Charles Wyllys Elliott

“ He who has done so much for his own race and for the whites, who has shown mercy, when others were blood-thirsty, who has steadily looked to a great end, and has had faith that, in all his good purposes and hopes, he should be sustained by that generous nation, which had poured out its blood like water for freedom—he now hears, with dismay, that that great nation had resolved on something, and the whites said to restore him and his race to slavery ”

“ The hour had come, but not the man: the world waited for him, but none knew where to look, for none believed him to be among the degraded negroes. The old custom of master and slave was broken in pieces, and a nation of men, with no cultivation, with no education in self-government, with none of the conservative strength which hangs about privileges and possessions, and long-honored habit, were now up, inspired only with a hatred of slavery and vague aspirations for that which they knew not how to name. ”

“ The mulattoes wished to share in the spoil. The blacks had an indistinct but obstinate aversion to being plucked at all! This took shape in the brain of Toussaint Louverture: founded, as this idea was, upon the profoundest instincts of human nature, it could not be driven out of these men, not even by whips or bayonets. Toussaint knows what ought to be done, and he alone knows how to do it.
He declares, that no State can be prosperous, but with agriculture as its material basis.
That men of all colors must be secure in their lives, and in the enjoyment of the products of their own labor. ”

“ Few knew whom it contained, few remarked upon it; for such things were common enough in Napoleon’s day, as they were before and have been since. The Castle of Joux, in the high rocks which border Switzerland, receives the prisoner. Alone with his servant, he passes the weary days in inaction,—with crushed hopes, with lacerated affections. He sees his wife, his children, no more—no more the sunny hights of St. Domingo—no more the luxuriant valleys of Ennery. He knows he is doomed; yet his soul is too strong for despair. His letters to Napoleon are manly and simple ”

“ Human nature is one; no one would have changed the life of a man, every faculty in action, for the repose of a dog: not the black Toussaint.
The treaty of Basle had secured the cession of the whole Spanish part of the island to France. Jean François was, therefore, at liberty to retire to Spain, to enjoy his honors. There remained but the English now to distract the plans of Toussaint and the French. One more disturbing element yet existed. The mulattoes felt themselves superior to the blacks, and the rightful successors to the whites, in the honors and government of the island. ”

“ The great man, who has proved himself, knows himself; unconsciousness is the condition of ignorant genius. Toussaint had expressed in deeds, in ACTIONS, the dumb aspirations of his race for freedom, self-development and manhood; he had given them a chance to rise, and they felt it in every throb of their susceptible hearts, and they told him so in their love and loyalty to his person and commands. He was a leader of men, and he accepted his position with its powers and its cares. ”

“ I have thought that a short life of Toussaint Louverture might be desirable for two purposes:—one is, that it may, in some degree, weaken that bitter prejudice of color, which denies the blacks the rights of citizens—which drives them away from the Communion-table—and will not let them enter an omnibus, nor, if it can prevent it, into Heaven. ”

“ Great is he who spends his blood and his life, fighting for liberty—but base is the man who kills and destroys for fame or plunder.
Toussaint sets himself to his work. The whole province of the North soon falls into his hands, and he drives the Spanish ally, Jean François, westward along La Montaigne Noire. Then he hastens into the rich valley of the Artibonite, attacks and beats back the English, and besieges the strong fortress of St. Marc; but neither forces nor ammunition are sufficient and he retires to the mountain fastnesses of Marmalade to recruit his troops. ”

“ Not more sensitive to the breath of the evening air is the tender mimosa, than is Toussaint to the suspicion of danger—he who has suffered and hoped so many years, for the liberty and improvement of the blacks. ”

“ Towards morning, crowds of whites came pouring into Cap François, pale, terror-stricken, blood-stained! Men, women, and children, found the day of judgment was come—none knew what to do—all was confusion—the signal gun boomed through the darkness, warning of danger—and every man stood to his arms. The inhabitants of the city were paralyzed with fear. They barred their doors and locked up their house-slaves. The only living objects in the streets were a few soldiers marching to their posts. ”

“ Grande Rivière, Dondon, Plaisance, Marmalade, and Ennery, the most important places in the north, quickly fell into Toussaint’s hands.
The French Commissioners were getting into straits. The Spanish troops were against them, the blacks were against them, the remaining whites were divided—some wore the black cockade, others the white; the troops and friends of the commissioners, the tricolor; the mulattoes, the red; war was everywhere, and no man was safe but with arms in his hands, and in the strongest party. ”

“ Liberty, development and manhood for the despised blacks. The struggle is against the French nation—no sympathy or aid from without is possible, for England and America are both committed to Slavery. Not only so, but treachery, and weakness, and weariness, are among the blacks—La Plume, Clervaux, and Paul Louverture had succumbed—another blow followed—the defection of Charles Bellair:—and yet another, Maurepas, one of the bravest of his generals. Dark as is the prospect, Toussaint determines to deserve success. ”

“ Sixteen of Toussaint’s generals were chained by the neck to the rocks of a desert island, and left there to die. Men were chained to the stones of the court-yard—blood-hounds tore their limbs asunder, and devoured their quivering flesh. ”

“ He goes like the wind—he counsels—he schemes—he fights—he dares—he goes into the churches of the island, and with few and manly words rouses his people—he strengthens Charles Bellair in the mountain of Verettes—he cheers Maurepas in the northwest—he comes with a small force to Ennery, and the French garrison fly before him—he appears before Gonaïves—he hastens to Marmalade, and sends a new plan of operations to Christophe in the North—he goes to Plaisance, captures a fort, marches his troops to meet Desforneaux, and beats him back. ”

“ Human beings were about him revealing the Infinite, and, more than all, through his own soul God spoke the voice of truth. Books are well, but are not the only educators.
He decided to join his race, and having some knowledge of simples, was made physician of his forces by Jean François. Here he served well as he always did, and learned the trade of war. Shocked at the cruelties of whites and blacks, he took the side of mercy and saved lives from the sword as well as from disease. He saw the vanity of François, the rashness of Biassou, the cruelty of Jeannot. ”

“ Peace was at last come to this distracted island. The Halcyon bird, rocked by the gentle billows, could now hatch its young, and men might pray that the new births would be harbingers of prosperity.
Toussaint rests in the bosom of his family on the estate Deschaux, among the mountains of the Artibonite. He knows himself to be the first man in St. Domingo; the people everywhere accept him as such. This “old negro with a commission from Heaven”—the “maggot rolled in linen,” as some of Hedouville’s followers called him—this “chattel,” prized at 500 dollars, has come to strange places. ”

“ In this chaotic hour, the man who could express this longing for freedom, this need of growth, this aspiration for infinite good, not only in words, but in deeds and in life, was needed: without him all would come to nothing, and the struggle of the blacks would be but a spasm, to end in exhaustion and discouragement; for successful revolutions have been secured by developing from among the unknown the known man, around whom the elements of the new State could gather for new Order. ”

“ Roume was indifferent, perhaps guilty of complicity; and Toussaint sets about this new work. He marches a body of troops into the Spanish end of the island, and, in January, enters the ancient city of St. Domingo, and hoists the French colors upon its ramparts. In February, he announces the pacification of the colony.
The star of Louverture has culminated; from the Bay of Samana on the East to Cape Tiburon on the West his power is everywhere acknowledged and established—a French colony, but controlled by a black, the only man who can order the incoherent elements. ”

“ Horrors were piled on horrors—white women were ravished and murdered—black were broken on the wheel—whites were crucified—blacks were burned alive—long pent-up hatreds were having their riot and revenge. ”

“ The vibration reached across the ocean and shook the heart of France. The friends of the blacks were eloquent, the friends of slavery dumb. The question was pressed, and on the 15th of May, 1791, [16] the National Assembly passed the famous decree which declared that the people of color born of free parents—not the blacks—were entitled to and should be allowed all the privileges of French citizens. The sufferings of the Ogés had sanctified them martyrs. Deep in the hearts of the mulattoes was their memory cherished, and they vowed vengeance; they seized their arms, for the whites threatened. ”

“ The French drew near under Debelle, Rochambeau, and Hardy; they were the troops of Italy and the Nile, twelve thousand strong, before whom this rabble of blacks were to fly like sheep. When they appeared Dessalines opened his gates and called upon all who feared or favored the French to walk out of the fort. Some went, but the rest were the stronger. The French came on with their usual ardor; the firing began; the moment they were within reach of the blacks the batteries swept them down. Four hundred men went down that day, among them Generals Debelle and Devaux. ”

“ Toussaint pronounces an amnesty, and places the slaves at an apprenticeship of five years, giving them a share of the productions. The blacks obey him rather than Hedouville, and the whites are lost in wonder. Many who, in the evening, had looked upon him as a brigand, in the morning knew him as their beneficent deliverer.
The negroes were stimulated to exertion, by the prospect of wealth and manhood, and were sustained in it by the determination of Louverture: no man but the drunkard is wholly indifferent to worldly good. ”

“ He who retires from men, and dreams in the serene solitude of his hermitage, may solace himself with great thoughts, and poetic ideas and vague hopes—he may be a philosopher.
But such is not the fullest manifestation of God. It is when Thought is crystallized into Action; for a good deed is greater than a good word. ”