Here
he was placed on board a man-of-war, which at once set sail for France.
Napoleon's treatment of Toussaint was one of the dark deeds in his career.
Reaching France, the captive was separated from his wife and children and
confined in the dungeon of a dreary frontier castle. Here, one morning in
April, 1803, Toussaint L'Ouverture, the negro liberator, was found dead.
He had been starved to death, if we may accept the belief of some authors.
The Haytien patriot died in poverty, though he might easily have
accumulated vast wealth. In his official position he had maintained a
degree of magnificence, and Napoleon believed that he had concealed great
riches somewhere in the island. He sent spies to question him, but
Toussaint's only reply was, "No, the treasures you seek are not those I
have lost." The lost ones were his wife, his children, and his liberty.
Treachery is often an error, and Napoleon was soon to find that he had
made a fatal mistake in his treatment of the leader of the blacks. Alarmed
at his seizure, and having no one to control them, the negroes flew to
arms, and soon the revolt spread over the whole island.
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