V 
 
 19SI 
 
 853 
 
 i 
 
A 
 
 PLEA FOR HAYTI, 
 
 WITH 
 
 A GLANCE AT HER RELATIONS 
 
 "WITH 
 
 FRANCE, ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 FOR THE LAST SIXTY YEARS. 
 
 BY B. C. CLARK. 
 
 " Human affairs are in no instance governed by strict, positive right." — Junius. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 1853. 
 
 eastburn's press. 
 
■^ 1 & S3 
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 It has been suggested that the correctness of the charge in this pamphlet rela- 
 ting to the First Consul's attempt to reestablish slavery in St. Domingo is not 
 evidenced, and that the statement is not only not in unison with the commonly 
 received opinion, but that it conflicts with the declaration of the First Consul in 
 regard to the object of the armament which he despatched for St. Domingo under 
 the command of General Leclerc. 
 
 It maybe that the statement runs counter to the " commonly received opin- 
 ion," and it is certain that it conflicts with the First Consul's declaration, but it is 
 nevertheless entirely true. By referring to Madiou's History of St. Domingo, 
 the reader will find (vol. ii. page 135) the following notice of the expedition 
 alluded to: — " The secret instructions which Leclerc had received (from the First 
 Consul) were in harmony with the decision of the Council of State, which decreed 
 that slavery should be re-established after the conquest, and that most of those 
 who had enjoyed liberty by the revolution should be exterminated, and their 
 places filled by negroes from Africa." 
 
 Simultaneous with these instructions to Leclerc, the First Consul addressed 
 the two sons of Toussaint, who were about to embark for Hayti in one of the 
 ships, in the following language (Madiou, vol. ii. page 135) : — " When you arrive 
 in your country, you will make known to your father that the French Govern- 
 ment grants him protection, glory and honors, and that it does not send into the 
 Colony an army to battle against him, but to make the name of France respected 
 against the enemies of the country." 
 
 Inasmuch as Toussaint had " enjoyed liberty" in an eminent degree, it would 
 seem certain that after the conquest he would have found, not " protection, glory 
 and honors," but in their stead, chains, slavery and the rack. 
 
 It will be perceived that the historian attaches a much greater degree of moral 
 turpitude to this act of the First Consul than is indicated by the Pamphlet, which 
 is silent in relation to the scheme of extermination. 
 
 As the question in regard to the object of the Expedition, is one of vital 
 moment in a consideration of subsequent events, it is important to those who 
 feel any interest in the subject, that it should be settled beyond all cavil. It is, 
 
 ^y WW> 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 therefore, proper to suggest, that in addition to the authority of the historian who 
 has been quoted, and the concurring evidence which tradition gives, there may be 
 found in the Hon. John Macgregor's " Sketches of Hayti and the Foreign West 
 Indies," (page 26), abundant testimony in confirmation of what has been stated. 
 He gives (what is not found in Madiou's History) the declaration of the First 
 Consul to the people of Hayti, which commences as follows : — " Inhabitants of St. 
 Domingo, whatever your origin or color, you arc all French ; you are all free 
 and equal before God and the Republic ! " 
 
 Mr. Macgregor's remarks upon the course of the First Consul in this matter, 
 and on the base perfidy which was exercised towards Toussaint, proclaim him to 
 be an intelligent, high-toned man. His sketches were published in London in 
 1847, and by "command of her Majesty" were presented to both Houses of 
 Parliament. 
 
 The writer submits that there are many statements in this Pamphlet which will 
 be found to conflict with " commonly received opinions ; " it was a belief in this 
 which induced its appearance — 
 
 " Else wherefore breathe we in a christian land ? " 
 
 The enormities w r hich are brought to view in these pages, are not held up to 
 gratify the tastes of those who delight in the romance of even imaginary horrors ; 
 nor for the object of casting a shadow on the memories of those who have long 
 since gone to their account ; but with a view of correcting injurious opinions, 
 which are not the less fatal because honestly entertained. 
 
 
PREFACE TO THE THIBD EDITION. 
 
 Probably most persons who feel an interest in the subject of Hayti, have 
 noticed the exposition lately made by the Government of the United States, of 
 the character of the last Mission to Hayti, and of the correspondence growing out 
 of it. 
 
 The writer submits that, for reasons satisfactory to himself, and unimportant 
 to the reader, he declines for the present to enter into a particular analysis of the 
 Mission alluded to. It will be perceived that, in alluding to the Mission appointed 
 by the Honorable Mr. Calhoun in 1 845, the writer has put the most liberal construc- 
 tion upon the doings of the great Statesman ; his feelings, political and personal, in- 
 cline him to pass lightly over the Mission of 1851, but he would be recreant to 
 his cause, false to his professions, and justly chargeable with having sacrificed 
 principle to party, if he did not unhesitatingly declare that, in his judgment, this 
 last Mission was far less justifiable, and much more offensive than that of Mr. Ho- 
 gan, it was not only intervention but intervention of the meanest character. 
 The reader will observe that the British Minister at Washington gives the 
 following instructions to the British Consul at Port au Prince. " You will take 
 care to make any menace of force in such vague terms as would not actually com- 
 promise Her Majesty s Government to employ force until it shall have learned 
 from you what species of force would be necessary in order to arrive at the result 
 which you deem that a blockade would not be sufficient to obtain." The Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, with a knowledge of these instructions, " entirely con- 
 curs with them" and expects its agent will " be governed by them." 
 
 The writer having expressed his opinion of the character of the Mission, 
 waives for the moment a particular consideration of it, but commends to the 
 reader the following remarks of the New York Commercial Advertiser in re- 
 lation to the instructions alluded to ; these remarks are as kind as they could be 
 consistently with that integrity which marks the Journal in which they appear. 
 The Editor says, " The above may be very skilful diplomacy, but it is scarcely of 
 that straightforward, frank, earnest kind for which the United States Government 
 has credit before the world. We would much prefer that this Government, if it 
 must be a party to a menace of another power, should mean what it says, and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 should always be understood as meaning all it says. Nor is it very nattering to 
 see the United States adding its influence! and power to those of Great Britain 
 and France, to endeavor to intimidate such a power as Hayti, the three greatest 
 powers of the world, by a concert of action and unity of demonstration, insisting 
 that ' Faustin the First ' shall do a certain thing at the risk of having his ports 
 blockaded, and then retiring from the contest without accomplishing their pur- 
 pose or fulfilling their threat. In writing, the three agents had solemnly and 
 officially affiemed that Great Britain, France, and the United States had 
 ' determined ' that Hayti should grant a peace, or at least a ten years truce, to 
 St. Domingo, and declared that it would be at her peril that Hayti refused to act 
 according to that determination. Hayti does refuse, and the determination and 
 the threat of the three great powers go for nothing." 
 
A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " The peasant's latch 
 
 Should be held as sacred as the triple bolt 
 That guards a palace ; — aye, more sacred. 
 For high raised mightiness is its own guard. 
 But who, if giant power be first to invade, 
 Shall shield the poor man from 
 Oppression 1 " 
 
 Ctjkfew. 
 
 In July last, a memorial signed by some of the most 
 eminent merchants of Boston, was presented to Con- 
 gress, soliciting the recognition of Hayti as an inde- 
 pendent State, and praying that she might be placed 
 upon the same footing as other nations. This petition 
 is based solely upon commercial considerations; it 
 seeks relief from the embarrassing and injurious con- 
 sequences growing out of a course adverse to that 
 which the governments of England and France have 
 pursued in relation to the same country for the last 
 forty years ; — a course contrary to our professions, our 
 usual practice and our policy. Contrary to our pro- 
 fessions — because we have the highest authority for 
 the declaration, that " it is no less the duty than it is 
 
4 A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 the pleasure of the United States to acknowledge the 
 nationality of a people which have shown themselves 
 able to maintain their independence." Contrary to our 
 practice, because thirty years ago Ave gladly recognized 
 the juvenile governments of South America, almost 
 before the iron heel of Spain had fairly been taken 
 from the necks of the people, and before they had 
 evinced any capacity for self-government; and also 
 because recently we have recognized the government of 
 the king of the Sandwich Islands. Contrary to our pol- 
 icy, because in cases where annexation was found to be 
 impossible, we have had recourse to amicable arrange- 
 ments with the strangers, and have allowed no other 
 nation to overreach us in the conditions of trade. 
 
 Hayti, it would seem, is the only nation having ex- 
 tensive commercial relations with us, that has not been 
 recognized by the government of the United States ; 
 this fact is so remarkable, that it would be difficult to 
 find among our twenty millions of inhabitants, a single 
 fair-minded, unprejudiced, intelligent man, who would 
 willingly stand forth and attempt to justify this con- 
 tinued neglect upon any principle recognized by civil- 
 ized nations. 
 
 During the infancy of the Haytien Eepublic, it was 
 contended that no satisfactory manifestation of ability 
 for self-government had been seen. A few years later, 
 when Boyer's successful administration dispelled all 
 doubts on this point, when it was seen that the inhab- 
 itants of Hayti were more easily governed, and far 
 better governed than those of any of the republics of 
 
A PLEA FOR H A Y T I 
 
 South. America, it was found expedient to look farther 
 back for an excuse ; the horrors of St. Domingo were 
 raked up and interposed, and it was contended that 
 these Islanders having achieved their freedom by blood- 
 shed, should forever be regarded as outlaws ; that they 
 had set a terrible example to the slaves in this country. 
 The sentiment, that " Who would be free, themselves 
 must strike the blow," is as popular as it is chivalric, 
 and yet it can hardly be expected that freedom even 
 from the political oppressor, from his tyrannical acts, 
 from his harsh, unequal laws, can ever be secured 
 without the application of some remedy dangerous to 
 life. Our country escaped from the yoke of England 
 only after a protracted struggle, and not without blood- 
 shed ; and yet that yoke was not of the most galling 
 character. No one supposes that the high-crested 
 wave of royalty which has just broken over the great 
 Republic of Europe could have been rolled back with- 
 out serious personal inconvenience to somebody ; much 
 less then, could it have been expected that the blacks 
 of St. Domingo were to escape from the worst kind of 
 slavery by the influence of moral suasion. 
 
 We offer no opinion as to what constitutes the jus- 
 tifiable demands of self-preservation, nor is it necessary, 
 in this connexion, that this point should be considered; 
 for the course which led to the freedom of the blacks 
 of St. Domingo, was one in which the Almighty per- 
 mitted the wrath of man to praise him, — and we pur- 
 pose to show conclusively the utter fallacy of the idea 
 that there is any analogy between what St. Domingo 
 
6 A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 was in 1790, and what the slave-holding states of the 
 United States have ever been. Upon turning over the 
 dark pages of the early history of St. Domingo, we 
 shall find among the colonists themselves the sure 
 harbingers of ruin and decay. We shall find that san- 
 guinary wars of caste, and desolating battles for su^ 
 premacy, were rife among the intelligent and wealthy 
 inhabitants of St. Domingo long before the negro ever 
 dreamed of freedom. 
 
 In relation to this reign of terror, Brown, the intelli- 
 gent and impartial historian says : — " The astonished 
 slave, who had for a long time shamed his betters, by 
 continuing in peace to follow the routine of his indus- 
 try, now sought to learn the causes of this inquietude, 
 and became every day- more and more filled with 
 amazement and an undefined restlessness ; at the same 
 time, the whites, either to guard against danger, or 
 from a reckless, diabolical spirit, were more than ever 
 lavish of their cruelty to the negroes." 
 
 It is an unquestionable fact that in the strife between 
 the whites and mulattoes, both parties did in turn in- 
 cite the slaves to rebellion, and for purely selfish ends. 
 The first sound of promised freedom came to the ear of 
 the slave from the lying lips of parties whose contempt 
 for the negro race, and detestation of freedom, were 
 equalled only by the refined hatred which they exer- 
 cised towards each other. There were, however, among 
 the whites, some few who denounced the institution 
 without regard to the extent of the sacrifice. Among 
 these was Charles de Lemeth, who said : — " I am one of 
 
A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 the greatest proprietors of St. Domingo, — yet, I declare 
 that sooner than lose sight of principles so sacred to 
 justice and humanity, I would prefer to lose all that I 
 possess ; I declare myself in favor of the freedom of 
 the blacks." But, as a general thing, the proprietors 
 were wedded to slavery, and they hesitated at no act of 
 cruelty, however monstrous, to insure its perpetuity. 
 It is quite certain that but for events not induced by 
 the slaves, circumstances over which they had no con- 
 trol, slavery would still have existed in that country, 
 as it does in Cuba. The destructive examples of the 
 two political parties were not lost upon the slaves, 
 although they were slow to imitate them. Indeed, it 
 is doubtful whether the history of their whole race can 
 furnish a parallel to the many treacherous, cowardly 
 and bloody designs which the whites formed against 
 their political enemies, the mulattoes. Among other 
 evidences of the truthfulness of this suggestion, there 
 may be found in Brown's History of the Island, an 
 account of a meeting held at Aux Cayes. This pro- 
 fessed holy peace offering is thus described by the 
 the historian : — 
 
 ' ' Thus to accomplish a design which had been long 
 in meditation, the whites of Aux Cayes were now secret- 
 ly preparing a mine for Rigaud (the mulatto chief) 
 which, though it was covered with flowers, and to be 
 sprung by the hand of professed friendship, it was 
 thought would prove a sure and efficacious method of 
 ridding them of such an opponent, and destroying the 
 pretensions of the mulattoes forever. It was proposed 
 
A PLEA FOR H A Y T I 
 
 that the anniversary of the destruction of the Bastile 
 should be celebrated in the town by both whites and 
 mulattoes, in union and gratitude. A civic procession 
 marched to the church, where Te Deuni was chanted, 
 and an oration pronounced by citizen Delpech. The 
 Place d' Amies was crowded with tables of refresh- 
 ments, at which both whites and mulattoes seated 
 themselves. But beneath this seeming patriotism and 
 friendship, a dark and fatal conspiracy lurked, plotting 
 treachery and death. 
 
 " It had been resolved, that at a preconcerted signal, 
 every white at the table should plunge his knife into 
 the bosom of the mulatto who was seated nearest to 
 him. Cannon had been planted around the place of 
 festivity, that no fugitive from the massacre should 
 have the means of escaping ; and that Eigaucl should 
 not fail to be secured as the first victim to a conspiracy 
 prepared especially against his life, the commander-in- 
 chief of the national guard had been placed at his side, 
 and his murder of the mulatto chieftain was to be the 
 signal for a general onset upon all his followers. But 
 between the conception and the accomplishment of a 
 guilty deed, man's native abhorrence of crime often in- 
 terposes many an obstacle to success. 
 
 " The officer to whom had been intrusted the assassi- 
 nation of Rigaud found it no small matter to screw his 
 courage to the sticking place, and the expected signal 
 which he was to display in blood to his associates, was 
 so long delayed, that secret messengers began to throng 
 to him from all parts of the tables, demanding why ex- 
 
i PLEA FOE HAITI. 9 
 
 ecution was not done on Rigaud. Urged on by these 
 successive appeals, the white general at last applied 
 himself to the fatal task which had been alloted him ; 
 but instead of silently plunging his dagger into the 
 bosom of the mulatto chief, he sprung upon him with 
 a pistol in his hand, and with a loud execration, fired 
 it at his intended victim. But Rigaud remained un- 
 harmed, and in the scuffle which ensued, the white 
 assassin was disarmed and put to flight. The astonish- 
 ment of the mulattoes soon gave way to tumult and 
 indignation, and this produced a drawn battle, in 
 which both whites and mulattoes, exasperated as they 
 were to the utmost, fought man to man. The struggle 
 continued fiercely until the whites were driven from 
 the room, having lost one hundred and fifty of their 
 number, and slain many of their opponents. 
 
 " Tidings of this conspiracy flew rapidly in all direc- 
 tions ; and such was the indignation of the mulattoes 
 at this attack upon their chief, whose death had even 
 been announced in several places as certain, that they 
 seized upon all the whites within their reach, and their 
 immediate massacre was only prevented by the arrival 
 of intelligence that Rigaud was still alive." 
 
 Another historian writes in relation to the same sub- 
 ject : — " The war between the whites and mulattoes 
 was marked with atrocities even more revolting than 
 that between the whites and blacks. The laws of 
 morality and nature were all outraged by it ; fathers 
 strangling their sons, and sons plunging their bloody 
 hands into the yet living vitals of their fathers. In 
 
10 A PLEA FOR HA Y T I . 
 
 their mutual ferocity they were often heard to exclaim, 
 " you kill mine, and I will kill yours." 
 
 Schemes and acts of equal atrocity were common 
 with the two parties which were contending for supre- 
 macy ; but treachery, violence and bloodshed did not 
 furnish the only examples calculated to sever the ties 
 which bound the slaves to their masters. 
 
 The most brutalizing immorality prevailed in the 
 highest places, and there is scarcely a degrading indul- 
 gence that was not freely practised. They had in their 
 apology for religion, something lower, if possible, than 
 their standard of morals. The Roman Catholic Priests, 
 who were numerous and influential, were miserable, 
 mercenary, unprincipled profligates, amassing wealth 
 by ministering to licentiousness and depravity, and 
 ready at any moment to betray any interest or party for 
 larger gains or for more extensive sensual indulgences. 
 St. Domingo presented at this period a sad picture, but 
 it was a picture in which, for a while, the black man 
 was seen only in the dim perspective, following peace- 
 fully, under " lavish cruelty," the routine of rural in- 
 dustry. At last, the few restraining influences which 
 had held the blacks, ceased to exist ; the means of ob- 
 taining their freedom came unsought to them ; a sort 
 of moral leprosy had infused itself into the lives and 
 characters of the proprietors, and this infliction was 
 brought to bear upon the system which had partially 
 induced it, so that slavery died, as it were, in the arms 
 of its friends, and was buried with them in the same 
 dark grave. 
 
A PLEA FOR HAITI. 11 
 
 Iii relation to the shocking scenes which were wit- 
 nessed during the revolution, it will be admitted that 
 war, in its best shape, is a hydra curse, and that there 
 never was one yet, however righteous, that was not 
 stained with unnecessary cruelty; nor ever yet a body 
 of men (from the disciples down) that had not in their 
 number some who were open to the spirit of evil. But 
 on the score of cruelty in St. Domingo, it has been 
 truly said, that the blacks did no more to the whites 
 than they had seen the whites do to those of their own 
 complexion. The whites " but gave bloody examples, 
 which, being taught, returned to plague the inventor." 
 
 Soon after the first outbreak, the colonists proceeded 
 to exterminate the slaves ; the slaves adopted the same 
 course towards the whites, but they dealt destruction in 
 the common way; the whites, on the other hand, 
 " cried havoc," and literally " let slip the dogs of war ;" 
 for they employed Cuba bloodhounds, and men, women 
 and children were alike hunted down and destroyed by 
 these ferocious monsters ! 
 
 It must not be supposed that the plains and the 
 mountains were the only places in which this nendlike 
 spirit dwelt ; it revelled in the towns, and was so com- 
 mon, that it failed to shock even the educated and 
 refined. 
 
 Bryan Edwards, member of the British Parliament, 
 in his history of the Island, says hi this connection, 
 (page 78):— 
 
 " Of the insurgents, it was reckoned that upwards of 
 ten thousand had perished by the sword, or by famine ; 
 
12 APLEAFORHAYTI. 
 
 and some hundreds by the hands of the executioner ; 
 many of them, I grieve to say, under the torture of the 
 wheel ; a system of revenge and retaliation which no 
 enormities of savage life could justify or excuse. 
 
 " Two of these unhappy men suffered in this manner 
 under the window of the author's lodgings, and in his 
 presence, at Cape Francois, on Thursday the 28th of 
 September, 1791. They were broken on two pieces of 
 timber, placed crosswise. One of them expired on re- 
 ceiving the third stroke on his stomach, each of his 
 legs and arms having been first broken in two places ; 
 the first three blows he bore without a groan. The 
 other had a harder fate. When the executioner, after 
 breaking his legs and arms, lifted up the instrument 
 to give the finishing stroke on the breast, and. which 
 (by putting the criminal out of pain) is called le coup 
 de grace, the mob, with the ferociousness of cannibals, 
 called out 'Arretez I ' ( ; Stop !') — and compelled him to 
 leave his work unfinished ! In that condition, the 
 miserable wretch, with his broken limbs doubled up> 
 was put on a cart wheel, which was placed hori- 
 zontally, one end of the axle-tree being driven into 
 the earth. He seemed perfectly sensible, but uttered 
 not a groan. At the end of forty minutes, some En- 
 glish seamen, who were spectators of the tragedy, 
 strangled him in mercy. As to all the French specta- 
 tors, (many of them persons of fashion, who beheld the 
 scene from the windows of their upper apartments,) it 
 grieves me to say that they looked on with the most 
 perfect composure and sang froid. Some of the ladies, 
 
A PLEA FOE HAITI, 13 
 
 as I was told, even ridiculed, with a great deal of un- 
 seemly mirth, the sympathy manifested by the English 
 at the sufferings of the wretched criminals." 
 
 Although the blacks could not command the aid of 
 bloodhounds, nor the use of any such infernal machine 
 as has been described, yet it is undoubtedly true that 
 at last they endeavored not to be outdone in acts of 
 cruelty ; for, in addition to the incentives to barbarity 
 offered by their professed foes, the worst feelings of 
 their natures were stimulated by satanic advisers in 
 their own camp ; on this point the historian says : — 
 " Nearly all the Catholic priesthood of the colony were 
 discovered to be in the ranks of the insurgents, profit- 
 ing by their ignorance, and directing their fanaticism. 
 Arrayed in the robes of their ofiice, they were following 
 the bloody ensigns of the rebels for perquisites which 
 it would insult human nature to make known." 
 
 One of these miscreants (the priest of Limbe) was 
 hung for an offence which, even in that country, at 
 that dark period, was deemed worthy of the gallows. 
 
 Among other things, calculated to sanctify rebellion 
 and murder to the minds of the blacks, not the least 
 was the movement made by an extensive abolition soci- 
 ety in London. This society was founded, professedly, 
 upon the loftiest principles of humanity, but it will be 
 seen, that its course was hypocritical and vile. It 
 began by declaring that " the emancipation of the 
 negroes, in their state of ignorance and barbarity, 
 instead of a blessing, would prove to them a source of 
 misfortune and misery." Many other plausible decla- 
 
14 A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 rations were made as denotements of the principles of 
 the association, but its true character belied them all. 
 This is clearly shown by the English historian, Bryan 
 Edwards, (page 83,) who, in regard to its professions 
 and its practice, says : — 
 
 " But, although such were their ostensible declara- 
 tions as a public body, the leading members of the 
 society, in the same moment, held a very different lan- 
 guage ; and even the society itself, (acting as such,) 
 pursued a line of conduct directly and immediately re- 
 pugnant to their own professions. Besides using every 
 possible endeavor to inflame the public of Great Brit- 
 ain against the planters, they distributed, at a prodi- 
 gious expense, throughout the colonies, tracts and 
 pamphlets without number, — the direct tendency of 
 which was to render the white inhabitants odious and 
 contemptible in the eyes of their own slaves, and excite 
 hi the latter such ideas of natural rights and equality 
 of condition, as should lead them to a general struggle 
 for freedom, through rebellion and bloodshed. In 
 many of those writings, arguments are expressly ad- 
 duced, in language which cannot be misunderstood, to 
 urge the negroes to rise up and murder their masters 
 without mercy. ' Resistance,' say they, ' is always 
 justifiable where force is the substitute of right ; nor is 
 the commission of a civil crime possible in a state of 
 slavery ! ' These sentiments are repeated in a thousand 
 different forms ; and in order that they might not lose 
 their effect by abstract reasoning, a reverend divine of 
 the Church of England, in a pamphlet addressed to the 
 
A PLEA FOE, HAYTI. 15 
 
 chairman or president of the society, pours forth the 
 most earnest prayers, in the most undisguised expres- 
 sions, that the negroes would destroy all the white peo- 
 ple, men, women, and children, in the West Indies. 
 ' Should we not,' he exclaims, ' approve their conduct 
 hi their violence "? Should we not crown it with eulo- 
 gium, if they exterminate their tyrants with fire and 
 sword ! should they even deliberately inflict the most 
 exquisite tortures on those tyrants, would they not be 
 excusable in the moral judgment of those who properly 
 value those inestimable blessings, rational and religious 
 liberty V" 
 
 It would appear by this ingenuous statement of the 
 member of Parliament in regard to the London society, 
 that the wild, reckless, hyena-like spirit of fanaticism, 
 which has hovered over and cast its baneful shadow 
 on the cause of the black man for so long a period, 
 is not confined to any country or to any sect. 
 
16 A PLEA FOX HAITI 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " Verily there is nothing so true- that the damps of error have not warped it." 
 
 Surrounded by the influences which have been brief- 
 ly and imperfectly stated it would not have been 
 strange if the blacks of St. Domingo had really been 
 open to all of the charges which for forty years have 
 been circulated against them ; but the fact is far other- 
 wise, as we shall most conclusively show. Among 
 the numerous instances of misapprehension, there is 
 one connected with an incident of public notoriety 
 from which highly injurious conclusions have been 
 drawn. 
 
 Towards the close of the last century, two French 
 ships of the line, several frigates and many smaller 
 vessels arrived at Norfolk from St. Domingo with about 
 10,000 refugees. These unhappy persons were met 
 with generous hospitality by the States of Virginia, the 
 Carolinas, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts, 
 and also we think by the Federal Union. 
 
 The general impression throughout the United States 
 has been, that these persons were the victims of a ne- 
 gro insurrection ; that they were the sole remnant of 
 the whites of the country ; that their connexions and 
 friends had all been slaughtered in cold blood, and that 
 the spoilers, the ferocious negroes, had possessed them- 
 selves of the land by indiscriminate massacre. This 
 
A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 17 
 
 opinion would seem to have been justified by the fact 
 that M. Galbaud, the Provisional Governor of the 
 Island, accompanied the large fleet which bore the re- 
 fugees to our shores. 
 
 Upon looking into this matter, it will be found that 
 Galbaud was only the head of a party in the country. 
 Santhonax, the French Commissioner, had disputed his 
 authority, and an open war had actually existed be- 
 tween them. The title of M. Galbaud was, for a time, 
 a tower of strength, and the colonists sought shelter in 
 it, but in electing to sustain the Provisional Governor 
 they were most unfortunate,* for he was ultra in his 
 views, without sympathy for the masses, and without 
 the skill to conceal it. 
 
 Santhonax, on the contrary, was a man of tact, cour- 
 age, and expansive views ; the slaves believed him to 
 be a friend to their race. He sought their aid, and 
 they battled successfully against his enemies, many of 
 whom wfire whites. If this were wrong, it was a wrong 
 not attributable to the slaves ; — the strife did not origin- 
 ate with them, and they were no more accountable for 
 its consequences than were the mules which carried 
 their provender. 
 
 * They were unwise also, and even culpable, for they sought to sustain M. Gal- 
 baud by bloody means after they were convinced that he had obtained his ap- 
 pointment by fraud, and that he was holding his office in direct violation of the 
 laws of France which had declared that no proprietor of an estate in the West 
 Indies should hold the Government of a colony in which that estate was situated. 
 M. Galbaud stood among them with his commission in one hand and his title to a 
 coffee plantation in the other, and when it was demanded of him why he had not 
 acquainted the Council of France with the truth, he was utterly disconcerted and 
 had no reply to make. 
 
18 A PLEA FOE, HA YTI. 
 
 Iii relation to the triumph of Santhonax, and the 
 departure of M. Galbaud with the refugees for the 
 United States, De Gastine, the French historian, 
 says : — 
 
 " Thus whites perished by the hands of whites, and 
 in the bloody struggle for ascendency among the 
 agents of power, they consummated the ruin of the 
 Colony which they had been intrusted to protect. 
 
 This most afflicting catastrophe, the offspring of 
 hatred and recklessness, cost France many hundred 
 millions, destroyed the brightest gem of its prosperity, 
 and annihilated the hopes of many millions who lived 
 upon the riches of St. Domingo." 
 
 Soon after the departure of M. Galbaud, Santhonax, 
 by a solemn act, abolished slavery forever throughout 
 the French territory of St. Domingo. Thus it is seen, 
 that up to the very moment of their emancipation, 
 thousands of the slaves were acting in unison with the 
 Chief whose whole doings, including the uncondi- 
 tional EMANCIPATION OF ALL THE SLAVES IN THE CoL- 
 ONY, WEEE EATIFIED BY THE CHAMBERS OF FRANCE. 
 
 The spirit which was manifested by the slaves during 
 the struggle between Santhonax and the Provisional 
 Governor, appears to have been less sanguinary than 
 that which [actuated the Commissioner, — for when he 
 introduced the guillotine for the punishment of his 
 political enemies, the blacks, his followers, then slaves, 
 demanded its abandonment, and caused it to be re- 
 moved immediately; and when, consequent upon the 
 success of Santhonax, many whites were compelled to 
 
A PLEA FOE HAITI. 19 
 
 leave the country, they were in very numerous in- 
 stances accompanied by their slaves, who voluntarily 
 turned from their sunny homes, and from the bright- 
 ening prospects of their race, to follow in poverty and 
 exile those who had then no other friends. 
 
 During the troubles which ended with the flight of 
 M. Galbaud, many of the colonists were eager to ob- 
 tain aid from England, and, if possible, to place the 
 Island in her possession. In view of this, the English 
 marine forces at Jamaica made some demonstrations, 
 but at the return of peace between France and Eng- 
 land, they were obliged, by the usage of nations, to 
 abandon the scheme, and hostilities ceased. 
 
 After the abolition of slavery, and after the colonists 
 themselves had freed their slaves, the planters actually 
 maintained agents at the Court of St. James, in the 
 hope of obtaining (by promise of great commercial ad- 
 vantages) assistance for the re-establishment of slavery. 
 England, being still at peace with France, could not 
 engage in the enterprize ; but the infamous suggestion 
 seems not to have conflicted with her sense of human- 
 ity, for upon the occurrence of hostilities soon after, 
 she immediately sent a powerful armament to subju- 
 gate the blacks, and to place the Island in her posses- 
 sion. Owing to the suddenness of this movement, 
 and the exhausted condition of the French troops, the 
 English succeeded in capturing some of the most im- 
 portant posts in the country, but the blacks remained 
 true to the French, — and the English, after a large sac- 
 rifice of life and treasure, were driven from the land. 
 
20 APLEAFORHAYTI. 
 
 Had this expedition proved successful, some 600,000 
 blacks would have gone back into slavery, and England 
 would have received the " thirty pieces of silver." 
 
 Among the black chiefs who were active in the 
 cause of France, the most prominent was Toussaint. 
 So commanding was the influence which this singular 
 man exercised over his race, that the British General 
 sought to win him to his cause, without any regard to 
 the sacrifice required. Princely wealth, personal ag- 
 grandizement and distinguished honors were spread in 
 glittering array before him, but he remained loyal to 
 France, and was the ablest defender of that freedom 
 which France had proclaimed. Soon after the earliest 
 outbreak among the slaves, and while fierce civil discord 
 reigned among the whites and mulattoes, he retired to 
 the Spanish part of the Island, but as soon as slavery 
 was at an end, he returned to the French territory, and 
 united with the forces of France. The agents of the 
 French government were utterly unable to control 
 such a heterogeneous mass as the population of the 
 country then presented. The fields were compara- 
 tively deserted, while the towns were filled with idle 
 blacks. They were now free, and many of them under- 
 stood freedom to mean exemption from labor of every 
 kind ; some of them imagined that they were at once 
 to become colonists, and planters, and overseers, and 
 that Frenchmen were to work the plantations. Lib- 
 erty, as they understood it, implied free scope and 
 boundless latitude on the dead sea of profligacy and 
 indulgence. The wisest efforts of the Commissioners 
 
A PLEA FOR HA YTI. 21 
 
 to correct tliese dangerous notions were of no avail, 
 and the most serious consequences were apprehended. 
 
 The influence of the Commisssioners in comparison 
 with the transcendant power of Toussaint, was the 
 gleam of a rush light to the broad blaze of the noon- 
 day sun. 
 
 As the only means of preserving the Colony to 
 France, the Commissioners appointed Toussaint Gover- 
 nor General of the Island, — when, at a single nod 
 from him, the blacks returned peacefully to their labor 
 on the plantations. 
 
 In alluding to his administration, a writer on St. 
 Domingo says : — " Ships from all nations were now 
 thronging to the ports of the Island under the flag of the 
 United States. Agriculture and commerce rivalled each 
 other in pouring wealth into the country, and peace and 
 industry ministered to the advancement of both." 
 
 After a series of prosperous years, during which 
 the blacks (somewhat enlightened) labored constantly 
 and cheerfully for such compensation as the planters 
 pleased to make, and at the moment when the country 
 almost rivalled the fabled garden of the Hesperides, 
 came the peace of Amiens, which afforded the First 
 Consul leisure to look after his subjects in St. Domingo, 
 and to employ his armies in reducing them to slavery. 
 
 In 1801, eight years after the government of France 
 had, in accordance with the demands of her citizens, 
 abolished slavery forever in the French territory of St. 
 Domingo, and after the blacks of that Colony had man- 
 fully and successfully battled with the fleets and armies 
 
9,9 
 
 PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 of England, and saved the Colony to France, the First 
 Consul sought to reward them by reinstating the sys- 
 tem of slavery. His deputy, M. Vincent, who had 
 newly arrived from the Island with favorable impres- 
 sions of the blacks, advised him to desist, hinting at 
 the same time, that even the conquerors of Europe 
 might fail to gather laurels in such an enterprize. 
 
 For this suggestion, M. Vincent was banished to 
 Elba, and the First Consul, to make assurance doubly 
 sure, despatched an immense fleet with 25,000 troops 
 under the command of his brother-in-law, General Le- 
 clerc, to re-establish the " ancient system " in St. Do- 
 mingo. 
 
 This force was, in every sense, of a most imposing 
 character. There were the troops of the Rhine, of 
 Egypt, of the Alps, and of Italy ; — the very flower of 
 the victorious armies of France ; — well tried and gal- 
 lant soldiers, — worthy of a better master and a higher 
 cause. 
 
 Whether this splendid armament was really sent 
 forth for the glory of France, or whether the First 
 Consul was seeking the aggrandizement of his house, 
 by givmg to the husband of his sister the " heathen 
 for an inheritance," cannot be known ; but, whatever 
 might have been the motive, the result of the expedi- 
 tion was disastrous in the extreme. 
 
 On the arrival of the fleet off the Cape Francois, 
 General Leclerc despatched messengers to the com- 
 mandant of the town to indicate his intentions, and 
 also to suggest that he had splendid marks of favor for 
 
A PLEA FOR HA YTI. 23 
 
 him from the Consular Government. But the officer, 
 acting under the instructions of Toussaint, affected to 
 believe that the ships could not be from France upon 
 such an errand, and forbade the landing of a single 
 man. Finding, however, that the force was overwhelm- 
 ing, and that its commander was resolute, he cleared 
 the place of the women and children, and informed the 
 messenger that upon the entrance of a single ship, the 
 town would be given to the flames. Notwithstanding 
 the hopeless chance by resistance, the outer fort ex- 
 pended its last shot upon the approaching ships ; and 
 as soon as the first vessel had passed the outer reef, 
 the Cape was in a blaze, — so that in less than six 
 hours this miniature Paris was a mass of ruins. 
 
 At every point the approach of the French troops 
 was the signal for conflagration ; thus towns, villages 
 and hamlets were reduced to ashes in rapid succession. 
 Consequent upon the peculiarity of the climate, the 
 exposed situation of the French, and the harrassing 
 guerrilla warfare of the blacks, the invaders became 
 dispirited and perplexed. Pestilence and famine were 
 soon added to the horrors of war, and in an incredibly 
 short time, out of 32,000 French troops, 24,000 were 
 dead, and one half of those who remained were hi the 
 hospital. 
 
 The position of Gen. Leclerc became one of unmixed 
 anguish. The only ray of light which gleamed upon 
 his gloomy path flashed from the desperate hope of 
 ridding the country of Toussaint, whose name alone 
 was stronger than an " army with banners." To effect 
 
24 A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 this great end fairly and openly, lie felt to be impossi- 
 ble ; for in reply to an invitation to make a voyage to 
 France in a French frigate, the wary chief replied, 
 " when that tree (pointing to a small sapling) will 
 build a big enough ship to carry me, I intend to go." 
 
 This manifestation of distrust, satisfied Leclerc that 
 Toussaint was no stranger to his wishes, and conse- 
 quently that he would not easily be entrapped; but 
 the French commander soon found that Toussaint had 
 not acquired even the first rudiments in political de- 
 pravity ; for upon receiving an invitation to a frendly 
 conference, (in relation to the welfare of a part of the 
 French army which was in distress), the black chief, in 
 good faith, repaired to the isolated spot (near the sea 
 coast) which had been named ; in this wild place he 
 was seized, manacled, and sent to France. 
 
 On his arrival at Brest, he was hastily transferred to 
 an ice bound dungeon in the mountains of Switzerland, 
 where, after a close confinement of ten months, he died. 
 
PLEA FOR HAYTI. 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " riancts govern not the soul, nor guide the destinies of man, but matters lightly 
 thought of, are levers in the building up of character." 
 
 According to history, neither the courage nor the 
 equanimity of Toussaint ever deserted him ; nor was 
 his opinion of the destiny of his race in St. Domingo 
 ever shaken. When he gazed for the last time on the 
 distant mountains of his beautiful country, he exclaim- 
 ed, " In my overthrow nothing is cut down but the 
 tree of liberty among the blacks of St. Domingo ; it 
 will survive in its roots which are deep and many." 
 
 The character of Toussaint, though frequently dis- 
 cussed has not often been impartially considered ; his 
 magic influence over his countrymen remains perhaps 
 alone unquestioned. 
 
 He has been charged with cunning, cruelty, dissim- 
 ulation and boundless ambition. It may be that his 
 cunning and cruelty were kindred to the same attri- 
 butes which are sometimes found in the sagacious 
 Bear of the Rocky Mountains, who, after he has escap- 
 ed from the snare set for him, turns upon the unsuc- 
 cessful trapper. His dissimulation may have been like 
 that which the beach bird exhibits when with affected 
 limp she decoys the sportsman from the sheltered nest 
 which contains her young. The fact that the black 
 chief allowed himself to be betrayed at last does not 
 
26 A PLEA FOE HAITI. 
 
 conflict with, his reputation for shrewdness or cunning ; 
 for the act of Leclerc which consigned him to a dun- 
 geon and a grave, was one which he could not have 
 looked for even in the school of Napoleon ; and suspi- 
 cion on his part would have been inconsistent with his 
 claim to any thing like manliness or honor. He had 
 rude notions of what is called the " law of reposed con- 
 fidence," he trusted to it, and fell a victim to its viola- 
 tion. 
 
 The chief defence against the charge of ambition has 
 been that he refused the brilliant offers made to him 
 by the British government. On the other hand it has 
 been stated and insisted upon that no such offers were 
 ever made, and that reports to the contrary were circu- 
 lated merely to give an undue importance to the char- 
 acter and pretensions of the black chief; but the 
 French historian Lacroix says, " I have seen the secret 
 propositions which were the cause of their public 
 demonstrations of respect. They declared Toussaint 
 King of Hayti, and provided that he should be recog- 
 nized as such by the Government of Great Britain on 
 condition that he gave his consent to a treaty of exclu- 
 sive commerce with the latter power ; the ships of 
 Britain having the sole right to export colonial pro- 
 duce from the Island in exchange for articles of manu- 
 facture to the exclusion even of those from the conti- 
 nent of America. It was to be further stipulated that 
 a strong naval armament should be furnished the Gov- 
 ernment of Britain to be stationed in the ports on the 
 coast of .the Island for its protection from the hostility 
 
A PLEA FOE HAITI. 27 
 
 of other powers." The fact, however, that Toussaint 
 declined this arrangement affords no conclusive evi- 
 dence that he was not ambitious, for he was then at 
 the meridian of his power, and having exerted an in- 
 fluence as salutary as it was boundless, he might well 
 have looked for equal honors from the French whom 
 he loved better. 
 
 That the black chief aimed at supremacy in St. Do- 
 mingo is quite probable; in defence of this design it 
 may be urged that the freedom of his race could not 
 have been safely intrusted to other hands. It was true 
 that France had given them freedom, but she had given 
 them only what she had no longer the power to with- 
 hold, and having been impelled by necessity, or at best 
 by a selfish policy, the blacks looked to the future 
 with feelings of distrust which were greatly strength- 
 ened by a knowledge of the fact that the colonists had 
 never ceased for a moment to importune both France 
 and England to aid them in the re-establishment of 
 slavery. 
 
 The extensive preparations which were going on in 
 France for the restoration of the ancient system of sla- 
 very were early known to Toussaint. Had he chosen 
 to co-operate with the First Consul, he could have se- 
 cured for himself every thing short of sovereignty in 
 the country, while resistance was sure to bring upon 
 him condemnation as an outlaw, and probably death in 
 lingering torments, — but it is not pretended that he 
 ever compromised or sought to compromise the free- 
 dom of his race. Before the overwhelming armament 
 
28 A PLEA FOR HA YTI. 
 
 appeared he had prepared himself for the worst, and 
 when it came, the blazing batteries of the 54 ships 
 backed by 25,000 troops failed to change his purpose. 
 
 The burning of the Cape was no transient flash of 
 fugitive desperation, but the deliberate exhibition of a 
 policy which had declared that the invaders should find 
 neither shelter nor rest, and that the soil should " yield 
 only stinging nettles to its enemies ;" it was a policy 
 which the blacks never abandoned ; and it was prompt- 
 ly exercised until there were no more towns to burn, 
 and no more plantations to be laid in waste. 
 
 The many " hundreds of millions " which were thus 
 sacrificed have always been named in connexion with 
 Toussaint, and he has been denounced as a reckless, 
 violent, ambitious, crafty reprobate. On the other hand, 
 he has with equal folly and extravagance, been held 
 up by one writer as " one of the most surprising and 
 best of men ;" and by another, as " a man whom God 
 himself in this lower world could not exceed in purity 
 of spirit." 
 
 The splendor of Toussaint' s success has generally 
 been attributed to his daring spirit of enterprize, his 
 indomitable courage and his ceaseless vigilance ; but 
 the secret of his great influence will be found rather in 
 his show of respect for religious ordinances, in his pro- 
 fessed love of humanity, in his perfect self-command, 
 and more especially in his unquestionable sobriety 
 which amounted to abstemiousness. These traits, shin- 
 ing forth as they did in a region of moral darkness, 
 were attractive from their very novelty, and they secur- 
 
A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 29 
 
 ed for him a confidence and respect which the fullest 
 display of the more imposing characteristics alone never 
 could have Avon. 
 
 The abduction of Toussaint and the attendant cir- 
 cumstances, sunk deeply in the hearts of the blacks, 
 and unquestionably hastened the destruction of the 
 slender hope which the French had entertained. They 
 were immediately opposed by Dessalines, the most 
 prominent black, a man who possessed all the faults 
 which had been charged to his predecessor, without 
 one of his redeeming characteristics. 
 
 Dessalines was by nature, " bloody, bold, and reso- 
 lute," and- he rejoiced in the excuse which the French 
 soon afforded him for making the war one of extermi- 
 nation. In one skirmish the French succeeded hi cap- 
 turing 500 blacks, and in order to strike terror to the 
 rest they murdered the whole of them. Dessalines on 
 the instant, and in sight of their camp, hung the same 
 number of French prisoners. 
 
 Under such a system of warfare, the question of the 
 result could, of course, be only a question of numbers, 
 and as the advantage in this particular was on the side 
 of the blacks, the French forces were soon driven from 
 the Island. 
 
 General Leclerc died of fever towards the close of 
 the struggle, sharing the sad fate of some 30,000 of his 
 gallant soldiers, victims to the ambition and the cupid- 
 ity of Napoleon. 
 
 Although Dessalines had evinced great personal 
 courage, and a considerable degree of military skill or 
 
30 A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 tact, yet he had exhibited nothing more striking or ex- 
 emplary than the headlong fury of a tiger. He pos- 
 sessed no quality which could secure for him the affec- 
 tion of his race ; they had not reached that elevated 
 point from which men look down with composure on 
 blood and carnage ; his sun arose amid scenes of 
 atrocious cruelty, and it went down in blood ; he fell 
 by the hands of his own countrymen. 
 
 Christophe succeeded Dessalines. He was a man 
 of considerable ability, and was in his youth remarka- 
 ble for mildness and amiability ; but wealth, power, 
 and the interested flattery of foreign parasites, did their 
 work upon him, and he became by degrees unkind, 
 cruel, tyrannical and ferocious. He had no friends 
 among the blacks, except those who were such from 
 fear ; and his end would have been like that of Dessa- 
 lines, had he not anticipated with his own hand the 
 death which awaited him. 
 
 The example of England in her relations with St. 
 Domingo cannot be looked upon but with sorrow and 
 regret. The blacks had once looked up to her as the 
 true exemplar of national greatness, civilization and 
 humanity ; but they had seen her unite in an attempt 
 to enslave them ; and in after years they saw her in 
 pursuit of mercenary ends stimulating the savage pro- 
 pensities of Christophe, and encouraging him not only 
 by the friendly presence of her fleets at his capital, but 
 also by the actual service of a naval force under the 
 command of Sir James Lucas Yeo. It is well known 
 that as soon as Christophe' s first fleet was fairly at sea, 
 
A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 31 
 
 the officers and crews, horror-stricken at the cruelty 
 which they had witnessed on shore, abjured his cause, 
 and sought the western end of the Island ; and it is 
 equally well known that they were overhauled and 
 captured by this same Sir James Lucas Yeo, and de- 
 livered over to the vengeance of Christophe. 
 
 Another instance of the violation of neutrality, was 
 seen in the capture by a British frigate, of the frigate 
 " Happy Union," belonging to the Department of the 
 South, then a republic under Peteon. An account of 
 this remarkable transaction is contained in a letter 
 (with which we have been favored) from an officer 
 who was on board the latter ship. The letter is in 
 French, but the folio whig is a literal translation of it. 
 
 " Miragoune, Feb. 14, 1812. 
 
 " At three or four o'clock in the morning, we des- 
 cried a sail to the windward of us ; it was the English 
 frigate Southampton ; the same which went to Corail, 
 and was there some time for the purpose of taking the 
 schooner of Boutain. Having arrived within hearing 
 distance, the frigate hailed us, and an officer of the 
 frigate ordered Commander Gaspard to deliver up our 
 frigate to him. 
 
 " Trusting to avoid any disastrous issue, Gaspard 
 sent me on board the English frigate to confer with 
 Captain James Lucas Yeo. I repaired accordingly on 
 board the English frigate, when I perceived hostile 
 intentions. 
 
 " The decks were cleared, the matches lighted, and 
 
32 A PLEA FOR HA YTI. 
 
 the troops forming the garrison were in readiness at 
 the ports of the English frigate. 
 
 " Being ushered into the room of the Captain, I 
 asked him if we were at war ; if the English were the 
 allies of Christophe ; if, in short, our domestic quarrels 
 affected in any way the powers which were trading 
 with us. The Captain replied no, but he insisted 
 upon taking possession of our frigate, in order to con- 
 duct her, said he, to his Admiral. I asked him if he 
 had orders from his government to trouble us, within 
 the jurisdiction of our country ; if he was ignorant 
 of the fact that the king of England, by his bill of 
 1808, had acknowledged the neutrality of the Island 
 of Hayti, and that it was in favor of this neutrality, 
 and in order to sustain our independence that we made 
 ourselves masters of the navy of Christophe, and that 
 my government had in no wise the intention to use 
 this navy as Christophe had done, in molesting foreign 
 vessels against the rights of other nations. To all 
 these rights, the English Captain urged only evasive 
 reasons. He ended by telling me that if in five min- 
 utes after my return on board, the frigate was not 
 delivered up to him, he would commence his fire. 
 
 " In short, this time elapsed. The English frigate 
 poured forth upon us all its broadside. 
 
 " This first fire took from us fifty men. We an- 
 swered it with promptness. The engagement com- 
 menced with warmth ; it lasted three hours and a half. 
 In this violent conflict we lost two hundred men, killed 
 and wounded. Among the dead were found the unfor- 
 
A PLEA FOR HA Y T I . 33 
 
 tunate Bigot, Le Boeuf, naval officer Augustine of St. 
 Marc." 
 
 Other cases equally glaring might be named, but the 
 ones stated sufficiently indicate the fact that the blacks 
 even in the early part of Christophe's reign had too 
 much humanity to endure a system which England was 
 willing to sustain and cherish. It may reasonably be 
 inferred that many of the outrageous acts of the black 
 chief were induced by the countenance and support 
 which he received from the English, and it is quite cer- 
 tain that if the blacks had been left to manage their 
 own affairs the career of Christophe would have been 
 either a better or a shorter one. 
 
3-4 A PLEA FOE HAITI 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " For we wait like the sage of Salamis to see what the end will be, fixing 
 the right or the wrong by the issues of failure or success." 
 
 After Christophe, came Boyer, who served as Presi- 
 dent for twenty-five years. His administration has 
 been the subject of high eulogium, and it is true that 
 during his career there was no undue taking of respon- 
 sibility on the part of his Executive ; no visible plun- 
 dering of the Treasury by the officers ; no attempt at 
 repudiation, and no " civil wounds ploughed up by 
 neighbors' swords." From this it may reasonably be 
 inferred that the Haytiens were peaceful and easily 
 governed; but the quiet which marked Boyer's rule 
 was at best only a consumptive tranquility; no ad- 
 vance was made in either religion, morals, or educa- 
 tion ; on the contrary it is to be feared that so far as 
 these elements of strength, stability and true greatness 
 were concerned, there was a retrograde movement. In 
 this particular, however, the Haytiens were left in no 
 deeper darkness than that which overspread the Re- 
 publics of South America, whose course of self-govern- 
 ment commenced soon after her own, while in the 
 machinery of politics the Islanders evinced a vast supe- 
 riority ; their union was perfect. 
 
 It was during the government of Boyer that the 
 Spanish or Dominican part of the Island was united 
 with the French part. In relation to this matter, gross 
 
i PLEA FOR HAITI, 35 
 
 misrepresentations have been made ; — it has been urged 
 hi defence of the Dominican claim to an independent 
 government, an independence based upon nullification, 
 that they were beaten down, trampled upon and almost 
 crushed before they would unite with a nation of 
 blacks. 
 
 The facts are these ; at the time of Boyer's election 
 the Spanish part of the Island was independent, but its 
 situation was most precarious ; the war between Spain 
 and her revolted provinces in South America was at 
 its height, and the Columbian privateers which throng- 
 ed the Carribean sea were continually plundering the 
 people along the shores of the Spanish coast ; more- 
 over there were many persons in that division of the 
 Island who were inclined to favor a union with the 
 Patriots of South America, but by far the largest num- 
 ber opposed this suggestion. 
 
 Such was the state of things at the commencement 
 of Boyer's administration. After maturely reflecting 
 upon the difficulties by which they were surrounded, 
 the feeble Government of the Spanish part sought pro- 
 tection in a union with the Haytiens, and Boyer was 
 formerly solicited by them to grant his consent to the 
 annexation of the Eastern part.* This request was 
 complied with, and the Eastern region became a part 
 and parcel of that Republic ; as much so as Massachu- 
 setts is of this Union. Thus it is seen that the Domi- 
 nicans adopted the Haytien Government not only volun- 
 tarily but joyfully. 
 
 * Brown, Vol. 2, p. 248. 
 
36 A PLEA FOR HAYT1. 
 
 At the close of Boyer's administration of twenty-five 
 years, Herard was elected President of the Republic. 
 This was the signal in the Spanish part for a separa- 
 tion from the legitimate Government, and they declar- 
 ed themselves independent of it. Strenuous efforts 
 were soon made to obtain something like a recognition 
 from the Government of the United States. The first 
 application was made to the Honorable Mr. Upshur, 
 then Secretary of State. It does not appear that he 
 entertained the suggestion for a single moment, but 
 after his lamented death, his successor, the Honorable 
 Mr. Calhoun was applied to for the same object, and 
 he actually despatched a secret agent, (Mr. Hogan,) 
 to the Island, to ascertain (as it appeared to the Hay- 
 tiens,) whether the dissolution of the Haytien union, in 
 opposition to the laws of the country, and contrary to 
 the wishes of nine-tenths of its inhabitants, was an act 
 which the Government of the United States ought to 
 sanction and defend. 
 
 It is possible, and even probable, that the Honora- 
 ble Secretary received as truths, the statements which 
 induced this secret mission; that he believed there 
 were, as was gravely stated, some 130,000 white Do- 
 minicans whose lives would be in jeopardy from the 
 blacks, unless they received protection from the gov- 
 ernment of the United States. This idea, backed by 
 injurious reports regarding the Haytien character, may 
 have caused the Honorable Secretary to overlook the 
 cherished principle of non-intervention, in following 
 the dictates of humanity. If it were so, the motive 
 
A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 37 
 
 was honorable to his feelings ; but there was in reality 
 no honest claim for sympathy ; the Honorable Secre- 
 tary was deceived, as w T ere many others of almost 
 equal intelligence.- The Dominicans, so far from num- 
 bering 200,000, had not, all told, a population of one 
 half that number, and of the 100,000 whites, named 
 by the Dominican political agent, in his letter to 
 Mr. Calhoun, (which was published throughout the 
 United States), not more than 5000, and probably not 
 more than 3000, could have been found in the whole 
 Spanish part. 
 
 Numerous other misrepresentations, equally gross, 
 were made in defence of this miserable specimen of 
 nullification, but they are unworthy of further notice. 
 It will be sufficient to say that nearly all of the inhab- 
 itants of the eastern part were and are mulattoes and 
 blacks; — that Herard, who was President of Hayti 
 at the time the Dominicans seceded, was himself a 
 mulatto, and that there was not on his part the slight- 
 est indication of hostile intention, much less the de- 
 notement of a war of extermination. 
 
 The injurious reports which were so widely circu- 
 lated, were designed to excite the sympathy of other 
 nations, and although the interference of the United 
 States might have been induced by false representa- 
 tions, yet it was, after all, plain intervention ; that very 
 kind of intervention which the United States as a na- 
 tion professes to shun ; and precisely that intervention 
 which it becomes other nations to avoid in their rela- 
 tions with her. 
 
38 A FLEA FOE HAITI. 
 
 Let us take this subject home for a moment. Sup- 
 pose that Massachusetts should prove recreant enough 
 to hoist an independent flag, claim to collect revenues, 
 &c, belonging to the nation ; surely neither the Fede- 
 ral Government, or the people of this country, would 
 deem it quite proper for any foreign power, especially 
 a foreign republic, to send an agent to that State, to 
 look into the cause of her rebellion, and to sound all 
 the depths and shoals of nullification. But if a nation 
 which had always refused to have any diplomatic rela- 
 tions with us, should so interfere, the offence would be 
 greatly magnified, and it would be considered an out- 
 rage of such atrocity, that the ships of the whole 
 world would not contain those among us who would 
 be ready to go forth to avenge the indignity by chas- 
 tising the intermeddler. 
 
 In the case of Hayti, it is not contended that we 
 have any right to interfere with her system of govern- 
 ment, and it is seen that there is no ground for the 
 plea of humanity in defence of intervention ; but if 
 it were otherwise, it is not in accordance with the pol- 
 icy of the United States, to embroil herself, by becom- 
 ing the expounder of humanity, and of higher laws, 
 for other nations. On this point, the Hon. Mr. Clem- 
 ens, of Alabama, has said in Congress : — " The advo- 
 cates of intervention have based their speeches, almost 
 solely, on the ground that we have a divine mission 
 to perform ; and that is, to strike the manacles from 
 the hands of all mankind. It may be, Mr. President, 
 that we have such a mission, but if so, the time of its 
 
A PLEA FOE, HAYTI. 39 
 
 fulfilment is not yet; and for one, I prefer waiting for 
 some clearer manifestation of the Divine will." 
 
 Unquestionably the advocates of intervention, al- 
 luded to by Mr. Clemens, were impelled by high and 
 honorable impulses, but it was seen that the great 
 men of the nation, with hearts equally noble, gener- 
 ous and chivalric, repudiated the doctrine ; they wisely 
 feared to launch the ship of state upon, — as Mr. Clem- 
 ens forcibly expressed it, — " a wild and stormy sea, 
 above whose blackened waters no sunshine beams, no 
 star shmes out, and where not a ray is seen, but what 
 is caught from the lurid lightning in its fiery path." 
 
 It is quite possible, that if nations as nations, should 
 become missionaries, and should deem it an impera- 
 tive, sacred duty, "to strike the manacles from the 
 hands of all mankind," — we might, at a future day, 
 find some powerful missionary under the charter of a 
 higher law, landing " with cannon vast and streamer 
 bright," upon our southern coast, to enforce immedi- 
 ate emancipation. 
 
 Now, it is perfectly manifest, that a crusade like 
 this, so far from subserving the cause of Christ, would 
 prove an outrage on humanity. The plea of christian 
 duty might seem plausible enough to some minds to 
 justify such a movement; but to other minds, "the 
 Divine will " would appear to indicate, that in the 
 matter of slavery we are to work out our own salva- 
 tion ; and also, that we must do it under higher, 
 holier, and more kindly impulses, than those which 
 have generally been brought to bear against it. 
 
40 APLEAFORHAYTI. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "Facts are solid as the pyramids." 
 
 Having greatly transcended our limits, which at the 
 start, were not intended to exceed a column of a news- 
 paper, We hasten to a conclusion. 
 
 We think it will be conceded that slavery in St. 
 Domingo was a very different thing from that invol- 
 untary servitude which is known in the United States ; 
 and that there is not the slightest analogy between 
 what the proprietors of St. Domingo were, and what 
 the planters of the United States at this moment are, 
 and have ever been ; that it is utterly impossible that 
 any portion of the people of the United States can ever 
 be exposed to influences so destructive to peace and 
 order as were those which surrounded the blacks of 
 St. Domingo in 1790, and consequently that the sug- 
 gestion that the blacks of St. Domingo gave a bad 
 example to the slaves of this country, has no force. 
 The population of St. Domingo at the time named, 
 amounted to about 560,000 ; of these about 30,000 
 were whites ; a very small number, considering the 
 amount of " lavish cruelty " which was exercised with 
 impunity for so long a time. 
 
 In relation to the character of the present popula- 
 tion of Hayti, it must be admitted that they are not 
 an industrious people ; but we do not go within the 
 
A PLEA FOR HAITI. . 41 
 
 tropics to find the characteristics of the New Eng- 
 lander and the Scotchman. We do not expect to find 
 them even in the southern part of our country. Not 
 much rice would be grown in South Carolina by free 
 labor. 
 
 Notwithstanding the capabilities of Hayti have not 
 been taxed to the utmost, yet she exports about 
 40,000,000 pounds of coffee, and not less than 300 
 cargoes of mahogany and logwood, besides large quan- 
 tities of cocoa, hemp, honey, &c. The labor in cutting 
 mahogany and logwood is considerable, and it should 
 be remembered that all their work is performed in the 
 absence of those stimulating influences which are in- 
 duced by education and refinement. As regards the 
 other and more important characteristics of the people 
 in the interior, it may safely be affirmed that the peas- 
 antry of the Island will compare favorably with the 
 cultivators of any country for mildness, hospitality, and 
 freedom from crime. Numerous travellers have testi- 
 fied to the fact, that kindness is one of the char- 
 acteristics of the people, and the writer in his own 
 experience can bear testimony, that the mountaineer's 
 cottage, like his heart, is ever open to the stranger. 
 
 In connection with this subject, Brown, the histo- 
 rian writes — (vol. ii. page 380) : — 
 
 " The unexampled security of a traveller among the 
 population of the interior is almost incredible ; for he 
 may journey from one extremity of the Island to the 
 other, carrying millions of treasures about his person, 
 without the least danger of violence or any interrup- 
 
"±2 A PLEA FOR HA YTI 
 
 tion. A great number of blacks are employed upon 
 the road as pedestrian expresses, passing from one 
 town to another, loaded with paper money belonging 
 to different mercantile houses, and never an instance 
 has yet occurred of a robbery committed upon the 
 unarmed travellers by hostile attack or secret depre- 
 dation." 
 
 Whatever may be charged to her sister Islands, 
 Cuba and Porto Kico, it cannot be said of the " Queen 
 of the Antilles," that any sheltering cove along her 
 beautiful shores ever held the pirate as a welcome 
 guest. 
 
 A late writer on Hayti remarks, (in a very distin- 
 guished Journal), that the " Haytiens are much better 
 off than the Dominicans hi point of production, com- 
 fort and wealth, while in personal qualities as a peo- 
 ple, they are far their superiors. All the authorities 
 we have been able to consult, speak in high terms of 
 their honesty and docility. A French gentleman, long 
 resident in the Island, and occupying a high official 
 position there, lately said to us, that "they are the 
 best people in the world, and the easiest to govern." 
 A respectable American, the commander of an Ameri- 
 can merchant vessel, for years a trader thither, told us 
 that he " might take the first laborer on the wharf and 
 send him to the other end of Hayti with $10,000 in 
 specie, without fear of his stealing it or having it 
 stolen from him. Travellers may go in perfect secur- 
 ity without being armed. Religious toleration is per- 
 fect." In connexion with the last suggestion it is 
 
A PLEA FOR HA YTI. 43 
 
 proper to say what is evidenced by the same writer, 
 that one of the excuses made by the Dominicans for 
 secession was the too tolerant spirit of the Haytien 
 Government. One of the incentives to favorable con- 
 sideration offered by the leading priest among the 
 Dominicans, to Mr. Hogan, the American secret agent 
 of the United States, was put forth in the following 
 language :— *-" The town of Higney has a very hand- 
 some church, much frequented by travellers, under the 
 protection of our Lady of Grace, to whom all unhappy 
 persons can pray." 
 
 We have of course nothing to do with this priest nor 
 with his church, nor with its paraphernalia, except 
 that they have been named as worthy of the considera- 
 tion of the people of the United States. In that con- 
 nexion we submit that the rude Haytien peasant 
 
 " Whose untutored mind 
 Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind," 
 
 may in his hospitable mountain home exert upon 
 "travellers" and " unhappy persons," influences less ex- 
 pensive and quite as salutary as those which, according 
 to history and tradition, have been generally found to 
 flow from the practices of priests of Santo Domingo. 
 
 The fact that Hayti has become an empire, has been 
 used as an argument against the intelligence of the 
 people, but no one pretends that the majority of the 
 people are intelligent ; nevertheless it is quite certain 
 that the present form of government is found to answer 
 well. It is true that during Boyer's long term all was 
 
44 A PLEA FOR HAYTI. 
 
 quiet ; but peace, though, desirable, is not every thing ; 
 they did not advance during that period either as a 
 people or as a nation ; the substance of the country was 
 used to maintain an army of 30,000. This force was not 
 required to preserve order, for so far as the peasantry 
 were concerned, a corporal's guard would have been 
 sufficient ; but the many with whom war had become 
 a trade were to be provided for ; some of them were 
 aspiring and reckless, and all were unfitted for labor ; 
 they were therefore employed as officers, soldiers, &c, 
 in various parts of the Republic. Thus the army was 
 actually constituted and paid to preserve the country 
 from Outrages by its individual members. 
 
 Prosperity could not have been looked for in a small 
 Republic with a standing army of 30,000, still it is 
 possible that the army was in this case the lesser evil, 
 for in the South American republics, which have had no 
 such curse upon them, faction has risen upon faction 
 for thirty years, and nothing but anarchy, confusion 
 and bloodshed has been heard of down to the present 
 period. The citizens of the republics of South Amer- 
 ica are farther advanced in civilization, and are of 
 course, in general, more intelligent than the people of 
 Hayti, yet it is not seen that they have given the world 
 convincing proof of their ability at self-government ; — 
 we are truly sorry that they have not been able to 
 do so. 
 
 The Emperor of Hayti, notwithstanding he has 
 some 70,000 or 80,000 Dominican seceders to keep in 
 check, does not employ one third the number of sol- 
 
A PLEA FOR HA T T I . 45 
 
 cliers that Boyer maintained during twenty-six years of 
 profound peace.* Consequent upon a concentration of 
 
 * So much has been said in relation to the Emperor's intention to destroy the 
 "100,000 whites " in Dominica, that we deem it proper to present a copy of his 
 Proclamation to the seceders, published in May, 1851. 
 
 The tone of this paper, the fact that it was from the popular Chief of half a 
 million of people, and was addressed to 80,000, all of whom (with the exception 
 of 4000 or 5000) were of the same complexion with the Emperor and his Minis- 
 ters, indicate the true character of the statements which have been made to the 
 government of the United States in relation to a " war of extermination." 
 
 Liberty. Independence. 
 
 EMPIRE OF HAYTI. 
 
 Proclamation to the Inhabitants of the East. 
 Faustin 1st., Emperor of Hatti. 
 
 Discord for a long time has agitated unfortunate Hayti, and keeps ns divided in 
 spite of reason ; and against our interests, which are the same for all. "We 
 lament this separation ; and on several occasions, accomplishing our duty, we 
 have urged you as brothers, as children of the same family, to put an end to it by 
 your reconciliation, for our happiness and the well being of our country. We 
 regret and deplore the duration of a state of things, which is, we must say, the 
 greatest calamity which can strike a young nation, which needs in order to grow 
 and occupy the place which Providence has destined for us, peace, union and 
 concord. Calculate calmly, all the sacrifices required from both sides, in the 
 deplorable war which exists between us. Let us hasten to put an end to it. — 
 Humanity requires it; the same blood which circulates in our veins, renders it an 
 imperious duty. Who can doubt of the desire by which we are animated — of 
 the vows of our heart for this reconciliation, so useful and so highly solicited by 
 the community 1 
 
 Did not the truce proposed by the conciliating powers of June 18th of last 
 year, exist a long time before? and does it not exist now? The good results 
 produced by it, cannot escape your appreciation. It is a step made ; let us aim at 
 the same object, and let us march, united, towards a reconciliation, so much de- 
 sired by civilized nations, which take an interest in our fate, our happiness, and in 
 our political and social progress. 
 
 It is time, dear fellow countrymen, to stop our quarrels. We come, then, to pro- 
 pose to you negotiations. We will nominate deputies ; you, on another side, will 
 name others ; their duty will be to freely make out the conditions of an arrange- 
 ment, in order to stop the disastrous situation, the weight of which we feel 
 together, and to assure the blessings of peace and tranquility. 
 
46 A PLEA FOE, HAYTI. 
 
 power, the present Chief is enabled to dispense with an 
 extraordinary force. It is true that this " one man 
 power " might be abused, but it is also true that the 
 Haytiens have ever found a remedy for abuse ; they 
 found one against the practices of Christophe; not- 
 withstanding he enjoyed the countenance and support 
 of England. The present Chief has no such friend, 
 nor does he require any ; his strength is at home ; it is 
 not too much to say, that there is not a town, village 
 or hamlet in Hayti, however distant from the Capital, 
 that does not spontaneously and joyfully claim to honor 
 him as a Chief, and to love him as a man ; and there 
 are strong reasons for this, for in matters which are 
 generally deemed subordinate, but which in relation to 
 Hayti are vital, the Emperor has shown a wisdom be- 
 
 Meanwhile, come with the greatest security for your commerce and business, 
 and to entertain relations of good friendship. Come — a market is opened for 
 your productions. Immense advantages will be the consequence of our recipro- 
 cal exchanges, and this state of things will spread throughout the people joy and 
 well being. Let us draw a veil over the past, and let us fulfil by our reconcilia- 
 tion, the expectations of the friends of humanity. 
 
 L'pon all our lines we have given orders for the protection of persons and prop- 
 erty, and in order that the most hearty reception be made to you. On your side 
 give the same orders ; we count upon them. Answer our vows, and accept our 
 propositions like brothers, to whom the name of country is dear. 
 
 And you who command in the East, think of the incalculable calamities which 
 a system of separation must necessarily bring about. The interest of humanity, 
 the interest of civilization, that of -our common future, imperiously demand peace. 
 Do not be deaf to the voice which asks for union. For by refusing to hear that 
 voice you would assume a terrible responsibility, of which posterity will ask of you 
 and your children a severe account. 
 
 Given at our Imperial Palace of Port au Prince, on the 14th of May, 1851, 
 48th year of the Independence, and the 2d of our reign. 
 
 Fattstin-. 
 
A PLEA FOR HAITI. 47 
 
 yond all precedent in his own country. Extensive 
 means of education are not only placed within the 
 reach of all, but stringent regulations have been adopt- 
 ed to insure the use of them ; — parents are not allowed 
 to neglect the education of their children. 
 
 Regarding their civil rights, it does not appear that 
 the people are deprived of any wholesome liberty. 
 
 We have been favored with a letter from Port au 
 Prince, written only a few weeks since, and not in- 
 tended for publication, which contains many things 
 commendatory to the Government. It is from a lady 
 of high intelligence. In relation to the present state of 
 things she writes : — " Notwithstanding the ill-natured 
 and slanderous things which are said about Hayti, it 
 is a fact susceptible of proof, that there is more civil 
 liberty and more religious toleration here, at this mo- 
 ment, than in any country (with one or two unimport- 
 ant exceptions) on the continent of Europe." 
 
 Abundant testimonials to the truth of this declara- 
 tion have lately been heard among us, in the addresses 
 of the Rev. Mr. Judd, a Baptist missionary, who has 
 lived in Port au Prince for the past six years, and who, 
 after a short stay in this country, has just returned to 
 his station, with the means of erecting a free chapel, — 
 for the double object of ministering to the highest 
 good of the islanders, and of dispensing the gospel to 
 the numerous seamen frequenting that port. 
 
 If it had been our design to invest this subject with 
 any thing like a romantic interest, the private life of 
 the Emperor of Hayti would have afforded scope for 
 
48 A PLEA FOB, H AY TI. 
 
 half a dozen chapters ; but as almost every thing per- 
 taining to the romance of the race has been monopo- 
 lized, we must content ourselves by saying, that both 
 his private history and his public course, show him to 
 be an exemplary, humane, intelligent man ; one who 
 never sought his title, and who accepted it only for 
 the good of all ; — a chief who will never dishonor the 
 friendship of the United States, nor show himself un- 
 worthy of the regard of its citizens. 
 
 "We cannot close without suggesting that after the 
 United States, Hayti was the first spot in the New 
 World to declare itself independent of European rule ; 
 and that while yet in the very infancy of her indepen- 
 dence her warmest sympathies were engaged on the 
 side of the oppressed, priest-ridden people of South 
 America. 
 
 It is well known that Hayti was the first outside 
 disinterested friend that Bolivar ever claimed, or that 
 his companions ever knew. When the distinguished 
 Liberator was driven from his own country by the 
 Spaniards, and from Jamaica by their attempts to pro- 
 cure his assassination, he fled to Hayti, where he 
 found not only a generous welcome, but the means to 
 make the final effort which loosed Colombia from the 
 yoke of Spain. 
 
 We have touched but lightly on the incentives which 
 exist for the recognition of Hayti, for these, so far as 
 the Government of the United States is concerned, 
 pertain not necessarily (nor in reality at all) to the 
 early history of St. Domingo ; but as the misty past 
 
A PLEA FOR HAITI. 49 
 
 has been interposed and misrepresented, both to the 
 Government and the people of the United States, to 
 the injury of Hayti, we have attempted to dispel some 
 of the most important popular errors. In regard to 
 the true motives — the only incentives which prompt 
 governments in their movements towards powers seek- 
 ing to rise in the scale of nations, there is not the 
 slightest question in relation to the propriety and im- 
 portance of placing Hayti upon the same footing as 
 other nations. Her commerce with us is the eighth in 
 point of importance. She has recognized our consuls ; 
 she has within three years (anticipating the friendly 
 consideration of the United States) placed our com- 
 merce upon a footing with that of France and Eng- 
 land, with whom she has diplomatic relations. She 
 has never interfered, or sought to interfere, with any 
 institution of our country, nor sympathized with those 
 among us whose love and zeal for the black race are 
 seen only in prayers to God for " exquisite tortures " 
 on men, women and children of their own complexion. 
 In conclusion, the writer deems it proper to remark, 
 that these gloomy pages have not been induced by any 
 sudden impulse favoring some new fledged theory ; on 
 the contrary, most of his suggestions are based upon 
 the settled convictions of many years. It is now nearly 
 nineteen years, since, individually, he first called the 
 attention of the Government of the United States to 
 the subject of Hayti ; and although he has ever since 
 that period entertained a lively solicitude for the best 
 good of the people of Hayti, without regard to shades 
 
50 A P L E A F O E, H A Y T I . . 
 
 of color, yet he lias never sought to obtain for them at 
 the hands of this republic any notice or consideration 
 inconsistent with the character and professions of his 
 country ; or hostile, in any degree, to the perfect safety, 
 welfare and rights of the people in the South and in 
 the North, in all their relations.