Evening star., 1934-07-15
ENTER, A BLACK HERALD
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

during his own lifetime The star OF
the order distantly resembles the star
OF the order OF the Garter An in
scription chased on II reads 'Prix de
In Valeur' and every wearer OF the
coveted order and every ennobled
person actually owed his preferment
to some deed OF valor or loyalty to
the prince For a King who did not
stop at making himself a saint, Il was
no embarrassment at all to create a
cardinal archbishop. This was, rs
they say. the work Of moment or
course. also there was a lord cham
berlain. a chancellor, a master of the
horse and even a grand almoner.
It is especially notable that the
King OF Haiti elected to follow an
English organization for his nobility
and his College Of Heralds In view
of the fact that Haiti was French
colony with form OF the French
language spoken However. the eX-
planatton is found In his hatred OF
Napoleon. then ascendant. to whom
he always referred rs that tyrant.'
Etiquette Strict at Court.
The Armorial General du Royaume
dHayti lists the titles of the pecrage,
and it is seen that they derive chiefly
from place names. one Of the most
distinguished subjects OF the King
a man OF wide culture and much
political acumen, was the Due de
Limonade. He was secretary of state
and foreign minister OF the kingdom
Then the list reveals a Due dc Ia
Marmelade. a Due de lArtibonite. a
Due de NORM and a Baron de
Leveille. And all the other titles
have great dignity and sorority
Nor was the court OF Sans Souci
Negro minstrel sort OF show. 1t
was conducted with the utmost SOL
emnity and dignity. II must be re-
membered that. although the King
was illterate. most OF the mobiles
were men of liberal education. even
culture. They we're scholars and
musicians and great fighting men.
II was. TO a considerable extent
on the foundations Of sovereignty
which lOuyerture had built that
Christophe reared his own monarchy.
The court Chamberlains prescribed.
at Sans SOuci a strict etiquette, Court
uniforms were required. The King
had crack regiment Of guards.
called the Dahomets. No levee of
Louis at Versailles, no court OF a
Charles at Whitehall was ever marked
by more sedate ceremony and de-
corum. The King himself was a
ruler who obeyed a strict regimen OF
conduct and worked Is hours q day.
He required that his nobility uphold
these standards.
The coats of arms shown In the
register now being exhibited are
partly good heraldry, partly debased
heraldry. but. for the most part. good.
The Due de Morins bearing OF two
crossed swords is somewhat debaSed
by the introduction OF quill pen.
but nothing could be more formal
than the Due de rArtibonite's dou-
BILE headed eagle on a field Of vair.
But the arms showing a watering pot
and garden rake are, aSsuredly, de-
based heraldry.
Especially notable is the fact that
all the arms have supporters These
are figures standing on either side
Of the shield as the lion and the
unicorn stand on either side of the
royal shield Of England Relatively
Few British houses have supporters,
but II would appear that all the black
nobility had them. There, too, one
finds pure and debased heraldry. AS
supporters the register shows cha
meleons, flamingoes, wild men. black
birds, roosters, dogs and rabbits.