Announcing that several different newspapers have arrived from London, covering the period from July 28th to September 11th, the opening article lets readers know that excerpts of these various papers have been translated and reprinted here in the Gazette. The most interesting of these international news items, perhaps, comes out of Madrid, where we learn that in May, King Ferdinand of Spain sought a meeting with the other European “Powers,” including the heads of state of England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, in order to “solicit” their aid in helping to quell the numerous rebellions then occurring in the Spanish colonies of America. “The response was not satisfactory,” the article reads, as these countries all refused to even open a conversation about it with the Spanish monarch. Nevertheless, the writer tells us that the Spanish minister persisted in the belief that Buenos Aires, Montevideo (Uruguay), Chile, Venezuela, and “in effect, all of independent America,” could be “re-captured.” News out of Sans-Souci, dated October 10th, reveals that repairs to the Citadelle Henry continue in earnest, after the clap of thunder that started a fire there on August 25th. Finally, we learn that storms and earthquakes had been common across the “islands of America” in 1818, “ravaging” the different locales experiencing these events, but not preventing the plantations of northern Haiti from thriving, as an “abundant harvest” is promised.

One article printed here discusses the state of the Citadelle after the fire of August 25th destroyed some of its rooms. Refuting reports that the buildings were in a complete state of disrepair, the editor writes that the gunpowder stores, as well as the vaults containing the gun magazines, were preserved and therefore that the Citadelle “was in the same state of defense as before.”

The first and primary article announces the creation of the Chambre Royale d’Instruction Publique, or the Royal Chamber of Public Instruction, with a decree signed by both King Christophe and Julien Prévost, the Comte de Limonade. The rest of the issue describes the new duties of the king’s administrators. While at the end, the directors of all existing schools are consequently advised to present themselves before the newly created Chambre Royale in order to receive permission to continue providing instruction, according to the new and lengthy rules described in the “Ordonnance du Roi,” issued on the 1st of December 1818.

The final newspaper in our collection, this issue reveals that Henry’s son, Prince Victor Henry, had recently returned from a fairly extensive tour of northern Haiti. The piece talks about how beloved the Prince is throughout the kingdom, and the writer very much seems to be setting the tone for Victor Henry to assume the throne. Indeed, the writer tells us that “satisfaction was the same everywhere the prince traveled; Haitians all being of one heart and mind, in their desire to give the prince testaments of their love.” Christophe is barely mentioned in this issue, and his absence from the tour of the kingdom, which he had done in previous years, seems a bit conspicuous. All the more so, since the article in question finishes by declaring that the prince is a “worthy inheritor of the name and the throne of Henry.” The issue also announces the opening of six schools and finishes with an excerpt from the Times of London, from which we learn that President Boyer (who had assumed governance over the southern republic after Pétion’s death) is reportedly open to paying an indemnity to the ex-colonists of France.