Curious people! they who never hesitated to destroy the whites, guilty or innocent, or massacre, simply because they were white, women and children, down to the very babe at the breast, who invented every species of torture to render death more hideous, were horrified because a man’s head was chopped off, instead of his being destroyed in a fashion to which they were accustomed, and this at a time when white, coloured, and black were vying with each other in arts of bloodthirsty cruelty! The whole country was in terrible confusion; the French had not one man who had the talent or influence to dominate their divided factions; the coloured were represented by such respectabilities as Pinchinat, Bauvais, and Rigaud, but without one of incontestable superiority; the blacks were as yet led by such men as Jean François and Biassou, who must even make the respectable negroes blush to acknowledge that they were of the same race; yet, as I have said, there was one man coming to the front who was to dominate all. Amid the many heroes whose actions the Haytians love to commemorate, Toussaint L’Ouverture does not hold a high rank. And yet the conduct of this black was so remarkable as almost to confound those who declare the negro an inferior creature incapable of rising to genius. History, wearied with dwelling on the petty passions of the other founders of Haytian independence, may well turn to the one grand figure of this cruel war. Toussaint was born on the Breda estate in the northern department, and was a slave from birth; it has been doubted whether he was of pure negro race. His grandfather was an African prince, but if we may judge from the portraits, he was not of the pure negro type. Whether pure negro or not, there is no doubt of the intelligence and energy of the man. Though but a puny child, by constant exercise and a vigorous will he became as wiry and active as any of his companions, and, moreover, gave up much of his leisure time to study. He learnt to read French, and, it is said, in order to understand the Prayer-Book, a little Latin; but he never quite mastered the art of writing. He was evidently trusted and kindly treated by his master’s agent, who gave him charge of the sugar-mills. There is an accusation constantly brought against Toussaint, that of being a religious hypocrite, but his early life shows that it is unfounded. Whilst still a slave, his principles would not allow him to follow the custom of his companions and live in concubinage; he determined to marry, though the woman he chose had already an illegitimate son named Placide, whom he adopted. It is pleasing to read of the happy domestic life of Toussaint, and it is another proof of that affectionate disposition which made those who served him devoted to him.