Page:The rising son, or, The antecedents and advancement of the colored race (IA risingsonthe00browrich).pdf/228

 soon appeased. At the tidings of Pétion's illness, the Senate had assembled itself in session, and this body conferred power upon the expiring president to nominate his successor; and Pétion, when he foresaw that his death was inevitable, designated for this purpose General Boyer, then commanding the arrondissement of Port au Prince.

The funeral ceremonies of the deceased president took place upon the first of April, and were performed with the most august solemnity. All the great officers of the army were ordered to their posts, and required to maintain a ceaseless vigilance for the preservation of tranquillity. An embargo was laid until the Sunday following upon all vessels in the harbor of Port au Prince, and several detachments of troops were ordered to march towards different points of the frontier. The observance of every precaution which the most anxious solicitude could suggest for the maintenance of internal peace, and the prevention of invasion from abroad, was evidence that Pétion had bequeathed his power to a successor worthy of his choice.

There was a wide difference between Pétion and Christophe; the former was a republican at heart, the latter, a tyrant by nature. Assuming no pretensions to personal or official dignity, and totally rejecting all the ceremonial of a court, it was Pétion's ambition to maintain the exterior of a plain republican magistrate. Clad in the white linen undress of the country, and with a Madras handkerchief tied about his head, he mixed freely and promiscuously with his fellow-citizens, or seated himself in the piazza of the government house, accessible to all.

Pétion was subtle, cautious, and designing. He