Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1847-11-18

of the consulate. 1t was great fault to try toI
subject it by force. should have been content
ed with the intermediate government of Touis-
SAINT, 1t was undertaken against my opinion, in
conformity to the wishes of the Council of the
State, who were carried away by the cries Of the
coloniss"
But Napoleon having undertaken to recon
quer the Island, entered upon the enterprise with
all his customary vigor, He collected in the
harbors of France the most powerful fleet which
had ever been sent forth against the New World.
Thirty-fve ships of the line, twenty-one trIgates,
eighty smaller vessels, conveying an army Of 35-
600 soldiers, and all the most formidable engine
ny of modern warfare, sailed from France on the
18th of Dec 1901, to riyet anew the manacles
of slavery upon those arms, now nerved by the
spirit of freedom The inhabitants of st Domin-
90 were entirely unconscious of the storm which
was gathering for their desolatlon. An American
vessel carried the startling tidings to Touissant
of the approach of the fleet The heroic chief
tain exclaimed in words which would have done
honor to the proudest monarch of Rome, "a du-
tiful son, without doubt owes submission and
obedcce to his mother; but if that parent should
become so unnatural as to aim at the destruction
of its own offspring, nothing remains but to en-
trust vengeance to the hands of God. If must
die, will die as a brave soldier and as man OF
honor. l fear no one" Couriers soon announ-
ced to Toussant the appearance OF the fleet IN
the distant horizon. He fastened to the elevated
summit of Cape SANTANA, and mournfully cast
his eye over the enormous armament which was
coming down like an avalanche upon his feeble
kingdom. When he behed the vast array,
,U,i = 10 ,yi4h far tbo
could extend, he was for a moment oyerwhelm-
ed with consternatlon. 1t seemed utterly lmpos-
sible, with any power at his disposal, to meet
such an army. The generals and soldiers who
had such victories over the disciplined troops
of Austria, had come in their pride and power,
to sweep like whirlwind over the plains Of St,
Domingo. owe must all die" he exclaimed in
despair. "France, in body, has come to St,
Domingo Soon, however, he recovered his res
olution, and resolved to summon all his energies
for the most determined resistance. Courlers
were despatched in every direction to arouse the
inhabitants, men women and children, to aid in
repelling the invaders. He knew that it would
be in vain, with his unframed soldiers, to meet
these veterans of the wars of Europe in open
battle; but he resolved slowly to retire before
the foe, disputing every inch of ground, surren-
derng every city to conHagration, applying the
torch to every village and every dwelling, ere it
fell into the hands Of the enemy, and leaving be-
hind to the victors but a barren desert. With
unfdterng energy did he execute his heroic pur-
pose
The French encountered much difficulty in
obtaining pilot to guide the fleet into the har-
Dor of Cape Town. Not a pilot could be found
who would betray his country. They seized a
mulatto, whose name was Sangas, the harbor adj
miral, and putting rope about his neck, threat
ened him with instant death if he refused to pi-
lot the fleet into the harbor; while on the other
hand they offered him reward of five thousand
dollars, if he would guide the vessels through the
intricate and unknown channel. But Sangas,
with virtue which would almost have defed a
Roman, could neither be induced by threat or
bride to aid the enemy. The time secured by
this delay, enabled the blacks to escape from the
town with much of their property and military
stores, and when, a few days after, the French
effected a landing, the only foe they met in the
streets was devourng confagration, which in
few hours left but plain of smouldering ru-
ms IN the place where Cape Town had reared
its ediiices Of opdIence and splendor. The flames
of Cape Town we're almost as destructive to the
French Army, as the subsequent conhagration
of Moscow to the hosts of Napoleon, The sup
plies which the French confidently expected to
find in the place, were all destroyed, and from
the ruins Of the city there arose pestilental va
pors, which, as allies sent by the Almighty to aid
his children contending for their rights, moved
down the invaders more resistlessly than thous
ands of bayonets and bullets. Rapidly how
ever, the sea coasts and the plains fell into the
hands of the French, while the heroic islanders
with the ''sword in one hand and the torch in the
other" slowly retired step by step into the dense
forests and wild ravines and inaccessible fastness
es of the interior Into this savage, painless will
derness, no artillery could be dragged, no horse
men could penetrate, and no solid columns coulC
march onward with their inyncible front. AnC
here Touissant, with the same consumate genera
ship which led Napoleon to the marshes of Rive
Ii, took his stand, and with sleepess vigilance
assailed his foe in every vulnerable point
fro BE CuNTINuED1