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Updated: June 22, 2025
"He was amiable enough, but so weak that he soon had to go home, where he was presently joined by his successor, Santhonax, whom, you know, L'Ouverture had to get rid of, for the safety of the colony. Then came Polverel. What the tranquillity of Saint Domingo was in his day we all remember." Denis took off Polverel, spying from his ship at the island, on which he dared not land.
From his cell, Laveaux heard in the streets the tramp of horses and of human feet; and from the deck of the Orphee, Polverel watched through his glass the bustle on the wharves, and the putting off of more than one boat, which prepared him to receive news. The news came.
Monsieur Polverel had declared his intention of soon returning to France; and General Laveaux had said that when he was thus left in charge of the colony, he should entreat General Toussaint, who best understood its affairs, to fill the office of lieutenant-governor, and should also be guided in military affairs implicitly by his counsels.
The mention of Port Paix carried back his thoughts to the night when he was last there, heavy at heart, assisting his master to escape. "All is ours, now, through him," said Monsieur Polverel, gazing at his guest, "Yes," rejoined Laveaux; "he is the Napoleon Bonaparte of Saint Domingo." "Who is he? who is Napoleon Bonaparte?" asked Toussaint, roused to listen. "I have heard his name.
It appears then, that the two commissioners, Santhonax and Polverel, aware of the mischief which might attend their decrees, were obliged to take the best measures they could devise to prevent it. One of their first steps was to draw up a short code of rules to be observed upon the plantations. These rules were printed and made public.
They restored therefore the People of Colour to the privileges which had been before voted to them, and appointed Santhonax, Polverel, and another, to repair in person to St. Domingo, with a large body of troops, and to act there as commissioners, and, among other things, to enforce the decree and to keep the peace. This quarrel took place on the 20th of June.
"They are black as the night that is just gone," said the commander, still keeping his eye fixed on the western heights above the town. "See, the sun strikes them now. They are blacks. The negroes under Toussaint himself, very probably. I shall not have the pleasure of carrying you to France just yet, Monsieur Polverel."
Polverel, therefore, seeing the impression which it had begun to make on the minds of the slaves in these parts, was convinced that emancipation could neither be prevented, nor even retarded; and that it was absolutely necessary, for the personal safety of the white planters, that it should be extended to the whole island.
There were those present, however, who lost nothing of what was spoken, and who conveyed it all to the eager ears outside. The black attendants, the gazers and listeners who went in and out, intoxicated with the glory of the negro general, reported all that was said of him. These last few words of Polverel wrought wonderfully, and were instantly spread through the excited multitude.
What has he done?" "He is a young French artillery officer " "A Corsican by birth," interposed Polverel. "Is he really? I was not aware of that," said Laveaux. "That circumstance somewhat increases the resemblance of the cases. His name was known before in connection with the siege of Toulon. But this last achievement is the grand one. He has cleaved the path of the Convention.
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