Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/288

 the governor of the Spanish colony in the other end of the island, who had been directed by his government at home to carry on war against the French commissioners. Toussaint was for some time an officer in the Spanish service, acting under the directions of Joachim Garcia, the president of the Spanish colonial council. In this capacity he distinguished himself greatly. With 600 men, he beat a body of 1500 French out of a strong post which they had occupied near the Spanish town of St. Raphael; and afterwards he took in succession the villages of Marmelade, Henneri, Plaisance, and Gonăives. He was appointed lieutenant-general of the army, and presented at the same time with a sword and a badge of honor in the name of his Catholic majesty. But the Marquis D'Hermona having been succeeded in the command by another, Toussaint began to find his services less appreciated. His old rival, François, did his best to undermine his influence among the Spaniards; nay, it is said, laid a plot for his assassination, which Toussaint narrowly escaped. He had to complain also of the bad treatment which certain French officers, who had surrendered to him, and whom he had persuaded to accept a command under him, had received at the hands of the Spaniards. All these circumstances operated on the mind of Toussaint, and shook the principles on which he had hitherto acted. While hesitating with respect to his next movements, intelligence of the decree of the French convention of the 4th of February, 1194, by which the abolition of negro slavery was confirmed, reached St. Domingo; and this immediately decided the step he should take. Quitting the Spanish service, he joined the French general Laveaux, who — the commissioners Santhonax and Polverel having been recalled — was now invested with the sole governorship of the colony; took the oath of fidelity to the French republic; and being elevated to the rank of brigadier-general, assisted Laveaux in his efforts to drive the English troops out of the island.

In his new capacity, Toussaint was no less successful than he had been while fighting under the Spanish colors. In many engagements, both with the British and the Spaniards, he rendered signal services to the cause of the French. At first, however, the French commander Laveaux showed little disposition to place confidence in him. It is highly creditable, therefore, to this French officer, that when he came to have more experience of Toussaint L'Ouverture, he discerned his extraordinary abilities, and esteemed him as much as if he had been a French gentleman educated in the schools of Paris. The immediate occasion of the change of the sentiments of Laveaux towards Toussaint was as follows: In the month of March, 1795, an insurrection of mulattoes occurred at the town of the Cape, and Laveaux was seized and placed in confinement. On hearing this, Toussaint marched at the head of 10,000 blacks to the town, obliged the inhabitants to open the gates by the threat of a siege, entered in triumph, released the French commander, and reinstated him in his office. In gratitude for this act of loyalty, Laveaux appointed Toussaint lieutenant-governor of the colony, declaring his resolution at the same time to act by his advice in all matters, whether military or civil — a resolution the wisdom of which will appear when we reflect that Toussaint was the only man in the