Boyer elected president.—His character.—Revolution in the
north—annexed to the south.—Revolution in Spanish part.—Union of
the whole.—Measures pursued after.—Overtures to France.—Arrival
of French fleet.—Negotiation and independence.—Baron
Mackau.—Dissatisfaction prevails.—British consul-general.—Further
dissatisfaction.—Determination not to pay the indemnity.—Voluntary
loan attempted—it fails.—Observations on the inefficiency of
government.—State of the military.—Naval force, etc.
JEAN PIERRE BOYER, who succeeded the late president, Petion, and who
consequently became chief of the countries of his predecessor and
of Christophe united, is a native of Port au Prince, and is about
forty-eight or fifty years of age. He is a mulatto, but somewhat darker
than the people of that class. His father, a man of good repute and
possessed of some wealth, was a store-keeper and a tailor in that city.
His mother was a negress of the Congo country in Africa, and had been
a slave in the neighbourhood. He joined the cause of the Commissioners
Santhonax and Polverel, with whom he retired, after the arrival of the
English, to Jacmel, when he joined General Rigaud, whom he accompanied
to France, after the submission of the south to the authority of
Toussaint. On his voyage thither he was captured by the Americans,
during the short dispute between France and the United States, and
after the adjustment of the differences between those two powers he
was released. Having resided in France some time, he, with many other
persons of colour, attached himself to the expedition of Le Clerc, and
accompanied that armament for the subjugation of the colony: but on the
death of that general, he joined Petion, who successively appointed him
to be his aid-de-camp, private secretary, chief of his staff, general
of the arrondissement of Port au Prince, and finally named him for his
successor in the presidential chair.
Boyer is below the middle size, and very slender; his visage is far
from being pleasing, but he has a quick eye, and makes a good use of
it, for it is incessantly in motion. His constitution is weak, and he
is afflicted with a local disease, which compels him to be exceedingly
abstemious. He is fond of parade and exterior ornaments, as is the
custom of the country, but he does not display his propensities for
them, except in compelling those of his staff and household to appear
in all their embellishments. He is but little seen among his people,
except on a Sunday, when he appears at the head of his troops, and
after reviewing them he rides through the city, attended by a cortége
of officers and guards. He is exceedingly vain of his person, and
imagines that it is attractive and captivating, and that his manners
are irresistible.
I shall now proceed to notice a few of the proceedings of Boyer after
his elevation to the supreme command in the republic.
I remarked in the last chapter, that the commander of the troops of
Christophe at St. Marc, on finding that his soldiers had determined on
a revolt, had sent to inform Boyer of the circumstance, and invited
him to proceed to that place and take possession of it. No sooner had
Boyer received this intimation than he made preparations to march
into the north. He took only a few troops, consisting of his horse
and foot guards, being aware that there would be no resistance to his
advance, and that the people were ready to submit to him without any
opposition. This was pleasing to the president, who, as it has been
observed before, never shewed any disposition for hostile measures,
and that fighting was a trade to which he was unaccustomed, and for
which he had no predilection. On his arrival at St. Marc, he received
the submission of the inhabitants, and was joined by the revolted
troops of Christophe; and he also received information of the death
of that chief, and that General Paul Romain, Prince du Limbé, had
declared for the republic. He had therefore nothing to apprehend from
any interruption likely to be given to his advance. On the 21st of
October, 1820, he entered Gonaives, which received him without any
opposition, and on the 22d he proceeded for the city of Cape Haytian,
and the capital of Christophe, the inhabitants of which had made great
preparations to receive him; he entered it the same night at the head
of 20,000 men, and on the 26th he was proclaimed president of the
north. General Romain called upon the people to receive the president
with every demonstration of joy, and to acknowledge the people of
the south as true Haytians and brothers, with the usual salutations
of “Long live the Republic of Hayti!” “Independence, Liberty, and
Equality!” and “President Boyer!”
After the first acclamations of the people had in some measure
subsided, Boyer, by the advice of his officers and the chief people of
the north, began to make such arrangements for incorporating the north
with the southern government as were requisite and imperative for the
better administration of the united districts. The troops of Christophe
were also removed from their stations to others in the south, whilst
those of the south, in some cases, succeeded them: and those general
officers who had taken prominent parts in bringing about the revolution
were confirmed in their rank; but as the government was republican, all
distinctions of title were abolished, and the designation of citizen
was adopted, as in the south. Some of those who were raised to titles
by Christophe, and had survived the revolution, were well pleased to be
disrobed of the trappings of nobility, because it entailed upon them
an expenditure beyond their scanty means. The Baron Dupuy told me that
he was pleased with the designation of citizen, whilst the appellation
of baron had always sounded disagreeably to him. Noble distinctions,
he said, suited those only whose conduct was noble, and who had by
their virtues truly earned them. For his part he was not aware that
he had accomplished any thing that ought to have raised him above his
fellow-citizens. There is reason to fear that the Baron Dupuy was the
only man in Hayti possessing such modest and unassuming ideas.
After the events of the revolution in the north, and the arrangements
for the government of that district had been completed, Boyer made
preparations for his return to Port au Prince. Elated with success,
and vain of what he termed his unexampled career of glory derived
from the downfall of his rival chief, he signified a wish that his
entrance into the city of government should be attended with some
pomp and demonstrations of joy suitable to the occasion. Accordingly,
those of his suite who knew that nothing could be more gratifying to
the president than show and parade, prepared for a triumphant entry,
and at the northern gate an arch was constructed and ornamented with
a variety of devices celebrating his victory. But it having been
communicated to Boyer anonymously, that some disaffected individuals
were conspiring to shoot him as he passed through this arch, he arrived
at the government house by a circuitous route, before the whole was
completed, and without the knowledge of the populace. He began to make
some inquiry respecting the intelligence he had received, but it was
soon suspended, as it was suggested by his chief officers that he would
be acting wisely not to prosecute it further, as it might tend to fan
the flame of disaffection rather than smother it.
The union of the north effected by this revolution, did not seem at
all gratifying to the people of the south, as they had imbibed a great
dislike to the inhabitants under Christophe’s government, from the
civil feuds that had existed, and by which their lives and property had
so often been in jeopardy.
The revolution in the north was followed by a similar event in the
eastern or Spanish part, which took place at the end of the succeeding
year. The first symptoms of the latter manifested itself in the city
of Santo Domingo, the capital of the east. A deputation formed of the
principal inhabitants waited on President Boyer at Port au Prince, and
tendered the submission of the people of the east to the republic, and
soliciting that their country might be incorporated with it.
Boyer no sooner received the communications of the deputies, than
he began to march a force towards the Spanish frontiers, which he
immediately followed with his staff; the whole as they advanced
receiving on their route the congratulations of the inhabitants and
expressions of good will and prosperity to the republic. In the Spanish
part at this time there were a great many of the Haytians who had
taken up their residence as cultivators, and had made some progress in
their little plantations; these with the people of colour formed the
largest proportion of the inhabitants; and when the measure of union
with their western islanders was first suggested by the leading men in
the city of Santo Domingo, a ready acquiescence was shewn by them, and
a wish expressed that it should be proposed to Boyer without delay. On
the arrival of the president in the city, the people displayed their
satisfaction at being united to his government, and he with the same
manifestations of pleasure assured them of his protection and good
will. Such arrangements as were adviseable for the future government of
the east were made without much delay, and General Borjellas was left
in command of the city, and to carry into effect those plans which had
been determined upon by the president and the people.
By the annexation of the eastern part therefore, the whole island
became subject to one government. From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samana, and
from Cape Nicolas Mole to Cape Engano, the power of Boyer extended,
leaving no competitor to disturb his arrangements, nor to attempt to
defeat those views which he contemplated for the preservation and
repose of his dominions.
That a work of such magnitude should have been accomplished in so short
a period, and without even the loss of blood and lives, seems more
like the effect of magic than the result of the efforts of man; and so
exceedingly vain was Boyer of the event, that he was known to declare
that he thought himself like Bonaparte, and that he was endowed with
almost supernatural power, and an agent of the Divine will to scourge
those who had previously oppressed the people. He believes nothing
to be the result of chance, or the effect of time and misrule; and
arrogates to himself the capacity of accomplishing any thing which he
may design and wish to execute.
After having reduced the whole island quite under his subjection, it
was thought that Boyer would take into his immediate consideration
its condition so far as regarded agriculture, commerce, and finance;
and that he would resort to wise and judicious means by which the
prosperity of the whole would be greatly promoted: that he would
infuse a spirit of emulation into the cultivators, because there was
nothing to interrupt their tranquillity, and they might pursue their
labour unmolested and undisturbed. But this was not done; he seemed
to be quite insensible to the good effects that would result from
the encouragement of agricultural labour; and his people became so
perfectly obstinate and indolent, that nothing could be obtained from
them. Commerce also, which in the time of Petion began to decline,
grew worse, and as the country produced but little, the people had the
means of supplying but few wants: in fact it appeared very evident
that Boyer wished to adopt a system of governing different from that
which had been pursued by any of his predecessors. His plan has been to
keep his people ignorant of artificial wants. By this means he expects
the more easily to obtain from the produce of the soil the supplies
required for the wants of government: in this he persists against
all the suggestions of those persons who are capable of pointing out
the disadvantages that must accrue from this line of policy. Finding
his wants great, and that he had no means of supplying them from the
products of the soil, or from the revenue arising from his commercial
intercourse, he was driven to a fresh issue of debased coin, and to the
project of working the mines in the different parts of his dominions,
forgetting that the finest mine which Hayti possessed was in that soil,
the very rich and productive quality of which was the theme of every
man’s praise. Nothing can shew greater ignorance than considering gold
and silver as real, instead of artificial wealth; or greater folly
than exploring mines, whilst agriculture is neglected. The issue of the
debased coin must, some time or other, be attended with all those evils
which the inability to redeem it at its full value will inevitably
bring on, and particularly in a country the inhabitants of which are
in that very backward state of knowledge, where its expediency,—if
it could be expedient to resort to an issue of it,—was beyond their
conception, or the nature of the loss caused by it beyond their
comprehension.
Another of Boyer’s inconsistent projects was his scheme for inducing
France to recognize the independence of his country. Of all the
impolitic measures devised by man, this certainly must stand preeminent
for its folly; by his countrymen it must be deprecated as a wild
scheme which will, in all probability, involve the republic in many
difficulties. It is well known that on the 1st of January, 1804, Hayti
was declared to be independent, since which period no attempts had
been made, or steps taken by the government of France to reclaim it,
except the visit of the commissioners in 1814, whose mission Louis the
XVIIIth declared was undertaken without the authority of the crown,
and consequently disavowed. So that in point of fact no attempt had
been made by France to reassert its sovereignty over the island. Having
therefore been independent de facto for twenty-one years, and having,
by repeated proclamations of the several chiefs of government, and more
particularly in the fulsome gasconades of Boyer himself, exhibited
an unshaken spirit of hostility against French influence and French
dominion, is it not the most unaccountable occurrence in the annals of
almost any country, that overtures should have been made to France, to
recognize an independence already established and tacitly admitted?
Could any man in his senses, or set of men, have been so divested of
all reason, judgment, or penetration? And is it not a circumstance
unparalleled in the political history of any country in the world? But
it is a fact, that the government of Hayti did in May, 1824, send two
agents, Rouanney and La Rose, senators, to Paris, to negotiate for the
recognition of the independence of their country, openly and avowedly
admitting by it, that France still held the sovereignty over it, and
that it was to all intents and purposes a colony, and an appendage to
that crown. These agents were empowered to offer a very large pecuniary
consideration, one hundred millions of francs, with certain privileges
of trade over other nations; but the offer was rejected, and the agents
ordered to quit the country without delay. The French cabinet had now
got the thoughtless Haytian in the toil, and was determined to secure
him; and no sooner was it known in France that Boyer had granted to
an English company the privilege of working the mines in the eastern
part of his dominions, and that other operations of a commercial nature
would be connected with it, than a fleet of fourteen sail of the line
was despatched under the command of Admirals Jarien and Grivel, for the
purpose of reducing the Haytians to submission, and compelling them to
acknowledge France as holding a sovereign right over them, or to accept
of such terms for the recognition of their independence as should be
tendered.
In this fleet sailed the Baron Mackau, an officer in the French navy,
to whom was confided the business of the negotiation on the part of
the French king; and certainly no man was better qualified for such an
important trust. It would indeed have been impossible for any one to
have displayed more adroitness and diplomatic skill, or have executed
his mission with more satisfaction to his country: in fact, to use a
nautical phrase, he got the weather-gage of the conceited Haytian.
The baron, it appears, was not altogether confined to pacific measures,
for on his arrival in the harbour of Port au Prince the fleet shewed
symptoms of active work being in embryo, unless the Haytians were
disposed to submit to such terms as might be offered. The admirals
moored their ships very judiciously abreast of the city, by which
means, if hostilities were unavoidable, they might be able to make such
an impression on it, as should alarm the people, and strike at once a
decisive blow against their capital. From the untenable state of the
several batteries and forts, any attempt at defence would have been
unavailing, for it is evident that one line-of-battle ship could have
demolished the whole. The appearance of such a formidable force before
the city excited terror and consternation; the object it had in view
was unknown, and it was unlooked for; and from the weak and defenceless
condition of the city, every thing seemed hopeless.
The president, all his officers of state, his troops, and the
inhabitants were alike in amazement; and his _excellency_, instead of
setting an example of confidence, and exhibiting that spirit which,
as the head of his country, he ought to have displayed, to rouse the
energies of his people for defence, sunk into a half stupor, and
absolutely shut himself up in his chamber, or closet, with his mistress
and her children. His officers looked at each other like men bereft
of reason through sudden fright; and the troops—those soldiers who
were to _brave every difficulty, and defy the whole world_,—stood
motionless, fearing that every moment would bring the signal of
attack from their enemy. The women and children were sent off into
the mountains in irregular droves, resembling the flight of a scared
multitude, some with such articles as they could carry, and others
without any thing. Upon the whole it is impossible to describe the
panic which the arrival of the French occasioned; and I think I may
venture to assert, that President Boyer will take great care that the
Haytian historians shall not record the event during his sway, lest
they be too minute in particularizing the conspicuous part he bore, and
the bravery which he displayed!
When the whole fleet was safely moored, two officers of the president’s
staff were despatched on board to the commander-in-chief to ascertain
the object of their arrival, and they returned to the president
with communications from Baron Mackau, explaining the nature of the
mission with which he was entrusted, assuring him that it was entirely
pacific, and that his master, the King of France, actuated by the
most philanthropic motives, and in the spirit of the overtures which
President Boyer had previously made, had been induced to appoint him
as his representative to carry into effect such arrangements with
his subjects of Saint Domingo, touching the recognition of their
independence, as should be consistent with the dignity of his crown
and the interests of his people. When this was announced to Boyer, he
recovered somewhat from the alarm into which he had been thrown, and
once more put on an appearance of confidence and resolution. When he
heard that the object of the mission was conciliatory, and that hostile
measures might be averted by submission to such propositions as might
be offered, his mind became tranquil, and he at once determined, _and
his brave officers applauded him for his decision, not to draw his
sword_, but rather to try the effects of supplication on the sensible
mind of the French diplomatist.
The next day Baron Mackau landed under a salute from the forts, and
proceeded to the government-house, where he was received by the
president, surrounded by the great officers of state and those of his
staff. The same evening he was closeted with the president and the
secretary-general Inginac for a considerable time, and entered upon
the subject of his mission. They came to no conclusion that night, but
the interview seemed to have been broken off somewhat abruptly and
unsatisfactorily to the baron, who was necessitated to demand a prompt
decision, or he should be obliged to resort to those measures for which
he was so amply provided. The same night, and immediately after the
departure of the baron to his hotel, a conference took place at the
bureau of the president between the secretary-general, some members
of the senate, and himself on the subject of the propositions, and it
was determined that another interview should take place the next day
at the secretary-general’s house, and that he should be deputed to
make such arrangements as the exigence of affairs required. The baron
acquiesced in the appointed meeting, and accordingly prepared himself
to meet the secretary-general, but without any disposition to relax in
those demands which he had made the night previous. The French cabinet,
it must be remarked, had provided the baron with ordonnances of
different degrees of propositions, already prepared for presentation,
acceptation, and signature, and with these he proceeded to the place
of interview, first presenting that which was most favourable for his
country, and lastly, the one which the secretary-general Inginac, in
the name of the republic, deemed it adviseable to accept, and by which,
should its several clauses not be complied with, Hayti is admitted to
be a colony of France. The ordonnance is dated in Paris on the 17th of
April, 1825, and signed by the king, and sets forth, that the ports in
the _French part of St. Domingo_ shall be open to the commerce of all
nations; that the French ships and merchandize shall be admitted into
the _French part_ on paying only half the duties exacted from other
nations, and the same on the exports thence; that the _inhabitants
of the French part of Saint Domingo_ agree to pay, in five annual
instalments, the sum of one hundred and fifty millions of francs as an
indemnity for the losses of the ancient colonists; and that when the
conditions of this ordonnance are fulfilled _the French part of Saint
Domingo_ is declared independent. When this ordonnance is particularly
considered, it will be seen that France has been admitted to the
sovereignty of Hayti, and that President Boyer when he accepted it,
recognized in Charles the Xth his future sovereign, at once declaring
himself to be only the nominal representative of that monarch, and
by the most extraordinary weakness and precipitancy assigns over the
independence of his country, at once annulling that constitution framed
by his predecessors, which says, “never again shall a colonist or an
European set his foot upon this territory with the title of master or
proprietor.”
The negotiations having been concluded on the 8th of July, preparations
were made for proclaiming their _independence_ on the 11th, and a
great deal of ceremony and parade attended it. The people of Port au
Prince exulted at the idea of being now placed beyond the possibility
of disturbance in their persons and property; but such exultation was
confined to the city alone in which the celebration of the event was
to take place. Throughout the whole island, and particularly the north
and south, the intelligence was received with great murmurings, and the
negro cultivators began to apprehend that they had been sold to the
French for the purpose of reestablishing slavery. At Cape Haytien in
particular the people shewed the strongest symptoms of a disposition
to revolt, and in the neighbourhood all was ripening for resisting the
measures of the government. Boyer was informed of it, and so powerful
did it appear, that he immediately ordered troops to advance for the
purpose of awing the people into an acquiescence in the arrangements
which had been made. He succeeded in doing so; but although he
discovered the principals and seized them, yet fearing the consequences
that were likely to ensue from bringing them to trial, he only directed
them to be banished to the south, confining the limits of their place
of exile to the vicinity of Jacmel.
A general officer, who commanded one of the southern arrondissements,
demanded from the secretary-general, Inginac, the cause of so
disgraceful a concession on the part of President Boyer, and
declared that it was cowardly and treacherous to the people. The
secretary-general replied, “that it was impossible to do otherwise, as
the French fleet lay off the city, and if the president had not acceded
to the ordonnance, the destruction of the city would have followed, and
then what would have become of our wives and children, our properties
and the republic?” The general, who was a negro, with a look of the
greatest indignation, immediately asked the secretary-general “if
President Boyer and himself considered the city of Port au Prince alone
the republic; and if that city had fallen into the hands of their
enemies, whether there were not other places in which they might have
taken refuge, rather than have submitted to the disgrace of such an
unprecedented treaty?” After the spirited declaration of the negro
general, it was intimated to him that his presence was particularly
required at his place of command.
There were several fêtes given in Port au Prince to Baron Mackau and
the French officers, all of which were only remarkable for the fulsome
compliments which flowed from the respective parties. The French, who
six months before were execrated by the people, were received with
every appearance of esteem by those who had taken an active part in
these transactions. The ears of strangers were continually beset by
persons engaged by the President to cry through the streets, “Vive
Charles the Xth!” “Vive le Dauphin de France!” “Vive la France!” “Vive
Haïti!” “Vive le President d’Haïti!” “Vive l’Indépendence!”
Baron Mackau seems to have had a perfect knowledge of the people to
whom he had been sent, for he dealt out his flattery with no unsparing
hand, and the avidity with which Boyer swallowed it excited no little
surprise among the French, and became the subject of general talk with
all classes of people, Haytians and foreigners. Their noble struggle
against Le Clerc, and their courage and virtues, were continually
the subjects of the baron’s praise; at other times, the progress and
improvement in the various branches of knowledge which the people had
made, and above all, the high talents of Boyer, his discernment and
discretion, and his many good and noble qualities.
The negotiation for independence having been arranged, it was
necessary, before the whole could be concluded, that commissioners
should forthwith be sent to France for the final adjustment of some
differences which could not be provided for in the preliminary treaty,
and for the raising of money by a loan for the payment of the first
instalment of the indemnity. The persons appointed for the mission
were, Mons. Rouanney, a senator, who had been employed in the previous
mission, Mons. Daumec, a lawyer, and Colonel Frémont, aid-de-camp of
the President. Daumec, the only man possessed of the least talent, was
taken ill on his passage to France, and died soon after his arrival in
that country. The duty therefore devolved on the other two, who were
incompetent for the management of the important charge with which they
were entrusted, and their execution of it confirmed such a conclusion.
Rouanney was perhaps as little calculated for diplomacy as any person
that could have been selected—he is a weak and superficial character,
a compound of vanity and presumption; and Frémont could only have been
nominated to display the splendour of the Haytian military costume, and
to shew to the good people of France the magnificence of the court of
the redoubtable President of Hayti!
They failed in their mission, for they were unable to determine on any
question that was submitted by the French for their consideration,
and consequently the cabinet of France was driven to the alternative
of tendering to them the basis of a definitive treaty comprising
twenty-one articles, with which they were ordered to return to Hayti,
and to lay it before their government for approval or rejection. Their
return excited no little astonishment; and when the document of which
they were the bearers was presented to Boyer, he was anxious to accept
it, but his council, it appears, and the secretary-general, Inginac,
decidedly opposed it, alleging that if it were received it would be
compromising the honour and independence of the republic; for it was a
strange anomaly, and bore no analogy to a definitive treaty of peace,
but in all its relative parts had a resemblance to a convention between
a king and his rebellious subjects. Boyer therefore, much against his
inclination, rejected the treaty, but intimated to the French cabinet
his sincerity in wishing that such a treaty had been concluded as
would be reciprocally advantageous, and establish a good understanding
between the two countries. He also pledged himself to conform to the
terms of the ordonnance of the French king, by the admission of the
ships of France chargeable with reduced duties, and by providing for
the payment of the indemnity at the respective periods at which the
instalments became due.
With respect to the loan for paying the first instalment that fell
due on the 31st of December following, the commissioners, Rouanney
and Frémont, seem to have been totally ignorant of the nature and
effect of such a negotiation. They appear to have been in a maze from
the attractions of Paris, and their understandings—if they ever had
any—warped by the influence of French intrigue, for they concluded
a contract, that not only exhibited the greatest absurdity, but one
that would entail a most extraordinary loss upon their country by its
redemption; a loan that has excited the risibility of the moneyed men
who had a share in its negotiation, and has displayed the incapacity
of the persons selected by the Haytian government to represent it in a
measure of so much importance.
Such was the state into which Boyer had thrown the republic by his weak
and most improvident policy, and it required some skill and ingenuity
to avert the evil likely to ensue from it, for dissatisfaction began to
be prevalent. From the press of Hayti being under the censorship of the
government, the proceedings with France relative to the recognition of
independence were not known in many parts of the country, particularly
amongst the cultivators of the interior. Although forming the largest
proportion of the people, they had no knowledge of the conditions on
which the French had acceded to the recognition, until the members of
the chamber of communes returned to the several parishes which they
represented, and explained the whole of the measures pursued by the
president. No sooner was it made known that the French were to receive
one hundred and fifty millions of francs as an indemnity to the old
colonists, and that the ships of France were to be admitted on half
duties, than a general murmur of disgust was heard, and the members
of the communes were most justly censured for having countenanced an
act which would entail upon them endless trouble and anxiety. The idea
of paying so large a sum, or even any money at all, for so insecure
a boon as that of the recognition by France, was declared to be of
all acts the most absurd and inconsistent; and to admit them besides
to a privilege of trade more favourable than that which was conceded
to England, which had always been constant in her intercourse, was
deprecated as a measure which was likely to bring down upon them the
displeasure of that government, particularly as the President had, only
but a very short time previous to his abject submission to France, most
unwisely abrogated the law of Petion which admitted the manufactures
and produce of Great Britain into the ports of the republic at lower
rates of duty than those of other countries.
Such being the impression upon the generality of the people, they
hesitated not to say, that the admission of the indemnity to France
as a national debt by the legislative bodies was not binding upon
the people; for as they had gained their independence by one of the
greatest struggles in modern times, and as they had supported it at the
expense of a great deal of blood, and as it had become indisputable
from twenty-one years’ possession, they could only consider such
conduct on the part of President Boyer as the effect of weakness and
that want of energy and decision which ought to be conspicuous in
the head of any government; and therefore that they were determined
to resist any levies that might be attempted for raising the amount
of the instalments out of their properties. In this predicament was
Boyer placed, and it was made the more awkward to him from the cry of
his people, “for arrangements with England,” and “give the English
privileges, and down with privileges to France.” They were sensible,
they said, that the British government would have protected them
against the enemies of their peace and independence; but now, from the
precipitancy of their own rulers, they were no better than a colony
of France again; and that England could not hold out to them any
expectation of support, unless she embroiled herself in a war with her
neighbouring state.
Finding such to be the feelings of the people, Boyer had recourse
to an expedient which he thought would appease their irritation,
and once more soften them to an approval of his conduct. He made
indirect overtures to the British government, and afterwards a direct
communication, to know if it were the intention of the King of England
to recognize the independence of his country, as the King of France
had been induced to do; but no assurances were received, further
than that his Majesty, for the protection of British commerce in the
republic of Hayti, contemplated to send out consuls to that country to
preside over the interests of British subjects; and that if the Haytian
government had any proposals to offer, on which a treaty of commerce
could be entered into upon a reciprocal basis, it would receive that
attention which the nature of it demanded. This disposition of the
British government was no sooner known in Hayti,—and I had been the
bearer of it to Boyer—than the people manifested the highest symptoms
of joy and satisfaction, declaring that they were now at the acme of
their wishes. Boyer found it an act of prudence to express similar
feelings of pleasure, though he secretly hated the English, and would
have submitted to any sacrifice rather than have seen them triumphant
in the opinions of the people; Inginac, the secretary-general, was not
only gratified at the intelligence, but shewed openly that this was
the nearest wish to his heart, and as he had always been much attached
to the English from having had a good deal of intercourse with them,
there was no event from which he could derive so much satisfaction and
happiness as to see the representative of the commerce of Great Britain
land upon their shores. The inhabitants of the country considered this
as a tacit admission of their independence by Great Britain, and Boyer
encouraged such an opinion.
It was, indeed, extraordinary to see the people running towards the
government-house to congratulate Boyer when the intelligence was first
made public, and the respectable citizens congratulate each other
with the most happy countenances, as they were likely to be secured
in the enjoyment of their properties. That their country would now
prosper, and advance in wealth and consequence when recognized by the
crown of England, seemed to them certain; and they hailed it as an
event of the highest importance to their interests and to their future
aggrandizement.
From the moment of its being announced that the British government had
come to the determination of sending out a consul-general to Hayti,
Boyer’s officers of state and the people in general manifested the
greatest solicitude for his appearance; a solicitude, emanating from a
great sense of the importance which they attached to it. The president
suppressed his feelings, whatever they might have been; but at times
he could not resist the temptation of condemning the delay which
intervened between the appointment of the consul and his departure
from England; and he was often heard to say, that he questioned the
sincerity of the British cabinet respecting such intentions, and
that he believed it to be only a ruse de commerce. The inhabitants,
however, were of a different opinion; they knew the integrity of the
British government, and were confident that its commerce would not be
neglected, but promoted and extended wherever it could be accomplished.
Under this conviction they began to consult each other, and take into
consideration in what manner they should best evince their joy, and
shew those marks of respect to which a consul from England was so
justly entitled.
It was determined by them to receive him on his landing with shouts
and acclamations, and to conduct him to his hotel, accompanied by the
most opulent and powerful of the citizens, and that the city should
be illuminated; but when their plans were communicated to Boyer by
the _presidential spies_, he had it made known indirectly that such
manifestations of their pleasure would not only be irregular, but that
he should feel it as an insult offered to himself, as he had not been
consulted on its propriety, nor applied to for his permission.
On the 25th of May, the consul-general and his suite arrived in his
Majesty’s ship Druid, Captain Chambers; but as she did not appear off
the harbour till nearly dark, she was not recognised by the government
officers, and consequently did not salute before the following morning,
when it was returned by the forts, which was the only demonstration
of respect offered by the Haytian authorities on his arrival. Nay,
President Boyer could not conceal his antipathy, nor restrain his
dislike to the English, even though he perceived that the presence of
the British mission had a strong tendency to reconcile all classes
of his citizens to his impolitic measures. He individually neglected
even to congratulate the consul on his arrival; he did not pay him the
common civility of sending one of his aides-de-camp to express himself
friendly to the object of his visit, as was the case on the arrival
of the French consul-general, to whom he sent two of his staff to
offer him _the assurances of his high consideration and esteem_. The
consul-general of England was only visited by a subaltern of artillery
on the staff of General Inginac, and the general was absolutely
precluded paying a higher compliment to him by the positive orders
of Boyer; by the express order of that very man who would have been
subjected to the animadversions, if not the hatred, of his citizens,
had not the British government sent out a representative to give them
something like an appearance of protection against the intrigues
of France. He would no doubt have set the whole of his citizens in
a ferment, had it not been prevented by the timely arrival of the
British consul-general, when their animosity and irritation seemed to
have been softened by the gratification of seeing the British ensign
proudly waving from a British man-of-war.
The consul-general, Mr. Charles Mackenzie, a gentleman of the most
refined and accomplished manners, and possessing talents of the highest
order, received all this contumely with the most perfect indifference,
attributing it to a very just cause. He knew that Boyer was secretly
attached to the French, that he cordially disliked the British, that
he had arranged with the French for the purpose of giving that nation
influence and privileges in Hayti, and that any intercourse with
England was forced upon him by his people. He knew also that Boyer was
not the individual he was represented to be; that he possessed neither
enlarged nor cultivated ideas, and had no correct knowledge of the
world; and consequently, from these circumstances, he very judiciously
put down all that show of neglect on the part of the government to its
proper account, ignorance.
It is necessary now to advert to the proceedings of Boyer after his
arrangements with France, and to see what steps he took to provide
for the necessities of the government, brought on in a very increased
proportion by the improvident measures which he had pursued.
In the first place, he called upon the legislative body to sanction
his treaty with France, to admit it to have been both expedient and
unavoidable, from the situation into which the republic was thrown by
the unlooked-for appearance of the French armament on their shores, and
finally, by their entrance into the harbour of Port au Prince, before
any preparations for defence could be made. No one entertained any
doubt respecting the issue of this question; every person who knew how
the legislative body was constituted was aware that it would meet with
their acquiescence, that no member would have the temerity to offer his
dissent, and that it would pass nem. con. In fact, there was no debate
upon the question; the measure was proposed, and passed three times in
one day.
Another important question also, submitted by the president, was the
indemnity promised to France. He called upon them to declare it a debt
of the nation, and to devise such means as would enable him to meet and
liquidate it at the periods when the respective instalments became due.
This met with some trifling opposition, but was however carried, and
immediately promulgated on the plea that the honour of the republic and
its credit would be compromised were it not most rigidly and strictly
complied with.
When it was known through the country that the representatives of
the people had acceded to these two propositions of the president,
the inhabitants began to express themselves in language easily to be
understood, and to declare that they would not submit to be burthened
with the indemnity to France, and that on no consideration whatever
would they contribute towards its liquidation, it never having met with
their concurrence: that they never wished the recognition of their
independence by France, and in fact that the whole of the proceedings
of the government, with regard to the negotiations with that power,
ought to be universally execrated by every citizen in the republic;
and when it was further known that an act had passed to compel each
arrondissement to pay its proportion as pointed out under the law, they
strongly expressed their determination to resist a levy which they were
neither willing nor able to raise.
I had an opportunity of knowing the sentiments of the people on this
subject, from a communication made to me by several of the most opulent
of the planters in the south-western part of the republic, and it was
made without any feeling of hostility entertained on their part towards
the government; but they declared that the small cultivators, and
others composing the great mass of the population of their district,
were so exasperated at the concession of such privileges to their
enemy, that they were confident that no force could compel them to
pay their quota of the indemnity, and that resorting to compulsory
measures would only infuriate them so much more.
The government from every quarter received the most unfavourable
intelligence respecting the impression which their measures for raising
this indemnity had made, and the irritability which it had excited; it
was therefore deemed advisable to try if it were possible to raise one
or two of the instalments by voluntary loans, to be redeemed in thirty
years, and to bear an interest of six per cent. on the stock at par.
If this could have been accomplished, the compulsory measure would not
have been enforced, and the law would have remained a dead letter; but
the attempt proved unsuccessful. The people had no confidence in the
government, and although every officer of the state contributed, and
even some British merchants, yet they could not raise three hundred
thousand dollars, and even that sum has not been paid into the treasury.
Many citizens, on being applied to, to aid the contribution, declined
to render any assistance to a measure which they declared to be
pregnant with the most pernicious consequences; for they had, they
said, no hesitation in avowing it to be their opinion that the
government never intended to repay one shilling either of principal
or interest, and that they could not, consistent with their ideas of
justice towards their fellow citizens, give their sanction to so
unjust and nefarious a proceeding. They observed also, that as to
faith in the integrity of the government they had none; that under no
consideration would they lend it a dollar, for that it was impossible
for it to redeem any loan it might obtain when it was fettered with a
debt that was too burthensome for the country; a debt contracted by
every species of weakness, and want of energy and courage in those who
were placed at the head of the state.
In the eastern part of the republic, the people were much more violent
in their opposition, for they openly remonstrated against contributing
towards the indemnity, alleging that they had not been an integral part
of the French colony at any time, and that they would not be compelled
to pay any proportion of the debt contracted by the government for a
recognition of independence by France, because they never acknowledged
the right of that power to any part of their division of the island.
They had voluntarily joined that part of the country under Boyer’s
government, but not with the supposition that they were to submit to
such an arrangement as to pay any proportion of an indemnity which it
was thought proper to give to France for a recognition of the rights of
the people of the other extremity. This was but just in the inhabitants
of the Spanish end of the island, and it would be unfair to condemn
them for thus strenuously rejecting every attempt on the part of the
government to allure them into an acquiescence.
It was pretty generally believed also, that this determination of the
people of the east was countenanced by the officers who commanded
in its several districts, who were not backward in expressing their
dissatisfaction at the measures of the president; and the latter found
it advisable not to adopt any further means for the raising of a loan
in the country, but to try what could be accomplished when the new law
for levying the contributions came into force.
Into this dilemma therefore has Boyer thrown his country, and without
any ostensible means by which he can extricate it from the difficulties
in which it is involved. Oppressed with the weight of an overwhelming
debt, contracted without an equivalent—with an empty treasury,
and destitute of ways and means for supplying it—the soil almost
neglected, or at least but very partially tilled—without commerce and
credit,—such is the present state of the republic; and it seems almost
impossible that, under the system which is now pursued, there should
be any melioration of its condition, or that it can arrive at any very
high state of improvement. Any change from the present would in all
probability be worth the experiment, but the existing inefficiency of
the government precludes the chance of any beneficial alteration being
effected. Hence there appears every reason to apprehend that it will
recede into irrecoverable insignificance, poverty, and disorder.
It must be manifest to every individual who visits Hayti, and who
devotes some little attention to the state of the country, that the
leaders in the government mistake the true principle of governing, and
that their ideas of the most effectual way to exalt their country are
erroneous, wild, visionary, and inconsistent. They are so excessively
vain too of their talents and discernment, that they think they have
framed a constitution the most pure and unobjectionable of all the
modern republics; and they arrogate to themselves the merit of having
perfected a system that must eventually excite the admiration and
receive the approbation of the world. With such arrogance on the part
of her rulers, it is not surprising that Hayti, instead of improving
in her condition, should greatly decline, and that her advancement
under such circumstances should be exceedingly slow. Whereas, on
the contrary, were the president and his advisers to study the best
interests of their country, they would look round for information,
consult the experienced from every quarter, and court advice
rather than shun it. But so long as Boyer is permitted to fill the
presidential chair, this cannot be expected; his vanity is too deeply
ingrafted to be easily rooted out, and labouring as he does under the
most extraordinary infatuation of his infallibility, no good can be
anticipated from his government, nor can the people be expected to
advance in knowledge, wealth, or prosperity.
The only department of government to which Boyer seems to devote his
attention is the military establishment, and in this he is apparently
sincere, but without displaying those requisites which constitute the
capability of regulating the internal affairs of that branch of the
state. The standing force of Hayti exhibits at once the absurdity
of his measures, and illustrates the folly of his arrangements with
France. It is stated by himself at forty-five thousand men,—I say
nothing of the national guards, one hundred and thirteen thousand,—all
well armed, well disciplined, and completely found with every article
necessary for the soldier. If, therefore, his force were as stated
by himself, so powerful and well organized, the only thing that can
be said is, that he must have been a most inefficient commander,
and in any other country would have been subjected to the strongest
animadversions, for not having opposed the French force instead of
submitting to such terms as those to which he assented. Whatever may be
the numerical strength of the Haytian standing army, its disposition
weakens its power, and evidently displays the incapacity of Boyer as
a military man, although his egotism, and the adulation of his staff,
would wish it to be understood that he is but little inferior to the
greatest captain of the age. It is a known fact that he cannot, within
any moderate period, concentrate at any given point five thousand men;
and notwithstanding their boasted discipline, I have no hesitation in
declaring that not one half of such a body would be fit for active
service on any sudden call or emergency.
Let us look at the condition of a Haytian regiment with respect to
equipment for the field. I have seen several of them in what was
represented to be marching order; and what was their state? Some of
the men are without even bayonets to their firelocks, many without
a cartouch-box, and some without either belts, cartouch-box, or
bayonet. Then their uniform, too—that can hardly be described. The
coat ought to be of blue cloth, with red facings; a cap similar to
the French infantry, with the arms of the republic, in brass, on the
front of it, white duck trowsers, and black gaiters. This I say ought
to be their uniform, according to the military regulation; but the
officers commanding regiments are not quite so nice, not such strict
disciplinarians as officers in the British army, for the former are
not in the least particular should their men appear either on parade,
or in marching order, without many of those articles which, by the
latter of their instructions would be considered indispensable. A
Haytian commanding officer looks to nothing but his own personal
appearance. If that has undergone the survey of his chère amie and
his fille de chambre, he stalks forth to the head of his corps in all
the majesty of command, with his nodding plumes waving to and fro,
not unlike one of those heroes frequently represented in some ballet
or spectacle. He has no concern for the appearance of his soldiers,
and consequently they exhibit one so extremely outré, that I fear a
description would scarcely obtain credibility. Shoes are considered
superfluities, for in a regiment of four hundred men you will not find
many dozen pairs. Shirts again are not required; as the jacket hides
them, they are therefore voted as unnecessary and extravagant. Their
caps in colour,—for they deem cleaning to be a labour unbecoming a
soldier,—which ought to be black, resemble more the colour of the
earth on which they walk, and are generally applied for carrying it
when they are ordered on working parties, putting them therefore
to a very important use. And their feathers, instead of standing
perpendicular, are mostly horizontal, because a soldier generally
applies his cap for the purposes of a seat in one instance, and as an
utensil for carrying water in the other.
I have heard a great deal about the courage of the Haytian soldiers,
and such a thing as bravery in all probability did exist in the early
periods of the revolution; but whatever may be said to the contrary,
I am inclined to think that they are as deficient in real courage as
they are in every other requisite for a soldier. High sounding and
vaunting declarations of their character for heroism, fortitude, and
resolution, on occasions of a very critical nature, I have often heard
from the citizens, but I have known, from my own personal observation,
of instances in which they have shewn the most abject cowardice. In
ambuscade, or for irregular warfare, bush fighting, or any similar
operations, they may be useful; but if they be ever brought in front
of an enemy, to contend for any position at the point of the bayonet,
or to perform any duty exposed to the menace of even an inferior
force, they will shew themselves exceedingly deficient in courage,
and quite on the alert to fall back; and it will be seen also, that
their officers are not often to be found setting their men any example
of disregard of personal danger, or of giving those proofs of innate
valour and bravery which are so characteristic of European soldiers.
The naval force of Hayti is inconsiderable. It consists only of a
brigantine of six or eight guns, and about three schooners of four
guns each, not one of which is capable of leaving their own coast,
being badly equipped, worse manned, and the officers quite ignorant of
navigation, and they have about five hundred sailors. The government
bought a vessel for the purpose of loading her with produce to send to
France, to pay a debt it owed there, and they had not a Haytian who
could navigate her, and they were obliged to get a British subject
of colour to take the command. He went to Havre, and was named “The
Haytian.” This affords a fair specimen of Haytian capacity.