Hayti; or, The black republic.

by Sir Spenser St. John

I remember, on my arrival in Port-au-Prince in 1863, having a conversation with a young mulatto lady, no longer in the freshness of youth, on the subject of intermarriage; and having faintly indicated that I thought she had been unwise in refusing the hand of one of the best-mannered, best-educated, and richest blacks in the country, I received a reply which completely surprised me, “Sir, you insult me to imagine I would marry a black. No, I will never marry any one but a white.” I soothed her as well as I could, but on looking at her faded charms, her unhealthy-looking skin, and her heavy under-jaw, I thought with reason that she might wait long; and, poor girl, she waited in vain till death released her.

This contempt of the black is felt by nearly every coloured girl, and is bitterly resented. I have seen young mulatto women refusing to dance with blacks at a ball, and the latter, in fury, threatening to call out the father or brother of the offending beauty. Yet what can be more absurd than such a pretension or prejudice, when, but two generations removed, their mothers were African slaves! I have heard coloured women talking about their families and their aristocratic connections, when I have known that in a back-room, slowly fading away, was some black “mamselle,” the grandmother of the proud beauties.

The blacks naturally feel and resent this childish insolence, and when they get the upper hand, as in the time of Soulouque and since, they unfortunately quench in blood their outraged feelings.

Towards the white man, whatever jealousy he may feel on account of former political questions, the black is usually both respectful and cordial, and in return is liked by them. I heard a black magistrate say, “My father came from Africa. He was apparently a respectable man in the kingdom of Congo, because he was not only treated with distinction by his countrymen on board the slaver, but on landing was taken into confidence by a white planter, who ultimately made him his partner. That is the history of my family.” Certainly as respectable as any other in Hayti.

Notwithstanding all the interested denials of the mulattoes, there is no doubt but that the lower-class negro, in particular, respects the white man as a superior being, and therefore respects his religion as superior to his own; but, as I shall show in my chapter on the Vaudoux, although he follows the white man’s religion to a certain extent, he does not in consequence forsake his serpent-worship, which appeals to his traditions, to the Africa of his nursery tales, and, above all, to his pleasures and his passions. The Vaudoux priest encourages lascivious dancing, copious drinking, and the indiscriminate intercourse of the sexes, but he at the same time inculcates the burning of candles in the Roman Catholic churches. He keeps a serpent in a box in his temple, whilst the walls are covered with the pictures of the Virgin Mary and the saints. No other brain but that of a negro could accept such a juxtaposition of opposing beliefs.

Occasionally a negro will say to a white in an insolent manner, “Nous sommes tous égaux içi;” but he does not believe it, and shows he does not believe it by soon sneaking away with his invariable oath, “F——.” The crowd may grunt acquiescence, and though they may appear amused by the fellow’s insolence, they are still more amused by his slinking off. Burton, speaking of the people on the coast of Africa, says that a negro will obey a white man more readily than a mulatto, and a mulatto more so than one of his own colour.

Among the black gentlemen you find some of polished manners and cultivated minds, as my friend Alexander Delva and the late M. Paul, or a genial companion like Lubin, the son-in-law of the late Emperor Soulouque. Yet, notwithstanding these exceptions, and the more remarkable ones I have noticed in my historical chapter, there can be no doubt that the blacks have not yet arrived at that state of civilisation which would enable one to compare them favourably with any other civilised race, or to say that they are competent to govern a country.

During the reign of Soulouque, Chancellor Delva and General Salomon were considered great statesmen, but between them they managed to exhaust the country, and no monument remains of their rule. But when an example is required of a man who applies his official position to his own benefit, it is said, “He will become as rich as Chancellor Delva.”

Another negro who was expected by his own party to show himself a great statesman was Septimus Rameau, of Les Cayes. When, however, he obtained unlimited power under his doting uncle, President Domingue, he proved himself a mere visionary, incapable of a single sensible measure, and turning every project into a fresh means of plundering the State. Whilst the people were sinking daily into greater poverty, and the public service was starved for want of funds, he ordered an expensive Pantheon to be constructed, in which should be erected statues to Hayti’s famous men; and for fear posterity should be oblivious of his own merits, he ordered a statue of himself, which, however, was never erected, as before it arrived he had, by a violent death, paid the penalty of his crimes.

During my twelve years’ residence in Hayti, no black statesman appeared who was capable of managing with credit any important official position, with the exception of General Lamothe, a talented and agreeable man; but I fear that the charity which begins at home so predominated in him, that the interests of his country were sometimes forgotten.