Haytian jurisprudence.—State of the courts.—Trial by jury.—The
judges.—Justices of the peace, their corruption.—State of the
church.—Account of a Missionary.—Schism in the church.—Moral
and religious state of the people—shewn by their mode of
living.—Description of this mode.—Habitations described.—Furniture,
&c.—Education.—Its progress.—Government do not encourage
it.—Remarks on the consequences of not doing so.—Qualifications of
senators and communes shew the state of knowledge and education.
IT is necessary that I should make a few remarks on the subject
of Haytian jurisprudence, and endeavour to shew my readers what
description of personages preside over the civil and criminal
departments of justice, as well as explain what sort of an individual a
Haytian justice of the peace is.
I think that every person who has had an occasion to visit Hayti,
and has been an observer of the way in which justice is generally
dispensed, will accord with me in the opinion that there may be
exhibited the symbol of justice, but that equity is never dealt out
in spirit and in substance; and that whenever it becomes unavoidable
that recourse should be had to the courts of law for a decision on
a disputed question, it is ten to one in favour of that suitor who
is the most liberal in his bribes to the judges. It is a fact which
cannot be controverted, that justice in Hayti may be bought; and those
who are appointed to administer it, cannot escape the imputation of
making the chair of justice the vehicle of corruption. Justice never
flows from a pure and unvitiated source. The civil and criminal codes
of Hayti do certainly provide for its due administration, and for the
protection of property and individuals against molestation; but there
is a laxity in the courts which deserves the severest reprobation, and
calls for a prompt remedy. There is so much procrastination, and such
inconceivable dilatoriness in the officers of the courts, that cases of
a civil nature, although of no importance and capable of being decided
at the first glance, are oftentimes heard and reheard, considered
and reconsidered, before any judgment is given; and those who may be
committed for trial for an alleged offence, are alike subjected to the
tardy proceedings of the law, and the innocent often suffers, by an
unjust imprisonment before trial, equal in duration to that which is
awarded to an offender after his conviction. The supineness and apathy
of the judges are the subjects of general condemnation, and their want
of discernment and discrimination renders it frequently necessary to
reverse or suspend the execution of their judgments.
The law establishing a trial by jury in criminal cases passed the
legislative body, I believe, in 1826, but I have not heard of any
instance in which it has been acted upon, nor do I think, from the
general incapacity of the people, that it will be acted upon. If it be,
I cannot answer for the consequences that might ensue in all cases of
crime, where a long investigation of the different allegations which
constitute it took place. Amongst the people who would be thought
eligible to be summoned on a jury by the court, few only, if any,
would be found capable of determining upon the guilt or innocence of
the party accused, and those probably would be led by their passions
to convict or acquit, without the least reference to the charge or the
evidence adduced. The trial by jury in Hayti may be a great blessing
to the people when they are taught to estimate its importance, as the
means of preserving their rights and liberties. But as they, at the
present moment, know but little of liberty but the name, and have but a
very superficial knowledge of what constitutes their rights, they are
not fit to be trusted with the performance of so important a duty as to
decide upon the innocence or guilt of their fellow men. Such being the
state of knowledge, I feel confident that the trial by jury will not
be adopted in practice until the people become more enlightened, and
knowledge be more generally diffused throughout the country.
The court of cassation, which is the court of appeal from the courts
civil and criminal, exceeds, in the tardiness of its proceedings,
all the other legal institutions of the country. There is no such
thing as an equitable decision emanating from the judges, for they are
under the surveillance of the president, and before they give their
judgment, have recourse to him to know whether their opinions meet his
approbation. If he concur, they give judgment accordingly, but should
he differ, and the question be one in which the state is a party, or
any state officer, then they are obliged to reconsider the case, and
to see _if they have not taken a wrong view of the question at issue_.
After a short period,—for it is incumbent on them to preserve their
characters as judges in equity,—they pronounce judgment with great
solemnity, and with as much appearance of that conscious rectitude of
proceeding as if their investigation of the subject had been the most
unbiassed, and their decision founded on the purest principles of law
and justice.
The proceedings in the lower courts are somewhat extraordinary in
civil cases. If a creditor institute a suit against a debtor in one
district, and obtain a verdict, the defendant is permitted to appeal
from the sentence to the court of the adjoining district, and so on
in succession throughout the whole series of district courts; and if
the last confirm the judgment of the first, the defendant can then
move it into the court of cassation, and in the event of that court
confirming the judgment of the courts below, he may appeal from it to
the president, and apply for a new trial in those courts, so that the
contest proceeds ad infinitum, however clear may be the proof adduced
of the debt being just. These unjust and inequitable acts of the judges
and president are common; and foreigners who are obliged to resort to
legal means for the recovery of their debts, find it attended with so
much procrastination and expense, in addition to the uncertainty of the
result, that they mostly wait the effect of time for the recovery of
their debts, rather than have recourse to law.
Another most extraordinary, and I call it a most unexampled power over
the courts, is vested in the hands of an officer denominated the grand
judge. He can stay execution after the judgment is confirmed as long
as he may deem it adviseable; and although at the time the party is in
possession of means to liquidate the debt, he frequently gives him one,
two, or three years to pay it. In the mean time, the debtor may dispose
of his property in a clandestine manner, the creditor being left to
lament not only the loss of his debt, but the heavy charges to which he
had been put through the whole of the delays and chicanery of the law,
and the weakness and unfairness of the judges.
The British merchants in Hayti have been subjected to the most
intolerable impositions, through the unjust proceedings of the courts
of justice; but it is probable that some check will now be put to
these iniquitous and nefarious proceedings. The consul-general is
too wary, and too sensible of the evil, not to be on the alert; and
although he may not have the power to remedy the past, I am confident
he will prevent a recurrence of it in future. His known perseverance
and determination have shaken the courts already, and his presence
there will, I think, insure to his countrymen that justice for which
they have so long sought in vain.
The judges form perhaps the most extraordinary selection of personages
that could ever have been found in any country; and their avocations
previously to their elevation to the judicial seat, have never been
professional. The grand judge, Mons. Freshnell, is an infirm man of
colour, nearly eighty years of age. Until he arrived at middle age, he
had been actively and successfully employed in the marauding career of
a pirate. His legal knowledge is just what might have been expected
from his previous avocations. He is a modest old man, it is true; for
when his present appointment was offered to him he declined it, as he
said himself, from his incompetency to fill it, and to perform the
duties which it required. Boyer however insisted on his accepting it,
and remarked “that it did not require talent or legal knowledge to
execute the duties of it, that he had only to do as he was directed
by such orders as he might receive from the bureau of government”; so
that, in fact, the first law officer of the republic is a mere tool of
the government, possessed neither of capacity nor power. He is a mere
instrument of the president, to move and act as he may be directed.
The chief judge of the court of cassation is a black, and, like that
race in general, exceedingly vain both of his talents and high station.
He is a small shopkeeper, but generally called a merchant (negociant),
and in that way he is more respectable than in his judicial capacity.
The other judges of this court are all engaged in some mercantile or
similar calling, and exhibit neither the dignity of expounders of
the law, nor the grave nor placid exterior demeanour of men on whom
devolves the important duty of distributing justice with an equal hand.
Monsieur Dieu Donney, chief judge of the lower courts, is a man of
colour, and may be considered as possessing some little knowledge in
the laws of the republic, and would, in all probability, do justice
were he permitted to do so. He is said to be a great opponent to
the practice of suspending judgments when ready for execution, and
has declared it, in the presence of the president, to be unjust and
unconstitutional, and that before long it would inevitably be the means
of driving all foreigners from the country, for it gave countenance
to the fraudulent designs of those who were in the habit of obtaining
a large amount in goods on credit, disposing of them immediately for
less than they actually cost, for the purpose of realizing the money
and investing it in lands, when they knew that in the first place
they could, by the delays of the court, prevent judgment being taken
for two years, and after judgment, might obtain three years for its
liquidation; and in fact, perhaps in the end, never pay at all, because
in the interim they might dispose of, or make over their property to
another, in trust, and laugh at their creditor with impunity.
He is, I think, an upright man, and although his talents are not of
the first order amongst his Haytian brethren, yet he makes up for this
by his integrity, and gives great satisfaction by the justice of his
decisions; but he is often controlled by the majority of his brother
judges, who are as corrupt as they are ignorant.
The idea which some of the judges have of conscience is somewhat
singular, and may not be unworthy of notice. They are all very ill paid
it is true, and consequently they are open to bribery, as I have before
mentioned; and whenever a good bribe is offered, they never consult
their consciences about the justice of the case, but give a verdict as
a quid pro quo for the douceur.
With regard to that respectable officer, a justice of the peace in
Hayti, he is almost indescribable, being a compound of bad qualities.
Speaking of them generally, they are what may be not incorrectly
denominated retailers of justice, and dispose of it to that person
who can give the most. They are persons certainly not very judiciously
selected, and in the different districts where they reside, they
exercise their power very arbitrarily, unless the parties who may
unfortunately be brought before them, for offences committed within
their jurisdiction, can afford to pay well for a little lenity. An
attempt was made by the justice of peace at Port au Prince, who is the
uncle of Boyer’s mistress, to impose on a British sailor, who had been
illegally discharged from an American vessel, in which he had sailed,
without payment of his wages, acting, it was said, under the influence
of the agents of the vessel. But the British consul-general not only
remonstrated strongly with this personage, but threatened to make it a
subject of representation to the president; the fellow however having
afterwards made some submission, and apologized for his conduct, the
matter was permitted to drop.
Having touched upon the administration of the laws of Hayti, I shall
now offer a few observations on the church establishment and the moral
and religious condition of the people.
The established religion of Hayti is the Roman Catholic, the
constitution, however, tolerates other forms according to the letter
of the law; but although it does tolerate other forms of worship, the
municipal authorities take great care that the Protestant sectarians
shall encounter every possible obstacle when they wish to meet for
the purpose of divine worship. They will not permit their meetings to
be held in a public manner, and the inhabitants are cautioned against
receiving them into their houses unless they desist from preaching.
What is therefore called toleration in Hayti it would be difficult to
define. It is not many years since, that a missionary from one of the
societies of England (I think he was a Wesleyan) was obliged to leave
the country, although that individual bore a most exemplary character,
and had very studiously avoided exciting the envy of the Catholic
priests, or giving the least umbrage to any person of that persuasion.
He set about the duties of his mission with all the ardour of his sect,
and gained many followers, but the rancour of the Catholic clergy was
roused by his success, and their malice soon became conspicuous. This
very worthy man, therefore, was subjected to great insult. His removal
was suggested to the president, and the anathemas of the church were
threatened unless he complied with their request. He was represented
by them to have aimed at subverting the doctrines of the church of
Rome, and of introducing heresy among the people, to have preached
disobedience to the established authorities, and to have ridiculed the
supremacy of the Pope. The weakness and submission of the president
forced him to expel this individual from the island. It is said,
however, that Boyer secretly enabled him to do so, by presenting him
with a sum of money, and expressing the regret he felt that any causes
of a religious character should have called upon him to exercise the
power with which the constitution had armed him, as he individually
was sensible of the unreasonableness of that jealousy which is too
predominant in the followers of the Church of Rome, and which he could
not but silently deprecate.
The Catholic church in Hayti appears to be in a very disorganized
state. The schism in the church which happened a few years ago has not
been healed, and Boyer, by expelling the bishop of Port au Prince and
Pere Jérémie, (Jeremiah O’Flinns, an Irish priest,) has incurred severe
papal censures, which, it is said, he has taken no steps to remove.
Formerly the church establishment in Hayti was numerous, there being
no less than an archbishop, three bishops, and about sixty priests and
monks. But at this time there remain only about thirty or forty of the
latter class distributed in the different parts of the country, and it
is the determination of the government not to increase their number;
the others will in future be excluded, as the poverty of the state
requires the revenue of the church in aid of its exigences.
Some of the priests who officiate, are the most abject and miserable
wretches I think I ever saw. They are poor, and in some of the interior
parts they derive their sole support from the voluntary contributions
of the inhabitants, but those in the principal towns have a tolerable
income, and seem to enjoy the good things of this world in common with
their flock. Those who attend at the shrine of Alta Gracia at Higuey
are said to be rich, but their emoluments arise principally from the
offerings of the poor deluded bigots who go there on their pilgrimage.
The people in general seem to care but little about religion, and the
conduct of the leading men of the state sets religion and morality
at defiance. The female Haytians who attend divine worship, and go
regularly to mass, are not actuated by any religious feeling. Going to
church is a mere matter of parade with them, the sabbath being a day
of festivities, and not set aside for religious devotion. The female
congregations which frequent the churches in Hayti appear better
prepared for an opera, or some other public amusement, than for the
sacred duties of offering up their prayers in adoration of the Deity.
The men seldom or never go to mass, except on the days particularly
set apart by the government as public fêtes. On these occasions the
president and all the officers of Hayti go in procession, but the idea
of devotion, I believe, never enters their contemplation. Such days
are merely set aside for celebrating some particular event, which it
is wished should be handed down to posterity. These occasions present
only the external symbol of religion, the whole people being either
ignorant or careless of its real character. Their manner and appearance
during the celebration of mass shew that they have no inward feelings
of piety or devotion.
The moral state of the people is at the lowest possible ebb. In the
towns there is perhaps the appearance of morality, and persons are apt
to conclude that they have made some progress in general, from what
they have observed in such places where opportunities are afforded of
seeing those of the inhabitants who have had the benefits of education;
but in the interior there is an infinite difference, and the people are
in the lowest state of moral degradation—every thing shews it, their
habits and manner of living. In secluded places they congregate, and
follow all the propensities of nature, and indulge in all the vices
of lust and sensuality without limits and without control. It is not
possible, I think, for any one to visit their habitations, without
returning from them with a conviction that their present state is much
below any thing that can be imagined to have existed in the worst state
of society in any part of the world. In the new republics of South
America, in which society is very backward also, the prevailing habits
present some appearance of improvement; but in the country districts of
Hayti there are no demonstrations of advancement from that deplorable
ignorance in which they seem to have existed from the period of the
revolution; no change in their loose and dissolute manners and customs,
but a fixed and determined perseverance in all the primitive vices of
the African race.
If the interior of the houses of the highest class of people even
in the towns display nothing indicative of that peculiar regard
for propriety and cleanliness which we have heard of as being so
characteristic of the people of colour, in the tropics, what will be
said of the habitations of the cultivators in the interior of Hayti,
where they resemble more the huts of the most savage tribes of the
eastern and the western world? The former are far from being in such
a condition as to make them desirable residences; for in fact they
exhibit nothing approaching to that state which is so common with
people of colour in other colonies, the sluggish occupiers caring
little about cleanliness except in the exterior ornaments of their
persons. The huts of the interior are merely mud edifices with
two rooms for the accommodation of the whole family, and in which
the slaves of the British colonies, and particularly in Jamaica,
would disdain to reside; nor would their proprietors offer them
such miserable abodes. In these houses filth and every species of
uncleanliness prevail, for the people give themselves entirely up
to their indolent and lazy habits. It is common to see the pigs and
poultry herding with the family, and whilst the latter are at their
repast, the former are in attendance, “picking the crumbs that fall
from their master’s table.” One bed often suffices for all the inmates.
The furniture consists of a very few articles, a table, a stool, two
chairs, a side board, or rather a tray on four legs, and some bowls
made from the calabash as substitutes for earthenware, with an iron
pot or two for culinary purposes. Every thing seems useful, there is
nothing ornamental, except now and then a small pier glass in a gilt
frame decorated mostly with the labours of Arachne, and a wood-cut of
the cap of liberty, considered to be an emblematical representation of
Haytian heroism.
It may not be improper to offer a few remarks on the subject of
education in the republic, and which seems to me to have been
represented in colours far too glowing. Most people, I apprehend, have
formed an opinion of the progress of education from what they have
perceived in Port au Prince, Cape Haytien, and one or two others of
the principal places, as though those places contained the largest
proportion of the population. This is an erroneous impression, as the
youth in the country parts, not having the means of education placed
within their reach, are brought up in the darkest ignorance. This
is immediately seen at any of the little villages through which the
traveller has to pass, for making an inquiry at many of them if there
were any schools, the answer was generally “there were none, except
at Port au Prince.” In the north, the public schools established by
Christophe, who really made efforts to disseminate knowledge and to
improve the morals of the people, have all been suspended and the
houses turned into barracks for the military, to the utter disgrace of
the government.
In Port au Prince there is one school supported by the republic upon
the Lancasterian principle, and a military school for young men who
are intended for the scientific departments of the army, and there is
a similar establishment at the cape; but the few schools which are to
be met with in the large towns are merely private institutions to which
youth are sent whose parents have the means of supporting them. The
ignorant cultivators give themselves no concern about procuring moral
education for their children; and on the score of religion they seldom
feel the least anxiety, for three-fourths of them are at this moment as
rank idolaters as their forefathers were in Africa.
In the towns also it should be understood the people are mostly engaged
in some mercantile avocations, or else they are handicraftsmen, or
persons holding some civil or military appointments. They therefore
have not only an opportunity of educating their children, being
contiguous to the schools, but they have the pecuniary means for doing
so. The cultivators in the country have neither; money in particular
they never have, except just as much as the sale of their vegetables on
a Sunday brings them, but which is generally disposed of in payment for
the salt provisions, and the supply of taffia required for their weekly
consumption. They have no reserve for purposes of improvement, nor are
they taught to improve; but the government seems to consider that to
keep them in ignorance is the most secure way to insure tranquillity
and repose to the country. That such is the feeling of the government I
think is quite evident from the one hundred and seventy-eighth article
of the Code Rural, which I have given before, and which orders that
children shall be sent to their fathers “to follow their condition of
life.” As long therefore as their parents continue in ignorance and
immorality, it is clear that the children have no means of profiting by
a good example. It is the prevailing sentiment of the people of colour,
that the blacks should be kept in their present state of ignorance, and
so long as the government be composed of people of the former class,
the latter will remain in their present abject condition. As the negro
is now situated, he is in a worse state of degradation than the slave;
for although he is free, he is almost excluded from the general mass
of the population; he is marked with the name of freedom, whilst he
actually groans under despotism and oppression. In this state he is
likely to remain, until some general change be effected in Hayti which
shall place him in a state of unresisted intercourse with the more
enlightened portion of the people, by which he may be taught properly
to estimate the value of liberty, and made to participate in those
blessings which it is wont to diffuse.
I do not know a circumstance that shews more clearly the backward
state of knowledge and education in Hayti than the little progress
made by the representatives of the people in the senate and in the
chamber of communes, for there are many of them who can neither read
nor write. In the senate, out of twenty-four members I could mention
four or five who, at the time I left the island, could not write their
names, nay, not even their initials. It may appear strange that the
president, who has the selection of the members who occupy seats in
the senate, should appoint men thus incapable and uneducated to become
his council and advisers. However strange this may seem to others,
it excites no surprise in my mind, because I am convinced, and it is
a matter of general notoriety, that Boyer wants only mere passive
instruments to obey, and not canvass or oppose any measures emanating
from the government. Out of about seventy-two members composing the
chamber of communes, there are twenty-six equally ignorant, and their
only qualification seems to be a sufficient degree of pliancy to yield
a ready assent to any proposition which has been submitted by the
government for their consideration.
All that government wants of the members of either house is to keep up
the appearance of legislative deliberation, to give a colour to their
own proceedings, and form a cloak to cover their plans of oppression
and rapacity. The persons selected in the different communes as
representatives, are those who have been recommended by the government,
for the people have no voice, or, what is nearly the same, they dare
not raise it against those whom the president has recommended to their
choice. These abject representatives are mere tools in the hands of
government, and as they are well paid, they care little or nothing for
the duties of the station to which they are elevated.
The senator with his one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, and
the commune with his eight hundred dollars received from the treasury,
would not hesitate to accede to any proposition, however monstrous and
unconstitutional, in order to secure his seat, and preserve the favour
of the government.