ART. III.-HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND PRESENT STATE OF HAYTI.

1. Haytian Papers.-A Collection of the very interesting Proclamations and other official Documents; together with some Account of the Rise, Progress, and present State of the Kingdom of Hayti. By Prince Sanders, Esq. Agent for the Haytian Government. 8vo. London.

2. History of the Island of Saint-Domingo, from its first Discovery by Columbus to the present Period. 8vo. London, 1818. 3. Histoire de la Republique d'Haïti ou Saint Domingue, l'Esclavage, et les Colons. Par Civique de Gastine. Svo. Paris,

1819.

4. Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de la Révolution de SaintDomingue. Par le Lieutenant-Général Baron Pamphile de la Croix. 8vo. 2 vols. Paris, 1819.

5. De la Littérature Haïtienne. Par A. Métral. (Revue Encyclopèdique, Tom. I. et III.) 8vo. Paris, 1819.

THE island of Saint Domingo presents an object of interesting contemplation to every observer of the past and present state of the world. The fertility of its soil, which has caused it to be surnamed the queen of the Antilles, the beauty of its scenery, and the general advantages of its situation;-its distinction, as the first spot colonized by Europeans in the western hemisphere;the barbarous extirpation of its original inhabitants by the Spaniards;-the importation of Africans, forcibly dragged from their native shores;-the oppression and cruelties, endured by one generation after another, of these hapless beings;-the signal vengeance, which it pleased Divine Providence to make them, at length, the instrument of inflicting upon their tyrants;and above all, the acquisition of independence, the introduction and progress of civilization, and the establishment of social order and regular government among a people, whom their oppressors had pronounced incapable of these benefits;-all these circumstances, together, invest this island with peculiar interest.

The works placed at the head of this article, collectively, present much valuable information respecting Saint Domingo. The "Haytian State Papers," which are not well translated, contain interesting materials for the revolutionary history of that island. The "History of Saint Domingo" is a well digested compilation, supplying some particulars not comprised in either of the other works. The little volume of M. de Gastine is chiefly valuable for the correspondence between the late President

Pétion and the Commissioners deputed by Louis XVIII. in 1816, to persuade the Haytians to submit to the French government. It further contains some interesting details relative to their early and revolutionary history, written for the most part in a desultory manner, and characterised throughout by a bitter antipathy to the English nation. The "Memoires" of the Baron de la Croix are by far the most valuable work extant on Saint Domingo. Having held a commission as chief of the staff of General Le Clerc's army, and having been employed in all the negociations with Toussaint Louverture and the other black chieftains, this author enjoyed peculiar opportunities of acquiring correct information, of which he appears to have made the best use. We have perused his work with much attention, and regret only that so respectable a writer should go unnecessarily out of his way, (as he sometimes does,) to vilify the English character. The disquisition of M. Métral on the literature of the Haytians is altogether a curious and interesting production, displaying the energy of the human mind under the most disadvantageous cir

cumstances.

When first discovered by Columbus in 1492, this island received the name of Española, or Little Spain, in honour of the country by whose monarch he was employed: but its most common appellation is that of St. Domingo, from its chief city. The country was formerly divided between the Spaniards, who were the original occupiers, and the French. These last, however, having been expelled by the black population, the division of the island, which they formerly occupied, is now known under the names of the kingdom and republic of Hayti, or the mountainous country, which appellation is said to have been given to it by the aboriginal inhabitants.

The island abounds with mountains, and is well watered by several considerable rivers, some of which have been rendered navigable to a considerable distance from their mouths. In general, the climate has the character of being very unhealthy, and has certainly been fatal to Europeans on their first settlement there. The heat is excessive in the low lands, and on the plains; but on the more elevated parts its temperature is said to be nearly the same as that of France. Saint Domingo is, in general, very fertile, producing abundance of maize, fruits of every kind, both European and American, sugar, cotton, indigo, and cochineal. Besides the gold and silver mines which it possesses, there have also been discovered mines of iron, talc, rock-crystal, antimony, sulphur, and coals; together with valuable quarries of marble and stone.

Like the rest of the Antilles, Saint Domingo is subject to terrible hurricanes, which, in a few hours, destroy the brightest

hopes of the cultivator: but since the earthquakes of 1751 and 1770, which caused such desolation in the island, especially in the Spanish part, this scourge has not often appeared.

Before the revolution, Saint Domingo could boast of a great number of opulent and well-built towns: but, they have suffered greatly from the troubles which have agitated the island; and many of them have been entirely destroyed. The principal towns are: in the French part, the town and port of Cape François, which is extensive and well situated for commerce; the town and port of Cape Saint Nicholas; Saint Marc, situated at the bottom of a bay of that name, in a fertile district; and Port-au-Prince, which, being at the bottom of an immense bay or gulf, has a safe and commodious harbour, and a road from seven to eight fathoms deep at low water. Léogane is a tolerably pretty town, situated in a lovely plain abounding with every necessary of life, and also having a good port, which is defended by a fortress commanding the coast: and Les Cayes, which stands on the shore, has likewise a good port and a road, which is stated to be ten fathoms deep at low water.

The most considerable towns, on the Spanish side, are Santo Domingo, the capital, which is large, and well peopled, and is the residence of the Spanish governor; and El Cotuy, a small town, situated about eight or ten leagues from the mouth of the river Yuma.

In the interior are the towns of Saint Jago de los Cavarellos, and Saint Juan de Magnana. The principal bay on this part of the island is that of Samana: it is surrounded on every side by a fertile country, suited to all the purposes of trade; and within its compass whole fleets might ride at anchor in perfect security.

The Spaniards, who, in little more than half a century, had contrived to extirpate the meek and inoffensive aborigines of Saint Domingo, retained the undisputed possession of the island till nearly the middle of the sixteenth century, at which period the island of Saint Christopher was taken possession of by a mixed colony of French and English settlers. But this establishment exciting the jealousy of the Spaniards, it was attacked by a Spanish armament, and the colonists were expelled with circumstances of outrageous barbarity. Driven from that island by a force which they could not resist, as the only alternative of escaping from slaughter or slavery, they fled in open boats with 'their families, and settled in the small and unoccupied island of Tortuga. Here, being joined by a number of Dutch emigrants, who had been driven by the Spaniards from Santa Cruz with similar cruelty, these adventurers found a refuge, and in process of time became formidable, under the name of Buccaneers. length they obtained a firm footing in Saint Domingo, where

At

they were previously in the habit of making predatory incursions; and by the treaty of peace, concluded at Ryswick in 1697, that part of the island which they had hitherto occupied was ceded to the King of France, who acknowledged these_colonists as his subjects. From that time, until 1722, the colony languished under the injudicious and oppressive restraints of the mother-country: but these being removed, it gradually rose to the highest pitch of prosperity. Cultivation was rapidly extended; the towns abounded in warehouses, which were filled with the richest commodities and productions of Europe; and the harbours were crowded with shipping. In the year 1789, the total value of the exported produce of Saint Domingo was upwards of five millions sterling. The population amounted to 500,000 slaves, 24,000 people of colour, and about 30,000 whites. The latter were the favoured class, while the free people of colour were not only deprived of all offices and professions, but also subjected to a variety of oppressive services; and the slaves (as in other West Indian islands) were the absolute property of their respective owners, to whom they were naturally hostile. There were indeed some colonists who behaved with kindness towards their slaves, and in return were beloved by them: but by far the greater part treated them like beasts of the field, who lived but for their pleasure and profit. To prevent the barbarities which had been inflicted on the slave population at the commencement of the French colony of Saint Domingo, a Code Noir, or system of regulations for the treatment of negroes, had been established; by which (among other provisions) the proprietors of them were prohibited from mutilating them, and putting them to death, and were allowed only to inflict gentle punishments, such as putting fetters on them, or whipping them with rods, for any fault. But this code was soon violated, or evaded, with impunity; so that, in fact, it afforded only a slight amelioration in the condition of the slaves. M. de Gastine has detailed many of the refined cruelties thus wantonly committed on these unhappy beings, with which we shall not pollute our pages, or harrow up the feelings of our readers.

Such was the state of the French colony in Saint Domingo at the time when the memorable revolution broke forth in the mother country, which produced similar scenes of cruelty and bloodshed in that island. As soon as the inhabitants were informed of the events that had taken place in France in 1789, they immediately began to be desirous of sharing in the benefits which were anticipated from the revolution. And when the white people learned that the French nation had assumed, in effect, almost the whole of that authority which had formerly been exercised by the crown, they became impatient of a government, in which the

whole power,-even that of enacting laws,-was vested in the governor-general and the intendant of the island. When the people of colour were told, that it had been declared by a solemn decree that all men were born equal, and were therefore entitled to equal rights, they disdained patiently to submit any longer to a disparity of privileges, and to deprivations which reduced them to a condition little preferable to that of slaves: and the negroes heard, with avidity, the sentiments and exhortations of those, who told them that a difference of colour was not intended by nature to be accompanied with a difference of condition; that no reason could possibly be adduced why liberty should be enjoyed by one person, and slavery be inflicted on another; that they were an injured race, and that they ought to avail themselves of the superiority of their numbers to obtain redress.

The convocation of the States General in France was the sig nal in the colony for convening provincial meetings, to which were added parochial committees, formed to maintain more immediate communications. The members of these meetings often differed among themselves on many important questions, though all concurred in the necessity of a full and speedy colonial representation; but they determined, that, if the king should not send out instructions for such an assembly within three months, the colony should adopt its own measures. During this period the mulattoes, aware of the favourable opinion of the French nation towards them, and incited by their brethren at Paris (where a deputation of them had arrived), determined instantly to claim an entire emancipation from 'bondage, and an equal participation with the whites in all political and civil privileges. Several concessions indeed were made by the colonial assemblies; but they fell far short of the demands of the mulattoes, large bodies of whom, being incensed at the disappointment, appeared in arms, but were easily overpowered; and some of them, who had the temerity to vindicate their claims in writing, paid the forfeit of their boldness by their lives.

About the same time M. Ferrand de Baudières, seneschal or bailiff of Petit-Goave, was put to death by the whites, and his head carried in triumph at the end of a pike, for having drawn up a petition expressed in the most temperate language, in which the free blacks demanded, not an equality of rights, but merely some amelioration of their condition, and the privilege of sending one deputy to the provincial assembly. The assembly, which was held in the western part of the colony, would not admit men of colour to take the civic oath, unless they added to it a promise of respect towards the whites. Great numbers of them, who had the courage to refuse this, were arrested by the troops sta

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