s.
"Where are the white grains now? You see they have disappeared."

The authorities in France could not but recognize the ability and the
moderation of the black leader, and in 1796 he was appointed
commander-in-chief in the island, a commission which was confirmed by
Bonaparte about December, 1799. All classes and colors regarded him as a
general benefactor and a wise and judicious ruler. Order and prosperity
were restored, and his government was conducted with moderation and
humanity. It looked as though peace and good will might continue in Hayti
as long as this able governor lived, but unluckily he had to deal with a
man in whom ambition and pride of place overruled all conceptions of
justice. This was Napoleon Bonaparte, who had now risen to the supreme
power in France.

Bonaparte seems to have been angered by two letters which Toussaint sent
him, after having completely pacified the island. These were addressed,
"The First of the Blacks to the First of the Whites." The assumed equality
seems to have touched the pride of the conqueror, for he disdained to
answer the letters of the Haytian ruler. Early in 1800 a republican
constitution was drafted under the auspices of Toussaint, which made Hayti
virtually independent, though under the guardianship of France. An
election was held and the liberator chosen president for life.

When the news of this action reached France in July, 1800, Napoleon was
furious. He had just been made First Consul and would brook no equal. "He
is a revolted slave, whom we must punish," he exclaimed; "the honor of
France is outraged." Resolved to reduce the negroes again to slavery, he
sent to Hayti a fleet of sixty ships and an army of about thirty-five
thousand men, under General Leclerc, the husband of Pauline Bonaparte.
Pauline accompanied him, and also several officers who had been former
opponents of Toussaint.

Meanwhile, the Haytien president had not been idle. Having subdued the
French portion of the island, he led his army into the Spanish portion,
which was also reduced, San Domingo, its capital, being taken on January
2, 1801. When the keys of this city were handed to him by its governor,
the negro conqueror said, solemnly, "I accept them in the name of the
French Republic." Yet his conquests in the name of France did not soften
the heart of the First Consul, who was bent on treating him as a daring
rebel. The Peace of Amiens left the hands of Napoleon free in Europe, and
the