Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1853-07-30
A Noble African.
To The Editors Of The Home Journal.

a " W IIuUo'o " Wc ffOWC SOWHuts
Died, on Thursday, June Both, ut his resi-.
dence, in this city, PIERRE ToUssAINT in the
S7Ih year of his age. Ills friends are invited
to attend his funeral, ut St. Peters Church,
Barclay street, on Saturday morning at ten
o'clock.
We cannot allow this brief announcement
to form the sole record of one whose exuni-
pie is, in our view, n higher vindIcation Of
his race, or rather n nobler testimony to the
beauty and force of character, than all the
works of fiction that ianatical invention ever
conceived. Pierre Toussiant for more than
sixty years, has been the most respected and
beloved negro in New York. lie came here
in 1857, with his mistress, whom lie saved
from the horrors of the ST. Domingo Insur-
reciion. They arrived utterly destitute, but
Pierre immediate began the exercise of his
rare talents as hairdresser, and soon became
indispensable to all the ladies aud their chill
dren of New York. Avery few of the brides,
whose dresses he so dantily nrrnyed, yet
survive but, as long ns any of them lived,
Pierre paid them regular visits, aud was
always certain of n kind reception. lie
supported his beloved mistress not only in
comfort but luxury, from the hour of their
landing in America until the day of her
In the meantime he had associated himself
with all the hest fhmilies. The wives and
daughters loved TO listen to his tropical rem
niscences, or his cheerful comments on the
news of the day, as he adorned their heads
Tor The evening party; and the children de-
lighted TO put themselves under his kindly
hnnds,when the time came for a hair-cuttng.
Pierre was thus busy from morning till night,
and onen from night till morning. After the
death of his mistress he married. and was
enabled TO purchase n very good dwelling
house in Franklin street. lie retired from
business with an adequate fortune md
thenceiorth devoted himself to social and
benevolent duty. Ills relations, in the for
mer respect, was threc-iold = first to his
cherished lady friends and their fumilies,
whom lie had attended in youth, and towards
whom he exhibited dsinterested and loyal
attachment, which seemed to belong to past
age or different country, so unique and
touching wns its manifestation; second-to
the French population of New York, TO which
he was ntinched 10y early association and
facility in language and thrdly-to his own
race,the mnss Of whom were so much below
him IN tone of character aud position, that
only fraternnl sentiment, truly Christian,
could have prompted his constant interest in
their welfare, and ready sympathies in their
pleasures and griels: by those so widely
different classes Pierre was both respected
aud beloved. lie moved among them in a
way peculiarly his own. lie possessed sense
of the appropriate, n sell-respect, aud a uni
fOrmity of demeanour, which amounted TO
genius. No familiarity ever made him forget
what was due TO his superiors, and prosperity
and reputation never hardened his heart
toward the less favored of his own GLASS;
For sixty years he attended mnss at six in the
morning ms perpetual as a clock, until pros
trnted by illness. His days and nights were
given to visits, minis:rations to the sick,
attendance upon the bereaved, and attempts
TO rclorm the erring and console the afflicted.
All this he did apparently from INSTINCT
There WINS no consciousness of merit, and
not trace of cant. ale went about doing
good" and seemed to feel the same kind Of
interest in his old patrons as if he was one
of the family. The only journey he made
for half century, was into New England
for the purpose of seeing once more an aged
lady who he feared wns too i'll to return TO
her home in New York. Often strangers
paused 10 look, with curiosity and surprise,
upon the taJleau presented in Broadway, of
the venerable negro, with both his hnnds
clusped in greeting by lady high in the
vivid interest of both us they exchanged
inquiries for each others welfare The last
time | saw Pierre, he wns seated amid n
group of mourners, beside the coffin of a
lady venerated for years in the highest social
sphere in the ci'y. She was almost the last
t tie that bound him TO the pnst. lie had
visited her daily for thirty years, and brought
his offering of flowers; and there he sat with
his white head bowed in grief, aud every line
, of his honest sable face wet with tears. II
;. was beautiful homage to worth-a beautiful
: instance of what may he the dsinterested
: relations between the exalted and the hum
: BILE where the genius Of character, and the
It sentiment of religion, bring them thus TO-
h gether. Pierre wns buried in the cnthedra
y yard, beside his wife and adopted child ant
g his funeral was attended by gentlemen an,
@ menials; his death-be sooihed by the faires
It as well as venerated by the most humble
il representatives of the wide circle include,
i in his sympathies aud attracted by his worth
/ Peace to the ashes Of good, noble, loya
il Pierre Toussaint
o llENRY T. TUcKERMAN.