MEMOIR OF GENERAL TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF



IT is my duty to render to the French Government an exact account of my conduct. I shall relate the facts with all the simplicity and frankness of an old soldier, adding to them the reflections that naturally suggest themselves. In short, I shall tell the truth, though it be against myself.
The colony of Saint Domingo, of which I was commander, enjoyed the greatest tranquillity; agriculture and commerce flourished there. The island had attained a degree of splendor which it had never before seen. And all this--I dare to say it--was my work.
Nevertheless, as we were upon a war footing, the Commission had published a decree ordering me to take all necessary measures to prevent the enemies of the Republic from penetrating into the island. Accordingly, I ordered all the commanders of the sea-ports not to permit any ships of war to enter into the roadstead 1, except they were known and had obtained permission from me. If it should be a squadron, no matter from what nation, it was absolutely prohibited from entering the port, or even the roadstead, unless I should myself know where it came from, and the port from which it sailed.
This order was in force, when, on the 26th of January, 1802, a squadron appeared before the Cape. At that time I had left this town to visit the Spanish part, Santo Domingo, for the purpose of inspecting the agriculture. On setting out from Maguâna, I had despatched one of my aides-de-camp to Gen. Dessalines, Commander-in-chief of the departments of the West and South, who was then at St. Marc, to order him to join me at Gonaïves, or at St. Michel, to accompany me on my journey.
At the time of the squadron's appearance, I was at Santo Domingo, from which place I set out, three days after, to go to Hinche. Passing by Banique, arriving at Papayes, I met my aide-de-camp Couppé and an officer sent by Gen. Christophe, who brought me a letter from the general, by which he informed me of the arrival of the French squadron before the Cape, and assured me that the General-in-chief commanding this squadron had not done him the honor to write to him, but had only sent an officer to order him to prepare accommodations for his forces; that Gen. Christophe having demanded of this officer whether he was the bearer of letter to him or of dispatches for the General-in-chief, Toussaint L'Ouverture, requesting him to send them to him, that they might reach him at once, this officer replied to him, that he was not charged with any, and that it was not, in fact, a question concerning Gen. Toussaint. "Surrender the town," he continued; "you will be well recompensed; the French Government sends you presents." To which Gen. Christophe replied, "Since you have no letters for the General-in-chief nor for me, you may return and tell your general that he does not know his duty; that it is not thus that people present themselves in a country belonging to France."

Les Jacobains Noirs selon Aimé Césaire

Aimé Césaire : Une traversée paradoxale du siècle Confiant, Raphaël 2006



Description
Raphaël Confiant dresse un réquisitoire à l'encontre de celui qui, comme l'écrit Jean Bernabé dans la postface, fut la proue et le flambeau des jeunes auteurs créoles. Voici un portrait au vitriol du "père tutélaire" de la jeune génération, selon le mot de Patrick Chamoiseau. De quoi s'est rendu coupable le grand poète martiniquais ? D'avoir dénoncé l'oppression du tiers monde par l'Occident dans son cabinet de poète, par la voix du "Discours sur le colonialisme" (1950), tout en siégeant 47 ans au Palais Bourbon où il a prôné la loi d'assimilation (ou de départementalisation) pour les Antilles-Guyane et la Réunion, votée en 1946. « Les Antilles françaises d'aujourd'hui souffrent d'un péché originel : celui de l'assimilation... Césaire n'a conçu qu'un avenir de province française pour les Antilles » dénonce Confiant. Cette analyse politique vaut pour la culture créole, vidée de sa sève au profit d'un "sérum métropolitain". Or, Confiant, Chamoiseau et Bernabé n'ont eu de cesse d'appeler à la renaissance de la créolité. « Il est temps pour le vieux roi d'aller dormir » écrivait Césaire dans "La tragédie du Roi Christophe". « Les enfants spirituels ont tué leur père. » Thierry Bayle, Le magazine littéraire, avril 1994. Dans cet essai paru initialement chez Stock en 1993, Confiant analyse soixante ans d'existence poétique et politique d'Aimé Césaire, proposant un portrait de l'homme fort éloigné des habituelles hagiographies, et néanmoins empreint de tendresse.