upon the throne, a Sully will ever be found to direct the march of your happiness."
On the day following, the new constitution was proclaimed by official announcement throughout the kingdom, and Christophe entered upon the exercise of the kingly powers which had been conferred upon him. The first act of his reign was the promulgation of a royal edict, creating an hereditary nobility, as a natural support to his government, and an institution to give éclat and permanence to his sovereignty. These dignitaries of the kingdom were taken mostly from among the chiefs of the army, and consisted of two princes, not of the royal blood, of seven dukes, twenty-two counts, thirty-five barons, and fourteen chevaliers.
Of priority in rank among the princes of the kingdom, were those of the royal blood, consisting of the two sons of Christophe, the eldest of whom, as heir apparent, received the title of Prince Royal.
Having finished these creations of his new monarchy, and received the two royal crowns of Hayti, Christophe appointed the 2d of June, 1811, as the day for his coronation. All the chiefs of the army and other grandees of the realm had orders to repair to the capital, and among them there appeared a deputation from the blacks of the Spanish territory, who had assumed to themselves the pompous appellations of Don Raphael de Villars, chief commandant of Santiago; Don Raymond de Villa, commandant of Vega; Don Vincent de Luna, and Don José Thabanes, who at least represented the Spanish creoles by the grandiloquence of their names. An immense pavilion had been erected upon the Place d'Armes of Cape Henry, furnished with a throne, galleries for
