The Freedmen's Book

by Lydia Maria Child

But not the less I mourn their shame,
Who, mindless of thy gracious will,
Call on the holy Father's name,
Yet keep their brethren bondmen still.

Forgive them, Lord! for Jesus' sake;
And when the slave thou hast unbound,
The chains which bind the oppressor break!
Thus be thy love's last triumph crowned.

TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.

"Everywhere thy name shall be
Redeemed from color's infamy;
And men shall learn to speak of thee
As one of earth's great spirits, born
In servitude and nursed in scorn,
Casting aside the weary weight
And fetters of its low estate,
In that strong majesty of soul
Which knows no color, tongue, or clime,
Which still hath spurned the base control
Of tyrants, through all time."

John G. Whittier.

On the western coast of Africa, a tribe called the Arradas are said to be superior to most of the other tribes in intelligence and strength of will. The son of their chief, named Gaou-Guinou, was seized by a prowling band of slave-traders, one day when he was out hunting. He was packed in the hold of a European ship, with a multitude of other unfortunate victims, and carried to the island of Hayti to be sold. This is one of the largest of the West India Islands, and lies between Cuba and Porto Rico. It was first discovered by Spaniards, who found it inhabited by mild-tempered Indians, leading a very simple and happy life. These natives called their island Hayti, which in their language signified a Land of Mountains. A lofty ridge of mountains runs across it, and gives it a solemn, dreary appearance, when seen in the distance. But it is a very beautiful and fertile island. The high, rocky precipices, piled one above another, look down on broad flowery plains, flowing with water, and loaded with tropical fruits. When the Spaniards established a colony there, they introduced the cultivation of sugar, cotton, and coffee, to supply the markets of Europe. They compelled the native Indians to work so hard, and treated them so badly, that the poor creatures died off very fast. Then they sent men in ships to Africa to steal negroes to work for them. They founded a city in the eastern part of the island, and named it St. Domingo; and the whole island came to be called by that name by European nations.

The French afterward took possession of the western part of the island. Their principal city was named Cap François, which means French Cape. The African prince Gaou-Guinou was sold in the market of that city. He was more fortunate than slaves generally are. He was bought by the manager of a sugar plantation belonging to a French nobleman, named the Count de Breda. He was kind-hearted, and was very careful to employ none but humane men to take charge of his laborers. The condition of the young African was also less desolate than it would have been, by reason of his finding on the Breda estate several members of the Arradas tribe, who, like him, had been stolen from their homes. They at once recognized him as the son of their king, and treated him with the utmost respect. In process of time he married a black slave, who is said to have been handsome and virtuous. They joined the Roman Catholic Church, which was the established religion of France and the French islands. Of their eight children, the oldest, born in 1743, one hundred and twenty-two years ago, was named Toussaint. The day of his birth is not certainly known. It has been said to have been on the 20th of May. But, from his name, it seems more likely that it was on the 1st of November. In Catholic countries, almost every day of the year is set apart to the worship of some saint; and a child born on the day of any particular saint is very apt to receive his name from that day. The first of November is a festival of the church, called All Saints' Day; and Toussaint, in the French language, means All Saints.

In the neighborhood of Gaou-Guinou lived a very honest, religious old black man, named Pierre Baptiste. He had been in the service of Jesuit missionaries, and had there learned to read and write, also a little of geometry. By help of the Catholic Prayer-Book he learned some prayers in Latin, and found out their meaning in French. This man stood godfather for Toussaint at his baptism, and as the boy grew older it was his pleasure to teach him what little he himself knew. The language of the Arradas tribe was always spoken in the family of Gaou-Guinou, but from his godfather Toussaint learned to speak tolerably good French, which was the language of the whites in the western part of St. Domingo. It is said that Gaou-Guinou was allowed to cultivate a little patch of ground for his family, and that some of his fellow-slaves were permitted to assist him occasionally. This indulgence indicates that he stood well in his master's opinion. But, in common with other slaves, it is probable that he and his wife toiled early and late in the fields or the sugar-house, and that their family were huddled together in a hut too small to allow of their observing the laws of cleanliness or modesty.

For several years Toussaint was so feeble and slender that his parents called him by a name which signified "The Little Lath." But he gained strength as he grew older; and by the time he was twelve years old he could beat all the boys in running, jumping, and leaping.