The man whose name stands at the head of this article was a prominent character on the world's stage about the end of the last century. Though very little is heard of him now, his name is enshrined in the hearts of the best and most enlightened of his countrymen. Toussaint, afterwards called Toussaint l'Ouverture, was a slave of African descent in the island of Santo Domingo in the West Indies. He passed the greater part of his life in slavery, yet rose to be a great general and wise administrator, and ultimately secured the freedom of his brethren and the independence of his native land. He was born about the year 1745, on the Bréda Estate, in the northern department of Hayti, or "the land of mountains," as the western portion of the island was called, and his grandfather is said to have been an African king. This, however, is a point of but little moment, for a royal or noble descent does not necessarily confer high qualities of mind or disposition, and we often find the most ignoble traits in persons of illustrious birth, while occasionally the greatest qualities are possessed by those of meaner estate. His grandfather, at any rate, was a free man in his native country, Africa, and so also was his father, who was taken prisoner by a neighboring tribe and sold into slavery. We thus see the African race itself compassing its own degradation, for the slave trade would never have reached the proportions it did if it had not been fostered by men of the same race and color as those who suffered by it. Thus it was that Toussaint's father became a slave on the estate where Toussaint was born, but fortunately in M. Noé, the proprietor, he had a kind and enlightened master, who studied the welfare of his slaves, and whose efforts for the amelioration of their condition was ably seconded by M. Bayou de Libertas, his superintendent.
Toussaint is said to have been of delicate constitution as a child, but at the age of 12 he surpassed all the young slaves on the plantation in various sports and exercises. As one of his biographers remarks, the spirit of the man must already have been working in the boy. The duty of the young slaves was chiefly to look after the flocks and herds of their masters; in this way was Toussaint employed in his early, years, and in his solitary rambles he no doubt cultivated that self control and power of concentrated reflection which distinguished him in his later years. He had no book learning; a slave was fortunate indeed, if he acquired even the rudiments of knowledge ; but he had what is better still, native ability, and, while there is little doubt that even as a boy he became tolerably proficient in reading and writing under the instruction of his godfather, a slave named Pierre Baptiste, he also acquired from his father a knowledge of the medicinal properties of various herbs, which was subsequently of great service to him. Being a thoughtful lad, it may be that even at this early period of his life he formed the first dim conception of being the coming liberator of his race, for he could not but perceive the great evils of the system of slavery which prevailed throughout the island, and a man who is born to greatness, cannot fail even in his youth to have some faint glimmering of his future destiny. In course of time Toussaint's uniform good conduct procured him advancement, M. Bayou de Libertas appointed him his coachman, a post that brought many advantages with it, and afterwards he was still further promoted by being made steward of the implements used on the plantation in the manufacture of sugar.
His meritorious character commanded general respect; he was esteemed even by the free blacks, who as a general rule despised their enslaved brethren, and he was held in great consideration by the planters. Why should he seek for a change ? About this time he obtained a copy of the Abbe Raynall's work on the evils of slavery, and in it he would read such passages as this: "Liberty is everyone's own property. There are three kinds of liberty, natural liberty, civil liberty and political liberty, that is to say, the liberty of the man, the liberty of the citizen and the liberty of the community. Natural liberty is the right which nature has given to everyone to dispose of himself according to his own will. Civil liberty is the right which society ought to guarantee to every citizen to do all that is not contrary to the laws. Political liberty is the condition of a people which has not alienated its own sovereignty, and which makes its own laws, and which is in part, associated in its legislation. The first of these liberties is next to reason the distinctive characteristic of man." Such words as these could not but sink deep into Toussaint's mind.
Toussaint was nearly 50 years old before he entered on his public career, and took part in that great conflict which ultimately resulted in the liberation of the slaves and the establishment of St. Domingo as an independent republic. Santo Domingo, sometimes called "The Queen of the Antilles," is one of the West Indian Islands, discovered by Columbus in 1492, and is about the size of Ireland. Its climate is perhaps the finest in the world, and its natural richness and fertility cannot be surpassed, and at one time it was well styled "The Paradise of the New World ;" but there more perhaps than in any other country has the beautiful face of nature been darkly clouded by the cruelty and rapacity of man. The aboriginal natives, a race of Indians, were of a simple and unoffending nature, but the Spaniards, who first took possession of the island, pursued them with relentless fury till they well nigh exterminated them. The Spaniards, with that bigotry and intolerance which distinguished them as a nation would not brook the presence of any intruders in their colonial possessions. These refugees, whose homes had been devastated by the Spaniards, joined some Dutch emigrants, and formed themselves into that celebrated band of pirates known in story as the bucaneers of the Spanish main. A remnant of these adventurers, who were principally of French extraction, eventually settled in the western portion of the island, known as Hayti; and this irregular occupation was followed by the cession of that portion to France by the peace of Ryswick in 1697. From that time till the breaking out of the French revolution towards the close of the last century Hayti advanced by rapid strides, and when the troubles commenced which then laid it low it had attained a height of prosperity unparalleled in the history of European colonisation. At one time it was a gold producing country, but the mines had been worked out by the Spaniards, and under the French régime the territory was covered with large plantations, which supplied Europe with sugar, coffee, cotton and indigo. Interspersed among these plantations were thousands of small farms, on which were settled people of mixed blood and emancipated slaves. The great blot on its civilisation was the iniquitous slave trade.
Until the upheaval of society which culminated in the great French revolution, the system of government which prevailed in Hayti was an unmitigated and almost intolerable despotism, of which, as may well be imagined, the slaves were the principal victims. The territory was governed from France, and the administration of its affairs was conducted by a bureaucracy of the worst kind. No people could be contented under such circumstances, and the apparent prosperity of the country was entirely the result of the system of forced labor which prevailed. Representative institutions were unknown in the colony until the year 1789.
With the dawn of the French revolution commences the eventful period of the history of Hayti. The population then consisted of three classes, the whites, numbering about 30,000; the mulattoes, numbering about 24,000 ; and the true blacks, nearly 500,000. There were present all the elements of discord. The whites, who were connected with the administration of the Government, looked on themselves as a privileged class; the white planters were desirous of obtaining a larger share of political freedom than they already enjoyed; the lower class of whites were jealous and envious of those who were better off than themselves, and wanted to acquire wealth and influence ; the mulattoes labored under great disabilities (though they could hold property, and were many of them very wealthy) and they were desirous of their removal, and the unfortunate blacks were so oppressed that a change of condition would be gladly welcomed by them. The effects of summoning the States General in France made themselves felt in Hayti. The colonists evinced a strong desire to participate in the new born freedom, which the small governing class was not ready to accede to them again. The mulattoes, finding that they could not get their claims acknowledged, appealed to the slaves, who responded freely. Buildings and plantations were set on fire with great rapidity, the grossest outrages were committed, and the whites were slaughtered indiscriminately. Within two months from the commencement of the revolt 12,000 of them had perished, several hundred plantations had been devastated, and upwards of 1200 white families reduced from opulence to destitution, while of the insurgents over 10,000 had perished by the sword and some hundreds at the hands of the executioner, by being broken on the wheel. Toussaint took no part in these excesses. Always just and even generous, he had no prejudice against any man on account of his color, and afterwards, when he obtained power, enlisted the services of the best men for the administration of public affairs without regard to their creed, class or nationality. In the meantime he did his utmost to protect his master's property, and finally, when the worst came, sent M. Bayou and his family to Baltimore, in the United States. Compelled in self defence to join the insurgents, he was only employed as a surgeon, on account of his presumed knowledge of simple remedies and skill in the treatment of wounds, but his great ability and force of character procured him promotion. He began to learn the art of war, for which he showed an extraordinary aptitude, and enlisted the services of his French prisoners to give his men the training necessary to make them good soldiers. Never, perhaps did a conflict present more varied combinations or more unexpected collisions. The Republicans of France were arrayed against the colonists whom they had been sent to aid. In some instances the black man's hand was raised against his brother as well as against the white man his oppressor ; maroons or the runaway and disaffected slaves emerged from their mountain fastnesses and resorted to indiscriminate plunder; the mulattoes fought first on one side, then on another and were distrusted by all ; even constituted authorities were arrayed in hostility one against the other ; and the discord was increased by the intervention of the English, who, in response to an appeal from the planters, sent a small expedition to Hayti under General Whitelock in September, 1793, and, with the connivance of the Spanish, took possession of some of the ports.
About this time Toussaint took the name of l'Ouverture, a French word meaning the opening; he had a special mission to perform, and he looked upon himself as the opening, or door, through which the black race was to obtain admission to the temple of freedom. Another version is that the cognomen was given to him on account of the facility with which he made an opening for his men through the serried ranks of the enemy. From being the leader of a guerilla warfare he speedily raised himself to the dignity of an experienced military commander, and mainly by his abilities the negroes were freed. But sudden and violent changes are always dangerous, and Toussaint very wisely determined that their emancipation should be gradual, and that they should remain with their masters for five years after the date of the proclamation of freedom as hired servants, receiving by way of payment one-fourth of the produce of the estates, out of which they were to provide for their subsistence. Lofty, indeed, was now the position of Toussaint l'Ouverture, but still higher honors were in store for him. He suppressed the slave trade, hoisted the flag of the French Republic in the city of St. Domingo on 2nd January, 1801, and left his brother Paul in command. He then devoted himself to the work of improving the civil administration of the territory, and promoting the arts of peace. In this he was as successful as he had been in war. Everyone had confidence in him. People of every creed, class and color knew that they would obtain nothing but justice from him, and he induced many of the old planters and superintendents to return to their estates. Under his benign sway as governor of the island prosperity returned, and buildings of an imposing character were erected in the various towns. Very few men can with safety be entrusted with absolute power, and even where there is a multitude of counsellors we see with how little wisdom many countries are governed; but the most beneficial effects resulted from the rule of Toussaint, the once despised negro. While he was highly esteemed by the colonists, by the blacks he was regarded as a messenger from God, and even the mulattoes looked to him with hope and confidence. He maintained a guard of 1800 men, who accompanied him abroad on State occasions.
It would have been well had he proclaimed the independence of St. Domingo. In the year 1801 the peace of Amiens was concluded, and Napoleon, the First Consul, had time to turn his attention to the state of affairs in Hayti. His army at that time wanted employment, and he chose to look on the drawing up of a constitution for the island by Toussaint as an act of contumacy, and determined to send out an expedition. Well might the negro chief be troubled when he heard the news. "In France," said he to a departing colonist, "I am represented as an independent power, and therefore they are arming against me, who refused General Maitland to establish my independence under the protection of England, and who always rejected the proposals which Santhonax made on the same subject. Since, however, you wish to set out for France, I consent to it ; but at least let your voyage be useful to the colony. I will send by you letters to the First Consul, and I will entreat him to listen to you. Make him acquainted with me, with the prosperous state of the agriculture and commerce of the colony, with what I have done. Twenty times have I written to Buonaparte, asking him to send civil commissioners, to despatch hither the old colonists, whites instructed in administering public affairs, good machinists, good workmen— he has never replied. Make him sensible that in ruining me he ruins the blacks, and not only St. Domingo, but all the western colonies. If Buonaparte is the first man in France, I am the first man in the archipelago of the Antilles. I took up arms for the freedom of my color, which France alone proclaimed, but which she has no right to nullify. Our liberty is no longer in her hands ; it is our own. We will defend it or perish." In placing the draft of the constitution before Napoleon Colonel Vincent submitted with it the following statement : — "At the head of so many resources is a man the most active and indefatigable that can possibly be imagined. It may be strictly said that he is everywhere, and especially at the point where sound judgment and danger would show his presence to be most essential ; his great moderation, his power peculiar to himself of never needing rest, and his other qualifications make him a man so superior to all around him that respect and submission go to the extent of fanaticism in a very great number of persons. It may be affirmed that no man of the present day has acquired over an ignorant mass the boundless power obtained by General Toussaint over his brethren in St. Domingo. He is the absolute master of the island, and nothing can counteract his wishes, whatever they are, although some distinguished men know and fear the extent to which his views proceed." This language so displeased Napoleon that he banished Vincent to the Island of Elba, to which at a later period he was banished himself.
The spirit of freedom had been abroad in France, but it was destined soon to depart, for this restoration of slavery in the French colonies was resolved on in the legislative body. In order to carry out his purpose, Bonaparte practised a piece of deception on Toussaint's two sons, who were then at school in Paris "Your father;" said he to them, "is a great man. He has rendered eminent services to France. You will tell him that I, the first magistrate of the French people, promise him protection, glory and honor. Do not think that France intends to carry war to St Domingo. The army, which it sends thither, is destined not to attack the troops of the country, but to augment their numbers. General Le Clerc, my brother-in-law, will command the armament, and you will arrive in St. Domingo a fortnight before the fleet to announce to your father the coming of the expedition." Napoleon, having deceived the two young men, hoped also to deceive their father, but the negro chief could not fail to perceive that this display of force was not being made with any friendly object. The expedition was undertaken on an extensive scale. It consisted of a fleet of 21 frigates and 35 vessels of war, and there were 30,000 soldiers on board. In due course the fleet arrived at the island, and rendezvoused in the Bay of Samaria. The ports were then regularly invested, as if it was an enemy that was being dealt with, but there was no formal declaration of hostilities. The black troops fled before the French soldiery. After several towns had been fired peace was restored. Toussaint laid down his command and retired into obscurity. But another enemy now appeared more fearful than fire, or the sword to strike down the invading hosts of the French. Yellow fever, against the ravages of which the blacks were proof, broke out among them, and in a very short time no fewer than 1500 officers and 20,000 soldiers fell victims to it. But still the blacks held back ; the peace, which had been proclaimed, was honorably kept on their side. Toussaint's pledged word had been given to abstain from hostilities. Napoleon's secret object was to re-establish the old system of slavery, but it would have been futile to attempt it while Toussaint remained on the island. He determined therefore to secure the negro chief, for whom a trap was set, into which he walked unsuspectingly. At midnight he was placed on board a French frigate and taken to the Cape, thence with his wife and family he was conveyed to France. As they sailed away he gazed long at the fast disappearing mountains of the land for which he had done so much, and at length remarked, "They have only felled the trunk of the tree, the branches will sprout, for the roots are numerous and deep." On his arrival off the coast or France he was put on shore at Brest, and after bidding what proved to be a last farewell to his wife and family, was taken to Paris and lodged in the Temple.
Toussaint died in the prison of Joux, near the Swiss border, to which he had been removed from the Temple, in April, 1803, and there is ample evidence that his death was caused by starvation in a cold and damp cell by the express directions of Napoleon. In person Toussaint was of about the middle height and most affable and courteous in his manner. He had a strong memory, an acute understanding and indefatigable industry. He was an excellent horseman, and he kept relays of horses for his various journeys throughout the island, so that he was enabled to travel from one end of it to the other in an incredibly short space of time. An English officer, Captain Rainsford, who visited Hayti in 1799, thus describes his uniform "He wore a kind of blue spencer with a large red cape falling over his shoulders, and red cuffs with eight rows of lace on the arms and a pair of huge gold epaulettes, a scarlet waistcoat, pantaloons, and half boots, a round hat with a red feather and a national cockade, and an extremely large sword."
Toussaint lies in an almost unknown grave and no tombstone marks his last resting place. But his epitaph was written in the hearts of his sorrowing countrymen, and our own Wordsworth enshrined his memory in the following touching lines:—
Toussaint, the most unhappy man of men !
Whether the whistling rustic tend his plough
Within thy hearing, or thy head be now
Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den.
O, miserable chieftain ! where and when
Wilt thou find patience ? Yet, die not; do thou
Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow.
Though fallen thyself, never to rise again,
Live and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee— air, earth and
skies.
There's not a breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee ; thou host great allies.
Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
And love, and man's unconquerable mind.
Leader (Melbourne, Vic. ) April 1893 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198028346
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