Another of the evils which arose from the indemnity question was the special position which it gave to French agents, who, even after the independence of the republic had been recognised, affected to treat Hayti as a dependency until all the debt should have been paid. The most pretentious of these agents at this time threw the whole country into commotion on account of an article in a newspaper, and continued to harass the Government on every possible occasion with his absurd pretensions. The close of Boyer’s career was as unfortunate as its commencement had been the reverse. To the humiliations inflicted by the French Consul-General was now added the necessity of saluting the Spanish flag under threat of bombardment. Throughout Haytian history these affairs are continually recurring; no people are more ready to insult foreigners, nor more humiliated by the necessary reparation. The greatest calamity, however, was the earthquake of 1842, which injured every city in the northern department, and almost annihilated Cap Haïtien. I have referred to this event in a previous chapter, when the peasantry from the plains and mountains, and the officers and soldiers of the garrison, vied with each other in plundering the city, whilst 5000 of their countrymen were buried in the ruins, the cries of many of whom could for days be heard imploring that help which could readily have been afforded, but whose supplications were unheeded by the brutal populace. This calamity in the north was followed by another in Port-au-Prince, where a large portion of the city was burnt down. These extensive fires appear to be incendiary, as they almost always occur at moments of political disturbance. The humiliations inflicted on President Boyer by the French and Spaniards, and the discontent that followed the great losses in the northern department, encouraged the ill-affected, and early in 1843 an insurrection broke out under Hérard-Rivière, a fair mulatto. After a brief show of resistance, Boyer abdicated in March, thus closing a Presidency of twenty-five years.