The Sun.
London, England, 1818-05-14 00:00:00

DEATH OF PE I'ION.

We insert the following acconnt of the death
of PETIO, becauic it is interesting in itself, and
hecause.it hOlds forth an instructive lesson to all
who occupy' the highest stations in society, that
they may coraltibt themselves in such a manner as
to render ;hemselves objects of etqceni and vqtte-
ra.tiom through this life, and of sincere !melon-
tinn when they hiive I•eeeived the aivful summons
to a better.

Extract of 4 Let ter from Part aa Prince, Dated

April 1, 1818.

" I Was forced to break off yesterday mOrning,.
to attend the last remains of the PreSn.ent. The
funeral was grand, :but we were kept six hours in
the sun,. which, the-"Tatigue, ineapacitated
me trom doing any thing More that day.
'I he corpse was laid in state two'days-; and,
to the moment of being con Signed io the vault,
the features did not exhibit any visible change.--
Every man who chose went to see it, and you
would have been surprised at the scenes which oc-
curred every instant ; they were such as are sel-
dom witnessed on the demise of men in power !
In the different quarters of the galleries of the pa-
lace were men, women, and children, some on
their knees, others standing, w ho, after taking a
last sight of the body, were imploring Heaven for
his soul. They were all bedewed in tears, and,
on retiring from the Palace, filled the air with
their cries and lamentations ; not. perhaps one
dry eye quitted that . place out o.f the myriads
which visited it ; but at the funeral the stoutest
heart must have melted—the procession had nearly
a. mile to go to the church and to return to the
place of inlet mem, which was in a vault under the
Tree of Liberty, oppoSite the Palace ; the troops,
of whi,eli there were a great many in town; were
formed in two lines- from the Palace to the Church.
—The body was put on an open bier, dressed in,
state-clothes, and laid on a car 'mole its imitation
of that used for our late Lord Nelson ; it was
drawn by six hor,es, covered with black silk vel-
vet, ornamented with white tassels, and with
white feathers, and crape on their heads the same
as on the car : round the four sides of thelat ter was
written, Alexander Petion, President d'Hayti;
imitons ses Vert n'a jamais fait couler lei
pleurs de personne.'
" The concourse of persons was immense,- and
the lamentations unceasing ; the women, in .par-
Ocular, screeched and howled, clasping .their
hands as if" they had been frantic. The Men walk-
ed silently along—a few with simply a -"dejected
countenance, but the greater number. by far with
streaming eyes. The same was thexase with.the.
soldiers forming the line, the Officers endea-vour--
ing in vain to conceal their tears behind the -pil-
lars of the galleries ; its fact never, I believe, was
there wi•oessed more real and untlissembled grief
—it was not confined to the lower, the middling,
or the higher classes—it was universal, and the.
moment the• body was lowered into the vault, ex-
hibited a scene which it is not in my power eVer
to attempt to describe.
" It is a curious circumstance that he ha 4 died'
voluntarily, which, indeed, was suspected by some
about hint front the beginning of his sickness,
which only lasted eight days, from his constantly
refusing all kinds of medicine and nourishment,
and even water ; or it he did take any thing, it
was at the pressing solicitations of those, who stoC
rounded him, but Ire spat it out again ; and he
preserved to the last that calmness and serenity of
mind for which he was so remarkable through lite—
expiring without a groan or a struggle. His body
has been opened, and fund as sound as that of
any man; no indications. of any disorder what-
ever, and the physicians do not hesitate in declar-
ing that ite. died of inanition ! What may have
been the cause is yet a mystery. He had fre-
quewly been heard to say that he wished himself
dead ; for that, with all his study to tender the
people happy and prosperous, some were still dis-
satisfied, and made his life a torment. About a
fortnight ago a man was taken tip about the pa-
lace, who, it appears, intended to assassinate
him; but, from what has transpired, 1 deem it
most likely that lie was a madman; but, -at all
events, it can hardly be supposed that this acci-
dent could contribute to Isis fatal determination.
Time will, perhaps, reveal the cause; in the mean-
while, his 10.,s is to be lamented ; for, I repeat,
there are few such men as he was, more particu-
larly its acts of charity and benevolence.

‘; His death threw all the met chants into the
greatest consternation, as there is computed to be
in the Republic 6,000,000 worth of British pro-
perty alone, including the shipping. Thei judi-
cious meas Aires which were immediately adopted,
tended, in some degree, to calm our fears: all the
military were turned out, and have been -kept at
their posts to this day. An embargo was pjaced
on the shipping, and no one suffered to leave the
town till pretty late on Sunday; and the appoint-
went of the present President (Boyer) has been
unanimous ; nor to this moment have I heard of
any Chief having expressed a wish for the situa-
tion : we are, therefore, reviving a little. The
President will be proclaimed this .day, and in two
or three he will proceed to the frontiers to exa-
Mine the line for it is very possible that Chris-
toplie,' on bearing of the death of Petion, might
advance in the hopes of profiting by dissensions
which might arise between competitors for the
Presi iency. Some of the troops which were here
iu garrison, and auend.edsesterday, were marched
off after the solemnity, for the frontiers : in'fact,
every precaution that prudence can dictate for
private tranquillity, and external security, appear
to have been adopted. It is also the intention of
the merchants to request Sir Home Popham :o
send a ship of war here, in the event of Chris-
tophes. advancing; yom may therefore make your-
self easy ."—(The rimes.)