Evening star., 1934-07-15

The tens OF thousands OF Ameri-
cans who are so deeply interested In
the science of heraldry that they
| troop 10 the Library Of Congress and
| to professional genealogists for data
F.! may learn with some surprise that the
most complete register Of arms on this
| side of the Atlantic relates 20 the
/ bearings OF Negroes most OF them of
I the deepest pigment. The College OF
/ HerRlds OF Great Britain now is Cele-
, brating the 45Oth anniversary Of its
| foundation and. as a part Of the OBJ
ServanceS, IS displaying an exhibition
( Of fascinating records. Among the
most fascinating, and certainly the
/ nearest unique, is the Armorial Gen
eral du Royaume d'Hsvti
This extraordinary document. be-
lieved to be without duplicates Rnv-
where, is register Of the arms OF the
royal family and the nobility estab-
/ lished by Henry Christophe I, King
! Of Haiti
! When this remarkable figure.
whose learning consisted Of ability TO
write only two wordS-hiS own names.
( Henry and Christophe-but whose
native intelligence and ability have
/ ranked him highest OF all his nu-
merouS race, established the first and
! only throne Of Haiti. he concluded
that he should be surrounded by an
| hereditary nobility. State papers OF
his period show clearly that he re-
! garded such class as necessary for
! the upholding of the dignity OF a
| monarch.
He proceeded, therefore, to select
| individuals he regarded as qualified
| TO uphold the dignities he designed
and to constitute them a noble class.
peerage. He made his own princes
OF the realm members of a royal fam
| lily and. he confidently expected. per-
manent supporters of a black dynasty
/ Besides the princes of the blood
royal, his peerage, according to the
Armorial General du Royaume dHay-
IT, consisted of 80 ennobled families
/ There were 6 princes and then 8
dukes, 20 counts, Al barons and II
( chevaliers. These attended his own
| brilliant coronation in June. 1911
Creates College of HeraIds.
The story of the reign of Henry
/ Christophe is too well and generally
known to bear repetition here. His
! short rule displayed an organization
al brillance of conception and execu-
| ton not frequently matched and
never before achieved by a Negro
That the reign was blurred by acts
| of monstrous cruelty is painful
| chapter of West Indian history. but
| that 1t also was marked by the most
| curious respect for European institu-
tions is Illuminating. The story OF
the great palace of Sans Souci-an
! architectural genl-and of the fortress
| OF La Ferriere-an admittedly SUI
| perb example of military engineering
has been repeated over and over, but
not so much has been said concerning
the more gracious side of Haitian or
| ganization of the day.
To insure complete propriety and
correctness in the trappings OF his
new nobility. Christophe created a
| College of Heralds. 1t consisted oi
| no less than 13 heralds with Baraquet
King at Arms, at its head. In addi-
ton there we're the usual pursuivants
The heralds. skilled in heraldic lore
were named for important places In
the kingdom.
One of the first formal actions was
| to establish the Royal and Military
| order Of st. Henry. The King in.
sured his canonization by raising him.
self to sainthood as we'll as kingshir