Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/374

338 When all is considered, especially the fact that the existence of Haiti as a nation dates back only one century, one is brought to the conclusion that this country has been no more disturbed nor agitated than France for instance; her changes of government have at any rate not been more numerous. France has had in succession the rule of the Directory, the Consulate, the Empire, the Monarchy of the Bourbons, the Empire and the Monarchy of the Bourbons for the second time, the Constitutional Monarchy of the Orleans, the Republic, the Empire, and eventually the Republic. From 1800 to 1900 France was under the administration of about eighteen different rulers, just the number of rulers that Haiti has had from 1804 to 1900. Forced to fly from France, four sovereigns, Napoleon I, Charles X, Louis-Philippe, and Napoleon III died in exile; and of the seven Presidents who from 1870 to 1900 ruled the Republic, one, Carnot, was assassinated, and four others, Thiers, McMahon, Grévy, and Casimir-Perrier, resigned before the expiration of their term of office.

I am merely stating facts without drawing any comparisons, my sole aim being to prove that Haiti is no exception to the general rule, and that what has taken place in her case has been the same in the case of other nations. Neither have some of her rulers escaped the fate of some of the French monarchs; but it is untrue to say that all of the Presidents have been compelled to seek safety abroad. Out of nineteen she has had in the course of a century five of them—Boyer, Hérard, Geffrard, Domingue, and Salomon—died away from their country; eight others—Pétion, Guerrier, Pierrot, Riché, Soulouque, Saget, Hyppolite, and Boisrond Canal—passed peacefully away in Haiti. One ex-President, Légitime, is still living in Port-au-Prince, where he is surrounded by the esteem and respect of his fellow-citizens.

Two rulers, Dessalines and Salnave, were put to death. This event, although much to be deplored, is not peculiar to Haiti. Other nations have also rightly or wrongly found themselves under the necessity of