human
In the name of Christ, who is there?
gpt
I, Toussaint Breda; entreating your pardon, father.
human
Why are you here, my son? There is some misfortune, by your face. You look wearied and anxious. What is it?
gpt
No misfortune, father, and no crime. But my mind is anxious, and I have ventured to break your rest. You will pardon me?
human
You do right, my son. We are ready for service, in season and out of season.
gpt
Let us hear. What is this affair of haste?
human
The cause of my haste is this--that I may probably not again have conversation with you, father; and I desire to confess, and be absolved by you once more.
gpt
Good. Some dangerous expedition--is it not so?
human
No. The affair is personal altogether. Have you heard of any decree of the French Convention by which the negroes--the slaves--of the colony of Saint Domingo are freely accepted as fellow-citizens, and the colony declared an integrant part of France?
gpt
Surely I have. The General was speaking of it last night; and I brought away a copy of the proclamation consequent upon it. Let me see, said he, rising, and taking up the lamp,
human
With your sacred books, perhaps, father; for it is a gospel to me and my race.
gpt
Do you think it of so much importance? asked Laxabon, returning to the table with the newspaper containing the proclamation, officially given.
human
The General does not seem to think much of it, nor does Jean Francais.
gpt
To a commander of our allies the affair may appear a trifle, father; and such white planters as cannot refuse to hear the tidings may scoff at them; but Jean Francais, a negro and a slave--is it possible that he makes light of this?
human
He does; but he has read it, and you have not. Read it, my son, and without prejudice.
gpt
Well!
human
Father, said he, commanding his voice completely,
gpt
In what case, my son? Explain yourself.
human
If I, hitherto a slave, and wanting, therefore, the wisdom of a free man, find myself engaged on the wrong side--fighting against the providence of God--is there not hope that I may be forgiven on turning to the right?
gpt
How the wrong side, my son? Are you not fighting for your king, and for the allies of France?
human
I have been so pledged and so engaged; and I do not say that I was wrong when I so engaged and so pledged myself. But if I had been wise as a free man should be, I should have foreseen of late what has now happened, and not have been found, when last night's sun went down (and as to-morrow night's sun shall not find me), holding a command against the highest interests of my race--now, at length, about to be redeemed.
gpt
You--Toussaint Breda--the loyal! If Heaven has put any of its grace within you, it has shown itself in your loyalty; and do you speak of deserting the forces raised in the name of your king, and acting upon the decrees of his enemies? Explain to me, my son, how this can be. It seems to me that I can scarcely be yet awake.
human
And to me, it seems, father, that never till now have I been awake. Yet it was in no vain dream that I served my king. If he is now where he can read the hearts of his servants, he knows that it was not for my command, or for any other dignity and reward, that I came hither, and have fought under the royal flag of France. It was from reverence and duty to him, under God. He is now in heaven; we have no king; and my loyalty is due elsewhere. I know not how it might have been if he had still lived; for it seems to me now that God has established a higher royalty among men than even that of an anointed sovereign over the fortunes of many millions of men. I think now that the rule which the free man has over his own soul, over time and eternity--subject only to God's will--is a nobler authority than that of kings; but, however I might have thought, our king no longer lives; and, by God's mercy, as it seems to me now, while the hearts of the blacks feel orphaned and desolate, an object is held forth to us for the adoration of our loyalty--an object higher than throne and crown, and offered us by the hand of the King of kings.
gpt
Do you mean freedom, my son? Remember that it is in the name of freedom that the French rebels have committed the crimes which--which it would consume the night to tell of, and which no one knows better, or abhors more, than yourself.
human
It is true; but they struggled for this and that, and the other right and privilege existing in societies of those who are fully admitted to be men. In the struggle, crime has been victorious, and they have killed their king. The object of my devotion will now be nothing that has to be wrenched from an anointed ruler, nothing which can be gained by violence--nothing but that which, being already granted, requires only to be cherished, and may best be cherished in peace--the manhood of my race. To this must I henceforth be loyal.
gpt
How can men be less slaves than the negroes of Saint Domingo of late? No real change has taken place; and yet you, who wept that freedom as rebellion, are now proposing to add your force to it.
human
And was it not rebellion? Some rose for the plunder of their masters-- some from ambition--some from revenge--many to escape from a condition they had not patience to endure. All this was corrupt; and the corruption, though bred out of slavery, as the fever from the marshes, grieved my soul as if I had not known the cause. But now, knowing the cause, and others (knowing it also) having decreed that slavery is at an end, and given the sanction of law and national sympathy to our freedom--is not the case changed? Is it now a folly or a sin to desire to realise and purify and elevate this freedom, that those who were first slaves and then savages may at length become men--not in decrees and proclamations only, but in their own souls? You do not answer, father. Is it not so?
gpt
Open yourself further, my son. Declare what you propose. I fear you are perplexing yourself.
human
If I am deceived, father, I look for light from heaven through you.
gpt
I fear--I fear, my son! I do not find in you to-night the tone of humility and reliance upon religion in which you found comfort the first time you opened the conflicts of your heart to me. You remember that night, my son?
human
The first night of my freedom? Never shall I forget its agonies.
gpt
I rejoice to hear it. Those agonies were safer, more acceptable to God, than the comforts of self-will.
human
My father, if my will ensnares me, lay open the snare--I say not for the sake of my soul only--but for far, far more--for the sake of my children, for the sake of my race, for the sake of the glory of God in His dealings with men, bring me back if I stray.
gpt
Well. Explain--explain what you propose.
human
I cannot remain in an army opposed to what are now the legal rights of the blacks.
gpt
You will give up your command?
human
I shall.
gpt
And your boys--what will you do with them?
human
Send them whence they came for the present. I shall dismiss them by one road, while the resignation of my rank goes by another.
gpt
And you yourself by a third.
human
When I have declared myself to General Hermona.
gpt
Have you thoughts of taking your soldiers with you?
human
No.
gpt
But what is right for you is right for them.
human
If they so decide for themselves. My power over them is great. They would follow me with a word. I shall therefore avoid speaking that word, as it would be a false first step in a career of freedom, to make them enter upon it as slaves to my opinion and my will.
gpt
But you will at least address them, that they may understand the course you pursue. The festival of this morning will afford an opportunity-- after mass. Have you thought of this?--I do not say that I am advising it, or sanctioning any part of your plan, but have you thought of this?
human
I have, and dismissed the thought. The proclamation will speak for itself. I act from no information which is not open to them all. They can act, thank God, for themselves; and I will not seduce them into subservience, or haste, or passion.
gpt
But you will be giving up everything. What can make you think that the French at Cap, all in the interest of the planters, will receive you?
human
I do not think it; and I shall not offer myself.
gpt
Then you will sink into nothing. You will no longer be an officer, nor even a soldier. You will be a mere negro, where negroes are wholly despised. After all that you have been, you will be nothing.
human
I shall be a true man.
gpt
You will sink to less than nothing. You will be worse than useless before God and man. You will be held a traitor.
human
I shall; but it will be for the sake of a higher fidelity.
gpt
So, here ends your career! You will dig a piece of ground to grow maize and plantains for your family; you will read history in your piazza, and see your daughters dance in the shade, while your name will never be mentioned but as that of a traitor. So here ends your career!
human
From no one so often as you, father, have I heard that man's career never ends.
gpt
How lately was it, pursued Toussaint,
human
In a certain sense--in a certain sense, that is true, my son. But our career here is what God has put into our own hands: and it seems to me that you are throwing away His gift and His favour. How will you answer when He asks you, `What hast thou done with the rank and the power I put into thy hand? How hast thou used them?' What can you then answer, but `I flung them away, and made myself useless and a reproach.' You know what a station you hold in this camp--how you are prized by the General for the excellence of the military discipline you have introduced; and by me, and all the wise and religious, for the sobriety of manners and purity of morals of which you are an example in yourself, and which you have cherished among your troops, so that your soldiers are the boast of the whole alliance. You know this--that you unite the influence of the priest with the power of the commander; and yet you are going to cast off both, with all the duties which belong to them, and sink yourself in infamy--and with yourself, the virtues you have advocated. How will you answer this to God?
gpt
Father, was there not One in whose path lay all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and who yet chose ignominy--to be despised by the world, instead of to lead it? And was God severe with Him? Forgive me, father; but have you not desired me to follow Him, though far-off as the eastern moon from the setting sun?
human
That was a case, my son, unique in the world. The Saviour had a lot of His own. Common men have rulers appointed them whom they are to serve; and, if in rank and honour, so much the greater the favour of God. You entered this service with an upright mind and pure intent; and here, therefore, can you most safely remain, instead of casting yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple, which, you know, the Son of God refused to do. Remember His words, `Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' Be not tempted yourself, by pride of heart, to compare your lot with that of Christ, which was unique.
gpt
He devoted Himself for the whole race of man: He, and He alone. But it seems to me that there may be periods of time when changes are appointed to take place among men--among nations, and even among races; and that a common man may then be called to devote himself for that nation, or for that race. Father, I feel that the hour may be come for the negro race to be redeemed; and that I, a common man, may so far devote myself as not to stand in the way of their redemption. I feel that I must step out from among those who have never admitted the negroes' claims to manhood. If God should open to me a way to serve the blacks better, I shall be found ready. Meantime, not for another day will I stand in the light of their liberties. Father, he continued, with an eagerness which grew as he spoke,
human
Say on, my son.
gpt
Having reproved and raised the souls of slaves, would it not henceforth be a noble work for you to guide their souls as men? If you would come among us as a soldier of Christ, who is bound to no side in earthly quarrels--if you would come as to those who need you most, the lowest, the poorest, the most endangered, what a work may lie between this hour and your last! What may your last hour be, if, day by day, you have trained our souls in the glorious liberty of the children of God! The beginning must be lowly; but the kind heart of the Christian priest is lowly: and you would humble yourself first to teach men thus,--`you were wrong to steal'--`you were wrong to drink'--`you were wrong to take more wives than one, and to strike your children in passion.' Thus humbly must you begin; but among free men, how high may you not rise? Before you die, you may have led them to rule their own spirits, and, from the throne of that sovereignty, to look far into the depths of the heavens, and over the history of the world; so that they may live in the light of God's countenance, and praise Him almost like the angels--for, you know, He has made us, even us, but a little lower than they.
human
This would be a noble work, said Laxabon, much moved:
gpt
If it had pleased God, said Toussaint, humbly,
human
It is therefor that we are appointed to guide and help you, my son. You now know my mind, and have received my admonition. Let us proceed to confession; for the morning draws on towards the hour for mass.
gpt
Father, I cannot yield to your admonition. Reprove me as you will, I cannot. There is a voice within me stronger than yours.
human
I fear so, my son; nor can I doubt what that voice is, nor whence it comes. I will pray for you, that you may have strength to struggle with the tempter.
gpt
Not so, father; rather pray that I may have strength to obey this new voice of duty, alone as I am, discountenanced as I shall be.
human
Impossible, my son. I dare not so pray for one self-willed and precipitate; nor, till you bring a humble and obedient mind, can I receive your confession. There can be no absolution where there is reservation. Consider, my dear son! I only desire you to pause.
gpt
Delay is treachery, said Toussaint.
human
This day the decree and proclamation will be made known through the forces; and if I remain, this night's sun sets on my condemnation. I shall not dare to pray, clothed in my rank, this night.
gpt
Go now, my son. You see it is dawning. You have lost the present opportunity; and you must now leave me to my duties. When you can return hither to yours, you will be welcome.
human
No help! no guidance! thought he.
gpt
I am desolate and alone. I never thought to have been left without a guide from God. He leaves me with my sins upon my soul, unconfessed, unabsolved; and, thus burdened and rebuked, I must enter upon the course which I dare not refuse. But this voice within me which bids me go--whence and what is it? Whence is it but from God? And how can I therefore say that I am alone? There is no man that I can rely on--not even one of Christ's anointed priests; but is there not He who redeemed men? and will He reject me if, in my obedience, I come to Him? I will try--I will dare. I am alone; and He will hear and help me.