Santo Domingo

“ Santo Domingo, though repeatedly ravaged by the indiscriminate hand of man, is a noble and productive land, which, for the diversity and grandeur of its scenery and the rare beauty of its tropical vegetation, was justly regarded as one of the garden spots of the West Indies and worthy to be in truth a "Paradise of the New World." ”

“ We called at several of the ports of Haiti and Santo Domingo but we found little to interest us outside of the capital of the latter republic. Santo Domingo is not only the oldest city in the New World—the early abandoned settlement of Isabella never deserved the name of city—but is, in many respects, the most interesting. Founded by Bartholomew Columbus in 1496, and named Santo Domingo after the patron saint of his father, Domenico, it was, for a while, the seat of the vice-royalty. ”

“ At gaze stand the citizens of Santo Domingo City as they watch the feluccas steal into the track of the Good Faith. Tortured with anxiety are these good folk when they behold the Good Faith swing about the headland and come into view of the dastard Spaniards. Now the Good Faith is aware of her peril. See her crowd the canvas on! See her leap to the tug of the wind and race for her life down, down the watery way to the horizon! The feluccas follow fast; they gain yard by yard; still they gain and yet still. ”

“ Domingo, a struggle that had as its principal development the insurrection of the blacks of the island under the leadership of Toussaint l’Ouverture, properly enough was full of deep interest for Americans. Cf. Hildreth, The History of the United States of America, vol. v, pp. 269 et seq. For a recent discussion of American policy with respect to St. Domingo and the state of affairs within the island, see Treudley, Mary, The United States and Santo Domingo, 1789–1866 (doctoral dissertation, Clark University) , pp. 125–138.
[774] Cf. Morse’s Sermon, pp. 12–14. ”

“ Spanish and Flemish paintings surrounded altars of wrought silver. The sacred vessels were of gold, covered with pearls and precious stones. Santo Domingo, the oldest of the brotherhood, possessed a set of thirty candelabra of massive silver, man-high, placed in a double row along the nave of the church. The cloister contained a famous orange garden with wrought-iron waterways and life-sized paintings of Dominicus. In its center was a fountain, whose delicious drip belied its hidden presence under feathery vines. Indeed, why should the church not claim vast riches? ”

“ SANTO DOMINGO UNDER AMERICAN RULE This is not the place to recapitulate in detail the busy history of Santo Domingo,—how the island of Quisqueya, or Haïti, was discovered by Columbus on his first voyage and named Hispaniola; how it was gradually settled by the Spaniards, who as usual massacred the aborigines and imported African slaves in their place to cultivate the newly introduced sugarcane; how French buccaneers from Tortuga eventually conquered the western end of the island and were recognized by having a governor sent out from France ”

“ But he pressed on—you see, Señor, it was the only way to save his soul from blistering in hell through all eternity—until he was come to the Plazuela de Santo Domingo; and there, in front of the chapel of the Espiración, beneath the gallows, he knelt down upon his knees and told his rosary through. ”

“ Santo Domingo was freely offered to us, not only by the administration, but by all the people, almost without price. The island is upon our shores, is very fertile, and is capable of supporting fifteen millions of people. ”

“ I have not attempted to describe the present condition of the republic of Santo Domingo, but from all I can hear it is making progress. The Dominicans have few prejudices of colour, and eagerly welcome foreign capitalists who arrive to develop the resources of their country. ”

“ Wild, forest-covered, sublime in their grandeur, the mountains of Santo Domingo rise in endless succession, and one marvels that the old Dons, a mere handful of men, could ever have penetrated its fastnesses and subdued and exterminated the Indians. But the Spaniards with all their faults were made of stern stuff,—real “he men,”—and fired with the zeal of conquest, the fanatical determination to spread their faith among the heathen, [211] and an insatiable lust for gold, they accomplished marvels and performed deeds which seem well-nigh impossible. ”

“ The conditions in Santo Domingo have for a number of years grown from bad to worse until a year ago all society was on the verge of dissolution. Fortunately, just at this time a ruler sprang up in Santo Domingo, who, with his colleagues, saw the dangers threatening their country and appealed to the friendship of the only great and powerful neighbor who possessed the power, and as they hoped also the will to help them. ”

“ Spread of settlement in the West Indies.—After 1496 Santo Domingo became the chief town of Española and the seat of Spanish rule in America. In rapid succession posts and mining camps were established in various parts of the island, and by 1513 there were seventeen chartered towns in Española alone. Santo Domingo at that time had a population of fifteen hundred persons. It was some fifteen years after the settlement of Española before the other islands began to be occupied, attention being first given to making cruises along the southern mainland. ”

“ Let anyone to-day, equipped with every device and convenience and in the lightest clothing, step ashore on the coast of Santo Domingo and penetrate to the interior through the unbroken jungle, and he will feel, when he reaches his journey’s end,—if, indeed, he ever does,—that he has performed a mighty feat. ”

“ He was not only the most clearsighted, brave, and uncompromising friend of my race who had ever stood upon the floor of the Senate, but was to me a loved, honored, and precious personal friend; a man possessing the exalted and matured intellect of a statesman, with the pure and artless heart of a child. Upon any issue, as between him and others, when the right seemed in anywise doubtful, I should have followed his counsel and advice. But the annexation of Santo Domingo, to my understanding, did not seem to be any such question. The reasons in its favor were many and obvious ”

“ A 'Settler in Santo Domingo' has given us a good book—a fresh, wholesome, and evidently truthful narrative of his every-day experience in the tropics. It is a book eminently sui generis, reminding one of Robinson Crusoe or Dana's 'Two Years before the Mast.' There is a gentle earnestness, a mild yet positive concentration of purpose about it, that enlists our sympathies from the start. The young farmer's mind is on his work. ”

“ For nearly a hundred years the western half of Santo Domingo had been held by France, and to every outward appearance it had enjoyed such unbounded and steadily increasing prosperity that it was regarded with envy on every side; in fine, it seemed to be one of the richest and most desirable colonies in the whole world. Historians, said an observer of a later day, [30] were "never weary of enumerating the amount of its products, the great trade, the warehouses full of sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo and cocoa ”

“ In revolutions it was usually garrisoned and has been taken and retaken unnumbered times, and in 1903 it was bombarded by a Dominican cruiser.
In the midst of its monuments of the past Santo Domingo throbs with the life of the present. Being one of the principal ports and the seat of the government it is the busiest city of the Republic. Its docks, markets and business streets are always congested with workers and traders. ”

“ He was a person of all good qualities, a native of [98] Mexico, and of noble parentage in that city. He took the habit and professed in this convent of Santo Domingo in Manila. In his studies he gave so good an account of himself that he lectured in arts and theology, and became regent in our college of Santo Tomas. He always had the name of an excellent student and learned man. On that account, and because of his great prudence, known to us by experience, the religious elected him to the post of provincial, which he filled very successfully and with great credit. ”

“ The first audiencia in America, that at Santo Domingo, enjoyed for a time special supervision over all the new world, and its president attended to the government of the island, without vote injudicial matters. ”

“ From the time of the evacuation of the Island by the French under Rochambeau, Santo Domingo, the Spanish part of the Island, had become a place of refuge for the white colonist, and the persecuted mulattoes; and during the administration of Dessalines and Christophe, Santo Domingo was comparatively quiet, except an occasional visit from the partisans of some of the Haytian chiefs. Santo Domingo was a mulatto government, and it hailed with joy the union under Boyer, and a scheme was set on foot to carry the Spanish part of the Island over to Boyer. ”

“ Santo Domingo is one of the largest of the pueblos, having a population of nearly 1500. It is also the most conservative in retention of its 129 native culture. This makes its dances and dress of particular interest to the visitor to New Mexico. The present pueblo was established after the reconquest in 1692. The Indians of Santo Domingo took a particularly active part in the Pueblo Revolt, killing three padres resident at the pueblo. ”

“ This may appear extraordinary, but it is true, and the city of Santo Domingo is an example of what I now write; for at this moment it certainly is in a state of inconceivable misery, and the greatest poverty and wretchedness prevail amongst the people. No place in the republic is better situated for commerce, were the people and the government disposed to encourage it ”

“ So fecund have Dominican writers been, and so excellent their productions, that Santo Domingo occupies a proud place in the beautiful field of Latin-American literature, where only a few years ago it was practically unknown. There is an abundance of poets, essayists, historians and novelists worthy of mention, and an attempt to single out a few might lead to unjust distinctions. A number of the best writers are women, and all prominent newspaper men are also distinguished in literature. ”

“ Haiti is a purely Negro Republic, and offers a good illustration of what the Negro accomplishes if left to himself, even though given all the advantages of easy access to European civilization. The republic of Santo Domingo occupies the other part of the same island; its hybrid population has more Spanish and less Negro blood but it is not by any means civilized. ”

“ I hope you wall take a little interest in this unfortunate neighbor and try to create a little interest in her on the part of our people; for our treatment of Santo Domingo, like our treatment of Cuba, is but a part of a great policy which shall in the years to come determine the relations of this vast country, with its wealth and enterprise, to the millions of men and women and the countless millions of trade and treasure of the great world to the south. ”

“ The best part of the City is that which joyneth to the Suburb of Indians, and is called also el Barrio de Santo Domingo, by reason of the Cloister of Saint Dominick, which standeth in it. Here are the richest and best shops of the City, with the best buildings, most of the houses being new and stately. ”

“ The Marquis de Saint-Simon [26] writes from Santo Domingo to say how much he would like to go and fight under Rochambeau on the continent: “I would be delighted to be under your orders, and to give up for that the command in chief I enjoy here.” And he supplies him, in the same unpublished letter, with a most interesting account of Cuba, just visited by him: “This colony has an air of importance far superior to any of ours, inhabited as it is by all the owners of the land, so that the city (Havana) looks rather a European than a colonial one; society is numerous and seems opulent. ”

“ Do you not hear the drums beat and the trumpets blow--far away, far away? Let me whisper--there's one that comes home in triumph.... Ay, your Grace, 'twas I that took Santo Domingo in Hispaniola, and on the mainland the very rich cities of Puerto Cabello, Santa Marta, La Guayra, Cartagena, Nombre de Dios and San Juan de Ulloa. Manoa I reserve,--'tis a secret city, and all who know a secret must keep it, else.... Robin! Robin, rid me of these babblers. ”

“ After his decease the Dominicans became disconsolate and all left the province, some for Santo Domingo, others for Peru, and the rest for Spain. The ornaments and properties donated by the king to the convents were left in charge of lay brothers, but subsequently the Dominicans of San Vicente de Chiapas appropriated them as belonging to the order. ”

“ Grouped about the Plaza de Santo Domingo are the old convent and church of Santo Domingo, the court of the Inquisition now occupied by the School of Medicine, the offices of the Department of Communicaciones, and the old custom-house (aduana) . Close by are the old church of the Jesuits and the mechanics’ school (artes y oficios) with its large and well-equipped shops. Among other well-known plazas are: Loreto, on which faces the great enclosed market of the city ”

“ For several years the number of persons taking such a broader view has been rapidly increasing. It was not long ago when friends of mine in Santo Domingo would lead me to the middle of the plazza, out of hearing of any eavesdropper, and then with bated breath confide their conviction that the only salvation of the country lay in the United States. Ruin and sorrow brought by the civil wars have caused such ideas to spread and be openly expressed. ”