Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/338

 302 enemy of France, could not lose sight of the fact that her subjects in Jamaica and other islands of the West Indies were slave-owners; consequently this new State which, by abolishing slavery, had assumed the part of champion of human dignity, did not enjoy her favor. The noble and unceasing efforts of Clarkson, Wilberforce, Fox, Benton, Brougham, Pitt, and Macaulay succeeded in deciding Parliament in 1833 to abolish slavery, a condition so entirely opposed to the liberal principles of the English people. The emancipation of slaves did away with England's chief cause of distrust against Haiti; nevertheless, there are up to the present time Englishmen One of these Englishmen, Sir Spenser St. John, could not help giving vent to his annoyance at the failure of the British in Saint-Domingue, especially at the loss of the Môle Saint-Nicolas (Haiti or the Black Republic, p. 58). In order to vindicate the defeat of his fellow-countrymen, he endeavors to produce the impression (p. 54) that the invading army numbered but few Englishmen, consisting for the most part of colored hirelings. In spite of this statement he says at page 57 that "The English became convinced that it was useless to attempt to conquer the island, and that their losses from sickness were enormous," adding in the foot note of page 58 that "it is humiliating to read of the stupidity of the chiefs at Port-au-Prince, who made the soldiers work at fortifications during the day and do duty at night; no wonder that we find a regiment of 600 strong losing 400 in two months, and the Eighty-second landing 950 men to be reduced in six weeks to 350."

The mention of the enormous losses from sickness leads to the belief that the English were numerous at Saint-Domingue, and that the army which Toussaint Louverture and Rigaud were successfully combatting did not consist solely of colored hirelings. Nobody thinks of questioning the courage and gallantry of the British soldiers; but Sir Spenser St. John was unwilling to make known the true cause of the failure of the English in Saint-Domingue without bringing into prominence the bravery of the soldiers of Toussaint Louverture and Rigaud; this cause being the intention of the English of re-establishing slavery. He hinted at this on page 46, but took care immediately to explain that sickness and treachery were the compelling motives in their evacuation of Saint-Domingue. Sir Spenser St. John, whose book is quite a bill of indictment against Haiti, seems unable to be impartial in his appreciation of the colored inhabitants of this country, even whilst they were yet under the French domination. who cannot forgive the Haitians for having kept for themselves an island which, in their opinion, ought to be numbered among the British possessions.

The Spaniards likewise could not be expected to be