From our own Correspondent.

Port-au-Prince, Feb., 28th, 1848[9].

Friends Douglass & Delany:—After an unusually long silence, which the over-ruling force of circumstances, imposed upon me, I eagerly embrace a few leisure moments, to resume my correspondence. Though it may have languished, time has not been idle; and the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty eight, having made the summation of its joys and its sorrows, its gratifications and its regrets, has gone to seek its predecessors in the Past; while that of eighteen hundred and forty nine, with no treasures but its hopes, is impressing upon us the realities of the Present, and giving us slight and uncertain glimpses of the solemn and dreamy Future. With us, the old year passed off gaily; and during the last day of its existence, the streets of Port-au-Prince were enlivened with passing parties of horsemen,—the Officers of this and other governments, going to their felicitations to His Excellency, the President of the Haitian Republic. Its gaiety, however, was but the Aurora with its promises of meridian brightness; and the following day burst upon us in all the splendor that was befitting the forty-sixth anniversary of a nation's independence. Early in the morning of the first of January, an immense concourse consisting of the citizens and the military, were assembled in the Place de Petion, in front of the National Palace. The President and other dignitaries of the government were in attendance; as were also, the Consuls of foreign powers resident here, attired in their respective uniforms. The spectacle was a magnificent one; and as the morning sun was reflected back from floating standards, embroidered suits and glittering bayonets, it seemed as though I had been suddenly transported to the fairy regions of Oriental tale. Upon the mimic stage, I may have seen typifications of this gorgeous mingling of steel and silk and gold; but certainly never have I had the common-places of actual life broken in upon by so imposing a pageant. The splendor of the President's attire surpassed any powers of description that I may be possessed of. Let it therefore suffice to say, that it consisted of a scarlet coat, literally stiff with golden embroidery, long boots similarly decorated, and the various other portions of his apparel in perfect keeping. However much this gala-show may have conflicted with long imbibed notions of republican simplicity, the effect of its glitter upon the senses was none the less imposing. After a short address by M. Dufresne, the Secretary-General, the assemblage walked in procession to the church, where a solemn Te Deum was chanted to the Great Dispenser of all things, under whose Providence, Haiti is now in the enjoyment of tranquility, as well as independence. Ever and anon, throughout the ceremonies of the day, the deep-mouthed cannon spoke out the heart-felt gratitude of a free people, whilst every countenance evinced in a manner that could not be mistaken the universal joy.

From the contemplation of this spectacle, my mind reverted to other scenes, of which this land has been the theatre. The heroes which varying circumstances demanded, passed along in that rapid review, which thought ever orders. First among them was Toussiant L'Ouvreture, who, greater than the Roman that subdued his country's foes, ere he sought a redress for private wrongs, paused in his work of vengeance to perform an act of gratetide. It pictured him shaping the course of that fearful Exodus from oppression, and at length triumphantly guiding his fellows, with a stern and steady hand, in the way that an untried liberty offered to their footsteps. It followed him in his successful rule, until the fell damps of an infernal dungeon cast their blighting mildews over the genius that years of bondage had not been able to extinguish. Then came Dessalines, who called by his countrymen, to preside over those liberties which he had so gloriously established, expiated by a bloody death, his grasping after imperial power. Nor was the recollection of Christophe wanting—that self-emancipated bondsman, whose gigantic intellect, after commanding the admiration of the world, could not resist the glittering lures of regal dignity; but who, rather than stoop from the lofty flight that he had imagined, sought in self-destrution, a refuge from all abasement. Last came Alexandre Petion—he, whose military genius had claimed the admiration of that greatest of all modern chieftains, Napoleon Bonaparte—he, whose efforts to foster an infant republic, caused a grateful people to bestow upon him the proud title of the Father of his Country,—he, whose untimely death was the sole event in a long administration, that caused a nation's tears to flow. Well might the mind ponder on these instrumentalities, for it was through them, that the independence of Haiti was established. And that liberty so dearly earned, so watchfully guarded, will henceforth and forever, remain the birth-right of her children. Yes—when her skies lose that cerulean tinge, which their Maker has given them—when her mornes that raise their verdant peaks towards heaven, shall crumble from their lofty elevation—when the waves which now break so lovingly upon her shores, shall sweep over the spots, where Nature blooms in her most charming parure; then, if amid this general wreck, a place be found for human foothold, may the fearful scenes of oppression, of which Haiti was once the stage, be re-enacted. Though the actions of her liberators, owing to their having been reared in slavery, may not have always been characterised by that disinterestedness, which marks the perfect patriot—though her sons, maddened by the prejudices which have been their heritage, may have caused fraternal blood to renew the stain left by the hand of her oppressors,—though it is still problematical, whether she hath even yet reached the term of her calamities, this truth is evident, that while a definite existence is left to Haiti, freedom will be her portion, The language of every one of her children, like that of the patriots of Virginia, is and ever will be, "Give me liberty, or give me Death."

Tuesday, January the twenty second, was the Fete of Jean Jacques Dessalines, Ex-emperor of Hayti. This festival also, was celebrated with all the pomp becoming the occasion.

The current of affairs is flowing on quite tranquilly here, at present, with the exception that the army is preparing to march against the revolted portion of the island. His Excellency, the President heads the expedition, which will set off in the course of six or eight days. The city resounds with the "dreadful notes of warlike preparation;" and it is to be presumed that the campaign will soon commence in earnest.

Since I last wrote to you, an alteration has taken place, in the form of the Governmental administration. The ministry (or rather, the Provisional Ministry) then existing, has been superceded; and political affairs are at present under the control of a Secretary-General, a Secretary of State for the department of Finance and Foreign Affairs, and a Grand Judge.

I perceive that, in some of the American papers, no very favorable mention is made respecting the law recently enacted here reserving to the Government a monopoly of the trade in coffee, and in such other produce of the soil, as it may deem proper. It is true that this is a greater encroachment upon the speculations of theorists, than practical economists usually permit themselves to indulge in. Yet, in view of the monetary embarrassments of the country, the measure may be justifiable; and I could almost be tempted, in defiance of the wrath of political dabblers, to assert my beleif, that if this law fail in the accomplishment of its object, it will be owing rather to a defect in its detail, than to one in its general principle. The existing government, certainly appears very much disposed to favor agriculture, commerce and education—the germs wherein lie the future welfare of Haiti. A few days ago, a law was published on the last mentioned subject, establishing an University of Haiti, and granting to the Commission of Education, the power to bestow the usual degress conferred in foreign colleges. Trusting that the future may be fraught with good, for this truly interesting country, I subscribe myself,

Yours, as ever.

HarroldVashon, George Boyer

George Boyer Vashon (1824–78), the son of abolitionist John Bethune Vashon, was an African American attorney and educator. In 1838, upon the family’s move from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to Pittsburgh, Vashon became secretary of the first youth-oriented abolition organization, the Juvenile Anti-Slavery Society. At sixteen he entered Oberlin College in Ohio and became the first African American to receive a bachelor of arts degree from that school upon his graduation in 1844. Then, from 1845 to 1847, Vashon studied with Pittsburgh lawyer Walter Forward. When denied admission to the bar in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, because of his race, Vashon moved to New York and became the first African American admitted to that state’s bar. In February 1848 Vashon emigrated to Haiti, where he became a regular correspondent to Douglass’s North Star under the pseudonym "Harold," and taught Latin, Greek, and English at several schools and colleges. He returned to the United States to practice law in the fall of 1850. From 1854 to 1857, Vashon taught belles-lettres and mathematics at New York Central College in McGrawville, New York. Following the Civil War, he was the first African American teacher at Howard University and a solicitor for the Freedmen’s Bureau. In 1878, while teaching at Alcorn University in Rodney, Mississippi, Vashon died during a yellow fever epidemic. Washington (D.C.) National Era, 15 April 1847; Catherine M. Hanchett, “George Boyer Vashon, 1824–1878: Black Educator, Poet, Fighter for Equal Rights, Part One,” Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, 68:205–10 (1985); DANB, 617; Black Abolitionist Papers, 3:322. .