Mr. Peck to Mr.
Seward.
No. 32.]
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, Hayti,
July 9, 1866.
Sir: I send you with this a copy of my
correspondence with the minister of foreign affairs of this government
with respect to the adoption of the amendment to our Constitution
abolishing slavery; paper A is my letter to Mr. Elie, and paper B a
translation of his to me. In this connection I may say that in his
address to the chambers, at the opening of the present session,
President Geffrard spoke of the amendment as follows:
The abolition of slavery has been definitively proclaimed in the United
States. This will assuredly be one of the most memorable acts of
cotemporaneous history. It is not without just pride that we thus see
the fall of the last links in the chains of a slavery which was a
disgrace to humanity—we who broke its first links and who have first
undertaken the restoration of our race.
The senate, in its address to the President, also said: “In proclaiming
upon its territory the abolition of slavery, the American people has
greatly raised itself in the esteem, in the consideration of the
civilized world, and Hayti, which carries in its hands the torch of
black civilization, cannot but rejoice over this grand act of humanity
and justice accomplished in favor of the African race.”
The event thus spoken of by his Excellency and the senate will greatly
improve, I have no doubt, our relations with the people not only of
Hayti but of the whole Antilles. It will remove prejudices, the
existence of which was not surprising, which have been a bar to our
commerce and influence here, and will secure for us consideration and
respect, which will be of great account to us.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
A.
Mr. Peck to Mr. Elie.
Legation of the United
States,
Port au Prince, Hayti,
March 3, 1866.
Sir: I transmit to you with this
communication an official notice from Secretary Seward of the
adoption of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of
America, whereby slavery is forbidden longer to exist in that
republic.
The incorporation of this prohibition into its organic law is an
event of the greatest importance to the country which I represent.
It wipes away the institution which from the first has been our
blackest crime and our greatest disgrace. It removes from our
political contests the most fruitful source of conflict. It takes
from our social order the element which has been most prolific of
harmful distinctions and of unjust inequalities. It lifts from the
conscience of the nation a sin which has constantly been at war with
all the virtues. Thus, while it breaks the chain of the bondman, and
recognizing his title to inalienable rights which have hitherto been
denied him, lifts him from woe and despair to happiness and hope; it
takes away the most serious obstacle to the nation’s progress.
In such results there is ample return for the blood and treasure
which the working out of the great event has cost our people.
And it is not to ourselves alone that the benefits of this amendment
to our organic law will extend. It will reach to the whole human
family as an example of justice and an inspiration to right
doing.
To your own people, sir, the first in human history to win freedom
from slavery by their own hands, and the first to show that
enfranchised Africans can build on the foundations of
self-government the moral and political institutions of Christian
civilization, this new exorcism of oppression will surely be of
great account. It will assure them that a neighboring nation which
long haughtily refused to recognize their political existence, and
which, at times, even coveted their territory, will hereafter be in
accord with them, and will extend to them
[Page 520]
such sympathy and aid as are due from an older
and more powerful to a younger and weaker sister republic.
Hoping that to both Hayti and the United States the blessings of a
republicanism which has no taint of slavery upon it may long be
multiplied,
I am, sir, with considerations of the highest respect, very truly,
your obedient servant,
H. E. PECK, Commissioner and Consul
General of the
United States of America in
Hayti.
Hon. Aug. Elie,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, &c., &c.
B.
[Translation.]
Mr. Elie to Mr. Peck.
Bureau of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs,
Port au Prince, Hayti,
April 30, 1866.
Sir: I had the honor to receive your letter
of the 3d ultimo, accompanying the official notice by the Secretary
of State, Mr. Seward, relating to the amendment of the Constitution
of the United States of America, which abolishes slavery in that
republic.
This great act surely deserves to be reckoned among the great events
of our age which are most worthy to be observed, and assures to the
people which you represent a full harvest of sympathy,
consideration, and glory.
Sincere and farseeing minds have, in fact, not failed to see how much
effort, self-sacrifice, and moral energy have been needed to accept
so resolutely the determination to efface completely from the
organic law of the country an injustice to which years and the
concurrence of immense interests had given enormous strength.
This phase of the history of the American Union will be of high
interest for posterity; it will also be instructive in showing what
a great people can do, when governing itself solely by the rules of
eternal truth and justice; it does all in its power to shake off
whatever can stop its development or stain the consideration which
it should derive from its high position and power.
History will also record in its most illustrious place the names of
those great statesmen who directed affairs during this period, and
it will do special honor to the name of him who gave his life as the
price of the triumph of a cause at once so just and holy.
The republic of Hayti, though she regretted that the degrading
position given to the black man on American soil forbade the
establishment of fraternal relations between herself and the Union,
never despaired of the good sense and judgment of the people you
represent, and always looked forward for the triumph in your country
of justice and humanity. To-day our hopes are realized and our
wishes accomplished. The Haytian republic now expresses her sincere
and legitimate congratulations to the American people, that millions
of men who have, with her, Africa for a birth-place, are regenerated
by the breaking of their chains, and revisited with their
dignity.
Yes, the great transformation will be of advantage to our republic.
No longer finding a cause for uneasiness and suspicion in her
position, beside a power great, but based on injustice, she can now
work on calmly and free from all apprehension, since that she is now
to find in the great American republic an elder sister, who will
always tender her, as you well say, sympathy and assistance, and who
will aid her by her example and experience in marching forward in
the path of civilization.
Will you accept, sir, the expression of my highest consideration,
Mr. H. E. Peck,
Commissioner and Consul General of the
United States of America, &c., &c.,
&c.
