CHAPTER XXIII.

SOULOUQUE AS EMPEROR OF HAYTI.

GENERAL RICHE, a griffe, or dark mulatto, was selected to fill the place left vacant by the flight of Boyer; and his ability, together with the universal confidence reposed in him by all classes, seemed to shadow forth a prosperous era for the republic. He had, however, done little more than enter upon his arduous duties, when he was carried off by a sudden malady, universally regretted by the entire population.

The Senate, whose duty it was to elect the president, gave a majority of their votes for Faustin Soulouque, on the first of March, 1847, and he was inaugurated into the position the same day.

Soulouque was a tall, good-natured, full-blooded negro, who, from the year 1804, when he was houseservant for General Lamarre, had passed through all the events of his country without leaving any trace of himself, whether good or bad. With no education, no

ability, save that he was a great

eater, he was the last

man in the republic that would have been thought of for any office, except the one he filled.

True, in 1810, while his master, General Lamarre,

was defending the Mole against Christophe, the former was killed, and Soulouque was charged to carry the general's heart to Pétion, who made the servant a lieutenant in his mounted guard; and on Pétion's death, he bequeathed him to Boyer, as a piece of furniture belonging to the presidential palace. Boyer made Soulouque first servant, under the title of "captain," to his housekeeper. Here he grew fat, and was forgotten till 1843, when the revolution brought him into note. After serving a short time as president, his vanity induced Soulouque to aspire to be emperor, and that title was conferred upon him in the year 1849. In this silly step he took for his model Napoleon Bonaparte, according to whose court and camp Soulouque formed his own.

But the people of Hayti soon saw the sad mistake in the election of such a man to power, and his change of base aroused a secret feeling against the empire, which resulted in its overthrow, in 1859.

CHAPTER XXIV.

GEFFRARD AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI.

FABRE GEFFRARD was born at Cayes September 19, 1806. His father was General Nicholas Geffrard, one of the founders of Haytian independence. He became a soldier at the early age of fifteen, and after serving in the ranks, passed rapidly through several grades of promotion, until he obtained a captaincy. In 1843, when General Herard took up arms against President Boyer, he choose Geffrard for his lieutenant, who, by his skill and bravery, contributed largely to the success of the revolutionary army. As a reward for his valuable services, he received from the new government the brevet rank of general of brigade, and was commandant of Jacmel, and in 1845 he was named general of division. In 1849 he was appointed by Soulouque to take command of his Haytian army sent against the Dominicans, and in 1856 it fell to his lot, by the display of rare military talents, to repair in some measure the disasters attending the invasion of St. Domingo by the Haytian army, led by the emperor himself. Shortly after, Soulouque, moved thereto, doubtless, by jealousy of Geffrard's well-earned fame,

disgraced him; but the emperor paid dearly for this, for in December, 1858, Geffrard declared against him, and in January, 1859, Soulouque was overthrown, with his mock empire, and Geffrard proclaimed President of the Republic, which was restored.

He at once set himself vigorously to work to remedy the numerous evils which had grown up under the administration of his ignorant, narrow-minded, and cruel predecessor, and became exceedingly popular. He established numerous schools in all parts of the Republic, and gave every encouragement to agricultural and industrial enterprise generally. In 1861, he concluded a concordat with the Pope, creating Hayti an Archbishopric. Humane in his disposition, cnlightened and liberal in his views, and a steady friend of progress, his rule, at one time, promised to be a long and prosperous one.

Geffrard was in color a griffe, and was fifty-two years of age when called to the presidency of Hayti. He was of middle height, slim in figure, of a pleasing countenance, sparkling eye, gray hair, limbs supple by bodily exercise, a splendid horseman, and liberal to the arts, even to extravagance. Possessing a polished education, he was gentlemanly in his conversation and manners. Soon after assuming the presidency, he resolved to encourage immigration, and issued an address to the colored Americans, which in point of sympathy and patriotic feeling for his race, has never been surpassed by any man living or dead.

It may be set down as a truism, that slavery, proscription, and oppression are poor schools in which to train independent, self-respecting freemen. Individuals so trained are apt to have all their aspirations,

aims, ends, and objects in life on a level with the low, grovelling, and servile plane of a slavish and dependent mind; or if by chance that mind has grown restless under its fetters, and sighs for enfranchisement and liberty, it is apt to rush to the other extreme in its desires, and is led to covet those positions for which it has no proper qualifications whatever. The bent of the slavery-disciplined mind is either too low or too high. It cannot remain in equilibrium. It either cringes with all the dastard servility of the slave, or assumes the lordly airs of a cruel and imperious despot.

These things, therefore, being true of the victims of abject servitude, we have herein the key to the failure of the colored emigration to Hayti.

At the invitation of President Geffrard, in 1861, some of the colored citizens of the United States did accept the invitation and went out; but it would have been better for them and for Hayti had they remained at home. The majority of the emigrants ventured on the voyage to Hayti, because a free passage was given them by Geffrard; and the offer of the Haytian government to supply the emigrants with provisions until they could raise a crop, was a bait which these idlers could not withstand.

Men who had been failures in their own country, could scarcely be expected to meet with success by merely a trip across the sea.

What Hayti needed were men with stout hearts and hard hands, fitted for an agricultural life, determined upon developing the resources of the country. Men of the above type are to be found in our land, but