4J, TJje oj Toussaint 



and comfort of liis early pntron, and 

 (iiidini; liimself, by the destruction of 

 the Noc estate, in a manner freed from 

 slavery, he no longer refused to join 

 the iniairgents. He had now, indeed, 

 ;i most (lowerfnl inducement to act, or 

 seem to act, in unison \vi!h the ne- 

 f!,Toes. Wlien he perceived the great 

 success that attended their operations, 

 and witnessed the merciless cruelties 

 M-hich Ihey dealt forth indiscriminately 

 upon all the whites who fell into their 

 power, he ceased to he a mere speei ti- 

 ter of the contest, and determined to 

 mingle in the tumult, for the purpose 

 of preventing the savage atrocities, 

 which liic negroes, on the first burst of 

 ♦heir vengeance, iniiicte<l indiscrimi- 

 nately upo:i every Euro];can. To tiiis 

 intent lie joined his countrvmen; and, 

 by possessing some little knowledge 

 of medicine, was appointed physician 

 to the forces under tlie command of 

 the negio general, Jean Francois. 

 Once fairly embarked on the <'.eean of 

 public life, his extraordinary abilities 

 Slashed forth with a splendor by far too 

 brilliant for the hnnilile situation which 

 ho originally held. His powers of 

 invention in th;- art of war, and his 

 acute suggestions in matters of civil 

 and domestic policy, gained him the 

 attention of the rebel chieftains ; so 

 that he became successively, and with- 

 in a very short space of time, aid-du- 

 camp, then colonel, next a brigadier- 

 general, and, lastly, eaniniander-in- 

 eliief, and governor-general of St. 

 Domingo. It is notneeessarV to enter 

 into the details of these several promo- 

 tions : KuHiee it to say, that he had no 

 sooner arrived at the head of the com- 

 munity, than he put in practice all 

 his excellent and extensive talents. 



One of the first objects of his care 

 was the cultivation of the soil, — upon 

 which, he well knew, the prosperity of 

 a coui'.try mainly depends. But this 

 he found to b.> no easy task. 'J'he 

 cruelties wliicli tiie negroes had expe- 

 rienced, when in a state of slavery, 

 naturally created in tlieir minds a 

 strong aversion to agricultural labour; 

 and they seemed to entertain so fixed 

 a detestation of any thing like their for- 

 mer condition, that even the very wisest 

 orders of the negro population would 

 liot at first listen to any proposals on 

 that subject, however advantageous to 

 tliemselves, or useful to the commu- 

 nity generally. But Toussaint knew 

 them well ; and, instead of permitting 



the jdanters fo hire labourers at a 

 certain sum per annum, it was fixed 

 by law, that the cultivators of the land 

 (that is, the planters and their ser- 

 vants,) should I eeeive for their remu- 

 neration a third part of the produce,, 

 while the remainder was to be appro- 

 priated to ilie ])ublic revenue. By 

 this device the negroes were induced 

 to return cheerfully to the labours of 

 the field, more especially as the super- 

 intending ollieers were of their own 

 race and ehnracter. But, while their 

 industry was thus encouraged, penal- 

 ties were at the same time denounced 

 against crime and even idleness; and 

 the colony, under this new system, 

 advanced as if by enchantment to- 

 wards its ancient splendor, while cul- 

 tivation was extended with such ra- 

 pidity, that every day made its pro- 

 gress perceptible. 



Having atlaiiied his object in this 

 respect, Toussaint now turned his 

 attention to the general improvement 

 of the people, and soon found his exer- 

 tions crowned with unexpected suc- 

 cess. From their former masters the 

 negroes had obtained an excellent 

 example of polite manners; and, now 

 thattiiey had succeeded them in station, 

 they found no diflTiculty in imitating 

 their habits. The example of Toussaint 

 himself tended n\ore than any thing to 

 preserve subordination and refinement 

 among the jieople. On all public 

 occasions he was sliligently scrupulous 

 of his own behaviour, so that his le- 

 vies were eondurtcd with the utmost 

 decorum, and his private parties 

 might vie with the best regulated so- 

 cieties of Paris. He was very parti- 

 cular, also, with respect to the appear- 

 ance of his stair, and his officers were 

 consequently all very magnificently 

 dressed. But in his own person lie 

 did not indulge in such luxuries; his 

 dress was comparatively plain,* and 

 his ordinary food were a few cakes, 

 bananas or batatas, and a glass of 

 water. IJe Avas exceedingly attentive 

 to the means of reforming the loose 



* His uniform was a blue coat, with a 

 large red cape I'aliiug over the shoulders; 

 red Cliffs, with light rows of lace on t'.ic 

 arms, and a pair of large gold epaulettes 

 thrown back; scarlet waistcoat and panta- 

 loons, with half-boots; round hat and a 

 red feather, and a national cockade. 

 These, with an extremely large sword, 

 formed his ordinary equipment, 



and 



