administration. In his zeal he pronounced him "the liberator of the blacks."

The knowledge which Toussaint had of the country, and especially of the situation of his old protectors, the Spaniards, enabled him very soon to drive them out from the French possessions. The enfeebled condition of the English forces gave him a good opportunity of at least holding them from any aggressive movements. At the same time he forced the blacks to enrol themselves in the army, or else return to their work upon the plan of Polverel, before alluded to. The commissioner, Sonthonax, upon his return to the island, appointed him general-of-division.

About this time Rigaud, another of the mulatto generals, placed himself in an attitude of independence in the South. He oppressed indiscriminately both blacks and whites, and his command, almost exclusively mulattoes, sustained him in his position. The government was too feeble to resist him, and Toussaint had no disposition to aid them in it, for the design had already formed itself in his breast of setting aside this exhausted government and taking possession of the island for the colored race exclusively. The commissioner soon penetrated this design, and hastened to return to France to make it known. Toussaint, suspecting his intention, sent with him two of his sons as hostages for his devotion to the Republic.

After his departure Toussaint drove the English from Port au Prince, Jeremy, and the Mole. They sought in vain to bribe him to deliver the island to them. His scheme was independence. Failing in this last resort, the English finally evacuated the island, where disease. and defeat had added nothing to the glory of their

arms.

Both Toussaint and Rigaud endeavored to force the negroes to continue their work. They were required to remain upon the farms and not to leave them without

permits. Notwithstanding, many of them fled and became highway robbers. Rigaud erected a prison in which he incarcerated all such.

The French Directory sent out General Hedonville, as their agent, to supervise Toussaint and to arrest Rigaud. He arrived 21st April, 1798. Toussaint refused to aid in the arrest of Rigaud, pleading as an excuse his great services to the Republic. At the same time he proposed to Rigaud to combine against Hedonville and declare the island independent. The prejudice of color, however, extended even to the mulattoes, and a combination with the negroes was repugnant to their feelings. Rigaud rejected these overtures and preferred to combine with Hedonville against the blacks.

This combination was an expiation for his offences, and when Hedonville, in October following, was forced to leave the island, he released Rigaud from all obligation to obey the general-of-division, and appointed him commander-in-chief of the army in the South. Thus commenced the war between the blacks and mulattoes. The whites were already virtually driven from the island. The contest for the mastery was now between the other colors. The mulattoes in Toussaint's army deserted and joined their own color. A bitter and bloody contest ensued. But the blacks were too numerous for the small band of mulattoes. After several desperate conflicts, on 29th July, 1800, Rigaud, Pétion, Boyer, and their followers, abandoned the island and left the old negro Toussaint sole master thereof.

The Consular Government confirmed Toussaint in his plenary powers, and ordered him to take possession of the Spanish portion of the island ceded to the French. by the Treaty of Basle in 1795, which order he executed with but little opposition.

In June, 1801, Toussaint called together such of the white inhabitants as were subject to his will, under the

name of the Central Assembly of St. Domingo, and published a constitution by which slavery was forever abolished in the island, and he was nominated as governor for life. This constitution he formally presented to the French government for their sanction; but, at the same time, made every preparation to maintain it by force. He endeavored, also, to reconstruct the social condition of the island; opened a court around himself; encouraged luxury in his favorites; and sought, by rigorous decrees, to enforce upon the agricultural slaves, a continuance of their labors. Idleness in them was punished by death. In short, he established an iron despotism that knew no law but his will. In this manner he alienated from himself the affections of those whose gratitude for his services would have bound them to him.

In 1801 was signed the Peace of Amiens. The First Consul of France had time now to turn his attention to her colonies. He reviewed the scenes in St. Domingo, and his great intellect soon detected the fatal mistake which the National Assembly had made. That mistake was, in seeking to make equal those whom the Almighty had made unequal. The white colonists, who had fled to Paris, urged him to restore the former order of things. His wife, Josephine, herself a West India creole, doubtless as an eyewitness, gave him a true picture of the condition and capacity of the negro. He resolved to restore the old régime. Le Clerc, his brother-in-law, with 23,000 troops, embarked; and on 5th February, 1802, appeared at the Cape. He demanded possession of the city of the negro commandant, Christophe. He refused; and following the instructions formerly given him by Toussaint, reduced the town to ashes. Leogane, Port de Paix, and Saint Marc, shared the same fate at the hands of their commandants. Other cities were delivered into the hands of the French general.

Le Clerc endeavored to induce Toussaint to acquiesce

in the views of the First Consul, and with this view, sent his two sons (formerly sent to France as hostages) to persuade him to this course. But the old negro's ambition could not be thus restrained. Several engagements were had. In the attempt to take a fort called Crète-à-Pierrot, the French suffered considerably. Le Clerc changed his tactics, and published that there was no intention, on the part of the First Consul, to enslave the negroes; that they should continue to enjoy their liberty. The despotic conduct of Toussaint was now avenged. All of his officers, with but few exceptions, accepted of this overture, and yielded to the terms of the French General. Toussaint was forced at last to treat. He made two conditions: the liberty of his fellowcitizens, and that he should retire to his own estate, retaining his title as General, and his staff. Being subsequently detected in a conspiracy (as it was alleged) against the government, he was arrested and sent to Paris. He was there cast into prison, and soon ended his life in a dungeon.1

After the departure of Toussaint, Le Clerc disarmed many of the negro and mulatto soldiers, removed their officers, put to death several, under various accusations, and then, throwing off the mask, announced the Consular decree restoring slavery. Dessalines, and others of the old negro officers, deserted, and raised the standard of revolt. The mulattoes and negroes now cordially united against the whites, their common foe. They had enjoyed their liberty too long to submit quietly to a reenslavement. Thus commenced the bloody war between

In giving this brief account of this remarkable negro, I have followed chiefly M. Schoelcher, a French abolitionist. There is great conflict among authors in respect to him. Some laud him as the model upon which Napoleon endeavored to improve; others treat him as a traitor and weak tool in the hands of others. I have taken the middle, and I believe the true ground.

the whites and the colored races. The yellow fever, the negro's ally, came to their assistance. The French army were decimated in numbers, and the remainder enfeebled by disease. Le Clerc himself fell a victim to the vomito.

The war was bloody and desperate; no quarter was given on either side. The negroes devastated the country, destroying the crops, and even cutting down the trees. Famine then came to add to the difficulties of the French. Great Britain having declared war against the Consular government, neutral nations could furnish provisions only by stealth.

Rochambeau, the successor to Le Clerc, was an unfortunate appointment. Cruel and despotic, he exercised his unlimited power so as to drive from the French all sympathy. In fact, his exactions upon the French themselves made them his enemies. Besieged and confined in the Cape, he exacted from the inhabitants enormous taxes, to pay for provisions introduced by American vessels. A merchant, who refused to pay 33,000 francs, was shot down in the national palace.

Dessalines finally carried on his siege so successfully, that the French General was forced to capitulate. He and his soldiers were permitted to embark, and thus evacuate the island, with the exception of a small garrison in St. Domingo, under General Ferrand. These bravely maintained themselves until they were expelled in 1809. The treaty of Paris, in 1814, re-ceded that portion of the island to Spain.

On 1st January, 1804, the officers of the army met in convention and declared the independence of Hayti (resuming the aboriginal name). At this time, the civil wars had reduced the population to about 400,000. Dessalines was declared Governor-general, and signalized his entry into office by a proclamation written in blood, justifying and ordering the massacre of the whites remaining in their midst.