Sir Spenser St. John

“ On the eve of the great Revolution, France possessed, as I have said, the finest colony in the world. Her historians are never weary of enumerating the amount of its products, the great trade, the warehouses full of sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo, and cocoa; its plains covered with splendid estates, its hill-sides dotted with noble houses; a white population, rich, refined, enjoying life as only a luxurious colonial society can enjoy it ”

“ Though very unwilling to meet death on the field of battle when a loophole to escape is at hand, yet no one faces it more courageously than the Haytian, both black and coloured, when on the place of execution. He stands dauntless before the trembling soldiers, who, shutting their eyes or turning away their heads, fire at random, and who too often only wound, and have to charge and recharge their muskets before their prisoner dies. ”

“ This contempt of the black is felt by nearly every coloured girl, and is bitterly resented. I have seen young mulatto women refusing to dance with blacks at a ball, and the latter, in fury, threatening to call out the father or brother of the offending beauty. Yet what can be more absurd than such a pretension or prejudice, when, but two generations removed, their mothers were African slaves! ”

“ To increase their forces the French commanders permitted the free blacks and mulattoes to enlist, and they did good service; and when they returned to their country, they spread widely a spirit of disaffection, which no ordinances could destroy.
When England in 1785 was forced to acknowledge the independence of the United States, how despotic France and Spain rejoiced over the downfall of the only country where liberty was known! The results were, for France, the Revolution, which, with all its crimes, did unspeakable good, and deprived her of the finest colony that any country ever possessed. ”

“ I noticed on my first arrival in Port-au-Prince two marble coffins, very handsome, lying neglected on the ground outside the palace. I was told they had been brought from abroad in order that the remains of Pétion and Boyer, two of their best Presidents, should repose in them; but for many years I saw them lying empty on the same spot, and I never heard what became of them.
The curse of Port-au-Prince is fire. Every few years immense conflagrations consume whole quarters of the town. Nothing can stop the flames but one of the few brick-houses, against which the quick-burning fire is powerless. ”

“ In my chapter on the Mulattoes, I have given a sketch of Geffrard, and I need not repeat it here. I was not blind to his faults, but of all the rulers of Hayti he was certainly the most enlightened, and the most thoroughly devoted to his country. Had he been as perfect a ruler as the world could produce, he would never have satisfied his countrymen. The blacks wanted a black, the mulattoes wanted any one else, so that there was a change. And yet I believe the mass of the people cared little except for tranquillity. ”

“ The awkward figure, the heavy face, the bullet head, the uncouth features, the cunning bloodshot eyes, seen under the shade of a French officer’s cocked hat, raise the hilarity of the newcomer, which is not lessened when he discovers that this wretched imitation of a soldier declares himself the most warlike of a warlike race. But putting aside the absurdities which appear inherent to the blacks, you soon discover that there is something sympathetic in that stolid being. ”

“ In a few of the more commercial streets, where foreigners reside, more attention is paid to cleanliness, but still Port-au-Prince may bear the palm away of being the most foul-smelling, dirty, and consequently fever-stricken city in the world.
The port is well protected, but is gradually filling up, as the rains wash into it not only the silt from the mountains, but the refuse of the city, and no effort is made to keep it open. ”

“ A Spanish friend with a tender heart was riding one day in the country when his attention was drawn by the piercing shrieks of a child. He turned his head, and saw a black woman holding a little boy by the arm and beating him with the handle of a broom. He rode up, and catching the next blow on the handle of his whip, said, “Don’t beat the child in that manner.” The woman looked up surprised at the interference, and coolly replied in their patois, “Consite, li nègue; li pas fait li mal.”—“Consul, it is a negro; it will do him no harm.” ”

“ There is not a passion which does not give vent to its vow, and crime itself does not always disguise those which have for object its success. At each of these invocations the King of the Vaudoux appears absorbed in thought. The spirit seizes him; suddenly he takes hold of the box in which the serpent is confined, places it on the ground, and commands the Queen to get on it. ”

“ In treating of the Haytians, one must carefully separate the lower-class negro as he appears in a large commercial town from the black who lives in the plains or mountains. The former, brought into constant contact with the roughest of the white race, as represented by an inferior class of merchant seamen, is too often insolent and dishonest, whilst the countryman, who only sees a select few of the whites, appears to have an innate idea of their superiority, and almost always treats them with respect and deference, and with a hospitality and kindness which is not found in the cities. ”

“ Of all the institutions in Hayti, the police is certainly the worst conducted. There are regular commissaries employed under the prefects, but ordinary soldiers do the work of constables. In my time they went about the streets with a thick stick of heavy wood in their hands called a cocomacaque, and they used it in such a way as to confirm the remark that cruelty is an innate quality with the negro. Never did I see a Haytian of the upper classes step forward to remonstrate—probably he knew his countrymen too well—whilst the lower orders simply laughed and enjoyed the sight of punishment. ”

“ No country possesses greater capabilities, or a better geographical position, or more variety of soil, of climate, or of production; with magnificent scenery of every description, and hill-sides where the pleasantest of health-resorts might be established. And yet it is now the country to be most avoided, ruined as it has been by a succession of self-seeking politicians, without honesty or patriotism, content to let the people sink to the condition of an African tribe, that their own selfish passions may be gratified. ”

“ The negroes, as a rule, live to a good old age, and bear their age well; they also keep their magnificent white teeth to the last, which they ascribe to diligent cleanliness and the crushing of the sugar-cane under their strong grinders: their hair also preserves its colour much later than that of the white. In fact, it is difficult to guess the age of a negro.
The negro is rarely seriously ill, though he often fancies himself so; he suffers most from his indulgences and the indifferent skill of those who undertake his cure. ”

“ The insurgent slaves called themselves “Les Gens du Roi,” declaring that he was their friend, and was persecuted for their sake; they hoisted the white flag, and placed an ignorant negro, Jean François, at their head. The second in command was a Papaloi or priest of the Vaudoux, named Biassou. He encouraged his followers to carry on the rites of their African religion, and when under its wildest influence, he dashed his bands to the attack of their civilised enemies, to meet their death in Hayti, but to rise again free in their beloved Africa. ”

“ In the interior a well-to-do black lives openly with several women as wives, and I have seen the patriarch sitting at the door of the central house, with huts all around in which his younger wives lived, as they could not be made to dwell under the same roof. On Friday evenings he descends to market on a horse or mule, perhaps holding in his arms the latest born, while following in his train are a dozen women and sturdy children either carrying loads or driving beasts of burden. No one is mounted but himself. ”

“ There are two languages spoken in Hayti, French and Creole. French is the language of public life and of literature, whilst Creole is the language of home and of the people. President Geffrard, among other eccentricities, used to extol the Creole as the softest and most expressive of languages, and his countrymen are unanimously of his opinion; but no Frenchman can accept as a language this uncouth jargon of corrupt French in an African form. ”

“ I have known coloured men whose first real knowledge of their own country was acquired in manhood, who were in every respect equal to their white companions, as manly and as free from absurd pretensions, and naturally without that dislike of foreigners which is instilled into home-educated mulattoes. These men, knowing the consideration in which they were held by all, had no necessity for any self-assertion.
The early training in Hayti is much at fault; their mothers, generally uninstructed, have themselves but few principles of delicacy to instil into their children’s minds. ”

“ But I have lived long in the West Indies, and know that there are many whites born in our colonies, who not only look upon the negro as of an inferior species—which he may be—but as fit only for servitude, and quite unworthy of freedom, and on an alliance with a coloured person as a disgrace which affects a whole family. They speak of a mulatto as they would of one affected with leprosy. ”

“ The planters had brave words, but not brave deeds, with which to meet their revolted bondsmen. All the black prisoners taken by the insurgents were sent over the frontiers and sold as slaves to the Spaniards. Toussaint remonstrated against this vile traffic, but never shared in it. The new Governor, Laveaux, at this time nearly stifled the insurrection, dispersing all the insurgent forces; but, as usual, not following up his successes, allowed the negroes again to concentrate. No strength of position as yet enabled the blacks successfully to resist the white troops. ”

“ The state of the colony may be imagined when it is remembered that the whites were divided into three distinct sections. The coloured men, jealous of each other, did not combine, but were ready to come to blows on the least pretext; while the blacks, under Jean François, were massacring every white that fell into their hands, and selling to the Spaniard every negro or coloured man accused of siding with the French. The planters wanted independence or subjection to England; the poorer whites anything which would give them the property of others; the coloured were still faithful to France ”

“ The ignorance of the officers often leads them into ludicrous mistakes. A general commanding at Port-au-Prince saw a boat entering the harbour with the Spanish flag flying, and he instantly went down to the wharf. “Who are you?” said he to the officers. “Spaniards,” was the reply. “Paniols!” exclaimed he, “then you are enemies!” and proceeded to arrest them, under the mistaken idea that all Spaniards must be Dominicans, with whom Hayti was at war. ”

“ Il recule, il s’élance encore, et la provoque à la lutte la plus séduisante. La danse s’anime, et bientôt elle offre un tableau dont tous les traits d’abord voluptueux, deviennent ensuite lascifs. Il serait impossible de peindre le chica avec son véritable caractère, et je me bornerai à dire que l’impression qu’il cause est si puissante que l’Africain ou le Créole de n’importe quelle nuance, qui le verrait danser sans émotion, passerait pour avoir perdu jusqu’aux dernières étin celles de la sensibilité. ”

“ Notwithstanding all the interested denials of the mulattoes, there is no doubt but that the lower-class negro, in particular, respects the white man as a superior being, and therefore respects his religion as superior to his own; but, as I shall show in my chapter on the Vaudoux, although he follows the white man’s religion to a certain extent, he does not in consequence forsake his serpent-worship, which appeals to his traditions, to the Africa of his nursery tales, and, above all, to his pleasures and his passions. ”

“ The whole country was in terrible confusion; the French had not one man who had the talent or influence to dominate their divided factions; the coloured were represented by such respectabilities as Pinchinat, Bauvais, and Rigaud, but without one of incontestable superiority; the blacks were as yet led by such men as Jean François and Biassou, who must even make the respectable negroes blush to acknowledge that they were of the same race; yet, as I have said, there was one man coming to the front who was to dominate all. ”

“ It is well known that the first dream or beau ideal of the young Haïtienne is a rich, and if possible a good-looking European, who can place her in a respectable position, give her the prospect of occasional visits to Europe, with the ultimate expectation of entirely residing there. Few young girls lose the hope of securing this desirable husband, particularly among those who have received their education in Europe, until their charms begin slightly to fade, when they content themselves with the least dark among their countrymen. ”