1

delay the "gallant admiral" of her most Christian English Majesty sailed away on his royally appointed mission in quest of fresh adventures and further plunder of the hated Spaniards.

In the day of its prosperity, the city must have been, if we may judge from present appearances and relics, really beautiful, and in fact splendid. Even now, after the lapse of centuries, and when, from the combined effects of time, human neglect and decayed prosperity, it presents, as one approaches it from the sea, or traverses its grass-covered or gullied streets, an almost antediluvian aspect of decay-it bears traces of what it once

was.

And to the American who feels an interest in the historical associations and events of the early settlement of the New World, and who cherishes a feeling of respect for the mementoes connected therewith, it is in a manner classic ground; and as he stands in the midst of its monuments of the olden time, their historical associations though in many respects in painful contrast with the actual present awaken.emotions akin to those inspired by the presence of the classic and consecrated scenes and associations which history has embalmed among the records of the Old World. The spot where he stands was selected by Columbus himself as the seat of the new Castilian empire in the hemisphere which he had given to the world, and which he fondly and proudly anticipated would one day rival or surpass in extent and power the old kingdoms of Europe; anticipations destined to be one day fulfilled, though in a somewhat changed locality, and under other national auspices. Here arose a beautiful city, its marts and streets teeming with the activity and busy hum of commercial life-here European civilization was planted, and here existed European social refinement and elegance, luxury and taste, a century before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth rock, or the Cavaliers established a home on the banks of the James River, or ere the primeval forests and Indian camp-fires had disappeared from the sites of the future New York and Boston. And yet, the contrast! Though now numbering within its walls not more than eight or nine thonsand inhabitants, as near as one can form an estimate, the city is said to have contained in

its most flourishing days a population of thirty thousand, which it might very well have done.

Among its monuments of the olden time, foremost stands its Cathedral, before mentioned; externally a vast, uncouth pile, without regularity or symmetry of design, but within presenting a beautiful specimen of combined Gothic and Grecian architecture. Its foundations were laid, as an inscription over its choir records, in the year 1514, and the edifice completed in 1540. Within its walls and beside its grand altar the remains of Columbus reposed for many years—from 1536, when they were conveyed to St. Domingo from Spain, as he had requested should be done, and deposited in the new church, until the year 1795, when they were finally removed to the Havana ;* while in one of its niches stands the huge wooden cross which, it is said, was planted in the ground on which the Cathedral stands, when the spot was first chosen for the site of the future city. Besides this, there are several other churches, large and small, in good preservation, together with several monasteries and convents, some in ruins, others standing, though their cloisters and cells are tenantless. Connected with one of the former was in former times the University, an institution of learning in great repute throughout the Spanish West Indies and on the main. Here, too, stands in partial ruin the spacious Jesuit College, within whose walls was placed, it is said, the first machinery of Inquisitorial device for the purposes of conversion or punishment, that was introduced into the New World; while, overlooking the harbor, stand the massive granite and roofless walls of the once strong castle of the viceroy, already mentioned.

Most conspicuous among the ecclesiastical ruins of the city are the monastery of San Francisco, said to have once contained a community of about three hundred monks; and the convent, in better preservation, of Santa Clara, which might well have contained within its extensive enclosures an equal number of nuns. But ruin and desolation sit within their walls; their cloisters and cells have long since

*Irving and local tradition.

been untenanted by the cowled monk and veiled nun; and the stupid jackass and the goat seek food or a shelter from the torrid sun within the precincts once interdicted even to the unhallowed tread or gaze of man. The wild vine creeps unchecked over their dilapidated and timeblackened buttressed walls, on whose broad and crumbling tops rank shrubbery, and in some instances trees of considerable size having taken root, shoot up their emulous branches still higher towards heaven. Rank weeds and grass and bushes overspread their corrals or court-yards, and choke up the openings to their fountains; the unconscious horse makes his stable in their desecrated chapels, while the lizard and other less innocuous reptiles bask in the sunshine on their mouldering, painted ceilings, or sport unmolested over their profaned altars-all, the embodied, inevitable decree which the unerring hand of time sooner or later records upon the monuments of such institutions of man as violate the laws of his social organization. For about a century and a half, the Spanish colony was the only one on the island,* and its settlements were confined to the central and eastern portions. The bucaneers, who were in the habit of making descents upon the north-west side, for the purpose of hunting the cattle that roamed in herds over the plains, at length formed permanent settlements in that quarter, and hence arose the colony at the west end, formed of colonists mostly of French origin.

By the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697,† Spain ceded to France the west end of the island, embracing a third of its entire territory.

Thus there arose, at widely separated intervals of time, two separate and entirely distinct colonies on the island; the older a dependence of Spain, in which the Castilian tongue was the vernacular language, and the other a dependence of France, with the French as the national idiom. And such their respective relations continued to be, down to the period of the memorable revolt, in 1791-2, of the blacks and mixed races in the latter colony. At this period the French colony, now in the last days of its existence as such, had attained a high degree of prosperity, far eclipsing

* Edwards. † Amer. Encyc. Art. “Hayti.”

that of the neighboring Spanish one in the east; which latter, from the fact that many of its gold-seeking inhabitants had at an early period abandoned it for the more promising mines of Mexico, but still more on account of the composition and inherent character of the colonists as a people, had languished for centuries in that feeble state which a general neglect of agriculture and kindred pursuits necessarily produces.

Though African slavery had existed from early times in the Spanish colony, which indeed had been the locality of its first introduction into the New World, the revolt in the west, which finally ended in the entire destruction or expulsion of the white race, did not spread in any material degree among the servile or free-colored classes in the Spanish portion. Less numerous here than in the former colony, and living, it would seem, under a more mild system of treatment, they could not be induced to join them, to any serious extent, in their insurrectionary movements. Hence the relations of the various classes of the inhabitants remained substantially the same they had always been, notwithstanding the sanguinary scenes that were transpiring across the frontier.

Such was the state of the Spanish colony, when, towards the close of the last century, by the treaty of Basle,* Spain ceded to France her colonial possessions in the east, which gave the latter at least the nominal sovereignty of the whole island.

The French possession of the eastern or Spanish portion, after the loss of her own colony in the west, continued until the year 1809,* when the Spanish inhabitants rose upon and expelled the French from the capital, and finally from the territory. This repossession was subsequently, by the peace of Paris, ratified and confirmed in favor of the Spanish crown; and the colony continued thenceforward to be ruled by Spanish governors appointed by the crown, until the latter part of the year 1821, when the inhabitants of the capital rose against the royal authority, deposed and sent home the governor-or permitted him to escape and established a provisional government of their own.

This new order of things was not, however, of long duration. Through the in

* Dominican Revolutionary Manifest.

in regard to the Dominican absentees, | (who were of the white class,) was only so far modified as to allow them the space of three years in which to return, and thus save their estates from confiscation. This act is, however, believed to have contained no provision of indemnity to those whose estates had already been disposed of under the old law.

The high hopes indulged on the accession of Rivière, were, it seems, soon dispelled; and only an opportunity was wanting to induce the inhabitants of the Spanish portion to make an attempt to effect a separation. It should, however, be remarked, that the writer has been assured on the authority of intelligent persons of both parties the favorers and the opponents of the Haytian supremacythat many of the white Spanish inhabitants were opposed to any revolutionary movement. These were found generally among the landed proprietors, who dreaded the effects of commotion, political convulsion, and change. In this class, too, were embraced many of the older and therefore more cautious and prudent citizens. But these were far outnumbered by the advocates of a change, to whom the favorable opportunity, for which they were watching, presented itself just at the close of the year 1843.

Some emergency in the west had withdrawn most of the Haytian forces from the capital and vicinity, of whom there were left but a few hundred within its walls. On a preconcerted night, which had been designated by a Central Junta, composed of disaffected influential citizens, who had in secret organized the revolutionary movement, the inhabitants rose on the garrison, took possession of the posts and stations on the walls and in the streets of the city, and besieging the garrison within the cuartel, compelled it to capitulate on the terms of their being allowed to return to Hayti proper.

members of the first Central Junta. This instrument also provided for a provisional government, or Executive Junta, as it was afterwards called, to consist of eleven members.

On the 1st of March following, this Junta published an address to the resident Haytians, inviting them to remain, and guarantying to them inviolability of person and property on condition of their submitting to the new government, in which case their property was of course confiscated. Though most of them, impelled by fear and distrust, fled to the Haytian territory, in the case of the few who remained, the guaranty thus given has never, we believe, in any instance been violated.

Soon afterwards, on the 16th of January, 1844, a large assembly, composed of citizens of the capital and representatives from other parts, met at the former place, and adopted and published a Manifest, of the nature of a declaration of independence--an instrument which did great credit to the committee that drafted it, and which was, we believe, composed of the

On the 9th of the same month, the same body forwarded an address, accompanied with copies of the Manifest, to the president of Hayti, deprecating any hostile collision on account of their separation, and inviting conciliation and amity; but at the same time declaring their fixed determination, if assailed, to maintain their new position at all hazards and sacrifices.

The Haytian government, however, was not disposed to submit quietly to a separation of a large portion of its territory from the republic; and accordingly sent an army towards the frontier, with the object of invading the territory of the seceding people, and coercing them into submission. These troops were met on the frontiers by the Dominican forces, under Gen. Don Pedro Santana, which the new government had taken the precaution to raise, and advance thither, notwithstanding the conciliatory tone they had adopted; and several engagements were fought during the months of February and March, in which the Dominican arms were signally victorious, though opposed to greatly superior numbers, and the Haytians repulsed from the frontier. Their independence, or the Separation, as they style it, is dated from the 27th of February, 1844.

Still later in the season, on occasion of a small faction, composed of young creole Spaniards of the capital, who were opposed to the Executive Junta, having attempted to proclaim one of their number president, Gen. Santana marched thither with his army, which was com