CHAPTER XVII.
WAR BETWEEN THE BLACKS AND MULATTOES OF HAYTI.
The ambitious and haughty mulattoes had long been
dissatisfied with the obscure condition into which they
had been thrown by the reign of Dessalines; and at
the death of that ruler, they determined to put forward
their claim. Therefore, while Christophe was
absent from the capital, the mulattoes called a convention,
framed a constitution, organized a republic,
and elected for their president, Alexandre Pétion.
This man was a quadroon, the successor of Rigaud and Clervaux to the confidence of the mulattoes. He had been educated at the military school at Paris; was of refined manners, and had ever been characterized for his mildness of temper and the insinuating grace of his address. He was a skilful engineer, and at the time of his elevation to power he passed for the most scientific officer and the most erudite individual among the people of Hayti. Attached to the fortunes of Rigaud, Pétion had acted as his lieutenant in the war against Touissant, and had accompanied that chief to France. Here he remained until the departure of the expedition under Le Clerc, when he embarked in that
