15757: Gillespie on question of Tousssaint's sexual adventures

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "Gillespie, Richard" <rgillespie@towson.edu>


I am responding to Nekita's statements about Toussaint's sexual
adventures.

History is written by human beings and is, therefore, always subject to
bias,
in some situations more so than in others. I certainly cannot say for
certain
if the stories of Toussaint^s amours are true or not, but I think one
should
treat them with a skepticism appropriate to the times.

Following is a quotation from my novel PAPA TOUSSAINT.  The narrator is
Toussaint^s adopted son, Placide. The rumors Placide addresses have an
historical basis.


"Among Leclerc's officers and their wives at the Cape, Toussaint was the
subject of politely concealed derision. His diminutive body lost in the
ornate
uniform he wore, and what they called his clown-like face with its
protruding
jaw and wide-set, bulging eyes were in themselves objects of humor. But
his
appearance was made more ridiculous by recent gossip in circulation at the
Cape.
The gossip averred that General Boudet had recently discovered in
Port-au-Prince a trunk with a false bottom. In the secret compartment were
letters and mementos from prominent white women in the colony testifying
to
their amours with Toussaint.

"The story alleged that Boudet, because of Napolon's condemnation of white
women who had submitted themselves to black men, burned the contents of
the
trunk to protect the women. Before he burned it, however, he showed the
contents to General Lacroix for confirmation of his decision. General
Lacroix,
the story continued, in confidence shared the story with Pauline Leclerc,
who
shared it with all of Saint-Domingue. Many claimed that Lacroix named
names,
but that Pauline, out of compassion for the poor women, refused to
identify
them.

"When I first heard the story some years later, I rejected it out of hand
as
absurd and malicious. But in the years since my father's death, it has
become
such common gossip in France that I feel compelled to comment on it.

"The story is difficult for me to believe because of what I know of my
father's
character. Also, because of his feelings for the inhabitants of
Port-au-Prince
and the little time he spent there, I can think of no reason why he would
conceal in that place anything he wished to keep secret. But even with
such
doubts, I might give the story more credence if I could trace it to Boudet
himself. Although he was put in a position of enmity to Toussaint, Boudet
was a
man of honor. But the story is attributed to Lacroix and Pauline. The
first is
a man of indifferent honesty, and the latter a woman of no honor.

"Over the years, however, I have had other thoughts on the matter. It is
my
opinion that all men of power draw to them women who wish to honor them
with
their favors. I see no reason why that should not have been as true of
Toussaint as it was of Napolon, as true of a black man as of a white. In
perspective to Toussaint's accomplishments, such failings, if true, are of
no
consequence. The ultimate irony is that the source of the story is Pauline
Leclerc, whose life in Saint-Domingue was consumed by her indiscretions
with
men of all colors."

Dick