelocke addressed himself by letter. Lavaux, having silent- 
 ly read it, de^nanded of the officer who conveyed it, upon the 
 honour of a soldier, if he knew the contents. The officer an- 
 swered in the negative. The French general then read the 
 letter aloud to the people who surrounded him, and told the 
 British officer, that if he had brought him such a proposal ^noi^;- 
 in'4ly, he would instantly have caused him to be executed on a 
 gibbet. The answer he returned was remarkable: "You have 
 endeavoured to dishonor me in the eyes of ray troops, by suppo- 
 sing me so vile, flagitious, and base, as to be capable of betray- 
 
100 BISTORT OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 ing my trust for a bribe ; this is an affiont for which you owe 
 me personal satisfaction, and I demand it in the name of honour. 
 Wherefore, previous to any general action, I offer you single 
 combat until one of us falls; leaving to you the choice of arms, 
 either on foot or horseback. Your situation, as my enemy on 
 the part of your country, did not give you a right to offer me a 
 personal insult ; and as a private person, 1 ask satisfaction for an 
 injury done n)e by an individual." 
 
 L'AcuI, an important fortress in the vicinity of Leogane, was 
 next attacked on the 19th of February, by Colonel Whitelocke. 
 Baron de Montalembert, with about two hundred colonial troops, 
 and a few of the British artillery, previously embarked on trans- 
 ports, having orders to land and attack the fort at a given hour, 
 and Captain Vincent, with the light infantry of the 49th, and 
 about eighty of the colonial tioops, took a mountain road. Ow- 
 ing to the mismanagement of one of the transports, the troops 
 under the command of the Baron de Montalenjberl could not 
 be landed. The Colonel, in consequence, came to the deter- 
 mination of attacking the fort by storm; and detached Major 
 Spencer, with the grenadiers of the 49th regiment, and light 
 infantry of the 13th, to join Captain Vincent, and approach the 
 fort by the mountain road, while he himself marched by the 
 great road for the same purpose. At half past four or five 
 o'clock, the two columns moved forward, under a heavy fire of 
 cannon and musquetry, but the orders to advance and gain the 
 fort, were rapidly executed. Lieutenant M'Kerras of the En- 
 gineers, and Captain Hutchinson of the Royals, were wounded, 
 but continued their exertions till the fort surrendered. Cap- 
 tain Murshead, Lieutenant Tinlin of the 20th grenadiers, Lieu- 
 lenani Caulfield of the 62d regiment, and some privates, were 
 blown up from the explosion of a quantity of powder and otiier 
 combustibles in one of the buildings, which was fired by order 
 of the commanding ofiicer. Captain Morshead died the next 
 day ; Lieutenant Caulfield some time after followed, and both 
 were interred with military honours. Lieutenant Tinlin recov- 
 ered. 
 
 The next expedition was directed against a strong post and 
 
EXPEDITION AGAINST BOMPARD. 101 
 
 settlement at Bompard, about fifteen miles from Cape St. Nicho- 
 las, where a colony of Germans had established themselves. A 
 detachment of two hundred men, from the different corps, were 
 ordered on this service under the command of Major Spencer 
 and Lieutenant Colonel Markham. They were repulsed, how- 
 ever, by superior numbers, with the loss of forty-two men ; 
 sixteen killed, and twenty-six taken prisoners, after fighting 
 bravely. 
 
 The enemy, however, were repulsed in another quarter. 
 One of the lieutenants of Rigaud, with one thousand five hun- 
 dred men of different colours, had prepared to attack L'Acul 
 de Leogane ; on the day preceding they were intercepted by 
 four hundred men, (only one hundred and fifty of whom vvtre 
 of the British legion, and the remainder of the miliiia of Leo- 
 gane,) under the command of the Baron de Montalembert, who 
 routed them and took a piece of cannon. They charged with 
 fixed bayonets, and upwards of three hundred of the enemy were 
 killed. 
 
 A few British troops also left In possession of Cape Tiburon, 
 were attacked on the 16ih of April, by an arny consisting chitily 
 of revolted negroes, amounting to upwards of two thousand, led 
 on by Andrew Rigaud, a man of colour, who commarided at 
 Aux Cayes. The fort was defended with much spirit for six 
 hours, when the besieged, quitting the fort, routed the besiegers 
 with great slaughter, one hundred and seventy of their number 
 being left dead on the field ; but it was discovered that no less 
 than twenty-eight of the British soldiers had fallen, and one 
 hundred or more of the colonial troops were severely wounded. 
 
 During a period of eight months no re-inforcement had ai riv- 
 ed from Great Britain, and the British force in all parts of the 
 island amounted only to about nine hundred effective men. 
 This proved very dispiriting ; some of the planters began to 
 declare themselves hostile ; and desertions were frequent from 
 most of the parishes. The gairison at Jean Rabell, which a 
 few months before, had voluntarily declared fur the British 
 government, compelled their officers to deliver up the po«t to 
 Lavaux, the French general; and it was feared other places 
 would follow their example. 
 
102 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 At this critical juncture, on the 19th of May, his Majesty's 
 ships the Belliqueux, the Irresistible, and the Fly sloop, anchor- 
 ed in the harbour of Cape St. Nicholas, having on board the 
 22d. 23d, and 41st regiments of infantry, under the command 
 of General VVhyte. This event afforded the highest satisfaction, 
 and an immediate hope was indulged of the capture of Port-au- 
 Prince. Its harbour was known to be crowded with ships, most 
 of which were supposed to be richly laden, and every one an- 
 ticipated the possession of wealth from the capture. 
 
 General VVhyte, accordingly, having landed his sick at Cape 
 St. Nicholas, and taken one hundred and fifty of the garrison in 
 their room, proceeded on the 23d to the place appointed in the 
 road of Arcahaye, to concert measures with Commodore Ford, 
 who had for some time blockaded the harbour, and to receive 
 on board such of the colonial troops as were to co-operate. In 
 the evening of the SOth, the squadron cast anchor off Port-au- 
 Prince : there were four ships of the line, the Europa, the Bel- 
 liqueux, the Irresistible, and the Sceptre, three frigates, and lour 
 or five smaller vessels under the immediate command of Com- 
 modore Ford. The land forces, under the orders of General 
 Whyte, consisted of one thousand four hundred and sixty-five 
 rank and file, fit for duty. 
 
 After making the necessary preparations, early the next morn- 
 ing, a flag was sent to demand the surrender of the town, but 
 the letter was returned linopened ; when operations were com- 
 menced by cannonading Fort Bizotton, which stood on a com- 
 manding eminence, and was defended by five hundred men, 
 eight pieces of cannon, and two mortars. The sea front was 
 attacked by two line-of-battle-ships, but no great impression 
 being made. Major Spencer, with three hundred British, and 
 five hundred of the colonial troops, landed in the evening 
 within a mile of the fort, to attack on the land-side. About 
 eight o'clock at night, a tremendous thunder-storm arose, ac- 
 companied with a deluge of rain, of which Captain Daniel, of 
 the 41st, being directed to take advantage, he, with only sixty 
 men rushed forward', and finding a breach in the walls, entered 
 with fixed bayonets, and subdued the fortress. Captain Daniel 
 
CONQUEST OF PORT-AU-PRINCE. 103 
 
 received a severe wound in the attack, while his brave associate, 
 Captain Wallace, the second in command, was «kiiled on the 
 glacis. 
 
 The fate of Port-au-Prince was now decided. It was evac- 
 uated by the enemy '"^n the 4th of June ; and both the town and 
 the shipping in the harbour were preserved from conflagration, 
 although the republican commissioners had given orders and 
 made preparations for their beins set on fire. The com- 
 missioners, with many of their adherents, made their escape to 
 the mountains. • 
 
 In the harbour were found two-and-twenty top-sail vessels, fully 
 laden with sugar, indigo, and coffee, of which thirteen were from 
 three to five hundred tons burthen, and the remaining nine, from 
 one hundred and fifty to three hundred tons; besides seven 
 thousand tons of shipping in ballast ; the value of all which, at 
 a moderate computation, could not be far short of £400,000 
 sterling; one hundred and thirty-one pieces of cannon regular- 
 ly mounted in batteries, were on the lines. 
 
 A large booty was conveyed away by the commissioners on 
 two hundred mules, besides which they had nearly two thousand 
 persons in their train Finding the people of colour possessed 
 of the whole natural strength of the island, under the mulatto 
 Rigaiid, and a negro named Toussaint L'Ouverture, they soon 
 after quitted the colony altogether for France, where they re- 
 ceived from the government a sanction of their proceedings. 
 
 Immediately after the capture of the town, the same dreadful 
 disease, which had been so prevalent in the preceding autumn, 
 renewed its destructive progress among the troops. The Bri- 
 tish commanders found it necessary to strengthen the lines, and 
 raise additional intrenchments on that side of the town which 
 fronts the mountains ; in consequence of which, the soldiers 
 were compelled to dig the ground in the day, and to perform 
 military duty in the night ; exposed to the burning rays of the 
 sun ; and to the noxious dews and heavy rains of the climate. 
 Most of these men had been confined six months on ship board, 
 without fr'esh provisions or exerci&e, and hence the garrison was 
 daily diminished and enfeebled. The French troops suffered 
 
104 THE NEGROES TAKE LEOGANE 
 
 almost as much as the British : otherwise Port-au-Prince would 
 have been so«on retaken. 
 
 The arrival of a reinforcement from the Windward Islands 
 on the 8th of June, contributed to the rapid increase and aggra- 
 vation of their miseries. It consisted of eight flank companies 
 belongingJo the 22d, 23d, 35th, and 4 1st regiments, arrived at 
 Port-au-Prince, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Lennox. They consisted, on their embarkation, of about sev- 
 enty men each, but the aggregate number, when landed, was 
 not quite three hundred. Upwards of one hundred of their 
 number were buried in the deep, in the short passage between 
 Guadaloupe and Jamaica, and one hundred and fifty more were 
 left in a dying state at Poit Royal. Such was the mortality, 
 after their arrival, that no less than forty officers, and upwards of 
 six hundred rank and file met an untimely death in the short 
 space of two tnonths. 
 
 General Whyte, whose health was much impaired, now re- 
 turned to Europe; and about the middle of September, was 
 succeeded in the command by Brigadier-General Horneck: 
 who possessed the requisite qualifications for such a station, but 
 had peculiar difficulties to encounter. The only reinforcement 
 which followed him, being fifty men from Jamaica, and no other 
 troops arriving for seven months after, he was compelled to act 
 chiefly on the defensive. The mulattoes, under Rigaud, gained 
 possession of Leogane, and put to death all the French planter? 
 who fell into their power. . 
 
 This was followed by other reverses. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Brisbane, with only eighty British, and about eleven hundred 
 colonial troops, had obtained great successes in the plain of 
 Artibonite ; the negroes had been routed in various quarters , 
 and the mulatto inhabitants of the town of St. Marc had entered 
 into engagements of neutrality. But while Colonel Brisbane 
 was pursuing his successes at a distance, having left in St. Marc 
 only a small garrison of about forty British soldiers, the men 
 of colour violated their promises, took up arms, and put to death 
 all who fell in their way, whom they considered as enemies to 
 the French republic. The garrison saved themselves by taking 
 
FRENCH PLOTS DEFEATED. 105 
 
 refuge in a fort, from which they were relieved by a frigate from 
 the Mole of Cape St. Nicholas. Colonel Brrsbane soon after 
 returned, and recovered possession of the town; but lost all the 
 advantages he bad |!;ained on the plain, and the negroes were 
 emboldened to proceed to more active and vigorous hostilities. 
 
 Rigaud, who commanded in the south, made a bold effort, 
 which, if successful, must have been followed by the speedy 
 conquest of Port-au-Prince. On the 5th of December, three 
 columns of his troops, amounting to two thousand men, attacked 
 Fort Bizotton ; but were defeated with great slaughter. Not 
 discouraged by this failure, the mulatto chief made immediate 
 preparations for the recovery of Tiburon. The armament, 
 consisting of a biig of sixteen guns, and three schooners of 
 fourteen guns each, with a military force of three thousand men, 
 of various colours, sailed from X ux Cayes on the 23d of Decem- 
 ber. They reached Tiburon, and commenced the attack on 
 the 25th of the same month. The garrison, consisting of only 
 four hundred and eighty men, principally colonists, defended 
 the fort for four days; when three hundred of them having fal- 
 len, the survivors, with great bravery, fought their way for five 
 miles through the enemy, till they reached (rois. 
 
 While the British commanders were fully employed in resis- 
 ting the attacks of open enemies, they were in danger of falling 
 victims to the treachery of professed friends. Soon after Colo- 
 nel Brisbane had driven the mulattoes frotn St. ]\Iarc, a conspi- 
 racy was formed against his life by sonie of the white inhabitants 
 who had placed themselves under British protection. It was 
 most seasonably detected and defeated. About a n)onth after, 
 a more daring and extensive plot was discovered at Port-au- 
 Prince ; where some of the French inhabitant-^ intended to 
 seize the garrison, and put all the English to death. Twenty 
 of the conspirators were tried by a council of war. composed of 
 the principal commanders, naval and military ; among whom 
 were five French field officers. They were all condemned to 
 death ; and fifteen of them were accordingly shot on the l8th 
 of February, 1795. 
 
 Colonel Brisbane, however did not long survive bis narrow 
 
106 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 escape of assassination ; being killed while out on a recruiting 
 party, in the beginning of March. By his death the British in- 
 terest in St. Domingo sustained a loss not ea'^ily to be repaired. 
 In this month, the negroes acrain laid siege to fort Bizolton, 
 and were again repulsed. Their colours and five pieces of can- 
 non were taken, and six hundred of ihem were slain. The Bri- 
 tish had to lament the fate of Lieutenant Colonel Markhain, 
 who fell in attacking one of the advanced posts of the besiegers. 
 About the end of April, the British troops were reinforced by 
 the arrival of the SI stand 96th, and a few of the S2d regiments: 
 but they were immediately incapacitated for action by the pes- 
 tilential disease, fioin which many of them were never to recover. 
 The remainder of the 82d regiment arrived in the month of 
 August ; they were attacked by the same distemper, and offline 
 hundred and eighty, only three hundred and fifty remained alive 
 at the end of six weeks. 
 
 The operations during this summer were under the direction 
 of Major-General Williamson, the governor of Jamaica ; who 
 having been appointed commander in-chief of all the British 
 possessions in the West Indies, arrived at Port-au-Prince in the 
 month of May. He lost no time in endeavouring to strengthen 
 that capital ; and proceeded to establish a long chain of posts 
 across mountains and plains, extending from St. Marc to Cape 
 Tiburon. The number of English troops not being sufficient to 
 occupy these stations, various corps of negroes « ere formed, 
 many of whom were purchased from French planters for the 
 purpose, and placed under the command of regular officers ; 
 but the little efficiency of these corps disappointed the hopes 
 entertained respecting them, and proved very inadequate to the 
 expense of their formation and support. After a few months 
 spent in measures of preparation and precaution, General Wil- 
 liamson was succeeded by Major-General Forbes ; who follow- 
 ed up the arrangements of his predecessor, strengthening the 
 cordons, ancl augmenting the forces by every means he could 
 employ, ile was particularly careful to secure the frontiers of 
 Mireballais and Banica, to maintain a communication with the 
 Spanish part of the island, for the purpose of procuring cattle 
 and other necessary supplies. 
 
PEACi: BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN. 107 
 
 This year witnessed the termination of the war between 
 France and Spain. By the ninth article of the treaty of peace 
 between those powers, concluded on the 2Zd of July, the king 
 of Spain, for himself and his successors, relinquished all right 
 to the Spa[ii-h part of St. Domingo, ceding it to the French 
 republic in perpetual sovereiornty : — a month after the ratification 
 of the treaty should be known in the island, the Spanish troops 
 were to be in readiness to evacuate the places, ports, and estab- 
 lishments which they then occupied, in order to give them up 
 to the French troops as soon as they should arrive to take pos- 
 session of them : — these places were to be delivered up with all 
 the cannons and stores which should be in them at the moment 
 when the tieaty should be known in the island : — and the inhabi* 
 tants of the ceded ten itory. who should pi efer removing with their 
 property into the dominions of the king of Spain, were to be 
 at liberty to do so, within tlie space of a year from the date of the 
 treaty. 
 
 Towards the close of this year, the British government hav- 
 ing determined on a vigorous effoit to revive the drooping cause 
 in St. Domingo, dispatched a reinfoi cement of about seven 
 thousand troops, under the command of Brigadier-General 
 Howe. But the voyage was stormy and disastrous ; more than 
 six months elapsed, between their departure from Cork and 
 their arrival at the Mole of St. Nicholas : and then they were 
 under the necessity of remaining on board ihe transports for 
 several weeks. Such a force, at an early period of the war, 
 would probably have been sufficient for the entire subjugation 
 of the colony ; but was now incompetent to maintain the 
 ground still possessed, against the power and discipline of their 
 adversaries. 
 
 The town of Leogane being left by the English in a defence- 
 less state, the mulattoes surrounded it with a palisaded ditch, and 
 began to fortify the harbour. General Forbes, regarding it as a 
 station of considerable importance, attempted to dislodge them ; 
 but, for want of artillery, was obliged to retire with great loss. 
 Bombarde was invested by a body of British troops, and imme- 
 diately surrendered by capitulation ; but was soon after cvacu- 
 
108 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 ated. Rigaud arttacked the post at Irois, and was repulsed ; but 
 the besieged had a hundred men killed and wounded, among 
 the latter of whom was Major-General Bovvyer. the comman- 
 dant. 
 
 The British force became daily more and more languid, and 
 the spirit of the enemy more confident and enterprizing. Hos- 
 tilities were carried ahnost to the capital itself; in the immediate 
 vicinity of which, the mulattoes displayed the greatest activity, 
 erecting batteries and fortifying posts without the least inter- 
 ruption from the English, though within four miles of their head 
 quarters. 
 
 In this situation of affairs, the British government determined 
 on confiding the chief command to General Simcoe, an officer 
 of great skill and long experience. He landed at St. Nicholas 
 Mole in March J 797, and without loss of time, entered on the 
 business of his arduous commission. In the same month, the 
 ncgio. Toussaint L'Ouverture, was appointed by the French 
 government, general-in-chief of the armies in St. Domingo; an 
 appointn)ent which in reality was merely an honorary sanction 
 of the power he had long exercised. He continued to display the 
 same activity, courage, and talent, which had hitherto distin- 
 guished him : so that General Simcoe found him a most power- 
 ful opponent. He n)enaced the frontiei post of Mireballais ; 
 and, to avoid falling into his liands. the English garrison at once 
 evacuated it, and retired to Port-au Piince, abandoning to the 
 enemy the fertile plain of the C'ul de Sac, and relinquishing the 
 communication vviih Banica. and the Spanish part of tlie island. 
 
 On the other hand, the negroes were driven from their posts 
 in the vicinity of Port-au-Prince : Kigaud was repulsed in ano- 
 ther attack on the English post at Irois ; and Toussaint himself 
 was repulsed from the town of Si. Marc. These inconsiderable 
 advantages, however, were dearly purchased, and the strength 
 of the Briti'^h in the island was daily diminishing. 
 
 Weary of this petty warfare, Geneial Simcoe left the island in 
 August and returned to. England. His place was filled by 
 Major-General Whyte. Major-General Nesbit was soon after 
 appointed to this difficult station, but died before he could enter 
 
EVACUATION OF THE BRITISH. 109 
 
 upon it. By his death, the command devolved on the Honour- 
 able Biigadier-Oeneral Maitland, who arrived at Port-au-Prince 
 in April, 1798. This officer was well qualified, by military 
 skill, as well as local experience, for the situation in which he 
 was placed : but the Bi itish government had been too fully oc- 
 cupied with the politics and hostilities ol Europe, to give much 
 attention to St. Domingo, or U) send thither such an additional 
 force as could justify any rational hopes of ultimate success. 
 
 General Maitland soon perceived that it only remained for 
 him to terminate the career of disappointment and discomfiture, 
 by retiring from the scene of so many disasters, with the best 
 grace in his power. Having agreed with the enen^y on a 
 month's truce, and stipulated for the security of all the friends 
 of the English, he evacuated Port-au-Prince, and letired to 
 Jeremie. Afterwards he retired, with the remainder of his 
 force to the Mole, where he contluded his negocialions with 
 Toussaint ; giving up all the possessions of the English, together 
 with their colonial black troops, and enteringinto some commer- 
 cial stipulations, which recognized St. Domingo as an indepen- 
 dent and neutral power. 
 
 Such was the conclusion of an enterprize, which, abstracted 
 from all considerations of justice and humanity, and exammed 
 only by the rules of political prudence, ought never to have 
 been undertaken. If the object of the British ministry was in 
 reality what was professed, to obtain possession of the whole of 
 the French part of the island, the means employed, in compari- 
 son with the numbers and exertions of the inhabitants, were alto- 
 gether contemptible. If their real object was to preserve the 
 British islands from the revolutionary spirit, and to prevent 
 their separation from the m«ther country, the sacrifices made 
 were too immense for the value of those colonies ever to repay. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 PROM THE EVACUATION OF THE ISLAND BY THE BRITISH IN 
 1798, TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN JULY 1801. 
 
 Several Negro chiefs. — All superseded by Toussaint. — His birth. — His 
 early character. — His kind treatment by his Master. — His diligence 
 and proficiency in learning. — Not concerned in the first insurrec- 
 tion — His gratitude and generosity to his master. — Joins the black 
 army., and is appointed an officer. — Soon advanced to the command 
 of a division. — His talents for war — and government — His pru* 
 dence, benevolence, activity, and veracity. — JFirst espoused the cause 
 of royalty — but afterwards acknowledged the republic — His kind- 
 ness to General Laveaux- — Forgiveness of injuries. — Honourable 
 conduct towards General Maitland — Promotion of agriculture— 
 The increase of population. — State of society. — Tour of Toussaint 
 through the island. — Constitution formed, — Declaration of indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 Civil wars and revolutions afford favourable opportunities for 
 the expansion of latent talent; and often elevate to stations of 
 high importance, those who before occupied, and seemed des- 
 tined always to occupy, the lowest places in society. The revo- 
 lution of St. Domingo soon furnished ample proof, that among 
 those whom European injustice had stigmatized as an inferior 
 race of beings, and doonied to perpetual servitude, were heads 
 endued with legislative wisdom, hearts pregnant with heroic 
 energies, and hands capable of wielding the sword of war, or 
 swaying the rod of empire. 
 
 The principal leader of the Blacks, in the first period of the 
 commotions, was Jean Francois. To this general were after- 
 wards added several others. The most eminent were Bias- 
 sou, Boukmant, and Rigaud. These chiefs who were all ne- 
 groes, displayed great personal bravery and military skill ; and, 
 in some cases, a depth of political prudence. But when Tous- 
 
T0US9A1NT. Ill 
 
 saint L'Overture came forward into public life, be soon attain- 
 ed the pre-eminence above them all. The part which he acted 
 in the affairs of the island, was so conspicuous, and bis character 
 so remarkable, that some particulars respecting his history, can 
 hardly fail of being interesting to the reader. 
 
 Some have asserted that Toussainl was born in Africa : but 
 those who appear to have had the best means of information, 
 say that he was born in a state of slavery, in or about the year 
 1745, on the plantation of the Count de Noe in the northern 
 province of St. Domingo, not far from Cape Franqois. 
 
 The early years of a slave are not likely to furnish many inci- 
 dents for the historian or biographer; and very little has been 
 recorded of the first forty- five years of the life ofToussaint. 
 It is commonly Tcported anjong his countrymen, that he display- 
 ed peculiar benevolence towards the brute animals, and possess- 
 ed a patience of temper which scarcely any thing could ever 
 discompose. At the age of twenty-five, in opposition to the licen- 
 tiousness by which he was surrounded, he attached himself to 
 one woman, by whom be had several children, the objects of 
 his tender affection and paternal solicitude. 
 
 His regular and amiable deportment conciliated the favour of 
 the baliff or manager of the plantation, M. Bayou de Libertas. 
 By the kindness of this gentleman, according to some accounts j 
 or by his own unassisted efforts, according to other':, he learn- 
 ed to read and write, and made some progress in arithmetic. 
 These attainments, which not one negro in ten thousand could 
 boast, gave him great distinction afiiong his fellow slaves, and 
 attracted further notice from M. Bayou, who took him from 
 the fields, and appointed him his postillion. Compared with 
 the condition of field negroes, ibis was a post of considerable 
 dignify, and no little profit. The increased leisure which this 
 promotion afforded, was employed in cultivating his talents, and 
 collecting those stores of information, which enriched his mind, 
 polished his manners, and prepared him for a more extensive 
 and important sphere of action. 
 
 When the insurrection of the negroes took place in 1791, 
 Toussaint was still a slave on the plantation, on which he is 
 
112 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 said to have been born. Among the leaders were several of 
 his friends, who were anxiously desirous of his sanction and co- 
 operation. But. whether from general humanity of disposi- 
 tion, revolting at the prospect of cruelty and massacre ; or 
 from personal regard to a master, who could hardly escape be- 
 ing ruined by the explosion, but to whose ruin gratitude fgrbad 
 him to be accessary ; he refrained from taking any part in the 
 first revolutionary movements. 
 
 The former tyranny and cruelty of many of the owners and 
 managers, had fixed in the minds of the slaves, a mortal hatred 
 of the planters in general ; which was not a little confirmed 
 and extended by the exasperations of the present struggle. 
 The spirit of vengeance by which they were impelled, not con- 
 tent with a retaliation of wrongs and sufR rings on the individu- 
 als by whom they had been inflicted, menaced alike the hu- 
 mane master and the barbarous tyrant ; and most of the negroes 
 were only to be satisfied with the extermination of all who 
 bore the same complexion as their oppressors. Happy did 
 those planters esteem themselves who could escape from the 
 island, though it wpre to go with their families into a foreign 
 country, unprovided with the means of subsistence, and doon)ed 
 to experience the melancholy reverse of all their former luxury 
 and splendour. 
 
 The master of Toussaint, now his master no more, was one 
 who not having made ane arly escape, was on the point of falling 
 into the hands of the infuriated blacks. In that event he would 
 certainly have been put to death. But his humane and benefi- 
 cent treatment of this worthy negro, was not forgotten. Not 
 without some danger of bringing the vengeance of the multi- 
 tude on his own head, Toussaint delivered his fallen master 
 from the impending destruction. He prepared for the emigra- 
 tion of M. Bayou de Libertas to North America : found means 
 to embark a considerable quantity of sugar to support him in 
 his exile ; procured his escape with his fan)ily ; and contrived 
 every plan for his convenience. Nor did his care end here : 
 for after M, Bayou's settlement at Baltimore in Maryland, he 
 availed himself of every opportunity to send some additional 
 
TOUSSAINT. 113 
 
 proof of his gratitude and friendship. Small, it must be con- 
 fessed, is the debt of gratitude which the best treatment under 
 the iron yoke of West Indian slavery can create ; but a noble 
 mind will not scrupulously weigh the claims of gratitude or 
 mercy. Toussaint looked less at the wrong of keeping him in 
 slavery, than at the kindness which bad lightened his chain ; 
 and M. Bayou was happy enough to find in a liberated negro, a 
 higher degree of virtue than is often exhibited among the most 
 polished natives of Europe. 
 
 Having performed this act of gratitude and generosity, Tous- 
 saint no longer refiained from entering into the army of his coun- 
 try, which had now begun to assume a regular form. He joined 
 the corps commanded by Biassou, and was appointed next ia 
 command under him. Biassou possessed shining military talents ; 
 but they were tarnithed by a ferocity of disposition, which 
 betrayed him into cruelties not long to be endured. He was 
 degraded from his station, and foussaint was invested with the 
 chief command of the division. 
 
 The excellencies of his character unfolded themselves more 
 and more, as opportunities were afforded for their developement. 
 The same humanity and benevolence which had adorned his 
 humble life, continued to distinguish him in his elevation. He 
 never imitated the conduct of the other leaders, in flattering 
 the multitude, encouraging them in crimes, or urging them to 
 revenge and slaughter : — on the contrary ; mercy, industry, and 
 order, were always inculcated by his counsels, recommended 
 by his example, and enforced by his authority. The fertility 
 of his invention, the correctness of his judgment, the celeritv of 
 his movements, the extent of his labours, in the combined and 
 multifarious business of war and government, astonished both 
 friends and foes. The following description was given by one 
 of his enemies : — *' He has a fine eye, and his glances are rapid 
 and penetrating. Extremely sober by habit, his activity in the 
 prosecution of his enterprises is incessant. He is an excellent 
 horseman, and travels, on occasion, with inconceivable rapuiity, 
 arriving frequently at the end of his journey alone, or almost 
 unattended ; his aid- de-camps and domestics being unable to 
 
 16 
 
114 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 follow him in journeys often extending to fifty or sixty leagues. 
 He generally sleeps in his clolhes, and allows very little time, 
 either for his repose or for his meals." 
 
 If there was one trait in his character more conspicuous than 
 the rest, it was his unsullied integrity. 7 hat he. ntver broke his 
 word, was a proverbial expression common in the mouths of the 
 white inhabitants of the island, and of the Engiisb officers who 
 were employed in hostiliiies against him. Of ihe reliance plac- 
 ed on his engagenients, even in ciicuujstances of peculiar deli- 
 cacy and difficulty, by persons who had the best means of esti- 
 mating their value, an unequivocal spec imen was exhibited by 
 many of the exiled planters and merchants ; whom his invitation 
 and pronjise of protection induced to return from Nurih Amer- 
 ica, and othei places, to which they had fled. He restored 
 them to the estates uf which th<y had been deprived ; nor did 
 his subsequent conduct ever prove him unworthy of their confi- 
 dence. 
 
 When Toussaint was first raised to dignity and power, the 
 contest between the blacks and tiieir former masteis was termi- 
 nattd; and the French commissioners who endeavoured to 
 govern the colony, acknowleged the liberty of the negroes, and 
 avowed iheir determination to maintain it. But another civil 
 war soon arose, and was carried on for some time with great 
 fury, between the friends of the dethroned French king, and 
 those of the convention. In this contlict men of all cq^mplexions 
 were found on both sides ; and the two parties had nearly an 
 equal number of blacks and of whites. 
 
 Toussaint espoused the cause of royalty, and his courage and 
 talents soon rendered this cause as triumphant in St. Domingo, 
 as it had been unsuccessful in France. His services in this war- 
 fare were deemed so important and meritorious, that before 
 Spain deserted the coalition formed by the great powers of 
 Eu! ope against French republi( anism, he received a commission 
 conferring upon him the rank of general in the Spanish army, 
 and was honoured with the ancient military order of that country^ 
 
 But events occurred which led Toussaint to think it inconsis- 
 tent with good policy and true patriotism, to pertevere in his 
 
TOUSSAINT. 115 
 
 hostility against the existing government of France. When the 
 planters and royalists solicited the assistance of Great Britain, 
 their object in that solicitation, however favourable to French 
 royalty, was decidedly adverse to the freedom of the negrotrs: 
 it was less for the sake of restoring tlie sovereignty of France to 
 the Bourbons, than with the hope of recovering the iron scep- 
 tres of their own plantations, that most of ihose men desired to 
 see the British flag fl}ing at St. Domingo. Toussaint found 
 himself under the necessity of making amicable terms with the 
 French commissioners, or of uniting with British invaders, and 
 with Frenchmen whom he knew to be determined foes of the 
 liberty of his race. In this alternative he could be at no loss 
 which course to adopt ; he gave peace to the republicans whom 
 he had conquered, and acknowledged the authority of the con- 
 vention. 
 
 From this period he shewed himself a faithful servant of 
 France, under every change in its government. The successive 
 rulers of the republic sent out various commissioners, who carri- 
 ed across the Atlantic the same fondness for confiscation and 
 plunder as their masters exhibited at home. Every man of pro- 
 perty was in danger of being proscribed as a traitor. But their 
 schemes of exaction and murder found a powerful check in the 
 Justice and generosity of Toussaint; whose consummate pru- 
 dence avoided all offence and disrespect to the French govern- 
 ment, while he reduced its representatives to a state of political 
 impotence. Securing them from insult and injury, requiring 
 his followers to give all due honour to their office, and treating 
 them himself with external demonstrations of respect, he con- 
 trived to leave them only a nominal authority. Some commis- 
 ..^ioners were recalled and succeeded by others, and among them 
 were men of considerable ability ; but Toussaint was more thaa 
 a match for them all. He retained the real power, and they 
 were obliged to lean upon him for protection. He protected 
 the planters from the commissioners, and both from the jealou- 
 sy of the neirroes. 
 
 His benevolent interposition to avert the stroke of popular 
 fury, was once experienced m the most critical circumstances by 
 
 t 
 
116 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 General Lareaux. When the negroes of Cape Francois, suspect- 
 ing that commander of designs against their freedom, bad risen 
 against him and thrown him into prison, and were preparing to put 
 him to death, Toussaint, with a band "of faithful foHowers, marched 
 into the town, and delivered him out of their hands. Laveaux 
 publicly acknowledged his obligation for this deliverance, and 
 declared his resolution to regulate all his future proceedings in 
 the island by Toussaint's advice. 
 
 Though Toussaint, for a considerable time, possessed unlimi- 
 ted power, he has never been charged with its abuse. The 
 acts of rigour which took place under his administration, were 
 performed in the regular execution of martial law, or in the 
 piogress of arrangements demanded by existing circumstances; 
 while he sought every opportunity of exercising the lenity so 
 congenial to his native disposition. In some cases in which the 
 established regulations of military discipline would have united 
 with strong resentments of personal injury, to prescribe the in- 
 fliction of exemplary vengeance, he displayed a generosity of 
 forgiveness which would have done honour to 'the heart of the 
 most enlightened potentate in Europe. Of this rare generosity, 
 the following incident affords a memorable specimen. 
 
 Four Frenchmen who had deserted him with aggravated 
 treachery, were retaken. Every one expected that they vvoijjd 
 be put to a cruel death. Leaving them, however, in suspense 
 as to their fate, Toussaint ordered them to be produced in 
 church on the following Sunday; and while that part of the 
 service was pronouncing which respects mutual forgiveness, he 
 went with them to the front of the altar ; where, after endea- 
 vouring to impress their minds with the flagitiousness of their 
 conduct, he ordered them to be discharged without further 
 punishment. 
 
 His negociations with General Maitland exemplified the un- 
 impeachable probity which marked all his official transactions 
 with other countries, and exhibited a fine contrast to the exe- 
 crable perfidy which he was solicited to practise by an unprin- 
 cipled commissioner of the French republic. 
 
 During the treaty by which the British troops were to evacu- 
 
TOCSSAINT. 117 
 
 ate St. Domingo, and the island was to remain neutral to the 
 end of the war, Toussaint visited General Mai'.land at his head 
 quarters: and, another personal interview being desirable fur 
 the purpose of settling some points before the embaikation of 
 the troops, General Maitland engaged to return the vi<=it at 
 Toussaint's camp. With perfect confidence in ihe integrity of 
 his character, the general did not hesitate to go to hirn with only 
 two or three attendants, though it was at a considerable distance 
 from his own army^ and he Lad to pass through a country full 
 of negroes, who had lately been his mortal enemies. Monsieur 
 Roume, the French commissioner, thought this visit afforded 
 a most favourable opportunity for serving the cause of his 
 government: and having, it would seem, no scruples of honour 
 or conscience about the lawfulness of any means likely to ac- 
 complish a desired purpose, he wrote to Toussaint, urgintr him, 
 as a true republican, to detain the British general as a prisoner. 
 While General Maitland was on the road towards the camp, he 
 received a letter from a private friend, informing him of 
 Roume's plot, and warning him not to trust himself in the 
 power of the negro chief: but consulting the good of the ser- 
 vice in which he was engaged, and still relying upon Toussaint's 
 honour, he bravely determined to proceed. When he ar/ived 
 at the head quarters, Toussaint was not to be seen, anJ the 
 general was desired to wait, and was kept in waiting a consi-le- 
 rable time. He could not but feel much dissatisfaction at a re- 
 ception apparently so uncivil ; and, perhaps, began to regret his 
 neglect of the caution which had been given him on the road. 
 But at length Toussaint entered the room, with two letters 
 open in his hand. " There, general," said he, " before we talk 
 together, read these : one is a' letter just received from Roume, 
 and the other is my answer. I would not come to you, till I 
 had written my answer to him ; that you may see bow safe you 
 are with me, and how incapable I am of baseness " General 
 Maitland, on reading the letters, found one an artful attempt to 
 persuade Toussaint to seize his guest, as an act of duty to the 
 republic; and the other a noble and indignant refusal. " What.^" 
 said Toussaint to the perfidious Frenchman, " Have I not pas- 
 
118 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 sed my word to the British general ? How then can you suppose 
 that I will cover myself with dishonour by breaking it ? His re- 
 liance on my good faith leads him to put himself in my power ; 
 and 1 should be forever infamous, if I were to act as you advise. 
 I atn faithfully devoted to the republic ; but will not serve it at 
 the expense of my conscience and my honour." 
 
 With such talents and virtues, it is not to be wondered at that 
 Toussaint was beloved to enthusiasm by the negroes who bad 
 raised him to the dignity he enj >yed, and was honi)ured with 
 signal demonstrations of respect and esteem from public per- 
 sons of other nations with whom he had occasion to communi- 
 cate. 
 
 When he found himself at ease from the complicated war* 
 fare in which he had been involved, he devoted his undisturbed 
 attention to the arts of peace ; and the policy of his legislation 
 was characterised by the same sagacity and prudence, the same 
 mildness and humanity, which had distinguished his exploits in 
 the field. One of the first objects of his care, was the regular 
 cultivation of the soil, upon which the prosperity of every coun- 
 try must principally depend. When he restored many of the 
 planters to their estates, there was no restoration of their former 
 property in human beings. No human being was to be bought 
 or sold. The cruel treatment which the negroes had experien- 
 ced in their state of slavery, would naturally create in their 
 minds a strong aversion to agricultural labour ; and hence arose 
 one of the greatest difficulties which Toussaint had to overcome 
 in his exertions for the good of the people who had placed 
 themselves under his government. Severe tasks, flagellations, 
 and scanty food, were no longer to be endured. The planters 
 were obliged to employ their labourers on the footing of hired 
 servants ; and the negroes were required to labour for their own 
 livelihood. The amount of remuneration was not left to indi- 
 vidual generosity, or private agreement ; but it was fixed by law 
 that the cultivators of the land should have for their wages, a 
 third part of the crops ; a large compensation, in a country 
 where the chief productions are sugar and coffee. While this 
 ample encouragement was afforded for the excitement of indus* 
 
TOUSSAINT. 119 
 
 try, penalties were at the same time denounced for the punish- 
 ment <»f idleness. 
 
 These laws were enforced by military power, for there were 
 no civil authorities lo act. To the establishments of civil life, 
 the negroes in their former condition must have been entire 
 strangers. A slave has no country ; the will of his master is his 
 only law ; the oveiseer is at once accuser and witness, judge and 
 jury; the driver is both constable and beadle. During the war 
 there was no place for any but military institutions : and Tous- 
 saint, when it was necessary to enforce laws for the public good, 
 had consequently no officers of civil justice to whom he could 
 resort. The idle vagrant who would not work, and the deser- 
 ter from the army, therefore stood on the same ground ; and 
 were equally liable to be punished, after a fair trial, by a court 
 martial : but so mild were his punishments, that the severest one 
 for a labourer was being compelled to enlist as a soldier. 
 
 The effects of these regulations were soon visible throughout 
 the country. So great was the progress of agriculture from the 
 time of their adoption, that, notwithstanding the ravages of near- 
 ly ten years' war, and other impediments which retarded its im- 
 provement, the land produced in the next crop full one third of 
 the quantity of sugar and coffee which it had ever before yielded 
 in its most prosperous season. 
 
 Obliged to work, but in a moderate manner, and for hand- 
 some wages; and at liberty, for the most part, to choose their 
 own masters : the plantation negroes were in general contented, 
 healthful, and happy. 
 
 Another beneficial consequence of the new order of things 
 was visible in the state of the population. While in Jamaica and 
 other West India islands in the midst of peace and plenty, there 
 was a constant diminution among the negroes, and the mer- 
 chants and planters were confidently affirming the impossibility 
 of keeping up their numbers without annual importations from 
 Afiicaj in St. Domingo, on the contrary, such was the salutary 
 result of the more moderate labours of the men and the rest en- 
 joyed by pregnant women, that the same race of people had con- 
 siderably increased, in spite of war both foreign and civil, of fre- 
 
120 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 quent massacres, and of all the wants and miseries which bad 
 fallen upon that afflicted island for so many years. 
 
 The state of society at this period, presented many interesting 
 objects to the contemplation of an attentive observer. Some 
 situations of trust and responsibility were tilled by free negroes 
 and mulattoes, who had been in respectable circumstances un- 
 der the old government; but others were occupied by negroes, 
 and even by Africans, who had recently emerged from the low- 
 est condition of slavery. They were chiefly the able and the 
 artful, who, in the chaos of revolution, had raised themselves to 
 eminences of opulence and power. 
 
 The superior class had airived at a high degree of sumptuous- 
 ness in their mode of living, and possessed all the enjoyments 
 to be derived from rank or dignity. Many of their houses were 
 furnished with a splendour equalled by ^ew Europeans : there 
 was a general fondness for show, interspersed with individual in- 
 stances of true taste and real elegance. Their etiquette had 
 reached a degree of refinement scarcely to be credited ; and 
 the services of their domestics were performed with surprising 
 promptitude and celerity. The most perfect ease was conspic- 
 uous in every face, and gaiety of heart seemed to season every 
 repast. In conversation, no subject was inadmissible, except 
 that of their own former condition ; the remembrance of which 
 could not fail of exciting astonishment at the acuteness of argu- 
 ment and brilliancy of wit by which the social circle was often 
 entertained. Bui to mention the claims of their country would 
 kindle fresh fire in every eye, and call forth patriotic acclama- 
 tions from every tongue ; frequently accompanied by expres- 
 sions of contempt and abhorrence towards their traitorous 
 brethren, who had deserted from the black army, and abandon- 
 ed the cause of general liberty. 
 
 It has been stated by a writer who visited the island at this 
 time, that the men were, in general, sensible and polite, often 
 dignified and impressive ; that many of the women were elegant 
 and engaging; that the intercourse of the sexes was on the most 
 rational fooling ; and that the different shades of colour which 
 remained had lost most of their former hostility. Many Ameri- 
 
STATE OF SOCIETY. 121 
 
 cans had married mulatto ladies, who never appeared to feel the 
 least inferiority from their difference of complexion or nation. 
 
 After the cessation of the war, the churches were re-opened, 
 and public worship was restored, according to the forms of the 
 Romish communion. 
 
 Dramatic exhibitions were also re7ived. Most of the per- 
 formers were blacks, and displayed considerable theatrical ta- 
 lents. The performances were chiefly comedy and pantomime. 
 Some attention was beginning to be paid to painting. Music 
 was universally practised: instruments of all kinds were used; 
 but stringed instruments obtained the general preference. 
 
 The principal buiTdings possessed much elegance, though 
 they were not conformed to the laws of regular architecture. 
 In one of the squares of Cape Fran(jois, the blacks had erected 
 a kind of temple in memory of their emancipation from slavery. 
 It consisted of a circular dome, supported by seven pillars near- 
 ly resembling the Tuscan order. Beneath the dome were two 
 seats, ascended by a flight of steps extending all round the build- 
 ing. Above the seats was an inscription, on two tablets placed 
 upright, and side by side ; between which was fixed a pole with 
 a cap of liberty on its top. This edifice was raised as a tribute 
 of respect to Santhonax and Polverel, the French commission- 
 ers ; and an extract from one of their speeches formed part of 
 the inscription. 
 
 The elegance of this structure, presented an agreeable con- 
 trast to the desolation which deformed its vicinity. For the 
 greater part of this once superb city had been suffered to re- 
 main in ruins ever since its conflagration in 1793. The wealthy 
 blacks appeared reluctant to restore its former magnificence^ as 
 if in rebuilding the mansions of their fallen masters, they should 
 create for themselves new oppressors. 
 
 The principal tavern, denominated Hotel de la Republique, 
 in appearance and accommodations, was but little inferior to a 
 London cofl"ee-house, and sometimes exhibited a superior de- 
 gree of splendour. This house was the usual resort of American 
 visitors, who were very numerous, and was also much frequent- 
 ed by the sable inhabitants. Here the usual gradations of so- 
 
 17 
 
122 HISTORY OF ST, DOMINGO. 
 
 ciety werp entirely disreganUd. Id the intercourse of the so- 
 cial hour, all was perfect equality : offin-rs and privates, the 
 colonel and the drummer, were frfquenfly seen partaking, with- 
 out distinction, of the ^aine repast and joinino;, without reserve, 
 in the same amusements. Toussaint himself often dined there, 
 but never sat at the hf-ad of the table ; from an opinion, it was 
 said, that the subordinations of rank should be confined to the 
 field. 
 
 The etiquette of the field, formed a complete contrast to the 
 fauiiliailty of the tavern. Sixty thousand men were frequently 
 reviewed and exerciseil together on the plain of the (.'ape. On 
 these occasions, two thousand officers were seen in the field, 
 carrying arms, from the general to the ensign, yet with the ut- 
 most attention to rank ; without the smallest sytnptom of 
 the insubordination indulged in the Ifi^uie of the hotel. 
 Each general officer had a demi-biigade, which went thiough 
 the manual exercise with a degree of expertness seldom wit- 
 nessed ; and performed equally well several mancEuvres appli- 
 cable to their method of fighting. At a whistle, a whole bii- 
 gade would run three or four hundred yards, then separating, 
 throw themselves flat on the ground, changing to their backs 
 or sides, keeping up a strong fire the whole of the time, till 
 they were recalled : then they would form again, in an instant, 
 into their wonted regularity. This single manoeuvre used to be 
 executed with such facility and precision, as totally to prevent 
 cavalry from charging them in bushy and hilly countries. Such 
 complete subordination, such promptitude and dexterity, 
 prevailed the whole time, as would have astonished any Eu- 
 ropean soldier who had the least knowledge of their previous 
 situation. 
 
 Those who formed the great hulk of the people, and who 
 lived in humble privacy, discovered the same passions and pro- 
 pensities which are conspicuous in negroes in all condiiioos. 
 Their fondness for infancy and youth, their reverence for age, 
 their tenderness for all the relations of life, seemed rather 
 Strengthened than imnaired by th*> acquisition of liberty. Their 
 favourite amuseiutnta were now indulged without testraint ; but 
 
STATE OF SOCIETY. 123 
 
 the good order which generally prevailed, rendered the interpo- 
 sition of public justice, and the infliction of punishment, events 
 of rare occurience. 
 
 Tlioij'^h the Spanish colony had been formally ceded to 
 Fiance ill 1795, and diflerent posts had, in consequence, been 
 actually suiieiideied, and occupied by the republican troops ; 
 yet the city of sit. Domingo, the capital of that part of the 
 island, still remained in the hands of the Spaniards. To obtain 
 pos«;ession of inat uietiopolis, and to establish such regulations as 
 n)i:j;iif be required on it- change of government, Tousisaint rp- 
 solved to repair tljitlur in person. Por the puifiose of vi.-itiiig 
 many other places of importance, reviewing the troops in the 
 different provinces, appointing ofiicers to command t|iein, set- 
 tling the districts, directing iht- distribution ol military stores, 
 and completing various other arrangements with greater accura- 
 cy and success than cuuid be dose at a distance ; he at the 
 same time determined on taking a regular journey throughout 
 the island. 
 
 The people were every where prepared to regard a visit from 
 the chief as a distinguished favour." The fame of his mariial 
 achievements, and the excellence of his general character, had 
 rendered him an object of their affectionate admiration and 
 esteem : and his personal appearance and manners were calcu- 
 lated to strengthen the universal attachment. Of a manly form, 
 and a little above the middle stature, he had a countenance 
 bold and striking ; terrible to his enemies, but displaying the 
 most attractive sweetness to his friends. His manners and de- 
 portment were, in general, easy and familiar ; occasionally, ele- 
 gant. When addressed by any inferior, he bent with the 
 most obliging courteousness ; and, without any apparent effort 
 of condescension, adapted himself to their peculiar circum- 
 stances. The general respect voluntarily paid to him in pub- 
 lic, he was solicitous to return, or rather to anticipate, by the 
 most pleasing civilities. His uniform was a blue jacket,, with 
 a broad red cape, red cuffs, with several rows of lace on the 
 arms, and a large gold epaulette on each shoulder; scarlet 
 waistcoat, and pantaloons, with half boots ; round hat, with a 
 
 .» 
 
124 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 national cockade, and a red feather : to which was added, a sword 
 of the largest size. 
 
 The reception he met with in his progress through the land, 
 was such as might have gratified the heart of the greatest po- 
 tentate on earth. The satisfaction inspired by his presence 
 was testified in various forms, from the simple garland, to 
 more laborious and costly devices, — from the complacent look 
 to the loudest acclamation. Superb decorations covered the 
 principal houses as he passed along ; and triumphal arches 
 graced his entiy intoall the towns. Wherever he went, the sin- 
 cerest welcome was expressed in every countenance. The 
 military received him in their proudest array ; and the whole 
 population hailed his arrival, and blessed him at his de- 
 parture. 
 
 This tour proved highly beneficial to every part of the island. 
 Among the goad effects which it produced, were — a more 
 uniform organization of the municipal governments ; a better 
 disposition of the military force ; the establishment of armed 
 posts, foi ining a complete chain of communication ; and provi- 
 sions fur the advantage of trade, in the facilities afforded to 
 commercial intercourse with the neighbouring islands, and 
 the conliiient of America. Having accomplished the objects 
 of his journey, Toussaint returned to Cape Francois, where he 
 was received with the cordiality and respect due to his services 
 iu the public cause. 
 
 In consequence of the total subversion of the ancient 
 colonial administration, the want of any new system establish- 
 ed in its room, and the ahnosi entire cessation of official in- 
 tercourse with France, Toussaint thought it necessary for the 
 public interest to frame a regular constitution for the future 
 government of the island. In this work he was assisted by 
 several Europeans of considerable talents, of whom the prin- 
 cipal were, Pascal, a descendant of the same family as the 
 celebrated Blaize Pascal ; the Abbe Moliere, and an Italian 
 ecclesiastic named Marinit. When the form of constitution 
 had been prepared, it was submitted by Toussaint to a gene- 
 ral assembly of representatives, convened from every district : 
 
INDEPENDENCE DECLARED. 125 
 
 by whom it was approved and adopted. It was afterwards 
 promulgated in the name of the people, and the island was 
 declared to be au independent state. This proclamation was 
 made in due form on the first of July, J 801. 
 
CHAP. viir. 
 
 FROM JULY 1801, TO THE SEIZURE AND TRANSPORTATION OF 
 TOUSSAINT IN JUNE 1802. 
 
 Feace between France and England — The French Government resolves 
 on the re-conquest of St. Domingo. — Sailing of the expedition. — 
 Its arrival at the island, and formation into several ilivisiovs — 
 Capture of Fort Dauphin by General Rochambeau. — Le Clerc with 
 the main body anites off Cape Frangms. — Correspondence with 
 Christophe — Proclamation of Bonaparte. — Landing of the French. 
 — Cape Frangois burnt and evacuated by the blacks. — Toussaint in 
 the interior. — His letter to Damage. — Mission if Coismon to Tons- 
 saint. — Letter to him from Bonaparte. — His interview with his 
 sons — He prefers re.ngning them rather than betr.iying his country. 
 -—Le cierc's attempts to produce defection among the blarks. — Com- 
 mencement of the campaign. — Operations of the different divisions. 
 '—Battle with Toussaint. — Defection of the Negroes — Tou,ssa-nf 
 driven to the mountains. — Successful operations of the French in 
 the south — Le Clerc orders tfie restoration of slavery. — The blccTcs 
 renew the war with fresh vigour. — Great reverses sustained by the 
 French — Le Clerc deceives them by a new proclamation. — Negocia- 
 tions, — Peace vnth the negroes. — Retirement (f the chiefs. — Tons.- 
 saint seized by order of Le Clerc. — Sent to France with all his 
 family. — His separation from them — imprisonment — and death. 
 
 The autumn of the year 1801, beheld every part of St. Do- 
 mingo In quiet submission to the authority of the negro chief, 
 and rapidly improving in wealth and happiness under his wise 
 administration. But this prosperity was soon to be interrupted 
 by calamities as tremendously severe as any which ever visited 
 that afflicted island. 
 
 The cessation of hostilities between Great Britain and France, 
 which took place on the signing of the preliminaries of peace 
 in the mouth of October, left the French navy, which for seve- 
 
FRENCH EXPEDITION. 127 
 
 ral years ba<l not been able to quit it? ports with impunity, once 
 more at liberty to traverse the ocean. Bonaparte, who now 
 held tlie supreme power, under the title of First Consul, 
 immediately determined on sending an expedition arross the 
 Atlantic. If i)is real object had been only to restore to France 
 the soverei""nty of St. Domingo, and tlje monopoly of its trade, 
 it is hi<yhly probable that it might have been effected by the 
 gentle means of persuasion and negociation. But this would 
 neither silence the importunity of the expelled or fugitive plan- 
 ters, who languished after their lost possessions; nor satisfy the 
 cupidity of mercantile speculators, who contemplated an ad- 
 vantageous investment of capital : both parties united in urging 
 the absolute recovery of the colony, the reinstatement of the 
 former proprietors, and the subjugation of the emancipated 
 slaves. Besides, the con. pulsion of force was more agreeable 
 to Bonaparte's temper and habits than the gentle influence of 
 peaceful conciliation. There is a reason to believe that be re- 
 garded Toussaint with an eye of suspicion, if not of envy, and 
 considered him as a rival to bis fame. He also wanted employ- 
 ment for some of his numerous army, and hoped to gain new 
 laurels which should preserve his popularity among a nation 
 always fascinated with military glory. The preparations were 
 such as inspired all the friends of the expedition with the strong- 
 est confidence of its success : already in imagination they saw 
 the negroes deprived of their newly acquired freedom, and re- 
 duced to tbeir former state of servitude. 
 
 A fleet of twenty-^ix ships of war was collected in the har- 
 bours of Brest, Ij'Oiient, and Rochfort. On board the fleet 
 and the transports which accompanied it, was embarked an 
 arrjiv of twenty-five thousand men, the flower of the Fiench 
 sol iiery, and completely equipped. At the head of the army 
 was placed General Le derc, brother-in-law to the First Con- 
 sul, assisted by several of the most able and experienced generals 
 that France could produce for such a service. One of the di- 
 visions was commanded by General Rocbambeau, who had b*^en 
 a proprietor of an estate in the island, and was well known for 
 his attachment to the cause of negro slavery. The fleet was 
 
128 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 pommanded by Admiral Vlllaret, who had been in the royal 
 service before the revohition ; and under him were Kear-adrni- 
 ral Latouche and captain Ma2;on. To participate in the ex- 
 pected triumphs, Madame Le Clerc accompanied her husband, 
 as did also her younger brother Jerome Bonaparte. 
 
 The First Consul, however, not relying entirely on force for 
 the accomplishment of his purpose, determined on employing 
 every method that could be devised, tosecure the co-operation of 
 Toussaint, or at least to prevent his active hostility. 
 
 Sensible of the importance of education, and not having the 
 means of procuring at home that instruction for his children 
 which he thought necessary to qualify them for the sphere in 
 which they were likely to move, Toussaint had sent his two 
 elder sons to France for that purpose. These youths were ta- 
 ken from their studies, and sent on board the fleet, as hostages 
 for the conduct of their father. 
 
 The fleet sailed on the 14th of December, 1801, and after a 
 most prosperous voyage arrived in the bay of Samana, on the 
 eastern coast of St. Domingo, on the 28th of the following month. 
 General Le Clerc now dispatched three divisions of his force, 
 which he wished to fall, like so many sky-rockets, on three 
 principal places of the island nearly at the same lime. General 
 Kersevan was sent with one division to the city of St. Don)lngo. 
 Rear-admiral Latouche was ordered to carry another, under 
 General Boudet, to Poit-au Prince ; and Captain Magon to 
 land the troops, under General Kochambfau in Mancenillo 
 Bay, near Fort Dauphin. Le Clerc himself with the rest of 
 his troops proceeded to Cape Francois, and reached that har- 
 bour on the 2d of February. 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain what information Toussaint had 
 obtained, or what precise opinion he had formed, respecting 
 the nature and design of this expedition. On one band, it has 
 been affirmed, — that, lest the news of the armaments that were 
 preparing should alarm him and put him on his guard, means 
 were used to deceive him both as to their magnitude and destina- 
 tion ; — that he expected only such a squadron and such a body 
 of troops, as the French government might naturally send in 
 
ROCHAMBEAU OCCUPIES FORT DAUPHIN. 129 
 
 time of peace to an obedient colony ; — that he supposed them 
 to come with no other thaa friendly views, and by proclamation 
 enjoined the negroes to receive them with respect, affection, 
 and confidence ; — and that he made no preparation for defence, 
 not even so much as to give the necessary orders to his subordi- 
 nate generals who commanded in the different towns on the 
 coast. On the other hand, it has been stated, with equal confi- 
 dence, — that he had been aware of the hostile designs of the 
 consular cabinet ; that he liad obtained considerable informa- 
 tion of the large force prepared for the prosecution of those 
 designs; — that he had been apprized of the successful iutrisiues 
 of French hostility with some of the intiabitantsboth white and 
 black, who had promised to assist the invaders ; — that he had 
 exerted the vigilance which these circumstances demanded, and 
 that to every point where invasion was expected, or the smallest 
 signs of defection appeared, he had applied every means in his 
 power to prevent the advance of an enemy towards the interior 
 of the island. 
 
 Before the other paris of the armament could get round to 
 their points of attack, on the 2d of February, General Rocham- 
 beau with his division arrived at Fort Dauphin, and the troops 
 were instantly landed. No summons was sent, to give the 
 poor colonists a chance of saving their lives by submission. 
 The troops were immediately drawn up in battle array on the 
 beach. The negroes ran in crowds to behold the strange sight, 
 and, without having the least notice cf what was designed 
 against them, they weie charged with the bayonet; great num- 
 bers were killed, and the rest fled, leaving the French masters 
 of the foit. 
 
 On the next day, the main body of the fleet and army, under 
 Villaret and Le Clerc, arrived off Cape Francois, and immedi- 
 ate preparations were made to land and take possession of the 
 town. But Christophe, the black general, who commanded at 
 this important post, on the approach of the fleet, sent on board 
 a mulatto, who exercised the office of post-captain, to inform 
 the commander of the expedition, that the general-in-chief 
 
 being absent in the interior country, no disembarkation of any 
 
 18 
 
130 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO, 
 
 military force could be permitted to take place, till the return 
 of a messen2;er who had been dispatched to acquaint him with 
 the arrival of the French, and to receive his commands; — that 
 ifthe French should refuse to wait, and should atteajpt to force 
 a landing, all the white inhabitants would be considered as hos- 
 tages for their conduct, and that an attack upon the town would 
 be followed by its immediate conflagration. General Le Clerc, 
 thinking it necessary to accompany his demonstrations of pow- 
 er with professions of kindness, replied that he would write to 
 General Christophe, and inform him of the friendly intentions 
 with which he came. He accordingly wrote the following let- 
 ter, which he sent by one of his own officers detaining the cap- 
 tain of the port as a hostage j and the French fleet stood off to 
 sea : 
 
 " 7Ae Gencral'in-Chiefofihe^rmyofSt. Domingo, Captain- 
 General of the Colony, to the General of brigade, Christophe^ 
 Commandant at the Cape. 
 
 " I leal-n with indignation, Citizen General, that you refuse to 
 receive the French squadron, and the French army that I com- 
 mand, under the pretext that you have received no orders from 
 the Governor General. , 
 
 *' France has concluded a peace with England ; and its gov- 
 ernment sends to St. Domingo, forces capable of subduing the 
 rebels, at least if any such are to be found in the island. As to 
 you, General, \ confess it will grieve me to account you among 
 them. 
 
 *' I give you notice, that if in the course of this day, you do 
 not surrender the furts Picolet and Belair, with all the batteries 
 on the coast, fifteen thousand troops shall be disembarked to- 
 morrow at day-break. 
 
 " Four thousand men are at this moment landing at Fort 
 Liberte ; and eight thousand more at Port Republicain. 
 
 " Herewith you will receive my proclamation, which express- 
 es the intentions of the French government; but, remember, 
 whatever individual esteem your conduct in the colony may 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH CHRISTOPHE. 131 
 
 have inspired me with, I hold you responsible for what may 
 happen. 
 
 " I sahite you, 
 (Signed) Le Clerc." 
 
 This disingenuous composition of conciliation and menace 
 drew from Christophe the following dignified reply ; a reply not 
 unworthy of a Roman general in the best times of the republic : 
 
 " Henry Chrigtophe, General of Brigade, Commandant of the 
 Arrondissementofthe Cape, to the General in- Chief Le Clerc. 
 
 " Your aid-decamp, General, has delivered to me your letter 
 of this day. I have the honour to inform you, that I could not 
 deliver up the forts and posts entrusted to my command, without 
 previous orders from the governor general, Toussaint Louver- 
 ture, my immediate chief, from whom I hold the powers with 
 which I am invested. 1 am fully convinced that 1 have to do 
 with Frenchmen, and that you are the chief of the armament 
 called the expedition ; but I wait the orders of the Governor, to 
 whom I have dispatched one of my aid-de-camps, to acquaint 
 him with your arrival, and that of the French army ; and cannot 
 permit you to land until [ have received his answer. If you put 
 in force your threats of hostility, I shall make the resistance 
 which becomes a general officer : and, should the chance of 
 war be in your favour, you shall not enter Cape Town till it be 
 reduced to ashes j nay, even in the ruins 1 will renew the com- 
 bat. 
 
 You say, the French government has sent to St. Domingo, 
 forces capable of reducing the rebels, if any such be found. It 
 is your coming, and the hostile intentions you manifest, that 
 alone could create them among a peaceable people, in perfect 
 submission to France : the mention of rebellion is an argument 
 for our resistance. 
 
 "The troops which you say are at this moment landing, I con- 
 sider as so many pieces of cards, which the shghtest breath of 
 wind will dissipate. 
 
 " How can you hold me responsible for the event ? You are 
 not my chief. I know you not ; and can therefore make nu ac- 
 
132 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 count of you till you are acknowledged by Governor Toussaint. 
 " As to the loss of your esteem, General, I assure you that I 
 desire not to cam it at the price you set upon it ; since to pur- 
 chase it 1 must be guilty of a breach of duty. 
 
 1 have the honour to salute you. 
 (Signed) H. Chkistophe." 
 
 The French officer returned with this letter on the next day, 
 the 4(h of Februaiy. A deputation froni the terrified inhabi- 
 tants, headed by the mayor, went on board the fleet, and entreat- 
 ed the general to take their unforlunaie circumstances into con- 
 sideration ; for that the blacks were deierniined, on the first 
 signal for disembarkation, to set fire to tiie city, and to put all 
 the while people to the sword. The general received the de- 
 putation with great politeness, but dismissed then) without any 
 piomise of refraining from hostile measures : he only directed 
 them, on their return, to lead the proclamation of the First Con- 
 sul in the town, and to represent his kind intentions towards all 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 The proclamation was drawn up in the same insidious style, 
 vphich characterized many other productions of the revolutiona- 
 ry cabinet; being intended lo delude the i^iass of the negro 
 population into a belief, that the designs of the French govern- 
 ment were altogether friendly, and that no violence would be 
 employed, but in the event of a rejection of its offered fra- 
 ternity. 
 
 "Inhabitants of St. Domingo, 
 
 "Whatever your origin or your colour, you are all French ; 
 you are all free, and all equal, before God, and before the Re- 
 public. 
 
 "France, like St. Domingo, has been a prey to factions, torn 
 by civil commotions, and by foreign wars. But all has changed ; 
 all nations have embraced the French, and have sworn to them 
 peace and amity : the French people, too, have embraced each 
 other, and have sworn to be all friends and brothers. Come 
 also, embrace the French, and rejoice to see again your friends 
 and brothers of Europe. 
 
LANDING OF LE CLERC. 13S 
 
 "The government sends you Captain General Le Clerc : he 
 brings with him numerous forces for protecting you against your 
 enemies, and against the enemies of the Repuhhc. If it be said 
 to you, these forces are destined to ravish from you your Uber- 
 ty ; answer, The Republic will not suffer it to be taken from us. 
 
 *• Rally round the Captain-General ; he brings you peace and 
 plenty. Rally all of you around him. Whoever shall dare to 
 separate himself from ihe Captain-General, will be a traitor to 
 his country, and the indignation of the Republic will devour 
 him, as the fire devours your dried canes. 
 " Done at Paii?, &c. 
 
 (Signed) "The First Consul, Bonaparte. 
 
 "The Secretary of State, H. B. Maret. 
 
 Le Clerc was not disposed to wait for the arrival of dispatch- 
 es from Toussaint, much less for his return in person ; but was 
 rather willing to profit by the absence of a chief of his acknowl- 
 edged talents. He therefore only waited to be informed that 
 Rocliaiiibeau had efiVcted a landing at Fort Eauphin, and was 
 ready to co-operate. This intelhgence he re<;eived on the 5th 
 day of the month, and immediately prepared to commence his 
 operations on the day following. 
 
 To avoid the loss likely to be sustained by disembarking un- 
 der the guns of the fortifications, and in hope of gaining the 
 heights of the Cape before the negroes could put their threats 
 of fire and sword into execution, Le Clerc landed his troops at 
 Du Limbe, a point of land a few miles to the westward. Villa- 
 ret, early in the morning, taking advantage of a favorable breeze, 
 proceeded towards the town, and the rest of the squadron fol- 
 lowed. But no sooner were the movements announced to the 
 negro commandant, than knowing the town not to be defensible, 
 especially with the disaffection which he well understood to be 
 generally prevalent among the white inhabitants, he immediate- 
 ly gave orders for setting fire to it in various places. In the 
 evening, when Le Clerc came within sight of it, he beheld it in 
 flames. The whole squadron anchored at the Mole in safety ; 
 the crews were immediately disembarked, and, together with a 
 
134 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 . body of twelve hundred troops under General Humbert, who 
 
 • had landed and made a diversion in favour of Le Clerc, exerted 
 
 themselves with great diligence in endeavouring to extinguish 
 
 the flames ; but a few houses in the lower parts of the town 
 
 were all they could save from the general destrurtion. 
 
 Having thus executed a menace, the fulfilment of uhich, how- 
 ever it may have excited the censures and reproaches of disap- 
 pointed Frenchmen, was perfectly consistent with . the laws of 
 defensive warfare acknowledged by civilized nations ; Christo- 
 phe with the troops under his command, retreated in good order, 
 and without much loss. As to the sanguinary threat which he 
 is said to have issued, of massacreing the white inhabitants, it 
 must be mentioned to his honour, that he never gave any orders, 
 nor D)ade the least attempt, for the perpetration of such an 
 outrage. In his retreat, he carried off more than two thousand 
 of them as hostages; but not one of them was put to death. 
 
 While these transactions were taking place, which occupied 
 scarcely five days, Toussaint was in the interior of the island, at 
 too great a distance from the coast to give any timely assistance 
 or orders at either of the points of aitack. As soon as he was 
 apprized of the events that had occurred, he lost no time in 
 giving those directions which existing circumstances appeared 
 to him to require. The orders issued by him to his subordinate 
 generals, both before and after the invasion of the French, 
 were described by the consular gazettes as exhibiting indica- 
 tions of cruelty and barbarity beyond all example. 
 
 The same gazettes described, in most exaggerated terms, an 
 insurrection which had taken place during the preceding au- 
 tumn, and the military executions which had followed. The 
 story was related so as to convey ideas of extreme barbarity 
 and insubordination in the insurgents, unrelenting severity in 
 Toussaint and his friends, and a dreadful state of manners in 
 both. Not a hint was given, of what was indeed the truth, that 
 Toussaint's rigour on this occasion was in pursuance of his 
 humane and determined purpose, to protect the French from 
 the resentment and violence of his brethren. General Moise, 
 and many officers and troops under his command, had revolted. 
 
CALUMNIES AGAINST TOUSSAINT. 135 
 
 not with views hostile to Toussaint and his government, but 
 solely to indulge their vengeance against the whites, many of 
 whom they actually massacred. The insurrection, however, 
 was soon quelled ; and Toussaint, in this case, departed from 
 his characteristic lenity, and became severe and inexorable. 
 Moise was his nephew, his confidential friend, and his second in 
 command ; yet he brought him, and about thirty of his officers, 
 to a court martial for their bloody conduct ; and on their con- 
 viction, ordered them, though with the deepest concern, to be 
 publicly executed at the Cape. This sacrifice of the feelings 
 of the man to the duties of the governor, he deemed absolutely 
 necessary, to protect from further violence those to whom his 
 faith and humanity were pledged. 
 
 But the agents of the French government hesitated not at 
 the employment of any calumny, to blacken the character of 
 the chief who was regarded as the principal obstacle to the 
 success of their invasion ; and whose destruction it was deter- 
 mined to accomplish, either by force or by fraud. His letters 
 which they intercepted or obtained from negro deserters, were 
 affirmed to characterize a soul equally hypocritical and atro- 
 cious. But the impartiality of truth compels the conviction 
 ihat these charges, unsupported as they are by a tittle of evi- 
 dence, prove nothing more than virulent malice of the accusers. 
 The only letter they thought proper to publish, of all which 
 they pretended to have in their possession, contains nothing 
 inconsistent with the most humane and honourable mind. It 
 was written three days after the loss of Cape Francois, and 
 addressed 
 
 " To Citizen Domage, General of Bris^ade, Commander-in-Chief 
 of the district ofJeremie. 
 
 "My DEAR General, 
 
 " I send to you my aid-de-camp, Chaney, who is the bearer 
 of the present dispatch, and will communicate to you the busi- 
 ness with which I have char ed him. 
 
 •' The whites of France, and of the colony, united together, 
 wish to take away liberty. A great many ships of war, and 
 
 I 
 
136 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 troops, have arrived and taken possession of the Cape, of Port 
 Republicain,* and of Fort Liberty. The Cape, after a vigorous 
 resistance, has fallen : but the enemy has found there little more 
 than a plain of ashes. The forts have been blown up, and every 
 thing is burned. The town of Port Republicain has been de- 
 livered up to them by the traitor Age, general of brigade : and 
 the Port Bizotton surrendered without firing a shot, through the 
 cowardice and treason of the chief of battalion. Bardet, former- 
 ly officer of the South. The general of division, J)pssalines, 
 supports at this moment a cordon at Croix des Bouquets, and 
 all our other places are upon the defensive. 
 
 " As the place of Jeremie is very strong from its natural ad- 
 vantages, you will maintain yourself there, and defend it with 
 the courage which I know you possess. Put no confidence in 
 the whites; they will betray you if they can. Their wish, evi- 
 dently manifested, is the restoration of slavery, i therefore give 
 you a carte blanche. Every thing that you do, will be done 
 well. Raise the cultivators in mass, and make them fully sensi- 
 ble of this truth, that they must place no confidence in those art- 
 ful persons who may have secretly received proclamations from 
 the white men of France, and would circulate them clandestine- 
 ly, in order to seduce the friends of liberty. 
 
 "I have given orders to the general of brigade, Laplume, to 
 burn the town of Cayes, the other towns, and all the plains, if 
 they should not be able to resist the force of the enemy ; and 
 then all the troops of the different garrisons, and all the cultiva- 
 tors will go to increase your numbers at Jeremie. You will main- 
 tain a perfectly good understanding with General Laplump. in 
 order to execute well and with ease whatever may be necessa- 
 ry. You will employ all the female cultivators in planting pro- 
 visions in great quantities. 
 
 " Endeavor, as much as possible, to acquaint me with your 
 situation. 
 
 " I rely entirely upon you, and leave you wholly to your own 
 * The revolutionaiy name for Port-au-Prince, 
 
PROPOSALS TO TOUSSAINT. 137 
 
 discretion to do every thing that may be requisite to free us 
 from the most horrihlt' yoke with which we are im aleiied. 
 "Health and friendship. 
 (Signed) "Toussaint Louverture." 
 
 All the divisions of tlie French force having made good their 
 landing, Le Clerc'thoughl it was the prjper lime, before any at- 
 tempt to penetrate into the interior, to make trial of ihe scheme 
 intended to be practised upon the feelings of Toussaint. Bona- 
 parte's letter to him was now to be delivered, a,nd an interview 
 was to be effected between him and his two sons, whom the 
 caresses of the First Consul, and the enjoyment of every indul- 
 gence, had impressed with a belief that it was the interest of 
 their father to comply with the proposal to be made to him by 
 Le Clerc. 
 
 From the smoking ruins of Cape Francois, an emissary was 
 accordingly dispatched to Ennery, Toussaint's country resi- 
 dence, about ten leagues from the Cape. The man commis- 
 sioned to deliver Bonaparte's letter, and to introduce the two 
 youths to their father, was Coisnon, their tutor ; who had ac- 
 companied them from France, and was one of the chief and 
 confidential agents in this expedition. His orders were to let 
 his pupils see and embrace their parents, but not to suffer them 
 to remain, unless their father would promise entire aoquie.icence 
 in the wishes of the First Consul. If Toussaint should accept 
 the offers niade to him, he was to be required immediately to 
 repair to the Cape, to receive the commands of Le Clerc. and 
 to become his lieuienant-g^'neral : hut if he should be found 
 proof against all the attacks of fraud and sophistry, his j^ons were 
 to be torn from his arms, and brought back again as hostag«;s. 
 If nothing else could move him, ii was hoped that the yearnings 
 of parental affection vvould overcome the resistance of patrint- 
 ism, and bend his otherwise inflexible virtue. But to provide for 
 the event of his reJHcting the fraudulent proposals, a passport 
 was obtained frotn him, or his lieutenant-general ; and the faith 
 of a soldier, who-ie word had never been violated, was engaged 
 for the lelurn botU of the envoy and of his pupils. 
 
 19 
 
138 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 When Coisnon and the two youths reached Ennery, Tous- 
 saini was absent, having been called on urgent public business 
 to a distant part of the island. His faithful wife received her 
 two sons, as an affectionate and tender mother might be expec- 
 ted to welcome chddren, who had been separated from her for 
 seven or eight years ; and, improved both in stature and ac- 
 complishments, were now returned in all the vigour and loveli- 
 ness of youth, and one of them fast advancing towards manhood. 
 She invited their tutor, whom her unsuspecting heart regarded 
 with misplaced gratitude and respect, lo wait the return of Tous- 
 saint ; an invitation which the ciafty Frenchman readily accep- 
 ted, in hopes of persuading her to becou)e his auxiliary in the 
 negociations with her husband. He professed to her, as he 
 had declared to all the negroes whom he met on bis journey, 
 that the Consul had no designs whatever against their freedom, 
 but wishes only for peace, a revival of tlieir colonial relation to 
 France, and submission to the authority of the republic. The 
 fond mother was ready to believe all his declarations; she at 
 least wished that her husband with his superior knowledge and 
 judgment might see reason lo confide in these assurances of 
 peace and friendship. 
 
 Justice to the character of the negro chief, requires it to be 
 stated, that the account of this mission furnished by Coisnon 
 himself, the only account indeed which has ever been given to 
 the world, places it beyond all doubt, that, if Toussaint had 
 any object in view beyond securing liberty and happiness for 
 himself and his brethren, it was neither known nor suspected by 
 the wife of his bosom. 
 
 A courier had been immediately dispatched to inform Tous- 
 saint of the arrival of his children, accompanied by a messenger 
 from the Fiist Consul with offers of the most ad\antageous 
 nature. His distance from home was so great, that though he 
 set out on his return immediately on receiving this intelligence, 
 and travelled with more than his usual rapidity, he did not 
 an-ive at Ennery till after the middle of the second night. 
 
 The two sons ran to meet their father, and he, with emotions 
 too big for utterance, clasped them silently in his arms. Few, 
 
PROPOSALS TO TOUSSAINT. 139 
 
 it is to be hoped, are the partakers of our coiDmon nature, who 
 on witnessing the enibiacfs and tears of parental and filial sen- 
 sibility, couJd have proceeded, ai It asi wiihuut powerful relent- 
 ings of heart, to eseculL' the coniniission with which Coisnon 
 was charged. But this cold blooded emissary of France beheld 
 the scene with a barbarous apathy, worthy of the cause in which 
 he was employed. Wht n the liist burst of paternal feeling 
 was over, Toussaint stretched out his aims to hiui whom he re- 
 garded with complacency as the tutor of his children, and their 
 conductor to the roof and embraces of their parents. This was 
 the moment which Coisnon thought most favourable to the per- 
 petration of his treacherous design. " The father and the two 
 sons," says he, "threw themselves into each others' arms. I 
 saw them shed tears, and wishing to take advantage of a period 
 which I conceived to be favourable, I slopped him at the mo- 
 ment when he stretched out his arms to me." 
 
 Retiring fro£n the embrace of Toussaint, Coisnon assailed 
 him in a set speech, persuading him to accede to the overtures 
 of the Consul ; describing in glowing colours the advantages to 
 be gained by joining the French standard, and denouncing the 
 most implacable hostility and dreadful vengeance as the inev^a- 
 ble consequence of a refusal ; expatiating on the hopelessness of 
 any efforts to resist armies which had conquered the legions of 
 combined Europe; and which now had no enemy to contend 
 with but the rebels of St. Domingo ; declaring that no designs 
 were entertained of infringing the liberty of the blacks ; and 
 desiring him to reflect on the situation of his children, who, 
 unless he would submit, were immediately to be carried back to 
 the Cape, never more perhaps to gladden the hearts of their 
 parents. The orator- concluded by putting into Toussaint's 
 hands a letter from General Le Clerc, and the following epistle 
 from the First Consul. 
 
 •' To Citizen Toussaint Louverture, GeKeral-in- Chief of the 
 Army of at. Domingo. 
 
 ''Citizen-General, 
 " Peace with England and all the powers of Europe, which 
 
140 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 places the Republic in the first degree of greatness and 
 power, enables at the same time, the government to direct its 
 attention to St Domingo. We send thither Citizen Le Clcrc, 
 our brother-in-law, in quality of Captain- General, as first magis- 
 trate of the colony. He is accompanied with the necessary 
 forces, to make the sovereignty of the French people respect- 
 ed. Jt is under these circumstances that we are disposed to 
 hope that you will prove to us, and to all France, the sincerity 
 of the sentiojents which you have constantly expressed in the 
 different lelltjs you have wiilten tons. We have conceived 
 for you esteem, and we wish to recognize and proclaim the great 
 servic-es you have rendered to the French people. If their co- 
 lours fly on St. Donjini;o, it is to you, and your brave blacks, 
 that we owe it. Called by your talents, and the force of cir- 
 cuujstances, to the chief command, you have terminated the 
 civil war, pni a stop to the persecutions of some ferociou- men, 
 and restored to honour the religion and the worship of God, from 
 whom all things come. 
 
 *' The situation in which you were placed, surrounded on all 
 sides by enemies, and without the mother country being able to 
 succour or sustain you, has rendered legitimate the articles of 
 that constitution which otherwise could not be so. But, now 
 that circumstances are so happily changed, you will be the first 
 to render homage to the sovereignty of the nation, whicli reck- 
 ons ytiu among the number of its illustrious citizens, by the 
 services you have rendered to it, and by the talents and the 
 force of character with which nature has endowed you. A 
 contrary conduct would be irreconcileable with the idea we 
 have conceived of you. It would deprive you of your nume- 
 rous claims to the gratitude and the good offices of the Repub- 
 lic, and would dig under ycmr feel a precipice, which, while it 
 swallowed you up, would contribute to the misery of those brave 
 blacks, whose courage we love, and whom we should be sorry to 
 punish tor rebellion. 
 
 " We have made known to your children, and to their 
 preceptor, the sentiments by which we are animated. VI e 
 send them back to you. Assist with your counsel, your in- 
 
Bonaparte's letter to toussaint. 141 
 
 fluence, and your talents, the Captain-General. What can 
 you desire ^ — the freedom of tlie blacks ? You know that 
 in all the countries we have been in, we have given it to the 
 people who had it not. Do you desire consideration, honours, 
 fortune ? It is not afler the services you have rtndeied, the 
 services you can still render, and with the personal estinjation 
 we have for you, that you ought to be doubtful with respect to 
 your consideration, your fortune, and the honours that auait 
 you. 
 
 " Make known to the poople of St. Domi/jgo. tl^at the 
 solicitude which Fiance has always evinced for their happi- 
 ness, has often been rendered impotent by the imperious 
 circumstances of war; ihat if men came from the conti- 
 nent to nourish factions, t.'iey were the produce of those 
 factions which destroyed the ccmniry : that in future, peace, 
 and the power of the government, ensure their prospfrity 
 and freedom. Tell them, that if liberty be to them the first 
 of wants, they cannot enj\>y it but with the title of French 
 citizens ; and that every act contrary to the interests of the 
 country, the obedience they owe to the government, and to the 
 Captain-General who is the delegate of it, would be a crime 
 against the national sovereignty, which would eclipse their ser- 
 vices, and rendei St. Donjingo the theatre of a cruel war, in 
 which fathers and children would massacre each other. 
 
 " And you. General, remember, that if you are the first of 
 your colour that attained such great power, and distinguibhed 
 himself by his bravery and his military talents, you are also, 
 before God and us, the principal person responsible for their 
 conduct. 
 
 " If there be disaffected persons, who say to the individuals 
 that have home apiincipgil part in the troubles of St. D«Hningo, 
 that we are coming to ascertain what they have done duiing 
 the times of anarchy, assure them that we shall take cognizance 
 of their conduct only in this last ciirumstance ; and that we shall 
 not recur to the past, but to find out the traits that may have 
 distinguished them in the war carried on against the Spanish and 
 English, who have been our enemies. 
 
142 HISTORY OT ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 " Rely without reserve, on our esteem, and conduct yourself 
 as one of the principal citizens of the greatest nation in the 
 world ought to do. 
 
 " The First Consul, Bonaparte." 
 
 Isaac, the eldest son, next addressed his father, representing 
 the great kindness with which bis brother and himself had been 
 treated by Bonaparte, and the high esteem and regard which 
 the consul professed for Toussaint and his family. The young- 
 er son added something that he had been taught to the same 
 effect; and both with artless ehjquence of their own, endeav- 
 oured to win their father to a purpose, of the true nature and 
 probable consequences of which they had no suspicion. To their 
 persuasions were added the tears and entreaties of their distressed 
 mother. Toussaint appeared to hesitate amidst these tender 
 solicitations. His features seemed to indicate an inward con- 
 flict of passion and principle. Coisnon observed these appear- 
 ances with savage pleasure, and began to anticipate a victory. 
 With more zeal than caution, he now suggested the necessity of 
 Toussaint's immediately hastening to the Cape to join General 
 Le C'lerc. Confirmed in his suspicions of the snare that wJis laid 
 for him, Toussaint suddenly composed his agitated countenance, 
 gently disengaged himself from the embraces of his wife and 
 children, took the tutor into another apartment, and gave him 
 this dignified decision: — "Take back my children, since it 
 must be so. I will be faithful to my brethren and my God." 
 Finding all bis eloquence unavailing, Coisnon endeavoured to 
 draw Toussaint into a negociation with General Le Clerc ; and 
 Toussaint, ready to treat upon* any terms by which the direful 
 fate intended for his brethren might be avoided without the 
 horrors of war, promised to send an answer to the French 
 general's letter. He would not, however, prolong the painful 
 domestic scene by staying to write it at Ennery, nor would he 
 risk another sight of his children, but within two hours from 
 the time of his arrival, he mounted bis horse again, and rode to 
 the camp. On the next day, he returned a formal answer to 
 Le Clerc's letter, and sent it by the tutor of his younger sons, 
 
FIRMNESS OF TOUSSAINT. 143 
 
 a Frenchman of the name of Granville, who overtook Coisnon 
 and his pupils on their way to the Cape. Toussaint's answer 
 produced a reply from Le Clerc ; and a further correspondence 
 took place between these two generals, which occupied several 
 days ; a truce being agreed upon for thai puipose, which Le 
 Clerc expected would terminate in a p< ace * 
 
 The truce having expired without any prospect of Tous«aint's 
 submission being obtained by negociation, Le Clerc became 
 in)patient of delay ; and upcjn the arrival of Admiral Gapthea- 
 ume with two thousand three hundred troops, and in the ex- 
 pectation of Admiral Linois with a further reinforcement, he 
 determined on an instant renewal of hostilities with all possible 
 vigour. 
 
 On the 17th of February he issued a proclamation, in which 
 he declared " General Toussaint and General Christophe" to 
 be " put out of the protection of the law ;" and ordered *' all 
 citizens to pursue them, and to treat them as the eneniies of the 
 French republic." The proclamation was followed by a renew- 
 al of the war in all parts of the island ; and the adoption of 
 every artifice that French ingenuity could devise, to procure 
 defection among the black troops, and among the inhabitants in 
 general. 
 
 Le Clerc knew that it was more easy to seduce the multitude 
 than to deceive men who had been accustomed to govern ; and 
 that the lower classes in all countries often become discontent- 
 ed with their rulers, when tliey feel the pressure of those evils 
 which war, though defensive and necessary, must always pro- 
 duce. He was also aware, that the labouring negroes had very 
 reluctantly subniitted to the industry required from them, and 
 had not been altogether satisfied with Toussaint for imposing 
 restraints upon idleness, and inflicting punishment on vice. He 
 therefore resolved to adopt every method likely to promote the 
 disaffection of the cultivators, or at least to obtain their neutra- 
 lity in the contest. 
 
 He cautiously refrained, at first, from attempting any change 
 
 * For a copy of the answer said to bave been addressed by Toussaint to Bona 
 parte, see Appendix It. 
 
144 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 in the condition of the labouring negroes, in the districts occu- 
 pied by his troops. Though be was accompanied by many of 
 their former n)a<ters, to whom the consul had promised the 
 restoration of their estates, not a hint was given of the restora- 
 tion of slavery and the resumption of' the cart whip. The 
 general published in his own name, and in that of the consul, 
 soleir)n declarations, that the freedom of all the inhabitants of 
 St. r)on)ingo. of all colours, should be preserved inviolate 5 
 while, in the same publications, he accused Toussaint and his 
 adherents of ambition, and endeavoured to fix upon them the 
 blame of all the calainities that were nbout to fall upon the 
 colony. To corrupt the fidelity of the black soldiers, and es- 
 pecially of their generals and officers, he held out the most 
 tempting ofi*ers of immediate employment and preferment in 
 the service of the republic ; and a few who had deserted the 
 cause of their country and joined the French on their first land- 
 ing, were promoted to important commands, and caressed in 
 the most flattering manner. 
 
 To these nefarious arts, as well as to the prowess of his troops, 
 was Le Clerc indebted for successes which were not inconside- 
 rable. Cimsidering the di>advantages of the country, the 
 French soldiers fought with great courage and perseverance ; 
 but if they had not been powerfully assisted by negro allies, 
 and if the cultivators had not been so generally induced to re- 
 main quiet spectators of the war, the invaders would have found 
 it much more difficult, if not altogether impossible, to advance 
 far fiom the coast. 
 
 Toussaint prepared for a conflict more obstinate and terrible 
 than any that he had yet experienced. Expecting the princi- 
 pal exertions of the French to be made in the northern part of 
 the island, where they had fixed their head-quarters, he went 
 with a body of chosen troops and foruied a camp at Breda. 
 Here he remained for some time, waiting the approach of Le 
 Clerc. 
 
 The negro troops were in a state of admirable discipline. 
 They were all versed in the management of artillery, but 
 chiefly excelled in the use of the bayonet. Their musket? 
 
MOVEMENT OF THE FRENCH FORCES. 143 
 
 were of extraordinary length j and with bayonets fixed, their 
 infantry were superior to an equal number of cavalry or artil- 
 lery. Their mode of warfare was dictated by the nature of 
 their country. They would frequently place whole lines in am- 
 bush, sometimes reaching from one post to another, and some- 
 times extending to a considerable distance from each wing of 
 a camp. By their astonishing celerity, their enemies were often 
 disconcerted and thrown into disorder, and sometimes when the 
 French thought themselves on the point of a victory, detach- 
 ments in ambush suddenly made their appearance, and mortifi- 
 ed them Vfhb a defeat. 
 
 On the 17th of February, the day on which Le Clerc issued 
 his warlike proclamation, the campaign actively commenced. 
 Orders having been given for a junction of all troops landed in 
 the northern province, the division of General Desfourneaux 
 advanced to the Limbe, that of General Hardy to the Grand 
 Boucamp and the Mornes, and that under General Kucham- 
 beau against La Tannerie and the wood of L'Ance. A small 
 corps, composed of the garrisons of the Cape and Fort Dau- 
 phin, advanced against St Luzanne, Le Tron, and Valliere. 
 These divisions had to contend with great disadvantages of 
 ground, and were much annoyed by the movements of the 
 blacks, who concealed themselves in ihe forests which bordered 
 the vallies, and who had a secure retreat in the fastnesses. The 
 columns, however, obtained possession of the positions which 
 they had been ordered to occupy. 
 
 On the ISth, the three divisions made a further movement, 
 and encamped near Plaisance, atDondon and St. Raphael. On 
 the 19th, that of Desfourneaux took possession of Plaisance 
 without resistance ; the black commander of the district aban- 
 doning the cause of his country, and joining the French with 
 two hundred cavalry and three hundred infantry. General 
 Hardy's division, at the same time, made themselves masters of 
 Marmelade, which was defended by General Christophe : who 
 was induced to evacuate the place in consequence of tlae loss of 
 the Morne at Borspen ; which the treachery of the comman- 
 dant had previously given up to General Hardy. Christophe 
 
 20 
 
146 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 retreated in good order, with twelve hundred troops of the line, 
 besides a con-^iderable irregular force. On the same day, 
 General Rochatnbeau took up his position at St. Michael, where 
 he found but little resistance, though it was defended by four 
 hundred njen. 
 
 In the mean time, the blacks under General Maurepas had 
 gained some advantage over General Hui-'bert. Le Clerc was, 
 therefore, very desirous of dislodging that general from the 
 entrenched post which he occupied near Port Paix ; and 
 detached General Debelle for that purpose. But in this at- 
 tempt, on the 20lh of February, the French experienced a re- 
 pulse, and were compelled to retreat with considerable loss. 
 
 General Boudet, who had been ordered to advance from 
 Port-au-Prince, marched against La Croix des Bouquets, which 
 on his approach the negrues iuinif diattly set on fire and desert- 
 ed. Dessalines, the black general who commanded in that dis- 
 trict, made a rapid movement across the mountains, and set 
 fire to Leogane in the sight of a frigate which the French ad- 
 miral had dispatched for its preservation. The disappoint- 
 ments thus experienced by the French, were partly compensa- 
 ted by the accession of an eminent black chief, La Plume, 
 who subniitted to General Boudet, vviin all the troops under his 
 command. 
 
 On the 22d, the divisions of Desfourneaux and Hardy advan- 
 ced against a fort near Plaisance, which had just been abandon- 
 ed by La Plume. Christophe, in order to cover an in)portant 
 depot of the blacks, attempted to prevent this movement of the 
 French, but was obliged to content himself with cutting off part 
 of their force, and retiiing to Bayannai. He still, however, 
 continued to act on the defensive, and, after several skirmishes, 
 retreated to Gonaives. 
 
 On the 24th, General Rochambeau, with his division, enter- 
 ed the ravine a - Couleuvre, where Toussaint, with his guard, 
 consisting of fifteen hundred chosen and tried grenadiers, four 
 hundred dragoons, and twelve hundred other troops, had taken 
 a strong position, and waitf d to recei/e them. This was the 
 only battle with troops led into action by Toussaint himself, of 
 
DEFECTION AMONG THE BLACKS. 147 
 
 which his enemies have ihouglit proper to give anv description. 
 Ttieir account is, that it was a combat of man to man ; and that 
 the blacks fought with great courage an^ obstinacy, but at 
 length were obliged to retreat, leaving eight bundled of their 
 number dead on the field of battle. The blacks had not yet 
 commenced the publication of gazettes, or they might with 
 equal accuracy have attributed a retreat to the French. The 
 truth is, that after a hard fought day, in which both armies and 
 their commanders had put forth all their energies of courage and 
 skill, and the ranks on both sides had been thinned by an im- 
 mense slaughter, neither party seemed to be in a condition to 
 contend for the honour of remaining masters of the field : Tous- 
 saint retired to the banks of La Petit Riviere, and Le Clerc to 
 Gonaives. 
 
 In Le Clerc's despatches, dated two days after this battle, he 
 says ; — " It is absolutely necessary to see the country, in order 
 to be enabled to form an adequate idea of the difficulties which 
 it presents at every step. 1 have never seen in the Alps any ob- 
 stacles equal to those with t hich it fibounds." 
 
 On the 27th, Gent-ral Boudet was master of St. Marc ; but 
 Maurepas still retaining his positions, which gave him the com- 
 mand of that district. Le Clerc prepared to concentrate his 
 force, with the intention of compelling him to surrender. 
 When he had taken the necessary measures fur this attempt, he 
 was prevented from the attack by an overture from Maurepas, 
 which terminated in his submission and that of all the troops 
 under his command, on conriition that himself and his officers 
 should be continued in their rank Maurepas had with him two 
 thousand regular troops, and seven pieces of cannon. 
 
 So powerfully did the hostilities carried on in various quarters 
 at once, by the French and their sable confederates, assist the 
 insidious offers ind promises of Le Clerc. that most of the ne- 
 gro troops who still adhered to Toussaint began to be weary of 
 the contest, and every day, almost, some leading man among 
 them went over to the enemy. So many of the regular troops 
 had been induced to join the French, or at least to lay down 
 their arms, and so great a proportion of the rest had been killed 
 
148 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO* 
 
 in action, that, by the end of the month of February in which 
 the war began, the black generals were chiefly supported by such 
 of the cultivators as the influence of Toussaint could preserve 
 from French delusion, and engage to fight in the cause of their 
 own freedom. 
 
 But these men formed a very small proportion of the whole 
 population ; and were, besides, but inexpert soldiers, not having 
 been previously taught the military exercise, and being very 
 batily armed. These cultivators too began to desert the stan- 
 dard of their chief, when he was obliged to retire into the inte- 
 rior of the island; where, with only a few hundred followers, 
 he rapidly removed from one fastness to another, contending 
 with innumerable difficulties, and enduring a variety of hard- 
 ships. 
 
 Yet even in this depressed state of his affairs, the constancy 
 of Toussaint did not forsake him. Though unable to meet his 
 enemies in the field, he was still unconquered. While the inva- 
 deis were harassing themselves by forced marches, and contend- 
 ing fur positions untenable or useless, he and his followers 
 changed their situation at pleasure, never being overtaken in a 
 retreat, or surprised on a march, but frequently falling on their 
 enemies when no apprehension was entertained of their ap- 
 proach, and filling them with consternation and disn)ay. 
 
 VV ith the remembrance of what had occurred, and the experi- 
 ence he must have acquired, in the course of a war with for- 
 mer invaders, it was nol urmatural for Toussaint to calculate on 
 the probabiiify that the French, with all the supplies they could 
 obtain, would in time exhaust themselves. Driven as his forces 
 had been from the various points on the coast, and much as their 
 numbers had been diminished by desertion and death; yet 
 the natural impracticability of the situation, the constitution 
 of the negroes inured to the climate, the desultory mode of 
 warfare which they practised, were resources which still remain- 
 ed, and which he might hope would ultimately bafile all their 
 enemies. And if any thing in the conduct of the French, since 
 their landing had excited his conjecture, that they nright be be- 
 trayed into a premature developement of the real designs of 
 
LE CLERC AT PORT-AU-PRINCE. 149 
 
 their government against the freedom of the negroes before the 
 chains of slavery should be too firmly riveted, he might con- 
 template a return to the standard of liberty on the part of those 
 whose desertion of it had been the effect of delusion rather than 
 of corruption ; and tbis anticipation would inspire him with 
 fresh resolution to meet all the sufferings and dangers of war, 
 rather than accept an insidious peace from the mortal enemies 
 of his country. 
 
 In the beginning of March, Le Clerc arrived at Port-au- 
 Prince, which, having been easily taken by General Roudet, 
 was found uninjured ; and fixing his head quarters there, he 
 proceeded to prosecute the war with fresh vigour. 
 
 The first object to which the attention of the captain-general 
 was directed in the vicinity of his new station, wasCrete-a-Pier- 
 rot, a post between Port-au Prince and St. Marc, and eight 
 leagues from the latter place. The fortress, which had been 
 regularly built by the English during their possession of this 
 part of the island, had since been occupied by the blacks, who 
 had made it one of their d.'|.6ts. 
 
 Almost the whole of the French army was employed in carry- 
 ing on the siege of this place, and in occupying positions in the 
 neighbourhood with a view to prevent the retreat of the garri- 
 son, which was under the command of Dessalines, one of the 
 most courageous, enterprising, and skilful of all the negro gene- 
 rals. The savage ferocity displayed by the Fiench was such 
 as seldom stains the history of modern warfare. General Hardy, 
 with his troops, surrounded six hundred blacks, and put them all 
 to the sword. A part of the same division acted a similar tra- 
 gedy at Trianon, a post which they carried with the bayonet. 
 General Salines, with a considerable force, surrounded a small 
 negro camp, and every individual found in it was murdered on 
 the spot. Rochambeau spread devastation through the various 
 villages in his march, murdering the inoffensive inhabitants, 
 without distinction of age or sex. Tue siege was commenced 
 and carried on with all possible vigour ; and the defence was 
 conducted in a manner that would not have disgraced the first 
 general in Europe. After having removed almost every thing 
 
150 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 that was valuable, and defeated all the efforts of the assailants 
 till his ammunition and provisions were ntarl)' consumed, Dessa- 
 lines, with a division of the troops, sallied forth in the night and 
 departed. Three nights after, the remainder of the garrison Uiade 
 a similar attempt, in which onl)- part of them succeeded, and 
 the rest were surrounded by the besiegers, and immediately put 
 to the sword. Thus the French obtained possession of a lor- 
 tress, which was a very inadequate compensation for the loss of 
 some of their best generals and many ol their finest troops 
 
 Intoxicated with the success he had gained, and fondly con- 
 cluding that he had nothing more to fear from the black troops, 
 Le Clerc imagined that the sooner he put the plantation negroes 
 again under the drivers and the whips, the better he .should 
 secure his conquest, and the more honour he should obtain ; for 
 this was the real design, and every wtiere but in St. Douiingo, 
 had, from the beginning, been the acknowledged object ol all 
 his bloody labours. About the middle of the m until -f March, 
 he accordingly published an order, expressly restoring to the 
 proprietors or their attornies all their ancient authority over the 
 negroes upon their estates. 
 
 This act of consummate baseness, almost equally surprised the 
 planters and the negroes. The planters thought it so prenia- 
 ture and imprudent, that many of them were unwilling to return 
 to their estates, and thought it at present altogether impractica- 
 ble to carry the general's order into execution. The p< or culti- 
 vators now found their mistake in listening to the French 
 general, who, within six weeks before, had pledged his own 
 word, and that of the first consul and the French republic, for 
 the maintenance of their liberty. 
 
 Tlie negro troops, also, who had united with the invaders, 
 could not but be equally alaimed at this nefarious proceeding: 
 for they had joined the French standard in a reliance on the 
 most positive assurances of freedom, not only to themselves, but 
 to all their brethren ; and the proi^lamation for re-enslaving 
 their brethren taught them to expect the same fate whenever it 
 should appear to their peifidious friends, to be a convenient 
 time for its infliction. But they dared not immediately to re- 
 
PROGRESS OF TOUSSAINT. 151 
 
 volt or give any indications of dissatisfaction ; for they had been 
 prudently broken into small bodies, placed at a distance from 
 each other, and mixed with the white troops : by the discharge, 
 upon various pretences, of great nutnbers from each of their 
 corps, they had also been much reduced in strength, and at the 
 same time were closely watched by the European French. 
 
 In this imprudent wickedness of his enemies, the indefatiga- 
 ble Tousssainl saw the means of r-trieving his affairs ; and the 
 defenceless state in which th^^ northern province had been left 
 by the concentration of the French force in the neighbourhood 
 of Crete-a-Pierrot, invited his first attention to that quarter. 
 Early in April, he effected a junction with Chrittophe, who had 
 still preserved about three hundred soldiers ; and, instead of 
 continuing his fliglit among the njountains, hastened towards 
 the north coast of the island, where the cultivators were very 
 numerous. Reaching Plisance by an unexpected route, he de- 
 feated the troops under the command of Desforneaux, and 
 passed on without interruption through Dondon and Marmelade. 
 Wherever he came he summoned the cultivators to arms, and 
 they were no longer deaf to his call, but flocked to his standard 
 in multitudes. Tijey were badly armed, or rather, for the 'nost 
 part, not armed at all, except with hoes, and a kind of cutlass 
 which is used in the West Indies for trimming the green fences. 
 But their numbers and zeal enabled their leader to surmount 
 the gr*eatest difficulties. He poured his troops like a torrent, 
 over the whole plain of the north, every where seizing the 
 French posts, and driving their divisions befoi'e him till they 
 found refuge within the fortifications of Cape Francois. 
 
 Toussaint had no battering artillery ; yet he surrounded the 
 town, and would certainly have taken it, if the French fleet had 
 not been lying in the harbour. General Boyer, the comman- 
 dant, called to his aid all the marines and twelve hundred sea- 
 men from the fleet, but was unable to oppose any successful re- 
 sistance to the intrepid assailants, by whom he was quickly 
 driven back under the very hospital. New batteries were 
 raised, and the ships were hauled in upon the shore, where their 
 broadsides might play upon the besiegers. Yet after all, the 
 
152 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 place must have yielded to Toussaint and his rustics, if General 
 Hardy, with a grand division of the French army from the south, 
 had not advanced by forced marches, and thrown himself into 
 the town. The captain-general was obhged to follow by sea, 
 quitting all his conquests in the south, after having marched back 
 all his detachments from the interior to the coast. 
 
 This great alteration in the state of the campaign, had all 
 been effected within a fortnight. At the end of March, the 
 French were at the summit of their successes and confidence ; 
 and before the middle of April they were reduced to such ex- 
 tremities, that Le Clerc, besieged at the Cape, and scarcely 
 able to maintain his position there, had serious thoughts of eva- 
 cuating the place, and retreating by sea to the Spanish part of 
 the island. 
 
 The negroes in general were now become as hostile to the 
 French as they were disposed to be friendly before. But the 
 chief struggle was at Cape Francois, and there the greatest in- 
 conveniences and calamities were. experienced. The jissem- 
 blage of the multitude of people which now crowded the place, 
 was soon followed by the appearance of a dreadful contagion. 
 
 Till this reverse of fortune, the French troops had been re- 
 markably healthy, but now the whole city was soon converted 
 into a grand lazaretto ; and great numbers who had escaped 
 the sword of the blacks, fell victims to the devouring pestilence. 
 Powerful reinforcements arrived from France ; but Toussaint 
 still pressed the seige, and all the efforts of the large garrison 
 were barely sufficient to defend themselves within their walls and 
 trenches. 
 
 Le Clerc now felt, and deeply regretted, his error. He had 
 prematurely dropped the mask of friendship to negro freedom, 
 and perceived that unless some new means of delusion could be 
 devised, there wa« no hope of accomplishing the object of the 
 expedition. Yet with all the simplicity of the cultivators, and 
 all their aversion to the privations and miseries of war, it seem- 
 ed exceedingly difficult to delude them again. It was judged, 
 however, not to be impossible, that artful professions of a change 
 of measures, and new declarations ia favour of liberty, might 
 
PROCLAMATION OF LE CLERC. 153 
 
 gain credit with the blacks, and again divide the multitude from 
 their leaders. The captain-general, therefore, deterfnined to 
 try the experiment, and, in the event of its success, to proceed 
 with more caution and certainty t§an before, in effecting the 
 purpose which he wished the negroes to believe was sincerely 
 and finally abjured. 
 
 Witb these view?, combining the most fraudulent cunning with 
 the most abject meannes?, he framed and issued the following 
 proclamation : — 
 
 " LlBERTF. E<^UALITY. 
 
 " In the name of the French Government, 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " The General'in- Chief to the Inhabitants of St. Domingo. 
 
 " Citizens, 
 
 "The time is arrived, when order will succeed to that chaos 
 which has been the natural (.-onsequence of the opposition made 
 by the rebellious to the landing of the army in St. Domingo. 
 
 *' The rapid operations and progress of the army, and the ne- 
 cessity of providing for its subsistence and establishment, have, 
 hitherto, prevented my attending to the dt finitive organization 
 of the colony, i could not, moreover, have any fixed or cer- 
 tain ideas of a country with which I was totally unacquainted, 
 and consequently could not, without mature deliberation, form 
 an opinion of a people who have been, for ten years, a prey to 
 revolutions. 
 
 " The basis of the provisionary organization which I shall 
 give to the colony, but which shall not be dkfimitive 
 TILL approved OF BY THE FkeInch Governmknt, IS Liberty 
 and Equality to all the inhabitants of St. Domingo, without re- 
 gard to colour. This organization comprises : — 
 
 " 1st. The administration of justice. 
 
 "2d. The interior administration of the colony, combined 
 with those measures which its interior and exterior defence 
 require. 
 
 " 3d. The imposition of duties, the means of raising them, 
 and their application. 
 
 21 
 
154 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 " 4th. The rrgulations and ordinances relative to agriculture. 
 
 " Sth. The regulations and ordinances relative to commerce. 
 
 "6th. The administration of the national domains, the 
 means of making them mo.# beneficial to the state, so as to be 
 less burtbensome to agriculture and commerce. 
 
 " As it is of infinite interest to you, citizens, that every insti- 
 tution should, in an equal degree, protect agriculture and com- 
 merce, I have not determined upun this important work, with- 
 out having first had recourse to, and consulted with, the most 
 distinguished and enlightened citizens of the colony. 
 
 •' 1 have in consequence, given orders to the generals of the 
 south and west divisions, to select for each of these depart- 
 ments seven citizens, proprietors and merchants (without regard 
 to colow.) who, with eight more, which I shall myself choose 
 for the department of the north, are to assemble at the Cape in 
 the course of the present month, to impart their observations to 
 me on the plans which I shall then submit to their consideration. 
 
 " It is not a deliberative assembly that 1 establish. I am too 
 well acquainted with the evils which meetings of this nature 
 have brought upon the colony, to have that idea. The citizens 
 who are thus chosen being honest and enlightened men, to them 
 will I communicate my views ; they will make their observa- 
 tions upon them, and will be able to impress on the minds of 
 their fellow-citizens the liberal ideas with which the government 
 is animated. 
 
 o " Let those men, who are thus to be called together, consider 
 this appointment as a flattering proof of my consideration for 
 them. Let them consider that, for want of their counsels and 
 advice, I might pursue measures disastrous to the colony, which 
 would ultimately fall upon themselves. Let them consider this, 
 and they will find no difficulty in leaving, for some time, their 
 private avocations. 
 
 " Done at the Head-quarters of the Cape, 5th Floreal, year 
 10 of the French Republic. 
 (Signed) 
 " The Gnneral-in-Chief, Le Clerc. 
 
 A true copy, 
 
 (Signed) 
 " The Deputy Adjutant-General, D'Aoust." 
 
EFFECT OF THE PROCLAMATION. 156 
 
 In this paper, it may be observed, that without expressly ac- 
 knowledging the injustice of his past measures, or his Resigns 
 against liberty, and even without ceasing to represent the first 
 resistance he had received from the armed negroes as rebellious, 
 Le Clerc artfully begins with an implied apology for his late at- 
 tempts, on the pretence of his ignoran-^e of the colony, and of 
 the character of the people ; dexterou-^ly passing over bis own 
 orders for the restoration of slavery, and treating what had been 
 notoriously done to that end as having arisen from the delay of 
 forming a free government, for which his wailike occupations 
 bad not left him sufficient time ; as if the attempts to restore the 
 drivers, and resume the vvhip>, had been natural and necessary 
 consequences of the want of such positive regulations to the 
 contrary, as he had hitherto been too busy to make. 
 
 He next proposes to give to the colony a constitution, of 
 which liberty and equality to all the inhabitants, without distinc- 
 tion of colour, was to be the basis. But what was designed to 
 be understood as an assurance of liberty, was rendei^ed perfect- 
 ly nugatory by the construction of the sentence in which it was 
 conveyed. The promised benefit was "not to be definitive till 
 approved of by the French government ;" and the position of 
 this clause exhibited a further specimen of the duplicity of its 
 author ; for it admits of being applied, either to ''the basis of 
 liberty and equality," or to the crude scheme of "provisionary 
 organization," which he professed to found upon that basis. 
 
 The convocation of an assembly of representatives from all 
 parts of the island, to be appointed without distinction of colour, 
 is guarded by limitations of the powers of that, assembly, with 
 as much care as if a permanent system of representation were 
 sincerely intended to be established. The crafty Frenchman 
 was well aware that the negroes were not such profound politi- 
 cians as to concern themselves about those limitations, but that 
 they were likely to be perfectly satisfied at receiving an ac- 
 knowledgement of their freedom, accompanied with a proposed 
 admission of some of their number to a share in the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 This fraudulent proclamation was dated the 25th of April, 
 
156 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 and was instantly sent into the black camp, and quickly dispers- 
 ed over every pari of the island. It produced all the immedi- 
 ate effect that its author could have wished. The negroes in 
 general were weary of the war. Their exclusion from the chief 
 ports, and the reluctance of foreigners to trade with them un- 
 der existing circumstances, deprived them of the comfoits and 
 necessaries with which commerce used to supply them. The 
 'cultivators felt themselves much aggrieved by the exposure to 
 hardships and dangers,«and the separation from their fanjilies, 
 caused by a state of warfare. They saw no prospect of speedy 
 deliverance from those evils but by a peace. The frequent ar- 
 rival of reinforcements from France, precluded all hope of be- 
 ing able to terminate the war by expelling the invaders from the 
 fortified towns on the coast. The only object they thought worth 
 suffering and fig!)ting for, was their liberty ; and this they fond- 
 ly flattered themselves was now secured. ^ 
 
 These sentiments and feelings caused considerable defection 
 in the n^gno army, and disposed some of the chiefs to entertain 
 proposals for a negociation, which was soon commenced. Chris- 
 tophe demanded, as the conditions of his compromise, a gener- 
 al amnesty for his troops, the preservation of his own rank, and 
 that of all the other officers; and the extension of the same 
 terms to bis colleague Dessalines, and to Toussaint, the general- 
 in-chief. To these terms the haughty Le Clerc found it diffi- 
 cult to submit; but his impatience to obtain the praise of resto- 
 ring the colony to the mother country, overcame his reluctance; 
 and the arrangement with Christophe was completed. The ac- 
 cession of Chrisitophe was followed by that of Paul Louv^rture, 
 the brother of Toussaint, with two thousand negroes under his 
 command. 
 
 Negociations were next entered into with Toussaint and Des- 
 salines, who, there is reason to believe, gave no credit to the 
 French General for the sincerity of his present professions, but 
 thought themselves obliged, by the circumstances in which they 
 were now placed, to conclude a peace of experiment, with a sin- 
 cere intention of fulfilling both its letter and spirit, till it should 
 be violated on the part of the French. They wished for no 
 
PEACE CONCLUDED. 157 
 
 Other terms than those which had been granted to Christophe, 
 with a dignified retirement from all the cares of pubhc hfe. To 
 these wishes, after a few day's hesitation, Le Clerc acceded, and 
 by the end of the first week in May, a peace was concluded with 
 Tuussaint, and all the generals and troops under his command, 
 and the sovereignty of France over the island of St. Domingo, 
 was acknowledged by all its inhabitants. 
 
 The official papers, in which the French governmFnt announ- 
 ced to their own and other nations the completion oflhib event, 
 gave no faithful account of the way in which hostilities had been 
 terminated. Toussaint and Dessalines were represented as ma- 
 king their most humble submission, suing for pardon as guilty 
 rebels, and obtaining it from the triumphant Le Clerc with 
 great difficulty. But the captain-general's proclamation ctf the 
 25th of April, and his own gazette, published at Cape Fianqois, 
 sufficiently prove that the submission and concessions had been 
 made by him rather than by them. The Cape gazette, of the 
 8ih of May, contains a letter from Le Clerc to Toussaint, which 
 intimates nothing of abject submission having taken place on 
 the part of the negro chief; and evinces a desire on the part of 
 the Frenchman, to maintain the appearance of sincere and con- 
 fidential communication. It contained the following passages ; 
 
 " You, General, and your troops, will be employed and treat- 
 ed like the rest of my army. With regaid to yourself, you de- 
 sire repose, and you deserve it. After a rthan has sustained for 
 several years the burden of the government of St Domingo, I 
 apprehend he needs repose. 1 leave you at liberty to retire to 
 which of your estates you please. I rely so nmch or tJje attach- 
 ment you bear to the colony of St. Domingo, as to believe that 
 you will employ the moments of leisure which you may have in 
 your retreat, in communicating to me your sentiments respect- 
 ing the means proper to be taken, to make agriculture and com- 
 DWjrce again to flourish. As soon as a list and statement of the 
 troops under General Dessalines are transmitted to me, I will 
 communicate to you my instructions as to the positions they are 
 to take." 
 
 Toussaint retired to a small plantation, called by his own 
 
158 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 name, Louverture, and situated at Gonaives, on the south-west 
 coast of the island, at a little distance from the town of St. Marc. 
 There, in the bosom of his remaining family, (for his two sons 
 who had been under the care of Coisnon were never heard of 
 after their return to Cape Francois with their perfidious tutor,) 
 he entered upon the enjoyment o( that repose of which he had 
 long been deprived. But the French general no sooner perceiv- 
 ed the negro chief In his power, and the tranquillity of the 
 colony apparently re-established, than he meditated one of the 
 basest acts of treachery that ever disgraced any government in 
 any age. 
 
 About the middle of May, in the dead of night, the Creole 
 frigate, supported by the Hero, a seventy-four-gun ship, both 
 dispatched on purpose from Cape Fran9ois, stood in towards 
 the Calm Beach, near Gonaives. Several boats with troops 
 immediately landed, and surrounded the house of Toussaint, 
 where he was at rest with the faithful companion of all his cares 
 and dangers, and his family lay wrapped in sleep, all uncon- 
 scious of their approaching fate. Brunei, a brigadier-general, 
 and Ferrari, aid-de-camp to Le Clerc, entered the chamber of 
 the hero with a file of grenadiers, and demanded his instant 
 surrender, requiring him to go, with all his family, on board the 
 frigate. The lion was in the toils, and resistance was useless. 
 Toussaint expressed immediate submission to his own fate, but 
 requested that his feeble wife and harmless children might be 
 suffered to remain at home. This condition, however, was not 
 to be granted. An irresistible military force appeared, and 
 before the neighbourhood was generally alarmed, the whole fam- 
 ily, including the daughter of a deceased brother, were on board 
 the frigate and under sail. Thence they were removed to the 
 Hero, which proceeded with them immediately to France. 
 
 To justify a proceeding, the cruelty and malig;nity of which 
 has justly excited the indignation of Europe, Le Clerc alledged 
 that Toussaint had " engaged in a conspiracy, and was anxious 
 to regain his former influence in the colony." But of this crime, 
 some evidence at least, ought to have been offered to the 
 public. Not a shadow of proof has been furnished of the alleg- 
 
TOUSSAINT ARRESTED. 159 
 
 ed offence, wbich rests wholly on the assertion of the French 
 commander; an asseition which derives as little credibility 
 from known circumstances, as from the general character of its 
 author. From the peace with Toussaint to the hour of his 
 seizure, there was not time enough to meditate, much less to 
 organize, a plan of conspiracy ; and the ships of war must have 
 been sent from Cape Franqois, almost as soon as he had arrived 
 at his home. 
 
 The French general had been so cautious in his measures, in 
 the contemplation of this outrage, that the negro troops and 
 officers, who were indignant at such treachery, could make no 
 effectual resistance. They had been previously dispersed through 
 the island, in different garrisons and mixed with European 
 troops, by whom they were very closely watched. Two chiefs 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of Gonaives, flew to arms, and 
 attacked the banditti who were carrying off the abdicated gene- 
 ral ; but their attempt to rescue him was unavailing, and cost 
 them their own lives. They were taken by the French ; and 
 Le Clerc, in one of his dispatches, written just after, says, — " I 
 have ordered them to be shot." In the same letter he states, 
 that about a hundred of the principal confidential friends 
 of Toussaint had been arrested, and, without proof or allegation 
 of any other crime than the possession of his friendship, pro- 
 ceeds to say, that some of them had been sent on board the 
 frigate LaMuiron, which was under orders for the Mediterra- 
 nean, and that the rest had been distributed among the differeiit 
 ships of the squadron. What became of these unfortunate men 
 is not certainly known. The mention of the Mediterranean in- 
 duced a supposition at the time, that the'y were sold as slaves 
 on the coast of Barbary. But from the entire silence of the 
 French government as to their ultimate disposal, it is highly 
 probaljle that they were thrown overboard at sea and drowned ; 
 a fate which is well known to have befallen many of their breth- 
 ren not long after. 
 
 On the voyage from St. Domingo to France, Toussaint was 
 refused all intercourse with his family ; he was confined constant 
 ly to his cabin, and the door was guarded by soldiers with 
 
160 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 fixed bayonets. On the arrival of the ship at Brest no time 
 was lost in hurrying him on shore. On the deck only was he 
 permitted to have an interview with his wife and children, whom 
 he was to meet no more in this life. The agonizing separation 
 of this faithful pair and their btloved offspring, excited in all 
 who witnessed it, compassion for their fate. He was conveyed 
 in a close carriage, and under a strong escort of cavalry, to the 
 castle of Joux in Normandy, where he was committed to the 
 strictest confinement, with a single negro attendant, who during 
 his continuance there, which was but for a short time, was as 
 closely confined as his master. 
 
 Toussaint's wife and family were detained at Brest for two 
 months, and then were removed to Bayonne. From this lime they 
 disappeared from the land of the living, but by what means is 
 unknown. 
 
 From the castle of Joux, Toussaint, at the approach of win- 
 ter, was removed to Besancjon, and there immured in a cold, 
 damp, and gloomy dungeon, like one of the worst of criminals. 
 This dungeon may be regarded as his sepulchre. Let the read- 
 er imagine the horrors of such a prison, to one who had been 
 born, and lived near threescore years, in a W est Indian climate ; 
 where warmth and air are never wanting, even in jails ; and 
 where the beams of the sun are only too bright and continual. 
 It has been confidently asserted by respectable authority, that 
 the floor of the dungeon was covered with water. In ihis de- 
 plorable condition, without any comfort, ot alleviatit>n of his 
 sufferings, he lingered through the winter, and died in the spring 
 of the following year. His death was announced in the French 
 papers of the 27th of April, 1803. 
 
 Thus terminated the career of this truly great man, whose 
 sufferings and death left an indelible infamy on the government 
 under whose merciless oppression he perished. 
 
 The silence of this history respecting his failings must not be 
 considered as arising from a supposition that he had attained 
 unerring perfection. Faultless perfection is not an attribute of 
 mortal man. The universal experience of the world, and the 
 dictates of inspired wisdom, place it beyond all doubt that his 
 
CHARACTER OF TOUSSAINT. 161 
 
 character had its blemishes; though the historian, having never 
 heard what they were, has it not in his power to record them. 
 But it is no rhetorical exaggeration, it is only the sober language 
 of historic truth, to say, that the talents and virtues of Toussaint 
 Louverture, entitle him to the grateful recollections of his libe- 
 rated countrymen ; and that, notwithstanding the unfavourable 
 circumstances of his birth and situation, his character will bear 
 a comparison with that of the most virtuous and patriotic lea- 
 der or governor of ancient or modern times. 
 
 9Q 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 FROM JUNE 1802, TO THE EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH FORCES 
 IN DECtMBEH 1803. 
 
 Colonial Regulations of Le Clerc — The Blacks again take vp arms. 
 — Distressed state of the French, from disease, and defection. — 
 Their cruel attempts to exterminate the negroes, hy massacres, hy 
 drownings, and by blood-hounds employed to hunt them down — Death 
 of General Le Clerc. — The chief command devolves on General 
 Rochambeau. — Further decline of French affairs. — Several skir- 
 mishes. — Battle of Acul. — Five hundred prisoners murdered by the 
 French. — Retaliation of the Blacks. — fFar renewed between Great 
 Britain and France. — /i British squadron appears on the coast. — 
 The French in Cape Francois blockaded by sea and land — Their 
 extreme distress, capitulation, and final evacuation of the islafld. 
 
 1m.mediateu>f on the siVzure and removal of Toiissaint, Le 
 Clerc assumed the title ofgenjeral in-chi^f, in addition to that of 
 captain-general, with which he came from France. On the 
 22d of June he issued a decree, in which .he affected to orga- 
 nize a new system of government for the island. Most of the 
 regulations, however, both municipal and military, were the 
 same as had been established by the negro chief. Martial lawr 
 was continued with certain modifications. The administration 
 of the districts was committed to the respective military com- 
 mandants, assisted by councils of notables, or representatives. 
 Each commune was to provide for its own expenses, to be 
 fixed by the general-in-chief, and levied on the district by the 
 assembly of notables. These councils were to hold an imme- 
 diate correspondence with the sub-prefects, and all other assem- 
 blies of citizens were prohibited. 
 
 The outrage on the person and family of Toussaint, opened 
 the eyes of the negroes to the real designs of the French gov- 
 ernment. They found themselves to be deceived and betrayed. 
 Dessalines, Christophe, and Clerveaux, were justly alarmed 
 with the apprehension of being destined to share the fate of 
 
DISTRESSES OP THE FRENCH, 163 
 
 their deluded colleague ; and were soon found at the head of 
 considerable bodies of troops, ready to renew the struggle for 
 liberty, and determined to succeed or perish in the attempt. 
 
 Before these generals openly declared themselves, and while 
 they were preparing to re-commence hostilities against the ene- 
 mies of their race, other chiefs arose in the interior of the island, 
 and began to make excursions from the mountains. Among 
 those from whom the French experienced peculiar annoyance, 
 were, a negro of the Congo tribe, who commiited considerable 
 depredations, but could never be discovered : and another, a 
 nephew of Toussaint, of the name of Charles Bellair, who, with 
 bis heroic wife, spread slaughter and devastation among their 
 foes; till after a while they were both taken, and died under 
 the most dreadful tortures. 
 
 Of the situHlion of the French during the summer of 1802, 
 some faint ideas may be formed from the account of this period* 
 given in a dispatch of General Buyer, some months after. — 
 " The heat became excessive ; it was iiripossible to make any 
 movement : the lowest mernes presented obstacles to us, pro- 
 portioned to the inconvenience of the ten)perature. The bri- 
 gands" (the hostile negroes) " increased in numbers. Our hos- 
 pitals were crowded with sick, and disease daily made new ra^ 
 vages. The brigands calculated its progress with a secret joy. 
 In the south, partial insurrections took place. Domage revolt- 
 ed, and burnt several plantations : this wretch was arrested, 
 tried, and put to death. — The nt>rthern part is a prey to the 
 most dreadful disturbances." The captain general himself 
 found his health considerably impaired ; the most able officers 
 of his staff had fallen ; and their successors, recently arrived, 
 being unacquainted with the country, and unprepared for the 
 warfare to which they were condemned, sunk into despondency, 
 and furnished new victims for the devouring pe-tilence. 
 
 In addition to the havock of disease, the French army was 
 further diminished by defection. This was not confined to the 
 blacks^ or to privates and subalterns among the whites. Even 
 General Dugua, the chief of the staff, disgusted with the hor- 
 rors of the war, and shocked with the barbarous executioa 
 
164 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 of Bellair and his wife, was making arrangements for quitting 
 his post ; when he was discovered, and took the dreadful reso- 
 lution to elude the vengeance intended for him by destroying 
 himself. 
 
 In this season of convulsion and terror, the French had re- 
 course to barbarities, worse than had ever before stained the 
 annals of any people pretending to the character of civilization. 
 Knowing the preference of death to slavery to be the general 
 sentiment of the negro population, and having determined on 
 the utmost exertions to leave this beautiful island a desolate 
 wilderness, rather than the happy abode of a nation of free 
 blacks, the Fiench general lost no time in endeavouring to ex- 
 teraiinate all who resisted, or were suspected of intending to re- 
 sist, t-he designs of their oppressors. 
 
 From their first landing in the island, the invaders had given 
 no quarter in the field. This was admitted by the consular 
 gazettes ; and the inhabitants of Cape Francois witnessed the 
 daily execution of all the negro soldiers who were brought 
 prisoners into that town. Now, however, not only the prisoners 
 taken in arms, but almost all the male negroes and mulattoes, 
 of whom the French could obtain possession were coolly, 
 murdered, and often with circumstances of shocking barbarity. 
 
 Near Cape Francois, a pit was dug, about thirty feet deep, 
 on the margin of which the victims were made to kneel ; and 
 being shot in that position, they fell down to the bottom. If 
 only wounded, they were left to endure the tortures of a lingering 
 death, among thr dead and putrifying carcasses of their prede- 
 cessors. At least five hundred are said to have perished in this 
 way, among whom were Bellair and his wife. 
 
 But drowning was deemed a mure convenient mode of dis- 
 patching the objects of this murderous proscription. Great 
 numbers were huriied on board the various ships in the different 
 harbours. Some were crowded into the holds and suffocated, 
 and then thrown into the sea : others were chained, and forced 
 overboard alive. Among the objects of this barbaiity, were the 
 soldiers of a black regiment stationed at Cape Fran(;ois, who, 
 in defending the place had acted with perfect fidelity to their-- 
 
BLOODHOUNDS. 165 
 
 » 
 
 European masters ; but about half the corps stationed at an 
 outpost, receiving information that they were suspected and 
 doomed to destruction the next day, went off to the enemy. As 
 soon as this was known, the division in the town were seized, 
 sent on board frigates, and drowned. This was the fate of 
 thousand?. Some of these atrocities were committed so near 
 the land, that multitudes of the corpses were driven in by the 
 tide, and cast upon the shore. 
 
 Many parties were surrounded and massacred by hundreds 
 at a time. Such massacres were daily perpetrated, especially 
 in the neighbourhood of Cape Frangnis, so that the air became 
 tainted by the putrefaction of the bodies : and the invading 
 troops being driven from the field, and obliged to fortify them- 
 selves in the principal towns, confined space, and additional 
 numbers increased the conta«;ion, and all the French stations 
 presented scenes of complicated and exlrenie distress. 
 
 The ferocity of the invaders seems to have been increasingly 
 sharpened by every successive discomfiture and disappointment. 
 To complete the cliinax of more than savage cruelty, they re- 
 sorted to the use of bloodhounds, which they obtained chiefly 
 from the island of Cuba. These dogs were trained with great 
 care, and much perverse ingenuity, to inspire them with an at- 
 tachment to all persons of white complexion, and wiih an insa- 
 tiable thirst for the blood of the blacks; whom they were after- 
 wards employed in hunting down with unrelenting fury, like so 
 many wild beasts of the forest. 
 
 On more than one occasion, some of the prisoners, whom 
 their merciless oppressors were pleased to denounce as crimi- 
 nals, were thrown alive to the bloodhounds. Of this unparal- 
 leled enormity the authors made no secret, at the tcene of its 
 jierpetration, giving public notice of the time and place at 
 which the horrid spectacle would be exhibited. The ordinary 
 day for such exhibitions was Sunday. A large ring was lined 
 with the military under arms ; the ferocious dogs were in the 
 centre, and the human victims were delivered naked to their 
 rage. The reader's feelings shall not be tortured with a des- 
 cription of what followed, which made the white inhabitants of 
 
166 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO* 
 
 Cape Francois, who attended as spectators, to repent of their 
 ill-judged curiosity. 
 
 Nor were the ravages of these brute auxiliaries limited to the 
 particular missions assigned them by their employers. Being 
 but slendeily fed, in order to sharpen their voracity for the re- 
 quired service, they would frequently break loose and devour 
 infants from the public way. At other times they would hasten 
 to the neighbouring woods, and sui prizing a fau)ily of harmless 
 cultivators at their homely repast, or during their nighlly re- 
 pose, would involve them all in one common destruction. But 
 even for these horrors, though not specifically designed, the re- 
 sponsibility must be charged on those who trained and employ- 
 ed the animals for so abominable a purpose. 'J'he whole con- 
 duct of the principal agents of the French government through- 
 out this expedition, betrayed an entire destitution of every prin- 
 ciple of justice, and every sentiment of humanity. 
 
 But all the efforts of their barbarous policy were insufficient 
 to ensure success, and only served to inflame the ardour of the 
 blacks. By the middle of October, the French had lost Fort 
 Dauphin, Port Paix, and several other posts of considerable 
 importance, and the pestilence continued to rage with unremit- 
 ting fury. Towards the end of that month, the General-in- 
 chief, who had tried every means in his power for the restora- 
 tion of his impaired health, suddenly became worse, and on the 
 night of the first of November he died. The body was im-ne- 
 diately opened for medical examination, then embalmed, and^ 
 conveyed on board the Swiftsure man-of-war. Madame Le 
 Clerc followed the corpse of her deceased husband, Admiral 
 Latouche, the commander-in-chief of the fleet undertaking to 
 esc(»rt her home, accompanied by the first aid-de camp of the 
 departed general, whose hat and sabre were placed with great 
 formality, upon the bier on board, in the presence of all the of- 
 ficers who were able to attend on the occasion. 
 
 By the death of Le Clerc, the chief command devolved on 
 General Rochambeau, who was then at Port-au-Prince, but has- 
 tened without delay to Cape Francois. His arrival effected lit- 
 tle alteration in the state of affairs. Great expeclaliyns, indeed^ 
 
ROCHAMBEAU SUCCEEDS LE CLERC. 167 
 
 were entertained, from his knowledge of the island, and his for- 
 mer experience of the character of the blacks ; but it is doubt- 
 ful whether he possessed talents capable of employing this 
 knowledge and experience to advantage; and still more doubt- 
 ful, whether any talents could have been successful in the situa- 
 tion in which he was placed. The French artny was daily more 
 and more weakened and dispirited ; and that of the blacks was 
 every day gaining fresh strength, and advancing in military ar- 
 dour, and confidence of ultimate success. 
 
 Several actions of little importance were fought between the 
 detachjnents of the different armies. The most considerable 
 one took place on the plains of St. Nicholas Mole, where the 
 French appear to have maintained their ground better than on 
 most other occasions at this period of the war. The battle con- 
 tinued during the night, when the combatants precipitated each 
 other into the sea. But all the advantages gained by the French, 
 the renewed attacks of their enemies obliged them soon to re- 
 linquish. Tliey were rathei more successful at Fort Dauphin, 
 which, after it had for some time withstood a powerful attack, 
 both by sea and land, surrendered to General Clauzel. 
 
 By the end of the year, not less than forty thousand French- 
 men are believed to have fallen ; and, though troops continued 
 to be sent from Havre and Cherbourg, each division was less ef- 
 fective than the preceding; and the- reinforcements at length 
 consisted of none but raw conscripts from the countries which 
 had been overrun by the republican armies. 
 
 The commencement of the year 130.? was not distinguished 
 by any active operatiims in the field. The French were sitting 
 down within their fortifications, in a state of exhaustion, waiting 
 foi the arrival of further reinforcements. The blacks were dai- 
 ly increasing in nuinbeis, and preparing'to renew hostilities with 
 augmented vigor ; in hope of bringing the contest to a speedy 
 termination. With this view, Dessalines, who had been unani- 
 mously appointed their general-in-chief, collected a considera- 
 ble force upon, the plain of the Cape ; which induced Rocham- 
 beau to withdraw the French troops from every other point, for 
 the defence of the capital. 
 
168 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 Thus both armies became prepared for a battle, which both 
 generals endeavoured for some time to avoid : — but several skir- 
 mishes having taken place in the neighbourhood of Acul, Ro- 
 chambeau at length resolved to hazard an action. When it was 
 on the point of commencing, a body of troops who were march- 
 ing to strengthen one of the wings of the French army, were 
 surrounded by the blacks and taken prisoners. Rocharabeau 
 began the attack with impetuosity^ and the blacks for some time 
 retreated before him ; but they afterwards became assailants in 
 their turn, repulsed him with considerable loss, and at night re- 
 mained masters of the field. 
 
 In the course of the day, the French had taken about five 
 hundred prisoners, and, equally at variance with justice and 
 sound policy, devoted them to that end to which they regretted 
 that the fortune of war did not enable them to devote all their 
 brethren. Without the least consideration of his own men who 
 were prisoners in ihe negro camp, the French general ordered 
 these unhappy captives to be immediately put to death. Many 
 of the victims of this infamous cruelty, however, were not de- 
 prived of life at once ; but were left in a state of mutilation too 
 dreadful to describe. The shrieks and groans extorted by their 
 agonies interrupted the stillness of the night ; and, being heard 
 «t a considerable distance, excited universal horror. Dessalines 
 was immediately informed of this atrocious conduct, and deter- 
 mined on signal retaliation : — he ordered the instant erection 
 ol" five hundred gibbets, selected all the French officers who 
 had been taken prisoners, and adding privates to make up the 
 number, caused them to be all hung up by the break of day, in 
 the sight of the French army. The blacks then advanced upon 
 the French with the most vigorous impetuosity, and in the finest 
 order, raised their camp, threw their whole line into confusion, 
 and pursued them to the gates of Cape Francois. 
 
 In the month of April, the last reinforcement arrived from 
 EJurope. In May, war was renewed between Great Britain and 
 IVance ; and in July, an English squadron appeared on the 
 coast of St. Domingo. By this time, the French were entirely 
 confined to the city of Cape Francois, and a district not exceed- 
 
BLOCKADE OF CAPE FRAN9OIS. 16^ 
 
 ing two miles round it. The place was closely blockaded by 
 Dessalines ; who, on the arrival of the English, sent off a flag 
 of truce, invitino; the commander to act in concert against their 
 common enemies, and soliciting supplies of military stores. 
 The British commander considered himself not authorized to 
 enter into any formal treaty upon this application of the blacks; 
 but hesitated not to maintain a friendly correspondence with 
 them, and, in the event, rendered essential service to their cause 
 by blockading the harbour of Cape Francois. One of the fri- 
 gates stationed at the eastern end of that harbour, soon captur- 
 ed a number of vessels that were attempting to convey provi- 
 sions from the Spanish part of the island. Thus the French 
 were prevented from receiving any reinforcements or supplies 
 by sea. The spirit and courage of the blacks increased with 
 the difficulties which their foes had to encounter ; and they 
 were too vigilant to permit the introduction of any succours by 
 land. 
 
 The French general continued to maintain his station with a 
 pertinacity worthy of a better cause ; but the miseries sustained 
 by the besieged were such as the annals of war have seldom 
 recorded, and were fast approaching the extremity of human 
 endurance. Rochambeau afterwards described himself and his 
 comrades at this period as " pressed almost to death by abso- 
 lute famine, and wretchedly appeasing the desperate calls of 
 hunger by feeding on their horses, mules, asses, and even dogs." 
 Dogs were of course the last of those animals which the neces- 
 sities of starvation would compel them to accept — but this at 
 length was the shocking fact; and it is one of those remarkable 
 events which sometimes almost disclose to mortal view the in- 
 visible hand of a righteous Providence, that the French were 
 actually obliged, for several weeks, to subsist on those very blood- 
 hounds which they had procured for the purpose of hunting 
 down the negroes. 
 
 About the middle of November, the besieging army forced 
 some of the out-works, and were making preparations for taking 
 the city by storm. The inflexibility of the French commander 
 
 was now constrained to give way. Knowing that the storm, if 
 
 23 
 
170 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 attempted, would certainly succeed, and dreading the conse- 
 quences of falling into the hands of an enraged enemy, ivhose 
 sword he could not reasonably expect that any who bore arms 
 would in such an event be permitted to escape, — Rochambeau 
 offered articles of capitulation, which Despalines thought pro- 
 per to accept. These articles were signed on the 19th of No- 
 vember, and stipulated that the French were to evacuate Cape 
 Fran(;ois and its dependent forts, at the end of ten days, with 
 all the ordnance, ammurjition, and stores, in their existing con- 
 dition ; retiring in their own slilps, v.ilh the honours of war and 
 all their private property ; and leaving their sick and wounded in 
 the hospitals, to be taken care of by the blacks till their recove- 
 ry, and then to be embarked for France in neutral vessels. 
 These were certainly terms which the conduct of the French 
 towards the negroes, through the whole of the invasion, had not 
 been such as to entitle them to expect, and which impartial 
 justice must pronounce to have been far more favourable than 
 they deserved. 
 
 On the same day which witnessed this convention with Des- 
 salines, the French general, with a duplicity that would ha/e 
 disgraced the meanest subaltern, sent two officers with proposals 
 to treat for the evacuation of Cape Francois, with the com- 
 mander of the British squadron. The terms proposed were re- 
 jected, and other terms offered; which Rochambeau, in his turn, 
 declared to be inadmissible. He flattered himself, perhaps, 
 with the hope, that the stormy weather which the squadron was 
 then experiencing would afford an opportunity for his escape. 
 But the intelligence of the capitulation, communicated by Des- 
 salines, stimulated the English to increased vigilance, during 
 the few more days which they now had to continue the 
 blockade. 
 
 The duplicity and prevarication of the French general near- 
 ly pioved fatal to himself and the remnant of his force. He ap- 
 pears to have retired at last rather in a way of tardy and reluc- 
 tant flight, than in the open and honourable fulfilment of the 
 terms of capitulation. 
 
 The erection of the standard of the blacks on the walls of 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH. 171 
 
 Cape Francois was not to be procrastinated. On the 30th of 
 Novetiiber, their colours were displayed at the different forts j 
 and the English commodore, seeing no appearance of the depar- 
 ture of the French from the harbour, dispatched one of his 
 captains to inquire respecting the disposal of Rochambeauand 
 his troops. On entering the harbour, this officer met one of 
 the French captains, who entreated him to go on board the 
 Surveillante, and enter into some capitulation which would put 
 the French under the protection of the English, and prevent 
 the blacks from sinking then) with red-hot shot, as they had 
 threatened, and were pieparing to do. What was the immedi- 
 ate or avowed cause of this threat, is not certain : — but the re- 
 quest of the French was liberally complied with by the English; 
 and, a few articles being instantly drawn up and signed, infor- 
 mation Vvas immediately transmitted to General Dessalines, that 
 all the ships and vessels in the port had surrendered to the Bri- 
 tish arms, and he was requested to desist from firing till the 
 wind, which was then blowing directly and strongly into the 
 harbour, should be fair for carrying them out. A promise of 
 the solicited forbearance was with some difficulty obtained. 
 Embracing the first instant of a favourable breeze, the ships, 
 consisting of three frigates and seventeen smaller vessels, sail- 
 ed out, according to agreement, under French colours, fired 
 their broadi>ides, and then hauled down their colours, and 
 surrendered. The prisoners of war amounted to about eight 
 thousand. 
 
 A small French force still retained possession of the Mole, 
 under the command of General Noailles, who was summoned 
 by the British commodore to capitulate ; but he refused, assert- 
 ing that he had supplies for five months. In the course of the 
 following night, however, December the second, he evacuated 
 the place, embarking his troops in six vessels. A brig, with the 
 general on board, was the only one that escaped : — the other 
 five vessels were captured by the English ; and, with those sur- 
 rendered by Rochambeau, were conveyed to Jamaica. 
 
 Thus ended an expedition, the commencement of which had 
 excited universal interest in France, stimulating the ardour of 
 
172 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 the armv, attracting the cupidity of the merchants, amusing the 
 ranity of the people, and flattering the arabition of the govern- 
 ment; — the progress of which had exhibited horrors and atro- 
 cities more nefarious and shocking than any which had afflicted 
 France during the worst periods of her revolution ; — and the 
 discomfiture and ultimate failure of which, furnishing an awful 
 example of the fatal consequences and condign punishment of 
 perfidy and oppression, must be contemplated with cordial sat- 
 isfaction by every friend to the liberty and happiness of the hu- 
 man race. 
 
CHAP. X. 
 
 FROM DECEMBER, 1S03, TO THE SIEGE OF THE CITY OF ST. 
 DOMINGO, AT MIDSUMMER, 1804. 
 
 Preparations for the new order of things on the departure of the 
 French. — Prorlajnations. — Revival of the name of H atti. — Deisa- 
 hnes appointed governor for life. — Measures to increa.se the army, 
 and the maie population. ~ Inflammatory Proclamations cf Dessa- 
 lines against the French. — General massacre of them. — Attempt to 
 conquer the Spanish part of the islccnd. 
 
 The time between the cessation of hostilities and the depar- 
 ture of the French, had been employed by the blacks in prepa- 
 ring for the new order of things which was about to con»mence. 
 The first act of the general-in-chief bad been to issue a procla- 
 mation, addressed to the inhabitants of Cape FiauQois, " to 
 tranquillize the fears by which they might be alarmed,'" in ex- 
 pectation of the approaching change. He stated "that the war 
 which had been waged, had no relation whatever to the inhabi- 
 tants of the colony, and that he had uniformly held out protec- 
 tion and security to the inhabitants of every complexion." He 
 declared " that on the present occasion he would adhere to the 
 same line of conduct;" observing, "that the manner in which 
 the inhabitants of every description, of Jeremic, of Caves, and 
 of Port-au-Prince, had been treated, afforded a certain pledge 
 of his good faith and honour." He invited "those who were 
 averse to leave their country, to remain," assuring them "that 
 they should enjoy protection and security under his govern- 
 ment ;" and concluded with saying, "that all who were disposed 
 to follow the French army, were free to do so."^ 
 
 The day before the evacuation took place, another proclama- 
 tion was published, signed by Dessalines, Christophe, and Cler- 
 veaux ; 
 
174 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 " In the name of black people and men of colour ;— 
 
 " The independence of St. Domingo is proclaimed. Re- 
 stored to our primitive dignity, we have asserted our rights ; 
 we swear never to yield them to any power on earth. The 
 frightful veil of prejudice is torn to pieces : be it so for ever. 
 Woe be to them who would dare put together its bloody tatters. 
 
 "Oh! Landholders of St. Domingo, wandering in foreign 
 countries ! by proclaiming our independence, we do not forbid 
 you, indiscriminately, from returning to your property ; far be 
 from us this unjust idea. We are not ignorant that among you 
 there are some that have renounced their former errors, abjured 
 the injustice of their exorbitant pretensions, and acknowledged 
 the lawfulness of the cause for which we have been spilling our 
 blood these twelve years. Toward those men who do us justice, 
 we will act as brothers : let them rely for ever on our esteem 
 and friendship ; let them return among us. The God who pro- 
 tects us, the God of freemen, bids us to stretch out towards 
 them our conquering arms. But as for those who, intoxica- 
 ted with foolish pride, interested slaves of a guilty pretension, 
 are blinded so much as to believe themselves the essence of 
 human nature, and assert that they are destined by heaven to 
 be our masters and our tyrants, let them never com» near the 
 land of St. Domingo : if they come hither, they will only meet 
 with chains or deportation. Then let them stay where they are : 
 and, tormented by their well-deserved misery, and the frowns 
 of the just men whom they have too long mocked, let them 
 still continue to move, unpitied and unnoticed by all. 
 
 " V\e have sworn not to listen with clemency towards all those 
 who would dare to speak to us ol slavery : we shall be inexora- 
 ble, perhaps even cruel, towards all troops who, themselves for- 
 getting the object for which they have not ceased fighting since 
 1780, should come from Europe to bring among us death and 
 servitude. Nothing is too dear, and all means are lawful, to 
 men. from whom it is wished to tear the first of all blessings. 
 Were they to cause rivers and torrents of blood to run; were they, 
 in order to maintain their liberty, to conflagrate sev^n-eights of 
 
 hi 
 M 
 
ABILITY OF NEGROES. 175 
 
 the globe, they are innocent before the tribunal of Providence, 
 that never created men, to see them groaning under so harsh 
 and shameful a servitude. 
 
 " If, in the various commotions that have taken place, some 
 inhabitants against whom we had not to complain, have been 
 victims of the cruelty of a few soldiers or cultivators, too much 
 blinded by the remenbrance of their past sufferings to be able 
 to distinguish the good and humane land-owners from those 
 that were unfeeling and cruel, we lament, with all feeling souls, 
 so deplorable an end. and declare to the world, whatever may be 
 said to the contrary by wicked people, that the murders were 
 coramited contrary to the wishes of our hearts. It was impossi- 
 ble, especially in the crisis in which the colony was, to be able 
 to prevent or stop those horrors. They who are in the least 
 acquainted with history, know that a people, when assailed by 
 civil dissensions, though they may be the most polished on earth, 
 give themselves up to every species of excess, and the authority 
 of the chiefs, at that time not firmly supported, in a time of revo- 
 lution cannot punish all that are guilty, without continually 
 meeting with new difficulties* But now-a-days, the Aurora of 
 peace hails us, with the glimpse of a less storniy time ; now that 
 the calm of victory has succeeded to the troubles of a dreadful 
 war, every thing in St. Domingo ought to assume anew face, 
 and its government henceforward be that of justice. 
 
 " Done at the Head Quarters, Fort Dauphin, Novembier 29, 
 1803. 
 
 (Signed) ' "Dessalines. 
 
 "Chhistophe. 
 
 " Clerveaux." 
 
 The ability displayed in this and other publications, and the 
 military skill and prowess which had vanquished the veteran 
 legions of France, headed hy commanders accustomed to victo- 
 ry, furnished many practical and not unseasonable proofs of the 
 despicable futility of those reasonings which would degrade the 
 negro below the level of our species, and make him merely an 
 intermediate link in the chain of being, connecting the human 
 
176 . HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 with the brute. The style of the proclamation was evidently 
 borrowed from the French revolutionary school ; but the de- 
 gree of moderation exhibited in it, formed a striking contrast 
 to the violent language and sanguinary conduct of the expelled 
 invaders. 
 
 The liberated blacks now determined on discarding the ap- 
 pellations which the island had received from Kuropeans, and 
 reviving the name of Hay n, by which it was designated by the 
 aboriginal inhabitants when first visited by Columbus. 
 
 On the first day of the year 1S04, the generals and chiefs of 
 the army, in the name of the people of Hayti, signed a iormal 
 declaration of independence, and tookasolemn oath to lenounce 
 France for ever, pledging themselves to each other, to their 
 posterity, and to the universe, to die rather than submit again to 
 her dominion. At the same, time they appointed Jean Jacques 
 Dessalines, governor-general for life, with power to enact laws, 
 to make peace and war, and to nominate his successor. 
 
 One of the first acts of his government, was to encourage the 
 return of negroes and mulattoes from the United States of 
 America. In the early commotions, many wealthy planters 
 had quitted the island and gone to the continent, taking with 
 them a number of their slaves, whom the want of funds to 
 support their former establishment had afterwards obliged them 
 to abandon : others had voluntarily emigrated thither at differ- 
 ent periods : and many of both classes were now in circumstan- 
 ces of distress, without the means of returning to their country. 
 Dessalines published a proclamation, offering to the captains of 
 American vessels the sum offorty dollars for each individual na- 
 tive black or man of colour, whom they should convey back to 
 Hayti. The general character of Dessalines will hardly permit 
 this measure to be considered as the result of pure humanit}'. 
 It seems lo have originated in a wish to recruit his army, and to 
 restore his exhausted male population. 
 
 The same motive dictated another measure of a very differ- 
 ent character. In treating with a British agent from Jamaica, 
 Dessalines, among other commercial advantages, offered to 
 open his ports to the slave ships, and to allow the people of Ja- 
 
OFFER TO PURCHASE NEGROES. 177 
 
 aiaica, the exclusive privilege of selling negroes in Hayti. But 
 this was to be for the importation of men only, and those not 
 for slavery, but for tnililary service. To an American gentle- 
 man, who had more than one conversation with him on the sub- 
 ject, and expressed his disapprobation of the plan as liable to be 
 construed into an encouragemeut of the slave trade, Dessalines 
 defended it by observing, that so many men would be brought 
 from Africa, whether he adopted the measure or not, and that 
 instead of doing them any harm, his plan would secure them 
 from a dreadful slavery in the English islands, to make thern 
 freemen and soldiers. The doctrine of political expediency 
 has seldom, perhaps, been urged with more plausibility, though 
 it certainly fails of a satisfactory vindication of the plan. 
 
 Though, on the evacuation of Cape Fran(joi3, the French in- 
 habitants had leave and opportunity to depart with their armed 
 countrymen, the insecurity of any attempt to remove their mo- 
 ney and other moveable effects, determined almost all of them 
 to remain behind. Seeing the British squadron cruising off the 
 harbour, and knowing that whatever property they should era- 
 bark would be captured and condemned as prize, they thought 
 it better to stay, trusting to the faith and mercy of Dessalines, 
 than to depart without the means of subsistence. Former ex- 
 perience of the mildness and humanity of the blacks, inspired a 
 hope of forgiveness and good treatment, notwithstanding the re- 
 membrance of recent circumstances, which might seem to pre- 
 clude all expectation of mercy from that insulted and injured 
 people. 
 
 The astonishing forbearance of Toussaint, and of all who had 
 served under him, encouraged a persuasion that their humanity 
 was not to be wearied out by any provocation. All the white in- 
 habitants who had been carried off as hostages, by Christophe, 
 on his retreat from Cape Fran9ois, had returned in safety, when 
 the peace was made with Le Clerc : and it was known that, 
 during the whole time of their absence, they had been well 
 treated by Toussaint and his followers ; though the French, du- 
 ring that period, were refusing quarter to the negroes in the 
 
 field, and murdering in cold blood all whom they took prison- 
 
 24 
 
178 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 ers. Though Toussaint was now no more, there is reason to 
 believe that the hopes of the white inhabitants of Cape Fran- 
 cois, and other places, wouM, nevertheless, have been realized, 
 if the humane feelings of the negroes in general had been se- 
 conded by the sentiments of his successor, or if that successor 
 had been any one but Dessalines. 
 
 Whatever were the secret intentions of this sanguinary chief, 
 when be was promising protection and security to these unfor- 
 tunate people, but few weeks elapsed before he evidently con- 
 templated their destruction. Just after his appointment to the 
 office of governor for life, he published a most inflanjmatory 
 proclamation, stating the enormous crimes of the French, and 
 urging his countrymen to vengeance. 
 
 " It is not enough," says he, "■ to have driven from our country 
 the barbarians who, for ages, have stained it with blood : it is 
 not enough to have repressed the successive factions which, by 
 turns, sported with a phantom of liberty which France placed 
 before their eyes. It is become necessary to ensure, by a last 
 act of national authority, the permanent empire of liberty in the 
 country which has given us birth. It is necessary to deprive an 
 inhuman government, which has hitherto held our minds in a 
 state of most humiliating torpor, of every hope of enslaving us 
 again. — Those generals, who have conducted your struggles 
 against tyranny, have not yet done. The French name still 
 darkens our plains : every thing reminds us of the ctuelties of 
 that barbarous people. Our laws, our customs, our towns, every 
 thing bears the impression of France. — What do I say.'' There 
 still remain Frenchmen in our island. Victims for fourteen 
 years of our own credulity and forbearance! conquered not by 
 French armies, but by the artful eloquence of the proclamations 
 of their agents! When shall we be tired of breathing the same 
 air with them .'' W^bat have we in common with that bloody- 
 minded people .'' Their cruelties compared to our moderation — 
 their colour to ours — the extension of seas which separate us— 
 our avenging climate — all plainly tell us they are not our breth- 
 ren ; that tbey never will become so ; and, if they find an asy- 
 lum among us, they will still be the instigators of troubles and 
 
PROCLAMATION OP DESSALINES. 179 
 
 divisions. Citizens, ri)en, women, young and old, cast round your 
 eyes on every part ofthis island; seek there your wives, your hus- 
 bands, yourbrothers, your sisters— what did I say? seek your chil- 
 dren — your children at the breast, what is become of them? 
 Instead of those interesting victims, the affrighted eye sees only 
 their assassins — tigers still covered with their blood, and whose 
 frightful presence upbraids you with your insensibility, and 
 your slowness to avenge them. Why do you delay to appease 
 their manes ? Do you hope that your remains can rest in peace 
 by the side of your fathers, unless you shall have made tyranny 
 to disappear.'' Will you descend into their tombs, without hav- 
 ing avenged them ? Their bones would repulse yours. And 
 ye, invaluable men, intrepid generals, who, insensible to private 
 sufferings, have given new life to liberty, by lavishing your 
 blood; know, that you have done nothing unless you give to 
 the nations a terrible, though just example, of the vengeance 
 tbal ought lo be exercised b\ a brave people who have recover- 
 ed thtir liberty and are determined to maintain it. Let us 
 intimidate those who would dare to attempt depriving us of it 
 again : let us begin with the French ; let them shudder at ap- 
 proaching our shores, if not on account of the cruellies they 
 have committed, at least at the tenible resolution we are about 
 to make — Vo devote to death whatever native of France dares 
 to soil with his sacrilegious footstep this land of liberty. 
 
 " Slaves — leave to the French nation this odious epithet ; they 
 have conquered to be no longer free — let us walk in other foot- 
 steps ; let us imitate other nations, who carrying their solicitude 
 into futurity, and dreading to leave posterity an example of 
 cowardice, have preferred to be exterminated, rather than to 
 be erased from the list of free nations. Let us, at the same 
 time, take care, lest a spirit of proselytism should destroy the 
 work ; — let our neighbours live in peace. Pt ace with our 
 neighbours, but accursed be the French name — eternal hatred 
 to France : such are our principles. — Swear then to live free 
 and independent, and to prefer death to every thing that would 
 lead to replace you under the yoke ; swear to pursue for ever 
 the traitors, and enemies of your independence." 
 
180 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 In the month of February, the governor-general issued ano- 
 ther proclamation, less intemperate, and which nothing but his 
 breach of the pronlised auinesiy rendered objectionable. It en- 
 joined judicial proceedings against the actors and accomplices 
 in the inhuman massacres coi)lly perpetrated under the govern- 
 ment of Le Clerc and Rochambeau ; in which he asserted that 
 more than sixty thousand of his brethren had been drowned, 
 suffocated, hanged, shot, and otherwise put to death. " This 
 measure," he says, ''is adopted in order to inform the nations 
 of the world, that although we grant an asylum and protection 
 to those who act with candour and friendship towards us, 
 nothing shall evei avert our vengeance from those murderers who 
 have delighted to bathe themselves in the blood of the innocent 
 children of Ha}ti." 
 
 So strongly were the people, and the army in general, dis- 
 posed to moderation and clemency, that all his instigations, 
 sufficient as they seem, in connection with the remembrance 
 of recent outrages, to have excited a popular massacre in 
 any country upon earth, wholly failed ol pioducing that effect. 
 Having for some lime laboured in vain to make the people at 
 laige the instruments of his sanguinary purpose, he at length 
 determined to accomplish it by a military execution. The va- 
 rious towns where any French inhabitants remained, were suc- 
 cessively visited by him, and those unhappy people, with certain 
 exceptions, were put to the sword, under his personal orders 
 and inspection, by the troops whom he appointed to this hor- 
 rible service. 
 
 The work of blood was perpetrated most systematically, in 
 exact obedience to the cruel mandate of the chief. Precau- 
 tions were adopted to prevent any other foreigners from being 
 involved in the fate of the Freucb. In Cape Francois, where 
 the tragfdy took place on the night of the 20lb of April j 
 lest, from mistake or some other cause, any of the American 
 merchants should be molested, a strong guard was sent in the 
 evening to each of their houses, with oiders not to suffer any in- 
 dividual to enter, not even one of the black generals, without 
 the consent of the master ; who was apprized of these orders 
 
CRUELTY OF DESSALINES. 181 
 
 that he might be under no apprehensions for his own safety. 
 These orders were so punctually obeyed, that one of those pri- 
 vileged individuals, who had given shelter to some Frenchmen, 
 was able to protect them to the last. 
 
 The French priests, and surgeons, and others, who during the 
 war had manifested humanity to the negroes, were spared, to 
 the amount of about one tenth part of the whole number. The 
 massacre, in other respects, was indiscriminate. Neither age 
 nor sex was regarded. The personal security enjoyed by the 
 Americans, did not prevent them from feeling it a night of hor- 
 rors. At short intervals they heard the pick-axe thundering at 
 the door of some devoted neighbour, and soon forcing it. 
 Piercing shrieks aln)ost immediately ensued, and these were fol- 
 lowed by an expressive silence. The next minute the militarj' 
 party were heard proceeding to some other house, to renew 
 their work of death. 
 
 There was one act in this tragedy, which stamps the conduct 
 of Dessalines with thft c.haraciei of most flagitious perfidy, as 
 well as cruelty. A proclamation was published in the newspa- 
 per, slating, that the vengeance due to the crimes of the French 
 had been sufliciently executed, and inviting all who had escaped 
 the massacre to appear on the parade, and receive tickets of pro- 
 tection, after which, it was declared, they might depend on 
 perfect security. As the massacre had been expected, many 
 hundreds had contrived to secrete themselves ; most of whom 
 now came forth from their hiding places, and appeared on the 
 parade. But instead of receiving the promised tickets of pro- 
 tection, they were instantly led away to the place of execution 
 and shot. The rivulet which runs through the town of Cape 
 Francois was literally red with their blood. 
 
 The vindictive measures of the chief were far from being 
 generally applauded, even by his brethren in arms. The disap- 
 probation of Christophe was well known, though a regard to 
 his own safety restrained him from any open opposition. Tele- 
 maque, and another officer, expressed their horror at such 
 scenes; and were punished by being compelled to hang, with 
 their own hands, two Frenchmen then in the fort. The milita- 
 
 * 
 
182 HISTORY OP ST. DOMING©. 
 
 ry execution, with all its enormity, must be imputed to Dessa- 
 lines alone. In the following; address " to the inhabitants of 
 Hayti," with the publication of which he conclu'led the month 
 of April, he ostentatiously claimed the procedure as his own, 
 gloried in hisj superiority to the vulgar feelings which would have 
 opposed such severity, and evidently laboured to reconcile his 
 followers to his sanguinary conduct by insisting upon its justice 
 and necessity ; at the same time affecting to contrast his system 
 with that of the mild and humane Toussaint, charging him with 
 a want of firmness at least, if not of faithfulness, and warning his 
 own successors against following the same conciliatory plan. 
 
 " Crimes the most atrocious, such as were hitherto unheard 
 of, and would cause nature to shudder, have been perpetrated. 
 The measure of their cruelty overflowed. At length the hour 
 of vengeance has arrived, and the implacable enemies of the 
 rights of man have suffered the punishment due to their crimes. 
 
 " My arm, raised over their heads, has too long delayed to 
 strike. At that signal, which the justice of God has urged, 
 your hands, righteously armed, have brought the axe to bear 
 upon the ancient tree of slavery and prejudice. In vain had 
 time, and more especially the infernal politics of Europeans, 
 surrounded it with triple brass. You have stripped it of its 
 armour ; and have placed it upon your heart, that you may be- 
 come (like your natural enemies.) cruel and merciless. Like a 
 mighty and overflowing torrent, that bears down all opposition, 
 your vengeful fury has swept away every obstacle to its impe- 
 tuous course. Perish thus! all tyrants over innocence, all op- 
 pressors of mankind ! 
 
 *• What then ? Bent for many ages under an iron yoke, the 
 eport of the passions or injustice of men, and of the caprices of 
 fortune; mutilated victims of the cupidity of white Frenchmen; 
 after having fattened by our toils, these insatiate blood-suckers, 
 with a patience and resignation unexampled, we should again 
 have seen that sacrilegious horde attempt our destruction, with- 
 out any distinction of sex or age ; and we, whom they call men 
 without energy, of no virtue, of no delicate sensibility, should 
 not we have plunged in their breast the dagger of desperation ? 
 
PROCLAMATION OF DESSALINES. 18& 
 
 f 
 
 Where is that Haytian so vile, so unworthy of his regeneration, 
 who tliinks he has not fulfilled the decrees of the Eternal, by 
 exterminating these blood-thirsty tygers ? If there is one, let 
 him fly; indignant nature discards him from our bosom; let 
 him hide his infamy far hence ; the air we breathe is not suit- 
 ed to his gross organs ; it is the air of liberty, pure, august, and 
 triumphant. 
 
 " Yes, we have rendered to these real cannibals, war for war, 
 crime for crime, outrage for outrage. Yes, 1 have saved my 
 country ; 1 have avenged America. The avowal I make in the 
 face of earth and heaven, constitutes my pride and my glory. 
 Of what consequence to me is the opinion which contemporary 
 and future generations will pronounce upon my conduct? I have 
 performed my duty ; I enjoy my own approbation : forme that 
 is sufficient. 
 
 " But what am I saying ? The preservation of my unfortu- 
 nate brethren, and the testimony of my own conscience, are 
 not n)y only recompense : I have seen two classes of men, born 
 to cherish, assist, and succour one another— mixed in a world, 
 and blended together — crying for vengeance, and disputing the 
 honi)ur of the first blow. Blacks and Yellows, whom the refin- 
 ed duplicity of the Europeans long endeavoured to divide ; you 
 who are consolidated, and make but one family ; without doubt 
 it was necessary that your perfect reconciliation should be seal- 
 ed with the blood of your butchers. Similar calamities have 
 hung over your proscribed heads ; a similar ardour to strike your 
 enemies has signalized you : the like fate is reserved for you,, 
 and the like interests must therefore render you for ever one, 
 indivisible, and inseparable. Maitjtain that precious concord, 
 that happy union amongst yourselves ; it is the pledge of your 
 happiness, your salvation, and your success ; it is the secret of 
 being invincible. 
 
 " It is necessary, in order to strengthen these ties, to recal to 
 your remembrance the catalogue of atrocities committed against 
 our species ; the intended massacre of the entire population of 
 this island, meditated in the silence and sang-froid of the cabi- 
 net : The execution of that abominable project to roe was un- 
 
184 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 blu shingly proposed, when already begun by the French, with 
 the calmness and serenity of a countenance accustomed to simi- 
 lar crimes. Guadaloupe pillaged and destroyed ; its ruins still 
 reeking with the blood of the children, women, and old men, 
 put to the sword ; Pelage, (himself the victim of their crafti- 
 ness ) after having basely betrayed his country and his brethren; 
 the brave and immortal Delgresse, blown into the air with the 
 fort he defended, rather than accept their offered chains. Mag- 
 nanimous warrior ! that noble death, far from enfeebling our 
 courage, serves only to rouse within us the determination of 
 avenging or of following thee. Shall I again recal to your 
 memory the plots lately framed at Jeremie ? the terrible explo- 
 sion that was to be the result, notwithstanding the generous 
 pardon granted to these incorrigible beings at the expulsion of 
 the French army .'' the deplorable fate of our departed brethren 
 in Europe .'* and (dread harbinger of death) the frightful despo- 
 tism exercised at Martinique ^ Unfortunate people of Marti- 
 nique, could 1 but fly to your assistance, and break your fetters ! 
 Alas ! an insurmountable barrier separates us ; yet, perhaps a 
 spark from the same fire which enflames us, will alight on your 
 bosoms : perhaps, at the sound of this commotion, suddenly 
 awakened from your lethargy, with arms in your hands, you will 
 reclaim your sacred and indelible rights. 
 
 " After the terrible example I have just given, that sooner or 
 later Divine justice will unchain on earth some mighty minds, 
 above the weakness of the vulgar, for the destruction and ter- 
 tor of the wicked ; tremble ! tyrants, usurpers, scourges of the 
 new world ! Our daggers are sharpened, your punishment is 
 ready ! Sixty thousand men, equipped, inured to war, obedient 
 to my orders, burn to offer a new sacrifice to the manes of their 
 assassinated brethren. Let that nation come, who may be mad 
 or daring enough to attack me. Already, at its approach, the 
 irritated Genius of Hayti, arising from the bosom of the ocean, 
 appears ; his menacing aspect throws the waves into commo- 
 tion, excites tempests, and with his mighty hand disperses fleets, 
 or dashes tbem in pieces ; to his fonjiidable voice the laws of 
 nature pay obedience ; disease, plague, famine, conflagration. 
 
PROCLAMATION OP DESSALINES. 185 
 
 poison, are his constant attendants. But why calculate on the 
 assistance of the climate and of the elements ? Have I forgotten 
 that I command a people of no common cast, brought up in 
 adversity, whose haughty daring frowns at obstacles, and increas- 
 es by dangers? Let them come, these homicidal cohorts! I 
 wait for them with firmness, and with a steady eye. I abandon 
 to them freely the shore, and the places v^'here cities have ex- 
 isted, but woe to those who may approach too near the moun- 
 tains! It were better for them to be received by the sea into 
 its profound abyss, than to be devoured by the anger of the chil- 
 dren of Hayti. 
 
 " War, even to death, to tyrants !" this is my motto ; " Lib- 
 erty! Indep»nd*^nce !" this is our rallying cry. 
 
 " Generals, officers, soldiers, somewhat unlike him who has 
 preceded me, the Kx-general Toussaint L'Ouverture, I have 
 been faithful to the promise I made to you, when I took up arms 
 against tyranny, and whilst a spark of life remains in me 1 will 
 keep my oath. ' N^ver again shall a colonist, or European, set 
 his foot upon this territory with the title of master, or proprie- 
 tor.' This resolution shall henceforward form the fundamental 
 basis of our constitution. 
 
 " Should other chiefs, after me, by pursuing a conduct dia- 
 metiically opposite to mine, dig their own graves, and those of 
 their own species, you will have to accuse only the law of destiny, 
 which shall have taken me away from the happiness and welfare 
 of my fellow citizens. May my successors follow the path I 
 shall have traced for them ! It is the system best adapted for 
 consolidating their power; it is the highest homage they can 
 render to my memory. 
 
 " As it is derogatory to my character, and my dignity, to pun- 
 ish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty, a handful of whites, 
 commendable by the religion they have always professed, and 
 who have besides taken the oath to live with us in the woods, 
 have experienced my clemency. I order that the sword respect 
 them, and that they may be unmolested. 
 
 " I recommend anew, and order all the generals of depart- 
 ments, ^c. to grant succours, encouragement and protection, to 
 
 25 
 
186 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 all neutral and friendly nations, who may wish to establish com- 
 mercial relations in this island." 
 
 The most important charge exhil)ited in this document, 
 against the Frt-nch iniiabitants remaining in the island after the 
 expulsion of the invading army, is the allusion to plots in which, 
 notwithstanding the mercy lecently shewn them, they are de- 
 clared to have been engaged. Of the reality of such plots, the 
 proclamation maybe deemed very questionable evidence; but 
 that they were at kast credibly imputed, and generally believed 
 by the people, may be reasonably presumed from this appeal to 
 the knowledge of the public. Nor is there any thing incredible 
 in the fact itseif, to those who remember the situation of affairs, 
 and the character of the supposed conspirators. The French 
 fi igatcs and troops which had taken shelter in Cuba, were cut- 
 ting (jff supplies from without, and apparently menacing the ne- 
 groes with a new invasion from a coast within sight of their own. 
 And after their behaviour to the generous Toussaint, by whom 
 they had been brought back from exile, protected, and restored 
 to their estates, there is no favourable presumption due to the 
 planters of this island, against a charge of perfidy and ingrati- 
 tude. 
 
 All this, however, if strictly true, and that to the most con- 
 siderable extent, could neither justify nor extenuate an extra- 
 judicial military execution, and especially the slaughter of un- 
 offending children. 
 
 To an American with whom Dessalines repeatedly conversed 
 on the subject of the massacre, after its perpetration, he chiefly 
 Ui^ed to urge the necessity of satisfying his troops by the death 
 of those who had murdered their fathers, children, and friends ; 
 for that the French in general were chargeable with the guilt 
 of those enormities: that as an encouragement to his troops in 
 the siege of Cape Francois, be had promised them the plunder 
 of the town, and the destruction of the monsters within it ; and 
 that they had become discontented in consequence of his not 
 having sooner fulfilled that engagement. It seems not to have 
 entered into his thoughts that any degree of validity which this 
 
ADDRESS TO THE SPANIARDS. 187 
 
 defence might otherwise possess, must have been wholly de- 
 stroyed by his subsequent promises to the inhabitants at the time 
 of the capitulation : but there is little room to wonder at a 
 breach of compact in this ferocious and illiterate negro, after the 
 examples given to him by Le Clerc, Rochambeau, and the 
 government of France. He appeared to value himself on re- 
 taliating upon the French their own maxims and conduct, in 
 entire contrast to wliat he deemed a blameable weaknes? in his 
 predecessor, Toussaint. 
 
 A small detachment of French troops still retained possession 
 of the city of St. Domingo : and the Spanish inliahitants of the 
 eastern part of the island, who, on the evacuation of Cape Fran- 
 qns, had acknowledged the new government, had since, under 
 the influence of their priests, withdrawn their promised obe- 
 dience, and espoused the cause of the French. The first objects 
 which engaged the attention of Dessalines, after the massacre 
 in the month of April, were the subjugation of the Spaniards, 
 and the expulsion of the French from the last of their strong 
 holds. He determined also on proceeding all round the coast, 
 to examine every station, and enforce, where it should be neces- 
 sary, all the regulations he had established. 
 
 A few days before the commencement of his journey, he issu- 
 ed a proclamation, addressed "to the inhabitants of the Spanish 
 part of the island," upbraiding them with their treachery, and 
 calling upon them to return to their violated allegiance; announ- 
 cing his approach at the head of his victorious legions ; invit- 
 ing their submission by assurances of his protection and favour, 
 and threatening to punish their hostility with the most tremen- 
 dous vengeance. " A few moments more, and [ shall crush the 
 remnant of the French under the weight of my mighty power. 
 Spaniards ! you to whom 1 address myself solely because I wi'^Ii 
 to save you ; you who for having been guilty of evasion shall 
 soon preserve your existence only so far as my clemency may 
 deign to spare you ; — it is yet time ; abjure an error which may 
 be fatal to you. and break off all connexion with my enemy, if 
 you wish that your blood may not be confounded with his, I 
 give you fifteen days, from the dale of this notification, to for- 
 
188 HISTORt OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 ward your last intentions, and to rally under my banners. You 
 know what I can do, and what I have done : think of your pre- 
 servation. Receive the sacred promise which 1 make, to do 
 nothing against your personal safety or interest, if you seize 
 upon this occasion to shew yourselves worthy of being admitted 
 among the children of Hayti." 
 
 On the 14th of May, Dessalines set out from Cape Francois, 
 by the way of the Mole, Port Paix, and Gonaives, employing 
 himself at the different places in repairing the injuries of war, 
 and settling every thing that required his interference and au- 
 thority. After going through the western and southern provin- 
 ces, he proceeded on his march to the Spanish part of the 
 island, with a confidence of success which no circumstances 
 warranted his entertaining. His recent cruelty, notwithstanding 
 the attempt in his proclamation to prevent its being turned to 
 his prejudice with these Spaniards, could not but have inspired 
 them with horror ; and they were not, like Europeans, inferior 
 from the influence of the climate. They were cljirflv descen- 
 dants of negroes, or a mixture of the African race, and their 
 numbers, according to the best accounts, at the time of Tous- 
 saint's conquest of their country, were above a hundred thousand 
 free persons, and about fifteen thousand slaves. The species of 
 slavery there was so mild that the subjects of it were generally 
 and strongly attached to their masters ; and both masters and 
 slaves inherited a national prejudice against all the inhabitants of 
 the other part of the island. 
 
 Dessalines laid siege to the city, of St. Domingo, which ap- 
 pears to have made a more vigorous resistance than he antici- 
 pated. He would probably have persevered in the attempt, but 
 the arrival of a French squadron with a reinforcement of troops, 
 leaving him little hope of a speedy conquest, he raised the 
 siege, and marched back again without having accomplished 
 either of the objects of his expedition. 
 
CHAP. XI. 
 
 FROM MIDSUMMER 1804, TO THE DEATH OF DESSALINBS IN 
 OCTOBER, 1305. 
 
 Dessalines takes the title of emperor. — His coronation. — "Neic constitu- 
 tion framed. — Outline of it. — Remarks. — State of the cultivators. — 
 Productions. — Population and military force. — Plan of defence. — 
 Religion. — Education. — Character and anecdotes of Dessalines. — 
 His tyranny and death. 
 
 The return of Dessalines, from his expedition to the Spanish 
 part of the island, was soon followed by his exchange of the title 
 of governor for that of emperor; and on the 8th of October 
 he was crowned with great pomp, according to a schedule of 
 cere:nonies previously fixed by those who were denominated 
 the constituted authorities of the country.* The imperial dig- 
 nity, and its investment in the person of Dessalines, were further 
 recognized and confirmed by a new constitution for the island, 
 which was promulgated on the 8th of May, in the following 
 year. 
 
 This constitution purported to have been framed by twenty- 
 three men, whose names were prefixed, and who professed to 
 have been legally appointed the representatives of the people. 
 " In the presence of the Supreme being, before whom all man- 
 kind are equal, and who has distributed so many species of 
 creatures on the surface of the earth, for the purpose of mani- 
 festing his glory and his power by the diversity of his work ;" and 
 in the presence of all nations by whom they had been so unjust- 
 ly and so long considered as outcast children ; they declared the 
 Gonslitution to be the free expression of their hearts, and the 
 general will of their constituents. 
 
 " For tke particulars of this Ceremouial, see Appendix III, 
 
190 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 The preliminary declaration decreed the erection of the em- 
 pire of Hayti into a free, sovereign, and independent state ; the 
 'abolition of slavery for ever; the equality of ranks; the equal 
 operation of laws; the inviolability of property; the loss of 
 citizenship by emigration, and the suspension of it by bank- 
 ruptcy ; the exclusion of all white men, of whatever nation, 
 from acquiring property of any kind, excepting only such whites 
 as had been naturalized, and their children, together with the 
 Germans and Polanders, who had been naturalized ; and the 
 adoption of the generic name of Blacks for all the subjects of 
 Hayti, of whatever colour. It was further declared, that no 
 one was worthy of being a Haytian, who was not a good father, 
 a good son, a good husband, and especially a good soldier; 
 parents were not allowed to disinherit their children ; and every 
 citizen was required to profess some mechanic art. 
 
 The empire of Hayli, one and indivisible, was divided into 
 six military divl-iions, with a general over each, who was to be 
 independent of the others, and to correspond directly with the 
 head of the government. The government was vested in a first 
 magistrate, to be called Emperor and Commander-in-chief 
 of the Army: and Jean Jacq,ues Dessalines, "the avenger 
 and deliverer of his fellow-citizens," was appointed to this office. 
 " The title of Majesty" was conferred upon him, as well as up- 
 on '' his august spouse, the Empress.*' Their persons were de- 
 clared inviolable, and the crown elective ; but the emperor was 
 empowered to nominate his successor, for whom a suitable pro- 
 vision was to be made. An annual income was to be assigned 
 to the empress for life ; and " to the children acknowledged by 
 his majesty :" and his sons were to pass successively from rank 
 to rankin the army. Any emperor aitachingto himself any privi- 
 leged body under the name of guards of honour, or any other 
 name, was to be deemed, ipso facto, at war with the community, 
 and to be removed from the throne, which was to be filled by one 
 chosen by the counsellors of state from among themselves. 
 The emperor was to make, seal, and promulgate the laws ; to 
 appoint and remove at his pleasure, all public functionaries; 
 to direct the receipt and expenditure of the state, together with 
 
JSEW CONSTITUTION. 191 
 
 the coinage; to make peace or war; to form treaties; to dis- 
 tribute, at pleasure, the armed force ; and to have the sole pow- 
 er of absolving criminals, or comuiuting their punishtnent. 
 
 The generals of division and brigade were to conipose the 
 council of state. There was to be a minister of finance, hav- 
 ing charge of the interior department; a minister of war, hav- 
 ing the marine department; and a secretary of state. 
 
 All "persons might decide their differences amicably, by arbi- 
 tration. Each commune was to have a justice of peace, with a 
 jurisdiction extending to suits of not more than one hundred 
 dollars, and with a right to appeal of a district tribunal. Mili- 
 tary crimes were subjected to special councils. 
 
 JNo predominant religion was admitted. Freedom of worship 
 was tolerated. The state was not to provide for the mainte- 
 nance of any religious institution. 
 
 State crimes were to be judged by a council appointed by 
 the emperor. All houses of citizens were declared inviolable. 
 All property belonging to any white Frenchman was claimed 
 as the property of the state. Marriage was declared to be an 
 act purely civil, and divorce was allo».ved in certain cases. 
 
 This constitution was placed under the safe-guard of magis- 
 trates, fathers and mothers, citizens and soldiers ; and recom- 
 mended to their descendants, "and to the friends of liberty, 
 to philanthropists of all countries, as a signal pledge of the 
 goodness of God, who in the course of his immortal decrees, 
 bad given them an opportunity of breaking their fetters- and of 
 constituting themselves a people free, civilfzed, and indepen- 
 dent." It was accepted by the emperor, and ordered to be im- 
 mediately put in force. 
 
 Whatever wisdom or folly may be thought to characterize 
 this constitution, it certainly was no contemptible effort of 
 legislation for the persons by whom it was framed, and was 
 not ill adapted to the exigencies of the people for whom it was 
 designed. If the moral and amiable qualities of the sovereign 
 had been equal to his military talent and courage, the adminis- 
 tatlon of this constitution would probably have been attended 
 with much individual happiness and national prosperity. Nor 
 
192 HISTORTf OP ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 can it be denied that a considerable degree of general happi- 
 ness was actually enjoyed. 
 
 The condition and treatment of the cultivators were the same 
 as under the system of Toussaint. They worked for wages, 
 which were fixed at one-fourth of the produce. Provisions of 
 all kinds were abundant. There were no whips, not even for 
 punishment. Idleness was treated as a crime, but was only 
 punished by confinement. They worked in general very regu- 
 larly and contentedly, about two-tliirds as much as in tlie days 
 of slavery. It was expected that they should work on the es- 
 tates to which they had been formerly attached; but if they had 
 any plausible reason for changing, the commissary, or com- 
 manding officer of the district, gave them leave. Most of the 
 estates were in the hands of the government, as confiscated, but 
 were let at an annual rent. The rent was generally fixed ac- 
 cording to the number of cultivators, without respect to the 
 quantity of land. Mulattoesand mustees, who could trace any 
 relationship, though illegitimate, to the old white proprietors, 
 were admitted as heirs to their estates. The mustees, or chil- 
 dren of whites and inulattoes, were very numerous. 
 
 The sugar plantations having been mostly destroyed, and the 
 necessary works and buildings for its manufacture not having 
 been rebuilt, very little sugar was made. The chief produce 
 was cofiVe : the crop of 1805 exceeded thirty millions of pnunds, 
 which would load about fifty ordinary ships. There was also in 
 the island a considerable quantity of mahogany and other valu- 
 able timber. 
 
 In a census, taken in 1805, of the inhabitants of the part of 
 the island under the government of Dessalines, the returns were 
 about 380,000 ; to which, perhaps, not less than 20,000 should 
 be added for those who, from dispersion or other causes, were 
 not included in the returns : so that the whole population at that 
 time might be considered at about 400,000 : of these the adult 
 males constituted too small a pr(»portion. The slaughter had 
 fallen chiefly upon them. The majority of cultivators were 
 women. Marriage, solemnized according to the rites of the 
 Roman church, was almost universal, and its duties were in gen- 
 eral well observed. The emperor, however, was licentious-. 
 
DEFENCE. PHBLIC WORSHIP. 193 
 
 The regular army consisted of 15,000 men, of whom 1500 
 were cavalry. They were well disciplined and armed, but bad- 
 ly clothed. The uniform was blue, turned up '.vith red. In 
 addition to this force, almost all the adult males fit for service 
 were trained as a militia ; there being, for that purpose, four regu- 
 lar times of exercise in a year, during which they were embodied 
 for several days. 
 
 Since the expulsion of the French, Dessalines had been very 
 anxious to prevent any diminution of their numbers by further 
 emigration. The severest penalties were denounced against 
 those who should take any citizen of Hayti from the island ; 
 and he acquiesced in the conduct of the British cruizers, which 
 would not suffer vessels belonging to the island to go beyond 
 certain limits from the shore, because he found it greatly condu- 
 cive to what he deemed a most important object. 
 
 The negroes were not without apprehensions that the French 
 would seize the first interval of peace with Britain, or other 
 favourable opportunity, to make another effort for their subju- 
 gation. The plan for defending their liberty and lives in the 
 event of another invasion, bad been deliberately settled by Des- 
 salines and the other chiefs, and the requisite preparations were 
 made for carrying it into execution. 
 
 On the first appearance of an invading force, the towns which 
 were all on the coast, were to be destroyed, and the negro army 
 to retreat to forts built in very strong positions in the interior of 
 the country. The positions they had chosen were well selected, 
 and strongly fortified. The artillery of the Cape, which con- 
 sisted, chiefly of brass cannon, and was in great abundance, had 
 been removed to these hill forts, where great magazines of am- 
 munition were also collected. The sides of the hills, and 
 ravines connecting them, were all cleared, and planted 
 with bananas, plaintains, yams, and other native provisions, 
 which flourished so much, and were so quickly re-produc- 
 ed, that they calculated on the garrison's being subsisted 
 W'ithout foraging beyond the reach of their guns. Many of the 
 hills were of a conical form, with an agreeable ascent, on the 
 
 26 
 
194 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 summit of which the forts were constructed, so as to sweep the 
 sides to the utmost range of caimi)n shot, and, as they beHeved, 
 to make il iinj)ossible for an enemy to cut otT their communica- 
 tion with tliese native magazines. These positions were also 
 well supplied with water, the want of which had obliged Dessa- 
 lines, in Toussaint's war, to abandon the strong position of 
 Crete-a Pierrott. 
 
 There was a sufficient number of priests, not only from the 
 French clergy who remained and were spared in the massacre, 
 but from a considerable supply of Spanisli ecclesiastics who had 
 been brought, or induced to migrate, from the other division 
 of the island, to render the celebration of public worship very 
 general. On all public day*'* as well as Sundays, prayers or 
 mass, began and ended the solemnities of the day. Whether 
 from policy or any better motive, Dessalines protected the 
 clergy, and paid a decorous attention to the exterior forms of 
 the church. All children were brought to the font ; and such 
 religion as popery amounts to, was an object of public and gene- 
 ral interest. 
 
 Considerable attention was paid to the subject of education. 
 Schools were established in ahnost every district. Seeing the 
 ascendency of those who had been educated, the negroes were 
 exceedingly anxious for the instruction of their children ; and 
 the young Haytians were very generally taught to read and 
 write. 
 
 Dessalines, at the time of the insurrection in 1791, was slave 
 to a negro, whose name was Dessalines, and Jean Jacques took 
 that surname from him. This man was living in Cape Francjois, 
 to witness his former slave become his sovereign. He was a 
 shingler, or what in this country would be called a tiler ; and the 
 future emperor had worked with him at that trade. He used 
 to say, that the emperor had always been ''a stubborn dog, but 
 a good workman." Dessalines retained a great affection for 
 his raajSter, and appointed him to the office of his chief butler. 
 When asked whether he could find no more honourable station 
 for hitn .'^ he answered, none that the old man would have liked 
 half so well. He was highly gratified with the appointment, and 
 
CHARACTER OP DESSALINES. 195 
 
 made amends for the abstemiousness of the emperor who, 
 though he kept a good cellar, drank nothing but water. 
 
 Des^alines couhl not read, but had learned to sign his name. 
 He employed a reader, and used to sit in a most attentive atti- 
 tude to hear the papers that were read to him. Among those, 
 some of Mr. Wijbeiforce's speeches on the slave trade, were 
 translated and printed by his order in the Gazette of Cape Fran- 
 cois. 
 
 This sovereign of Hayti was short in stature, hut strongly 
 made ; of great activity and undaunted courage. His military 
 talents were thought superior to those of Toussaint; but in gene- 
 ral capacity he was very inferior to that ill-fated chief, and could 
 not be considfred as rising above mediocrity. ,He commanded 
 great respect, but it was chiefly by the ternjr he inspired. Yet 
 sometimes he was open and affable, and could even be gene- 
 rous. He was distinguished by some strange caprices, evident- 
 ly the effect of personal, vanity. He was fond of embroidery 
 and other ornaments, and dressed often with much magnifi- 
 cenre. at least according to his ovi^n taste : yet sometinjes he 
 would exhibit himself publicly in the meanest clothes he could 
 find. But what was still more singular and ridiculous, he had 
 a gieat ambition to be an accomplished dancer; and actually 
 carried about with him a dancing master in his suite, to give him 
 lessons at leisure hours. Nor was it possible to pay him a more 
 acceptable compliment, than to tell him that he danced well, 
 though, different from the negroes in general, he was very 
 awkward at that exercise 
 
 He had daughters by a former wife, but no son. His present 
 wife had been the favourite mistress of a rich planter, at whose 
 expense she had been well educated She was one of the most 
 handsome and accomplished negresses in the West Indies ; her 
 disposition was highly amiable, and she used her utmost endea- 
 vours to soften the natural ferocity of her husband, though un- 
 happily witti little success. 
 
 His cruelties were not confined to the whites. Suspicions 
 and jealousies constituted a sufficient inducement to him to de- 
 prive of life many of his own subjects and officers, without even 
 
196 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 the formality of a trial: and every attempt thus to terminate 
 danger and suspicion, tending, in the natural order of things 
 only to increase them, his conduct was at length distinguished 
 by all the caprices and atrocities of tyranny. These crimes 
 inevitably suggested projects for their counteraction. He was 
 conspired against by his army, and arrested ojost unexpectedly 
 at the head quarters, on the 17th of October, 1806, when, in 
 struggling to escape, he received a blow which terminated his 
 tyranny and his life. 
 
CHAP. XII. 
 
 FROai OCTOBER, 1806, TO THE ACT OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE 
 ESTABLISHING ROYALTY, AND CONFERRING ON CHRISTOPHE 
 THE TITLE OP KING, IN 181 I. 
 
 Christophe assumes the government at Cape Francois. — Character 
 and anecdotes of him. — Proclamation on his accession. — Petion as- 
 sumes the government at Port-au-Prince. — Some account of him. 
 
 Fierce contest between these two rivals. — Battle. — Petion defeated. 
 — Christophe besieges Port-au-Prince^ but soon retires. — Calls a 
 council at Cape Frangois. — New constitution formed. — Outline of if. 
 The title of president given to Christophe. — His proclamation on 
 the publication of the new constitution — He frustrates a conspiracy 
 for the disturbance of Jamaica. — Sanguinary war between Chris- 
 tophe and Petion. — The surrender of the Mole of St. Nicholas to 
 Christophe, followed by a cessation of hostilities. — Friendly com- 
 munications between the Spanish part of the island and the part 
 under the government of Christophe — The French expelled from the 
 city of St. Domingo. — The title of king given to Christophe by an 
 act of the Council of State. 
 
 The removal of Dessallnes gave general satisfaction to the 
 people ; who had become completely weary of his tyranny : 
 and it was indeed a very auspicious event for the liberties and 
 happiness of the negro state. Christophe, whose name has 
 been mentioned in several preceding chapters of this history, 
 and who since the expulsion of the French, had been second 
 in command, immediately assumed the supreme power. 
 
 Henry Christophe is said to have been born in the island of 
 Grenada, and to have been a slave in St. Domingo at the revo- 
 lution in 1791. He had been an early friend and faithful adhe- 
 rent of Toussaint, to whom he displayed considerable similarity 
 of character. He was known to be a man of j^reat bravery and 
 military skill, and his disposition was generally considered as very 
 
198 HISTORtr OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 bumane and benevolent ; though many have since represented 
 it as severe and sanguinary. He had the character of being a 
 good husband, and a good father, and observant of the duties of 
 morality and the offices of religion. He was eminent for hospi- 
 tality, kept good wine, and partook of it freely, though not to 
 excess. As commander-in-chief at Cape Fian^ois, he often 
 gave public dinners, and his entertainments were handsome, nojt 
 to say magnificent. Officers of the British navy, as well as 
 foreign merchants, were frequently among his guests. He had 
 a propriety and even dignity of manner seldom attained by an 
 uneducated man. He evinced considerable strength of natural 
 talent ; used to speak in the assembly of the islands in a very able 
 and forcible manner ; and understood the English language 
 enough to converse in it with ease. 
 
 Christophe had once an opportunity of shewing his good 
 sense and moderation of temper, at the expense of the captain 
 of a British man-of-war. This officer had the command of a 
 ship on the Jamaica station, and was frequently on shore at 
 Cape Francois, where his countrymen had always been treated 
 with the greatest respect. He went one night to the 'theatre, 
 which continued open till the time of the massacre ; and took 
 with him a large party of marines. When the seamen, at a late 
 hour, were returning to their boats, the black sentinel on the 
 wharf stopped one of them who carried a large bag or sack ; it 
 being contrary to the regulations that any goods should be con- 
 veyed from the shore at night. The boatmen would not give 
 way to the sentinel, who gave the alarm ; and the news of the 
 dispute being carried to the theatre, the captain marched his 
 marines to the wharf, and, instead of paying respect to the laws, 
 was very outrageous with the black soldiery. Christophe, be- 
 ing then sent for, hastened to the place to prevent mischief. On 
 his arrival, he gently and respectfully expostulated with the cap- 
 tain, on the impropriety of breaking through the necessary regu- 
 lations of the harbour. "You, and your officers, and people," 
 said he, " may go on board at any hour you please, though e^en 
 this is contrary to rule ; but the sentinel did right, and must be 
 supported, in preventing the embarkation of any goods at this 
 
POLICY OF CHRISTOPHB. 199 
 
 hour." In return, the captain loaded the black chief with abu- 
 sive epitbetSj and used other language of the most offensive kind. 
 A word or a sign from Christopbe would have been certain 
 destruction to the whole party ; but he preserved the most per- 
 fect self-command, and reproved the vulgar insolence of the 
 captain with a dignified moderation ; saying, "You are a dis- 
 grace to the English navy ; but I shall not judge of your coun- 
 trymen in general from you. I consider, and shall treat you, as 
 a boy. Go off in safety ; but learn to behave yourself better in 
 time to come." This captain refrained from landing any more, 
 and his brother officers, in general, kept aloof from the island. 
 But their successors, of the next squadron which arrived on that 
 station, were on very good terms with the Haytians, often enter- 
 ed the harbour of Cape Fran(jois, and were hospitably and hand- 
 somely entertained by Christopbe and the other black chiefs. 
 
 The regulations adopted by Christopbe on his accession to 
 the sovereignty, displayed great good sense, and a mind much 
 enlightened on subjects of general policy. Discarditig the 
 pompous titlfi of emperor, he contented himself with the mo- 
 dest designation of Chief of the Government of Hayti ; and im- 
 mediately made various beneficial arrangements on the subject of 
 foreign commerce, as well as with respect to the internal affairs of 
 the island. The following passages of a proclamation, addressed 
 by him to neutral nations, and dated October the 24th, 1806, ex- 
 hibited a pleasing and correct account of the flourishing state of 
 cultivation, and pointed out the line of conduct which he pro- 
 posed to pursue. 
 
 " Our whole attention is now turned to the cultivation of 
 valuable produce. Our industry has procured us a most abun- 
 dant recompense for our exertions. The riches of our soil offer 
 a pleasing prospect to your speculations. Our warehouses, filled 
 with all the productions of the A.ntilles, only wait the arrival of 
 your fleets, to make an exchange of the manufactures which we 
 need, for those which you require. If a system unfavourable to 
 the progress of commerce has hitherto interposed to prevent 
 its success among us, that disastrous influence will shortly cease. 
 So far is our government, in its present slate, from opposing 
 
200 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 tjbe freedom of commerce in our ports, that it offers facilities to 
 you, which cannot be granted by any other jEjovernment. It is 
 of no consequence' under what colours you may appear ; the 
 protection of your property, the security of your persons, and a 
 rigid maintenance of the laws in every thing that relates to you, 
 are guaranteed to you on the faith of government. Duties ar- 
 ranged in proportion to the difficulties that you may experience 
 in gaining our ports, and equitably collected ; great dispatch in 
 expediting your vessels; with men of integrity in the direction 
 of the public offices : such are the changes on which you may 
 have a perfect reliance. The government has already directed 
 the suppression of exclusive consignments ; of the tax on the 
 price of articles ; of the privileges granted for the sale of coffee; 
 as well as the objection to take cargoes of sugar, &c. Every 
 one will be at liberty to sell and to buy on the conditions that he 
 shall judge most for his advantage. Those regulations, pro- 
 duced by ignorance, will no longer offer impediments to your 
 speculation : your confidence will no longer be forced in favour 
 of individuals, who were equally strangers to you and the wel- 
 fare of their country.* Your friends, your own particular fac- 
 tors, shall have the possession of your property ; and the govern- 
 ment engages to grant them all the protection which they can 
 desire. The sanguinary horrors which have too notoriously 
 marked the commencement of a cruel reign, will no more renew 
 the sad spectacle of scenes that are past. Come with perfect 
 confidence to traffic in our ports : come and change the fruits 
 of your industry for our riches ; and be persuaded, that you will 
 never have cause to repent of a reliance on us. 
 
 " At the same time, while the government is exerting all its 
 efforts to procure you the advantages of a brilliant commerce, 
 it requires of your agents the same loyalty and good faith which 
 it will exercise towards you. It also expresses its hope that the 
 base conduct of the privateers of Louisiana will not be imita- 
 ted ; and that it will have no cause to regret that its too great 
 confidence has been abused. 
 
 * Dessalines had appointed Patent Commissioners, who alone had the right of 
 selling the cargoes that were imported. 
 
PETION OPPOSES CHRISTOPHE. 201 
 
 '•' The ports are — The Cape, Fort Dauphin, Port Paix, Co- 
 naives, St. Marc, Port-au-Prince, Aux Cayes, Jereniie, and Jac- 
 mel ; where you may send your«cargoes with the certainty of 
 an advantageous return. 
 
 " The well known exactness with which the government of 
 Hayti fulfils its engagements, is a solemn pledge for the execu- 
 tion of the treaties it may enter into with you. Notwithstanding the 
 misfortunes which preceded our independence, and the disastrous 
 wars which it necessarily produced, the means of government 
 have never failed of keeping pace with its wants. Such is the 
 extent of our resources, that even the vices of the preceding 
 administration did not prevent the liquidation of all its contracts. 
 Judge then, what will now be our prospect as well as yours, 
 when a wise ecpnomy shall take the place of prodigality, and an 
 equitable collection of the revenues will determine the rights of 
 government as well as those of individuals." 
 
 The tranquillity of the country was soon disturbed by the ap- 
 pearance of another candidate for sovereign power, in the per- 
 son of Petion. Petion was a mulatto general, who, on the de- 
 cease of Clerveaux, had succeeded to the rank of third in com- 
 mand ; and, at the death of Dessalines was commander-in-chief 
 at Port-au-Prince, in the immediate vicinity of which that event 
 took place. He was educated at the military academy of Paris, 
 and known to be a man of letters, of mild disposition, and en- 
 gaging manners. He was the principal engineer anjong the 
 blacks, and was thought very expert in most branches of the 
 military art. 
 
 Each chief, in support of bis claim, had recourse to arms; 
 various encounters took place ; and the struggle between them 
 soon became very fierce. On the first of January, 1807, a bat- 
 tle was fought between the two armies ; when Petion was defeat- 
 ed, and obliged to save himself by flight, and Christophe pur- 
 sued him to the gates of Port-au-Prince. In hope of com- 
 pleting the triumph over his rival, Christophe laid siege to that 
 city ; but the necessity of his presence in order to the establish- 
 ment of his authority in other parts, generally favourable to 
 
 bitii, but not without partial disaffection to his cause; together with 
 
 27 
 
202 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 an apprehension that the conquest of the city, if practicable, 
 would require a hms: timf and great sacrifices ; induced him to 
 raise the si* ge, and retire towtrds Cape Franc^ois. 
 
 He found no difficulty in ebtablishing his sway over the north- 
 ern districts of the island ; the success of his first can)paign 
 placed his power on too firm a foundation to be shaken by any 
 subsequent atten»pts of his rival in the south. \i\ his several 
 addresses to the army and people, he nianifesled a spirit, which, 
 though modestly flushed with victory, was chastened by the 
 warmest pnnci[)les of rectitude and philanthropy ; by a d» sire to 
 heal the wounds of bis distracted country. ar)d t(t proniote its 
 agriculture, its commerce, its wealth, and its happiness. 
 
 A council was speedily convened at Cape Francois, compos- 
 ed of the generals and principal citizens ; who formed a new 
 constitution for the fuluie government, which was published on 
 the I7th of February, 1807. This constitution d.eclared, that 
 every person residing on the territory of Hayti was free, in the 
 fullest sense ; and tliai slavery was for ever abolished in Hayti. 
 The government was vested in a chief magistrate, who was to 
 lake the title and quality of president and generalissimo of the 
 forces both by sea and land. This office was for life ; biit the 
 president had a rii!;ht to choose his successor, from among his 
 generals only. The usual powers were conferred on the chief 
 magistrate in respect to foreign treaties, as well as peace and 
 war. The council of state consisted of nine members, of whom 
 two-thirds were to be generals. Tiiis council, was a delibeiative 
 body. The government, therefore, approached nearly to an 
 oligarchy) having however the strongest features of a nionarchi- 
 cal preponderance, though without the name of royalty ; the 
 appointment of members of the council being confided to the 
 president. W ise rules and arrangements were made for a speedy 
 administration of justice ; and, notwithstanding regular judges 
 were appointed, it was optional to every citizen to refer his 
 cause to arbitration ; a species 6f appeal which certainly leaves 
 every case open to the decision of hunjan wisdom and equity, 
 unfettered by the shackles of sweeping rejgulations. The Ro- 
 man catholic religion was declared to be that of the state j but 
 
PROCLAMATION OF CHRISTOPHE. 20o 
 
 the exercise of every other was to be tolerated. Schools were 
 to be established in lach district, and every Haytian, from six- 
 teen years of age to fifty, was liable to military service. It was 
 carefully announced as a fundamental part of the act of state, 
 thai the government would give no ^disturbance to the colonies of 
 other nations^ and that the Haytians would make no conquests 
 out of tlieir own island * 
 
 On the day on which this constitution was published, Chris- 
 toplie issued the following proclamation : — 
 
 " Henry Cbristophe, President and Generalissimo of the 
 Military and Naval Forces of the State of Hayti, to the army 
 and people, 
 
 " The light has broken in upon us, and a beneficent constitu- 
 tion has put an end to the plots and machinations, of which you 
 were on the point of becoming victims. A wise code, adap- 
 ted to our manners, our climate, and our customs, has sprung, 
 as it may be said, out of chaos, and fixed once more the desti- 
 nies of Hayti. 
 
 " r^ong had I in vain sought to present you with this precious 
 gift : in vain did 1 assemble the districts, and urge them to send 
 deputies to Porl-au Prince, to give you a constitution. My 
 anxiety, instead of being followed with the desired success, only 
 operateil as an additional incitement to the factious to pervert 
 the public opinion, and to establish a constitution favourable to 
 their interests, and those of their adherents, but as hostile to 
 the liberty of the people, as it was to the principles of sound 
 reason. 
 
 '' rellow-citizens, you have all been witnesses to the purity of 
 my views, and the sincerity of my intentions. You know how 
 this sincerity has been abused by the miscreants who fomented 
 revolt, and kindled civil war. 'I'heir efforts never intimidated 
 me for a single moment, or diverted me from my design of serv- 
 ing my country. By night or by day I have never ceased to occu- 
 py myself in providing for the public safety. What have 1 not 
 
 ^ See Appendix iV. 
 
204 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 done to effect it ? What have I not suffered in counteracting 
 the secret wiles and plots of the factious? 
 
 " I have always been in the midst of you ; and you can say 
 whether tny conduct has ever been influenced, or my honour 
 tarnished, by ambition. Invested with the supreme power, 
 this day, by thevvi.-h of my fellovv-cilizens and niy companions 
 in arms, I have yielded to their desires : and I have consented 
 to bear this weighty but honourable burden, because it was 
 their wish that it should be trusted to my hands, and because I 
 am willing again to serve my country. Happy shall I be, if my 
 efforts are crowned with success, and if they tend to the happi- 
 ness of my fellow-citizens ! 
 
 "But to attain this, my efforts alone will not be sufficient. 
 
 "The laws and constitution which have just been presented 
 to you must be observed. It provides for the religious preser- 
 vation of your rights : it secures to every citizen his personal 
 liberty, his right of property, and that of his family. 
 
 " The fatal consequences of the wars in which we have been 
 engaged, and still more the immoral example held out to us by 
 the French, had almost destroyed every principle of religion. 
 The nroral system was publicly laughed at; and a corrupted 
 youth abandoned itself, without remorse, to all the licentious- 
 ness of its age : public education was degraded, and confined 
 to mercenary instructors. 
 
 " It was necessary to restore to religion its dignity, — to cause 
 it to be respected and cheiished. It was necessary to revive 
 morality, to give it due distinction; to inculcate into the minol 
 of youth its sacred principles, and those of honour also ; in 
 short, to convince the people, that without religion and morali- 
 ty, human society could not exist. 
 
 " Your interests will be secured to you by proper tribunals : 
 the judgments pronounced by their ministers will be dictated by 
 equity and justice. It remains for the people of Hayli to make 
 themselves distinguished by their probity and good faith. Es- 
 spntially a trading country, as well from its situation as fr'om the 
 nature of the commodities it produces, it is necessary that it 
 should attract the mer-chants of every country on the globe, 
 both by its equity and its produce. 
 
PROCLAMATION OF CHKISTOPHE. , 205 
 
 "Trade being the source of all our wealth, it is important 
 tha^the foieign merchants who frequent our ports, should be 
 equally protected with our fellow-citizens ; and that they should 
 receive all the hospitality due to this useful class of society. 
 
 "To feed this trade, to give it a new spring, — agriculture 
 must be prosecuted with perseverance and vigour. Placed 
 under the finest climate of the world, favoured by nature with 
 her most precious gifts, even to profusion, the husbandman has 
 not at Hayti to contend with the rigours of a frozen clime, or 
 to fortify himself against the inclemencies of the seasons. A 
 little labour is sufficient to enrich him, and to place him on a 
 level with the manufacturers of other countries. Exert your- 
 selves, then, industrious cultivators, to fill your warehouses with 
 the produce of our fertile soil. Display to the eyes of the nier- 
 chants of Europe all that can tempt their desires, and you will 
 soon see *your trade flourish much above your most sanguine 
 expectations. 
 
 " After having re-established religion, defeated immorality, 
 restored manners, and encouraged agriculture and trade, we shall 
 have still great labours to encounter. We must not neglect the 
 use of arms. The enemy watches our movements, and observes 
 our proceedings. We have as yet no guarantee of the affections 
 of our friemls. We must bind the latter to us by treaties ; we 
 must be ready to meet the former in the field. Abandoned to 
 ourselves, our resources are in ourselves. They are in you, 
 soldiers, who are ready generously to spill your blood, sooner 
 than yield to a haughty enemy your liberty, which is the reward 
 of your courage ! They are in you, inhabitants and industrious 
 cultivators, from whom the state derives its wealth ! It is your 
 union, your submission to the laws, which are to be the cement 
 and bond of our independence. 
 
 " The line of politics which foreign powers will pursue with 
 respect to us, is not yet manifested. Whatever it may be, let 
 us place ourselves in such a situation, that, without holding out 
 any defiance to them, we may, at the same time, have nothing 
 to dread from those who may entertain hostile intentions. 
 
 " Let those who wish apolitical connection with us, or who 
 
206 . HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 would enjoy the advanta2;e of our commerce, find an equitable 
 reciprocity To the rest let us only offer death and battle. , 
 
 " At the same time that we are occupied with these thous^hts, 
 let us never forget that the safety of a free people is best main- 
 tained by arms. Its cultivation employs a part of our fellow- 
 citiztMis : let us remember that we are all soldiers, and that they 
 have been warlike nations alone who have been able to preserve 
 their liberty. Let us call to mind that a handful of Greeks, de- 
 voted to their couDtry, confounded the rage of a million of bar- 
 barians, who endeavoured to wrest from them their liberty. 
 Let us swear to imitate their example : let us swear to observe 
 our sacred constitution, to cause it to be observed, and to perish 
 sooner than allow it to be violated in the smallest degree." 
 
 Cbristophe had already had an opportunity of evincing his 
 regard for good faith and moderation, and proving the sincerity 
 of his avowed determination to refrain from all inierferejice 
 with the colonies of other nations. Some restless spirits in the 
 southern part of St. Domingo, had opened a clandestine corres- 
 pondence with various disaffected persons in Jamaica, with a view 
 to disturb the tranquillity of that Island. Tbis intrigue wasdetect- 
 ed by:tbe sagacity and vigilance ol Christoph<^, who immediately 
 arrested the parties concerned in the conspiracy. The British 
 ministry were so well pleased with this demonstration of integrity, 
 that they issued an order of council, in February, 1807 ; permit- 
 ting English merchantmen bound for Buenos Ayresand La Plata, 
 to dispose of their cargoes at any port in St. Domingo, which 
 was not subject to France or Spain, to ship the produce of the 
 country, and either to return with their investments to any part 
 of the united kingdon).or to place them t)n board the vessels of 
 neutrals, for the purpose of selling them in the foreign settle- 
 ments of hostile powers : and the owners of the cargoes were 
 suffered to biing the proceeds of them in the neutral ships to any 
 harbour in Great Britain or Ireland. This act of the British 
 government, showed the sense they entertained of Christophe's 
 honourable conduct, and at the san)e time most materially as- 
 sisted the commercial views of the Haytians, while it revived 
 
TREATY WITH THE SPANIARDS. 207 
 
 in no small degree the depressed enlerprize of British mer- 
 chiints, and thus proved highly beneficial to all parties. 
 
 The struggle for sovereignty still continued, and a sanguina- 
 ry war was carried on between the rival chiefs for several years. 
 Many battles were fought ; in some of which the siandaid of 
 Chrisiuphe was victorious, and in others that of Petion. Much 
 territory and many towns were successively occupied and evac- 
 uated, taken and re-taken, by the hostile armies. The towns 
 of St. Marc, Arcaljaye, Gonaives, and Port Paix, were scenes 
 of fierce and obstinate conflicts. But the chiel seat of contest 
 was the Mole of St. Nicholas ; where numerous exploits of pqj:- 
 sonal bravery were achieved on both sides. At length this place, 
 which was occupied by a part of Petion's army, was formally 
 invested by Christophe in person, and after twenty days of regu- 
 lar seige, in which two of their commanders lost their lives, the 
 gairison sui rendered at discretion, and were united to the army 
 of the conqueror. After this event, which took place in Octo- 
 ber, IS 10, the principal part of the besieging army were allowed 
 lo go to their homes, and their chief himself returned to Cape 
 Franqois. 
 
 Chri-tophe had taken advantage of the state of anarchy which 
 prevailed in Spain, to endeavour lo tfftctagood understanding 
 with the Spanish inhabitants of Hayti ; who manifested a cor- 
 responding disposition, and amicable and commercial relations 
 were accordingly established between them. Christophe fur- 
 nished some supplies of arms and military stores, to assist in 
 their operations against the French, who still held two posts in 
 that part of the island. In November, 1809, the town and port 
 of Samana, and a number of vessels in the harbour, were taken 
 by a small British squadron : the French troops were made pris- 
 oners, the vessels were seized as prizes, and the place was de- 
 livered up to the Spaniards. In July, 18J0, a British force, un- 
 der the command of General Carmichael, went from Janiaica 
 to co-operate in the reduction of the city of St. Domingo, the 
 last post which the French retained in the island. At first, the 
 governor, Buiquier, expressed his determination not to surren- 
 der : but when General Carmichael had made judicious and de° 
 
208 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 cisive preparations to carry the place by assault, the governor 
 thought proper to capitulate. The garrison were allowed to 
 march out with military honours, the officers were sent to 
 France on their parole, and the private soldiers became prison- 
 ers of war. Thus the Spaniards regained possession of their 
 capital, after it had been in the hands of the French about eight 
 years. 
 
 In the spring of the year 1811, Christophe exchanged the 
 title of president for that of king. This alteration was made 
 under the authority of the council of state, assembled at Cape 
 I^ran^ois, '' for the purpose of revising the constitution of Feb- 
 ruary, 1807, and deliberating upon the alterations which it re- 
 quired." They professed to have considered it, at the period 
 of its formation, as very imperfect, though adapted to the exist- 
 ing exigencies; and declared the fit time to be nnw come for 
 retouching and perfecting their work, an)ending their code of 
 laws, and fixing permanently the only mode of government 
 adapted to their country. 
 
 They declared their own opinion, and thp opinion of the 
 people at large, to be, that it was necessary to establish an he- 
 reditary monarchy ; the government of one individual being the 
 least subjrct to troubles and reverses, and uniting in the highest 
 degree the power of maintairing their laws, protecting iheir 
 rights, anddefending tht'ir liberty at home, and of making them 
 respected abroad ; — that the title of governor-general, confer- 
 red upon Toussaint, was not suitable to the dignity of the su- 
 preme magistrate of a country ; that the title of emperor given 
 to Dessalines was inappropriate, except to one who possessed 
 authority over various states and territories; that the title of 
 president hardly conveyed the idea of supreme power; and 
 that no title was so proper as that of king. They further de- 
 clared the establishment of royalty in the person and family of 
 the chief who had governed them for several years, with so 
 much credit to himself and advantage to the people, to be an 
 act of necessary duty and national gratitude. 
 
 With the establishment of a throne, they decreed the foun- 
 dation of rank of hereditary nobility ; into which were to be 
 
ESTABLISHMENT OF ROYALTY. 209 
 
 admitted all such di-^tinguished persons as had rendered impor- 
 tant services to their country, either in the magistracy or tlie 
 army, or in the departments of literature or science. 
 
 On this basis, the council of state framed a constitutional act,* 
 establisliing the regal dignity in the person and family ofChris- 
 tophe, appointing the various officers of state, and making such 
 other additions to the constitution of 1S07, as the alteration in 
 the form of government was thought to require. This act was 
 soon after publicly promulgated, and appears to have been re- 
 ceived by the people at large with general satisfaction. 
 
 • See Appeiidis V. 
 
 28 
 
CHAP. xni. 
 
 FROM MARCH, 1811, TO THE END OF THE YEAR 1817. 
 
 Christophe and Petion suspend hostilities^ and apply themselves to the 
 improvement of their people. — Coronation oj Christophe — Regular or- 
 ganization of his dominions, and those of Petion. — The Frenchman the 
 accession of Louis the Ei:^hteenth, entertain thoughts of attempting 
 to recover the island — Absurdity of their expectations — Sentiments 
 and feelings of the Haytians on hearing of the peace in Etirope — 
 and aftenvards on being informed of the designs of France against 
 their independence. — Manifesto of Christophe. — Commissioners from 
 France to gain information concerning Hayti, and to sound the dis- 
 positions of the chiefs. — Correspondence with Christophe. — Resolu- 
 tions of the Council. — Negocintions with Petion. — Answer of the 
 public autho7'ities. — President's proclamation . — FrencJi preparations 
 for an expedition. — Frustrated by the return of Bonaparte. — Over- 
 turesfrom Bonaparte — and from the cabinet of Louis after his res- 
 toration — all rejected with disdain. — Patriotic labours both of 
 Christophe and Petion. — Progress of education, and prospect of its 
 general extension. 
 
 Fn the long and sanguinary war which had been carried on 
 between the rival chiefs, the preponderance of success was ra- 
 ther in favour of Christophe ; but their foices proved to be, on 
 the whole, so nearly balanced, as to preclude all expectation 
 that in any short time one would be able to subdue the other. 
 In this case, too, it could not have escaped the observation of 
 either party, that continued hostilities would eventually have 
 enfeebled them both, so as to render them an easy prey to their 
 former oppressors. 
 
 A Haytian writer, who occupies a situation in one of the de- 
 partments of government at Cape Francois, makes this reflec- 
 tion with much feeling. — "Hence," he observes, "arises a most 
 melancholy consideration for humanity. We know that our dis- 
 
eORONATION OF CHRISTOPIIE. 211 
 
 sentions give joy to the friends of slavery ; that our common ty- 
 rants calculate upon nothing less than a total annihilation of the 
 population of Hayti, which they wish to be able to replace with 
 a new race of wretches transported from the regions of Africa. 
 We know the whole depth of their villainy, and we discover an 
 emulous eagernpss^o assist them effectually by destroying each 
 other. O delirium of the passions! O inconceivable fatality! 
 To what lengths do ye not cany men who listen to the decep- 
 tive illusions of ambition !" 
 
 In fonsequence, probably, of these sentiments, entertained by 
 both parties, hostilities were at length suspended, as if by mu- 
 tual consent. No battle has been fought, nor has any hostile 
 movement taken place, for more than six years ; so that, though 
 there has been no treaty of peace, or forujal armistice conclu- 
 ded, yet perfect tranquillity has prevailed throughout ti^ island. 
 
 A period of public tranquillity furnishes not many incidents 
 for the p<'n of the hibtorian, and the records of a series of peace- 
 ful years are often comprised in a few pages. The island of St. 
 Domingo, from the year 1811, exhibits the pleasing spectacle 
 of a people n)aking the most rapid advances in the career of 
 civilization and general improvtment. Both Christophe and 
 Petion appf-ar to have applied themselves with great assiduity 
 to the encouragement of industry and good morals, and the in- 
 crease of knuwl^dge in their respective territories, and to the 
 preparation of adequate means of defence against any attempts 
 that should be made on their liberty and independence. 
 
 Immediately after the act of the council of state, in March, 
 181 1, Ciristophe assuuied the title of king, and surrounded him- 
 self with all the usual appendages of royalty. On Sunday, the 
 2d of June following, Henry and his wife were crowned, with 
 great pomp, in the Champ de Mars, at Cape Francois, now 
 called Cape Henry. After the ceremony of consecration, the 
 king and queen, and some of the great officers of state, received 
 f\ the sacrament from the hands of the archbishop ; and the day- 
 was closed with an entertainment of uncommon splendour. 
 
 The various institutions of this new kingdom were copied 
 from the monarchies of Europe, and particularly from France ; 
 
212 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 — -they had their princes of the blood, their duke^ and counts, ba- 
 rons and chevaliers ; their grand marshal, grand almoner, and 
 master of the ceremonies ; their levee days and drawing-rooms ; 
 their royal birth days, coronation day, and other national festivi- 
 ties; their ro)^al palaces, chamberlains, pages, and body guards; 
 their royal and military order of St. Henry ; their chancery, 
 and other courts; llieir notaries, solicitors, barristers, and 
 judges ; their intendants, surveyors, and directors of different 
 departments; their royal academy and theatre royal:*— and 
 some of their arrangements were announced to the world in a 
 style which exhibited a mixture of oriental inflation and French 
 gasconade. But this will excite no surprise, when it is remem- 
 bered from what a condition the people had emerged, what 
 complete success had crowned their struggle for independence, 
 and the example afforded therii in the proceedings and language 
 of the imperial cabinet of Paris. But no impartial observer 
 could withhold his admiration from the hit^h state of order and 
 cixilization which j)revailed in the dominions of Christophe. 
 
 The organization of the districts under the government of 
 Petion, though differently and more modestly constructed, was 
 not less complete. JVo titles of nobility were adopted by him ; 
 but there were son)e gradations of military rank, the same distri- 
 bution of administrative offices, the same care in keeping up, 
 and disciplining a military force, and the same solicitude on the 
 grand subject of public instruction. 
 
 The full occupation which Bonaparte found for his armies in 
 Eurt)pe, and the exclusion of his squadrons from the sea by the 
 naval power of Britain, preserved the island of St. Domingo 
 from any further armoyance on the part of imperial France. 
 But no sooner had Bonaparte ceased to reign, and Louis the 
 Eighteenth ascended the throne of his fathers, than the ex-colo- 
 nists renewed their attempts for the recovery of their lost pos- 
 sessions. With thi>^ view, ti)ey presented a petition to the cham- 
 ber of deputies, calling its attention to the state of the island. 
 The petition was referred toa committee; and the chairman, 
 General Desfourneaux, who had formerly served in the colony, 
 
 * See Appendix VL 
 
PROJECTS OF THE EX-COLONISTS. 213 
 
 soon reported the result of their deliberations. He began with a 
 most unfair and exaggerated statement of the commercial advanta- 
 ges which had accrued to France from the possession of St. Do- 
 mingo, which were displayed in a manner adapted to excite the 
 cupidity of all classes of the community. He next proceeded to 
 examine the means of re-establishing the colony. No authentic 
 information, he observed had yet been obtained by government 
 respecting the dispositions of the chiefs who divided this colony 
 between them ; but from his own knowledge of both Christophe 
 and Petion, he fully believed that they would be eager to 
 acknowledge the sovereignty of the king. And in that case, it 
 was proposed that the king should be entreated to grant to them 
 and to various other black chiefs named in the "report, all the 
 marks of honour, and all the pecuniary advantages befitting their 
 situation and that of the coli)ny ; — but that, as this hope, how- 
 ever, might by possibility be disappointed, his majesty should 
 be advised to send a sufficient number of land and sea forces to 
 occupy the colony, and hoist there the white flag a^? the signal 
 of a general amnesty. Taught by the experience of past fail- 
 ures, it was argued, such an expedition c(tuld not now but be 
 crowned with success. And even if the mo«t tranquiliizinsr as- 
 surances should be received respecting the intentions of the 
 chiefs, it was observed, it would be necessary to transport thi- 
 ther, along with the colonists, a sufficient force to put tfiem in 
 possession of their estates, and to secure them in it. The re- 
 porter proposed to the chamber, to pray his majesty to present 
 to them laws for the interior regulation of St. Domingo, as well 
 with a view to the blacks already there, as to those loho should 
 herenfter be introduced ; for fixing the civil and political rights of 
 mf n of all colours, possessed of property in the colony; and 
 for other objects of a pecuniary and commercial nature. The 
 reporter strongly advised immediate celerity in fitting out the 
 proposed expedition, to which he confidently promised the 
 most successful issue. 
 
 Nor were these sentiments confined to the ex-colonists and 
 their immediate connexions. The re-possession and re- culti- 
 vation of this island appear to have been favourite objects with 
 
214 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 a considerable number of tbe leading men of the nation ; and, 
 in the hope of effecting them, the French cabinet, though plac- 
 ed in circumstances which prevented the total rejection of tlie 
 proposal of Great Britain for an abandonment of the Afiican 
 slave trade, yet refused an immediate relinquishment of that 
 abominable traffic, and stipulated fur its continuance for five 
 years, promising, by treaty, its definitive cessation at the end of 
 that period. Five years they thought would be sufficient to 
 supply the plantations of St. Domingo with as many cargoes of 
 slaves as should be wanted in addition to the myriads of ne- 
 groes and mulattoes who were again to be brought under the 
 yoke. 
 
 But if the experience of the world did not exhibit numerous 
 instances of persons entertaining the most chimerical hopes of 
 accomplishing whatever happens to be the object of their ardent 
 wishes, it could scarcely be credited that men of understandings 
 not below mediocrity should have amused themselves with the 
 
 absurd expectation, that the chiefs of St. Domingo would 
 
 eagerly acknowledge the sovereignty of France, and submit 
 themselves to its government ; that the Intelligent, wealthy, and 
 valiant population of the island (the swords still in their hands 
 with which they asserted their independence in the hearts' blood 
 of one of the most numerous and best appointed armies that 
 ever crossed the Atlantic,) would permit a French force to pre- 
 scribe to them the hours and conditions of labour, and to rein- 
 state the planters, with their cart- whips, in their former pleni- 
 tude of abused power; that they would relinquish, at the bid- 
 ding of Gallic intruders, properties at least as fairly acquired as 
 those bought in France at the national sales, and confirmed to 
 the purchasers by the new constitution ; — that they would ex- 
 change the ease, the comforts, the luxuries of their new situa- 
 tion, — the pride, and pomp, and circumstance of their military 
 array, — for the tender mercies, already too well known, of 
 French planters, attorneys, managers, overseers, and drivers! 
 
 If any disinterested observer could have questioned the absur- 
 dity of these expectations, it must soon have been placed beyond 
 all doubt by ihe first communications both from Cape Henry and 
 from Port-au-Prince. 
 
FEELINGS OF THE HAYTIANS. 216 
 
 In a dispatch, addressed to M. Peltier, London, and dated 
 June tlie lOlh, the Cointe de lamonade, secretary for foreign 
 affairs to Christophe, — after giving an account of the satisfaction 
 of Dis sovereign at hearing of the fall of Bonaparte, and men- 
 tioning the preparations he had long been making for the de- 
 fence of his kingdom, preparations \vhi( h the expectation of a 
 peace between the powers of Europe had lately induced him 
 to increase ; — proceeded to declare, that the vessels of French 
 merchants were at liberty to enter the Haytian ports upon the 
 same fooling as those of other nations ; and expressed the wish 
 of his sovereign for a good understanding with the new sove- 
 reign of France, at the same time distinctly stating, that the 
 king of Hayti would treat with France only as one independent 
 power with another/ 
 
 The sentiments and feelings entertained in the south part of 
 the island, were not less unequivocal than in the north. It was 
 officially notified by the government, that on the first appear- 
 ance of a hostile force, fire would be communicaled to all the 
 buildings in the cities, and every thing destroyed that could not 
 be removed to the mountains. The arsenals were filled with 
 torches ready to be lighted. If a suggestion was whispered at 
 the government-house, calling in question the policy of such a 
 measure, the doubt was immediately silenced by a referenre to 
 Moscow, the dfbtruclion of which had saved Russia, and even 
 Europe, from the power of France. | 
 
 As soon as the designs of the French government were known 
 in St. Domingo, there was published, in the royal gazette of 
 Hayti, an address to the people, explaining to them the new 
 political relations in which they were placed by the peace be- 
 tween France and the other powers of Europe. After express- 
 ing the joy which the blacks could not but feel at the downfall 
 of Bonaparte, who had endeavoured to exterminate them, or to 
 subject them again to the yoke of bondage, and with whom 
 they had determined never to enter into any amicable engage- 
 ments, this paper intimated that there existed not the same rea- 
 
 » See Appendix VII f Set Appendix VIII, 
 
216 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 sons for rejecting peaceful overtures from the new monarch of 
 France, but that, in the event of his waanifesting a friendly dis- 
 position, it would be advisable to forna with him a treaty of ami- 
 ty and commerce, compatable with the honour, liberty, security, 
 and independence of Hayti. It proceeded to call upon the 
 Haytians to make ever}' exertion in defence of their liberty 
 against any who should attempt to enslave them ; and in the 
 following energetic language, bade defiance to their foes : — " If 
 we desire the benefits and enjoyments of peace, we fear neither 
 the fatigues nor the horrors of war. Let our implacable ene- 
 mies, the planters, who have not ceased, for twenty-five years, 
 to indulge the extravagant diearn of slavery, and to pester each 
 succeeding government with their memoirs, and projects of 
 conquest and subjugation, exciting only pity, disgust, or abhor- 
 rence for their ciiminal and wretched authors ; — let these tra- 
 ders in human flesh, these vile and perfidious plotters, come to 
 execute their grand schemes of servitude and destruction. Let 
 them place themselves at the head of the columns to direct their 
 march ; — they will be the first victinis of our vengeance, and the 
 land of liberty will rejoice in being watered with the blood of ^ 
 its oppressors. Then will, indeed, be waged a war of extermi- 
 nation : no quarter will be -given, no prisoner made. Then 
 shall we prove to the world what a nation of warriors, armed in 
 the most just of causes, can effect in the defence of our homes, 
 our wives, our children, our liberty, our independence." Then 
 followed a number of directions as to the mode of warfare pro- 
 per to be pursued in case of invasion ; and the paper concluded 
 thus : — " It is in vain that our tyrants conceive the mad hope of 
 sowing disunion among us. Their appearance will be the signal 
 for our union. Who can now deceive us as to our true inter 
 ests ? Who is there among us that would now allow himself to 
 be seduced by the treacherous and deceitful promises of &n ene- 
 my whom we know too well f Who is the weak wretch that 
 would even think of prolonging his days, in order to be burnt 
 alive, drowned, or hanged, six months after? No : if we must 
 have war, we muit either be all exterminated, or live free and 
 independent." 
 
 < 
 
FRENCH COMMISSIONERS. 217 
 
 This address appeared on the 15th of August, and on the 1 8th 
 «f September was published a manifesto of King Henry, giving 
 a detailed narrative of the events which had produced and ac- 
 companied the independence of Hayti ; justifying, before the 
 tribunal of nations, the legitimacy of that independence ; and 
 expressing a firm resolution to maintain it. It is no exaggerat- 
 ed applause, to say that this manifesto, in eloquence and argu- 
 ment, will bear a comparison with the most celebrated state 
 papers of the most eloquent and enlightened nations of the 
 world. The length of its historical details, referring to events 
 narrated in the preceding pages of this history, prevents its inser- 
 tion here ; but the reader will find it among the papers in the 
 appendix. It concluded with the solemn declaration that Henrv 
 would never consent to any treaty, or any condition, that should 
 compromise the honour, the liberty, and the independence of 
 the Haytian people.* 
 
 In the month of June, 1814, Malouet, the minister of the 
 colonies to Louis the Eighteenth, sent to the West Indies three 
 commissioners, for the avowed purpose of obtaining and trans- 
 mitting to the French government, information respecting the 
 state of St. Domingo, and the disposition of its chiefs The 
 selection of agents for this business, betrayed the same folly 
 which characterised the whole of the scheme. Their names 
 were Dauxion Lavaysse, De Medina, and Draverman. The 
 first had been a member of the committee of public safety, at 
 Paris, under the infamous Robespierre ; the second had served 
 in St. Domingo, in the army of Toussaint, and being entrusted 
 with an important post, had betrayed it to the Fiench under Le 
 Clerc. Agreeably to their instructions to repair without delay to 
 Porto Rico or Jamaica, these emissaries proceeded to England, 
 and sailed from Falmouth in a packet for Jamaica, where they 
 arrived in the latter end of the mouth of August. 
 
 On the 6th of September, at Kingston, in that island, Lavaysse, 
 the chief of the mission, commenced his proceedings with a 
 letter to Petion ; in which he endeavoured to allure him, in a 
 
 * See Appendix IX. 
 99 
 
218 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 manner, however, but ill adapted to the end he had in view, t© 
 acknowledge the authority of Louis the Eighteenth. 
 
 On the 1st of October, Lavaysse ad(iressed a letter to Cbris- 
 tophe, containing a strange mixture of stupid flattery, and still 
 more stupid intimidation. He urged the black chief, by vaiious 
 arguments and persuasives, to acknowledge the sovereignty of 
 France, and threatened him with the combined force of Europe 
 if he should refuse to proclaim Louis the Eighteenth. A com- 
 pact, he stated, had been signed by all the Euiopean sovereigns, 
 and Great Bi itain. he aflirmed, vras the soul of the confederacy, 
 to destroy all the governments which had arisen out of the 
 French revolution, and among the rest that (>f Hayti, if Chris- 
 tophe should be so blind to bis true interests as not to yield to 
 the invitations- of the restored monarch. The slaves which 
 France wps at that moment purchasing on the coast of Africa, 
 he added, would be converted into soldiers for the purpose of 
 destroying the refractory. He, at the same lime, intimated his 
 persuasion, that Christophe was too wise not to prefer becom- 
 ing an illustrious servant of the great sovereign of France, to 
 continuing in the precarious situatioti of a chief of revolted 
 slaves. The letter was filled with the grossest nris-statements 
 of fact, in reference to the events which bad recently taken 
 place in Europe, and abundantly proved the entire ignorance of 
 the writer, and of the minister under whose instructions he was 
 acting, as to the state of information in Hayti ; where every oc- 
 currence that passes in Europe, was as fully known as on the 
 Exchange in London. 
 
 On receiving this letter, which Lavaysse had accompanied 
 with a copy of his letter to Petion, King Henry, with true mag- 
 nanimity, convoked an extraordinary council of the nation, and 
 laid before them these documents, desiring them calmly to de- 
 liberate on their contents, and form such resolutions as they 
 should deem necessary for the welfare of the counlr}'. This 
 confidence of the king was le^aid by a unanimous address 
 from the council, expressed in the warmest terms of patriotic 
 energy. 
 
 " The most abominable of tyrants," they said, " when they 
 
FRENCH COMMISSIONERS. 219 
 
 have wished to iiDpose their oppressive yoke on the people, 
 have emplo)ed treacljery, and have covered their cri'i)iiial pur- 
 poses under some specious pretexts ; but ihe envoy of the king 
 of the French has impudently dispensed with all disguise. He 
 has dared to propose to a free p>'opIe the ahernative of slavery 
 or death. And to whom do they dare thus to speak of master 
 and slave ? To us, a people free and independent ; to warriors 
 covered with noble wounds gained in the field of honour; who 
 have destroyed to their very roots, ancient prejudices and slave- 
 ry : tu those warriors, who, in a thousand combats, have made 
 so many of those barbarous colonists bite the dust ; the residue 
 of whom, escaped frotn our vengeance, now dare to speak to us 
 of restoring iheir abhorred system, which we have proscribed 
 for ever. — The conduct pursued by the French, shows that they 
 place us beyond the pale of nations : for to what other people on 
 earth would they dare to propose conditions so vile and degrad- 
 ing ? They contemn us ; they are so impressed with the notion 
 of our stupidity, as to suppose that we want the ordinary in- 
 stinct which impels animals to seek their own preservation. Is 
 it in return for the benefits we have received from the French, 
 that we are now to resume the chains of slavery f Is it for a 
 sovereign who is wholly unknown to us, who has never done any 
 thing for us. and in whose name we are insulted, that we should 
 now change our slate ? Is it to be delivered anew to torture, 
 or to be devoured by dogs, that we are to renounce the fruit of 
 twenty-five years of battle and blood ^ What have we still in 
 comrnon with this people. We have broken every tie that 
 bound us to them. We have now no points of union with the 
 French, who have never ceased to persecute us, and whom we 
 abhor.'* Why then must we be condemned to groan under their 
 oppressive yoke .'*" If it were a question, they observe, whether 
 they should prefer slavery or extermination, they would unani- 
 mously embrace the latter alternative. But no, they say, that is 
 impossible ; " Hayti will be invincible. The justice of her 
 cause will enable her to triumph over all obstacles." They 
 conclude with offering their arms, their property, and their lives, 
 to the service of their king, their country, their liberty, their in- 
 dependence. 
 
220 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 The misrepresentations and falsehoods ofLavaysse, especially 
 ' in reference to the pretended confederacy among the powers of 
 Europe, and the interest taken by Great Britain in the alleged 
 object of that alliance, was triumphantly refuted by the Cheva- 
 lier Prezeau, secretary to Chiistophe ; whose answer to La- 
 vaysse's letter manifests a thorough knowledge of the parti- 
 cular questions at issue, as well as much general infornjation, 
 and considerable acuteness of intellect. I perceive," says Pre- 
 zeau, " in the course of your letter, that one of your great 
 objects, is to generate distrust between us and the brave and 
 loyal British nation, by threatening us with the co-operation of 
 her arms against us. But could you for one moment persuade 
 yourself that we should be the dupes of your perfidy and falsehood ; 
 when in the public prints we witness all the efforts which the 
 English government and the virtuous philanthropists of that na- 
 tion have been making in our favour ? I can, moreover, assure 
 you, that we have various extra-official documents, which prove 
 to us, that the views of the powers of Europe towards us, are 
 very remote indeed from those which you would assign to them. 
 Far from having gained ground, see what you have in effect done. 
 You have thrown light on our course. You have given us new 
 motives for attaching ourselves to the great British nation ; and 
 new grounds of execration against you, and distrust of your cri- 
 minal, schenies." 
 
 Colont-1 De Medina was sent by Lavaysse to Cape Henry to 
 conduct the negociation with Christophe. There he was re- 
 cognized as a native of St. Domingo, an ex-officer of the army, 
 and a traitor to the cause : — on this account, and because he 
 was without any credentials from the French government, he 
 was arrested, and his papers seized. From these papers it ap- 
 peared, that the real object of his mission, which he pretended 
 to be wholly pacific, was to excite discord and insurrection 
 among the Haytians. He was, therefore, brought before a spe- 
 cial niilitaiy commission, and tried as a spy. If any doubts 
 could have been entertained at Cape Henry of the ulterior 
 designs of the French government, the papers found upon this 
 man, and the answers given by bim to the interrogatories put by 
 
NEGOCIATION WITH PETION. 221 
 
 the president of the court, would have been sufficient to con- 
 vince the inhabitants of St. Domingo, that they had no more 
 favour or friendship to expect from the cabinet of Louis than 
 from that of Bonaparte. 
 
 It has already been stated, that on the 6th of September, 
 Lavaysse addressed a letter to Petion. Thi^ letter was quite 
 vague and indistinct in its proposals. On the 24th of the same 
 month, the president sent a complimentary answer ; inviting 
 Lavaysse to Port-au-Prince. Lavaysse accordingly embraced 
 the first opportunity, and sailed for Port-au-Prince, in an Eng- 
 lish vessel. On his arrival, he addressed the president in a 
 second letter, in which, after attributing all the sufferings of the 
 Haytians to " the men who were a disgrace to the French name, 
 the enemies of the house of Bourbon, the disciples of Robes- 
 pierre, Marat, and Carrier, and the worthy sattellites of their 
 successor, the Corsican tyrant :" — he formally proposed, — 
 
 1. " That the president should recognize and proclaim the 
 sovereignty of the French king. 
 
 2. " That the president and other leading men, in imitation 
 of what had been done in France, at the epoch of Bonaparte's 
 deposition, should form themselves into a provisional govern- 
 ment; subject to the authority of Louis the Eighteenth. 
 
 3. " That they should hoist the French flag." 
 
 In the event of a compliance with these terms, he, in return, 
 promised the president and his colleagues honourable distinc- 
 tion and rewards : and he assured them that the progress of 
 knowledge, in France, had destroyed the tyranny of hurtful pre- 
 judices; and that Louis, "like the Divinity of whom he was 
 the representative," felt equal affection for bis subjf^cts, with- 
 out distinction of colour. In this letter, Lavaysse again took 
 occasion to inveigh with fury against the " Corsican ;" as well 
 as against the " Bashaw Le Clerc," and "the other brigands 
 who w*- re sent to Hayti, in 1S02, by the usurper;" — amongst 
 whom, it may be observed, was General Desfourneaux, who 
 lately hoped, by bis falsehoods and sophistry, to prevail on the 
 
222 HISTORY OF ST. DOiMINGO. 
 
 French government to send him out on a similar expedition. 
 The president replied by an enumeration of the evils which 
 Hayti had suffered from revolutionary France. He reminded 
 Lavaysse, that the national cockade was the first incitement to 
 massacre in St. Domingo ; that many of the colonists, now so 
 clamorous at the court of the Bourbon?, but lately, for the most 
 part, sattellites of B(maparte, were, in the first peiiod of the 
 revolution, violent democrats, as was fully proved by the la- 
 mented assassination of Colonel Mauduit, a particular friend 
 and confidant of Monsieur. Petion concluded by stating that 
 he had convoked the chief authorities of the republic, and 
 would lay before them the propositions made by Lavaysse. 
 
 On the 2lst of Novenilaer, the geneial assembly of the Hay- 
 tian authorities was held at Port au-Prince ; and unanimously 
 resolved on rejecting the French proposals. This resolution 
 was formally communicated to Lavaysse, by the president, with 
 a statement of the reasons on which it was founded : but it was 
 added, that, wishing to re-establish commercial relations with 
 France, and to manifest the respect which they had always felt 
 for bis majesty, Louis the Eighteenth, the Haytian republic was 
 willing to fix the basis of a pecuniary indemnity for the losses 
 which the French colonists had sustained, and must continue to 
 suffer, in consequence of the separation of Hayti from France. 
 
 To this very liberal offtr Lavaysse was not authorized to give 
 any answer. He, accordingly, on the 29th of November, with 
 many acknowledgments for the civilities he had received, per- 
 sonally demanded his passports; and soon afterwards left the 
 island in a vessel which he had hired for that purpose. 
 
 All the official documents relative to this transaction were 
 printed and published at Port-au-Prince, preceded by the fol- 
 lowing dignified and eloquent address, fiom the president 
 
 "To THE People and Army. 
 
 " Never throughout the annals of the republic, did a more in- 
 teresting epoch present itself, than that which you are ncrw 
 called to witness : never was there one which demanded that 
 
PROCLAMATION OF PETION. 223 
 
 the national character should exert itself with greater magna- 
 nimity. 
 
 " Haytians ! during four and twenty years, we have fought 
 for our rights, for our libetty. Our independence is the fruit of 
 our labours. Without this, there can be no warrant, no security 
 for the continuance of our present constitution Already cele- 
 brated for our u)ilitary character, and our honourable qualities, 
 every eye is fixed upon us, waiting the result of our conduct. 
 It will be an example to posterity. 1 will not revert to any 
 of the glorious traits by which those men were distinguished, 
 who immortalized themselves in former contests for freedom. 
 History has not forgotten them. By her will their remem- 
 brance be perpetuated. 
 
 " 1 address myself to those men vrhose hearts glow with the 
 purest patriotism, to a people free in fact and in right, and who 
 will not fail to demonstrate to the universe that they are worthy 
 of being so. Generosity and greatness of soul constitute the 
 very elements of the patriot's character. In you I have ever 
 observed these noble qualities; and lately 1 have received an 
 additional proof of them; for which I must do myself the hon- 
 our of offering to you the liveliest expressions of my heartfelt 
 graticude. 
 
 " France, having concluded a treaty of peace, renews her 
 claim to St. Dunnngo Though she has for ever forfeited all 
 her pretensions to Hayti, and though this loss is owing to the 
 French themselves, she determines nevertheless to revive them ; 
 and for this purpose has chosen rather to make use of methods 
 of conciliation, than to employ (hose arms which will always 
 prove impotent. The French general, Dduxion Lavaysse, was 
 sent hither as her agent. You received and welcomed him ; 
 performed the sacred rites of hospitality; and admitted him 
 amongst you with confidence. He spoke to you in the language 
 of his mission ; and, at the distance of a thousand leagues from 
 his country, was not deterred, by any consideration, from urging 
 with vehemence the pretensions of his government, lour 
 chiefs and magistrates were assembled in consultation. They 
 listened calmiy to the proposals of France. A government 
 
224 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 firmly established on the solid basis of reason and justice, is 
 capable, not only of hearing every thing with calmness, but of 
 judging of every thing with discrimination. The propositions 
 of the French government being incompatible with your princi- 
 ples and institutions, were unanimously rejected. This will 
 ever be the fate of all such as shall tend to lead your steps back- 
 ward, in the career you have so gloriously run. Without 
 shrinking from war, you were willing, however, to evince your 
 desire of peace; and to avert from your families and your 
 children the calamities which follow in its train, by offering to 
 submit to pecuniary sacrifices, in order to silence your persecu- 
 tors, whose cries and complaints importune the French throne 
 for the restitution of possessions, which they would be afraid to 
 attack, if they knew that at their approach they would be burnt 
 to ashes. Your chiefs, the depositaries of the intentions you 
 had previously expressed, especially subsequently to the conti- 
 nental peace, were commissioned, in your name, to make this 
 generous proposal. It is a high honour to you ; and will convey 
 a high opinion of your wisdom, as well as awaken the greatest 
 dread of your resentment. 
 
 " Haytians ! you have done what you ought to have done. 
 The right of arms has given you possession of the country. It 
 is your unalienable property : and, as its masters, you are free to 
 make what use you please of that which belongs to you. By 
 mutual agreement, and a compact from which they never devi- 
 ate, nations respect the rights of individuals. The character of 
 an envoy is always held sacred, even though his intentions are 
 ever so crin)inal. The French general, Dauxion Lavaysse, is 
 gone ; having executed the mission with which he was entrusted. 
 You have not to reproach yourselves with having been wanting 
 in what you owe tQ yourselves. You have not violated this 
 fundamental principle, which establishes between governments 
 those necessary communications which are required by their 
 political relations. You have done that which renders you 
 estimable in your own eyes : you deserve to appear so in the 
 eyes of other nations. Victory ever accompanies the cause of 
 justice. Is not this telling you that it is yours if the French 
 
PROCLAMATION OF PETION. 225 
 
 venture to molest you. Should this be the event, you shall see 
 me at your head, proud to lead you on to victory or to perish 
 with you. — Whatever may be the fate which heaven has reserv- 
 ed for us, it is our duty to prepare ourselves for it. Let it be 
 the care of those chiefs whose paternal authority directs you, in 
 the districts of which the command is confided to them, to esta- 
 blish secure retreats for the inhabitants in the interior of our 
 mountains. For this purpose, let them employ the workmen 
 under their orders. Let them also muliiply the plantations of 
 every sort of provisions. It is the duty of the magistrates and 
 justices of the peace, to promote unanimity, concord, the love 
 of labour, and mutual confidence among their fellow-citizens. 
 The republic relies on every man's doing his duty. I hope to 
 set you an example. 1 have given orders that the documents 
 shall be printed, which relate to our communications with the 
 French government. They will be submitted to your inspec- 
 tion at the close of this address. You will see what it is that 
 they propose to you, and what answer it becomes you to return. 
 
 « Given at Port-au-Prince, Dec. 3d, 1S14; 
 " 1 Ith year of independence. 
 
 (Signed) " Petion." 
 
 When these transactions were known in Paris, the king of 
 France formally and officially disclaimed any participation in 
 the proceedings of Dauxion Lavaysse, whose mission was de- 
 clared to have been directed to the single point of procuring 
 information to guide the deliberations of the French govern- 
 ment. The tone adopted in his letters to the Haytian chiefs, 
 therefore, was wholly disavowed. But however the general 
 character of the French monarch may have given credibility to 
 the disavowal, as far as related to his individual conduct in this 
 affair ; the well known character of Malouet, the minister by 
 whom the commissioners were sent, left little room to doubt 
 that the conduct of the agents had been conformable to the 
 spirit, at least, of the secret instructions received from their 
 emplovers: and the subsequent disclosure of those instructions 
 
 30 
 
iJ26 HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 established this fact beyond all contradiction. It was, probably 
 a happy circumstance for the cause of Haytian freedom, that 
 these instructions were framed with such entire family as could 
 not but conduce to the confirmation, if any thing could further 
 confirm, the liberty and independence of Hayti. 
 
 The ex-colonists, however, were too much enamoured of their 
 golden dreams to desist from further efforts to convert them into 
 realities. What it was found impossible to accomplish by fraud, 
 they used every art of persuasion to induce the government to 
 attenipt by force. Their party was so powerful at the court of 
 Louis, that preparations were actually made, and an expedition 
 was intended to sail in the spring pf 1815, for the purpose of re- 
 ducing the inhabitants of St. Domingo to their former servitude, 
 or sweeping them from the face of the earth. 
 
 But the month of March was distinguished by an event which 
 no human sagacity had anticipated. Bonaparte returned from 
 Elba, and suddenly seated himself again on the throne of France. 
 This revolutirai prevented the sailing of tlie expedition, and 
 defeateil the projects of the colonists. Bonaparte thought it 
 politic to issue an edict for the abolition of the slave tiade, and 
 soon after sent overtures to St Domingo, which had for ihcir 
 object to bring back the island to the condition of a French 
 colony; but his propositions were immediately rejected with 
 disdain. During the short period that passed before his second 
 fall, he was too much occupied with European warfare, to admit 
 of his annoying the inhabitants of Hayti. 
 
 As soon as Louis the Eighteenth was replaced upon his 
 throne, the ex-colonists renewed their intrigues, and employed 
 subaltern and ex-ofiicial agents to make further overtures to the 
 Haytians, with the same insidious purpose of reducing them 
 again under the po^er of France. Many months elapsed before 
 the government could find time for attention to this object of its 
 ambition and cupidity. But in July, J 81 6, the king of France, 
 on the report of the secretary of state fur the department of the 
 marine and the colonies, issued an ordinance, naming and ap- 
 pointing several commissioners to St. Domingo ; who were to 
 be invested with the administration of ail the affairs of the island, 
 both civil and military. 
 
PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 227 
 
 These commissioners, who were all ex-colonists, and men 
 who bad become particularly obnoxious to the negroes and 
 people of colour, proceeded towards the intended scene of their 
 mission ; and skulking along the coast in an American vessel, 
 sent on shore letters ad Iressed to M )nsieur General Christophe; 
 a superscription, which having become obsolete, and being 
 deemed injurious and insulting to the existing order of things 
 in Hayti, caused the papers to be Instantly returned unopened. 
 They then resorted to the expedient of enclosing their commu- 
 nications in an envelope addressed to the commandant of the 
 port of Gonaives. These papers served only to exciie the con- 
 tempt of the Haytians, to enflame them with increased abhor- 
 rence of their ft)rmer oppressors, to produce fresh abjurations of 
 all connection with France, and to strengthen their resolutions 
 to maintain their liberty and independence. 
 
 However the French government may since that time have 
 sympathized with the ex-colonists, and cast many a longing, 
 lingering look towards this fairest and most important of ail 
 their former West Indian possessions, no attempt has been 
 made for its re-conquest; and it seems probable that all hope 
 of its recovery, in any manner, has ere now been for ever re- 
 linquished. 
 
 Though the two governments which rule the northern and 
 southern districts, have not established any relations of muiual 
 amity, they have remained in a state of perfect tranquillity, and 
 have devoted their attention to the cultivation of their respective 
 territories, and to the civilization and general improvement of their 
 people. They have both shown the most laudable solicitude for 
 the instruction of the rising generation. Christophe has examin- 
 ed the rival claims of the two popular systems of education prac- 
 tised in England, and has decided in favour of Lancaster's, in 
 preference to Dr. Bell's. Schools have been established at 
 Cape Henry, Sans Souci, Port Paix, and other places. They 
 are denominated JSational Lancaster ian Schools. In mechanism, 
 arrangement of the rooms, lessons, and every other particular, 
 they are exactly on the model of the British and Foreign School 
 Society's Central School, in the Borough-road, London. This 
 
228 HISTORY OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 system is also adopted by Petion, who has established a school, 
 under a master sent out from the British and Foreign School 
 Society, at Port au-Prince. 
 
 In the schools established by King Henry, both the French 
 and English languages are taught — and it is the king's declared 
 intention to endeavour to bring the English language into 
 general use, in hopes that it will in time supercede the French 
 as the vernacular language of the people at large. 
 
 Henry has likewise appropriated a considerable fund to the 
 erection and endowment of a college, in which professors of 
 every branch of literature and science are to be established 
 and liberally rewarded. 
 
 From the zeal manifested by both chiefs in this noble cause, 
 and the progress already made in carrying their wise and be- 
 nevolent designs into effect, there is great reason to hope that, 
 in a few years, the island of Hayti will exhibit a population as 
 generally educated, as that of any country on the face of the 
 globe. 
 
Av Ti>Ti>Trt^i 
 
 iH®i2 
 
 <% 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 231 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 STATZSTICAZi TABLES, 
 
 RELATIVE TO THE FRENCH PART OF ST. DOMINGO, 
 
 No. I. 
 \eral Statement of the Productions and Manvfactures of the French Part o/St. Domingo, in the year 1791. 
 
 Drawn up by order of the Legislative Assembly of France. 
 
 Quarters or Parishes. 
 
 Total. 
 
 ( The Cape and its dependencies . 
 I La Petit Ance and the Plain of the 
 
 I North 
 
 ! L'Acule,Lim'^'nade.& Ste. Suzanne 
 
 ] Morin and La Grande ' iviere . . 
 
 I.e Doudon and Marmelade . . . 
 
 I Linibe and Port Margot 
 
 [ Plaisance and Le Borgne 
 
 C Fort Dauphin 
 
 / Ouanammthe and Valliere . . . . 
 I Le Terrier Rouge and Le Trou . 
 
 (Port Pais, Petit St. Louis. . . ) 
 J Jean Rabel. and Le Gros Monie^ 
 
 The Mole and Bombarde 
 
 ( Port-au-Prince and La Croix des 
 
 > Bouquets 
 
 jL'Arcahaye 
 
 'Mirebalais 
 
 Leogane 
 
 < St. Marc. La Petite Rividre .. > 
 ( Les Yei ettes and Les Gonaives J 
 
 ( Le Petit Goave, Le Grand Goave, 
 / and f e Foods des N^gres .... 
 f L'Anse a Veau and Le Petit Trou 
 
 Jeremie and Cape Dame Marie . 
 Les Caves and Torbeck . ... 
 Cape Tiburon and Les Coteaux . 
 St. Louis. Cavaillon anfl Aquin . 
 Jacniel, Les Cayes, and Baynel . 
 
 51 Parishes 
 
 Su 
 
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 w 
 
 
 Planta'ns 
 
 
 oi 
 
 
 
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 s 
 
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 1 
 
 — 
 
 .2 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
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 3 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 ~r 
 
 116,213 
 
 43 
 
 7 
 
 3- 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 11,122 
 
 52 
 
 4 
 
 157 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 9 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 19,876 
 
 35 
 
 1 
 
 255 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 — 
 
 18,554 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 216 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 32 
 
 2 
 
 17,376 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 
 272 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 — 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 15,978 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 324 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 15,018 
 
 29 
 
 7 
 
 71 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 10,004 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 151 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 9,987 
 
 56 
 
 1 
 
 123 
 
 1 
 
 37 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 _ 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 15,476 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 218 
 
 9 
 
 369 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 18 
 
 26 
 
 4 
 
 29,540 
 
 - 
 
 
 31 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3,183 
 
 65 
 
 75 
 
 151 
 
 22 
 
 15 
 
 
 29 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 42,848 
 
 11 
 
 36 
 
 62 
 
 24 
 
 48 — 
 
 14 
 
 — 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 
 18,553 
 
 3 
 
 — 
 
 27 
 
 It* 
 
 322 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 10,902 
 
 27 
 
 39 
 
 58 
 
 18 
 
 78 
 
 - 
 
 25 
 
 ' 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 14,896 
 
 22 
 
 21 
 
 298 
 
 315 
 
 1,184 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 71 
 
 12 
 
 67,216 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 52 
 
 25 
 
 31 
 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 18,829 
 
 6 11 
 
 11 
 
 ' 
 
 185 
 
 — 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 13,229 
 
 3 5 
 
 105 
 
 3{! 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 25 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 20,774 
 
 24 86 
 
 69 
 
 7(; 
 
 175 
 
 — 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 8 
 
 30,937 
 
 1| 1 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 169 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 8.153 
 
 9 23 
 
 39 
 
 28 
 
 157 
 
 — 
 
 8 
 
 ■) 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 18 785 
 
 — 1 
 
 451 341 
 
 1 
 
 57 
 2,810 
 
 89 
 705 
 
 129 
 3,097 
 
 3 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 
 21,151 
 
 173 
 
 t.9 
 
 313 
 
 61 
 
 455,00*^ 
 
232 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Statement of the Productions of St. Domingo, exported to France in the year 1791. 
 
 Departments. 
 
 Northern Part. 
 
 The Cape - - - - 
 
 Fort Dauphin - - - 
 
 Port Paix - - - - 
 
 The Mole - - - - 
 
 Southern Part. 
 
 Les Cayes . 
 Cape Tiburon 
 St. Louis 
 Jacrael . 
 
 Sugar. 
 
 White. 
 
 Livres. 
 
 Western Part. 
 
 Port-au-Prince - - - 
 
 Leogane . . - - 
 
 Saint Marc - - . - 
 
 Le Petit Goave - - 
 
 Jercmie . - - - - 
 
 43,864,552 
 
 8,60^,258 
 
 473 800 
 
 22,500 
 
 7,792,219 
 
 1,492.: 183 
 
 3,244,673 
 
 218 866 
 
 19,804 
 
 4,375,627 
 
 63,150 
 
 2,000 
 
 48,266 
 
 Total 70,227,70 
 
 Coarse. 
 
 Livres. 
 
 1,517,489 
 
 1,639,900 
 
 824,500 
 
 105,680 
 
 53.648,92:? 
 
 7 688,.S3 
 
 e.993.966 
 
 855,23 
 
 476,445 
 
 18,984,42 
 278,500 
 9,600 
 67,910 
 
 93,177,51;; 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 Livres. 
 
 29 367,382 
 
 2,321,610 
 
 1,829,754 
 
 294,550 
 
 14,584,023 
 1.786,484 
 5,521,237 
 1.-395,690 
 4,453,331 
 
 1,843,403 
 
 305,740 
 
 90 706 
 
 4,357,270 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Livres. 
 
 1,200 
 38,752 
 29,236 
 
 1,370,021 
 154,084 
 
 3.008.163 
 
 84,865 
 
 189,194 
 
 720,770 
 34,325 
 42,497 
 
 613,019 
 
 68,151,180 6,286,126 
 
 Indigo 
 
 Livres 
 
 195.099 
 
 2,005 
 
 61,472 
 
 6,294 
 
 176,918 
 
 12,520 
 
 357,530 
 
 320 
 
 1,075 
 
 105,456 
 1,954 
 2,064 
 7.309 
 
 930,016 
 
 Hides and 
 
 Skins. 
 
 In the 
 Hair. 
 
 Pack- 
 ages. 
 
 Tan- 
 ned. 
 
 Hides 
 or 
 
 Skins 
 
 2 0061 6,975 
 
 1.134 ^^60 
 
 120 
 
 31 
 
 1,601 
 112 
 
 100 
 
 67 
 
 15 
 
 752 
 
 5,186] 7,887 
 
 Molas 
 
 sea. 
 
 Hogs 
 
 heads 
 
 10.654 
 
 2,731 
 
 272 
 
 84 
 
 8,350 
 
 95 
 
 73 
 
 206 
 
 6,938 
 99 
 
 29,502 
 
 13G 
 
 303 
 
 p^Qjg_ The sums in these tables are all stated in livres of colonial currency, which were reducible ti 
 
 livres Tournois, by deducting one third of the amount. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
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 31 
 
APPENDIX 11. 
 
 Beside the epistolary communications to Le Clerc, it has been as- 
 serted that Toussaint returned an answer to the letter addressed to 
 him by Bonaparte : and some time after, a paper was circulated pur- 
 porting to be a copy of it ; which, if genuine, reflects no less credit on his 
 heart than on his understanding; while it may serve, in some degree, 
 to account for the treacherous conduct which he afterwards experien- 
 ced. There has not appeared, however, sufficient external evidence 
 to authorize its insertion in the history; but compared with his own 
 letters, of the genuineness of which no doubt has been expressed, the 
 internal evidence in its favour will hardly admit of its being wholly 
 passed over. It is therefore inserted here. 
 
 " Citizen-Consul, 
 
 " Your letter has been transmitted to me by Citizen Le Clerc, 
 your brother-in-law, whom you have appointed Captain- General of 
 this Island, a title not n-cognized by the constitution of St. Domingo. 
 The same messenger has restored two innocent children to the fond 
 embraces of a doating father. What a noble instance of European 
 humanity ! But dear as these pledges are to me, and painful as our 
 separation is, I will owe no obliiiations to my enemies, and I therefore 
 return them to the custody of their gaolers. 
 
 " The forces necessary to make the sovereignty of the French 
 people respected, have efTected a landing also, and they are spreading 
 slaughter and devastation around them, Why is it thus? For what 
 crimes, and by what authority, are a rude, but inoffensive people, to 
 be consumed by fire and by the sword? We have dared, it seems, to 
 form a constitution adapted to our circumstances; containing, as you 
 admit, many good things, but containing others, forsooth, derogatory 
 from the sovereignty of the French people ! In whom does it residej 
 and how far does it extend ? Is it to be beyond control, without 
 measure, and without bounds ? 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 *' St. Domlns;o, a colony forming an integral part of the French 
 republic, aims at independence, it is said. Why should it not? The 
 United States of America did the same; and with the assistance of 
 monarchical France they succeeded and established it. But there are 
 defects as well as presumption in our constitution. I know there are. 
 What human institution is without them } Yet I will challenge the 
 system you have imposed upon the republic you govern, to shew a 
 greater regard to personal or political liberty, to the freedom of 
 speech, or the freedom of man. The high situation I fill, is not of my 
 own choosing; it has been forced upon me by imperious circumstan- 
 ces. I have not overturned a constitution I had sworn to maintain. 
 I saw this wretched isle a prey to frantic and contending' factions. 
 My character, my complexion, gave me some influence with the peo- 
 ple who inhabit it, and I was almost by their unanimous voice called 
 to authority. I crushed sedition ; I put down rebellion ; I restored 
 tranquillity; I established order in the place of anarchy; I gave them 
 peace, and I gave them a constitution. Have you, Citizen-Consul, 
 another or a better title to the commanding situation you occupy ? If 
 they enjoy not under it as great a portion of liberty as is to be found 
 under othrr governments, the cause is in their habits of life, and in the 
 ignorance and barbarity inseparable from a state of slavery. I estab- 
 lished for an unfortunate race of beings, who were just loosened from 
 the yoke, the only system of rule that was suited to their conditions 
 or capacities. That it leaves room, in many instances, for coercion 
 and despotism, cannot be denied; but is the constitution of the repub- 
 lic of France, the most enlightened part of enlightened Europe, quite 
 free from them ? If thirty millions of Frenchmen find their happiness 
 and security, as I am told, in the revolution of the 18th Bruraaire, 
 surely I should not be envied the love and confidence of the poor 
 blacks, ray countrymen. It will be for posterity to decide, whether 
 we have ruled through affection, or through apathy and fear. 
 
 " You offer freedom to the blacks, and say, that in all the coun- 
 tries you have been in, you have given it to the people who had it 
 not. I am not perfectly acquainted with the circumstances that have 
 recently happened in Europe ; but the reports that have reached me 
 do not accord with this assertion. In fact, it is of little consequence. 
 The liberty that is to be found in France, or Belgium, or Helvetia, or 
 in the republics, Batavian, Ligurian, or Cisalpine, would never be 
 cordially received, or cheerfully acquiesced in, by the people of St. 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 Domingo* Such changes, or such freedom, are far, very far, fronj 
 being desired, even by us. 
 
 " You ask nie, whether I desire consideration, honors, fortune. 
 Most certainly 1 do, but not of your giving. My consideration is 
 placed in the respect of my countrymen, my honors in their attach- 
 ment my fortune in their disinterested fidelity. Has this mean idea 
 of personal aggrandisement been held out, in the hope that I would 
 thereby be induced to betray the cause I have undertaken ? You 
 should learn to estimate the moral principle of other men by your 
 own If the person who claims a right to that throne on which you 
 are seated, were to call on you to descend from it, what would be 
 your answer ? The power I possess has been as legitimately acquired 
 as your own, and nought but the decided voice of the people of St. 
 Doniingo shall compel me to relinquish it. 
 
 '' It is not cemented by blood, or maintained by the artifices of 
 European policy. ' The ferocious men whose persecutions I put a 
 stop to,' have confessed my clemency, and I have pardoned the wretch 
 whose dagger has been aimed at my life. If I have removed from 
 t!)is island certain turbulent spirits, who strove to feed the flames of 
 civil war, their guilt had been first established bf fore a competent 
 tribunal and finally confessed by themselves. Is there one of them 
 who can say that he has been condemned unheard or untried? And 
 yet these monsters a.e to be brought back once more, and, aided by 
 thf blood-hounds of Cuba, are to be uncoupled and hallooed lo hunt us 
 down at)d devour us: and this by men who dare to call themselves 
 Christieins. Why should it excite your praise and surprise, that I 
 have upheld ' the rpligion and wor!<hij) of God, from whom all things 
 coine .f-" Aas ' that all-bounteous Beinsj, whose holy word has but 
 lately found favour in your republic, by me has ever been honored 
 and glorified. In his protecting care, I have sought, for safety and 
 ci.DsolatioM amidst dangers and difficulties, when encompassed by 
 trt achery and treason, and I was never disappointed. Before him 
 and ^ou, 1 am, as you sav, to be the person principally responsible 
 for t!ie massacres and murders that are perpetrating in this deserted 
 isle. Be it so. In his all just and dread disposal, be the issue of this 
 contest. Let him decide between me and my enemies ; between those 
 who have violated his precepts and abjured his holy name, and one 
 who has never ceased to acknowledge and adore him. 
 
 (Signed) " Toussaunt Louverture.'-' 
 
APPENDIX III. 
 
 Order of the Ceremonies appointed to he observed on 
 the Coronaiio7i of Jean Jacques, the first Emperor 
 of Hnyti. 
 
 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept. 8. 
 
 On the 8th of October, all the troops of the garrison, in the best 
 order possible, will march under arras to the Champ de Mars, at two 
 o'clock, A. M. precisely, and form in square battalions. 
 
 A detachment of grenadiers immediately to form a line to the house 
 of the commandant-general of division. 
 
 At three o'clock the members of all the civil and military awtlwri- 
 ties, having assembled at the government-house, will thence proceed 
 to the Champ de Mars in the following order: — 
 
 A platoon of grenadiers — the public teachers, conducting a great 
 number of their pupils — the deputation of the body ofartizans, pre- 
 ceded by a chief arlizan— a deputation of agriculturalists, preceded by 
 one of their principal members — a deputation of foreign commerce, 
 preceded by one of its members — a deputation of national commerce, 
 preceded by one of its members — the members of justice, and the 
 ministerial officers — the health officers of the army, attached to the 
 division — the officers of the military marine — the etat major of the 
 place, connected whh that of the circuit — the administrators, and those 
 in their employ — the general commanding the divisions, accompanied 
 by his dtat-major — a platoon of grenadiers. 
 
 When they arrive at the Champ de Mars, all the drums shall beat 
 a march, and the procession shall advance to an amphitheatre, which 
 shall be prepared for its use. 
 
 The act, announcing the nomination of the " Emperor" (Dessa- 
 lines), shall be read in a loud and intelligible voice ! 
 
 A discharge of musketry and cannon, which shall be repeated by 
 all the forts of the city, and vessels in the harbour, shall follow the 
 reading of the act. 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 The ceremony of the coronation shall next take place on a throne, 
 elevated in the midst of the amphitheatre, and surrounded by all the 
 great oflScers of the empire. 
 
 The ceremony shall be announced by a triple discharge of cannon 
 and musketry. 
 
 After the ceremony, the troops shall file off to the church, and form 
 in order of battle. 
 
 The procession, in the order above-mentioned, shall also advance 
 to the church, where a Te Deum, in thanksgiving for this memorable 
 day, shall be sung. 
 
 During the Te Deum, a third discharge of cannon and musketry 
 shall take place. 
 
 After the Te Deum, the procession shall return, in the same order, 
 to the house of the general of division. 
 
 The fete shall terminate by a grand illumination in all parts of the 
 city. 
 
 Done at Port-au-Prince, the 6th September, 1804, the first 
 year of Independence. 
 
 The general of division. 
 
 (Signed) A. Petion. 
 
APPENDIX IV. 
 
 New Constitution of Hayti. 
 
 The undersigned mandatories, charged with the powers of the peo- 
 ple of Hayti, being legally convoked by his Excellency, the general- 
 in-chief of the army, penetrated by the necessity of making their con- 
 stituents enjoy the sacred, imprescriptible, and unalienable rights of 
 man, proclaim, in the presence and under the auspices of the All- 
 powerful, the articles contained in the present constitutional part : 
 
 Title I. Of the Condition of Citizens. 
 
 1 Every person residing on the territory of Hayti, is free, in the 
 fullest sense. 
 
 2. Slavery is for ever abolished in Hayti. 
 
 3. No one has a right to violate the asylum of a citizen, nor to 
 enter forcibly into his dwelling, without an order, emanating from a 
 superior and competent authority. 
 
 4. All property is under the protection of the government. Every 
 attack upon the property of a citizen, is a crime which the law 
 punishes. 
 
 5. The law punishes assassination with death. 
 
 Title II. Of the Government. 
 
 8. The government of Hayti is composed : — First, of a chief 
 magistrate, who takes the title and quality of president and general- 
 issimo of the forces of Hayti, both by land and sea : every other de- 
 nomination is forever prescribed in Hayti: — Secondly, of a council 
 of state. 
 
 The go\^ernment of Hayti takes the title, and will be known by the 
 denomination of" The State of Hayti." 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 7. The constitution names the general-in-chief. Henry Christophe, 
 president and generalissimo of the forces, both by sea and land, of 
 the State of Hayti. 
 
 8. The trust of president and generalissimo of the forces, is for 
 life. 
 
 9. The president has the- right of choosing his successor, but only 
 from among the generals, and in the manner hereafter prescribed : — 
 This choice must be secret, and contained in a sealed packet, which 
 shall be only opened by the council of state, solemnly assembled for that 
 purpose. The president shall take all necessary precautions for in- 
 forming the council of state where this packet shall be deposited. 
 
 10. The armed force shall be under the direction of the president, 
 as also the administration of the finances. 
 
 11. The president has the power to make treaties with foreign 
 nations, as well as for the purpose of establishing commercial rela- 
 tions, as to secure the independence of the state. 
 
 12. He is to conclude peace, and to declare war, to maintain the 
 rights of the people of Hayti. 
 
 13. He has also the right to consider of the means of favouring 
 and increasing the population of the country. 
 
 14. He is to propose the laws to the council of state, who, after 
 having adopted them and drawn them up, are to send them back to 
 him for his sanction, without which they cannot be executed. 
 
 15. The appointments of the president are fixed at 40,000 dollars 
 a year. 
 
 Title IH. Of the Council of State. 
 
 16. The council of state is composed of nine members, nominated 
 by the president ; of wl\om two-thirds, at least, are to be generals. 
 
 17. The functions of the council of state are to receive the propo- 
 sitions of laws from the president, and to draw them up in the manner 
 they may judge advisable ; to fix the amount of taxes, and the mode 
 of collecting them ; to sanction the treaties concluded by the presi- 
 dent ; and to fix upon the mode for recruiting the army. An account 
 shall be presented to them, annually, of the receipts and expenses, 
 and of the resources of the country. 
 
 [The IV. V. and VI. titles respect the appointment of a superin- 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 tendent general of the finances, the marine, and the interior; and also 
 the appointment of a secretary of state, and the tribunals.] 
 
 Title VI [. Of Religim. 
 
 The cathoh'c, apostolic, and Roman religion is the only one ac- 
 knowledged by the government. 
 
 The exercise of other religions is tolerated, but not publicly. 
 
 Title VIII. Of Public Education. 
 
 There shall be established a central school in each division, and 
 particular schools in each subdivision. 
 
 Title IX. Of the guarantee of the neighbouring Colonies. 
 
 The government of Hayti declares to those powers who have colo- 
 nies in its neighbourhood, its fixed determination to give no distur- 
 bance to the government of these colonies. 
 
 The people of Hayti make no conquests out of their own island ; 
 and they confine themselves to the preservation of their own territory, 
 
 [After these nine heads, follow some general regulations, the prin- 
 cipal of which are, — that every Haytian, from sixteen to fifty, can be 
 called into the army, whenever the safety of the state requires it ; that 
 the government solemnly guarantees to foreign merchants the security 
 of their persons and properties ; divorce is strictly forbidden j 
 and agriculture, which is declared to be the most ancient, noble, and 
 useful of all the arts, is to be encouraged and protected,] 
 
 32 
 
APPENDIX V. 
 
 Constitutional Law of the Council of State for the estab- 
 lishment of Royalty in Hayti. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Of the Supreme Authority. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 The president. Henry Chrlstophe, is declared king of Hayti, under 
 the name of Henry. 
 
 Tiiis title, with its prerogatives and privilesres, shall be hereditary in 
 the male and legitimate descendants of his family in a direct line, by 
 elder birthright, to the exclusion of females. 
 
 Art. 2. All the acts of the kingdom shall be in the name of the king, 
 published anrj promulgated under the royal seal. 
 
 Art. 3, In default of male children in a direct line, the succession 
 shall pass into the family of the prince nearest akin to the sovereign, 
 or the most ancient in dignity. 
 
 Art 4. In default of an heir-apparent, it shall be lawful for the king 
 to adopt the children of such prince of the kingdom as he shall judge 
 proper. 
 
 Art. 5. If there happen to be male children born after such adop- 
 tion, their right of succession shall prevail over that of the adopted 
 children. • 
 
 Art. 6. At the decease of the king, and until bis successor be ac- 
 knowledged, the affairs of the kingdom shall be governed by the 
 ministers and the king's council, who shall jointly form a general 
 Council ; their decisions to be determined by a majority of votes^ 
 and the secretary of state to keep a record of the deliberations,- 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Of the Royal Family. 
 
 Art. 7. The king's consort is declared queen of Hayti. 
 
 Art. 8. The members of the royal fa nily shall bear the title of 
 Princes and Princesses : they are to be styleH Royal Highnesses, and 
 the heir-apparent is to be denominated Prince Royal. 
 
 Art. 9. The princes are to take their seats as members of the 
 council of state, on their coming of age. 
 
 Art. 10. The royal princess and princesses are not at liberty to 
 marry without the approbation of the king. 
 
 Art. 11. The king himself directs the organization of his palace in 
 a manner conformable to the dignity of the crown 
 
 Art. 12. Ihere shall be established, by the orders of the king, 
 palaces and castles in those parts of the kingdom which he shall judge 
 proper to fix upon. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Of the Regency, 
 
 Art. 13. The king is a minor until he shall have completed his fif- 
 teenth year: during his minority he shall be styled regent of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Art. 14. The protector shall be at least twenty-five years of age, 
 and shall be chosen from among the princes most nearly related to 
 the king (to the exclusion of females,) and in default of such, from 
 among the great dignitaries of the kingdom. 
 
 Art. 15. In default of the appointment of a protector on the part 
 of the king, the general council shall select one in the manner pre- 
 scribed in the foregoing article. 
 
 Art. 16. The protector is to exercise, until the king be of age, all the 
 attributes of the royal dignity. 
 
 Art. 17. He cannot conclude any treaty of peace, alliance, or 
 commerce, nor make any declaration of war, but after mature delibe- 
 ration, and with the advice of the general council: their opinions 
 ^hall be taken according to the majority of votes; and in case of 
 equality, that side which accords with the opinion of the protector shall 
 preponderate. 
 
^44 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Art. 18, The protector cannot nominate, either to the great dig- 
 nities of the kingdom, or to the situations of general officers in the 
 land or sea forces. 
 
 Art 19. All the acts of the regency are in the name of the king, 
 who is minor. 
 
 Art. 20. The care of the king, during his minority, is confided to 
 his mother; and in default of a mother, to the prince appointed by 
 the late king. 
 
 Neither the protector, nor his descendants, shall be eligible for the 
 charge of the king, who is minor. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Of the Great Council, and of the Privy Council. 
 
 Art. 21. The great council is composed of the princes of the blood, 
 of princes, dukes, and counts, nominated and chosen by his majestj' j 
 who is also to fix their number. 
 
 Art. 22. The king is to preside at the council, and when he does 
 not preside in person, shall appoint one of the dignitaries of the king- 
 dom to fulfil that office. 
 
 Art 23. The privy council shall be chosen by the king from among 
 the great dignitaries of the kingdom. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Of the Great Officers of the Kingdom. 
 
 Art. 24. Tlie great officers of the kingdom are grand marshals of 
 Hayti : they are to be chosen from among the generals of all ranks, 
 according to merit. 
 
 Art 25. Their number is not limited ; but to be determined by the 
 king at every promotion. 
 
 Art 26. The places of great officers of thje kingdom are for life. 
 
 Art. 27. When, by the king's order, or on account of being in- 
 valid, any one of the great officers of the kingdom shall cease to be 
 actively eiiployed, he shall nevertheless retain his titles, his rank, 
 and the half of his pay. 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 ACT VI. 
 Of the Ministry, 
 
 Art. 28. There shall be four ministers chosen and appointed by 
 the king : 
 
 The minister of war and marine ; 
 
 The minister of finances and of the interior ; 
 
 The minister of foreign affairs ; and 
 
 The minister of justice. 
 
 Art 29. The ministers shall be members of the council, and have 
 a deliberative voice. 
 
 Art. 30. The ministers shall account directly to his majesty, and 
 receive his orders. 
 
 ACT VII. 
 
 Of the Oaths. 
 
 Art. 31. The king at his accession, or on his coming of age, shall 
 take an oath upon the gospels, in the presence of the great authorities 
 of the kingdom. 
 
 Art. 32. The protector, before entering upon his functions, shall 
 also take an oalh, with the same formalities. 
 
 Art. 33. The principal clergy , the great officers, the ministers, and the 
 secretary of state, shall also take the oath of fidelity at the king's hands. 
 
 ACT VIIL 
 
 Of the Promulgation. 
 
 Art. 34. The promulgation of all the acts of the kingdom shall 
 begin in the following form: 
 
 " We, by the grace of God, and the constitutional law of the state, 
 king of Hayti, to all present and to come, greeting." 
 
 And all public acts shall conclude thus: 
 
 " We do hereby order and command, that these presents, sealed 
 ■with our seal, be addressed to all courts, tribunals, and administrative 
 authorities, to be transcribed into their registers, to be observed and 
 
246 APPENDIX. 
 
 caused to be observed throughout the kingdom; and the minister of 
 justice is charg^ed with the promulgation thereof." 
 
 Art. 35, The executory proceedings in judgments of the courts of 
 justice of the tribunals, are to run thus : 
 
 "We, by the grace of God and the constitutional law of the state, 
 king of Hayti, to all present and to come, greeting." 
 
 Then shall follow the copy of the judgment or decree : " We order 
 and command all constables and other officers, on this requisition, to 
 put into execution the said judgment, and our attorneys in the tribunals 
 to promote the same ; and the commandants and officers of the public 
 force to assist, whensoever they shall legally be required so to do. In 
 testiipony of which, the present judgment has been signed by the pre- 
 sident of the court, and the register." 
 
 Done by the council of state of Hayti, at Cape Henry, the 28th 
 March, 1811, the 8th year of independence. 
 
 Signed — Paul Remain, senior ; Andrew Vernet, Toussatnt Brave^ 
 Jean Philippe, Daux, Martial Besse, Jean Pierre Richard^ Jean 
 Fleur^f Jean Babtiste Juge, Etienne Magni/, Secretary. 
 
APPENDIX VI. 
 
 Abstract of the Royal Almanac ofHayti^for the year 1314. 
 
 It commences with a calendar for the year, containing all the 
 usual information which calendars are intended to give; and, among 
 the rest, the saints' days of the Romish church : also the festivals of 
 the patron saints of all the parishes into which Christophe's dominions 
 are divided and the national festivals, of which there are seven, viz. 
 — the festival of independence ; of the foundation of the monarchy ; 
 of the coronation of the king and queen ; of the birthdays of the king, 
 queen, and prince royal ; and of agriculture. 
 
 Next follows a very brief sketch of the kingdom of Hayti. The 
 principles of the feudal government are said to be unknown; but 
 titles of hereditary nobility, and the royal and military order of St. 
 Henry, are the recompences destined for those who devote their lives 
 to the public service, or who shed their blood for their king and coun- 
 try, A great council of state, and a privy council, composed of the 
 great dignitaries and other officers of the kingdom, consult on such 
 matters as the king submits to them. The business of the state is 
 conducted by four ministers, viz. — of war and the marine, of the finances, 
 of foreign afftirs, and of justice; and a secretary of state. A selec- 
 tion from the army, equipped with the utmost care, forms the royal 
 guards. The army itself is inured to war, and well disciplined: its 
 battalions are always complete; its officers of tried valour and skill; 
 and the military employment is that which is most highly honoured 
 in Hayti : it is the great object of the ambition of parents for their 
 children. " The legislation consists of a code of laws, simple, clear, 
 precise,and adapted to the manners, usages, and character of the people.^^ 
 *' An agricultural code ; a thing unexampled among other nations, 
 which it has occupied the main solicitude of the king to form, regulates 
 the reciprocal duties of proprietors, tenants, and cultivators ; the po- 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 lice of the plantations; the culture and preparation of the different 
 products of the soil ; and, in short, the whole rural economy of Hayti. 
 The principles of this code are laid in justice, equity and humanity. 
 The labourers have been restored to the rank of freemen. Industry 
 is encouraged as the parent of virtue; and idleness, repressed by law, 
 as the source of vice. In short, the traces of the former odious system, 
 have vanished for ever from the soil of Hayti." The government 
 does all in its power to encourage agriculture, as the grand source of 
 prosperity. But beside this, various manufactures have been estab- 
 lished, with a fair prospect of success Great attention is paid to 
 morals and manners. Marriage is honoured, protected, and encour- 
 aged ; no Hayiian who is unmarried can fill any place of distinction. 
 Divorce is not permitted. The Catholic religion has resumed its 
 splendor; the hierarchy consists of an archbishop, three bishops, and 
 a cure in each parish Great encouragement is held out to foreign 
 mercha its to settle in Hayti : the king is ready even to assist them 
 with capital, and many have received important aid from him. 
 
 Next follows the '' Livre Rouge," the •' Court Calendar" of Hayti. 
 
 The first chapter Is entitled the " Royal Family," and gives the 
 usual particulars respecting his majesty Henry, king of Hayti. and 
 her majesty Maria Louisa, queen of iayti: their children, of whom 
 there are four, two sons and two daughters ; and the princes of the 
 blood. 
 
 The second chapter contains the names and titles of the great offi- 
 cers of state; the colonel-general of the Haytian guards, the grand 
 marshal of Hayti, the minister of foreign affairs and secretary of state, 
 the archbishop, grand almoner to the king, the grand master of the 
 ceremonies. 
 
 The third chapter contains a list of the nobility, consisting, beside 
 the princes of the blood, of '' three princes of the kingdom," eight 
 dukes, twenty counts, thirty-seven barons, and eleven chevaliers. 
 
 The fourth chapter gives the hoDsehold establishment of the king, 
 queen, prince royal, and princesses royal, and the king's household 
 troops. It mentions nine ro\'al palaces, and eight royal chaleaus- 
 One of the palaces is called '' Le Palais de Sans Souci;'' and one of 
 the chateaus, " Le Chateau des Delices de la Reine." There are the 
 usual number of chamberlains, secretaries, librarians, pages, gover- 
 nors of palaces, physicians, surgeons, &c. &c. The" The xMaison 
 Militaire du Roi," consists of the " Etat Major General," a corps of 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 "horse artillery, two companies of boly jruards, thre-^ sqimrlrons of 
 light horse, and a regiment of grenadier infantry, consisting of five 
 battalions. 
 
 The fifth chapter contains a list of the grand coimcil of state and 
 the priyv council. The grand council of state forms also the high 
 court of justice for the trial of royal or noble delinquents, and of pub- 
 lic functionaries charged with malversation in office. To it is also com- 
 mitted the trial of treasonable attemjjts or conspiracies; and it forms, 
 moreover, a court of appeal from the inferior tribunals. 
 
 The sixth chapter contains an account of the royal and military 
 order of St. Henry. The order is endowed with an annual income 
 of 30(»,000 livres. 
 
 The seventh chapter contains a detail of the different departments 
 of the state, the secretary of state's office, the chancery, the depart- 
 ment of war and marine, that of the finances and the interior, that of 
 justice, and that of grand admiral. 
 
 The eighth chapter is entitled, " The Clergy." The Romaa 
 Catholic religion is stated to be the only one recognized and publicly 
 exercised in Hayti The archbishop, who was consecrated by the 
 archbishop of Palermo, has a chapter, a seminary, and a college at- 
 tached to his metropolitan see, and all well endowed. He has also 
 three archi-episcopal palaces assigned to him. The bishops have each 
 a chapter and a seminary, endowed with considerable revenues. " The 
 royal and parochial church of Sans Souci,"it is stated ^' is a majestic 
 structure, erected by the king, and stands a monument of his royal 
 munificence and piety." The pope had been supplicated to confirm 
 the ecclesiastical appointments. 
 
 The ninth chapter is entitled the " Military Organization of the 
 Kingdom,'' and occupies fifty seven pa,es. It contains a list both of 
 the army and navy ; the army consisting of fifty battalions, and the 
 navy of two rear admirals, two chiefs of division, two captains of ships, 
 fou> captains of frigates, &c. 
 
 The tenth chapter gives a list of the intendants and officers of the 
 finances, customs, &c. ; of the surveyors of gardens, waters, forests, 
 buildings; directors of the mint; superintendents of weights, mea- 
 sures, &c. 
 
 The eleventh chaptercontainsthejudicia'-y organization ; a list of the 
 supreme court, and the barristers and solicitois ol the superior courts; 
 
 33 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the judges and officers of the courts of admiralty, and parochial 
 jurisdiction: and of the notaries, surveyors, and auctioneers 
 
 The twelfth chapter details the regulations of the post-office. 
 
 The thirteenth chapter is entitled " Public Instruction," and gives 
 an account of the schools established by the king, who supports the 
 professors and teachers, and gives annual prizes to the most distin- 
 guished scholars. 
 
 The fourteenth chapter is entitled the '' Fine Arts,'' and contains a 
 list of the royal acailemy of music, and of the royal painters. 
 
 The jfifteenth chapter gives a list of the performers at the theatre 
 royal : and the sixteenth, a list of the persons who have charge of the 
 royal breeding studs, and flocks of sheep. 
 
 The whole closes with an account of the etiquette of the court ; 
 the ceremony of presentations and audiences ; of levee days, which 
 are fixed for every Thursday, at ten in the morning ; and of drawing- 
 room days, which are fixed at five in the afternoon of the same day. 
 Petitions may be presented to the king, and answers will be given on 
 the following Thursday. 
 
APPENDIX VIL 
 
 Dispatch from Comte de Limonade, secretary of state, 
 and minister for foreign affairs of Christophe, to 
 M. Peltier^ in London ; dated from the palace of 
 Sans Souct, June lUi/i, 1814. 
 
 « Sm, 
 " Your dispatches of the 21st of March and 6th of April last, and 
 their duplicates, reached me by the F^nglish brig Vigilant, Captain 
 Fknai;;an, which entered the port of Capp Henry, on the 19th of May ; 
 and by the Bedford, Captain Stiickfield : and the Smolensk, Captain 
 Jowsey, which entered yesterday ; bringing me your Ambigus, ga- 
 zettes, and other papers, &c. 
 
 ^' I have laid these dispatches before the king, who heard them read 
 with all the -ittention which they merit. 
 
 " The details which you give us of the great events that have taken 
 place in Europe, and particularly in France, have afforded the king 
 much satisfaction The king, who had attentively observed the train 
 of events which took place after the retreat of Napolean from Moscow, 
 and successively those of Germany, had concluded that Napolean, 
 without the entire support of the French people, by a levy en masse, 
 could never make head against his numerous enemies, who were so 
 much the more formidable, because they were instructed by experi- 
 ence ; because they had long-standing quarrels to revenge ; because 
 the safety and the honor of their thrones were at stake ; because they 
 felt the necessity of uniting, to form a mass of active force which 
 nothing could withstand. His majesty, calcniating the immense losses 
 sustained by the French, and the new sacrifices which it would be 
 necessary to make, foresaw, that if Napolean were not seconded by 
 the people, he would inevitably sink. His majesty thought besides, 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 that if Napolean fell, he would not fail to bury himself under the 
 ruins : but his majesty could never have divined that he would close 
 his career in a manner so little worthy of a soldier. His majesty's 
 prognostics have been partly verified in the subjugation of the impla- 
 cable enemy of the world ; but the repose of the world will never be 
 secure while Napolean lives. 
 
 " In the return to philanthropic principles, which the governments 
 of Europe appear desirous of adopting, his majesty perceives new 
 means of security to his kingdom. His majesty, however, since the 
 expulsion of the sattellites of Napolean from the soil of Hayti, has 
 never ceased preparing himself for war, and for the most obstinate 
 resistance, in the event of an invasion of his kingdom. His prepara- 
 tions have been still further augmented by the complete organization 
 of his troops, the provisioning of his fortresses and other means of 
 defence liich have been recently taken, since the first overtures for 
 peace between Napolean and England, through the mediation of 
 Austria, which we learned here from the newspapers ; and especially 
 ill consequence of the various notices and valuable information which 
 you have given us, and which has enabled his majesty to take all 
 suitable measures. 
 
 " If, on the one hand, the policy of his majesty has led him to 
 measures of prudence necessary for his safety, he has not, on the other, 
 neglected to cause cultivation to flourish, as you will be convinced by 
 the immense quantity of colonial produce which issues from the ports 
 of this island 
 
 " You must have seen, from the various acts of his majesty's govern- 
 ment, since his accession to the throne, that his majesty has never 
 confounded the French people with the governments which oppressed 
 them. To peacealde merchants he has always ofifered security, pro- 
 tection, and comuierce, at the same time that he was determined to 
 repel every kind of enemy who should attempt to reduce us to slavery. 
 '' You may declare. Sir, as you are now authorised to do, that his 
 majesty will with pleasure receive the vessels of French merchants, 
 which shall be legally cleared out for the ports of Hayti. They shall 
 be protected and treated like the subjects of other friendly powers who 
 trade peaceably with Hayii, provided ihey punctually conform to the 
 laws of the kins^flom. You may give this assurance to the French 
 merchants, and even publish it in your journals. 
 
 " A new order of things arises : his majesty embraces the consoling 
 
APPENDIX. 253 
 
 hope of finding a just and philanthropic government, which, convin- 
 ced that force is powerless to reduce us to subjection, will not forget, 
 among our claims, that of having combatted its most implacable er>- 
 emy from the commencement of his reign to his fall, and never having 
 listened to any of those proposals which his aijents, from all countries, 
 have made to us. His majesty flatters himself that he will find hu- 
 mane sentiments in a sovereign instructed by misfortune. 
 
 " In our state of uncertainty, as to the measures of the new sove- 
 reign of France with regard to us, we cannot take any direct course 
 or step, as you i ivited us, until we are positively informed as to his 
 intentions. It is for you, Sir, who, with unbounded attachment and 
 fidelity, have constantly defended the interests of the too-long unfor- 
 tunate monarch whom you serve; it is for you, who are much attached 
 to the cause of King Henry, and who possess information respecting this 
 country, to prepare the channels by which the two powers may come 
 to an understanding for their mutual interest, and the benefit of their 
 respective subjects. When this is done, you need not doubt that his 
 majesty will listen to such just and reasonable proposals as may be 
 made to him, and will hasten to appoint an accredited representative, 
 to stipulate for his interests, and those of his kingdom. 
 
 (Signed) " De LimonAde." 
 
APPENDIX VIII. 
 
 Letter from an English merchant, at Port-au-Prince, 
 dated August Ist, 1814. 
 
 " The present is to give you some idea of our situation and 
 prospects since the late sjreat change of affairs on the continent. I 
 really anticipate, with feelings of horror, the scenes of bloodshed and 
 massacre that must take place in this island, in the event of the French 
 attacking it. The people, according to their present feeling, could 
 not bear, with patience, any proposal from France, inconsistent with 
 principles of independence. I have been on intimate terms with 
 president Petion for years, and can assure you, a more virtuous and 
 amiable man I never knew. He is the idol of the people, and their 
 confidence in him is unbounded ; but even he would be removed from 
 po'.ver, were he supposed capable of a wish to transfer this colony to 
 France. Our information bids us to expect an attack in December. It 
 has been officially notified by government, that, on the first appear- 
 ance of the enemy, fire will be communicated to all the buildings in the 
 cities, and every thing will be destroyed. With this information, we 
 have the consoling promise, that, whenever the enemy is driven out, 
 and the finances put in order, we shall all be paid our debts and 
 losses. 
 
 " It is, indeed, a sight that makes humanity shudder, to see the 
 preparations making for the destruction of the cities and every thing 
 in them, not portable to the mountains. The arsenals are filled with 
 torches ready to be lighted. If a suggestion is whispered at the 
 governm^^nt-house, questioning the policy, the reply is, " Look 
 at Moscow :" adding, " that had Moscow not been destroyed, Na- 
 polean would still remain the despot of Europe." 
 
 "I confess the reasoning appears sound. For my part, Ihopel shall so 
 far close my aff"airs,that I shall not be an eye witness of the tragical scenes 
 that must take place here. The two parties, those of Petion and Christo- 
 
APPENDIX. 255 
 
 phe, can bring into the field upwards of sixty thousand fi£rhtingmen,inthe 
 event ofa French invasion: and the soldiers are innred to fatigue and dan- 
 ger. In truth, I have witnessed, in the seige of this city, acts of bravery, 
 in whole regiments, that would do honor to the finest troops in Eu- 
 rope. AH their forts and strong places in the mountains are filling 
 with cured provisions of the country, and amunjtion. Such is the 
 present state of Hayti, and such are the preoarations making for hu- 
 man destruction j and all under the administration of an enlightened, 
 virtuous man. My soul sinks within me when I contemplate it. The 
 idea of destroying so many human beings, is ' neither charitable in 
 conception, nor easy in execution.' A few months will decide, whether 
 the finest country in the western world, is to be a dreary desert, or a 
 flourishing state." 
 
APPENDIX IX. 
 KINGDOM OF HAYTL 
 
 Manifesto of the King. 
 
 SovERErcN of a nation too lon^ oppressed, a nation which has suf- 
 fered the most cruel persecutions, and which, by its energy, con- 
 stancy, courage, and valor, has succeeded in acquiring liberty and 
 independence ; the only object of our constant solicitude has been 
 to give it a place among civilized states, by incessant labors for the 
 happiness of the virtuous, brave, and generous people, who have en- 
 trusted us with their destinies. 
 
 It is under the present favourable circumstances, now when liberai 
 and healing opinions appear to efface the memory of those disastrous 
 times, in which mankind groaned under the most dreadful oppression : 
 now, when we see the sovereigns of Europe occupied in promoting 
 the welfare of their subjects, that we deem it our duty to raise our 
 voice, to juscify, at the tribunal of nations, the legitimacy of our in- 
 dependence. 
 
 A simple statement of facts, a plain narrative of the events which 
 have led to our independence, will be sufficient to demonstrate to 
 the whole world our rights and the justice of our cause. 
 
 We will not attempt to describe the deplorable situation into which 
 we M'ere plunged before the epoch of our emancipation. The world 
 knows how, for more than a hundred and fifty years, we groaned un- 
 der the grievous yoke oi slavery, doomed to contempt and suffering. 
 The tale of our long-continued misfortunes, and the description of the 
 horrible tortures that we endured beneath the colonial system, are 
 the province of history, which will transmit them to posterity. 
 
 We hasten from this period of disgrace and iniquity, to arrive at 
 the epoch when universal liberty was proclaimed by the agents of the 
 French government, and sanctioned by France herself, during several 
 
APPENDIX. 257 
 
 years of connexion and communication, and of mutual and uninter- 
 rupted correspondence, between the governments of the two coun- 
 tries 
 
 We merited the blessiiigs of liberty, by our faithful attachment to 
 the mother country : we proved our gratitude to her, when, reduced 
 to our own resources ; deprived pf all communication with the parent 
 state, we resisted every seduction ; when, inflexible to menaces, deaf 
 to propositions, inaccessible to artifice, we braved misery, famine, 
 and privations of every kind, and finally triumphed over her enemies, 
 both external and internal. 
 
 We were then t*ar from anticipating, that twelve years after, as a 
 reward for so much perseverance, so many sacrifices, and so much 
 bl )od, France would desire to deprive us, in a manner the most bar- 
 barous, of that most precious of all possessions, Liberty. 
 
 Under the administration of the governor-general, Toussaint Lou- 
 verture, Hayti was rising from its ashes; every thingr seemed to 
 promise a happy futurity. The arrival of General Hedouville en- 
 tirely changed the aspect of affairs, and gave a mortal blow to public 
 tranquillity. We shall not enter into a detail of his intrigues with 
 the Haytian General Rigaud, whom he persuaded to rebel against his 
 legitimate chief; we shall only say, that, before he quitted the island, 
 this agent brought every thing into confusion, by throwing among us 
 the brands of discord, and lighting up the torch of civil war ; and it 
 was not till after torrents of blood had been shed, that tranquillity 
 Avas re-established. 
 
 Always intent upon the restoration and establishment of peace, 
 Toussaint Louverture, by his paternal administration, had reinstated, 
 in full force, law, morals, religion, education, and industry. Agri- 
 culture and commerce were flourishing. He favoured the white colo- 
 nists, particularly the planters; and his attentions and partialities had 
 been carried to such a length, that he was loudly blamed for being 
 more attached to them than to people of his own colour. Nor was 
 this reproach without some foundation ; for a few months before the 
 arrival of the French, he sacrificed his own nephew, General Moise, 
 because he had disobeyed his orders for the protection of the colo- 
 nists. That act of the governor, and the great confidence he placed 
 in the French government, were the principal causes of the feeble 
 resistance which the French met with in Hayti. Indeed, so great 
 was his confidence in that government, that he had discharged most of 
 
 34 
 
258 APPENDIX. 
 
 the regular troops, and sent them back to the cuhivation of the soil. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs, when the peace of Amiens was 
 negociating. It was scarcely concluded, when a formidable arma- 
 ment disembarked upon our coast a numerous army, which took us 
 by surprise when we supposed ourselves in the most perfect security, 
 and plunged us at once into an abyss of calamities. 
 
 Posterity will scarcely believe, that in an enlightened and philan- 
 thropic age, an enterprize so abominable should ever have taken place. 
 From amidst of an intelligent people, a swarm of barbarians issued forth 
 with the nefarious design of exterminating: a civilized and unoffending 
 naiion. or reloading them with the fetters of perpetual bondage. 
 
 It was not enough to come with force ; but, the better to insure 
 success to the expedition, it was deemed necessary to employ per- 
 fidious and infamous means : it was necessary to sow dissention a- 
 mongst us, in order to produce a diversion in favour of their de- 
 structive projects. They neglected nothing to attain their execrable 
 ends. The chiefs, of different colours, who were to be found in 
 France, even the sons of the Governor Louverture himself, were 
 pressed into the service for the expedition. They were, like 
 ourselves, deceive! by that master piece of perfidy, the proclamation 
 of the first consul, in which he told us, " Voii are all equal and free 
 before God and the Republic/" This was his declaration, at the 
 same time that his instructions to General lie Clerc expressly enjoin- 
 ed the restoration of slavery. It was not enough to call upon men to 
 witness his falsehood, but the Deity himself must be insulted by this 
 horrible blasphemy. * 
 
 The greater part of the population, deceived by these fallacious 
 promises, and long accustomed to consider themselves as French, 
 submitted without resistance. So little did the governor expect to 
 have an enemy to combat, that he had given no orders to his generals 
 to resist, in case of attack ; and when the French armament arrived, 
 he was making the circuit of the eastern side of the island. If some 
 generals did resist, it was only because the menacing and hostile 
 manner in which they were summoned to surrender, obliged them to 
 consult their duty, their honor, and the circumstances in which tliey 
 were placed. 
 
 [To prove these assertions, reference is made to some official docu- 
 ments, annexed to the manifesto.] 
 
 After a resistance of some months, the governor-general yielded to 
 
APPENDIX. 259 
 
 the pressing entreaties of General Le Clerc, and to his solemn pro- 
 testations that perfect liberty was intended to be rnaintaiiierl, and that 
 France would never destroy its most beautiful work. On this basis, 
 peace was negcciated with the French: and the Governor Tous- 
 saint, resigning his authority, peaceably retired to the retreat which 
 he had chosen. 
 
 Scarcely had the French extended their dominion over the whole 
 island, and that more by cunning and persuasion than by the force of 
 arms, when they began to put in execution their horrible system of 
 slavery and destruction. 
 
 To promote the accomplishment of their projects, a correspon- 
 dence was fabricated by mercenary and Machiavelian scribblers ; and 
 designs were imputed to Toussaint which he never thought of. While 
 quietly reposing in his habitation at Pongaudin, in the faith of solemn 
 treaties, he was seized, loaded with fetters, dragged, with his family, 
 on board the Hero, and transported to France. All Europe knows 
 how he terminated his unfortunate career in the tortures and horrors 
 of the dungeon of the Chateau de Joux, in Franche Comte. 
 
 Such was the recompence reserved for his attachment to France, 
 and for the eminent services he had rendered to the colonies. 
 
 That moment was the signal given for arrests throughout the island. 
 All those who had displayed strength of intellect, or superiority of 
 character, at the time when we claimed the rights of man, were the 
 first to be seized. Even the traitors who had most contributed to the 
 success of the French armies, by conducting their advanced guards, 
 and pointing out their fellow-citizens for vengeance, were not spared. 
 At first, attempts were made to sell them in foreign colonies ; but this 
 plan not succeeding, it was resolved to convey them to France, where 
 oppressive labor, galleys, fetters, and dungeons, awaited them. 
 
 Then the white colonists, whose numbers had progressively increased, 
 thinking their power sufficiently restored, threw off the mask of dis- 
 simulation, openly declared the re-establishment of slavery, and acted 
 in conformity with that declaration. These men had the impudence 
 to claim, as their slaves, men who had distinguished themselves by 
 signal services rendered to their country, as well in a civil as in a 
 military capacity: virtuous and honorable magistrates 5 warriors cover- 
 ed with scars, whose blood had flowed in the cause of France and 
 libeity, were again to be subjected to the yoke of slavery. These 
 colonists, scarcely reinstated in their plantations, while their power 
 
260 APPENDIX. 
 
 was yet hanging upon a thread, already marked out and selected those 
 who were to be the first victims of their vengeance. 
 
 Theii arrived the infamous decree of Bo.mparte, which confirmpd 
 the re-establishment of slavery. The better to insult our misery, he 
 also employed towards us the same dialect of delusion which he had 
 been in the habit of using towards the people of Europe. This decree 
 was brought by a black officer, named Hercuie, who had sold himself 
 to Bonaparte. 
 
 The proud and Ubertici de f<\ct\on of the colonists, and dealers in hu- 
 man flesh, which, since the commencement of the revolution, has pester- 
 ed every successive government («f France with plans, projects, and ex- 
 travagant and atrocious memorials, all tending to our destruction; these 
 ftictious men, tormented by tin remembrance of the despotism which 
 they had exercised in Hayti, agitated by a temj)est of different passions, 
 employed all the means they could devise, to reseize the prey that had 
 escaped from them. Independents under the Constituent Assembly; 
 Terrorists under the Jacobins; and, lastly, zealous Bonapartists j 
 they assumed the borrowed mask of every party, to obtain their coun- 
 tenance and favor. It was tlius that, by their insiduous counsels, they 
 urged Bonaparte to undertake the unjust expedition against J'.avti. 
 It was this faction which, after having persjialed him to this metsure, 
 furnished him with pecuniary resources by su!)scrii)tii)n lists which 
 were opened at that period. In a word, it was this faction wSiich 
 caused the blood of our fellow coaatryni'^n to fl )vv in torrents; wliich 
 instigated the unheard of tortures that we hive experienced ; tortures 
 which could be devised only by c<jlouists habitu iteJ to, and hardened 
 by, every species of crime. It is to the colonists that France owes 
 the loss of a numerous army, which perished in the plains and mo- 
 rasses of Hayti ; it is to the n that she owes the shame of an enterprize 
 which has impressed an indflible stain on the name of Frenchmen. 
 
 We are persuaded, after the cruel experience we have had of the 
 spirit which animates these colonists, these traffickers in human fle.sh, 
 and their vile sattellites, that they will again employ their accustomed 
 artifices to engage the French cabinet in a new enterprize against us. 
 
 If ever this enterprize take place, which we can hardly believe, 
 it is to this cast, the enemies of the human race, that we shall be in- 
 debted for it ; for we are very far from imputing to those Europeans 
 who are unacquainted with the colonial system, of which we have 
 been the victims, the dreadful evils that we have endured. What 
 
APPENDIX. 261 
 
 interest had the French people in carrying the horrors of war into 
 the heart of a nation which was proul of belonging to them ? What 
 interest had they in coning to bury themselves in our destructive 
 climate, anci in beco'uing the instruments and tools of the colonists, 
 to satiate their thirst for riches and for vengeance ? 
 
 However, the majority of the peoijle began to take up arras for the^ 
 preserva ion of their lives and liberties. This first movement alarmed 
 the French, and appeared sufficiently serious to General Le Clerc to 
 induce him to convoke an extraordinary assembly of the colonists, in 
 order to adopt the most suitable measures to restore a better state of 
 things; but these colonists, far from relaxing in their atrocious prin- 
 ciples, from the imperious sense of danger, unanimously answered in 
 these words, ' No slavery, no C' lony ' 
 
 Asa member of this council, in vain we raised our voice to prevent 
 the completion of the ruin of our country ; in vain we represented the 
 extreme injustice of replunging free men into slavery ; in vain, well 
 knowing the spirit of liberty wliich animated our countrymen, we de- 
 nounced this measure as the only means of ruining the country, and de- 
 taching it from France for ever. All was to no purpose. Convinced 
 that there remained no hopes of reconciliation, that we must choose be- 
 tween slavery and death, — with arms in our hands, we undeceived our 
 fellow-citizens, who had their eyes fixed upon us ; and we all unani- 
 mously took up arms, resolved to expel the tyrants for ever from our 
 soil, or to die. 
 
 General Le Clcrc had already announced the reduction of the isl- 
 and, and had even received, from almost all the maritime towns in 
 France (where the advocates of the slave trade chiefly resided), let- 
 ters of congratulation on the pretended conquest. Ashamed of having 
 given rise to delusive expectations, mortified at his inability to com- 
 plete his detestable enterprize, and dreading the approach of a terrible 
 war, despair sliortened his days, and hurried him to the tomb. 
 
 Among the catalogue of crimes which distinguished the administra- 
 tion of General Le Clerc, his conduct to the Haytian General Mau- 
 repas, would excite the indignation of any person in the smallest de- 
 gree susceptible of pity :— Maurepas, a man of mild and gentle man- 
 ners, esteemed by his fellow-citizens for his integrity, had been one 
 of the first to j'>in the French, and had rendered them the most signal 
 services; yet this man was suddenly carried oft' to Port Paix, and put 
 on board the admiral s vessel, then at anchor in the Cape roads, 
 
262 APPENDIX. 
 
 where, after binding him to the main-mast, they, in derision, with 
 nails such as are used in ship-building, fixed two old epaulettes on his 
 shoulders, and an old general's hat on his head. In that frightful 
 condition, these cannibals, after having glutted their savage mirth, 
 precipitated him, with his wife and children, into the sea. Such was 
 the fate of this virtuous and unfortunate soldier. 
 
 To the command of Le Clerc succeeded Rochambeau. This mon- 
 strous agent of Bonaparte, a worthy accomplice of the colonists, pol- 
 luted himself with every species of crime : he spared neither sex. nor 
 infancy, nor age ; he surpassed iu cruelty the most accomplished 
 villains of ancient or modern times. Gibbets were every where 
 erected; drownings, burnings, the most horrible punishments, were 
 practiced by his orders. He invented a new machine of destruction, 
 in which victims of both sexes, heaped one upon another, were suffocated 
 by the smoke of sulphur. 
 
 Id his insensate rage, he procured from Cuba, at a great expense, 
 a multitude of blood-hounds. They were brought by a Frenchman 
 named Noailles, of an illustrious family, who was the first after the 
 revolution to betray his benefactors ; and the human race was given 
 up to be devoured by dogs that will partake of the frightful immor- 
 tality of their masters. What was our crime } What had we done to 
 deserve such a proscription } Must our African nrisinal be our per- 
 petual opprobrium ? Must the colour of our epidermis be the seal of 
 Qur eternal degradation } 
 
 According to an exact return made, by order of the government, 
 during the space of twenty-one months that the French remained in 
 this island, more than sixteen thousand of our fellow-countrymen pe- 
 rished under the tortures we have specified. The barbarities com- 
 mitted by these modern conquerors upon the children of Hayti, far 
 exceeded the crimes of the Pizarros, the Cortes, the Bodavillas, those 
 early scourges of the new world. 
 
 In spite of all their efforts, we have succeeded in expelling these 
 oppressors from onr soil. 
 
 To secure ourselves for ever from the return of such barbarities and 
 unheard-of crimes ; to protect ourselves from similar perfidy and in- 
 justice, we resolved to cast off for ever the yoke of foreign domina- 
 tion. Accordingly, on the 1st of January, 1804, in a general assem- 
 bly of the national representatives, the independence of Hayti was 
 solemnly proclaimed, and we pronounced the oath to die free and in- 
 
APPENDIX. 263* 
 
 dependent, and never again to submit to any foreign power what- 
 soever. 
 
 Like other people, our first years were chequered with error and 
 trouble; like them, we passed through the vicissitudes inseparable 
 from revulutions. 
 
 Since our accession to the throne, our first object has been to 
 elevate the name and dignity of the people of Hayti. Convinced that 
 good faith, candor, and probity in our dealings, the inviolability of 
 property, and the personal rights of men, could alone attain that end 
 in our internal and external relations ; convinced that it is the laws 
 which constitutethe happiness of men united in society ; ourfirstmeasure 
 was to frame a code of laws suitable to our usages, our climate, and 
 our manners. After assiduous application, with the inspiration and 
 assistance of the Almijihty, we have at length put the finishing hand 
 to this ba^is of our social edifice. 
 
 We have constantly protected and encouraged agriculture and 
 commerce, which are the channels of public prosperity; abundant 
 harvests have crowned the toilsome exertions of our cultivators ; a 
 considerable quantity of produce has been exported from our har- 
 bours *iince wti proclaimed our independence, and particularly in the 
 year 1812, 1813, and iSlt, by foreign nations, who have carried on 
 a traffi" with us t^qnally safe and lucrative. 
 
 Amidst our solicitude to adopt every means for reviving our inter- 
 nal prosperity, we have never diverted our attention from the events 
 which were passing in Europe, during the bloody struggle which she 
 has had to sustain, nor have we ever lost sight, for one instant, of 
 Qur system of military defmce. 
 
 In this attitude, we waited till Bonaparte, that enemy of the world, 
 should come to attack us, with his usual weapons of perfidy and force ; 
 not forgetting that, after the peace of Amiens, his first object was 
 the famous expedition for our extermination. 
 
 But the God of armies, who raises up and casts down thrones at 
 his nod, has, in his justice, not willed that this oppressor of nations 
 should accomplish this horrible design. We trust that his fall will 
 give repose to the world ; we hope that the return of those liberal and 
 sound principles which inflience the European powers, will cause 
 them to acknowledge the independence of a people who ask only to 
 enjoy peace and commerce, those desirable objects to all civilized 
 nations. 
 
264 APPENDIX. 
 
 It is xa vain to attempt asrain, by means of force or seduction, to 
 make us return under a foreign yoke. We are no longer in danger 
 from the absurd system of deceiving; men in order to govern them. 
 Taught by experience, we have come to the knowledge of truth, of 
 reason, and of our own strength. 
 
 We ran no mi»re be the victims of credulity and good faith ; we can 
 never forget that an attem-it has once been made upon our liberty. 
 The heart-rending impression of the hnrribl« torments which have 
 precipitated our fathers, our mothers, our wives, our children, into 
 the tnmb, will never be efficed from our memon»s. 
 
 We are no longer liable to deception : we know the craft of our 
 enemies : ^e have before our eyes the memoirs and the projects of 
 Mnlouet, of Barrdde Saint V"enaut, of the Pages and the BruUeys, and 
 other colonists. The political creed of these dealers in human fle.->h» 
 these counsellors of evil, i>i well known to u^. 
 
 It is comprised in two words, slavery and destruction ! We are not 
 ignorant of the criminal intrigues and ^hameful practices of those 
 apostles of crime and falsehood ; they have taught us by their wri- 
 tings, even more than by the tortures we have endured, that the only 
 solid guarantee of our political rights, of our very existence, is the 
 preservation of our independence. 
 
 We appeal to all the sovereigns of the world, to the brave and loyal 
 British nation, which has been the first to proclaim, in its august 
 senate, the abolition of the infamous traffic in negroes ; which has 
 employed the ascendancy of victory for the noble purpose of recom- 
 mending the abolition to all other states with which she has concluded 
 alliances : we appeal to the philanthropists of all nations ; in fine to 
 mankind at large, to the whole worM : and we ask, what people, 
 after twenty-five years of battle and bloodshed, having won tht^ir 
 liberty and independence with the sword, would consent to lay down 
 their arms, and become again the sport and the victims of their cruel 
 oppressors } What people would stoop to such a depth of baseness } 
 The last of the Haytians will breath out his last sigh sooner than re- 
 nounce his independence. 
 
 We will not do any power the injustice to suppose it capable of form- 
 ing the chimerical h>pe ofestablishing its authority in Haytiby the force 
 of arms. The power that should undertake this enterprize, would 
 have to march a long way over ruins and dead bodies: and if, after 
 having wasted all its means, and consumed the flower of its troops, it 
 
APPENDIX. 265 
 
 dhoald at length make itself master of the country, which yet we be- 
 lieve to be impossible : what wtmld it have gained by the loss of so 
 much treasure and so much blood * 
 
 It would not be presumptuous to believe, that his majesty, Louis 
 XVIII, following the impulse of the philasthropic spirit which has 
 reigned in his family, and imitating the example of his unfortunate 
 brother, Louis XVI, in his political conduct towards the United States of 
 America, will tread in the steps ©f that monarch, and acknowledge 
 the independence of Hayti. It would be but an act of justice, a poor 
 reparation for the evils we have suffered from the government of 
 France. 
 
 It is in vain that our calumniators still have the hardihood to al- 
 lege, that we must not he considered as a political body aspiring to 
 independence* and collectively occupied in the means of attaining it. 
 This absurd assertion, invented by the craft, wickedness, and sordid 
 selfishness of the advocates of the slave trade, merits the profoundest 
 contempt and indignation of good men of all countries ; and is suffi- 
 ciently belied by eleven years' actual enjoyment of independence and 
 its happy results. There is no example of any people having made 
 so rapid a progress in civilization. 
 
 Free by right, and independent, in fact, we will never renounce 
 these blessings ; no, never will we consent to witness the subversion 
 of the edifice we have raised, and cemented by our blood ; at least, 
 without being buried beneath its ruins; 
 
 To commercial powers inclined to form connections with us, we 
 offer our friendship, the security of their property, and our royal pro- 
 tection to their peaceable subjects, who shall land upon our shores 
 with the intention of carrying on their commercial affairs, and who 
 shall conform to our laws and customs. 
 
 King of a free people, a soldier by profession, we dread no war, 
 nor enemy. VVe have- already declared our determination not to in- 
 termeddle, in any manner, in the internal government of our neigh- 
 bours : we wish to enjoy, at home, peace and tranquillity, and to ex- 
 ercise the prerogative, enjoyed by all other nations, of making such 
 law? for ourselves as our exigencies require. If, after the free expo- 
 sition of our sentiments, and of the justice of our cause, any invader, 
 in violation of the laws of nations, should plant a hostile foot upon our 
 
 * Introduction to the Memoirs of St. Domingo, Malouet, vol. iv. p. 56. 
 
 36 
 
266 APPENDIX. 
 
 territory, our first duty will then be to repel the act of aggression by 
 every means in our power. 
 
 We solemnly declare, thai we will never become a party to any 
 treaty, or any condition, that shall compromise the honour, the liber- 
 ty, or the independence of the Haytian people. Faithful to our oath, 
 we will rather bury ourselves beneath the ruins of our country, than 
 suticr the smallest infringement of our political rights. 
 
 Given at our palace of Sans Souci, the 18th of September, 1814. 
 in the 11th year of independence, and the 4th of our reign. 
 
 (Signed) HENRY. 
 
 (By the King) 
 
 Comte de Limonade, 
 Secretary of State, Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs. 
 
 THE END. 
 

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