ast a great nation had decreed freedom to a poor, debauched, and
servile race. But who should lead them, who should now defend them
against themselves; give shape and system to their undisciplined wishes,
carry them safely through the anarchy of unbounded liberty and
crystallize them into a state whose only sure basis is the Rights and
Duties of Labor, Thought, Speech, and Worship, the Rights and Duties of
Man. The hour has come and the man--Toussaint Breda! from his eyrie near
Dondon, sweeps the horizon. In the east he sees the decadent power of
Spain: it has spoken no word of freedom for the blacks. In the west he
sees the white sails of England: she is hand and glove with the planters
to reestablish slavery. In the north France and Laveaux are nigh death.
France only has proclaimed liberty to the blacks. Toussaint sees the
"opening" for his race and for himself, and from this day he is
Toussaint Louverture--the first of the blacks. Bone of their bone and
skin of their skin, he alone knows their needs, their capacities, and
their hearts. With the clear glance of inspiration he sees the moment,
with the firm grasp of talent he seizes it.

General Laveaux saw this, and through the priest, La Haye, made advances
to him. Toussaint is wise and he is wary; he keeps his own counsel; he
consults not Jean Francois, who had once cast him into prison; nor
Biassou, nor the Marquis Hermona. As usual, he performs his duties; as
usual, he partakes of the communion; as usual, his troops look to him,
and Hermona said: "There exists on earth no purer soul." He has placed
his wife and children in safety; he has ordered his affairs; his horse
stands saddled and bridled; then, tearing off his epaulettes he casts
them at the feet of the Spanish officers, flings himself on his horse,
and rides like the wind out of the camp. The Spaniards are for a moment
paralyzed: they pursue him, but neither hoof nor pistol can reach him.
Toussaint is not to be caught.

On May 4, 1794, he pulls down the Spanish and hoists the French colors.
Marmalade, Plaisance, Ennery, Dondon, Acul, and Limbe submit to him.
Confusion and fear prevail among the Spaniards; joy exalts the negroes.
Laveaux is saved, and the colony not yet lost to France. Toussaint is a
power in the state: the negroes everywhere respond to the sound of his
voice; they look to him as their hero, defender, guide, and guard.
Toussaint sets himself to his work. The whole province of the north soo