The Black Mozart
Le Chevalier De Saint-Georges
By
Walter E. Smith
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Published by AuthorHouse 05/03/2016
ISBN: 978-1-4184-0796-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4184-0795-7 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2004092205
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Table of Contents
Preface
The Beginning of Greatness
Chapter I
Childhood in the Antilles.
Chapter II
Becoming a Gentleman in Paris
Chapter III
Saint-Georges The Composer, Conductor and Musician
Chapter IV
Saint-Georges in London
Chapter V
Return to Paris The Beginning of the Revolution Saint-Georges Serves His Country
Chapter VI
Seeking a New Life Toussaint L'Ouverture and The Haitian Revolution.
Chapter VII
Post Revolutionary Days in Paris
PREFACE
Several years ago, I was working in New York city as a teacher in an after school program to develop a Black Studies Program, when I came upon a book entitled, "Africa's Gift to America," Volume II. It was written by J.A. Rogers. Among the many characters in this well documented book was a brief biography of Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. I had never heard of this man. I read with great interest and surprise about this unbelievable character. I could not believe that a man could have been this talented and famous during his life-time and be so unknown today. I was so surprised and fascinated with this character that I decided to do some research. Fortunately, at the end of this book was a bibliography. Reading about Saint-Georges reminded me that I had graduated from college with a degree in French and did not know at that time that Alexandre Dumas was black. Even after graduate school, I still had not heard of him. I was twenty five years old when I found out that Alexandre Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet and considered the father of Russian literature was of black ancestry. So, it was possible to be educated and not be aware of many important facts about historical figures.
The more I discovered about Saint-Georges, the more I wanted to know. Saint-Georges was an extraordinary man living during a fascinating period in French History, 1789 to 1799, the period of The French Revolution. The fact that he was a mulatto made him even more interesting. France, at this time, had many colonies of slaves from Africa in the Caribbean Islands where he was born.
When Saint-Georges was born on the island of Guadeloupe in 1739, from a union of a wealthy white Frenchman and a slave woman called "La belle Nanon", Louis XV was the King of France; George III was the King of England, and the United States was still a colony. Saint-Georges lived before and during the French Revolution. He grew up during the Enlightenment period and the Age of Reason, a time when the intellectuals were questioning Royalty and the idea of a democratic society. His contemporaries were Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Montesquieu and John Locke, some of the philosophers who criticized French society and advocated expanding more individual freedoms.
Saint-Georges was a great fencer, a composer, conductor, virtuoso, an artful equestrian, an exceptional marksman, an elegant dancer, an accomplished man of his time and one of the most important musicians in France, from 1765 until 1789. He was imitated for his style of dress and copied as a fencer. There was even a book on fencing, by Henry Angelo, who ran a famous academy in London, which used Saint-Georges as a model. He walked among Royalty, and was acquainted with many of the great men of his day, including the Duke of Orléans, the cousin of King Louis XV and the Prince of Wales, later, King George IV.
He served France as a colonel in the army during the French Revolution and made contributions that history assigned to others. Serving under him was a lieutenant colonel, Alexandre Dumas, who later became a general under Napoleon and the father of Dumas, père, the author of The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and many other great works. He fought many duels, and because he was so great with the foil and so gentle as a man, he never killed anyone. He was known as a kind, gentle and generous man. His generosity was illustrated by supporting several poor families. He was mentioned in several "Mémoires"of famous men of his day. He was invited to their estates, rode and hunted with them and shared with them his love of music.
He was famous in Paris and constantly discussed by the Bourgeoisie. He conducted and performed in many concerts. He is the only man I know of with such a great resume, who is not in our contemporary history books. Today, there are web sites, records, CD's, a few books, and several biographical essays written about him. To most of you, I hurry to introduce an extraordinary man, Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges!
The Beginning of Greatness
An elegant carriage with two regal black horses glides on cobblestone streets in Paris, approaching a building that resembles a palace. The year is 1752. The keeper opens the gate, allowing the carriage to enter. The driver climbs down quickly and opens the carriage door. A tall, handsome, apparently wealthy man disembarks first, then he helps a young, bright-eyed, handsome boy down from the carriage. The gatekeeper gasps, then quickly looks away. The wooden door opens and they enter.
"Welcome," says a proper, middle-aged man who has the air of being in charge. He is Monsieur La Boëissière and this is his school, one of the most famous fencing schools for boys in all of France and one of the most difficult to gain admittance.
"You must be Monsieur Bologne?"
"Yes, and this is my son, Joseph Bologne Saint Georges."
Monsieur Boëissière, although shocked, recovers quickly and manages very well to mask these feelings, as a man of his position and class often must. He invites M. Bologne into his larger, elegant office.
"You must realize that this is a little unusual," he says. M. Bologne, looking straight into M. La Boëissière's eyes, replies, "This is my thirteen year-old son who has been accepted into your school. I trust that he will acquire the fine education of which your school is famous. If you have any questions that you would like to ask me, please do so, for I must leave immediately. Urgent business awaits me." M. La Boëissière certainly has questions but dares not ask. He has never faced this particular type of situation before, so he simply declines to voice his concerns. M. Bologne kisses little St. Georges on his beautiful brown, mulatto cheek and quietly departs.
M. La Boëissière takes St. Georges to the courtyard and introduces him to a large group of boys. They all stare unabashedly. Some of them have servants from the French colonies and they understand, although they are surprised to see one of them here. Others have never seen a person of color. After they regain their composure, some of the boys are resentful and walk away; others appr
oach slowly to greet St.-Georges. One of them, Lamotte, who is very short, admires how tall and strong St.-Georges appears and sees the friendliness in his eyes. Lamotte introduces himself to St.-Georges and offers to show him around.
The following day, St.-Georges begins classes with the rest of the boys. The first class is French literature. St.-Georges does well, due to his prior instruction at home. He goes from literature to science, to music, language, and dance. St.-Georges had shown a talent for the violin at an early age, so he chooses to continue. At the end of these classes, all the boys assemble in the arms room to practice fencing. La Boëissière's school is famous throughout France for its fencing program. La Boëissière's père will later become the Master of Arms of the Academy of the King, Louis XV.
After some instruction, the boys pair off. St.-Georges is matched with Roland, one of the boys who doesn't speak to him in private or in front of the instructors. Roland feels insulted, but he dares not let the instructor or M. La Boëissière see him act rudely to any other student. After all, this school is for gentlemen. St.-Georges's natural athleticism helps him to adapt quickly to fencing. Almost immediately, he gets the better of Roland. This infuriates Roland and he begins to hate St.-Georges. Roland tells his best friend, Pierre, that one day, he will make St.-Georges pay for embarrassing him in front of the other boys.
Four years pass. St.-Georges is almost fully developed physically. He excels in all his classes, especially in fencing. He is, in fact, the best fencer at the school. Over time, he fences with the best in his school. Handily, he defeats them all. Lamotte is a fine fencer also, but not as good as St.-Georges. By now, Lamotte is his best friend. They are inseparable. This friendship will last throughout their lives.
After six years, at the age of nineteen, St.-Georges leaves the school.
Chapter I
Childhood in the Antilles.
The island of Guadeloupe was discovered by Columbus in 1493 and has been a French possession since 1635. Guadeloupe is composed of two distinct islands, separated by the Salt River. The smallest of the islands is called Grande-Terre, which is flat, compared to the larger island, Basse-Terre, which has the volcano La Soufrière. This volcano was active during the 17th and 18th centuries during the reigns of Louis XIV, XV and XVI. Guadeloupe consists of several smaller islands nearby, like La Desirade, Marie Galante and Les Saintes. Guadeloupe was a dependency of Martinique until 1775. Even today, all of these islands are still French colonies.
On the larger, beautiful tropical island of Grande-Terre, in the year 1739, a child was born. He was to play an important role in Parisian life during the 18th century. This child was born of a brief union between a slave woman of such great beauty that she was known as "La belle Nanon", (The beautiful Nanon) and a "Grand blanc" (a rich white man or an aristocrat), Monsieur Joseph Bologne, a wealthy plantation owner.
La belle Nanon was so beautiful that all who saw her were struck by her exotic allure. This striking woman bore M. Bologne a handsome son. Although she was then a slave, her son was not, because he was the acknowledged son of a white man who had the power to free any of his slaves.
Little Joseph Bologne Saint-Georges grew more handsome each year, spending his early childhood playing on Grande-Terre, spared of the chores that slave children had to perform. The only unusual thing about his childhood was that he was not a slave, or treated as a slave as some other mulattos were. He was also a little unusual because his skin was a little darker than most mulattos.
Saint-Georges' name at birth was Joseph Bologne, the same as his father. The name Saint-Georges was taken from the finest vessel in the harbor of Guadeloupe. This was to serve him instead of a godfather.
Roger de Beauvoir, in his novel Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1840), gives many details of the early life of Saint-Georges and his mother.1 This book is considered nothing more than a fabrication in many of its tales that cannot be documented, especially about St.-Georges before he was thirteen years old. At his birth on the island, no one suspected that Saint-Georges would ever go to Paris or would become a legend. Although it was common that most aristocrats and artists to write their mémoires, Saint-Georges did not. When it was suggested later in his life that he do so, he responded modestly that he didn't feel that his life would be that important to posterity.
A more recent "biography" was written on the life of Saint-Georges titled Qui était Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges? (Who was the Chevalier de Saint-Georges?) by Odet Denys (1972). According to Denys in his Avant-Propos, his book is based on some memoirs that he found in his parents' home in Guadeloupe after the death of his father. He claims that the inscription on these memoirs read "Mémoires sur le Chevalier de Saint-Georges" (Memoirs on the Chevalier de Saint-Georges). In his book, he does not pretend that these memoirs were written by Saint-Georges but, rather by his best friend, whom he does not identify. From all evidence, St. - Georges's father died in Paris.
A review of his book is given in the Parisian periodical L'Université Française, No. 65, September and October, 1972, by Pierre Grosclaude, who provides a most interesting and revealing comment regarding these "mémoires." He asks:
Did the author really discover one day, in the course of a voyage to Guadeloupe, a roll of yellowed papers bearing as a title, Memoirs on the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, while rummaging in the attic of his old family residence of Pointe-à-Pitre? This manuscript was addressed, so he believed, to his paternal grandfather, in which the narrator appears to have been a very intimate friend of the Chevalier. Perhaps it is only a question of amiable and fictitious creation. Not withstanding: what is essential is that M. Odet Denys, haunted by his Antillean childhood by the figure of this strange known personage, had decided to revive him. For that reason, he at great length and abundantly documented his tale. He drew from dossiers, from material archives, in the administrative Archives of the Minister of War, in the gazettes, newspapers and memoirs of the second half of the XVIIIth century, in the anthologies of the most diverse of authentic documents: from the best historians and before all of the contemporaries of his personage the most convincing evidences...For the remainder, that is to say, in order to supply that which in the exciting life of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, escaped his investigations, he let his imagination run rampant, depicting him in such a manner so as not to exceed certain limits. Thus explains very neatly M. Pierre Cot in the judicious preface that he wrote from this work...2
Since very little authenticated information exists regarding the early years of Saint-Georges, I will occasionally quote from Denys' book, but bear in mind that I, too, doubt the authenticity of much of this information. Although it's a novel, it does make interesting reading and bridges the great gap that exists between Saint-Georges' birth until the age of 13, when his life began to be recorded. I suggest the reader regard Denys as inventive but suspect.
While Saint-Georges was still a young boy, Louis XV granted M. Bologne a large sugarcane plantation in the French part of the island of San Domingo, also called Hispañiola. This island, about the size of Ireland today, is divided into two parts, the French-speaking part is known today as Haiti. The Spanish-speaking known today as the Dominican Republic. Columbus discovered the island of Hispañiola in 1492. The city of San Domingo, was founded in 1496, and is the oldest settlement by Europeans in the western hemisphere. In a tomb in this city lay the ashes of Columbus, supposedly.
M. Bologne's plantation on Guadeloupe produced cocoa and coffee. His new plantation of sugar cane on the much larger island was more promising, as was the island itself. This island boasted the most invigorating economy of all French possessions in America or in Asia.
On the much larger island of San Domingo, Saint-Georges found a very different atmosphere. There were many more slaves, the slave masters there were more cruel. Slavery on this island, in general, was worse than in the American colonies. The French slave owners were brutal and inhumane. The slaves were housed like animal
s, worked harder than animals, and fed so little that they slowly starved to death. A NEGRO CODE was passed in 1685, authorizing whipping. The code number of lashes was set at 39. Later, it was changed to 50. The colonists paid no attention to the CODE and often whipped slaves to death. Animals were treated better and were fed to live a long life, but not the slaves.
There was no end to the imagination of the slave traders, and owners. Even the prisoners in French Guiana, made famous by the story of Papillon, were treated better. They could grow their own food, live separately, and had free time to do as they wished. The treatment of the slaves was a perfect example of an economy based on slave labor.
Here, the slaves were driven to homicidal mania. Poison was the method of choice. C.L.R. James, in his book, The Black Jacobins, gives a vivid accounting of this homicidal mania.
A mistress would poison a rival to retain the valuable affections of her inconstant owner. A discarded mistress would poison master, wife, children and slaves. A slave robbed of his wife by one of his masters would poison him, and this was one of the most frequent causes of poisoning. If a planter conceived a passion for a young slave, her mother would poison his wife with the idea of placing her daughter at the head of the household. The slaves would poison the younger children of a master in order to ensure the plantation succeeding to one son. By this means, they prevented the plantation being broken up and the gang dispersed. On certain plantations the slaves decimated their number by poisoning so as to keep the number of slaves small and prevent their masters embarking on larger schemes which would increase the work. For this reason, a slave would poison his wife, another would poison his children, and a Negro nurse declared in court that for years she had poisoned every child that she brought into the world. Nurses employed in hospitals poisoned sick soldiers to rid themselves of unpleasant work. The slaves would even poison the property of a master whom they loved. He was going away; they poisoned cows, horses and mules, the plantation was thrown into disorder, and the beloved master was compelled to remain. The most dreadful of all this cold-blooded murder was, however, the jaw-sickness--a disease, which attacked children only, in the first few days of their existence. Their jaws were closed to such an extent that it was impossible to open them and to get anything down, with the result that they died of hunger. It was not a natural disease and never attacked children delivered by white women. The Negro midwives alone could cause it, and it is believed that they performed some simple operation on the newly born child which resulted in the jaw sickness. Whatever the method this disease caused the death of nearly one third of the children born on the plantations.3
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