The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His AchievementsBrown, William Wells
History
The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements
Brown, William Wells
African Americans -- Biography
Invited by the captain-general of the island to attend a council, the
black hero was treacherously seized and sent on board the ship of
war Hero, which set sail at once for France. On the arrival of the
illustrious prisoner at Brest, he was taken in a closed carriage and
transferred to the castle of Joux, in the Lower Pyrenees. The gelid
atmosphere of the mountain region, the cold, damp dungeon in which he
was placed, with the water dripping upon the floor day and night, did
not hasten the death of Toussaint fast enough. By Napoleon's directions
the prisoner's servant was taken from him, sufficient clothing and
bedding to keep him warm were denied, his food curtailed, and his
keeper, after an absence of four days, returned and found the hero of
St. Domingo dead in his cell. Thus terminated the career of a self-made
man.
Toussaint was of prepossessing appearance, of middle stature, and
possessed an iron frame. His dignified, calm, and unaffected features,
and broad and well-developed forehead, would cause him to be selected,
in any company of men, as one born for a leader. Endowed by nature with
high qualities of mind, he owed his elevation to his own energies and
his devotion to the welfare and freedom of his race. His habits were
thoughtful; and like most men of energetic temperaments, he crowded
much into what he said. So profound and original were his opinions,
that they have been successively drawn upon by all the chiefs of St.
Domingo since his era, and still without loss of adaptation to the
circumstances of the country. The policy of his successors has been
but a repetition of his plans, and his maxims are still the guidance
of the rulers of Hayti. His thoughts were copious and full of vigor,
and what he could express well in his native _patois_ he found tame and
unsatisfactory in the French language, which he was obliged to employ
in the details of his official business. He would never sign what he
did not fully understand, obliging two or three secretaries to re-word
the document, until they had succeeded in furnishing the particular
phrase expressive of his meaning. While at the height of his power,
and when all around him were furnished with every comfort, and his
officers living in splendor, Toussaint himself lived with an austere
sobriety which bordered on abstemiousness. He was entirely master of
his own passions and appetites. It was his custom to set off in his
carriage with the professed object of going to some particular point of
the island, and when he had passed over several miles of the journey,
to quit the carriage, which continued its route under the same escort
of guards, while Toussaint, mounted on horseback and followed by his
officers, made rapid excursions across the country, to places where he
was least expected. It was upon one of these occasions that he owed his
life to his singular mode of travelling. He had just left his carriage
when an ambuscade of mulattoes, concealed in the thickets of Boucassin,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account