CHRISTOPHE. 



223 



lebrates this feast, as do the great Ixxly of European 

 Protestants. In the United States, it is little regard- 

 ed, except by the Episcopalians. The custom of 

 making presents on Christmas-eve, is derived from 

 an old heathen usage, practised at the feast of the 

 birth of Sol, or, in (jermany, on the occasion of some 

 feast peculiar to that country (at least the Ruprecht 

 seems to have had such an origin) ; but it has be- 

 come consecrated by ages, and contributes a great 

 deal to make this festival an interesting event to fa- 

 milies. In the north of Germany, this custom pre- 

 vails most, pervading all the classes and relations of 

 society. In German churches, sermons are delivered 

 on Christmas-eve for the benefit of children, who at- 

 tend, carrying each a little taper. In the Catholic 

 church, the officium pastorum is sung, in which a 

 chorus of children respond to the priest. 



CHRISTOPHE, Henri, king of Hayti, was born 

 Oct. 6, 1767, in the island of Grenada, as stated by 

 some, but, as others say, in that of St Christopher. 

 According to the latter account, he was carried to St 

 Domingo, at the age of twelve, sold as a slave, and 

 employed by his new master in the business of a 

 cook, which calling he exercised at the Cape. Others 

 relate that, after having served in the American war, 

 and received a wound at the siege of Savannah, he 

 went to St Domingo, and was employed on the plan- 

 tation of Limonade, in the capacity of an overseer, 

 wherein he displayed his characteristic severity. From 

 tfie commencement of the troubles among the blacks, 

 he took a decided part in favour of independence, 

 and signalized himself by his energy, boldness and ac- 

 tivity, in many bloody engagements. Toussaint-Lou- 

 verture, the acknowledged chief of the blacks, at 

 length gave him the commission of brigadier-general, 

 ana employed him to suppress an insurrection head- 

 ed by his nephew Moyse. This object was speedily 

 accomplished by Christophe, who made himself mas- 

 ter of the person of Moyse, and succeeded him as 

 povernor of the province of the North. The execu- 

 tion of Moyse excited new troubles at the Cape, 

 which the activity and intrepidity of Christophe com- 

 pletely suppressed. He commanded there in 1802, 

 when Leclerc arrived with a French army, destined 

 for the subjugation of the Negroes. Most of them, 

 deceived by the promises of Leclerc, at first gave 

 way to his designs ; but Dessalines and Christophe 

 resisted from the beginning, and were declared out- 

 laws. Christophe was compelled to make his peace, 

 but resumed arms again upon the perfidious seizure 

 of the person of Toussaint. The climate aided the 

 heroic efforts of Dessalines and Christophe, and, at the 

 close of 1805, there was no longer a French force in 

 Hayti, for so the island was now denominated by the 

 insurgent chiefs. During the short-lived government 

 of Dessalines, Christophe was general-in-chief of the 

 Haytian army ; and, being the senior officer, and 

 most distinguished among the blacks, possessed, of 

 course, powerful claims to succeed him in authority. 

 But the popularity of Petion hi the South balanced 

 that of Christophe in the North. In February, 

 1807, an assembly convened at the Cape appointed 

 Christophe president for life of the state of Hayti ; 

 and, about the same time, a republic was organized at 

 Port-au-Prince, with Petion at its head. A civil war 

 between the two chiefs ensued, but did not prevent 

 Christophe from taking judicious measures to establish 

 public order in the territory which he governed. He 

 organized the administration, the tribunals, the ma- 

 rine, and the army, made suitable regulations for the 

 encouragement of agriculture, commerce, and other 

 branches of industry among his people, and, by his 

 energy, attained the most flattering results. His 

 military force was placed on a respectable footing, 

 and his finances were brought into a flourishing 



condition. He constructed fortifications, and was 

 enabled to set the French at defiance. Following 

 the example of Napoleon, whom he imitated, he 

 abolished the republican forms, March 28, 1811, and 

 was proclaimed king of Hayti, by the name of Henri 

 I. The dignity and title were made hereditary hi 

 liis family ; a hereditary nobility was created, to give 

 lustre and strength to the new institutions, witll an 

 appropriate order of knighthood ; and, to complete 

 the imitation of feudal sovereignties, he was solemnly 

 crowned at the Cape, June 2, J812, with the cere- 

 monies customary in Europe. He also sought to 

 perpetuate his name by the compilation of the Code 

 Henri a digest founded upon the Code Napoleon, 

 but not servilely copied. On the contrary, it was 

 judiciously adapted to the situation of Hayti. In 

 1813, some cases of defection occurred among his 

 subjects, which tended to exasperate the violent and 

 suspicious temper of Christophe, and prompted him 

 to impolitic acts of-cruelty. In 1814, he and Petion 

 suspended hostilities, not by a formal agreement, but, 

 as it were, by tacit consent. For several years in 

 succession, after this, the efforts of the French to re- 

 gain their authority in the island gave a new turn to 

 the policy of Christophe's government. He constant- 

 ly refused to hear any proposition from the ex-colo- 

 nists, short of an acknowledgment of the unqualified 

 independence of the island ; and he adopted the most 

 decided measures to counteract the attempts made by 

 France. Beside his military preparations for defence 

 against aggression, he multiplied, through the agency 

 of the press, writings calculated to render the views 

 of the ex-colonists odious, and to maintain the spirit 

 of independence among the emancipated blacks. To 

 further the same object, he conceived, and, at one 

 period, seriously set about effecting, the plan of sub- 

 stituting the English language hi the island hi place 

 of the French ; his intercourse with the English and 

 American merchants having communicated to him a 

 partiality for their language. This project entered 

 into a system of general education, which he devised 

 for the Haytians. Things continued to proceed in 

 this way until the death of Petion, in 1818, and the 

 accession of Boyer. Discontents had increased, 

 meanwhile, among the subjects of Christophe, who 

 contrasted the mild and easy rule of Boyer with the 

 iron despotism under which they groaned ; and the 

 army itself was ripe for a change. Insurrection be- 

 gan among the garrison of St Marc, which mutinied 

 in a body, killed the governor of the town, and sent 

 a deputation to Boyer, signifying their desire to join 

 the republic. Boyer hastily assembled a force of 

 15,000 men, and marched to the support of the in- 

 surgent garrison. At this time, Christophe was con- 

 fined, by illness, in his fortified palace of Sans Souci, 

 where he commonly resided. The insurrection soon 

 spread to the Cape, where Richard, due de Marma- 

 lade, and one of the first dignitaries of the kingdom 

 proclaimed the abolition ofroyalty at the head of the 

 troops. The elite of Christophe's army, composing 

 his guard of about 1500 men, continued faithful to 

 him for a while, but, when marched up to oppose the 

 insurgents from the Cape, joined with the latter in de- 

 manding the deposition of Christophe. Perceiving his 

 case to be desperate, and resolved not to gratify the in- 

 surgents by becoming their prisoner, Christophe shot 

 himself with a pistol, October 8, 1820. His corpse 

 remained exposed several days on the highway, and 

 his eldest son was massacred ; but Boyer protected 

 his widow and daughters from injury, and enabled 

 them to retire to Europe in the possession of a com- 

 petent fortune. A large treasure was found in fort 

 Henri, which Christophe had amassed from the cus- 

 toms on merchandise. Hi? palace was dismantled by 

 the populace, who seemed to take pleasure in de- 



