children, to weigh the import of their common supplication. His awakened
reason instantly discovered the snare which had been laid to entrap him,
and he therefore indignantly replied: “Take back my children, if it must
be so; I will be faithful to my brethren and my God!”[G] then, mounting
his horse, rode off to the camp, from which place he returned a formal
answer to Le Clerc.
Unfortunately Le Clerc’s bribery was not so ineffectual in other
quarters. Many of Toussaint’s generals were induced to listen to the
promises of Le Clerc, and
“To sell for gold what gold could never buy.”
Among these was an officer named La Plume, who by his treachery threw a
large district into the hands of the French, and also revealed to them
those plans of operation with which Toussaint had entrusted him.
Such an act on the part of La Plume, in whom Toussaint had placed
unlimited confidence, could not but cause him to distrust those who
remained attached to the common cause; and who, perceiving these
suspicions, grew lax in the obedience which they owed to his commands.
On the 24th of February a severe battle took place between the French
troops under General Rochambeau, and those under General Toussaint,
consisting of 1,500 grenadiers, 1,200 other chosen soldiers, and 400
dragoons. The position of the blacks was extremely well chosen, being in
a ravine fortified by nature and protected by works of art. Rochambeau,
availing himself of his local knowledge of the country, which he had
obtained from La Plume, entered the ravine with as much address as
Toussaint could have manifested, avoided the obstacles which had been
thrown in his way, and commenced an attack on the entrenchments of the
blacks. Toussaint was prepared to receive him, and a desperate battle
ensued, in which both skill and courage were alike conspicuous. The day
was extremely bloody, and the field which victory hesitated to bestow on
either party was covered with the bodies of the slain. Both parties at
the close of the day retired from the scene of action to provide rather
for their future safety than to renew a fierce contention for a mere
point of honor.
Rochambeau hastened with the remains of his division to join the French
troops in the western province, who were unable to withstand the force
of the black General Maurepas. The troops thus collected were put in
action, and the doubtful issue of battle was expected to decide their
fortune. But Le Clerc had recourse to his usual manœuvres, and
Maurepas, seduced with the promise of retaining his rank under the
auspices of Le Clerc, submitted to the French general without a
struggle, and gave his posts into the enemy’s hands.
Le Clerc, finding he could conquer the blacks much more readily by
winning their confidence than by swords, redoubled his efforts in this
direction. The number of his emissaries was increased; their powers were
enlarged, and they were sent forth as the missionaries of seduction to
induce the unsuspecting inhabitants to put on their chains. Success in
proportion to his professions attended their exertions. Even Christophe
was induced to believe that the late proclamations, in which Le Clerc
promised liberty to all, were sincere. And, finally, Toussaint, willing
to prevent the effusion of blood, gave way to the representations of
Christophe, who immediately entered into correspondence with Le Clerc.
A truce was formed on the ground of an oblivion of the past, the freedom
of the men in arms, and the preservation of his own rank, that of
Toussaint and Dessalines, and all the officers in connection with them.
This proposition was made by Christophe, and agreed to by Toussaint; but
Dessalines, dreading such an unnatural compromise, submitted only under
protest. The proposals, after some hesitation on the part of Le Clerc,
were accepted.
Hostilities ceased on the 1st of May.
Not one month past before Le Clerc seized Toussaint, his family, and
about one hundred of his immediate associates, and placed them as
prisoners on board the vessels then lying in the harbor. Many of the
blacks were ordered to return to their labors under their ancient
masters.
Toussaint, amazed at such an act of treachery and baseness, inquired the
cause, but could obtain no other reply than that he must instantly
depart. For himself he offered no excuse, declaring that he was ready to
accompany his abductors in obedience to his orders; but as his wife was
feeble and his children helpless, he begged earnestly that they might be
permitted to remain. His expostulations were of course urged in vain.
Le Clerc, to rid the island for ever of a man whom he both feared and
detested, prepared, soon after the capture of Toussaint, to send him to
Europe, and with him a letter of accusation at once false, criminal, and
malicious. A letter more dishonorable never crossed the Atlantic. Upon
his arrival in France, Toussaint was immediately sent to prison in a
remote province in the interior, and entirely secluded from the society
of men.
Shut up in melancholy silence, in a dungeon horrid, damp, and cold, his
suffering was not long. The Paris journals of April 27, 1803, say
this--no more and no less: “Toussaint died in prison.”
As to his wife and children, they remained in close custody at Brest for
about two months after their only friend was torn from them. They were
then removed to the same province in which Toussaint had been
imprisoned, without knowing anything either of his proximity or his
fate. In this place, reduced to distress, they continued neglected and
forgotten, a sad spectacle of fallen greatness.
Such was the fate of Toussaint L’Ouverture, the _Washington_, but not
“_the Napoleon_,” of Hayti.
LETTER XIII.
Republic of Hayti.
THE WAR RENEWED--“LIBERTY OR DEATH”--EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH--THE
AURORA OF PEACE--JEAN JACQUES DESSALINES, FIRST EMPEROR OF
HAYTI--PRINCIPAL EVENTS UP TO PRESENT DATE--GEFFRARD AND
EDUCATION--POSSIBLE FUTURE.
“This is the moral of all human tales:
’Tis but the same rehearsal of the past--
First freedom, and then glory.”
--CHILDE HAROLD.
The violent and perfidious measures to which Le Clerc had resorted
produced an effect diametrically opposed to that which he intended. On
the distant mountains, particularly toward the Spanish division,
innumerable hosts of blacks had taken up their residence and assumed a
species of lawless violence. They ridiculed every idea of a surrender to
the Europeans, notwithstanding the compromise which had been made with
Toussaint and Christophe. Even among those who had submitted, the sudden
seizure of their brave leader and about one hundred of his enlightened
associates, of whose fate they could receive no satisfactory account,
but who was supposed to have been murdered by Le Clerc, produced a
spirit of indignation which was poured forth in execrations portending
an approaching storm.
Le Clerc, seated on his painful eminence, saw in a great measure the
danger of his situation, and endeavored to counteract the impending
evil. But death at this moment was lessening the number of his troops,
and sickness disabling the survivors from performing the common duties
of their stations.
Dessalines, whose talents and valor, recognized by his countrymen, had
caused him to be appointed to act as General-in-Chief, resolved not to
dally with his faithless foes as Toussaint had done, but to bring this
ferocious war to a speedy and decisive issue. Impressed with this
resolution, he drew a considerable force into the plain of Cape
François, with a design to attack the city. Rochambeau, perceiving his
movements, exerted himself to strengthen the fortifications of the city,
after which he determined to risk a general engagement.
Both parties were as well prepared for the event as circumstances would
admit. The attack was begun by the French with the utmost resolution,
and from the violence of the onset the troops of Dessalines gave way for
a moment, and a considerable number fell prisoners into the hands of the
French. But the power and courage of the blacks soon returned. The
French were repulsed; and as a body of them were marching to strengthen
one of the wings of their army, they were unexpectedly surrounded by the
blacks, made prisoners of war, and driven in triumph to their camp.
With these vicissitudes terminated the day. At night the French general,
to the disgrace of Europe, ordered the black prisoners to be put to
death. The order was executed with circumstances of peculiar barbarity.
Some perished on the spot; others were mutilated in their limbs, legs,
and vital parts, and left in that horrible condition to disturb with
their shrieks and groans the silence of the night.
But Rochambeau had to deal with a very different man from Toussaint--a
man whose motto was, “_Never to retaliate_;” for under cover of the same
inauspicious night Dessalines deliberately selected the officers from
among his prisoners, then added a number of privates, and gibbeted them
all together in a place most exposed to the French army.
Nor did the revenge of the black soldiers terminate even here. Burning
with indignation against the men whose conduct had stimulated them to
such inhuman deeds, they rushed down upon the French the ensuing
morning, destroyed the camp, made a terrible slaughter, and compelled
the flying fugitives to take refuge under the walls of Cape François.
From this period the French were unable to face their opponents in the
open field, and the victorious Dessalines immediately took steps to
crush them in the city.
To add to the calamities of the French commander, the war between
England and France was again renewed during this period of his distress.
Unfortunately, however, he remained uninstructed by past experience, and
his cruelty seemed to increase with the desperation of his
circumstances. Pent up in the city, from which his forces durst not
venture in a body, he contrived to detach small parties with bloodhounds
to hunt down a few straggling negroes, who wandered through the woods
unconscious of the impending danger. These when taken were seized with
brutal triumph, and thrown to the dogs to be devoured alive.
Amid scenes and horrors as infamous as these, Le Clerc was summoned by
the fever to appear before a higher tribunal to give an account of his
deeds of darkness. He died on the 1st of November, after having been
driven from Tortuga, his previous place of abode. Madame Le Clerc was
present at the awful scene; then, departing with the body for Europe,
bade a final farewell to a region which had promised her happiness, but
paid her with anguish and mortification.
It was in the month of July that an English squadron, not fully apprised
of the condition of the French army, made its appearance off the cape.
This circumstance completely overwhelmed the besieged commander, who,
while the blacks were fiercely crowding upon him, was perfectly
conscious of his vulnerable condition as exposed to the British. He
therefore opened a communication with the latter to learn what terms of
capitulation he had to expect in case a proposition of that kind should
be made. The terms required by the British being dreadfully severe,
Rochambeau lost no time in strengthening the works towards the sea as
well as towards the land, having every thing to fear from both quarters.
Meanwhile the victorious blacks continued to pour in reinforcements upon
the plains of the cape. A powerful body now descended upon the French,
and, having passed the outer lines and several blockhouses, prepared to
storm the city in thirty-six hours.
Rochambeau, from a persuasion that all would be put to the sword,
proceeded before it was too late to offer articles of capitulation,
which, to the honor of Dessalines, by foregoing the desire of revenge,
were accepted, granting the French ten days to evacuate the city--“an
instance of forbearance and magnanimity,” says Rainsford, “of which
there are not many examples in ancient or modern history.”
The articles of capitulation which Rochambeau had entered into were
communicated by Dessalines to the British commodore. The latter,
therefore, awaited the expiration of the appointed time to mark the
important event. When the time had elapsed, Commodore Loring, perceiving
no movement of the French towards evacuation, sent a letter to General
Dessalines to inquire if any alteration had taken place subsequent to
his last communication, and if not, to request him to send some pilots
on board to conduct his squadron into the harbor to take possession of
the French shipping. To this letter he received the following
characteristic reply:--
“LIBERTY OR DEATH!
“HEAD-QUARTERS, _Nov. 27, 1803_.
“_The Commander-in-Chief of the Native Army to
Commodore Loring, etc., etc._:
“SIR:--I acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and you may be
assured that my disposition toward you and against General
Rochambeau is invariable.
“I shall take possession of the cape to-morrow morning at the head
of my army. It is a matter of great regret to me that I cannot send
you the pilots which you require. I presume that you will have no
occasion for them, as I shall compel the French vessels to quit the
road, and you will do with them what you shall think proper.
“I have the honor to be, etc., etc.,
“DESSALINES.”
Scarcely had Commodore Loring entered the harbor on the morning of the
30th, before he was met by an officer of the French troops then going in
quest of the English to request them to take possession of the ships in
the name of His Britannic Majesty. This, he observed, was the only
method left by which they could be saved from inevitable destruction, as
the black general was at that moment preparing to fire upon them with
red-hot shot, and the wind, blowing directly into the mouth of the
harbor, prevented their departure.
The whole of the French troops and shipping, including seventeen
merchant vessels and about 8,000 soldiers and seamen, thus falling into
the hands of the British, were conveyed to England, arriving at
Portsmouth, on the 3rd of February, 1804, from whence the troops were
taken into the interior and paroled as prisoners of war.
Thus ended this visionary expedition through which Napoleon and Le Clerc
flattered themselves and the country that the inhabitants of Hayti were
to be again reduced to slavery; and thus, by the unrelenting
determination of Dessalines, were the fearful thunderbolts of war made
to recoil on the heads of those who hurled them.
THE AURORA OF PEACE.
The “Aurora of Peace” which Dessalines and his colleagues had predicted,
was now ushered in. On the 14th of May following Dessalines departed
from the cape, determined, like his unfortunate predecessor Toussaint,
to make a tour through the island, to note the manners which prevailed,
and to observe how far the regulations he had already introduced were
enforced, and what beneficial effects had resulted from their adoption.
During this journey the people, animated by the presence of their
victorious chief, resolved to exalt him to the dignity of emperor.
Whether any intrigue had been used on this occasion by Dessalines, or
that the offer was a pure emanation of gratitude originating with the
people, it is impossible to say. This much, however, is certain, that
the proposal was accepted without any reluctance, and in due time he was
enthroned as _Jean Jacques Dessalines, the first emperor of Hayti_. This
was at Port au Prince, on the 8th of October.
After the imposing ceremonies which necessarily attended the imperial
coronation, the people, not forgetful of Him who had guided them through
this arduous struggle in defence of those rights with which He had
originally endowed them, marched to the church, where a Te Deum was sung
to commemorate the important transactions of this memorable day. From
this place of solemnity the whole procession returned in the order in
which they came to the government house; after which a grand
illumination took place in all parts of the city, amid the roaring of
cannon and every demonstration of joy that both language and action
could possibly express.
In tracing the narrative of this remarkable revolution, we have
purposely omitted the invasion of the British from 1793 to 1798. Suffice
it to say, that after a profuse waste of blood and treasure during five
years, Great Britain was constrained to withdraw the remnant of her
troops, acknowledge the independence of the island as a neutral power,
and relinquish forever all pretensions to Hayti.
Such, then, is a brief outline of the principal features in the history
of this new-born empire, as recorded by Edwards, Rainsford, and Coke,
and as given me from the lips of veterans yet upon the soil. The
principal changes since are briefly these:
The reign of the emperor Dessalines was short and turbulent, and his
designs against the mulattoes cost him his life. After the death of
Dessalines, (in 1807,) General Christophe was made chief magistrate, and
in 1811 he crowned himself King Henri I. Meanwhile the mulattoes having
cause to distrust him also, elected General Petion, a companion of
Rigaud, to preside in the south-west, which he did with great leniency
and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents, by many of whom he
is still affectionately remembered. He died in 1818. Christophe shot
himself in 1820. In 1822, Boyer, who had been elected President, united
the whole island under his government.
And this brings the chain of events up to those mentioned in our review
of the history of the Spanish part of the island, to which the reader
can refer for a statement of the principal changes from that time to the
present.
Under President Geffrard the country is highly prosperous, such
confidence being placed in the government that its paper currency is
preferred by the people to silver coin.
Under Protestant influences, also, several large schools, in which
hundreds of young girls and boys are being educated, promise in due time
to present to the world a virtuous female offspring of these heroic
revolutionists, adorned by all the graces attending the use of both the
French and English languages, and a body of youths skilled at once in
commerce, and in the sciences of government, the sword, the anvil, and
the plow.
The president desires the immigration hither of young men and ladies who
are capable of teaching French, “and also to undertake,” he says, “the
courses of our lyceums. In this case they would find employment
immediately.”
* * * * *
It is difficult to believe these fields of natural beauty, embellished
with all the decorations of art, have at any time presented to earth and
heaven such spectacles of horror as to cause even Europe, accustomed as
it is to blood and fire, to stand aghast, and which will serve Americans
as a finger-board of terror so long as slavery there exists. The torch
of conflagration and the sword of destruction have marched in fearful
union through the land, and covered the hills and plains with
desolation. Tyranny, scorn, and retaliating vengeance have displayed
their utmost rage, and in the end have given birth to an empire which
has not only hurled its thunderbolts on its assailants, but at this
moment bids defiance to the world.
In the days of imperial Rome it was the custom of Cicero and his haughty
contemporaries to sneer at the wretchedness and barbarity of the
Britons, just as Americans speak of Haytiens to-day; yet when we reflect
how analogous the history of the seven-hilled city and that of the
United States promises to be, that Hayti may yet become the counterpart
of England, head-quarters of a colored American nationality, and supreme
mistress of the Caribbean sea, she can well afford to leave
“Things of the future to fate.”
LETTER XIV.
Grand Turk’s and Caicos Islands.
AN ISLAND OF SALT--SIR EDWARD JORDAN, OF JAMAICA--HONOR TO THE
BRITISH QUEEN--A STORY IN PARENTHESIS--THE POETRY OF SAILING.
“Had ancient poets known this little spot--
Poets who formed rich Edens in their thought--
Arcadia’s vales, Calypso’s verdant bowers,
Hesperia’s groves, and Tempo’s gayest flowers,
Had ne’er appeared so beautiful and fair
As these gay rocks and emerald islands are.”
It is usually no more to “dangle round” this sea than it is to cross
Lake Erie. On this particular occasion, however, I very willingly
reached these shores, for the little schooner Enterprise in which we had
ventured was not much larger than a good-sized yawl--certainly not over
six tons burthen. The waves inundated us at pleasure, wetting even the
letters in my breast coat-pocket, filling our faces at times with its
slashing foam, and drenching us thoroughly to the inmost thread. But our
schooner skimmed along like a seagull, and within thirty-two hours we
were once again on land, dry enough for all practical purposes. Nice
little schooner--the waves might as well have undertaken to drown a
fish!
* * * * *
There is not a natural hill on all Turk’s Island. The shores are but a
few feet above the level of the sea, and the interior is scooped out
like a basin. This basin is artificially subdivided into innumerable
troughs or ponds, into which water is admitted by canals from the sea,
whence it evaporates leaving beds of salt. This salt is then raked into
hills, so that as you approach these shores you have the extraordinary
sight of an island studded with salt-hills.
The slight elevation of the land also permits the wind to pass
uninterruptedly over its limestone surface, which accounts for the even
temperature and perfect health of the island. The thermometer fell
to-day from 86° to 77° Fahrenheit, which is the hottest and the coldest
they have had it this summer. But, as you will readily perceive, the
absence of all barriers to the winds subjects the colony to the terrific
ravages of every ocean storm that chooses to sweep this way. At this
very moment the large and substantial mansion in which I am writing
trembles like an aspen-leaf, and I am fearful that the few cocoa-nut
trees and flower plants bending before the storm on every side will be
speedily swept away. Heaven spare the verdure!--the people can look out
for themselves. Generally speaking, the winds are soft as a sigh. The
gale ebbs to a gentle zephyr; the cloud passes on to Mobile, or wherever
else it is bound, leaving these islands gayer for its shower; the huge
West Indian sun, apparently magnified to six times its usual diameter,
sinks into the crimsoned sea; the heavenly twilight comes on once more,
and earth, sea, and sky are all once again tranquilly imparadised. The
effect of these transitions on the mind is imperative. The most
commonplace, matter-of-fact personage you have in America can not spend
a summer around these islands and amid these scenes without having
transitory poetic visions flash through his inmost being. But do not
think I intend to dwell any further on these Elysian things. If you have
a correspondent capable of describing them, send him along. A keen sense
of my inability to do so constrains me to desist as from an attempt to
comprehend the Infinite.
* * * * *
According to the theory of certain American statesmen, Turk’s Island
properly belongs to Hayti; at least, it is on the borders of the Haytien
sea, and is as much beholden to Hayti for its support as Cuba is to the
United States. As luck has it, however, Turk’s Island really belongs to
the British, and Cuba, it would seem,
“By some o’er-hasty angel was misplaced.”