CHAPTER XIX.

Depopulation of St. Domingo.-Settlement of Tortuga.-Establishment of the French in St. Domingo.-Effect of the French revolution on the island.-The mulattoes petition for political privileges.-Enfranchisement of the colored popu lation.-Vincent Ogé attempts a revolt.-General insurrection of the slaves.Massacre of the inhabitants.-Landing of the British.-Arrival of a French army.-Toussaint L'Ouverture.-Expedition of Le Clerc.-Destruction of his army.-Independence of Hayti.-Reign of Dessalines.-Christophe.-Petion.Civil war.-Christophe crowned king.-His reign and overthrow.-Union of all parts of the island under President Boyer.

THE Spaniards having, in about half a century, exterminated the whole native population of St. Domingo, estimated at more than two millions, remained the sole masters of this beautiful island. The gold mines being exhausted, the whole territory became little better than an abandoned waste, and they remained the undisputed and useless possessors of this fertile soil, till 1630, when some English and French, who had been driven out of St. Christopher's, took refuge there and established themselves on the northern coast. The little island of Tortuga, two leagues from the shore, offered them a secure retreat. issued to hunt wild animals in St. Domingo, and sold their hides From this spot they

to the Dutch. The culture of tobacco increased their means of subsistence, and the colony received great augmentations from various quarters. Out of this establishment grew the celebrated band of freebooters, whose history we have just related.

This settlement alarmed the court of Madrid, and they gave orders for its destruction. The commander entrusted with this commission, took the opportunity when the Tortugans were mostly abroad, hunting and fishing, and hanged or put to the sword all he found in the island. The others stood upon their defence, and, placing at their head an Englishman named Willis, retook the island in 1638, and fortified it strongly. Willis collected recruits of his own nation, and soon found himself strong enough to give law to the whole band. He began to act the tyrant, which disgusted particularly the French portion of his subjects, and they called in their countrymen from St. Christopher's. The English were expelled, and the Tortugans continued to be engaged in hostilities with the Spaniards, who drove them from the island three times successively, but the French as often recovered it. The court of Versailles at length acknowledged this colony, and sent Bertrand D'Ogeron to establish laws and superintend the government. D'Ogeron carried women to Hispaniola, who were sold for wives to the planters. The settlement began to flourish, and was increased by the acquisition of a great number of slaves which the French captured from the Spaniards and English.

The Spanish government, after many ineffectual attempts to expel the French, at length consented to their stay, and at the treaty of Ryswick, in 1691, Spain formally ceded to France the western half of the island. In 1776, a new boundary line was agreed upon, and a liberal commerce opened between the two nations. The French portion of the island far surpassed the Spanish in productiveness and wealth. The former increased rapidly in population and culture, while the latter declined in both; and it was not till the year 1765, that it began to show any symptoms of prosperity. The political convulsions of Europe, however, were destined to exercise a most important influence upon this island.

When the French revolution broke out, the colony of St. Domingo had attained the summit of prosperity. It was the boast of the French that their half of this fertile island was worth ali the remainder of the West Indies. The political enthusiasm of the mother country spread to the colonies, and the revolutionary frenzy seized upon the minds of the more wealthy part of the colonists. In the midst of a population of slaves, who outnumbered the rest of the inhabitants in the proportion of seven to one,

they planted the tree of liberty, deposed the existing authorities, and preached the doctrine of equality and the rights of man. The conduct of the white colonists, however, seemed to create but little sensation among the negroes; but the mulattoes, who were already free, and at least equal in number to the white population, soon set up their claim to an equality of rights for their whole class. A mulatto, by the name of Lacombe, presented a petition to the proper authorities, in which he demanded "all the rights and privileges of man." The petition was voted to be treasonable, and the author sentenced to the gallows. At Petit Goave, a planter was torn in pieces, without trial, for having presented a petition in favor of the people of color, and all who had signed it were banished from the colony.

These violent measures against the mulattoes, who were in general a wealthy and respectable body of men, were followed by a declaration, on the part of a self-constituted general assembly of the whites, "that they would rather die than share their political rights with a spurious and degenerate race." This race, however, had powerful advocates of their own class in France, who, through the means of Brissot, La Fayette and Robespierre, the leading members of the society called "Friends of the Blacks," ultimately procured the decree of the 15th of May, 1791, by which all people of color, resident in the French colonies, born of free parents, were entitled to the full enjoyment of the privileges of French citizens. It was on this occasion that Robespierre uttered that memorable exclamation, which at once put an end to all the hopes and intrigues of the colonial planters resident in Paris," Perish the colonies rather than sacrifice one iota of our principles!" There had been in Paris, the preceding year, a young mulatto, named Vincent Ogé, whose widowed mother held a coffee plantation in St. Domingo. This youth determined by force of arms to cause the rights of his class to be respected. He landed secretly at Cape François, reached his mother's dwelling, and was joined by about three hundred of his own color; but they were soon dispersed or made prisoners. Ogé escaped into the Spanish part of the island, but having been betrayed, was tried, condemned and executed. More than twenty others shared the same fate.

These judicial massacres created the utmost horror among the mulattoes, and, by changing the guilty into martyrs of liberty, separated forever the class of mulattoes from that of the creoles. The revolutionary spirit continued to increase among the whites: the constituted authorities were insulted or overthrown; and at length the slaves began to display symptoms of disorder. In

August, 1791, on the occasion of a fire at a plantation in the north, and an attempt made by a slave, at another place, on the life of the bailiff, all the negroes on these two plantations were seized as criminals and made the victims of creole justice. In a few days, a general insurrection of the slaves broke out; the negroes set fire to the plantations; the whole northern part of the island was in flames and all the whites that fell into the hands of the insurgents were put to death without distinction of sex or age. Those who escaped, fled into the town of Cape François, where a general consternation prevailed. The domestic blacks were locked up; a great fury was excited against the mulattoes, as the supposed instigators of the insurrection, and numbers of innocent men of this class were put to death. The population flew to arms, and all hands were employed in fortifying the town, which the negroes approached in detached parties, carrying fire, pillage and massacre all over the surrounding country. In four days, the whole French part of the island lay in ashes. The fire which they set to the plantations of canes, the sugar-mills, the dwelling-houses and stores, covered the face of heaven during the day with volumes of smoke. In the night the horizon was in a blaze like that of volcanoes, which communicated to every object the glowing tint of blood.

The whites, on the other hand, tortured and massacred all the negroes, whether guilty or innocent, that fell into their hands. After a while they attempted conciliation, but the negroes had become organized under leaders, and refused submission. In this terrible war, blood was poured forth in torrents. Within two months after the revolt began, upwards of two thousand whites, of all ages and conditions, were massacred. One hundred and eighty sugar plantations, and nine hundred coffee, cotton and indigo settlements were destroyed, and twelve hundred Christian families reduced from opulence to such a state of misery as to depend for food and clothing on charity. Of the insurgents upwards of two thousand perished by the sword or famine, and some hundreds by the hand of the executioner. An insurrection followed in the west; all the country for thirty miles round Port au Prince was burnt and laid waste.

Meantime the decree of the 15th of May was repealed by the National Assembly at Paris. When this intelligence reached St. Domingo, the mulattoes, believing themselves betrayed by the whites, flew to arms; the most bloody conflicts ensued. Three commissioners had been sent from France with an armed force to regulate the affairs of the colony and carry into effect the decree of the National Assembly. Their arrival caused the utmost terror

among the whites, from the suspicion of a design to declare a general emancipation of the negro slaves. The commissioners acted in a most arbitrary manner, cashiered three governors, and finally quarrelled among themselves. All was confusion and uproar. Terrified at these scenes, and apprehensive of still more dreadful ones, thousands of persons, of all descriptions, embarked with the wrecks of their fortunes for the United States. Some of the planters repaired to England, and made such representations to the government that an expedition under General Whitelocke was sent from Jamaica to occupy such parts of the island as might be willing to put themselves under British protection. On the 19th September he took possession of Jeremie, and a few days afterward of the port and harbor of St. Nicholas; but the town refused to submit and joined the republican army raised by the three jacobin commissioners. This army consisted of the troops brought from France, the national guards and the militia, amounting to fourteen thousand whites; to which were added a motley band of slaves who had deserted their masters, and negroes from the jails; making altogether a force of twenty-five thousand men. The commissioners, not thinking this army sufficient to repel the attack of the British, proclaimed the total abolition of negro slavery. In consequence of this, upwards of one hundred thousand blacks fled to the mountains and possessed themselves of the natural fortresses of the interior. A desperate band of thirty or forty thousand armed negroes and mulattoes ravaged the whole of the northern districts, more intent on plunder than on opposing the progress of the English, who, after several skirmishes, became masters of the western coast of the island.

On the capture of Port au Prince by the English, the republican commissioners retired towards the mountains, but finding the mulattoes and blacks in possession of the heights, under the mulatto general, Rigaud, and a negro by the name of Toussaint L'Ouver ture, they deemed it necessary to abandon a country which their own rash precipitation had plunged into ruin.

Toussaint L'Ouverture soon became the leader. This man was born a slave, and continued so for nearly fifty years. When the insurrection broke out he refused to join in it, and assisted in procuring his master a passage to the United States. After this, he joined the French forces, and rose by successive steps to the rank of brigadier general. He obtained such influence that all the proceedings of the French commissioners were directed by him. The Directory at Paris became jealous of him, and sent out General Hedouville to observe his conduct and restrain his ambition. Toussaint, however, refused to submit to his management.