[5] The attitude of the masses and the growing popularity of Salnave began to occasion much concern to the liberals, who found themselves once more obliged to submit to a military man.

[5] The National Assembly met at Port-au-Prince on May 6, 1867, and on June 14 adopted a Constitution which abolished the Presidency for life, the duration of the authority vested in the Chief of the Executive Power being fixed at four years.

[5] On October 11, 1867, the rupture with Congress was complete, caused by an interpellation of the Cabinet by the House of Representatives concerning the arrest and imprisonment of General Leon Montas.

[5] By forcibly ejecting the members of the House of Representatives, Salnave had suspended the Constitution; yet he affected to believe that the opposition he met with was due to his limited authority.

[5] Pétion Faubert at Léogâne, Normil at Anse-à-Veau, Michel Domingue at Aquin, and Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal at Pétionville and Croix-des-Bouquets all rose up against the dictatorship assumed by Salnave, who was being besieged at Port-au-Prince.

[5] He had the advantage of the unity of command over his opponents; for the rebels in the South had numerous leaders: Domingue, whose headquarters were at Cayes, Normil at Anse-à-Veau, etc.

[5] From Camp-Boudet, where he had established his headquarters, he personally directed the siege of Cayes, of which eventually he would have taken possession had not fortunes of war gone contrary to his plan in the Artibonite.

[5] On June 28 he had summarily dismissed Martial-Guillaume-Marie Testard du Cosquer, the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince; and had taken the same measure against Alexis-Jean-Marie Guilloux, the Vicar-General, on October 16.

[5] Salnave's position was getting worse; one of his most faithful followers, General Victorin Chevallier, Secretary of War, who was in command of the army surrounding Jacmel, deserted his cause in November and joined the insurrection.

[5] On December 16, 1869, Generals Georges Brice and Boisrond-Canal landed at the capital at the head of 1,200 soldiers; in the night they had surprised the Government man-of-war La Terreur.

[5] During the fight which ensued this ship began bombarding the Executive Mansion; a shot struck the powder magazine, causing it to explode just after Salnave had left the place.

[5] Salnave succeeded in reaching the Dominican territory; but General José María Cabral, who was in sympathy with his opponents, betraying the trust he had placed in him, gave him up to the Haitians.