been made the subject of a noble sonnet
by Wordsworth, of an equally fine eulogy by Wendell
Phillips, of a tragedy by Lamartine, and of a romance, _The
Hour and the Man_, by Harriet Martineau. Auguste Comte, the
founder of positivism, placed Toussaint in his new calendar
among the great modern liberators--Hampden, Cromwell,
Algernon Sidney, Washington, and Bolivar.

On August 25, 1791, was the feast of St. Louis. For the week preceding,
the planters gathered at Cap Francois[35] to concert measures against
the mulattoes; against the National Assembly; and--to dine. The great
men, and the rich, and the brave, were there. It was not a time to drive
the slaves; and during that week they "danced" more than before. On the
evening of August 23d, the best dishes of the cook Henri, a born prince,
whose future no one could suspect, tempted the palates of the born
whites. In brave counsels, in denunciations of the mulattoes, in songs
for Governor Blanchelande and "Liberty," the time passed, the wine
flowed, and hearts swelled. So the shadows of the night stole on. Light!
More light! was called for; they threw open the jalousies; curious black
faces swarmed about the piazzas--but what meant that dull glare which
reached the sultry sky? The party was broken up: they rushed to the
windows; they could smell the heavy smoke, they could hear the distant
tramp of feet. The band, unbidden, struck up the _Marsellaise_; it was
caught up in the streets; and from mouth to mouth, toward the rich Plain
du Nord, passed along the song:

"_Le jour de gloire est arrive!_
_Aux armes! aux armes! pour Liberte!_"

Consternation followed the feast. Each man grasped his arms: into the
midst of the company rushed a negro covered with dust; panting with
heat. He sought his master. Pale with fear and excited with wine, he
received him on the point of his sword. As the life and blood flowed he
gasped, "O master! O master!" Murmurs of disapprobation filled the room,
but it was too late: the hour had come! The slaves had risen. This poor
creature had wished to save the man that owned him.

The rebellion broke out on the plantation of Noe, nine miles from Cap
Francois. At midnight the slaves sought the refiner and his apprentice
and hewed them in pieces. The overseer they shot. They then proceeded to
the house of Mr. Clement: he was killed by his postilion. They proceeded
from plantation to plantation murdering the wh