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 CHAPTER XXI

The Presidency was being eagerly disputed by two candidates: General Seide Thélémaque, late Commandant of the arrondissement of Cap-Haitien, and ex-Senator F. D. Légitime, who had been Secretary of Agriculture. The elections were hotly contested; and on the 17th of September, 1888, all the constituents had been elected. Theirs was the duty of choosing a new President for the Republic, and the majority of them seemed to have been in favor of Légitime. On the night of September 28 an unfortunate clash occurred at Port-au-Prince between the partisans of the two candidates. General Seide Thélémaque went among his soldiers, endeavoring to quell the disturbance, when in the darkness he was hit in the abdomen by a stray bullet and died a few hours after. This sad accident provoked very grave consequences. The Departments of the North, the Northwest, and the Artibonite held Légitime responsible for the death of his rival and demanded the withdrawal of his candidacy. The Western and Southern Departments, however, espoused the cause of Légitime, who they knew was incapable of participating in a crime, if indeed crime there were; and strongly resented the attempt to cast the odium of Thélémaque's death on him. The protestants, as the followers of the 243