Hayti; or, The black republic.St. John, Spenser, Sir
History
Hayti; or, The black republic.
St. John, Spenser, Sir
Haiti; Haiti -- History
Nothing was saved from them, neither our mail-bags nor our property.
Fortunately we were well supported by our naval officers, and we were
thoroughly well backed by the French marine. Admiral Mequet and Captain
De Varannes of the “D’Estrés” were conspicuous by their friendly
feeling; and as Admiral Phillimore was at that time commodore in
Jamaica, the English were sure of receiving all the support that it was
in his power to give. I think we owed our lives to the aid we received
from the presence of our ships, commanded by Captains Kelly, M’Crea,
Glynn, Murray Aynesley, Carnegie, Lowther, Allington, and many others.
I may conclude my account of Salnave by saying that he attempted to
reach Santo Domingo city, but was stopped on the frontiers by the
Dominican insurgent Cabral, who took him and his followers prisoners,
and sent them to Port-au-Prince. Six chiefs were shot as insurgents
taken with arms in their hands, whilst Salnave was brought into
the capital, tried by a military commission under General Lorquet,
condemned to death for incendiarism and murder, and shot that same
evening at sunset. He behaved with considerable coolness and calmness,
and when he heard the sentence pronounced, asked for a quarter of an
hour’s respite, and then wrote his wishes as to the disposition of his
property, and a few words to his family.
Salnave was in every respect unfitted to be a ruler; he was ignorant,
debauched, and cruel; loved to be surrounded by the lowest of the low,
who turned the palace into a rendezvous where the scum of the negresses
assembled to dance and drink, so that no respectable person ever
willingly entered it. He attended the meetings of the Vaudoux, and is
accused of joining in their greatest excesses. He first brought himself
prominently forward by attempting to murder General Philippeaux,
and during his Presidency shot his enemies without mercy. I do not
think that he had a redeeming quality, except a certain amount of
determination, and perhaps bravery, though he was never known to expose
himself to personal danger.
General Nissage-Saget was elected President of Hayti on the 19th March
1870, and four years of peace followed. The country was so exhausted
by the long civil war, that although there was some discontent among
the followers of Salnave and the extreme black party, no movement had
a chance of success. The Chambers occasionally quarrelled with the
executive, but their title to esteem rests on their efforts to restore
the currency. They decided to withdraw the depreciated paper notes
and introduce silver dollars, and in this they completely succeeded.
It caused some suffering at first, but on the whole it was a sound
measure, wisely carried out.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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