The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1868-03-21
MASSACRE.


a The flames of rebellion soon broke out in
the western division; the Insurgents here
being chiefly mulattoes. RepulSing some
troops sent against them from Port-au-P Prince
they ravagcd a1d,burned the country for thir.
ty miles, with the same ferocious barbara.
ties towards the whites who Ill into their
hands as were displayed in the northern
province. They even approached Port-an.
| Prince with the intention Of setting it or
fire. Several of the muIattO chiefs, howev.
err, finding that they could not gain over the
negroes on the sugar plantations as fully rs
they expected, declared that they had taken
M ann merely to enforce the national de.
cree of May the 18th. and that they were
not ayerse to a reconciliation. Finally ga
concorIat was aglced upon between the mu,
lattoeS and the white inhabitants Of Port
au-Prince, OF which the chief provisions
were an oblivion of the past, and an en4age-
nent by the whites to recognize in full force
Inc national decree Of May 18th. All 10Y
! would have been we'll, if outside influences
had not intert red to stir up strife and com
motion. In France Gregoire, Robespierre,
and the rest of the society Of Les 4Ami$ DIES
Noirs, were c%Xnlting in their triumph of
May 10Th, but it was not until the begin
pil4g. Of September that information reached
ans Oh TIE feceFtIuIi their a.~-.
| with in St. Domingo Ihe tumultS and dis
orders ATTENDING lhat reception were repre-
| scented in tho strongest coloring, and the
loss of the colony to France was universally
ap~prehendrd. The commercial and manu-
featuring towns urged upon the National
Assembly the repeal of all the DEGREES in
vading the rights of the planters. At this
time 10 suspicion existed in France con-
corning the negroes in St. Domingo, but a
civil war between the mula1toes ard whites
was regarded as inevitable. The tide of
popular prejudice against the planters be-
gan to turn. A motion was made to annul
the obnoxious decree, and, strange to tell,
on the oath of September its repeal was vo-
ted by a large majority, THU teen days after
the concordat between the whites of Port
an-Prince aud the mulattoes had been es-
tablishei and peace restored. 1t will be re-
meutbercd that by hat concordat the whites
of Port ID" Prince had recognized the decree
of May 18th s eeGoDlerri1g equal rights and
privileges upon the mnr44stioes: To such re-
pugnancies and absuruities n%Nst every gov
eminent be driven, which attemfHSStSto reg
llate and direct the local conrarl,s of a CON-
:ry three thousand miles Instant.
lt is dltflcuit to sa'y whic. "fthese meas
'res was the greater calam,ty-the decree
i y" 10th, or its unexpected repeal, at
the time and in the manner mentioned. The
The mulattoes were already so suspicious OF
the good faith of the whites respecting tn.
roncordat, that they insisted on a renewal
I'D confirmation of its provisions. This
was granted by a new treaty on the 18th OF
October. Immediately afterwards news
reached the colony of the repeal by the Ma
tional Assembly of the decree of May 18th!
At once all trust and confidence, and every
hope of reconciliation between the two clas-
SEES, vanished fo,ever. 1t was impossible to
persuade the mulattoeS th,t the planters
were innocent and ignorant Of the t~ransac-
ton. They accused the II hites ofduplic;tv,
faithlessne>s and treachery. and publicly
declared that either themselves or the whites
must be utterly exterminated. THUS WIS
the doctrine of the irrepres>ible conflict
again brought into operation.
War, in all its horrors, was now renewed
whole white race was now in arms, and
the mulattoes being Low Joined by the ne
groes in the district of Cul-de-Sac, the con-
test seemed to be not so much for victory
rs to see which party could inhict the great
est cruelties upon the other. In one in
stance, where the mulattoe> captured a Mr..
Lejournr and his wife, the fate OF the r I'M
Fortunate victims, as relatedby Mr.: Edwards,
was actually too .:orrIble to appear i'm our
Devils, hot from hell, woGld trem-
Die to read it. Oh, Philanthropy, such are
Thy %triumphs!
1t. is sickenlng o pursue the dreadful his
:ory further. The National ASSEMBLY gran
ed a general amnesty and pardon to all
VINO would desist from acts of in>ubordina-
ion, and subscribe to the new Constitution.
The colon al whites and mulattoes both re-
the decree ofamnesty with contempt;
he former because they considered it as a
Justification of the revolving outragcs com
n tied by the insurgents, and the latter
because it annulled their ~favorite decree of
May 18th: At Petit Goave. where the mr-
attes were masters on the publication of
he amnesty they led forth from close con-
inement thirty four white persons whom
hey had res rved for vengeance; but, in.
tead Of killing them instantly, they CAUSED
8: 81: : +: !: +: !: !: : !: !: :: : 81: ::::;:::; e; !: !: :; =: !; \; 4 {: !: !: !: :: :: !: !: :
Tn $ cluse1 the fatal ar Of l7yl.
The society of Les, Amis dAKNoirs SOON
bta'ned such an influence inBthe NationaA
assembly that, after repeat Yfailures ~
in gaining the @ption of Eie
NOUS decree of April .4tlaF7s2, (repsAing
of Sept. 24th,) exten%ng to ths6M, lat
s full power to vote a&d h"ldh@, and
16vidlng for the formaab of ~blonial
.>semblies, which shdS Id to the
~Iationil Assembly, Aaf 8 things,
1eir sentimehtsAs thod of
- u slavery.
he exd ntrustedI