Santo Domingo (the Spanish side). Declares itself independent of Haiti as the Dominican Republic in the night of 27 to 28 February.

The leaders of the party called constitutional sent emissaries everywhere charged with raising difficulties for the President of the Republic. On every side men worked to foment insurrections, in the South, the North and the eastern part. The opposition was not ignorant of the plan of the inhabitants of the East to separate from the Republic; yet it did nothing to thwart it, because it had in view only the fall of Rivière Hérard, and because it hoped to be able easily to bring back the inhabitants of the East, about whose sentiments it was mistaken: these intended to separate not from Rivière Hérard alone, but from the Haitians, whatever their political party.

At Miragoâne and at Jacmel the opposition, being rather strong, had nearly overflowed the authority of Rivière Hérard.

At Port-au-Prince, the citizens Beaubrun Ardouin and Céligny Ardouin, formerly decreed under accusation and lately set at liberty, although they did not belong to the constitutional party, worked in concert with that party for the ruin of the President; they were reputed the chiefs of the Boyériste party. They were convinced, however, that Boyer, even if recalled by the unanimous voice of the Haitians, would not return to the country to take up power again; but they represented a system wholly opposed to the one that the new Constitution had consecrated. They had very assiduous dealings with general Guerrier, whom they encouraged in his ambition to put himself in the place of Rivière; through their agents they were preparing in the South a revolt that was soon to break out. At the same time they called very assiduously on the President and on Dumesle, to whom they gave counsel, but with the aim of leading them astray; they lulled the latter, secretary of state for War, greedy of pleasures and enjoyments, inclining him to give himself up to all the ardour of his voluptuous temperament.

Meanwhile Rivière, full of his intention to have done with the Constituent Assembly, wished to publish a proclamation, dated 26 February, in which he recalled the taking up of arms at Praslin, which had delivered the country from the yoke of tyranny, and set out his grievances and those of the nation against most of the acts of that Assembly. But the secretaries of state Laudun, Féry and J. S. Hippolyte opposed this publication, judging that it would bring about the dissolution of the Assembly in fact. Military men such as Chéry Archer, Bellanton, Paul Bayard, and Guerrier himself urged him against the Constituent Assembly, telling him that he would lose too much time, that the dinner was served, that it must be eaten, or else it would grow cold.

It was then that an immense piece of news, producing a deep impression of disquiet and sorrow in all the ranks of our society, reached Port-au-Prince: the eastern part had just, in the night of 27 to 28 February, at eleven o’clock, declared itself independent of Haiti, under the name of the Dominican Republic.