RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND JUSTICE.
RELIGION.
During the long Presidency of General Geffrard, the concordat with
Rome was carried out in some of its most essential points. Until then
the Roman Catholic clergy in Hayti were a byword and a reproach to
every one who respected religion. There were few priests who were not
the expelled of other countries, and even adventurers had assumed the
clerical garb to obtain an easy and lucrative living. There was one
priest in the south, who was considered a _bon enfant_ and inclined to
luxurious cheer, who turned his attention to money-making, and every
week he sallied forth from the town of Les Cayes to forage in the
country districts. So that he was paid his fees, it was immaterial to
him what he was called upon to bless; he would indifferently sprinkle
holy water on a new house or a freshly built temple dedicated to the
Vaudoux worship. The simple inhabitants would bring out their stone
implements, imported in former days from Africa and used in their
fetish rites, and the priest would bless them; then he would return to
town in a jovial mood and chuckle over his gains. In comparatively a
few years that man remitted to Europe through an English house the sum
of twelve thousand pounds sterling.
Another, whom I knew personally, lived in a town not far from the
capital, and his amours somewhat scandalised the Archbishop. He tried
in vain to have him removed from his parish. The priest was popular,
had influence in Government circles, and defied his superior. He might
have defied him to the end had he not mixed in politics; but having
embraced the losing side, he was ultimately banished.[15]
In the same neighbourhood there lived another priest whom the
Archbishop had dismissed for living in the same house with his large
family, and for engaging in commerce; and Monseigneur also applied
to the Government to have him expelled from the republic. The curé
appealed for protection to the French Legation, saying that he should
be completely ruined if forced suddenly to abandon the country. The
representative of France, thinking he ought to have time granted him to
settle his affairs, stated the case to the Haytian Minister of Public
Worship, who agreeing with him, remarked, “Il est peut-être mauvais
prêtre, mais bon père de famille.”
There was a priest who formerly lived at La Coupe, the summer resort
of the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince--a dapper Parisian--who was
perfectly astonished by the accounts the peasantry gave of one of his
predecessors; and I could gather from him that, short of being present
at human sacrifices, the man would join in any feast given by the
negroes in a district as full of Vaudoux worshippers as any in the
island, and his immorality equalled his other qualities.[16]
Several of these ignoble priests were Corsicans who had been driven
from their country on account of crime. For fear, however, any one
should consider these statements to be exaggerated, I will add to the
testimony given by the Archbishop an extract from a speech of M. Valmy
Lizaire, Minister of Public Worship (1863):--
“N’éprouve-t-on pas un sentiment pénible et douloureux en contemplant
l’état de notre église depuis sa naissance jusqu’à ce jour, en
voyant la dignité du saint ministère souvent menacée et compromise
par des inconnus sans qualités, par quelque moines la plus part du
temps échappés de leur convents et venant offrir jusqu’à chez nous
le dangereux spectacle de leurs dérèglements? Je ne ferai point
l’horreur à plaisir en essayant de retracer içi tout ce que nos annales
religieuses renferment de désordres et d’excès. Il suffit de dire que
nulle part, peut-être dans la chrétienté, le clergé n’a profané autant
qu’en Haïti le sacerdoce dont il est revêtu.”
At length the scandal became so intolerable that the Government of
Hayti determined to negotiate a concordat at Rome, and after many
difficulties had been overcome, it was signed in 1860, and the Pope
sent as his delegate Monseigneur Testard de Cosquer to bring it into
practice. He was one of the most pleasing of men, handsome, eloquent,
and the romantic but terrible episode related of him as the cause of
his leaving the army and entering into holy orders rendered him an
object of great interest to the fair sex. He brought with him a body of
French clergy, whom he gradually installed in the different parishes of
the republic, not, however, without a difficult struggle with those who
formerly held possession and disgraced the Church.
The concordat consisted of seventeen articles and two additions, which
provided first for the special protection of the Catholic religion;
the establishment of an archbishopric at Port-au-Prince, and as soon
as possible other dependent bishoprics, paid by the State; nomination
by the President of three bishops subject to the approval of the
Holy See,--the clergy to take an oath of fidelity to the Government;
establishment of seminaries and chapters; nomination of priests by
the bishops of persons approved of by the Government, and a few other
arrangements of lesser importance.
The Roman Catholic Church, however, although the religion of the
State, has never been popular in Hayti. Amongst the upper classes,
disbelief, among the lower the influence of the Vaudoux, and the
fanatical opposition of the Catholic priesthood to Freemasonry, have
combined to prevent the Church from gaining either the confidence or
the affection of the nation. Even over the women the priests exercise
less influence than in other countries.
Although the Roman Catholic religion is that of the State, all others
are tolerated, and many Haytian Ministers have felt inclined to
encourage the Protestants, not only to counterbalance any political
influence of the priests, but with the object of creating a rivalry
in the performance of their missionary duties. These passing fits of
enlightenment, however, have been but of short duration, and little has
been done to encourage any form of religion.
At present Hayti is divided into five dioceses; but at the time of
the last report I have seen, there were only one archbishop and two
bishops; these were aided by four vicars-generals.
Port-au-Prince, being the capital, is the seat of the archbishopric,
where Monseigneur Guilloux still worthily holds sway, and he is aided
in his duties by a vicar and chapter. He has always had a difficult
part to play, and during the civil war of 1869 ran many risks, and was
nearly expelled the country.
The budget makes allowance for one archbishop at £800 a year; two
bishops at £480 a year; the vicar of Port-au-Prince at £160 a year;
three other vicars at £120 a year; and sixty-seven parish priests at
£48 a year.
Besides this regular pay, the Government is bound to furnish the clergy
with suitable residences. The Archbishop has a very comfortable and
spacious house, sufficiently furnished for the climate, and situated in
the healthiest quarter of the town. The clergy receive also many fees,
the amount for baptisms, marriages, and funerals having been fixed by
arrangement with the Government. When I was in Port-au-Prince there
was a very warm discussion as to whether the fees were to be employed
towards the payment of salary, each party accusing the other of wishing
to violate the concordat.
After the expulsion of President Geffrard, the revolutionary party
desired to upset all his arrangements, even to the concordat.
Monseigneur Guilloux published a strong defence of that treaty, taking
very high ground, and claiming a great deal for the Church.
This pamphlet called forth the following epigram from General Alibé
Féry:--
LES DEUX ENCLOS.
César ne doit au Christ rien soustraire à la vigne
Dit notre bon prélat plus absolu qu’un czar.
D’accord; mais ce gardien d’un végétal insigne
Doit-il parfois glaner dans le champ de César?
This was a much-admired specimen of Haytian wit.
As I have previously observed, Hayti has never quite reconciled
herself to the clergy, and therefore the influence exercised by the
priest is less than in other Catholic countries. There are two patent
causes: first, the hold that the Vaudoux worship has on the mass of
the people, and, second, the pertinacious opposition of the Church to
Freemasonry.
It is the fashion to extol the intelligence and far-sightedness of the
Church of Rome, but certainly the opposition shown to Freemasonry, that
harmless institution in Hayti, has done more to injure the influence
of the Catholic clergy among the educated classes than any other
cause. All who know what Freemasonry is, know that its objects are to
promote good-fellowship, with a modicum of charity and mutual aid. The
exercise of ancient rites, which, though a mystery, are as harmless,
and perhaps as childish, as the scenes of a pantomime, never deserved
the opposition of a serious clergy.
The Haytians are devoted to Freemasonry, and love to surround the
funerals of their brethren with all the pomp of the order. I was once
invited to a masonic funeral, and we marched through the town with
banners displayed, each member wearing the insignia of his rank;
but I noticed that as soon as the church was reached, everything
pertaining to the order was removed from the coffin, and the members
pocketed their insignia. We then entered the sacred building. The
funeral was one that greatly touched us all, as it was that of a young
officer who had that morning been killed in a duel, under peculiarly
unfortunate circumstances. The priests came forward,--suddenly they
stopped, and with signs of anger retreated up the church. A gentleman
followed to inquire the cause. The abbé answered that until all signs
of Freemasonry were removed he would not perform the ceremony. What
signs? He replied that all the mourners had little sprigs in their
button-holes, which was a masonic sign. We had all to conceal the
sprigs until the ceremony was over. It was a trifle, but it excited the
utmost anger among the mourners present.
My deceased friend, Seguy-Villevalien, wrote me an account of what
occurred on another occasion. A general and high officer in the
brotherhood died, and the Freemasons determined to give him a grand
funeral, and President Domingue signified his intention to be present.
A great procession was organised, and was preparing to start for the
cathedral, when a messenger arrived from the vicar to say that he would
not allow the funeral to enter the church unless the masonic procession
was given up. The President was furious, and being a very violent man,
was ready to order a battalion to force a way for the funeral, when a
prudent adviser said to Domingue, “The Protestants do not object to
Freemasonry; let us send for Bishop Holly, and ask him to perform the
service for us.”
Bishop Holly willingly consented, and the procession started for the
Protestant cathedral, where the funeral service was performed, with
banners displayed, and every other masonic sign in full view. Nearly
every man present was a Roman Catholic, and probably for the first
time in Hayti had a President, his ministers, his aides-de-camp and
followers been present in a Protestant church.
The strongest feeling, however, against the Church arises from the
prevalence, not only of the Vaudoux worship, but of its influence.
There are thousands who would never think of attending one of its
ceremonies who yet believe in and fear the priests of this fetish
worship. The Papalois, however, as I have stated in Chapter V., do
not disdain to direct their followers to mix up with their own the
ceremonies of the Christians. They will burn candles before the church
doors; will place on the cathedral steps all the rubbish of hair and
bone which are religious emblems with them; and will have in their
temples pictures of the Virgin Mary and of Jesus Christ. In former
times they would gladly pay heavily to the degenerate priests of the
ante-concordat days to sprinkle with holy water the altars of the
temples under which their slimy god was held confined.
When it is remembered how imbued Haytian society has been with this
degrading worship, it is perhaps not a matter of surprise how small is
the influence of the clergy among the rural population. The Catholic
priests are also comparatively few in number, dislike heartily the
life in the interior, and are paid by the State. There is also little
enthusiasm awakened by that rivalry which a successful Protestant
Church would have brought forth.
There is no doubt but that the conduct of the clergy has been very
much criticised in Hayti, and none, from the Archbishop downwards,
have escaped the attention of the teller of merry anecdotes; but, as
far as I could myself observe, their moral conduct, with very few
exceptions indeed, was all that could be desired. At the same time they
showed little enthusiasm, cared little for their congregations, were
inclined to domineer, and preferred the comfort of their town-houses
to missionary toils in the interior, and were persistently opposed to
every liberal measure. Whilst I was in Port-au-Prince, a priest slapped
a lady’s face in church for some error in ceremonial.
The priests of the ante-concordat period no doubt rendered the task
of the new clergy as difficult as possible, first by their pernicious
example, and then by their opposition; but Archbishop Guilloux has
now completely cleared the island of them, and has established a
respectable clergy in their place. His friends say that their influence
is daily increasing throughout the republic.
The Protestants have not had much success in Hayti. The Episcopalians
are represented by a bishop. Mr. Holly, a convert from Romanism and
a black, was the first representative of that Church whom I met
with in Port-au-Prince. He had many of the qualities which ensure a
good reception. He had pleasant manners, was well educated, and was
thoroughly in earnest; but the pecuniary support he received was so
slight that he never could carry out his views. I believe that those
who attend the Anglican services in the whole of Hayti number less than
a thousand, and the majority of these are probably American and English
coloured immigrants.
The Wesleyans had for their chief pastor Mr. Bird, who was an
institution in Hayti. He had a very good school, and was highly
respected. There are several chapels in different parts of the island,
and I notice, in a recent consular return, that as many as 1400 attend
the services. With other denominations combined, the Protestant
population may be considered to amount to between 3000 and 4000.
When I first arrived in Hayti, and was curious as to the character
of certain individuals, I was often struck by the reply, “Oh! he is
an honest man, but then he is a Protestant,”--and this from Roman
Catholics!
The Protestants are not yet in any way sufficiently numerous or
influential to be a counterpoise to the Catholic clergy, and do not,
therefore, incite the latter to exertion. I did suggest that the
Protestant clergy should all join the Freemasons’ lodges, and be ready
to perform the religious ceremonies required at funerals. It would have
greatly increased their popularity and influence in the country; but I
believe my advice was considered too worldly.
Divorce is another bone of contention between the Catholic clergy and
the people. By the civil law divorce is recognised, and cases occur
every year. The clergy denounce those who re-marry civilly as living in
a state of concubinage, and much ill-feeling is the result.
Although, as I have before remarked, the Catholic clergy have greatly
improved in conduct since the concordat, yet, in popular estimation,
there is still something wanting. I have not forgotten the excitement
caused by a song which a young Haytian (black) wrote on the subject.
A very good-looking priest had at all events been indiscreet, and the
Archbishop decided to banish him from the capital to a rural district.
A deputation of females, early one morning, waited on Monseigneur to
remonstrate, but he was firm, and then the song declared:--
“Il fallait voir pleurer les mulâtresses,
En beaux peignoirs et les cheveux au vent;
Il fallait voir sangloter les négresses
Tout ce tableau par un soleil levant.
Bon voyage,
Cher petit blanc!
Tu vas troubler l’église et le ménage.
Bon voyage,
Saint petit blanc!
Que de regrets, O mon sacré galant!”
As there was a certain amount of truth in the scandalous stories
afloat, Monseigneur was very irritated with the author, and imprudently
applied to Government to have him arrested. He was arrested, but
his influential relatives soon procured his release, but under the
condition of suppressing the song. Of course he was the hero of the
hour, and his verses had a greater success than ever.
Although “the complete ascendancy of the Church of Rome is incompatible
with liberty and good government,” yet it is a matter of regret that
in Hayti the Roman Catholic priests have had so little success. Their
task is no doubt difficult, and, under present circumstances, almost a
hopeless one. They cannot cope with so vast a mass of brutal ignorance
and gross superstition, and one of the best men among them used often
to complain of the little assistance they received from what might be
considered the enlightened classes. My friend Alvarez, the Spanish
_chargé d’affaires_, was very indignant at the idea presented by a
French author, Monsieur Bonneau, that Catholicism was incapable of
contending with the Vaudoux worship; but there is no doubt that as yet
nothing has had much influence in suppressing it.
The Roman Catholic Church, however, has been greatly reinforced since I
left Hayti in 1877. It now counts as many as seventy priests, and had
above 64,000 Easter communicants in 1863. How many of these were in
secret followers of the Vaudoux?
To afford a special supply of priests for Hayti, the Archbishop Testard
de Cosquer established in 1864 a Haytian seminary in Paris, to the
support of which the Chambers in Port-au-Prince voted 20,000 francs a
year. This allowance being irregularly paid, the seminary was closed,
but was reopened by Monseigneur Guilloux, who obtained a yearly sum of
10,000 francs from the Haytian Government. It is perhaps needless to
say that even this small amount is generally greatly in arrear.
There can be no doubt that Monseigneur Guilloux and his clergy are
fighting a good fight in the cause of civilisation, but with such a
Government and such a people their progress must be slow.
EDUCATION.
The following anecdote aptly illustrates the saying, Who shall teach
the teachers? It is a custom in Hayti that in all schools, public as
well as private, there shall be once a year a solemn examination in the
presence of a commission appointed by Government. M. Seguy-Villevalien
kept the best private school or college that Port-au-Prince had
ever seen, and on the appointed day for the public examination the
official commission arrived, and having been duly installed in the
seats of honour, teachers and pupils presented themselves, and the
work commenced. All went well till the exercises in orthography were
nearly over, when unfortunately M. Villevalien turned to the president
of the commission, a negro of the deepest dye, but a high Government
functionary, and said, “Would you like to try the boys yourself?”
“Certainly;” and various words were given, which were written down
on the black-board to the satisfaction of all. At last the president
gave the word “Pantalon,” and a smart boy carefully chalked it up.
“Stop!” cried the sable chief, “there is a mistake in that spelling.”
The master, the teachers, and the boys carefully scanned the word, and
could detect no mistake. The black had a smile of conscious superiority
on his lips. At length the master said, “I see no mistake, president.”
“You don’t! Do you not know that it is spelt with an _e_--‘pentalon’?”
After a severe glance at his pupils to prevent an explosion of
laughter, my friend, perfectly equal to the occasion, answered, “It
used to be spelt so, president, but the Academy has lately changed the
mode, and it is now spelt with an _a_.” The courtesy and gravity of M.
Villevalien’s manner was such that the president of the commission was
quite satisfied and pleased with himself. He wrote a favourable report
on the condition of the school. Had the almost uncontrollable laughter
of the boys burst forth, what would have been the report? And yet
this man was a leading spirit in his country, and thought fit for the
highest offices, though he was as stupid as he was ignorant.
I arrived at the college just too late for this scene, but in time to
hear the cheerful laughter of the boys, who, after the departure of the
commission, made the playground ring with their merry jokes.
President Geffrard, whose term of office extended from January 1859 to
February 1867, did more than any other chief to encourage education,
and yet, even in his time, not more than one in ten of the children of
school-age attended the educational establishments.
Major Stuart, in his report on Hayti for the year 1876, gives some
statistical tables which show the state of these establishments in
the year 1875, and little has changed since, so that his figures will
sufficiently serve the purpose required. There were--
4 lyceums with 543 pupils.
6 superior girl schools ” 563 ”
5 secondary schools ” 350 ”
165 primary schools ” 11,784 ”
200 rural schools ” 5,939 ”
1 school of medicine ” 25 ”
1 school of music ” 46 ”
------
19,250 ”
To these may be added the pupils in the private schools and in those of
the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Cluny.
It is very difficult to test the results attained at the official
schools, but I think, judging from my own experience in Hayti, that
they are small indeed. Some of the commissions appointed to examine
the scholars report favourably, but, after the example of Monsieur
Pentalon, I put but little faith in these judgments.
In the official report for the year 1878 there is much shortcoming
confessed, and the feeling after reading it is, that the majority of
the teachers are incompetent, as all negligently-paid service must
be. Good teachers will not remain in employment with salaries often
six months in arrear, and only those who can find nothing else to do
will carry on the schools. Negligence is the result, and negligence in
the masters acts on the scholars, and their attendance is irregular;
and the means of teaching are often wanting, as the money voted for
the purchase of books goes in this revolutionary country for arms and
powder. Parents, particularly negro parents, rarely appreciate the
value of the knowledge to be acquired in schools, and are apt to send
their children late and take them away early, in order to aid in the
family’s support.
The best school in the country is the Petit Séminaire, conducted
by priests--Jesuits, it is said, under another name. The head of
the college in my time, and, I believe, to the present day, was
Père Simonet, a very superior man, quite capable of directing the
institution aright; and I have been informed that the favourable
results of their system of education have been very marked. In
September 1883 this establishment was directed by fifteen priests of
the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, and contained as many as 300
pupils.
The Sisters of Cluny have also an establishment near Port-au-Prince,
where the daughters of the chief families of the capital receive
their education, and their institution is well spoken of. I attended
one of their examinations and school exhibitions, when recitals and
acting by the young girls were the amusements afforded us. Some of the
pupils appeared to be remarkably bright, and they acquitted themselves
of their tasks in a very pleasing manner. Since I left Hayti, these
establishments for girls have greatly increased in importance. There
are now as many as sixty sisters, and twenty others called “Filles de
la Sagesse,” who have established schools throughout the country, which
in 1883 were attended by about 3000 pupils.
The Christian Brothers have also many schools dispersed throughout the
country, principally, however, in the larger towns, which are fairly
well attended. They are reported to have had also in 1883 as many as
3000 boys under tuition.
It is generally thought that the teaching in all these schools is not
such as to develop the intellect of the pupils. As might have been
expected, too much time is given to trifling with religious subjects,
as teaching the girls an infinity of hymns to Mary, and to the study
of the lives of the saints. Such, at least, was the complaint made to
me by the relatives of the girls. Nothing appears to be able to avert
the evil influence of the immodest surroundings of these schools. A
gentleman told me that, entering a room where his nieces were sitting
sewing, he heard them singing a most indecent song in Creole, probably
quite innocent of the real meaning, and they told him that they had
learnt it from the native servants at the school; whilst the pupils at
the Petit Séminaire have often suffered from the utter depravity of
some of the lower portion of the population.
In one of the official reports on the principal lyceum, the Minister of
Public Instruction remarks:--“As regards studies, discipline of pupils
and teachers, the national lyceum has fallen into a shameful state.
It is to the superior direction that this abasement of the lyceum is
in part to be attributed. It so far forgets itself, as to give to
professors and pupils scandalous spectacles, which attest the disregard
of propriety and of the most ordinary reserve that a teacher ought to
observe in presence of early age and youth.”
By this account it would appear that the pupils have often but a poor
example to imitate. I should have set down to political feeling this
strong censure had I not known the lyceum in my time to have fallen
very low indeed in public estimation.
Poor, however, as the education is that is given in Hayti, it is
nevertheless an advance; and if ever revolutions cease and peace be
kept for a few years, the Government may yet turn its attention to
founding educational establishments on a solid basis. Of this, however,
there is very little hope.
There are several private schools in Hayti. The best, as I have
previously observed, was kept by the late M. Seguy-Villevalien. He had
a very high opinion of the capacity of Haytian boys to learn, and he
turned out some excellent scholars. His school, however, deteriorated
in late years from his inability to secure superior teachers, arising
first from parents not paying their school-bills, and secondly from
the Government omitting to settle their accounts with him for the
bursars. I mention this to show what a people the Haytians are. During
the civil war in 1868 and 1869, M. Villevalien spent all his capital
in supporting some dozens of boarders, whose parents were among the
insurgents, and by his energy saved them from being drafted into the
army. Yet when the war was over, few, if any, paid him what was due, or
did it in depreciated paper, which was almost equivalent to not paying
at all.
Education in Hayti is too often sacrificed to political exigencies, and
a master of a high school is not chosen for his capacity, but for his
political leanings.
We all noticed what has often been remarked in Africa, that negro
boys, up to the age of puberty, were often as sharp as their coloured
fellow-pupils; and there can be no doubt that the coloured boys of
Hayti have proved, at least in the case of one of their number, that
they could hold their ground with the best of the whites. Young Fénélon
Faubert obtained the “prix d’honneur au grand concours” at Paris
in rhetoric, “discours latin,” and only missed it the next year by
unpardonable carelessness.
Some of the Haytian lads have the most extraordinary memories. M.
Villevalien mentioned one to me who came to his school rather over the
usual age. My friend took up a book on rhetoric and asked him a few
questions, which were answered in the words of the author without an
error; curious as to the extent of his proficiency, the schoolmaster
kept turning page after page, and found, to his surprise, that the boy
knew nearly the whole volume by heart. He then began to converse with
him, and found, that although he could repeat his lesson perfectly, he
did not really understand the sense of what he was repeating.
Whilst I was at Port-au-Prince the following affecting incident
occurred:--Many families who have accumulated a certain amount of
wealth by retail trade are desirous of having their children well
educated, and therefore send them to France. A Haïtienne of this
description placed her daughter at the Convent of the Sacré Cœur in
Paris. After seven years’ residence there, she passed a few months
with a French family, and saw a little society in the capital. She
then returned to Port-au-Prince, was received at the wharf by a rather
coarse-looking fat woman, whom her affectionate heart told her was
her mother, and accompanied her home. Here she found a shop near the
market-place, where her mother sold salt pork and rum by retail; the
place was full of black men and women of the labouring class, who were,
as usual, using the coarsest language, and who pressed round to greet
her as an old acquaintance. Traversing the shop, she found herself in a
small parlour, and here she was destined to live. Her mother was doing
a thriving trade, and was always in the shop, which was a receptacle
of every strong-smelling food, whose odours penetrated to the parlour.
There the young girl sat within earshot of the coarse language of the
customers. What a contrast to the severe simplicity of the convent,
the kindness of the nuns, the perfect propriety! and add to this the
recollection of the society she had seen in Paris! She was but a tender
plant, and could not stand this rude trial, and sickened and died
within the first two months. At her funeral many speeches were made,
and the doctor who had attended her, whilst declaring that she died of
no special malady, counselled parents not to send their children to
be educated in Europe, unless, on their return, they could offer them
a suitable home. No wonder, under these circumstances, that every
educated Haytian girl desires to marry a foreigner and quit the country.
The well-known lawyer, Deslandes, objected to Haytian children being
sent to Paris for their education, as likely to introduce into
the country French ideas and sympathies, and thus imperil their
independence.
At the present time education must be completely neglected, as the
whole attention of the country is devoted to mutual destruction.
JUSTICE.
My first experience of a court of justice in Hayti was a political
trial. Four of the most respectable and respected inhabitants of
Port-au-Prince were to be tried for their lives on a charge of
conspiracy against the government of President Geffrard. My colleagues
and I decided to be present. On approaching the courthouse, we saw
a considerable crowd collected and some military precautions taken.
Forcing our way through to some reserved seats, we found ourselves in a
perfectly plain room,--a dock on the left for the prisoners, opposite
to them the jury seats, behind a table for three judges, and a tribune
for the public prosecutor.
After a few preliminaries, the trial began with a violent denunciation
of the accused by the public prosecutor--a stuggy, fierce-looking negro
with bloodshot eyes, named Bazin, who thought he best performed his
duty by abuse. As one of the prisoners was a lawyer, all the bar had
inscribed their names as his defenders, and they showed considerable
courage in the task they had undertaken. On the least sign of
independence on their part, one after the other was ordered to prison,
and the accused remained without a defender.
The principal judge was Lallemand, of whom I have elsewhere spoken
as combining gentleness with firmness; but he could scarcely make
his authority respected by Bazin, the military termagant who led the
prosecution. He browbeat the witnesses, bullied the jury, thundered at
the lawyers, and insulted the prisoners. He looked like a black Judge
Jeffreys. At last his language became so violent towards the audience,
of whom we formed a part, that the diplomatic and consular corps rose
in a body and left the court. I never witnessed a more disgraceful
scene.
I may add that the prisoners were condemned to death; but we
interfered, and had their sentence commuted to imprisonment, which did
not last long; whilst their black persecutor, seized by some insurgents
the following year, was summarily shot.[17]
This experience of the working of the trial-by-jury system did not
encourage frequent visits to the tribunals, and afterwards I rarely
went, except when some British subject was interested.
In the capital are the court of cassation, the civil and commercial
courts, and the tribuneaux de paix; and in the chief towns of the
departments similar ones, minus the court of cassation. In fact, as far
as possible, the French system has been taken as a model. The form is
there, but not the spirit.
The statistical tables connected with this subject have been very
fully worked out in Major Stuart’s very interesting Consular Reports
for 1876 and 1877. Here I am more concerned in describing how justice
is administered. I may at once say that few have any faith in the
decisions of the courts; the judges, with some bright exceptions, are
too often influenced by pecuniary or political considerations, and
the white foreigner, unless he pay heavily, has but slight chance of
justice being done him.
In the police courts they know their fate beforehand. During my stay
in Port-au-Prince foreigners avoided them, but sometimes they had
unavoidably to appear. An elderly Frenchman was summoned before a
_juge de paix_ for an assault upon a black. The evidence was so much
in favour of the white that even the Haytian magistrate was about to
acquit him, when shouts arose in different parts of the court, “What!
are you going to take part with the white?” and the Frenchman was
condemned. So flagrant an abuse of justice could not be passed over,
and the authorities, afraid to have the sentence quashed by a superior
tribunal, allowed the affair to drop without demanding the fine.
An American black came one day to Mr. Byron, our Vice-Consul, and said
he had been accused of stealing a box of dominoes from his landlady,
and asked him to accompany him to court to see justice done him. Mr.
Byron, knowing the man to be respectable, did so. The accuser stated
that whilst sitting at her door talking to a neighbour, she saw her
lodger put the box of dominoes into his pocket and walk off with it.
She made no remark at the time, but next day accused him. The man
denied having touched the box. The magistrate, however, observed, “She
says she saw you; you can’t get over that,”--and had not Mr. Byron
remarked that the prisoner’s word was as good as the accuser’s, being
at least as respectable a person, he would instantly have been sent to
prison.
A remarkable trial was that of two brothers, who were accused of having
murdered a Frenchman, their benefactor. The evidence against them
appeared overwhelming, and their advocate, a thorough ruffian, was at
a loss for arguments to sustain the defence. At last he glanced round
the crowded court, and then turned to the jury with a broad grin and
said, “Après tout, ce n’est qu’un blanc de moins.” The sally produced a
roar of laughter, and the prisoners were triumphantly acquitted by the
tribunal, but not by public opinion; and the people still sing a ditty
of which the refrain is, I think, “Moué pas tué p’tit blanc-là,”--“I
did not kill that little white man.”
In 1869, among about fifty political refugees that lived for months
in the Legation was one of the accused. I was standing watching him
play draughts with another refugee, who did not know the name of his
opponent, and he kept humming the song about the murder, and every time
he made a move he repeated the refrain, “Moué pas tué p’tit blanc-là.”
I noticed his opponent getting paler and paler. At last he pushed aside
the board, started to his feet, and said, “Do you wish to insult me?”
We were all surprised, when a friend called me aside and told me the
story of the trial.
Though more attention has since been paid to words, the spirit of the
old saying remains--that the whites possess no rights in Hayti which
the blacks are bound to respect.
In civil cases bribery of the judges is notorious, and the largest or
the most liberal purse wins. Most persons carefully avoid a lawsuit,
and prefer submitting to injustice.
The judges, curiously enough, are rarely selected from among the
lawyers. The Government can appoint any one it pleases, and as these
posts are awarded for political services, those selected consider that
the appointments are given to enable them to make their fortunes as
rapidly as possible. As the pay is small, their wives often make it an
excuse to keep shops and carry on a retail trade; but the fact is that
the Haïtienne is never so happy as when behind a counter.
The active bar of Port-au-Prince is composed of very inferior men.
I often heard my friend Deslandes address the courts. He was at the
summit of his profession, and to have him for your advocate was
popularly supposed to secure the success of your cause. And yet I heard
this eloquent and able advocate, as he was called, whilst defending an
Englishman charged with having criminally slain an American negro, drop
the legitimate argument of self-defence, and weary his audience for a
couple of hours trying to prove that the Englishman was an instrument
of Divine Providence to rid the world of a ruffian. Naturally the
Englishman was condemned.
Whilst in court the lawyers surround themselves with heaps of books,
and continually read long extracts from the laws of the country,
or--what they greatly prefer--passages from the speeches of the most
celebrated French advocates; whether they explain or not the subject
in hand is immaterial. I have often heard my French colleagues say
that they have tried in vain to discover what these extracts had to do
with the case in point. Few of these lawyers bear a high character,
and they are freely accused of collusion, and of other dishonest
practices. Unhappy is the widow, the orphan, or the friendless that
falls into their hands. Many of my Haytian friends have assured me
that, though they had studied for the bar, they found it impossible to
practise with any hope of preserving their self-respect. No doubt the
bar of Hayti contains some honest men, but the majority have an evil
reputation.
The laws of Hayti are not in fault, as they are as minutely elaborate
as those of any other country, and the shelves of a library would groan
beneath their weight. Had M. Linstant Pradine been able to continue the
useful publication he commenced--a collection of the laws of Hayti--it
was his design to have united in a regular series all the laws and
decrees by which his country was supposed to be governed.
Though a few young men of good position have studied for the legal
profession in France, yet the majority of the members of the bar are
chosen among the lawyers, clerks, and others who have studied at home.
A board is appointed to examine young aspirants. It consists of two
judges and three lawyers; and if the young men pass, they each receive
a certificate of qualification, countersigned by the Minister of
Justice. After this simple process they can open an _étude_ on their
own account.
One of the greatest difficulties of the diplomatic and consular
officers in all these American republics is to obtain prompt and legal
justice for their countrymen. Although the _juge d’instruction_ ought
to finish his work at the utmost in two months, prisoners’ cases drag
on, and as the law of bail is unknown, they may be, and have been,
confined for years before being brought to trial.
The President of the republic names the justices of the peace and
their deputies, the judges of the civil and criminal courts, the
courts of appeal, and the members of the court of cassation. All but
the first-named judges are irremovable according to the constitution;
but revolutionary leaders are not apt to respect constitutions, and
during President Domingue’s time his Ministers upset all the old
legal settlements. The last constitution, that of 1879, permitted the
President to remove judges for the space of one year, in order that the
friends of the Administration should be appointed to carry out their
destined work.
It would be perhaps useless to describe in detail the other legal
arrangements in Hayti, as they are founded on French precedents.