DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70266#0228
198 kirby’s wonderful museum*
use of his power as a general, as he had no civil power to em-
ploy, He put the vagrant and the deserter upon the same
footing, and they were equally liable to be punished after a
fair trial by a court martial; but so mild were his punish-
ments, (for he had no dungeons of confinement, nor sickly
deserts of exile,) that the severest one for a labourer was the
being obliged to enlist as a soldier.
Such an honourable character could by no means win
the friendship of Bonaparte, then first consul of France;
who, notwithstanding, sent him a treacherous letter by the
hands of General Leclerc, professing the highest esteem for
him, and complimenting his extraordinary talents. Tous-
saint had unfortunately sent his two beloved sons to France
for their education, thus trusting them to French honor and
gratitude! The fond father had anxiously recommended them
to the care and protection of that government, particularly
requesting that they might be brought up in religion.
When the short-lived peace with England (1801-2) had
unchained the French navy, the subtle consul dispatched a
fleet to St. Domingo, commanded by Admiral Villaret, with
an army of at least 20,000 men under General Leclerc.
To take these youths from their studies, and send them out
to inveigle their father, was the project of Bonaparte; and
he had fully resolved, that when he should have got the
Chiefs of the free negroes in the West Indies in his power,
either by force or fraud, they should not live to oppose his
tyranny in future. To this end, he loudly professed for our
hero and his negroes the utmost admiration, gratitude and
esteem; wrote him letters full of praises and promises, and
confirmed the commission of Commander in Chief, which he
held under the former governments of France. While the
unconscious Toussaint was working night and day for the
good of France, by restoring with all his might the tillage
of her richest colony, the French fleet and army were steal-
ing over the §ea to destroy him and his useful labours. They
use of his power as a general, as he had no civil power to em-
ploy, He put the vagrant and the deserter upon the same
footing, and they were equally liable to be punished after a
fair trial by a court martial; but so mild were his punish-
ments, (for he had no dungeons of confinement, nor sickly
deserts of exile,) that the severest one for a labourer was the
being obliged to enlist as a soldier.
Such an honourable character could by no means win
the friendship of Bonaparte, then first consul of France;
who, notwithstanding, sent him a treacherous letter by the
hands of General Leclerc, professing the highest esteem for
him, and complimenting his extraordinary talents. Tous-
saint had unfortunately sent his two beloved sons to France
for their education, thus trusting them to French honor and
gratitude! The fond father had anxiously recommended them
to the care and protection of that government, particularly
requesting that they might be brought up in religion.
When the short-lived peace with England (1801-2) had
unchained the French navy, the subtle consul dispatched a
fleet to St. Domingo, commanded by Admiral Villaret, with
an army of at least 20,000 men under General Leclerc.
To take these youths from their studies, and send them out
to inveigle their father, was the project of Bonaparte; and
he had fully resolved, that when he should have got the
Chiefs of the free negroes in the West Indies in his power,
either by force or fraud, they should not live to oppose his
tyranny in future. To this end, he loudly professed for our
hero and his negroes the utmost admiration, gratitude and
esteem; wrote him letters full of praises and promises, and
confirmed the commission of Commander in Chief, which he
held under the former governments of France. While the
unconscious Toussaint was working night and day for the
good of France, by restoring with all his might the tillage
of her richest colony, the French fleet and army were steal-
ing over the §ea to destroy him and his useful labours. They