James Franklin

“ Not long after the formation of this union of feeling and sentiment between the friends of the blacks and the men of colour in France, the national assembly promulgated their famous declaration of rights, an act certainly contemplating the destruction of all order, and having an evident tendency to excite the lower classes of the people into every species of insubordination and general ferment; one of its leading and most important clauses being, that “all men are born and continue free and equal as to their rights.” ”

“ For my part, I have seen nothing in Hayti to induce me to alter the opinion which I have always entertained of the negro, nor for a moment to expect that cultivation can be carried on with any probability of success without coercion. But I declare it to be my firm conviction, that unless coercion be resorted to, the negro will not labour. The impulse for indulging in sloth and in indolence is too irresistible, and it will not be in the power of the government to make any progress in agricultural labour, except it be done by actual force. ”

“ To place the slaves in the British colonies upon a footing with the free labourers in Hayti, or with the largest proportion of the people in that country, would be a work of easy accomplishment; but the effect would be, to cause them to exchange a state of comparative plenty and comfort, for one in which every species of tyranny and oppression, with their concomitants, disease and want, are most lamentably conspicuous. ”

“ It is the prevailing sentiment of the people of colour, that the blacks should be kept in their present state of ignorance, and so long as the government be composed of people of the former class, the latter will remain in their present abject condition. As the negro is now situated, he is in a worse state of degradation than the slave; for although he is free, he is almost excluded from the general mass of the population; he is marked with the name of freedom, whilst he actually groans under despotism and oppression. ”

“ What might not be accomplished by an industrious race of people in the production of cotton, in a country so favourable to its growth? If it were possible to waft the industry of the peasantry of Great Britain to the shores of Hayti, what an extraordinary effect would it have in the production of an article, the superior quality of which would so amply repay the tillers for their industry and care. ”

“ Such an attachment on the part of the slave towards his master, however, is not to be wondered at, when it is known, that the Spaniards were kind, indulgent, and liberal owners, always attentive to their wants, and alive to their comforts; seldom inflicting punishment, except for flagrant acts of insubordination and theft, but treating them with a leniency and humanity which softened the rigours of slavery, and left it to be known only by name. ”

“ No sooner was the cruel seizure of Toussaint known, than Dessalines, Christophe, and Clerveaux flew to arms, collected their scattered forces, called the cultivators and others to join their standard, to revenge the outrage committed on their chief, and to defend themselves against the designs of the French general. In a few days, they found themselves at the head of a large body of troops, armed and well equipped, and determined on a most desperate [164] struggle for liberty, and either to expel the French or perish in the attempt. ”

“ The labour required for the cultivation of coffee is exceedingly light: I was therefore much surprised to see the very little progress the people had made in this branch of agriculture. When an individual, who has been accustomed to plantations in the British, French, and Spanish islands, visits the coffee plantations in Hayti, and observes the whole conducted without judgment or care, it impresses him with a most unfavourable idea of the people; and when he sees the easiest branch of agriculture so much neglected, it convinces him that their idleness is almost invincible. ”

“ I have but little to advance by way of conclusion to my labours, further than to observe that I trust it will be seen that Hayti has been too much extolled; that the extraordinary and rapid strides said to have been made by its inhabitants, in wealth, morality, and knowledge, is a fiction which has not the slightest foundation; and that, before a change can be effected, ages must roll away and a new people be created. ”

“ The mountains remain untouched for the purposes of cultivation, except now and then a small patch for the production of vegetables, and on which is erected a miserable hut, in no respect superior, in point of accommodation and comfort, to the wig-wam of the North American Indians, but in which the sluggish Haytian will dwindle away his days in laziness, sloth, and in every species of lust and sensuality. He seeks for nothing but what supplies his immediate wants; and so long as he can produce enough for the calls of to-day, he is careless of what may follow on the morrow. ”

“ Military execution is at all times, and in all countries, to be greatly dreaded. It is always attended with those appalling enormities and barbarities, which make it the scourge of those nations which resort to it; it shews not the least mercy to either the innocent, the child, or the female with all her sweetness and charms, but all are indiscriminately the objects of its ravages, and the innocent with the guilty feel its atrocious influence, without being able to avert its vengeance and fury. ”

“ When it is seen that the mistaken and weak policy, as well as the pusillanimity of the Spanish cabinet, caused so great a sacrifice as the dismemberment of their most valuable colony, it becomes a matter of no astonishment that the people should relax in their efforts to aid the means and resources of their parent state, by any exertions, in the cultivation of their lands, beyond what might be requisite for their own support. ”

“ That the government of Hayti is the most inefficient and enervated of any of the modern republics cannot be denied, and I cannot see the least hope of an improvement, unless there be a complete revision of its constitution, and a new one framed, better suited to the tastes of the people, and more adapted to their present very rude state of knowledge. From the present rulers it would be vain to expect any effort which might prove beneficial to the country; any attempt to cultivate or improve the habits and morals of the people, or to promote agriculture. ”

“ All that government wants of the members of either house is to keep up the appearance of legislative deliberation, to give a colour to their own proceedings, and form a cloak to cover their plans of oppression and rapacity. The persons selected in the different communes as representatives, are those who have been recommended by the government, for the people have no voice, or, what is nearly the same, they dare not raise it against those whom the president has recommended to their choice. ”

“ The white inhabitants of Port au Prince, and particularly strangers who occasionally visit it, never fail to attempt to obtain a sight of her, as her name and her character excite a great deal of interest, and surely entitle her to the best support of the existing government, which boasts—and it is only an empty boast—of being generous to those who have rendered the country a service. ”

“ I say again that Hayti, instead of being an example of what may be done by free labour in the tropics, or a proof that agriculture can be successfully carried on by it, stands as a beacon to caution us against the rock on which the prosperity of the colonies is likely to be wrecked. ”

“ The trial by jury in Hayti may be a great blessing to the people when they are taught to estimate its importance, as the means of preserving their rights and liberties. But as they, at the present moment, know but little of liberty but the name, and have but a very superficial knowledge of what constitutes their rights, they are not fit to be trusted with the performance of so important a duty as to decide upon the innocence or guilt of their fellow men. ”

“ Bonaparte, in his letter to the chief, tries what effect an allusion to the former will have. “We have made known to your children, and to their preceptor,” he says, “the sentiments by which we are animated. We send them back to you. Assist with your counsel, your influence, and your talents, the captain-general. What can you desire? The freedom of the blacks? You know that in all the countries we have been in, we have given it to the people who had it not. Do you desire consideration, honours, fortune? ”