The Hour and the Man, An Historical Romance

by Harriet Martineau

  APPENDIX.

  Those who feel interest enough in the extraordinary fortunes ofToussaint L'Ouverture to inquire concerning him from the BiographicalDictionaries and Popular Histories of the day, will find in them all thesame brief and peremptory decision concerning his character. They allpronounce him to have been a man of wonderful sagacity, endowed with anative genius for both war and government; but savage in warfare;hypocritical in religion--using piety as a political mask; and, in allhis affairs, the very prince of dissemblers. It is true that thisaccount consists neither with the facts of his life, the opinions of thepeople he delivered, nor the state documents of the island he governed.Yet it is easy to account for. The first notices of him were French,reported by the discomfited invaders of Saint Domingo to writers imbuedwith the philosophy of the days of the Revolution; and later accountsare copies of these earlier ones. From the time when my attention wasfirst fixed on this hero, I have been struck with the inconsistenciescontained in all reports of his character which ascribe to him crueltyand hypocrisy; and, after a long and careful comparison of such viewswith his words and deeds, with the evidence obtainable from SaintDomingo, and with the temper of his times in France, I have arrived atthe conclusion that his character was, in sober truth, such as I haveendeavoured to represent it in the foregoing work.

  I do not mean to say that I am the first who has formed an opinion thatToussaint was an honest, a religious, and a mild and merciful man. Inan article in the _Quarterly Review_ (Number seventeen) on the "Past andPresent State of Hayti," so interesting an account is given of the greatnegro, as to cause some wonder that no one has till now been moved by itto present the facts of his life in the form of an historical novel. Inthat article it is justly observed that the _onus_ rests with those whoaccuse Toussaint of hypocrisy to prove their allegation by facts. Iwould say the same of the other charge, of cruelty. Meanwhile, Idisbelieve both charges, for these reasons among others:--

  The wars of Saint Domingo were conducted in a most barbarous spiritbefore the time of Toussaint's acquisition of power, and after hisabduction. During the interval, the whole weight of his influence wasgiven to curb the ferocity of both parties. He pardoned his personalenemies (as in the instance of the mulattoes in the church), and hepunished in his followers, as the most unpardonable offence they couldcommit, any infringement of his rule of "No Retaliation."

  When it is considered that the cruelties perpetrated in the rising of1791, and renewed after the fall of Toussaint, were invented by thewhites, and copied by the negroes (who were wont to imitate theirmasters in all they did), it is no small evidence of L'Ouverture'smagnanimity that he conceived, illustrated, and enforced, in such times,such a principle as that of No Retaliation.

  All the accounts of him agree that, from his earliest childhood, he wasdistinguished by a tenderness of nature which would not let him hurt afly. He attached to himself the cattle and horses which were under hischarge when a boy, to a degree which made him famous in a region wherecruelty to animals at the hands of slaves was almost universal. A manwho lived till fifty, remarkable for a singular gentleness andplacability, ought not to be believed sanguinary from that time forward,on the strength of the unsupported charges of his disappointed enemies.

  Piety was also his undisputed early characteristic. A slave bringing tothe subject of religion the aptitude of the negro nature, early treatedwith kindness by a priest, evincing the spirit of piety from his infantyears, finding in it the consolations required by a life of slavery, andguided by it in a course of the strictest domestic morality, whilesurrounded by licentiousness, _may_ well be supposed sincere in hisreligion, under a change of circumstances occurring after he was fiftyyears of age. The imputation of hypocrisy is not, however, much to bewondered at when it is considered that, at the time when the firstnotices of Toussaint were written at Paris, it was the fashion there tobelieve that no wise man could be sincerely religions.

  As for the charge of general and habitual dissimulation, it can only besaid that while no proof of the assertion is offered, there is evidence,in all the anecdotes preserved of him, of absolute frankness andsimplicity. I rather think that it was the incredible extent of hissimplicity which gave rise to the belief that it was assumed, in orderto hide cunning. The _Quarterly Review_ quotes an anecdote thoroughlycharacteristic of the man, which is not introduced into my story,because, in the abundance of my materials, I found it necessary to avoidaltogether the history of the English transactions in Saint Domingo. Itwas only by confining my narrative to the relations between Toussaintand France that I could keep my tale within limits, and preserve theclearness of the representation. There are circumstances, however, inhis intercourse with the British, as honourable to Toussaint's characteras any that I have related; and among them is the following, which Iquote from the _Quarterly Review_.

  "General Maitland, previous to the disembarkation of the troops,returned the visit at Toussaint's camp; and such was his confidence inthe integrity of his character, that he proceeded through a considerableextent of country, full of armed negroes, with only three attendants.Roume, the French Commissary, wrote a letter to Toussaint, on thisoccasion, advising him to seize his guest, as an act of duty to therepublic: on the route, General Maitland was secretly informed ofBourne's treachery; but, in full reliance on the honour of Toussaint, hedetermined to proceed. On arriving at head-quarters, he was desired towait. It was some time before Toussaint made his appearance; at length,however, he entered the room with two open letters in his hand. `There,General,' said he, `before we talk together, read these. One is aletter from the French Commissary--the other is my answer. I could notsee you till I had written my reply, that you might be satisfied howsafe you were with me, and how incapable I am of baseness.'"--_QuarterlyReview_, volume twenty-one, page 442.

  The charge of personal ambition is, above all, contradicted by facts.If anything is clear in Toussaint's history, it is that his ruin wasowing to his loyalty to France, his misplaced trust in Napoleon, and hiswant of personal ambition. He did not, as he might have done, makehimself a sovereign when France was wholly occupied with Europeanwarfare. He did not, as he might have done, prepare his people toresist the power of the mother-country, when she should at length be atliberty to reclaim the colony. He sent away the French commissariesonly when, by their ignorance and incompetency, they imperilled thepeace and safety of the colony. He cherished the love of themother-country in the hearts of the negroes, to the very last moment--till the armament which came to re-establish slavery appeared on theshores--till it was too late to offer that resistance which would havemade him a king. Christophe's view of this part of his conduct is givenin a manifesto, dated in the eleventh year of the Independence ofHayti:--

  "Toussaint L'Ouverture, under his paternal administration, hadreinstated, in full force, law, morals, religion, education, andindustry. Agriculture and commerce were flourishing. He favoured thewhite colonists, particularly the planters. Indeed, his attentions andpartialities had been carried to such a length, that he was loudlyblamed for entertaining more affection for them than for those of hisown colour. Nor was this reproach without foundation; for, a few monthsbefore the arrival of the French, he sacrificed his own nephew, GeneralMoyse, who had disregarded the orders he had given for the protection ofthe colonists. That act of the Governor, added to the great confidencehe had placed in the French authorities, was the principal cause of thefeeble resistance the French encountered in Hayti. Indeed, hisconfidence in these authorities was such, that he had discharged thegreater part of the regular troops, and sent them back to the tillage ofthe soil."--_Haytian papers_, page 158.

  Such conduct is a sufficient answer to the allegation that Toussaint wasactuated by a selfish ambition, cunning in its aims, and cruel in itsuse of means.

  Some light is thrown upon the character of his mind by the record of thebooks he studied while yet a slave. Rainsford gives a list, which doesnot pretend to be complete, but which is valuable as
far as it goes. Itappears that in his years of comparative leisure he was completelyengrossed by one book at a time, reading it at all spare moments,meditating its contents while in the field, and quoting it inconversation for weeks together. One of the first authors whose worksthus entirely possessed him was Raynal: afterwards, Epictetus, in aFrench translation; then others, as follows:--

  Scriptores de Re Militari.

  Caesar's Commentaries. French translation, by De Crisse.

  Des Claison's History of Alexander and Caesar.

  D'Orleans' History of Revolutions in England and Spain.

  Marshal Saxe's Military Reveries.

  Guischard's Military Memoirs of the Greeks and Romans.

  Herodotus.

  Le Bean's Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres.

  Lloyd's Military and Political Memoirs.

  English Socrates, Plutarch, Cornelius Nepos, etcetera, etcetera.

  Great mystery hangs over the tale of Toussaint's imprisonment and death.It appears that he was confined in the Temple only as long as Napoleonhad hopes of extorting from him information about the treasures,absurdly reported to have been buried by him in the mornes [Note 1],under circumstances of atrocious cruelty. It has been suggested thattorture was employed by Bonaparte's aide, Caffarelli, to procure thedesired confession; but I do not know that the conjecture is founded onany evidence.

  As to the precise mode of L'Ouverture's death, there is no certainty.The only point on which all authorities agree is, that he wasdeliberately murdered; but whether by mere confinement in a cell whosefloor was covered with water, and the walls with ice (a confinementnecessarily fatal to a negro), or by poison, or by starvation inconjunction with disease, may perhaps never be known. The report whichis, I believe, the most generally believed in France is that which Ihave adopted--that the Commandant, when his prisoner was extremely ill,left the fortress for two or three days, with the key of Toussaint'scell in his pocket; that, on his return, he found his prisoner dead; andthat he summoned physicians from Pontarlier, who examined the body, andpronounced a serious apoplexy to be the cause of death. It so happenedthat I was able, in the spring of last year, to make some inquiry uponthe spot; the result of which I will relate.

  I was travelling in Switzerland with a party of friends, with whom I hadone day discussed the fortunes and character of Toussaint. I had thenno settled purpose of writing about him, but was strongly urged to it bymy companions. On the morning of the 15th of May, when we were drawingnear Payerne from Freyburg, on our way to Lausanne, I remembered andmentioned that we were not very far from the fortress of Joux, whereToussaint's bones lay. My party were all eager that I should visit it.There were difficulties in the way of the scheme--the chief of which wasthat our passports were not so signed as to enable us to enter France;and the nearest place where the necessary signature could be obtainedwas Berne, which we had left behind us the preceding day. I had,however, very fortunately a Secretary of State's passport, besides thePrussian Consul's; and this second passport, made out for myself and a_femme-de-chambre_, had been signed by the French Minister in London.One of my kind companions offered to cross the frontier with me, as my_femme-de-chambre_, and to help me in obtaining access to the prison ofToussaint; an offer I was very thankful to accept. At Payerne, weseparated ourselves and a very small portion of luggage from our party,whom we promised to overtake at Lausanne in two or three days. Weengaged for the trip a double _char-a-banc_, with two stout littlehorses, and a _brave homme_ of a driver, as our courteous landlady atPayerne assured us. Passing through Yverdun, we reached Orbe by five inthe afternoon, and took up our quarters at the "Guillaume Tell," full ofexpectation for the morrow.

  On the 16th, we had breakfasted, and were beginning the ascent of theJura before seven o'clock. The weather was fine, and we enjoyed asuccession of interesting objects, till we reached that which was themotive of our excursion. First we had that view of the Alps which, ifit were possible, it would be equally useless to describe to any whohave and any who have not stood on the eastern slope of the Jura, on aclear day. Then we wound among the singular defiles of this mountainrange, till we reached the valley which is commanded by Jougne. Here wealighted, climbing the slope to the gate of the town, while the carriagewas slowly dragged up the steep winding road. Our appearance obviouslyperplexed the two custom-house officers, who questioned us, and peepedinto our one bag and our one book (the Handbook of Switzerland) with anamusing air of suspicion. My companion told them that the aim of ourjourney was the fortress of Joux; and that we expected to pass thefrontier again in the afternoon, on our return to Orbe. Whether theybelieved us, or, believing, thought us very foolish, is best known tothemselves; but I suspect the latter, by their compliments on ourcleverness, on our return. At Jougne we supplied ourselves withprovisions, and then proceeded through valleys, each narrower than thelast, more dismal with pines, and more chequered with snow. The air ofdesolation, here and there rendered move striking by the drearysettlements of the charcoal-burners, would have been impressive enough,if our minds had not been full of the great negro, and thereforedisposed to view everything with his eyes.

  The scene was exactly what I have described in my story, except that agood road, made since Toussaint's time, now passes round and up theopposite side of the rock from that by which he mounted. The old road,narrow and steep, remains; and we descended by it.

  We reached the courtyard without difficulty, passing the two drawbridgesand portcullis described. The Commandant was absent; and his lieutenantdeclared against our seeing anything more than the great wheel, and asmall section of the battlements. But for great perseverance, we shouldhave seen nothing more; but we obtained, at last, all we wanted. Wepassed through the vault and passages I have described, and thoroughlyexamined the cell. No words can convey a sense of its dreariness. Ihave exaggerated nothing--the dim light, the rotten floor, shining likea pond, the drip of water, the falling flakes of ice, were all there.The stove was removed; but we were shown where it stood.

  There were only three persons who pretended to possess any informationconcerning the negro prisoner. The soldier who was our principal guideappeared never to have heard of him. A very old man in the village, towhom we were referred, could tell us nothing but one fact, which I knewbefore--that Toussaint was deprived of his servant, some time before hisdeath. A woman in the sutler's department of the fortress pretended toknow all about him; but she had never seen him, and had no further titleto authority than that her first husband had died in the Saint Domingoinvasion. She did us the good service of pointing out the grave,however. The brickwork which surrounds the coffin now forms part of anew wall; but it was till lately within the church.

  This woman's story was that which was probably given out on the spot, tobe told to inquirers; so inconsistent is it in itself, and with knownfacts. Her account was, that Toussaint was carried off from SaintDomingo by the ship in which he was banqueted by Leclerc (the last of aline of two hundred), weighing anchor without his perceiving it, whilehe was at dinner. The absurdity of this beginning shows how muchreliance is to be placed upon the rest of her story. She declared thatthe Commandant Rubaut had orders from the Government to treat theprisoner well; that his servant remained with him to the last; that hewas well supplied with books, allowed the range of the fortress, andaccustomed to pass his days in the house of the Commandant, playingcards in the evenings: that on the last night of his life he excusedhimself from the card-table, on the plea of being unwell; that herefused to have his servant with him, though urged not to pass the nightalone; that he was left with fire, fauteuil, flambeaux, and a book, andfound dead in his chair in the morning; and that the physicians whoexamined the body declared his death to have been caused by the ruptureof a blood-vessel in the heart. This last particular is known to be asincorrect as the first. As for the rest, this informant differs fromall others in saying that Mars Plaisir remained with his master to thelast day of his life; and we may ask
why Toussaint's nights were to bepassed in his horrible cell, if his days were so favoured; and how itwas that no research availed to discover to the eager curiosity of allEurope and the West Indies the retreat of L'Ouverture, if he, a negro,was daily present to the eyes of the garrison of the fortress, and tothose of all the inhabitants of the village, and of all the travellerson that road who chose to raise their eyes to the walls.

  Our third informant was a boy, shrewd and communicative, who could tellus the traditions of the place; and, of course, young as he was, nothingmore. It was he who showed us where the additional stove was placedwhen winter came on. He pointed to a spot beside the fireplace, wherehe said the straw was spread on which Toussaint lay. He declared thatToussaint lived and died in solitude; and that he was found dead andcold, lying on that straw--his wood-fire, however, not being whollyextinguished.

  The dreary impressions of the place saddened our minds for long after wehad left it; and, glad as we were, on rejoining our party at Lausanne,to report the complete success of our enterprise, we cannot recur to it,to this day, without painful feelings.

  How the lot of Toussaint was regarded by the generous spirits of thetime is shown in a sonnet of Wordsworth's, written during thedisappearance of L'Ouverture. Every one knows this sonnet; but it maybe read by others, as by me, with a fresh emotion of delight, afterhaving dwelt on the particulars of the foregoing history.

  "Toussaint, the most unhappy Man of Men! Whether the whistling rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or thy head be now Pillow'd in some deep dungeon's earless den:-- O miserable Chieftain! where and when Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not: do thou Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow: Though fallen thyself, never to rise again, Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind Powers that will work for thee: air, earth, and skies There's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee: thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies, And love, and Man's unconquerable mind."

  The family of Toussaint were first sent to Bayonne, and afterwards toAgen, where one of the sons died of a decline. The two elder ones,endeavouring to escape from the surveillance under which they lived,were embarked for Belle Isle, and imprisoned in the citadel, where theywere seen in 1803. On the restoration of the Bourbons, not only werethey released, but a pension was settled on the family. MadameL'Ouverture died, I believe, in the South of France, in 1816, in thearms of Placide and Isaac.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

  What Napoleon afterwards thought of the dungeon of Toussaint, is knownthrough an anecdote which I have received from high authority.

  The next occupant of Toussaint's cell was the Duc de Riviere, afterwardsthe first French ambassador to Constantinople. The Duc (then Marquis)was a young man, on the point of marriage with Mademoiselle de la Ferte,when, for some unknown offence, he was thrown into prison at Joux, andapparently forgotten. There he wasted three of the best years of hislife. Mademoiselle de la Ferte never relaxed in her efforts to obtainhis liberation; but she was told, at length, that Napoleon was weary ofher solicitations, and that further efforts on her part would have nobetter result than increasing the displeasure of the Emperor. In thehour of her despair, the kind-heartedness of Josephine came to her aid.The ladies caused a model of the cell at Joux to be prepared--bearingthe most exact resemblance to the horrible abode; and this modelJosephine placed, with her own hands, on the bureau of the Emperor.

  "Ah! fi donc! Quel est ce lieu abominable?" said the Emperor.

  The Empress informed him that it was one of his Majesty's state prisons;to which he replied that it was impossible; that no man could livefour-and-twenty hours in such a den. This brought out the informationthat the Marquis de Riviere had lived three years in it, and was stilllying there, by his Majesty's commands.

  "Otez-moi ca!" cried the Emperor, tartly. "Cette vue me fait fremir."

  The model was removed. The Marquis was presently afterwards liberated.He retired to Germany, where he was met by Mademoiselle de la Ferte,whom he there married. In after-years he was fond of relating theanecdote which I have given, as nearly as possible, in his method andlanguage.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

  For some years I have read whatever came within my reach on the subjectof my present work: so that it would not now be easy to assign myauthority for every view and every statement it contains. Theauthorities which I have principally consulted while actually writing, Iwill, however, give. They are--Rainsford's "Historical Account of theBlack Empire of Hayti;" the above-mentioned article in the _QuarterlyReview_; Bryan Edwards's "Saint Domingo"; the article "ToussaintL'Ouverture," in the "Biographie Universelle;" and the "Haytian Papers,"edited by Prince Sanders.

  Of these, Bryan Edwards, who did not live to complete his history,barely names my hero; and the reports he gives of the Revolution ofSaint Domingo are useful chiefly as representing the prejudices, as wellas the interests, of the planters. The article in the _Quarterly_ isvaluable, as being an able and liberal digest of various narratives;some derived from Hayti itself. Rainsford's book is nearly unreadable,from the absurdity of its style; but it is truly respectable in my eyes,notwithstanding, from its high appreciation of L'Ouverture's character.It contains more information concerning Toussaint than can be found, Ibelieve, anywhere else, except in the Biographie; and it has theadvantage of detailing what fell under the writer's own observation.The Biographie furnishes many valuable facts; but appears, from theinconsistency of various parts, and the confused impression which itconveys as a whole, to be a compilation in which the workman has beenmore careful to record dates and other facts correctly, than tounderstand the personage whose portrait he professes to give. The"Haytian Papers" are the most valuable of all authorities, as far asthey go.

  Of my other personages, all had a real existence, except Monsieur Revel,Euphrosyne, and their servants; some of the planters mentioned in thesecond chapter; the children of Bellair; the Abbess and herestablishment; and some of the visitors at Toussaint's levee; with a fewother subordinate characters.

  Of the real personages, several were probably very unlike what I haverepresented them. I knew the names of some, without knowing theircharacters; as in the instances of Placide and Isaac, Messieurs Pascaland Moliere, Mars Plaisir, Madame Oge, the Marquis d'Hermona, Laxabon,Vincent, and Paul.

  Of others, I knew the character and history, without being able toascertain the names; as in the instances of Madame Dessalines and MadameBellair. Since the issue of my first edition, I have learned that thename of Madame Dessalines was Marie; and her second name, beforemarriage, Claire or Clerc. I have not thought it advisable tosubstitute Marie for Therese in this edition, as nothing could bethereby gained which would compensate for disturbing the associations ofmy readers in regard to one of the chief personages of the story.

  Of others, such as the wife, daughters, and third son of Toussaint,Monsieur Papalier, and the tutors, Azua and Loisir, I knew only thatthey existed, without being able to learn their names or characters.The only character designed to be fully and faithfully accordant withhistory is that of Toussaint himself. Those which have much, but lessabsolute, pretension to historical truth are those of Jean Francais,Christophe, Dessalines, and the other negro Generals, old Dessalines,Bellair, Raymond, the French Commissaries and Envoys, Bayou, and Moyse.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Note 1. I believe the term "morne" is peculiar to Saint Domingo. Amorne is a valley whose bounding hills are themselves backed bymountains.

 

enter>