Cause of the revolution in the colony.—People of colour in
France.—Their proceedings.—League with the society of Amis des
Noirs.—Ogé’s rebellion.—His defeat and death.—Conduct of the
proprietors and planters.—Consequences of it.
IT has been very erroneously thought by some persons, who feel
interested in the fate of the slave population of the West Indies,
or at all events they have, with no little industry, propagated the
impression, that the revolution in Hayti begun with the revolt of the
blacks, when it is evident, from the very best authors and from the
testimony of people now living, who were present during its opening
scenes, that such was not the fact, and that the slaves remained
perfectly tranquil for two years after the celebrated “Declaration
of Rights” was promulgated in France. Such persons give themselves
but little trouble in searching the history of the island—they are
satisfied with the report of others, who may be equally uninformed with
themselves; and thus it is that they imbibe ideas and notions of the
wonderful capacities of the negro population, who could have commenced,
and so effectually carried themselves through a struggle for freedom,
without, as they allege, the aid of any other more enlightened or more
powerful auxiliary. It requires no observation of mine to shew that the
first symptom of disorder shewed itself among that class of people in
the colony denominated, at the time, Sang-mêlées, or Gens de Couleur,
or, as termed in the British colonies, mulattoes, who from their
numbers formed a very powerful body, and not being countenanced by the
whites, became in time inveterately opposed to them: many of them,
natives of the colony and of the other French islands, were residing in
France at the time of the Revolution, and these consisted of persons
who had been sent thither in early life for their education, together
with others who possessed considerable property, as well as some talent
and intelligence. At this period also, from an extraordinary prejudice
that prevailed in France against the inhabitants of the colonies,
arising from an aversion to the principles of slavery, and which was
much encouraged by the denunciation against everything having the least
appearance of despotism, a society was established, denominated “Amis
des Noirs” (Friends of the Blacks), which aimed at the subversion
of the government, and called for an immediate abolition of the
slave-trade, as well as a general emancipation of all those who were at
the time living in a state of slavery.
“With these people” (meaning the men of colour in France), says a
writer on this subject, “the society of Amis des Noirs formed an
intimate connection. Their personal appearance excited pity, and,
cooperating with the spirit of the times and the representations of
those who deeply sympathized upon principles of humanity with their
condition, all ranks of people became clamorous against the white
colonists, and their total annihilation was threatened.” Not long
after the formation of this union of feeling and sentiment between the
friends of the blacks and the men of colour in France, the national
assembly promulgated their famous declaration of rights, an act
certainly contemplating the destruction of all order, and having an
evident tendency to excite the lower classes of the people into every
species of insubordination and general ferment; one of its leading and
most important clauses being, that “_all men are born and continue free
and equal as to their rights_.”
The society of Amis des Noirs, aided by a corresponding institution
in London, together with the united body of the coloured people in
France, lost no time in sending out this very celebrated declaration,
and in disseminating its principles throughout the whole island; their
efforts were not unavailing, for the mulattoes, conscious that the
French nation were favourable towards their designs of demanding a
restitution of their rights, and the full and unqualified enjoyment
of those privileges hitherto confined to the white colonists, had
recourse to arms, and appeared in bodies for the purpose of awing the
provincial assemblies into concession; but their number not being
great, they were in the onset easily subdued. It is said, however, that
notwithstanding this check to their progress, the assemblies were much
disposed to concede to the demands of the mulattoes; but in no instance
could they think of permitting those white inhabitants to participate
in these privileges, who had in any way cooperated with them. Several
of the civil officers of the colony and magistrates declaimed against
slavery, and openly avowed themselves supporters of the declaration
of the national assembly of the mother-country; they were arrested by
the provincial assemblies, and committed to prison, and such was the
irritation and fury of the mob, that Mons. Beaudierre, a respectable
magistrate at Petit Goane, was taken out by force, and, in spite of
the municipality and other powers, put to death. In some cases the
governor successfully interposed, and those who were most obnoxious
to the people were conveyed out of the colony by secret means. During
all these outrages, there is no account upon record of the negroes
taking any part, and the fact seems to be established, that at this
period they were quite tranquil and unmoved, although their several
proprietors were concerned either for or against the measures from
which the agitations sprung.
It appears that the governor of the colony had lost a great deal of his
popularity, and consequently of his power, by his interposition; for a
general colonial assembly, convoked in January 1790 by order from the
king, determined that his instructions were imperfect and inapplicable,
and the people therefore proceeded on a plan of their own, and changed
both the time and the place at which the assembly should be held.
Nothing could have emanated from the deliberations of the body convoked
by this determination of the people, for the discontented and confused
state of the colony being soon known in the mother-country, and an
apprehension having arisen that the island was likely soon to be
declared independent, the national assembly, in March 1790, came to the
following decision: “That it never was the intention of the assembly to
comprehend the interior government of the colonies in the constitution
which they had framed for the mother-country, or to subject them to
laws which were incompatible with their local establishments; they
therefore authorize the inhabitants of each colony to signify to the
national assembly their sentiments and wishes concerning the plan of
interior legislation and commercial arrangement which would be most
conducive to their prosperity.” Then followed a resolution, “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.”[2]
The people of colour and the society of Amis des Noirs were, as it
might have been anticipated, thrown into considerable alarm by the
promulgation of a decree of so ambiguous a character, and no little
surprise and consternation followed its appearance in the island. It
was construed into an acquiescence in the further continuance of the
slave-trade; it was also conceived to confer upon the colonists the
power of settling and affixing their colonial constitutions, and to
absolve them from their allegiance to the French crown.
The first general assembly of the island which was convoked after
these decrees had been received, and had excited the astonishment of
the people, was held at St. Marc on the 16th of April 1790. Their
deliberative functions commenced with a discussion upon the hardships
to which the people of colour were subjected under the military system
of the colony, and it was determined, that on no subsequent occasion
should they be required to perform more duty than was usually exacted
from the whites.
An inquiry into the abuses alleged to prevail in the colonial courts of
judicature, and the discussion of a new plan of colonial government,
were the principal subjects which occupied the attention of the
assembly until the end of May, when it was adjourned or prorogued.
M. Paynier was at this time governor-general of St. Domingo: he had
neither the capacity nor the disposition required for administering
the affairs of the colony at such a period. Instead of being actuated
with the desire of conciliating the parties opposed to each other, he
secretly gave every possible aid and encouragement to the supporters
of ancient despotism. The appearance of Colonel Mauduit, however, a
man of some talent and energy, effected a change; for he soon acquired
much influence over the governor-general, and prevented the coalition
which was about to take place between the assembly and the mulattoes;
and declaring himself the protector of the latter, he speedily gained
over to his interest the greater part of that class of people. The
planters at this time, too, were in an undecided state, wavering
in their opinions, and fixed to no measures likely to preserve the
tranquillity of the island, and there was not one of their body capable
of impressing them with a due sense of the condition into which they
were likely to be precipitated by their want of energy and decision.
Forming as they did a numerous class of the inhabitants, had they been
unanimous in their opinions, and united in their views, the repose
of the colony would in all probability have been preserved. Such not
being the case, however, and some of the provincial assemblies making
efforts to counteract the measures of the general one, a civil war
seemed likely to be the result of so much diversity of sentiment.
The decree of the general colonial assembly of the 28th of May was
indicative of an approaching convulsion, which before long might
be expected to burst forth; the preamble to this decree exhibited
sentiments which seemed to breathe a spirit hostile to the peace of
the people. The articles themselves assume it as a branch of the
prerogative of the crown to confirm or annul the acts of the colonial
legislature at pleasure. These articles are important, and I shall
detail them as they have been given by others.
“First. The legislative authority, in every thing which relates to the
internal concerns of the colony (régime interieur), is vested in the
assembly of its representatives, which shall be called ‘The General
Assembly of the French Part of St. Domingo.’
“Secondly. No act of the legislative body, in what relates to the
internal concerns of the colony, shall be considered _as a law
definitive_, unless it may be made by the representatives of the French
part of St. Domingo, freely and legally chosen, and confirmed by the
king.
“Thirdly. 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 law 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 assembly his observations
thereon.
“Fourthly. 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 affirmative by a majority of two-thirds of the general
assembly; the names and numbers being taken down (prises par l’appel
nominal).
“Fifthly. 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, who shall then proceed to revise the decree, and
consider the observations thereon, in three several sittings. The votes
for confirming or annulling the decree shall be given in the words Yes
or No, and a minute of the proceedings shall be signed by the members
present, in which shall be enumerated the votes on each side of the
question, and if there appears a majority of two-thirds for confirming
the decree, it shall be immediately enforced by the governor-general.
“Sixthly. 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 allowed
to propose regulations concerning commercial arrangements, and the
system of mutual connexion (rapports commerciaux, 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 consented thereto_.
“Seventhly. In cases of pressing necessity, the importation of
articles for the support of the inhabitants shall not be considered
as any breach of the system of commercial regulations between St.
Domingo 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 conditions and modifications as are
prescribed in articles three and five.
“Eighthly. 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.
“Ninthly. A new general assembly shall be chosen every two years, and
none of the members who have served in the former assembly shall be
eligible in the new one.
“Tenthly. The general assembly decree that the preceding articles, as
forming part of the constitution of the French colony in St. Domingo,
shall be immediately transmitted 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.”
It was not likely that a decree, the articles of which were thus
opposed to the maintenance of order, could exact the acquiescence
and submission of the people, and lead them to an approval of that
which seemed to aim at the destruction of all subordination. Serious
apprehensions arose as to the measures which would be adopted and
pursued at this juncture, to avert the impending storm which was
expected at no distant period to burst forth.
It was imagined, and was a received opinion, that the “declaring of
the colony an independent state, in imitation of the English American
provinces”, was certain, and every effort was made to avert such a
proceeding. No obedience to the general assembly could be enforced.
The inhabitants of Cape François were the first to set the example
of renouncing all respect for that body, and of calling upon the
governor-general to dissolve them. With this request he instantly
complied, charging the general assembly with a design of undermining
the peace of the colony, by forming projects of independency, contrary
to the voice of the colonists; he even charged them with having been
accessories or instigators of the mutiny of the crew of one of the
king’s ships, and pronouncing them traitors to their king and country,
he declared that he should take the most prompt and effective measures
for bringing them to that punishment for which their treachery so
loudly called.
An attempt was made to arrest the committee of the western provincial
assembly, and a force under M. Mauduit was sent for that purpose, but
he failed in effecting his object, for the members, hearing of his
approach, collected about four hundred of the national guard for their
defence, and M. Mauduit retired after a skirmish or two, without any
other advantage than the capture of the national colours.
The general assembly being apprised of this attack, immediately
summoned the people to the support and protection of their
representatives. The northern provincial assembly adhered to the
governor-general, and, to oppose the progress of his opponents, they
sent him all the troops stationed in that quarter, together with an
additional force of about two hundred mulattoes. The western province
collected a much greater force, and everything seemed to indicate a
sanguinary civil war, when an event occurred which for a time averted
all those unhappy results that would inevitably have taken place, had
the opposing parties come in contact.
Most unexpectedly, at this momentous juncture, for the purpose of
trying the effect of a personal appeal to the national assembly of
France, the general assembly of the island determined on a voyage to
Europe. About one hundred members, all that remained of their body,
from the effects of sickness and desertion, embarked on board the
Leopard (that very ship, the crew of which had declared themselves in
their interest a very short time previously) on the 8th of August,
and took their departure, hailed with the warmest acclamations of the
populace, who could not restrain their admiration at so extraordinary
an act of devotion to the good of their country. It is said, that
“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.”
Immediately after this storm had subsided, every effort was made by
the governor-general, Paynier, to restore confidence and tranquillity
amongst the people, and for some time, there was a strong indication
of the peace of the colony being once more established; but the
designs of the people of colour in France, abetted by the society of
Amis des Noirs, at the head of which were some of the most violent of
the revolutionary characters of France, destroyed all their hopes,
and every species of anarchy and confusion was anticipated from the
proceedings of these disseminators of the pernicious doctrine of
equality and the rights of man.
It was at this period that the first mulatto rebellion took place, at
the head of which was the famous Ogé, the protegé and disciple of La
Fayette and Robespierre, a young man about thirty years of age, and a
native of the northern part of St. Domingo. He had been educated in
France at the expense of his mother, a woman of property living near
Cape François; having been admitted to the meetings of the society of
Amis des Noirs, he had imbibed all their principles, and had become
enthusiastic in demanding an equality of rights and privileges for his
coloured brethren. Encouraged by the society, and the revolutionary
leaders, he left France for the purpose of instigating his fellow
colonists of colour to take up arms in the assertion of their claims.
To give him something like an appearance of military command, the
society purchased for him the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army of
one of the German states. To conceal his designs from the king and the
national assembly, he made a circuitous voyage by North America; but
his object was known before he left France, and intimation was sent out
to the governor-general that he had embarked for St. Domingo, and that
his scheme was to excite his coloured brethren to arms. A description
of his person, and I believe a portrait also, were transmitted for
the better discovery of him on his arrival; but notwithstanding
every precaution, he landed secretly, and the circumstance remained
unknown, until some weeks afterwards he wrote to the governor, reviling
him for his proceedings, and in the name of all the mulattoes, of
which he declared himself to be the protector, demanding in the most
contumelious language the immediate execution of all the statutes
of the Code Noir, and that in all times to come there should be no
distinction, as to rights and privileges, between the whites and the
other inhabitants of the island. To give a greater force as he thought
to his demand, he vauntingly stated, that unless the governor-general
acceded to his propositions, he should assert them by the force of
arms. Ogé, however, was somewhat premature in his calculations of
support and aid in the carrying into effect the object of his voyage;
for although some considerable time had elapsed from his landing, and
he had the assistance of his brothers, who were tainted with the same
love of insubordination and tumult, he never could collect at any one
time more than from two to three hundred to join him in his cause. He
encamped his followers near the Grand Rivière, and it is said, that his
brothers and another chief, Chevane, instigated their people to commit
many excesses, and at times murdered the unoffending inhabitants in the
vicinity, with the most shocking cruelty, whenever they declined to
join in their proceedings. Instances were many, in which whole families
were murdered, from the circumstance of a father, or even a brother,
refusing to take up arms to favour their cause.
Supported by so small a body, and no simultaneous movement taking place
in any other part of the colony, the career of Ogé and his associates
was not likely to be of any long duration. Steps were immediately
taken by the governor to suppress the revolt, and to bring the leaders
to trial, if it were found practicable to apprehend them. Troops and
the Cape militia were sent to oppose them, when a skirmish ensued in
which many of the rebels fell, and some were taken prisoners. Ogé
escaped with Chevane; but as it was known that they had fled into the
Spanish territory, they were demanded by the successor of Peynier, M.
Blanchelande (the former having resigned his command, and embarked
for Europe,) who brought them to trial in March 1791, and they were
condemned: Ogé and Chevane to be broken on the wheel, and his brother
and some of his followers to be hanged. The fortitude of Chevane
never forsook him to the last, and he met his fate with extraordinary
resolution and courage; but Ogé exhibited the greatest pusillanimity,
supplicating in the most abject manner that mercy might be extended to
him. It appears that a respite was granted to him, in consideration
of his promise to make the most important discoveries were his life
spared. He made a full confession before commissioners appointed for
that purpose, and in that confession was detailed the whole plan which
the coloured people had devised to excite the negro population to open
rebellion.
It seemed a case of peculiar hardship, if not of great injustice, and
breach of all faith and honour, that after the unfortunate and deluded
man had made such important disclosures, and had informed the governor
of the whole of their designs, by which their further progress might be
defeated, his life should be sacrificed; mercy having been held out as
the price of his confession, it should have been extended to him, for
this he had unquestionably, upon every principle of justice, a right to
expect and to demand. Why it should not have been granted to him, no
reason has been assigned. He was executed immediately after, and at the
fatal spot he shewed neither the firmness, fortitude, nor the mind of a
brave man suffering in that cause of which he had been the leader.
The proceedings of the government with respect to the revolt of Ogé,
and the very unjust execution of the latter, excited great animosity
between the whites and the people of colour, the latter of whom had
collected in large bodies in various parts. In the western and southern
districts they formed encampments, and displayed a determination to
resist the oppression and the unjust decrees of the governor. At
Jeremie, and at Aux Cayes in particular, a most formidable body had
collected, well armed and accoutred, and shewed a great desire to
come in contact with the government troops. It has been generally
admitted that Mauduit, who commanded the troops of the government, was
in secret conference with their leaders, and that on several occasions
he appeared among them singly, and consulted with them, advising them
not to desist from their purpose, but to move forward with energy and
perseverance. That he did this traitorously, is evident, for having
obtained intelligence of the whole of their plans through this ruse,
he availed himself of it for the purpose of defeating them, and as it
afterwards turned out, the mulattoes were dispersed and obliged to seek
refuge in any place where it was not likely that they could be known or
discovered.
The members of the colonial assembly who had gone to France for the
purpose of laying their complaints at the foot of the throne, were not
received with much favour; on the contrary, having appeared at the
bar of the national assembly they were dismissed with considerable
disappointment and chagrin. The report of the committee appointed
to examine their claims, displays no little disapprobation of the
proceedings of the general colonial assembly. It concludes by saying,
“that all the pretended decrees and acts of the said colonial assembly
should be reversed and pronounced utterly 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; that testimonies of 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 8th of March 1790, and instructions of the 28th
of the same month; finally, that the cidevant members, then in France,
should continue in a state of arrest, until the national assembly might
find time to signify its further pleasure concerning them.”
Nothing could exceed the consternation which this decree excited
throughout the colony, and the indignation of the people was manifest
from one extremity of it to the other. To have called another
general colonial assembly would have been an act of impossibility,
for the people in many districts absolutely refused to return other
representatives, declaring those that were under arrest in France to
be the only legal ones, and that they would not proceed to another
election.
The national guards, who had for some time felt, with no little
mortification, the insult offered them by Mauduit, who had previously
carried off their colours, evinced a disposition to resent the
affront, and to refuse all further adherence to the cause in which
they had enlisted; and they were soon after joined in their revolt
by the very regiment of which Mauduit was the commander, tearing the
white cockade from their hats, and indignantly refusing obedience to
him. Discovering the error into which he had fallen, he offered to
restore the national colours, and appealed to them for protection
against insult, which these faithless wretches pledged. But because he
would not _stoop to the humiliation of begging pardon of the national
guards on his knees_, he was, notwithstanding this pledge, on the day
appointed for the ceremony of restoring the colours, suddenly pierced
by the bayonets of those very soldiers whom on innumerable occasions he
had so kindly and so liberally treated. The other troops who happened
to be present at this most dastardly and inhuman act, could not witness
it without an attempt to revenge themselves on the perpetrators;
they were however restrained from effecting their intention, and
only compelled them to lay down their arms, when they were sent off
prisoners to France, there to receive that punishment which such an
enormity most justly deserved.
About this period the accounts of the fatal end of Ogé had arrived in
Paris, an event that caused an amazing sensation amongst the advocates
of the people of colour and the society of Amis des Noirs; it brought
forward the Abbe Gregoire, the staunch friend of the former, who,
with extraordinary eloquence and great warmth, claimed the benefit
which the instructions of March 1790 gave to them. After a violent
address from Robespierre, who said, “Perish the colonies rather than
sacrifice one iota of our principles”, the national assembly confirmed
the decree of the 15th of May, 1791, which enacted, “that the people of
colour resident in the French colonies should be allowed the privileges
of French citizens, and, among others, those of having votes in the
choice of representatives, and of being eligible to seats both in the
parochial and colonial assemblies.”
This decree, on being received in the colony, excited no little
sensation; the greatest indignation was manifested by the white people
in every quarter, but still they refrained from acts of hostility to
the measures of the mother-country, under the hope that when the new
colonial assembly, which was to meet at Leogane on the 9th of August,
entered upon its legislative functions, it would without doubt afford
them that redress which they so anxiously desired.
The mulattoes, no doubt, expected that a most serious opposition
would be given to this decree, as the governor, M. Blanchelande, had
assured the provincial assembly of the north, “that he would suspend
the execution of this obnoxious decree whenever it should come to him
properly authenticated”; they accordingly assembled in large bodies
throughout the whole colony, and displayed a determination to enforce
by arms the concession of those privileges to which, under the decree
of the national assembly, they asserted they were entitled.
Here, it will be perceived, the first serious symptoms of tumult and
insubordination appeared, not from any revolt of the slave population,
but from the unhappy interference of the national assembly of France,
influenced by the supporters and advocates of the people of colour,
and the society of Amis des Noirs. Had this interference been declined
by the mother-country, and had the colonial assembly been invested
with the sole legislative power of framing regulations for the
internal government of the island, all those lamentable scenes which
subsequently followed would have been averted, and the colony would
have preserved its peace and repose, and have proceeded on, in its
highly rich and cultivated condition, to the great advantage of the
proprietors, to the enhancement of the revenues of the parent state,
and without, in any way, oppressing the slave cultivators or increasing
the burthens under which they were said to labour.
At the period of this narrative to which we have now arrived,
the effects of the Revolution in France had made a very sensible
impression on the whites, as well as on the people of colour; and
it has been a matter of no little astonishment, that during the
disputes which so unhappily existed, and whilst the adherents of one
party were committing acts of hostility against the other, the slave
population should have remained passive observers of the contest
between their respective masters, and in no instance, I believe, did
they fly to their succour and support. The proprietors and planters
of all denominations had arrived at a very high state of affluence,
their plantations were extensive, in a high state of cultivation;
thus possessing a soil rich and productive in a climate particularly
favourable for cultivation, their wealth scarcely knew any limits. But
unfortunately their manners and habits became relaxed and depraved
in proportion as they advanced in affluence and prosperity. Proud,
austere, and voluptuous, they often committed acts which humanity must
condemn; and in the season of agitation and disappointment, when the
contending factions at home and abroad were endeavouring to undermine
them, they perhaps were led to the infliction of excessive punishments,
and to practise an unusual degree of severity in exacting labour from
their slaves. Sensual pleasures had also, at this time, become so
prevalent as to excite very general disgust.
The mass of society had become so depraved, that vice in every shape
was gloried in, whilst virtue was scarcely known; it cannot therefore
be a matter of much surprise, that the rude, untaught, and unlettered
slave, just emerging from his savage customs, should be led by example
to imbibe the vicious habits, and indulge the loose and ungovernable
propensities which characterized his master. Upon the creole slave
example made an instant impression, whilst the newly imported African,
slow to observe, was only led into excesses by the craft and persuasion
of his creole fellow bondsman. Example, therefore, most unquestionably
suggested the extraordinary cruelties which in the spirit of revenge
were inflicted by these infuriated people, instigated by the mulattoes
in the first instance for the more certain enforcing of their claims
to the privileges which the decree of the 15th of May, 1791, conferred
upon them. In all these disputes the females of the colony also bore
a conspicuous part; entering into all the views and feelings of their
male companions, they displayed an unparalleled degree of enthusiasm
for the cause in which their husbands, fathers and brothers had
respectively engaged: forgetting their sex, and lost to the softer
feelings of female nature, they furiously flew to the standards of
their party, and by gesture and menace shewed that they were ready to
meet the fate which seemed likely to fall on their friends.
I cannot better illustrate the characters of the planters and the
slave population at this period, than by the description given of
them by Rainsford in his History of St. Domingo, who must have been
conversant with them from having been a sojourner in the colony under
circumstances of great danger, and whose experience, arising from
general intercourse, must enable him to be a very competent judge. He
says of them: “Flushed with opulence and dissipation, the majority
of the planters in St. Domingo had arrived at a state of sentiment
the most vitiated, and manners equally depraved; while injured by an
example so contagious, the slaves had become more dissolute than those
of any British island. If the master was proud, voluptuous, and crafty,
the slave was equally vicious, and often riotous; the punishment of
one was but the consequent of his own excesses, but that of the other
was often cruel and unnatural. The proprietor would bear no rival in
his parish, and would not bend even to the ordinances of justice. The
creole slaves looked upon the newly imported Africans with scorn, and
sustained in turn that of the mulattoes, whose complexion was browner,
while all were kept at a distance from an intercourse with the whites;
nor did the boundaries of sex, it is painful to observe, keep their
wonted distinction from the stern impulses which affect men. The
European ladies too often participated in the austerity and arrogance
of their male kindred, while the jet black beauty among slaves, though
scarcely a native of the island, refused all commerce with those who
could not boast the same distinction with herself.”