The freedmen met at the house of Louise Rasteau, swore their oath, and proclaimed Beauvais and Lambert generals.

It was agreed, therefore, to meet outside the city. The house of mademoiselle Louise Rasteau was chosen, situated behind that of the government, a house which the heroism of the sentiments of its proprietress, a woman of color, recommended to the confidence of her brothers. This meeting took place on 21 August in the night; the conspirators swore the oath to be buried under the ruins of the colony before enduring any longer the odious yoke of the prejudice of the whites. Pétion, until then so reserved, driven by a martial impatience, wished that they should proceed immediately to the organization of a plan of conduct. Beauvais (1), a man of color, and Lambert (1), a Black man, were proclaimed generals. These two great citizens, whom age and experience had formed and made familiar with the profession of arms, deserved in every respect the confidence that was shown them; both had made the campaign of Savannah; on returning to their country Beauvais had devoted himself to public teaching; Lambert had resumed his trade of carpenter; both enjoyed universal esteem. It is well to remark here that from the beginning the *mulâtres* associated the Black people with their operations; the authority shared between Beauvais and Lambert proves that the former had no intention of isolating their interests from those of the latter, as has been only too often insinuated and even published, in order to divide two classes born to live and die together. The assembly could not and should not touch the question of enslavement, which at that time was too new to occupy the attention either of the *mulâtres* or of the free Black people. Lambert accepted his nomination. He deputed Pétion, Ferdinand Deslandes and Caneaux to Beauvais at the Mirebalais. Before separating, it was decided to go and make camp on the Diègue plantation at the Charbonnière, in the mornes that surround Port-au-Prince. Pétion departed by way of the Mirebalais; Beauvais accepted with eagerness the post to which he had just been raised; he took leave of Pinchinat, went down with the deputies as far as Croix-des-Bouquets, where his wife (1) lived, stopped there and promised to be on the Diègue plantation on the 23rd.