the attack upon the fort at Crete-a-Pierrot, would surrender it, he
seized a torch, held it to the door of the magazine, and threatened
to blow up the fort, and himself with it, if they did not defend it.
Nearly all historians have set him down as a bloodthirsty monster,
who delighted in the sufferings of his fellow-creatures. They do not
rightly consider the circumstances that surrounded him, and the foe
that he had to deal with.
Rochambeau, the commanding general, from the landing of Napoleon's
expedition to the entire expulsion of the French, was a hard-hearted
slaveholder, many of whose years had been spent in St. Domingo, and
who, from the moment that he landed with his forces, treated the
colored men as the worst of barbarians and wild beasts. He imported
bloodhounds from Cuba to hunt them down in the mountains. When caught,
he had them thrown into burning pits and boiling caldrons. When he took
prisoners, he put them to the most excruciating tortures and the most
horrible deaths. His ferocious and sanguinary spirit was too much for
the kind heart of Toussaint, or the gentlemanly bearing of Christophe.
His only match was Dessalines.
In a battle near Cape François, Rochambeau took five hundred black
prisoners, and put them all to death the same day. Dessalines, hearing
of this, brought five hundred white prisoners in sight of the French,
and hung them up, so that the cruel monster could see the result of his
own barbarous example.
Although Toussaint was away from the island, the war seemed to rage
with greater fury than at any former period. The blacks grew wild as
they looked upon the flames; they became conscious of their power and
success; gaining confidence and increasing their numbers, all the
pent-up feelings and hatred of years burst forth, and they pushed
forward upon defenceless men, women, and children. The proud, haughty,
and self-sufficient planter, who had been permitted, under the mild
rule of Toussaint, to return and establish himself on his former
estate, had to give way again to the terrible realities which came upon
him.
The fertile plains that were in the highest state of cultivation,
the lively green of the sugar-cane that filled the landscape through
boundless fields, and the plantations of indigo and coffee, with all
their beautiful hues of vegetation, were destroyed by the flames and
smoke which spread every where. Dessalines was the commander-in-chief
in fact, though he shared the name with Christophe and Clervaux.
Forty thousand French troops had already perished by yellow fever and
the sword. Leclerc, the captain-general of the island, lay sick, the
hospitals were filled, and the blacks had possession of nearly all the
towns.
Twenty thousand fresh troops arrived from France, but they were not
destined to see Leclerc, for the yellow fever had taken him off. In the
mountains were many barbarous and wild blacks, who had escaped from
slavery soon after being brought from the coast of Africa. One of these
bands of savages was commanded by Lamour de Rance, an adroit, stern,
savage man, half naked, with epaulets tied to his bare shoulders for
his only token of authority. This man had been brought from the coast
of Africa, and sold as a slave in Port au Prince. On being ordered one
day to saddle his master's horse, he did so, then mounted the animal,
fled to the mountains, and ever after made those fearful regions his
home. Lamour passed from mountain to mountain with something of the
ease of the birds of his own native land. Toussaint, Christophe, and
Dessalines, had each in their turn pursued him, but in vain. His mode
of fighting was in keeping with his dress. This savage united with
others like himself, and became complete master of the wilds of St.
Domingo. They came forth from their mountain homes, and made war on the
whites wherever they found them. Rochambeau, surrounded on all sides,
drew his army together for defence rather than aggression. Reduced
to the last extremity by starvation, the French general sued for
peace, and promised that he would immediately leave the island. It was
accepted by the blacks, and Rochambeau prepared to return to France.
The French embarked in their vessels of war, and the standard of the
blacks once more waved over Cape City, the capital of St. Domingo. As
the French sailed from the island, they saw the tops of the mountains
lighted up. It was not a blaze kindled for war, but for freedom. Every
heart beat for liberty, and every voice shouted for joy. From the
ocean to the mountains, and from town to town, the cry was, Freedom!
Freedom! Thus ended Napoleon's expedition to St. Domingo. In less than
two years the French lost more than fifty thousand persons. After the
retirement of the whites, the men of color put forth a Declaration of
Independence, in which they said, "We have sworn to show no mercy to
those who may dare to speak to us of slavery."
The bravery and military skill which Dessalines had exhibited after
the capture of Toussaint, the bold, resolute manner in which he had
expelled the whites from the island, naturally pointed him out as the
future ruler of St. Domingo. After serving a short time as president,
Dessalines assumed the dignity of emperor, and changed the name of the
island to that of Hayti.
The population of Hayti had been very much thinned by the ravages of
war, and Dessalines, for the purpose of aiding those of his race, who
had been taken away by force, to return, offered large rewards to
captains of vessels for any that they might bring back as passengers.
One of the charges against Dessalines is based upon the fact that
he changed his government from a republic to an empire. But we must
consider that the people of Hayti had always lived under a monarchy,
and were wedded to that kind of government. Had Toussaint allowed
himself to be made a king, his power would have been recognized by
Great Britain, and he would never have yielded to the solicitations of
Leclerc, when that general's fleet landed on the island. Napoleon had
just been crowned emperor of France, and it was not at all surprising
that Dessalines should feel inclined to imitate the conqueror of Egypt.
The empire of Hayti was composed of six military divisions, each to
be under the command of a general officer, who was independent of his
associates who governed in other districts, as he was responsible to
the head of the state alone. The supreme power was formally conferred
upon Jean Jacques Dessalines, the avenger and liberator of his
countrymen, who was to take the title of Emperor and Commander-in-chief
of the Army, and to be addressed by the appellation of His Majesty--a
dignity which was also conferred upon the empress, his wife, and the
persons of both were declared inviolable. The crown was elective, but
the power was conferred upon the reigning emperor to select and appoint
his successor, by a nomination which required the sanction of the
people to give it validity. The emperor was empowered to make the laws
to govern the empire, and to promulgate them under his seal; to appoint
all the functionaries of the state, and remove them at his will; to
hold the purse of the nation; to make peace and war, and in all things
to exercise the rights and privileges of an absolute sovereign. The
monarch was assisted in wielding this mighty authority by a council of
state, composed of generals of division and brigade. No peculiar faith
in religion was established by law, and toleration was extended to the
doctrines and worship of all sects. Surrounded by all the luxuries
that wealth could procure, he was distinguished for the Roman virtues
of abstinence and energy. Scorning effeminacy, he seemed ambitious to
inure himself to the most laborious exercise and to the simplest mode
of living. Dessalines was well schooled in the toils and labors of
the camp. As his life was made up of extremes, so in his habits and
personal endurances were seen great contrasts. Impetuosity and rapid
movement were among his chief characteristics. He prided himself on
his being able to surprise his enemies and taking them unprepared.
Indeed, this was a leading trait in his military character, and places
him alongside of Napoleon, or any other general, ancient or modern. As
time smooths over his footsteps, and wears out the blood that marked
his course, the circumstances attending it will, no doubt, be made
to extenuate some of his many faults, and magnify his virtues as a
general, a ruler, and a man.
The empress was a woman of rare beauty, and had some education, talent,
and refinement. Her humanity caused her to restrain her husband, upon
many occasions, from acts of cruelty. Though uneducated, Dessalines was
not ignorant even of the classics, for he kept three secretaries, who,
by turns, read to him.
As soon as he came into power, the emperor exerted every nerve to
fortify the island, and to make it strong in the time of need. Much
has been said of the cruelty of this man, and far be it from me to
apologize for his acts. Yet, to judge rightly of him, we must remember
that he had an ignorant people to govern, on the one hand, and the
former planters to watch and control on the other. This latter class
was scattered all over Europe and the United States, and they lost no
opportunity to poison the minds of the whites against Dessalines and
his government. He discovered many plots of the old white planters
to assassinate him, and this drew out the ferociousness of his
disposition, and made him cruel in the extreme. That he caused the
death of innocent persons, there is not the slightest doubt; but that
such a man as he was needed at the time, all must admit. Had Dessalines
been in the place of Toussaint, he would never have been transferred
from Hayti to France. Unlimited power, conferred upon him, together
with the opposition of the whites in all countries, made him cruel even
to his own race, and they looked forward with a degree of hope to his
removal. The mulattoes, against whom he had never ceased to war, were
ever watchful for an opportunity to take his life. A secret conspiracy
was accordingly planned by this class, and on the 17th of October,
1806, while Dessalines was on a journey from St. Marks to Port au
Prince, a party in ambuscade fired at him, and he fell dead.
Hayti had much improved under his management, especially in
agriculture. The towns, many of them, had been rebuilt, commerce
extended, and the arts patronized. Military talents have been ascribed
to Dessalines even superior to Toussaint. He certainly had great
courage, but upon the battle field it seemed to be the headlong fury
of the tiger rather than the calm deliberation of L'Ouverture. Of all
the heroic men which the boiling caldron of the St. Domingo revolution
threw upon its surface, for the purpose of meeting the tyrannical
whites, of bringing down upon them terrible retribution for their long
and cruel reign, and of vindicating the rights of the oppressed in that
unfortunate island, the foremost place belongs to the African, the
savage, the soldier, the general, the president, and lastly the emperor
Jean Jacques Dessalines.
IRA ALDRIDGE.
On looking over the columns of _The Times_, one morning, I saw it
announced under the head of "Amusements," that "Ira Aldridge, the
African Roscius," was to appear in the character of Othello, in
Shakspeare's celebrated tragedy of that name, and, having long wished
to see my sable countryman, I resolved at once to attend. Though
the doors had been open but a short time when I reached the Royal
Haymarket, the theatre where the performance was to take place, the
house was well filled, and among the audience I recognized the faces of
several distinguished persons of the nobility, the most noted of whom
was Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, the renowned novelist--his figure neat,
trim, hair done up in the latest fashion--looking as if he had just
come out of a band-box. He is a great lover of the drama, and has a
private theatre at one of his country seats, to which he often invites
his friends, and presses them into the different characters.
As the time approached for the curtain to rise, it was evident that
the house was to be "jammed." Stuart, the best Iago since the days of
Young, in company with Roderigo, came upon the stage as soon as the
green curtain went up. Iago looked the villain, and acted it to the
highest conception of the character. The scene is changed, all eyes are
turned to the right door, and thunders of applause greet the appearance
of Othello. Mr. Aldridge is of the middle size, and appeared to be
about three quarters African; has a pleasant countenance, frame well
knit, and seemed to me the best Othello that I had ever seen. As Iago
began to work upon his feelings, the Moor's eyes flashed fire, and,
further on in the play, he looked the very demon of despair. When he
seized the deceiver by the throat, and exclaimed, "Villain! be sure
thou prove my love false: be sure of it--give me the ocular proof--or,
by the worth of my eternal soul, thou hadst better have been born a
dog, Iago, than answer my waked wrath," the audience, with one impulse,
rose to their feet amid the wildest enthusiasm. At the end of the third
act, Othello was called before the curtain, and received the applause
of the delighted multitude. I watched the countenance and every motion
of Bulwer Lytton with almost as much interest as I did that of the Moor
of Venice, and saw that none appeared to be better pleased than he.
The following evening I went to witness his Hamlet, and was surprised
to find him as perfect in that as he had been in Othello; for I had
been led to believe that the latter was his greatest character. The
whole court of Denmark was before us; but till the words, "'Tis not
alone my inky cloak, good mother," fell from the lips of Mr. Aldridge,
was the general ear charmed, or the general tongue arrested. The voice
was so low, and sad, and sweet, the modulation so tender, the dignity
so natural, the grace so consummate, that all yielded themselves
silently to the delicious enchantment. When Horatio told him that he
had come to see his father's funeral, the deep melancholy that took
possession of his face showed the great dramatic power of Mr. Aldridge.
"I pray thee do not mock me, fellow-student," seemed to come from his
inmost soul. The animation with which his countenance was lighted
up, during Horatio's recital of the visits that the ghost had paid
him and his companions, was beyond description. "Angels and ministers
of grace defend us," as the ghost appeared in the fourth scene, sent
a thrill through the whole assembly. His rendering of the "Soliloquy
on Death," which Edmund Kean, Charles Kemble, and William C. Macready
have reaped such unfading laurels from, was one of his best efforts.
He read it infinitely better than Charles Kean, whom I had heard at
the "Princess," but a few nights previous. The vigorous starts of
thought, which in the midst of his personal sorrows rise with such
beautiful and striking suddenness from the ever-wakeful mind of the
humanitarian philosopher, are delivered with that varying emphasis that
characterizes the truthful delineator, when he exclaims, "Frailty, thy
name is woman!" In the second scene of the second act, when revealing
to Guildenstern the melancholy which preys upon his mind, the beautiful
and powerful words in which Hamlet explains his feelings are made very
effective in Mr. Aldridge's rendering: "This most excellent canopy, the
air, the brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with
golden fire.... What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how
infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable! in
action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a God!" In the last
scene of the second act, when Hamlet's imagination, influenced by the
interview with the actors, suggests to his rich mind so many eloquent
reflections, Mr. Aldridge enters fully into the spirit of the scene,
warms up, and when he exclaims, "He would drown the stage with tears,
and cleave the general ear with horrid speech,--make mad the guilty,
and appall the free," he is very effective; and when this warmth mounts
into a paroxysm of rage, and he calls the King "Bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!" he sweeps the
audience with him, and brings down deserved applause. The fervent soul
and restless imagination, which are ever stirring at the bottom of
the fountain, and sending bright bubbles to the top, find a glowing
reflection on the animated surface of Mr. Aldridge's colored face. I
thought Hamlet one of his best characters, though I saw him afterwards
in several others.
Mr. Aldridge is a native of Senegal, in Africa. His forefathers were
princes of the Foulah tribe, whose dominions were in Senegal, on the
banks of the river of that name, on the west coast of Africa. To this
shore one of our early missionaries found his way, and took charge of
Ira's father, Daniel Aldridge, in order to qualify him for the work
of civilizing and evangelizing his countrymen. Daniel's father, the
reigning prince, was more enlightened than his subjects, probably
through the instruction of the missionary, and proposed that his
prisoners taken in battle should be exchanged, and not, as was the
custom, sold as slaves. This wish interfered with the notions and
perquisites of his tribe, especially his principal chiefs; and a civil
war raged among the people. During these differences, Daniel, then a
promising youth, was brought to the United States by the missionary,
and sent to Schenectady College to receive the advantages of a
Christian education. Three days after his departure, the revolutionary
storm, which was brewing, broke out openly, and the reigning prince,
the advocate of humanity, was killed.
Daniel Aldridge remained in America till the death of the rebellious
chief, who had headed the conspiracy, and reigned instead of the
murdered prince. During the interval, Daniel had become a minister
of the gospel, and was regarded by all classes as a man of uncommon
abilities. He was, however, desirous to establish himself at the head
of his tribe, possess himself of his birthright, and advance the cause
of Christianity among his countrymen. For this purpose he returned to
his native country, taking with him a young wife, one of his own color,
whom he had but just married in America. Daniel no sooner appeared
among the people of his slaughtered father, than old disagreements
revived, civil war broke out, the enlightened African was defeated,
barely escaping from the scene of strife with his life, and for some
time unable to quit the country, which was watched by numerous enemies
anxious for his capture. Nine years elapsed before the proscribed
family escaped to America, during the whole of which time they were
concealed in the neighborhood of their foes, enduring vicissitudes and
hardships that can well be imagined, but need not be described.
Ira Aldridge was born soon after his father's arrival in Senegal,
and on their return to America, was intended by the latter for the
church. Many a white parent has "chalked out" in vain for his son a
similar calling, and the best intentions have been thwarted by an
early predilection quite in an opposite direction. We can well account
for the father's choice in this instance, as in keeping with his
own aspirations; and we can easily imagine his disappointment upon
abandoning all hope of seeing one of his blood and color following
specially in the service of his great Master. The son, however, began
betimes to show his early preference and ultimate passion. At school he
was awarded prizes for declamation, in which he excelled; and there his
curiosity was excited by what he heard of theatrical representations,
which he was told _embodied_ all the fine ideas _shadowed forth_ in
the language he read and committed to memory. It became the wish of
his heart to witness one of these performances, and that wish he soon
contrived to gratify, and finally he became a candidate for histrionic
fame.
Notwithstanding the progress Ira had made in learning, no qualities of
the mind could compensate, in the eyes of the Americans, for the dark
hue of his skin. The prevailing prejudice, so strong among all classes,
was against him. This induced his removal to England, where he entered
at the Glasgow University, and, under Professor Sandford, obtained
several premiums, and the medal for Latin composition.
On leaving college, Mr. Aldridge at once commenced preparing for
the stage, and shortly after appeared in a number of Shaksperian
characters, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, and other provincial
cities, and soon after appeared on the boards of Drury Lane and Covent
Garden, where he was stamped the "African Roscius." The _London
Weekly Times_ said of him, "Mr. Ira Aldridge is a dark mulatto, with
woolly hair. His features are capable of great expression, his action
is unrestrained and picturesque, and his voice clear, full, and
resonant. His powers of energetic declamation are very marked, and
the whole of his acting appears impulsed by a current of feeling of no
inconsiderable weight and vigor, yet controlled and guided in a manner
that clearly shows the actor to be a person of much study and great
stage ability." The _Morning Chronicle_ recorded his "Shylock" as among
the "finest pieces of acting that a London audience had witnessed since
the days of the elder Kean."
JOSEPH CINQUE.
In the month of August, 1839, there appeared in the newspapers a
shocking story--that a schooner, going coastwise from Havana to
Neuvitas, in the island of Cuba, early in July, with about twenty white
passengers, and a large number of slaves, had been seized by the slaves
in the night time, and the passengers and crew all murdered except two,
who made their escape to land in an open boat. About the 20th of the
same month, a strange craft was seen repeatedly on our coast, which was
believed to be the captured Spanish coaster, in the possession of the
negroes. She was spoken by several pilot-boats and other vessels, and
partially supplied with water, of which she was very much in want. It
was also said, that the blacks appeared to have a great deal of money.
The customhouse department and the officers of the navy were instantly
roused to go in pursuit of the "pirates," as the unknown possessors
of the schooner were spontaneously called. The United States steamer
Fulton, and several revenue cutters were despatched, and notice given
to the collectors at the various seaports. On the 10th of August, the
"mysterious schooner" was near the shore at Culloden Point, on the
east end of Long Island, where a part of the crew came on shore for
water and fresh provisions, for which they paid with undiscriminating
profuseness. Here they were met by Captain Green and another gentleman,
who stated that they had in their possession a large box filled with
gold. Shortly after, on the 26th, the vessel was espied by Captain
Gedney, U. S. N., in command of the brig Washington, employed on the
coast survey, who despatched an officer to board her. The officer found
a large number of negroes, and two Spaniards, Pedro Montez and Jose
Ruiz, one of whom immediately announced himself as the owner of the
negroes, and claimed his protection. The schooner was thereupon taken
possession of by Captain Gedney.
The leader of the blacks was pointed out by the Spaniards, and his
name given as Joseph Cinque. He was a native of Africa, and one of the
finest specimens of his race ever seen in this country. As soon as he
saw that the vessel was in the hands of others, and all hope of his
taking himself and countrymen back to their home land at an end, he
leaped overboard with the agility of an antelope. The small boat was
immediately sent after him, and for two hours did the sailors strive
to capture him before they succeeded. Cinque swam and dived like an
otter, first upon his back, then upon his breast, sometimes his head
out of water, and sometimes his heels out. His countrymen on board
the captured schooner seemed much amused at the chase, for they knew
Cinque well, and felt proud of the untamableness of his nature. After
baffling them for a time, he swam towards the vessel, was taken on
board, and secured with the rest of the blacks, and they were taken
into New London, Connecticut.