HAYTL 



655 



Into thirty three arrondissements. The population, 

 in 1824, was 953,335, almost all blacks mul mulat- 

 toes, the greater part of which is in tiie French 

 division of the island. In 1789, the population was 

 665,000. The regular troops, in 1824, were 40,000 ; 

 the militia, 113,000. The language of the govern- 

 ment, and of the greatest part of the population, is 

 French. The Spanisli is also spoken in the eastern 

 portion of the island. Much has been done for 

 public instruction. There is hardly a considerable 

 village without a school, and a college has been 

 established at Cape Haytien, where a liberal course 

 of instruction is pursued. The manners of the lower 

 classes are much improved since they liave gained 

 their freedom, and they have an air of comfort, 

 health, and happiness. The Catholic is the religion 

 of the state, but all sects are tolerated. The com- 

 merce of Hayti has been affected, of course, by the 

 vicissitudes of its government. In 1789, the island 

 was in a most flourishing condition, but its commerce 

 and industry were interrupted by the bloody wars 

 and revolutions which succeeded, and have only of 

 late begun to revive. The exports were, in 



1791, 1804, 



Coffee, 68,151,180 Ibs. 3I.OUO.POO Ih.s. 



Sugar, 163,405,2.0 47,6011,000 



1822, 1824, 



Coffee, 35,ll7.834lhs. 37,700,000 lb. 



Sugar, 652,541 725,1)00 



Estimated value, in 1822, 9,030,397, dollars; in 

 1825, about 8,000,000. The revenue, in 1825, was 

 about 4,000,000 dollars, which fell short of the ex- 

 penditures. The government of Hayti is republican. 

 The chief magistrate is the president, who is elected 

 for life by the senate. He exercises the executive 

 power, commands the forces of the republic, and 

 nominates all officers. The legislative power is 

 vested in a senate and house of representatives. 

 The latter are chosen for five years, and consist of 

 one representative from each commune and two from 

 each capital city. The senate is composed of 

 twenty-four members, chosen for nine years by the 

 representatives, from a list presented by the presi- 

 dent. A code, based on the French, has been 

 adopted, and trial by jury introduced. See Present 

 State of Hayti, by J. Franklin, 1828; Notes on 

 Hayti, by Charles Mackenzie, late English Consul- 

 General to that Island, London, 1830. 



The island of Hispaniola is memorable for having 

 been the seat of the first European settlement in 

 America, and the scene of the first independenl 

 empire founded by African slaves. It was dis- 

 covered by Columbus, on the Cth of December 

 1492, on his return from Cuba. It had borne tin 

 name of Hayti among the natives. Columbui 

 called it Espanola, or Little Spain, and it has sinc< 

 acquired the name of St Domingo, from the chie 

 town. The impression made on Columbus, by th 

 beauty of the country, determined him to form a 

 settlement here ; and he accordingly left thirty 

 eight Spaniards at the bay of St Nicholas 

 These were the first colonists of America. On hi 

 return, in November, 1493, he founded a secom 

 town on the northern coast, which he called Isabella 

 the first settlement having been nearly destroyer 

 by the natives. The licentiousness and avarice o 

 the new settlers again provoked the Indians t 

 attempt revenge ; but these miserable beings weri 

 overpowered by European skill, and great number 

 perished by famine and the sword. In 1496, Colum 

 bus returned to Spain, leaving his brother Bartholo 

 mew lieutenant-governor, who soon afterward 

 removed the colony to the south side of the islant 

 where he founded the city of St Domingo. The colo 

 nists were distributed in different districts, and 

 certain number of natives were appointed to cultivat 



ach allotment. This unhappy race dwindled awav 

 ast, under disease and a species of labour to which 

 ley were unaccustomed. See Irving's Columbia. 

 heir numbers were so much reduced about the year 

 513, that Ovando, to supply labourers, decoyed 

 0,000 of the inhabitants of the Bahamas into St 

 Domingo ; and, notwithstanding this accession, it is 

 aid, that towards the middle of that century, scarcely 

 50 Indians remained alive. The colonists, in the 

 mean time, degenerated from the spirit and enter- 

 rise of their ancestors. Their mines were deserted, 

 nd their agriculture neglected ; and, although 

 Ovando had introduced the sugar-cane from the 

 Canary islands, yet, such was the indolence of the hv 

 labitants, that they could not be persuaded to culti- 

 ate it. In this state of things, the island remained 

 or upwards of a century. About the middle of the 

 eventeenth century, the French and English bucca- 

 icers (q. v.) began to attract notice. The French 

 btained a footing on the west end of the island about 

 he same time that the English got possession of 

 Jamaica. The former applied themselves to agricul- 

 ure, and, in a few years, attracted the attention of 

 he French government. Several slaves having been 

 aken from the English, in the war of 1688, the 

 nhabitants renewed the culture of the sugar-cane. 

 ? rom the year 1722, when the French colony was 

 >eed from the yoke of exclusive trading companies, 

 t rapidly rose in prosperity, while the Spanish settle- 

 ments had declined in population. It was not until 

 1675, when Charles II. opened a free trade to all the 

 Windward islands, that Hispaniola began to exhibit 

 symptoms of prosperity. In 1691, Spain had ceded 

 .0 France, by the treaty of Ryswick, the western half 

 of the island. In 1776, a new line of demarcation 

 was drawn, and a liberal commerce was opened 

 jetween the two sections. From 1776, to 1789, the 

 French colony was at the height of its prosperity. 

 Its productions were immense and valuable, and its 

 commerce in the most flourishing state. In 1791, an 

 insurrection of the negroes broke out in the French 

 colony. In two months, upwards of 2000 whites 

 perished, and large districts of fertile plantations 

 were devastated. In 1792, the national assembly 

 proclaimed the political equality of the free negroes 

 and the whites, and, in the succeeding year, appointed 

 three commissioners, who, on their arrival, proclaim- 

 ed the emancipation of the slaves. June 21, 1793, 

 Macaya, a negro chief, entered Cape Frangois, at the 

 head of 3000 slaves, and began an indiscriminate 

 slaughter. The British government, hoping to take 

 advantage of the confusion, sent a body of troops from 

 Jamaica, who captured Leogane and Port-au-prince. 

 The yellow fever, however, breaking out, reduced 

 their numbers rapidly ; and the blacks, headed by 

 Rigaud, a mulatto, and the celebrated Toussaint 

 Louverture, who had been appointed, by the French 

 government, commander-in-chief, retook the princi- 

 pal places. The British, after an enormous loss of 

 men, finally evacuated the island, in 1798. Previously 

 to this, Spain had ceded to France the eastern part 

 of the island. July 1, 1801, the independence of 

 Hayti was proclaimed. Under the administration 

 of Bonaparte, then first consul, a force of 20,000 

 men, under general Le Clere, was despatched in 

 December, 1801. During a truce, Toussaint was 

 surprised and carried to France, and there died in 

 April, 1S02. Hostilities were now resumed with 

 greater animosity on each side. The command of 

 the black troops devolved upon Dessalines, one of 

 the chiefs, who prosecuted the war with vigour and 

 success. The yellow fever aided the cause of the 

 negroes, and swept off great numbers of the French. 

 General Le Clerc died shortly afterwards. Under 

 his successor, Rochambeau, the French, now reduced 



