The Sun. — London, England, 1816-04-26 00:00:00

Eche Il t e,m ir4 t r e,,t t lasl the judiciary Sense of the wrntil teell. was to shelter . a - man front proseeetion, to withdraw him front the power of t he law, by concealing hint either for a short or, a long time.) 'The accused here recounted the manner in which he had been mysteriously solicited to co operate in the flight of Lavalette front Paris. If passible, said he, I would have effected his escape by myself alone ; for l could not repulse a !nap who bad -put his life into my hands. I, however, obtained hi* coesent to confide his se fret to one of my friends. I spoke to one friend, W! , O gave me a charge to another. I will not name these friends ; they tv4ll name themselves. Q. It was you who receised Lavalette at the b"use of Captain .Hutehinson I—A . . I received him when he was conducted to the house of that per son.whom I have not minted. (lintellinson, who was close to Bruce, bade hila tame him. 3 Presitlent.-,--Thia discretion is very useless, for Messrs. Hutchinson a Wilsoll lift , c denied no -44 you know by the publication of those pieces which have been circulated in a manner so • contrary to our practice. Yo know that Lava lette passed the night at the bailie of Captain Mitchinson, and that Hutchinson does not deny it. BrUee.—lt was not myself who engaged Hut.; ehinson, who authorizes me to pronounce his. :tame, to receive M. tie Lavelette. Genrritl Wilson (rising).—lt was I. The President to NI. Bruce.—There was found at the house of NI. NVilsoo a m emorandum of tin expellee of 200 francs occasioped by Lavalette's joetney: M. Wilson.—M.Bruce paid this sum, and sent me the memoramlum at m y request. The President then interrogated M. Mitchin son, who aereed to all the facts that concerned him. It was at his house that Lavalette slept on she night from the 7th to the 8 h of January. There is no trace of the retreat of Lavalette be tween this period and the 20th of December pre ee4ing. Q (To escorted Lavalette. Yes. on horseback, Q. .Yoe wished no doubt to serve your friends? A. Not so . 1 was actuated by a sentiment of hu manity. Q. But you aid not take ti particular interest — an interest' of the heart, in this : project, because you gave a memoranduns of your expenses to Ge neral Wilson ?—A. I did in, being desired to do 20 but I tteiertheless took great interest in La , valet te. The President to General Wilson.—Did you know Lavalette before his escape ?—A. Never. Q. You tiepin to serve in Egypt ?—A. : began service in Flanders; Q. But you have 'served in Egypt ?----A. Yes, e.• t . Q. You have spread thrOugh Europe, by a ce lebtated WOk, riulrnt snsnicions against the mq vality of certain aeents of Boon Tarte in Egypt?. —A,. It is true ; 1 said that which 1 believed to be troth.. • . . The accused here declared that it was himself alone who made all the dispositiOns, and took all the measures for the escape of Lavalette ; he confirmed all the facts. related iii the Act of /V. ettsation ; headded, thatLaYalette was dressed in an Litt!dish.oniform,' covered With an English Brest colt, and monnted with a hat of the English form Biter here laid hold of the military cap of Hutchinson, and showed it to the President; say ing, it wits snch as that. Q. (To Wilson)--Yon knew that Lavalette.was. eondemned to death by" a Jury3;—.A. Yes, cer tainly ; it was his condemnation that rendered my assistance necessary. Q You knew the crime for which he was eon &silted, for having suppressed the, proclamations of the Kin, tor' having on the 20th of March pat bituself in correspondence with the Usurper, and for having,en-operated hi the return of Buotta- Palle 1-4 t. We are not agreed as t.ei his crime. I believe that Boonaparte undertook this enter• prize without 'any connection in France. Q It is not my business to institute a politi 7 eat controversy. Lavalette wits Condemned for hiving violently seized a public authority; for Orresoniided with Buonaparte, amistop ped the► Xing's proclamations ; and for having deceived the inhabitant* of France as to the true situatiOn of Paris.—A. Much lest of politics than of homanitY mitered into my conthact Bruce, speaking fo me about Lavalette, addressed him , self to my lteert 1 dare Witter myself that his brute and confidence in me have not been deceived. Sir Robert declared further, that Mr. Hutchin son did nothing but by his inflitence, and that, in what he then dUI, he was guided by no political feel ng ‘vh a tioeer, but only by motives of hotna ttitv.—llavinix said this, he'siit down. The Court then proreOed to the examination witnevies. The first riersons impileateti by, their depo , iiions seas Eberle, the bead-tnridtey. Monsieur Roquette, junior, the gaoler, Bodis elm the keeper, and several turnkeys, confirm the circtunstances detailed in theinth c tment,and which pa,rticiilarly inculpated 'Eberle. f t seemed to re sok front the whole of these depositions, that Eherle had left open all the doors between the tbanther of Lavalette and the great wicket in the first part of the prison ; that at the moment 'when the, hell rang, and he went up the cham fer to receive the order to hid the:chairmen be reedy, the disguise was already completed. It is difficult to admit that he did .not perceive it. Instead,Of oheYing the order which Roquette, cots' him to run immediately after the chair, hell,itectly Came back to the prison, and went with ridiculous precaution to shut is Matiame Loyale( te, she a t leash should not come out without rood orders : and while the Minister of Police was intcrrogating the gaoler on the circumstotances &stip of the escape, Eberle saint it was very easy gulp; M a dame de Lavalette from her lintb"d• -- - There was halt 0 head difTerencebetween them.-- " asked Roquette, did you n b ot make that ye Olt ! Doak when it might have been usefol "i y ! iinsg.ered Ile, my v0;101011 was there, nt . + and bad nothing to say Almost Lb aNhole d e fence of tills c ulprit , was wooleds, anti to Onied to. giving the lie 10 tae ore , rein tit, }t•iS tel 00thili ,ituesse g IA m raise. class of poor CiOttil3 tart , tlO Ottttr ex!stetate except Itird and daily lahoor, to presetee With . care the deposition of Brigaq4l, rkiu mason. Guerin, called Marengo, the esnal chairman of Madame Lavalet;e, preiposed to him to tithe the place of his comrade, who probably was not able to aid hint that day. Brigand consented, -- and after several jimmies carried Madame LavaTette to the Conciergerie, and waited for her with Guerin at the guard-louse of the gendarmerie : a little before the - coming out limn the prison,Aie noit Bonneville comes and offers him a glaia of wine, and says to hint, ".You will have i perhaps, a little greater weight than at coming, but yOu must gO with speed t tltet e are 25 louis to be earned." " louis !" says Brigand, " What is to be done for that ? Suck a . sunt is not :offered without cause : fain an honest man; have a wife and children, I Will apt bring them into trouble." " You are then a (one of the worst terms in the French language) : money should he earned when it can." I au► a pour man, but Idu not wish to . atain my subsistence except by honest labour. Bah ! said the other, what du yon risk when Motisiear tells you there is no danger ? CoMe, Marengo, said he, leave all this stuff: come along with me ; same mischief will happen to you : 1 ant going borne ; and with that he threwdown the leather strap, which he used to support the chair. • He returned home, and acquainted his wife with the other which had been "made to Dint, with his refusal. You have done well, saal she.. The next day he learued that the chairmen w et e mprisoned—that Lavalettehad escaped : Oh ! I rave done well, said Cie.. The witness shoived. a - great deal of emotion, ind even shed tears at the necessity of inculpat ing hiscomrside Guerin. We preserve as much ns we can the tone of frankness and natu r e altich the witness exhibited in his deposition. Gentlemen, he said, weeping., do not be offended with, me if 1, did not give in formation at the time : 1 was beside myself. Marengo, connoted Brigand, brought me the wages for my job, and said to use, 5.0 u were wrong in leaving us":' it wits not what you thought ; the chair was stopt on the (play, and it was miss who was within. However, if you are examined , you have no occasion to say that ti), ney was offered to you. Hear me, ans,vered 1 ; abandoned the Sob yesterday : difot implicate me, or I shall. tell the truth. From all this it appeared that this Brigand was an honest fellow ; and the President, On dismissing bins, addressed to hint the following, flittering words :—" You have given a great ex ample of honesty : you have proved by your condUct that honour and probity•are to be. found in the lowest clasies continue this conduct maintain your wife, and, bringstv your children in these honourable principles, and believe that, soon or late, .even in this world, virtue fiuds its recompense. The evidence for ,the prosecution being gone through, the witnesses for the defence were called. The wile..ot Brigand repeats a part of the de• tails given by her,husband. Guerin-and Benoit Bonneville oppose to thiti double declaration an absolute cteuial. , N. B. It deferves to be remarked, that the de sertion of Brigaudsbaving compelled the valet-tie chambre to seek speedily for another chairman, Lavalette ,remaine4 four J • tninntes- in the sedan chair at the very gate of the Conciergerie: they , must have appeared to him very-long ones. Atter some oilier witnesses, whose testimony Was quite insignificant, 'Madame' Lavalette was introduced. Her entrance 'was announced by a murmur, expressive'of the interest and curiosity of the audience. ,When she appeared. Wilson, Hutchinson, and -Bruce, Saluted her will a' pro found bow.. The emotion and mental distress of I\ladame Lavatette were so gi'eat, that, when interrogated, she could scarcely articulate her own name; and when asked her age, she replied, " Twenty seven, I believe." • After having collected her Weak for Nome mo ments, she said—" The distress which I feel does not proceed from any fear, but from a kind of ' alarm on seeing myself before a tribunal, and amidst so large. an audience. The President—Madame„ it is not public jus tice which 'has summoned yon here ; it is some at the accused vlto have invoked your testimony. Madame Lavalette.-1 declare that the persons who have called 'me, contributed in no respect to the esclipe Of M. Lavalette : o 0 one was in my confidence ; I alone did the whole. Some details were asked of her as to. certain ; circumstances, which, though minute in appear :lnce, might throw light on several facts of the accusation. She replied, that she did not recol lect them, and vosigned for her defect of memory, an excuse which will be easily admitted: " At -that moment," she said, " I wns too much oc cupied with the execution of . my plan to pay at. tention to what was passing around me." M. Claveau, Elierle's Counsel, requested her to fix precisely the moment of the disguise, and ,to state whether it Was already executed when - Eberle came to receive his last orders. Madame Lavalette, who was unaware of the cOnsequences of her answer, said, " At that mo ment die disguise was completed, becauseM; La valette had got off." The President.-4 will put to Madame only one question. Have you ever known _or seen these Gentlemen (the English),' or any one of them ? They immediately rose, and Madame ,Lavalette, after 'haviag looked at th em for a moment, de clared, that she had never known nor betere seen them. Mademoiselle. bavalette was then introduced as she was' not quite 14, the administering the oath to her was dispensed With. Sha answered to the first question in so keble a voice, and her embarrassment appeared so painful, that the Pre sident, after asking the consent of the :prisoners, signified that she might withdraw. The Court rose at half-past five, and was ad. journed till to-marrow, at uute. 111._ , Glttuvcatt 4 0,0,1,1 for Ebe,k ; 51. il,,ilifillei for (tit' gintsica. pp.,. vi..”.., a,.....• V. .1•. - •• .1. , ••• •••••• ~.. ......,,, ...., qo 4,•• et.- , •. R 1., • M liangoin , for Bonneville; and AI, ;- eyes to see, nod a hundred hands to ariptell'essd--, 1 wh ich always suceee:ls io seizing the Object Wittall Depin, for the three finslishmett. . ! it , pursues. It was hecessaiy, thetetore, that kea sticriND OAY.- - eiJi.stety, Asele ??. .. vaietteshould lea.ve rafts, dud eveit, Flotice.., y,,,, This day the examin at i on of ssltuesses wascotis are slrearly acqoainted with the plau i•intl the details tinned. , ot his escape , lie effected, hi s escape io the uoi-• The Colonel of the StalVirlscnoir and the INT.. ford, o f An English ()dicer, not accompanied by jor of (;endarmeris 3 s nsac, a ttest, the One . ver- To lisp Officers as Lir as Compiegne, (me of ‘vhoto holly, and the other in writing, that, having been conducted !rinses far Rs MilltS. . , • charged whit the command and internal superin - 'fliesßruce, who received the first confidence, tendence of the Concierg,erius during Maeshal -goes to. eptlininnio:te it to IlutchinSoop. thVil ' Ney's trial, they to Wilson: The plan was .:oVraiiged between. saw Roquette constantly exercise and recommend the most exact vigilance. Simi- i t i terti , and sac!) o f them engages to act his part in,co-operating for its accomplisiumsnt . Bruce lar testimony was given' for him by several lit- spectors of Police. is to procure the measure of Lavaletre ; litocitin. The widow Datolt, aged 72, . confidential wo. son orders the clothes ; Wilson is to secure two , man of Ma:fame Lavalette, collet,' for the accused, t passports. tinder feigned names. One of theta e 0••• declared that She did not recollect any of the cir- gages post horses, another le lids his csrvi,kge, tied the third his lodgiogs to receive the convict on cuiostances which preceded or 'accompanied the fact of the'escape ; she did not even recollect who the night previous to his, di partere ; analanalthey all the perion was that introduced her without per - I assemble on Sunday the r tie of January, far, the mission into the chamber of the convict. It was final accomplishment of their object. The pre. in vain some of the judges and jurymen pressed text of their meeting was an arteogrineut tor a her \vial questions—hi vain the Pi esident remind - booting patty; but, at nine o'clock at n;gio . an erf her of the oath site had taken : she persisted in imknowo individual announces Lavulette, who is saving, that a severe indisposition prevented her introduced, passes the night in the lodging, and .. from retaining any resooecti„,„ isi, t h e President sets Gilt with them on the following mot ning. I. shall not trouble you with _an account of the torwilling that she should perjure herself, disri__isss ed her, observing-- SOmething. I know not journey. I shall , not descant on , the meteoires what, prevepts me from arming the hands of juts they took before set ing oat, .or the holdnesa., lice against yOrt." mid grandeur of enterprise which they (Us, ~. The. woman Gorse anti Laporte were examitred closed. I shall lay before you the prreoitions as to Eberle. - , they took against, accidents—the led-horses for , Ilere ended the examination of the witnesses, I the purposes of Bight, the arms for the porliost's of defence—ln a word, all those tircumstauces upon which M. Moil, the Advocate.tieneral ,• rose tool addressed the Count : . , which invest an ,expeilitiott with adventure end A criminal, lie observed, a convict, has eiteriped honour. I will lead your attention to one point from justice: happy for hini if he ""Pe trotn , I metro the asylum given ,to the culprit beorre his ' • Y departure from Paris , am' that given opoes the r e morse, and if he can find a place where he ma s h ow with serenity a forehead whish, the judicial road, in a house at Couipiegne. This is ca;hol, thunder has scathed ::I wife has saved her bus- lin the language of the laws, a receli. . The simple • hand ; let it be the subject of her joy, provided fact of concealing to condemned critnieal is in it ch,: act ir nivii has done her honour shall not corn- self a crime. The English laws are not more li- promise any one. It is easy to account for the beral than our's. They do not .understutud by hit shire Which some of the accused, on whose fate inanity that generosity which counteracts the rules yo u have to pronounce, took in this enterprise; of u - p blic order. Illackstane, atter having :marks their sentintents, their duties, their interests, ex- ed the distinctions which it is necessary to make plsor the part which they played ; but how hap; between the crimes of accessories fund principals, pens it that these three foreigners arc before you , distinguishes farther those who are accesses ids Wham was the nature of the interest which they I before and•ofter the 'commission of the crit»e,-.es. took in saving the convict ? They were neither Hi.. Sail, in chap. iii. page 29, 01l his Treatise, .. the relatives, the friends, nor even the acqtraint- '' The accessary before the crime is he who antes' of .Levelette. Will they say that they . arranges, counsels, or commands it. After the acted from views of humanity ? lint how Ora- , criminal act is committed, a person only render ' recterize that loonenity .which displays itself only himself accessary to it by giving an asylum or. by a contempt of public - Order, aid the loft ac- protection to the criminal, or by procuring his. Lion of the laws ? Mow appreciate, that hus escape in any possible trimmer." This is the kW matte intention, if the correspondence of the tic- on the subject of yielding protection to a convict cused proves, that hatred Of our laws is in their escaped from justice, which we call a rode. If hearts ; that our repose is odious andalisogreesible I have cited the authority of this.author, it is Only .. to them tif they saw not in that escape etas thing in the character of written reason ; for it is sof- , b u t a n outrage on authority, a seditious means of , , ficiently understood that there are no other laws fottitntjog: a revolution ?If this act, feeble in it: in exercise regarding crimes committed i i France tielf, was a sort of initiative of the pso.ret, it. Batt French laws. Whet, then, ran bete disput* be the. duty of public justice to search it to the , ti e;r empire ? 1 shall not, certainly, undertake to prove our riglut. of jurisdiction over tbese foreign. bottom,, and to trace to you - the,toireiiiodtion to its very focus. The Advacate.Genersl applied ers. The opposition of the accused Wilson, his protests against our procedure, his perpetual in himself in the first instance to compare and ap. predate the facts relative to the escape of Lava- vocation as an Englishman of the judicial forms of . k, lette, and. with 'great order and precision marked his own nation, ore all connected with pretensions the share which each of the accused had io the which cannot be listened to ill Intitter9 ofscriminal act, anti the motive which might have actuated instice. Criminality gives the right of ponisimieut ; him. Ile distinguished, with the most judicious it bestows jtnisdiction, for it aiiIIS at public order; equity, .between crime and simple offence ; and and there is not a nation on the earth, there is not a a s s igned to each, as it were , the punishment winch soc i a l body, which does Mit in the highest degree. lie incurred , o ithout, however, depriving any one . possess,the right, and lie under the obligation tope. prisorier of the hope of th e ind ulg ence of the j ur y . ' : nish those who infringe it. Every manshould knots, that in ; planting his foot upon a foreigo soil, his . first duty is to observe its laws. Does he notenloy ' . Englishmen dame upon the stage. . - . i t-I ng e i t l l l i e e n co n :vl rß t 1 , 1 Y a and was Isere the Pffel t i l c i e at o . f t . l t i ' e " t e n i : Ore'''. protection—sslo not they watch , over his ;• safety—and can be invoke. their aid, in one cese, g .. s , and ,brave their authority in .another ? Cittod sense s s' to every. clay's occurrences. We have a woman ils 'i le ite et fi o r i s ti t g li lt a . rt Aotl‘l this f a a g ct a s ir :h i li v e e s a aid t ' es i e s n i i t t i rl t • t a i n i c i ; alone renounces sech an error. -As to the forms who saves her 11Mband—a guard who neglects o f ioquiry, as to the mode in which the crimintsl his c harge—another who allows himself to he tribunal is regulated which uspplies the bows,' it i* clear that they depend upon the right. of save• corrupted--is d o mestic who devotes himself for his master—end a mercenary who is sednced by . regir jurisdiction,. Every, State ~ has its jorttitm s . the attractions of a great bribe. The origio of , and also i ts m od e of administering it. all this is to be sound, not in the principles., but - . It is said,' that a Frettehosen accused ofhavitig ' in the passions and affectionsof men. klitherto committed a crime in England, is entitled to have we have recounted a history—we now come to a ~o ne. ha i f of his jurymen .French. This is a pri romantic; You have been seized with this idea i vilege, doubtless.. Here, ,however, you will have yott have put this fist quest ion to yourselves-- no -need of this privilege ; it .:will be witless to why were the English engaged in this alfeir 1--. you: justice does not haquire. whether you ate Their interference cannot be expleitted on oral- ti „ t s,„ or foreigners ; it views you on l y - as ~,,,s nary principles. They themselves declare and .cuse d, an d it will know no other. ,distinetioos hut protest on their• honour, tltut, before their parti- those which proofs - shall establish betwsett . itloo'. eiPOtioO in the crime, they did, not know the in. cenue end guilt. . divithial in whose service they exerted 'all' their I proceed to the examination of these proof., efforts. We are bound to believe their assertions, but 1 lame first touch upon the head of accusasi4. but it is incembent oti them to explain the oin. tion. • , rives of their coiulect. Otte of them (namely Unice) B ruce , Hutchinson, and NVilson, are ehatgeti , ' . , who was the first coutident in this adair, will ~, v ill being actomplices in concealing Lavoleite, dcel'it co that, advised •of the retreat of La v'" k ilOW irig that he was ettadetarted to die, The coo kite is, Paris by au anonyinous leiter, in which sentience is, dint they facilitated aroleoestuntilaied,' , . : he himself received entoOliineots , he helievo , ac -, his eseape. Am) hero I int?st , untierpete it, dispute. about works, It, will be said, thee the escape W . A. *: coaling to the deelarations of the said letter, that s he was the only person who . could save hint , . At the :act of issuing from prison; that outside the ,: first his pride was dattered ; then his natural sea- 'gates it was consummates' ; tool that thus it is false s ibility was excited ; and, last of ail, his tinder - to charge the accused with having.facilhated Unit ' consummated ,a tiling already 4one. But we must standing was exalted by discovering in the escape of LaVitiettesomethingrotnantic,andeyen miraculous, look to thesense in whichahey are inculpated. —s which powerfully struck his imagination, and itu-• It must be true,, that the escape - wits facilitated in ptesscd his heart. The other (Hutchinson) did not this sensetliat the rar..capture oldie convict,was feel the same decided is of fancy;. It was, in, rendered-impossible. lo vain did the Police Make his mind, a sentiment of homanity which exerted itself' in the cause of Lavalette : he only yielded to its searches at Paris, Wilco sire convict was, no longer there ; in vain, also, did it search for bias the desire of saving an onfortnoate man.. Th e in Vranee, w ben, he had pasted the frontier ;i and • 'third (Sir R. T. IV:soii) derives the tantives of his a t t i. ' 'cooduct froru higher coosideratio'ns• He inn" us re escape WO consunsma et . . ~ . . t I But the fact,which coustittnes the crime •which . gmes the honour of his own Government wool/ standS at the head of the acensatiott is the eon... -. have been destroyed, if a sentence of the Royal cealmtart.. It cities not signify whether it aided or . 1 Court of Paris was executed. file aloes, not coo. cern. himself with the rights of Sovereignty, or cliff not aid the escape :it is, indeed, of so little Impottance, that avert if theconvictsluad out bet tt the unquestionable authority of:the judicial power ultimately able to save himself, had he been re. in Frnnci over a French subject. Ab I truly .are common roles. `The Capitulation of Pa- taken in the very place whisk served as hisasYlittos these -the titan •who •hati procured it for him would have rig, hosvever, is hiSlaw. It ha's been violated, and been-not-the less guilty, lie conceives it to be his duty to clear his Govern- , I wo wor d, enoesa ti o s t a i s ii distinct offencefrotrt Meat of the opprobrium which that violtttion casts that of escape ; and to estoblish this point of cri- , upon it, Thos the convict was to be saved, for m i n a l aw unanswerably, it i s tu ff i cifot to cont. the honour of justice anti that of England.. You parodic : enactments of the law on the two sub shall 'so o n see bow mulch truth there is in all this : sects. but., before we discuss his intentions, we must es- - In the offence of tablish facts. it are punished : there is tiodistruction, except ire < . is phuntdots the keeper is escape, all who co.opseate lets The cotletet had, escaped from prison, butt it .the penalties, for he who . . .5 not - ~..,eyoud this the was•neeesiary to escape from' Paris. He could more guilty than him who; , h lint - here'be concealed from au active polices-ra quality 0,l the person 13 tats hit regarded s ani