The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-28 00:00:00

HAYTI.

Advises from Port-au-Prince, Hayti, of April 16, have
been ►eceived at Havre by the Vauban, which arrived on the
22d inst. The Alanifeste of the 10th gives the following some-
what obscure details of the events which occurred on the
occasion of the opening of the legislative session :
" For a fortnight the town was occupied by 4,000 troops,
and cannons charged with grape were pointed against the
building where the sitting was to be held. On the 4th the
representatives assembled in their usual place of meeting, to
the number of 37. In order to commence the first business
before the Chamber, viz., the verification of powers, 111. La-
fortune, the eldest member, was provisionally called to the
chair, and the two youngest, MM. Gotereaux and Ponthieux,
were appointed to act as Secretaries. The bulletins for the
ballot of the provisional bureaux were in preparation, when
the President of the Assembly proposed to decide on the
question whether the expelled members were to be admitted
or not. The majority rejected this motion, as the powers of
the deputies had not as yet been verified, and consequently
they had no deliberative character. The President, however,

persisted, and, after an earnest but ineffectual effort to get his
proposition carried, retired with ten members. Those who
remained drew up a statement of the facts, and sent a copy of
the document to the executive power. On the 6th, the.
Commandant of the town took possession of the keys of the
Chamber, and in the evening a strong detachment of troops
was placed there. On the 7th, the national flag was displayed
at the Chamber, and the detachment was greatly re-in-
forced. The Deputies who had signed the protest were
already assembled there. The twenty-eight members of the
majority made their appearance individually. The representa-
tive Borno, who acted as porter, declared to them that they
could not be admitted unless they first signed the protest.
This they refused to do, and then assembled at the house of
the representative Ponthieux, from whence they went in pro-
cession to the Chamber. When they had arrived at the
large gate, Captain Elie, the officer in command, said to
them very politely, Gentlemen, you are forbidden to
enter.' rhey replied, Do you know who we are? We
are the representatives of the nation.' It is positively,
gentlemen, to the representatives, that I have been ordered to
refuse admission,' replied the Captain. Whereupon the Depu-
ties retired with dignity, some voices crying out ' Vive la
Liberte ! Vivent les Representatives du People !' These
exclamations caused a little movement in the detachment, the
officers drawing their swords, and, it is said, an order being
given to fire if necessary. This demonstration in no way shook
the firmness of the representatives, who again repaired to 111.
Ponthieux's, where they drew up a protest against this conduct,
and addressed a letter to the President, demanding the with-
drawal of the armed force which had refused them admittance.
During the time they were thus occupied a small number of
persons had collected near the house. A detachment was sent
irom the Chamber to disperse them, and much violence was
employed towards several young men, some of whom were
wounded, and several arrested."

The same paper then gives the following account of the pro-
ceedings in the Chamber on the Bth and 9th of April :
" At seven in the morning of the Bth, the Deputy Benoit
presented himself at the door of the Chamber, but was refused
admittance by the officer on guard. The President of the
Chamber, M. Laudun, who was present, ordered the officer to
allow him to pass, but he persisted in his refusal, observing,
that he obeyed the orders of the military commandant, who re-
cognised as President only M. Lafortune. 111. Laudun then
withdrew, and sent a letter to the President of Hayti, inform-
ing him of what had occurred, and requesting that the guard of
the Chamber might be placed under his orders, as the elected
President. The letter was left unanswered. M. Laudun then
returned to the Chamber, where he found M. Lafortune in-
stalled in the chair, and wearing the insignia of office. M.
Laudun, as the elected President, claimed the their, but M.
Lafortune refused to give it up, being desirous, he said, to
read some documents, and amongst them the protest against
the excluded Deputies. The Secretary of the Chamber then
withdrew full of indignation, and several of the Deputies spoke
loudly against such conduct, and called upon M. Lafortune to
give up the chair to the true President. M. Lafortune, how-
ever, remained firm, and was supported by M. Pierre Charles,
who stamped and beat the benches with his hands, and in-
sulted all who differed from him ir, opinion. The noise at this
period became general. and M. Laudun, putting on his hat,
declared that anarchy had apparently taken possession of the
Chamber. At length calm was re-established, and M. Lafor-
tune having quitted the chair, it was taken by M. Laudun.
The Secretaries then read the minutes calling for the
definitive organisation of the Chamber, and the administra-
tion of the oaths to the Deputies; but this was violently
opposed by M. Lafortune, and about thirty of his party
in full chorus, and the noise became so great that the
President adjourned the sitting for an hour. At noon
it was resumed, but there was the same confusion, and con-
sequently the President adjourned the Chamber to the
next morning at seven. At six on the following day M. Lau-
dun was at the Chamber, but his competitor, Lafortune, was
there before daybreak, and had already taken possession of the
chair. At eight M. Laudun claimed the chair, but Lafor-
tune's party set up a loud noise, and the voice of Pierre
Charles was heard like a trumpet in a symphony, louder than
all the rest, whilst Lafortune, grasping the chair, exclaimed,
'Lc n'entends pas raison, ma tete za mes pieds, se ne cederai
pas la fouteille." The President Laudun then said, in a loud
voice, • There is anarchy in the Chamber. M. Lafortune has
usurped the chair, and keeps it by force. I cannot stand
by and witness such scenes. I protest against these in-
famous acts, and will denounce them to the nation. I with.
draw.' He then left the Chamber, followed by the Deputies
of the opposition."
It appears t hat on the 13th the Chamber met, and declarad
the four re-elected Deputies not qualified to sit, and annulled
the election of six new Deputies. On the 16th, the session was
opened in due form, but several of the Opposition members
left the House.

BRIGHTON, THURSDAY.—The General Steam Na-
vigation Company's packet, the Dart, Captain Checseman, ar-
rived at the pier-head at nine o'clock this morning, having per-
formed the passage from Dieppe under seven hours, She landed
42 passengers, one carriage, and two horses. Amongst the
passengers were General Innes and family, Captain Taylor,
Mr. Atkins and family, Mr. Day and family, Lieut. Butler,
R.N., and family, Mr. Packham and family.
SWINDLING IN GIASGOW.----A man named John
Harkins, or Harkinson, is now in custody upon charges of
swindling of a more extensive kind than have occurred in
Glasgow of late years. His custom has been to take a shop in
some part of the city or suburbs, with the declared intention
of commencing business, and after having got it stacked upon
the promise of immediate payment, he sold the goods, and de-
camped to some other locality in the city, where he operated
on a new set of dupes. Already there are upwards of twenty
charges against the prisoner of having defrauded parties in
Glasgow and Paisley, and it would appear from the variety of
articles that have been supplied, that with him all was fish that
came in the net. To crown the whole, he is charged with
stealing a horse. The prisoner, we believe, has been previously
convicted of fraud and imposition in the Glasgow and Gorbals
0 C Q t r 0 Chronicle,

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
HOUSE OF LORDS, May 27.

Lord Brougham, Lord Cottenham, and Lord Campbell, sat
in the House of Lords to-day, to hear Scotch appeal*.

THE EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW UNION CANAL COMPANY
V. SIR T. G. CARMICHAEL, BART.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL replied to-day in this case, and
Their LORDSHIPS passed judgment, reversing the decision
of the Court below, with costs.

THE MONKLAND AND KIRKINTILLOCH RAILWAY COMPANY

V. DIXON.

This case came before their Lordships upon appeal from
the Court of Session. The only questi,,n in the case was,
whether the respondents by the Act constituting their
railway, had a right to cross the railway belonging to the
appellants. T4e Court of session decided that, according to
the construction of the Act, the respondent had that right, and
from that decision the appellants came to the House of Lords by
way of appeal.