Port-au-Prince. Pétion writes his reply to Christophe’s letter of 19 December

Pétion answered Christophe’s letter of 19 December as follows: Port-au-Prince, 24 December 1806. No. 18. General of Division PÉTION, commanding the 2nd division of the West and member of the Constituent Assembly, to General-in-Chief Henry CHRISTOPHE, Provisional Head of the Government. “I have received, General, your letter of the 19th of this month, to which I shall now reply:

“As to what you tell me concerning the 3rd battalion of the 20th demi-brigade, I too had felt the full consequence of its step; but I did not think that in our present circumstances severity was the only remedy to which we had to resort, and I am far from believing that it would have produced the effect you presume. In the passage from one government to another, even if one can prevent the laws from being wholly suspended, it is difficult to keep them from losing a part of their force and their energy.

“As to the mission of General Dartiguenave in the South, I did no more than conform to your letter, of which he was the bearer and in which you invited me to assist him with my advice; and if I allowed myself to make some observations to you, it is only because you authorized me to do so in several of your letters, among others that of 23 October, in which you express yourself thus: ‘No one knows better than you, my dear comrade, my principles and my indifference to every kind of office; it took a motive as powerful as this to decide me to accept this enormous burden, in the conviction I hold that you will contribute on your part to assisting me with your lights whenever the public good requires it.’ Knowing General Gérin’s principles, I am persuaded, General, that he no more regards the two divisions of the South as his property than I regard that of the West as mine; indeed I think that no other public officer can hold such an idea. The reward of General Gérin’s services, like the reward of mine, is the glory of having reconquered the liberty of our country. Had we been ambitious, after the day of 17 October we were masters to give that ambition free rein; our conduct, on the contrary, has proved how disinterested we are. The rank of general of division that I hold at present suffices for my ambition, and I shall always be ready to resign it when the public good requires. I have proved more than once that I have never known either intrigue or ambition: public opinion leaves no doubt on that score. That is why I should have wished you to make known to me who they are that hold the thread of the plots which you say are being hatched in the West and in the South; for I too like to be spoken to openly and for people to explain themselves categorically; then I shall be able to answer.

“Your accusation that I do not reflect upon the letters I write you has made me reflect a great deal upon yours and upon your last proclamation, and I have seen in it an act ill suited to bringing minds back to a common aim. I think I should tell you that I too am in the habit of reflecting upon my actions, and in all of them I take as my guides public opinion and the interest of my country.

“At last, citizen general, the Constitution is about to appear, and I am of your opinion that it will not be devoted solely to favoring intriguers or to giving them the means of feeding their passions; the people, in striking down the tyrant on the forever memorable day of 17 October, did not make war to kill a man, but indeed to destroy tyranny, to change the form of a government that could suit it in nothing, and to establish its sovereignty; it is at the moment when this act of its supreme will is to be carried into execution that the ambitious and the intriguers will be known; for my part, I am ready to lay at its feet the powers that I acknowledge I hold from it alone, and to submit my particular will to the general will. It is then that the people will tell its true friends from the ambitious. Woe to them! If it did not fear to strike off the head of Dessalines, will it tremble before intriguers and petty ambitious men?

“I have the honor to salute you very respectfully, PÉTION.”