arte, under
Le Clerc. Malenfant, therefore, means to state that from 1796 to
1802, a period of six years, the planters and farmers kept possession
of their estates; that they lived on them peacefully, and without
interruption or disturbance; and that the negroes, though they had
all been set free, continued to be their laborers.

Gen. La Croix, who published his "Memoirs for a History of St.
Domingo" at Paris in 1819, informs us that when Santhonax returned to
the colony in 1796, _"he was astonished at the state in which he
found it on his return."_ This, says, La Croix, was owing to
Toussaint, who, while he had succeeded in establishing perfect order
and discipline among the black troops, had succeeded in making the
black laborer return to the plantation, there to resume the drudgery
of cultivation.

But the same author tells us that, in the next year, 1797, the most
wonderful progress had been made in agriculture. He uses these
remarkable words:--_"The colony marched as by enchantment to its
former splendor; cultivation prospered; every day produced
perceptible proofs of its progress. The city of the Cape and the
plantations of the North rose up again visibly to the eye."_ To
effect this wonderful improvement, many circumstances conspired, but
principally the fact that the negroes, being free, had a powerful
motive to be industrious and obedient.

The next witness is Gen. Vincent, who was a colonel, and afterwards
a general of brigade of artillery at St. Domingo, and was there
during the time of Santhonax and Toussaint. He was called to Paris by
Toussaint, when he arrived just at the moment of the peace of Amiens,
and found, to his inexpressible surprise and grief, that Bonaparte
was preparing an immense armament, to be commanded by Le Clerc, for
the purpose of _restoring slavery in St. Domingo!_ Against this
expedition, the General remonstrated with the First Consul, telling
him that, though the army destined for this purpose was composed of
the brilliant conquerors of Europe, it would do nothing in the
Antilles, and would assuredly be destroyed by the climate of St.
Domingo, if not destroyed by the blacks. He stated that every thing
was going on well in St. Domingo and therefore conjured him, in the
name of humanity, not to attempt to reverse this beautiful order of
things. His efforts were ineffectual. The armament sailed, and,
arriving on the shores of St. Domingo, a scene of blood and torture
followed, _such