The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population. Franklin Jameson J.

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СКАЧАТЬ In cases of urgent necessity, a legislative decree of the general assembly, in what relates to the internal concerns of the colony, shall be considered as a law provisional. In all such cases the decree shall be notified forthwith to the governor-general, who, within ten days after such notification, shall cause it to be published and enforced, or transmit to the general assembly his observations thereon.

      “Fourthly. The necessity of the case, on which the execution of such provisional decree is to depend, shall be a separate question, and be carried in the affirmative by a majority of two-thirds of the general assembly; the names and numbers being taken down (prises par l’appel nominal).

      “Fifthly. If the governor-general shall send down his observations on any such decree, the same shall be entered in the journals of the general assembly, who shall then proceed to revise the decree, and consider the observations thereon, in three several sittings. The votes for confirming or annulling the decree shall be given in the words Yes or No, and a minute of the proceedings shall be signed by the members present, in which shall be enumerated the votes on each side of the question, and if there appears a majority of two-thirds for confirming the decree, it shall be immediately enforced by the governor-general.

      “Sixthly. As every law ought to be founded on the consent of those who are to be bound by it, the French part of St. Domingo shall be allowed to propose regulations concerning commercial arrangements, and the system of mutual connexion (rapports commerciaux, et autres rapports communs), and the decrees which the national assembly shall make in all such cases, shall not be enforced in the colony, until the general assembly shall have consented thereto.

      “Seventhly. In cases of pressing necessity, the importation of articles for the support of the inhabitants shall not be considered as any breach of the system of commercial regulations between St. Domingo and France; provided that the decrees to be made in such cases by the general assembly shall be submitted to the revision of the governor-general, under the same conditions and modifications as are prescribed in articles three and five.

      “Eighthly. Provided also, that every legislative act of the general assembly executed provisionally, in cases of urgent necessity, shall be transmitted forthwith for the royal sanction. And if the king shall refuse his consent to any such act, its execution shall be suspended as soon as the king’s refusal shall be legally notified to the general assembly.

      “Ninthly. A new general assembly shall be chosen every two years, and none of the members who have served in the former assembly shall be eligible in the new one.

      “Tenthly. The general assembly decree that the preceding articles, as forming part of the constitution of the French colony in St. Domingo, shall be immediately transmitted to France for the acceptance of the national assembly and the king. They shall likewise be transmitted to all the parishes and districts of the colony, and be notified to the governor-general.”

      It was not likely that a decree, the articles of which were thus opposed to the maintenance of order, could exact the acquiescence and submission of the people, and lead them to an approval of that which seemed to aim at the destruction of all subordination. Serious apprehensions arose as to the measures which would be adopted and pursued at this juncture, to avert the impending storm which was expected at no distant period to burst forth.

      It was imagined, and was a received opinion, that the “declaring of the colony an independent state, in imitation of the English American provinces”, was certain, and every effort was made to avert such a proceeding. No obedience to the general assembly could be enforced. The inhabitants of Cape François were the first to set the example of renouncing all respect for that body, and of calling upon the governor-general to dissolve them. With this request he instantly complied, charging the general assembly with a design of undermining the peace of the colony, by forming projects of independency, contrary to the voice of the colonists; he even charged them with having been accessories or instigators of the mutiny of the crew of one of the king’s ships, and pronouncing them traitors to their king and country, he declared that he should take the most prompt and effective measures for bringing them to that punishment for which their treachery so loudly called.

      An attempt was made to arrest the committee of the western provincial assembly, and a force under M. Mauduit was sent for that purpose, but he failed in effecting his object, for the members, hearing of his approach, collected about four hundred of the national guard for their defence, and M. Mauduit retired after a skirmish or two, without any other advantage than the capture of the national colours.

      The general assembly being apprised of this attack, immediately summoned the people to the support and protection of their representatives. The northern provincial assembly adhered to the governor-general, and, to oppose the progress of his opponents, they sent him all the troops stationed in that quarter, together with an additional force of about two hundred mulattoes. The western province collected a much greater force, and everything seemed to indicate a sanguinary civil war, when an event occurred which for a time averted all those unhappy results that would inevitably have taken place, had the opposing parties come in contact.

      Most unexpectedly, at this momentous juncture, for the purpose of trying the effect of a personal appeal to the national assembly of France, the general assembly of the island determined on a voyage to Europe. About one hundred members, all that remained of their body, from the effects of sickness and desertion, embarked on board the Leopard (that very ship, the crew of which had declared themselves in their interest a very short time previously) on the 8th of August, and took their departure, hailed with the warmest acclamations of the populace, who could not restrain their admiration at so extraordinary an act of devotion to the good of their country. It is said, that “tears of sensibility and affection were shed at their departure by all classes of people, and the parties in arms appeared mutually disposed to submit their differences to the king and the national assembly.”

      Immediately after this storm had subsided, every effort was made by the governor-general, Paynier, to restore confidence and tranquillity amongst the people, and for some time, there was a strong indication of the peace of the colony being once more established; but the designs of the people of colour in France, abetted by the society of Amis des Noirs, at the head of which were some of the most violent of the revolutionary characters of France, destroyed all their hopes, and every species of anarchy and confusion was anticipated from the proceedings of these disseminators of the pernicious doctrine of equality and the rights of man.

      It was at this period that the first mulatto rebellion took place, at the head of which was the famous Ogé, the protegé and disciple of La Fayette and Robespierre, a young man about thirty years of age, and a native of the northern part of St. Domingo. He had been educated in France at the expense of his mother, a woman of property living near Cape François; having been admitted to the meetings of the society of Amis des Noirs, he had imbibed all their principles, and had become enthusiastic in demanding an equality of rights and privileges for his coloured brethren. Encouraged by the society, and the revolutionary leaders, he left France for the purpose of instigating his fellow colonists of colour to take up arms in the assertion of their claims. To give him something like an appearance of military command, the society purchased for him the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army of one of the German states. To conceal his designs from the king and the national assembly, he made a circuitous voyage by North America; but his object was known before he left France, and intimation was sent out to the governor-general that he had embarked for St. Domingo, and that his scheme was to excite his coloured brethren to arms. A description of his person, and I believe a portrait also, were transmitted for the better discovery of him on his arrival; but notwithstanding every precaution, he landed secretly, and the circumstance remained unknown, until some weeks afterwards he wrote to the governor, reviling him for his proceedings, and in the name of all the mulattoes, of which he declared himself to be the protector, demanding in the most contumelious language the immediate execution of all the statutes of the Code Noir, and that in all times to come there should be no distinction, as to rights СКАЧАТЬ