Miss Martineau's second novel, The Hour and
the Man, grew out of her sympathy and belief
in the coloured race. Toussaint de L'Ouverture,
the devoted slave, soldier, liberator, and martyr,
is the hero. Every scene in which this won-
derful black figures is vividly written. Many
of the minor incidents are but slightly sketched,
and many of the minor characters elude the
reader's grasp. How far this book is a truthful
portrayal of the negro cannot be judged unti
the "race problem" is surveyed with unpreju-
diced eyes. Then and not until then will its
place in literature be assigned. She gives the
same characterisation of this hero of St. Do-
mingo as does Wendell Phillips in his wonderful
speech of which the following is the peroration :

"But fifty years hence, when Truth gets a
hearing, the Muse of History will put Phocian
for the Greek, Brutus for the Roman, Hampden
for England, Fayette for France, choose Wash-
ington as the bright, consummate flower of our
earlier civilisation, then, dipping her pen in
the sunlight, will write in the clear blue, above
them all, the name of the soldier, the states-
man, the martyr, Toussaint L'Ouverture."

The Hour and the Man was published in
1840, and was warmly received by the Aboli-



Harriet Martineau 245

tionists. William Lloyd Garrison, after read-
ing it, wrote the following sonnet to the author:

England! I grant that thou dost justly boast

Of splendid geniuses beyond compare;

Men great and gallant, — women good and fair, —

Skilled in all arts, and filling every post

Of learning, science, fame, — a mighty host!

Poets divine, and benefactors rare, —

Statesmen, — philosophers, — and they who dare

Boldly to explore heaven's vast and boundless coast,

To one alone I dedicate this rhyme,

Whose virtues with a starry lustre glow,

Whose heart is large, whose spirit is sublime,

The friend of liberty, of wrong the Foe:

Long be inscribed upon the roll of time

The name, the worth, the works of HarrietM aetine au.
