f duty to the
republic: on the route, General Maitland was secretly informed of
Bourne's treachery; but, in full reliance on the honour of Toussaint, he
determined to proceed. On arriving at head-quarters, he was desired to
wait. It was some time before Toussaint made his appearance; at length,
however, he entered the room with two open letters in his hand. `There,
General,' said he, `before we talk together, read these. One is a
letter from the French Commissary--the other is my answer. I could not
see you till I had written my reply, that you might be satisfied how
safe you were with me, and how incapable I am of baseness.'"--_Quarterly
Review_, volume twenty-one, page 442.

The charge of personal ambition is, above all, contradicted by facts.
If anything is clear in Toussaint's history, it is that his ruin was
owing to his loyalty to France, his misplaced trust in Napoleon, and his
want of personal ambition. He did not, as he might have done, make
himself a sovereign when France was wholly occupied with European
warfare. He did not, as he might have done, prepare his people to
resist the power of the mother-country, when she should at length be at
liberty to reclaim the colony. He sent away the French commissaries
only when, by their ignorance and incompetency, they imperilled the
peace and safety of the colony. He cherished the love of the
mother-country in the hearts of the negroes, to the very last moment--
till the armament which came to re-establish slavery appeared on the
shores--till it was too late to offer that resistance which would have
made him a king. Christophe's view of this part of his conduct is given
in a manifesto, dated in the eleventh year of the Independence of
Hayti:--

"Toussaint L'Ouverture, under his paternal administration, had
reinstated, in full force, law, morals, religion, education, and
industry. Agriculture and commerce were flourishing. He favoured the
white colonists, particularly the planters. Indeed, his attentions and
partialities had been carried to such a length, that he was loudly
blamed for entertaining more affection for them than for those of his
own colour. Nor was this reproach without foundation; for, a few months
before the arrival of the French, he sacrificed his own nephew, General
Moyse, who had disregarded the orders he had given for the protection of
the colonists. That act of the Governor, added to the great confidence
he had placed in the French