[21] "Nous avons," said he, "dejà fait la guerre pendant quinze ans." As he seemed to wait for an answer, I observed only, "C'en est dejà trop."--"Mais," said he, "vous voulez la faire encore quinze années; et vous m'y forcez."--Lord Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury; see Annual Register, vol. xlv., p. 696. [22] "Ils ne respectent pas les traités: il faut dorénavant les couvrir de crêpe noir." [23] "The ambassador made a respectful bow, and gave no reply. The first consul left that part of the saloon; but whether he had been a little heated by this explosion of ill-humour, or from some other cause, he ceased his round, and withdrew to his own apartments. Madame Buonaparte followed; and in an instant the saloon was cleared of company."--SAVARY, tom. i., p. 307. [24] See _ante_, vol. ii., pp. 175, 176. "It is to be remarked, that all this passed loud enough to be heard by two hundred people who were present; and I am persuaded that there was not a single person who did not feel the impropriety of the first consul's conduct, and the total want of dignity, as well as of decency, on the occasion."--LORD WHITWORTH. [25] "It is utterly incorrect, that any thing occurred in the course of our interview which was not in conformity with the common rules of decorum. Lord Whitworth himself, after our conference, being in company with other ambassadors, expressed himself perfectly satisfied, and added, that he had no doubt all things would be satisfactorily settled."--NAPOLEON, _Las Cases_, tom. iv., p. 157. [26] For a copy of Napoleon's Instructions to Talleyrand, see Appendix to this Volume, No. I. CHAPTER XXVI. _St. Domingo--The Negroes split into parties under different Chiefs--Toussaint L'Ouverture the most distinguished of these--Appoints a Consular Government--France sends an Expedition against St. Domingo, under General Leclerc, in December 1801--Toussaint submits--He is sent to France, where he dies--The French are assaulted by the Negroes--Leclerc is succeeded by Rochambeau--The French finally obliged to capitulate to an English squadron--Buonaparte's scheme to consolidate his power--The Consular Guard augmented--Legion of Honour--Opposition formed against the Consular Government--Application to the Count de Provence (Louis XVIII.)_ When the treaty of Amiens appeared to have restored peace to Europe, one of Buonaparte's first enterprises was to attempt the recovery of the French possessions in the large, rich, and valuable colony of St. Domingo, the disasters of which island form a terrible episode in the history of the war.