71

LIFE AND TIMES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS 445

station at the Môle St. Nicolas or anywhere else in that country. Where no
duty was imposed no duty was neglected. It is not for a diplomat to run
before he is sent, especially in matters involving large consequences like
those implied in extending our power into a neighboring country.

"Here, then, let me present the plain facts in the case. They, better than
anything else I can say, vindicate my conduct in connection with this
question.

"On the 26th of January, 1891, Rear-Admiral Gherardi, having arrived
at Port au Prince, sent one of his under-officers on shore to the United States
Legation to invite me on board of his flagship, the 'Philadelphia.' I complied
with the invitation, although I knew that, in strict politeness, it would have
been more appropriate for Admiral Gherardi himself to come to me. I felt
disinclined, however, to stand upon ceremony or to endeavor to correct the
manners of an American Admiral. Having long since decided to my own
satisfaction that no expression of American prejudice or slight on account of
my color could diminish my self-respect or disturb my equanimity, I went on
board as requested, and there for the first time learned that I was to have
sume connection with negotiations for a United States coaling station at the
Môle St. Nicolas, and this information was imparted to me by Rear-Admiral
Gherardi. He told me in his peculiar, emphatic manner that he had been duly
appointed a United States special commissioner; that his mission was to
obtain a naval station at the Môle St. Nicolas; and that it was the wish of Mr.
Blaine and Mr. Tracy, and also of the President of the United States, that I
should earnestly coöperate with him in accomplishing this object. He further
made me acquainted with the dignity of his position, and I was not slow in
recognizing it.

"In reality. some time before the arrival of Admiral Gherardi on this
diplomatic scene. I was made acquainted with the fact of his appointment.
There was at Port au Prince an individual, of whom we shall hear more else-
where, acting as agent of a distinguished firm in New York, who appeared to
be more fully initiated into the secrets of the State Department at Washington
than I was, and who knew, or said he knew, all about the appointment of
Admiral Gherardi, whose arrival he diligently heralded in advance and care-
fully made public in all the political and business circles to which he had
access. He stated that I was discredited at Washington, had, in fact, been
suspended and recalled, and that Admiral Gherardi had been duly commis-
sioned to take my place. This news was sudden and far from flattering. It is
unnecessary to say that it placed me in an unenviable position both before
the community of Port au Prince and before the Government of Haïti. It had,