The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-09-26
TOUssAlNT LoUvERTURE
The Negro Leader Who Fooled On
NapoIeoe'e Projects.

.herance of commercial prosperity
made possible by the peace of Amiens,
which secured the long-desired lib
ertv of the seas" the governmepthad
determined to revive the slave trade in
order to populate the the Antilles more
densely, and create higher market
Admiral Bruix, in behalf of the meas
ure, recalled that among the ancients
slavery had not been inconsistent with
the Love of liberty; that the negroes,
when left to themselves, preferred
manioc to wheat, and sweetened water
to wine; and that they must, tlers-
fore. be enslaved in order to give them
civilized tastes, to make them consume
the surplus of the French harvestand
vintage. AS they were natives Of a
burning cline, there was no cruelty in
carving them to the West Indies.
In pursuance of this barbarousand
brutal policy, Gen. Leclerc, husband
of Pauline Bonaparte, was counts
stoned to conquer San Domingo, Which
! had taken advantage of the doctines
and the feebleness of the revolutln to
/ declare itself independent Bonaarte
may not altogether have underF9H od
the dangers of such an expedition Il
| he did, he must have been-l2s1I
sacrifice his sister; for Nine kss1,rFc
was compelled by her brother, spyoe
of her tears and remonstranc@ TO PC
company her husband The min bddy
of the troops selected for tls eXpeol-
ton was taken from the army OF the
Rhine. A great squadron OF thirty
four frst-rate vessels, twerty frlgates
and numerous transports. With upward
of twenty thousand soldie-s on board
sailed on December IA, 1Sd, and sa1eIy
reached its destination at the emo OF
January, 1909
But Bonaparte's plafs were doomed
to encounter an obstacle IN the most
remarkable man of negro blood known
to modern history Toussaint Lower
ture was the descendant, as he claimed,
of an African chieftain. Highly Gu
dowed by nature, he obtained an ex-
cellent education, and gradually
though born slave, asserted his IN
nate power of leadership, until all the
blacks in San Domingo regarded him
with affection and awe. The influence
of revolutionary doctrines on his lei
low slaves had led him to assert their
liberty. They rose against Their mas
tiers. and a civil war broke outln the
island. 1t was temporarily checdeo py
British interference; but the unaccll'
matted white soldiers fell i'll and died
in such numbers that the English were
compelled to leave the fertile colony
in full control of the negroes. Lower
ture thereupon organized c)nsulal
government in imitation of Bonparte
and with consummate wisdom and un
. paralleled energy inaugurateda civil
lied rule. When summoned by Gen
, Leclcrc to surrender, he refused.
For time his resistance vas sue
cessful. but in the end he vas com
pclled bv superior force to wthd Nv
to the mountains Thence hewas p
ticed by guile, captured, and sn
,, FRANCE. Kept q close prisoneI.N -
: castIe Of JouN in Franche- css1'N7aG "a
-. rigors Of the climate specially destroyed
= his health, and he died on April q
1903. But the heat and mephitic vaport
of his native isle revenged him. A
the French soldiers sickened and dice
of yellow fever, the natives rose in re
bellion against the French administra
, ton, and the ensuing struggle wa
, marked on both sides by horrible bar
barity. In less than two years tn
task Of subjugation became hopeless
and or December !, 1903, Rochambeau
, having succeeded Leclerc, who had re
tired the year previous to die in tn
Tortugas, surrendered 5000 men, I'll
remnants of the expedition, to an Eng
, lish feet.
The splendid domain was thereafte
left to its unhappy fate, and has re
lapsed into semi bar barism. The mag
nifcent French colonial policy, whic
had its supports in San Domingo an
louisiana, collapsed, leaving no trace
) Its mere existence was, however, tn
strongest proof of its authors cor
tidence il a lasting peace. Bonaparte
whatever his disappointment, was ri
of a repu blican general and republiS
an army. 1t was not much in con
0 parison with his hopes, but it wa
something. Prof. Sloane, in Century