Show TOUSSAINT louverture AND TH THE E REPUBLIC OF HAYTI VI SHORTLY after the landing of general leclerc at cape francois cois he M coaston with Tous saints two sons to th the e town of henners Hen neri where toussaint Toussa mt and his family were living when Tous saints two sons and their teacher arrived at henners their father was absent and they spent the first evening with their mother I 1 and the rest of the family but the next day Toussain Tous saini tT returned home aud and his two sons threw themselves into his arms M coaston presented him with a letter from the first consul which he read on the spot the letter was a skillful mixture of flattery and menace if the french flag it said still floats over st i domingo it is owing to you andi addi your brave blacks called by your abilities and the force of circumstances to the command in the island you have put an end to civil war and brought n back into repute religion and the worship of god from whom everything proceeds the constitution which you vou have made contains a number of excellent thin thins things za s but and then follows follow S a few threatening r passages after reading the letter he turned to M j coaston and said which am I 1 to believe the first consuls borc words Is or general leclerca actions the firt first consul offers me peace and yet general leclerc no sooner arrives than he rushes into a war with us however I 1 shall write to the general an attempt was then made to influence him through ea his parental feelings but he put an end to the interview by saying in take back my sons ana and he be immediately rode off the correspondence which toussaint entered into with lee leclerc alerc produced no good result and war began in earnest toussaint and christophe Christop be were declared outlaws and battle after battle was fought with varying success but on the whole however the advantages 1 vanta were on the s side i ide of the french but the success of the french was not entirely the consequence of their military skill and valor but it was partly owing owin also to the effect which the proclamation of leclerc had bad on the minds of the negroes and their corn commanders manders if they were to en jq jov the perfect liberty which these proclamations promised them if they the were to continue free men as the they were now what mattered it whether the french were in possession s on of the island and or not such was the general fedeli feeling ing and accordingly many of tous tons saints most eminent officers among whom were laflame and maurepas Mau went over to the french deserted thus by many of his officers and by the great mass of the negro p population opu lation toussaint supported by his two bravest and ablest generals dessalines and nd ahn christophe i still held oat aud and protracted prow ted the war dessalles Dess if almes 4 was vas besieged in in the fort of crete a pierrot by general ana nearly the wh whole 0 le of the flie fra but he did not give up the defense antil he had cam caused ia the llie I 1 losi lisi 1 to ia hi his s besiegers of 1 about men n in including a number of officers and aid even then 1 raishi foshing To shing n St 6 uthe fot fought tg II 11 x his w wa ay ibrous aud and made gaoa ibisi re treaS y t SAs amt jeor sr t gressot tres sot g ya ta t A y A permitted many of the blacks black 8 to be massacred and issued an 0 order r d er virtually establishing reestablishing re establish no 6 slave slavery ry throughout the island this rash act opened the eyes eves of the negroes who had joined the french army and they deserted en masse and toussaint was again at the head bead of an army army but just as soon as the general general saw that the blacks were all deserting his army army he resolved therefore to fall back on his former policy and on the aoth day of april 1802 he issued a proclamation directly opposite in in its spirit to his former order which asserted the equality of the various races and holding out the prospect of full citizenship to the blacks the negroes were again again n deceived and again again za deserted toussaint christophe too despairing n of any any further success a against in ainest the french entered into negotiations with general leclerc securing as honorable terms as could be desired th the e example ot of christophe was imitated by dessalines Dess ahnes and by paul louver i i ture Tous saints brother toussaint I 1 thus left alone was compelled to submit and add christophe Christop be in securing curing r n good terms for himself had not neglected the opportunity of obtaining n similar advantages za for his commander in in chief and on oil the first day of may 1802 a treaty treaty was concluded between general leclerc and toussaint louverture the conditions of which were that tons toussaint should continue to govern st domingo as hitherto leclerc acting only in m the capacity of french deputy uty and that all the officers 1 in n Tous saints army should be allowed to retain their respective ranks 1 I swear added general L clerc before the supreme being to respect the liberties of III all t the he people of st domingo thus the war appeared to have reach reached ed a happy close the whites and the blacks min mingled led with each other once more as friends and tous saint retired to one of his estates near Gon aives to lead a life of quiet domestic enjoyment but the instructions of napoleon however had been precise that toussaint should be sent as a pr prisoner isoDer to france in order to break the spirit of independence among the blacks and in lu order to rivet the french power in in the island the expedition had bad been one of the most disaster ous that france j had bad ever undertaken A pestilence resembling the yellow fever but more f fatal and terrible than even that dreadful distemper had swept many thousands of the french to their graves what with the ravages of the plague and with the losses in war it was reckoned that men 1500 officers of v various ari ranks among whom were fourteen generals and physicians and surgeons perished in the expedition tion to be continued |