The answer he had written was, "I have promised this Englishman my protection, and he shall have it." [51] The English, seeing little prospect of conquering him by force, or outwitting him by stratagem, tried to bribe him to their interest. They offered to make him king of St. Domingo, to establish him with a sufficient naval force, and give freedom to the blacks, if he would come over to their side. But the English still held slaves in the neighboring islands, while the French had proclaimed emancipation in all their colonies. He felt grateful to the Republican government of France, and he resolved to stand by it. The only crown he coveted was the freedom of his race. He pursued the English vigorously, till he drove them from the island. Yet he had no desire to harm them, any further than was inevitable for the protection of his people. An English naval officer, named Rainsford, being driven on the coast of St. Domingo by a violent storm, was arrested as a spy. A court-martial was held, at which General Christophe presided, in the absence of General Toussaint. Rainsford was convicted, and sentenced to die. He was put into a dungeon to wait till the sentence was signed by General Toussaint. The women of the island pitied the stranger, and often sent him fruit and sweetmeats. When Toussaint returned, he examined into the case, and said: "The trial appears to have been fair, and the sentence just, according to the rules of war. But why should we execute this stranger? He is alone, and can do us no[52] harm. His death would break his mother's heart. Let us have compassion on her. Let us send him home, that he may tell the English what sort of people we are, and advise them not to attempt to reduce us to Slavery." [52] Having cleared the island of foreign enemies, Toussaint exerted all his abilities to restore prosperity. He discharged the greater part of the regular troops, and sent them to till the soil. At that time, men were afraid to trust to immediate, unconditional emancipation; they had not then learned by experiment that it is the wisest policy, as well as the truest justice. Toussaint feared that when the former slaves were disbanded from the army they would sink into laziness and vice, and thus cause the name of freedom to be evil spoken of. Therefore, with the view of guarding public morals, he instituted a kind of apprenticeship. He ordained that they should work five years for their masters, on condition of receiving one fourth of the produce, out of which the cost of their subsistence was to be defrayed. Regulations were made by which the
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