The National Register.
London, England, 1816-04-28 00:00:00

SECOND DAY.---Ti etD,ty, APRIL a

'This day the examination of witnesses was continued.
The colonel of the staff Griseniiir, and the major of ',mil r•
merle Jensae, attest, the one ceilidh'', and the other in writing,
that, having been charged with the command and internal sil-
periutendenee of the Conciergerie dnriu MarshatiVey's
they say.. Roquette constantly exercise and recommend the
ntost exact vigilance ; and these * 'messes were convinced that
the iattaoltment of this gaotef to his duties was supported and
increased by his excellent principles and opinions.
S 'tar testimony was given tut hint by several inspectors of
police
The widow Dittoit, rtgell 72, confidential woman of Mieltime
Isitvalette, called for the accused. declared that .ii Oid It'.
C0111C.:( ;Illy of the eircumsbnices which preceded or ace,aispd.
nied the lict of the escape; she did not even recollect ssito the
person was that introduced tier without permission into the
chamber of the convict. It was in soh' ovine of the judges ;mil
jurymen pressed her with riitestion4—in vain the president re-
!Maar d her (tithe oath she had takes : she persisted in saying,
that a severe iudismisition prevented her from retaiaing ally
recolketion. M. the President, unwilling that she should per-
jure herself, dismissed her, Meier% mg, tt sonwthihg, I know nut
what, presents ute from arming tile hawk vi justice against
poi."
The woman (I,Trie, a neichhattrof Eberle's *ire, stated, that,
at the period of the entrance of the trom:s into Paris, the
wife °Otte accuse.' ',hewed her a not of 1,200 fr. about which
she appeals d 131.1114 d, and consulted her as to the useaos of
placing it lit
Laporte, one of the ordinary chairmen of NT:olrrne Lavaiette,
and who, on the day °is the escape, had heen replaced by Ilsi-
mint, deposed, that the dry after, when he asked I.lrigatit why
he had not finished his job, the latter made 110 attention oh offers
hissing been tisirde to him, but excused himself by say ins, that
twit days before lie hail made a severe journey, which Inid
buained him. _ .

Here ended the examination of the witnesses; upon which
the Adsocate General, rise and addressed the court :
A criminal, he observed, a cons ict, has escaped time justice:
happy for bun if he escape tram remorse, and it he eau bud a
place st here fie limy sheer w ith serenity a forehead st hich the
pulic'at timid,/ has scathed : a wife has saved her husband;
kt it he the subject of her jot, provided the act which has done
her honour shalt not compromise any one. It is easy to account
fur the share which saute of thin accused, on whose tate yua
have to pronounce, took in this esiterpri ze ; their sentiments,
their ditties, their interests, esp:ain the part 'which they played ;
but Mitt happens it that these three foreigners are before.you
What was the nature of the interest which they took in satin.
the convicts ? They were neither the relatives, tin. friends, Loy
even the acquaintances of Las alm te. Will ;hey say that they
act. d from views of bninalitty ? Bat how ilia iscterise that hu•
manity which displays itself only- by a coutexpt of public or.
der, and the infraction of the hies? How appreciate that lin.
inane inteution, it' the corresperoltnce of Cis, accused, prove
that hatri 41 of our law s is in their hearts; that our repose is
odious and 4lisagreca lite to than: if they saw not in that estate
al.) thing lint an outtage on authority, a sedan/us means of fa-
nting a resolution i 11 this act, feeble in itself, was a sort of
initiative of the project, it became the duty of public justice to
search it to the bottom, and to ',ace to you the machination to
its very focus. The Advocate tkiseral applied himself iu the
tint instance tocumpare and diyi aciate the facts relative to the
escape of Lavalettr t and great order and yeeision mark-
rd the ware which each of the accused had in the act, and the
motive which mieht list e actuated hint. lie disti;4.uisited be-
twet u crime and simple offence; sod assienel to each, us if
were, the punishment which he Mildred. wi Clout, however,
depriving uny one prisoner of the belie of toe wdulgt nee of the
jury, lie then naturally came to foe iiirctice of tau:reeling the
rub iet, and it was here that the these Luelisliumu came upon
the stage.
Tire first part of this affair, he said, is intelligible enough.
All the f.,rts have ;I reSel!wia:lce to vvery-day Occurvelicts.
We base a %%Ulliall who eases lire husband—a enuril who ne-
glects his eharge—another svh,. altows !Aimed to be Ctif 'sup:AA—
A domes:ie who devotes himself for his master--and
nary Wall is seduced by the attractions of a prat teethe. The
origin of all this is to be found, notiu the principles, but iu the
passions and affections cf men. hitherto we have recounted
a history—we now come to a romance. You have In en se-Sacill
with this idea; you have put tit.s titst onestieti to y cllist I\l:4
why were the Eiio,ll etigilgvil in this attair i Their isiterferimee
cannot he explain-) on ordinary principles. They themselves
declare and protest on their liomiur, that, before thvic partici.
inition in the crime, they did not know the iadiviii.l.ll u..*,
service they exer.ed all their efforts, We .ire L .....

• \
their assertions; but it is, thmficia eh them to explain the
motive. of their condtict.•• On'e dr them (namely lirtire), who
was the first confider, in this affair, will declare, that, Aver.
tised of the retreat: of Las/ Witte in Paris by an anon) Moue
letter, in which he Limier received compliments, he believed,
according to the declarations of the amid letter, that hr was the
only person who could save him. M first his pride was flat-
tered ; sensibility was excited ; and, last bf all,
his understanding was exalted by discovering in the escape of
Lavelette something romantic, and even miraculous, which
powerfolly attack his imagination, and impressed his heart.
'the other (Mitchinson) did not feel the same decided warmth
of fancy. It was, in hi., mind, a sentiment of lintuanity which
exerted itself in the cause of Eavalette : he only yielded to
the desire of saving an unfortunate man. 'the third (Sir Robt.
Thomas Wilson) cirri% es the fictive. of his conduct from higher
considerations. fle imagines that the honour of his own go-
vernment would have been destroyed, if a sentence of the
royal collet of Paris was executed. He dues not concern him-
self with the rights of sovereignty, or the unquestionable au-
thority of the judicial power in France over a French subject.
Ali! truly these arc common rides. The capitulation of
however, is his law. It has been violated, and lie conceives it
to be his duty to clear his government of the opprobrium
which that violation casts upon it. .Thus the couviet was to
be saved for the honour of justice and that of England. you
shall soon sec how much truth there iS in all this : bat, before
we discuss his intentions, we must establish facts.
The convict had escaped front prism', but it was necessary
to escape from Parts. lie could ma here be concealed from
an active police—a police which never sleeps—which has a
hundred eras to see, and a hundred hands to apprehend—
which always succeeds in seizing the object whom it pursues.
It was necessary, therefore, that Eavalette should leave Paris,
and even France. You are already acquainted with the plan
and the details of his escape. He effected his escape in the
uniform of an Fatalist' Officer, and accompanied by English of-
hirers as far as Compiegne, one of whom conducted him as far
as Mons.
Thus Bruce, who received the first confidence, goes to com-
municate it to Hutchinson, Own to Wilson. The plan was ar-
ranged between them, und each of them engages to act his
part in co-operating for its accomplishment. Bruce is to pro-
cure the measure of Lavalette; Hutchinson orders the clothes ;
Wilson is to secure two passports tinder feigned names. One
of them engages post horses, another lends his carriage, and
the third his lodgings to receive the convict on the oialit pre•
aims to his departure : and they all assemble on Sunday the
7th of January for the final accomplishment of their object.
The pretext of their meeting was an arrangement for a hunt-
ing-party; but, at nine o'clock at night, an 11111‘110%%11 idled
announces Lavelette, who is introduced, passes the night in the
lodging, and sets out with them on the following morning. I
shall not trouble you with an account of the journey. I shall
not descant on the measures they took before setting out, or
the boldness and grandeur of enterprise which they disclosed.
I shall lay betlire you the precautions they took against acci-
dents—the led-horses for the purposes of flight, the arms for
the purposes of defence--in a word, all those cirministaiwes
which invest an expedition with adventure and honour. I will
lead your attention to one point : I mean the asyl given to
the culprit before his departure front Paris; and that given
upon the road, in a house at Compiegne. This is called, in the
language of the laws, a mete. The sitnple tart of concealing
a condeinued criminal is in itself a crime. The opposition of
the accused Wilson, his protests against our procedure, his per-
petual invocation as an Englishman of the judicial forms of his
own nation, are all connected with pretensions which cannot
be listened to in matters of criminal justice. Criminality gives
the right of punishment ; it bestows jurisdiction, for it Mina at
public order; and there is not a nation on the earth, there is
not a social body, which does not in the highest degree possess
the right, and lie under the obligation, to punish those who in-
fringe it. Every man should know, when planting his foot
upon a foreign soil, that his first duty is to observe its laws.
Does he not enjoy their protection—do they not watch over
his safety—and can lie invoke their aid in one case, and brave
their authority in another ? f;onil sense alone renounces such
an error. As to the forms of inquiry, as to the mode in which
the criminal tribunal is regulated which applies the laws, it is
clear that they depend upon the right of sovereign jurisdiction.
Every state has its justice, and also its mode of administering it,
It is said, that a Frenchman accused of having committed a
crime in England is entitled to have one-ballot' his jury men
French. This is a privilege, doubtless. Here, however, you
will have no need of this privilege, it will be useless to volt :
justice does not enquire whether you are natives or fiweign-
ers; it views you only as accused; sod it will know no other
distinctions hut those which proofs shall establish between in-
nocence and guilt.
I proceed to the examination of these proofs, but T must first
touch upon the head of accusation.
Bruce, Hutchinson, and Wilson, arc charged with being ac-
complices in concealsag Lay:llene, knowiu( that he was con-
demned to die. The consequence is, that they facilitated and
consummated his escape. And here I must anticipate a dispute
'shout words. It will be said, that the escape was the act of is-
aning from prison ; that outside the gates it was consunimared ;
and that thus it is false to charge the accused with having faci-
litated and consummated a thing already dons.
But we must look to the sense in which they are inculpated.
It must be trite, that the escape was facilitated iu this sense --
that the recapture of the convict was rendered impossible. In
vain did the police make its searches at Paris, when the cons it t
was no longer there; in sails, also, did it search for hint in France,
when he had passed the frontier ; and thus the escape was con-
summated.

But the fact which constitutes the crime which stands at the
tread of the accusation is the concealment. It does not signify
sr !tether it aided or did not aid the escape : it is, indeed, ur so
little importance, that even if the convict hail not been ulti-
mately able to save himself, had lie been re-taken iii the very
place which served as his asylum, the man who hail procured it
for him would have been not the less guilty.
In one word. concealment is a distinct offilice from that of
escape ; and to establish this point of crillllnisi law enanswera-
bly, it is sufficient to compare the enactments of the law on the
two sithjects.
In the offence of escape, all who co-operated in it are punish-
ed : there is nu distinctiou, except in the penalties ; for lie who
is pia, ••I as the keeper is more guilty than him who is not ; be-
yond this the quality of the person is no farther regard' d ; and
thoneh ;labile opinion may revolt at it, and humanity 1111141 a
tear, a sun is not at liberty, legally speaking, to aid his hither,
aor a wife her husband, in breaking from prison ; and if. Madame
Lavalette has not been brought to trial, it was because, notwith-
standing her ostentatious declarations, justice remained doubt
lid, and thoi.t lit that it still perceived the influence of the ma-
rital authority in the act by which a wife assisted her husband.
Why, then, this severity of litho-4,1e? The reason doubtless
is, that the prison is a sacred and ins iolable place ; that into..-
<vaned there belong nu wore to society, but to justict, which

TI NATIONAL

'detains them till they answer for their crimes. In the effect
ideonecalment. neither does the law punish without distivetion;
it foltows the dictates of n Mire, Mid pious exceptions are lain
down for the lathe', the anus the SpOUSC, the brother, and other
relatives in the same tiegree. Here clemency stops, and jos.
lice commences. Hence all who conceal a convict, with whom
they are not connected by ties of blood, are culpable. Bruce,
Iltitchinsom, and Wilson will, therefore, be malty if they have
concealed Lavalette.
What then happened on this business? There have been
the concealment and escape of Lavalette. Justice snakes her
inquiries ; at first, those oulv are fonud who are implicated in
the escape from prison ; anti when it is about to terminate its
enq ' a ray of uneapected light is thrown on the mystery•
of the concealment ; other men mid other projects are'disco-
vered. Those engaged in the escape from prison meant nothing
but to save Lavalette: those engaged in his concealment, by
saving Lavalette, wished, or at least appear to have wished, to
excite to sedition or to revolt ; and to excite any kind of disor-
der, provided only it was disorder.
But the plan was foolish. Doubtless it was; still, however,
we must examine it. We
discord was to be thrown amongst us; and the correspondence
teaches us, that some foreigners were seriously employed on
the happiness of France, that they were ut wink upon it, and
that they would derive great joy from their success! It is true,
however, that they are in need of assistance, and that we shalt
take good care to give them none. How, then, were they to
make us happy in spite of ourselves? How, gentlemen? Why,
as was done in 1793. The correspondents did nut know any
better means apparently, because there are no other. Thus
an appeal was to be made to the friends of liberty. who were
to pot themselves in motion thew were to be movements in
the provinces; and, above all, a good means of agitation would
be the persecution of the Protestants, real or pretended! Oh !
excellent! This is an idea which catches like wildfire, which sprrads
like cortagion ainumg the people in general, (and mark this ) which
engenders a spirit of mortal hatred and contempt for the new dy.
nasty.
It is clear that, if the people were so totally misled, the
revolution would be complete ; and it is for this very reason
that revolution is impossible. Edward Wilsom at London,
judged better of the state of France than his brother did at
Paris. He began to distrust his predictions, and wait for farts.
He remarks, that if the French nation generally tem strongly
4/hit:diked to the Bourbons, proofs of this would be daily maxi/V.4M.
And he adds this observation :—lt xn happens, that there is ao
military force iu the precinct's, and yet the provinces are tranquil.
011 this subject he becomes inflamed, and says, that if it is
wished t,, overturn the existing order of things, the fire mast be
constantly kept, and constantly visible, like a beacon of alarm in
France (lad infiweign count eh a.
May God avert this from us, and from foreign countries also
We have all of us seen the sinister planet, portantou4 of storms,
the storm is passed, and new signs announce to us that the earth
is pacified. Yes, we are at peace among ourselves, and we
will be so with others. The nations are at peace, with the
single exception of some turbulent men, to uhoin pence is will',
as our old Montaigne has observed. Vent• well, let them re-
main in vs ar, its theatre shall not be extended; but let them
not imagine in their foolish thoughts that they will agitate
France, if their beacon ef alarm is perceived, we shall only hasten
to extinguish it, as we run to put out a tire.
I shall now confine myself to the terms of the indictment: and
shall investigate whether the prisouers were accomplices in the
concealment of Lavalette.

Art. 218 of the penal code declares guilty those who have
concealed, or caused to he concealed. Such are the terms of the
law. The nature of the fact is such, that there is a moral eon-
s iction, that those who concerted to get Lavalette nut of France,
also came to an understanding as to the mode of accomplish-
ment, the moment the escape from prison took place; he. who
wills the end, wills the means. It is also equally certain, that
Lavalette, issuing from an unknown retreat, bad need oi some
place of depot, where he might be at the disposal of time who
meant to carry him off. You have not heard it said tt.at there,
was on their part any communication with the first asylum
where Lavalette was secreted; this was not neeesfairy ; it was
sufficieni that they. provided ter him an inimedirite asylum ;
and, by his passing the night there, that asylum, became the
place of concealment.
What now happened? For the accused Hutchinson the fart
is material. Lavalette passed in his appartments in the rue
Helder the night between the 7th and the Bth of January last.
Hutchinson knew well that Lavalette wrs condemned, and it
was indeed his condemnation that excited the interest which he
kit in his fortunes. Thus, with respect to him, all the conditions
of the law arc fainted' or rather all the prohibitions of the law
arc %Mimed, and the aceuatil standsiconvicted of the crime
charged.
The prisoner Bruce is not in a situation that admits of greater
doubt. It was to him that the first disclosure was made. He
was the HUH who inspired a predilection into the condemned ;
fur lie who declared liimsvlt. su zealously in the affair of Mar-
shal Ney, would naturally be expected to sympathize with the
situation of Lavalette. Reliance was placed on him, therefore,
before trial was made. You see how he prided himself on the
action, how he claimed the first share in the inheritance of
glary. If any one is guilty, he is the man. Nothing further
could be required to establish the crime of whir II he is guilty.
He concealed likewise the condemned. The hour and the
place of meeting were agreed upon a ith the rust. Iu conse-
quence, he is found with Hutchinson on the evening of Sun-
day ; he there receives Lavalette. It is he who receives him
principally, for at the appointed hour he descends to meet La-
sale tte ; he conducts him from the street door to the aptu talent
which was Appointed fur him, and into it he leads the condemn.
ed with his own hand, for in such a delicate matter lie toast do
every thing himself to make sure of AIRTCP.
As for the accused Wilson, he will pretend, perhaps, that he
is not included In the same proof of guilt ; for iu strictness he
say sav , " I happened accidentally to he with my friend Hutch-
inson. I went to his lodgings to enjoy my shale of a bowl of
punch. and I saw M. Lavalette :ark e. The meeting aas ace i-
deo ta 1, and shall I be liable to punishment for has Mg merely
seen Lavalette

'l•his language, if it came from the lips of a man who had no
other communications from Las altite, might Li. CollllllliVe.
AS matters are at present, it signifies nothing. 'there is here
a compact between three men to favour the escape of Lied-
and, of course, to conceal his person pre. ions to his
escape. It is impossible tbr Wilson, who was on the morning
of the Bth at the gate oldie house in the rue de Helder, for the
purpose of receiving Lavatette, to say elm he did not know
his retreat, and still further to declare that be had not contri-
buted to supply I with one. 110 we not here speak of one
and the same transaction concerted between them? To conceal
Lavatette, and lead turn off, the three coadjutors, theretbre,
must necessarily have concurred in a plan an anged for the
whole transaction. I might ask :f the otfe•nce of concealmtnt
(10 merle) dots not consist entirely in the act of affording an
Asylum? if to disguise a man be nut likew i:e one of the means

of concealing him, of secreting him from the pursuit of justice,
if he who ordered l i measure to be taken, who furnished the
uniform of an English officer, he who, to use an expression of
his own, dressed him out the road (fait la tnilrt4• en route,) by
cutting off some white hairs which appeared from below his
coilfiere; if all these are not iadist:rirainately guilty of having
disguised, concealed, and protected (mete) Lavalette % Rut
on this point I shall not cuter into coutroversy ; it will be ter-
minated in another way. Au asylum at Paris was not enough,
another was necessary on the road,--they stopped at Gan•
piegne. At this time Wilson, who accompanied the traveller,
who had given orders that the carriage should arrive at Com-
piegne at such an hour, and should stop at such a house, was
not a stranger to the choice of his lodging; it was pre-engaged
before their arrival, they concealed in it Lavalette.
The learned counsel entered into a variety of farther argts,
' omits, which want of room prevents us from inserting, and_
concluded as follows: •' I trust that I hose sufficiently de
velupeil the facts , and I shall conclude by calling your atten-
tion to the circumstances which aggravate them, I speak not
of the intention, although the intention constitutes the etiSellec
of the offence, and though in this case the intention was trnly
perverse and detestable; I speak not to you of the material
circumstance of the offence generally; the facts of escape and
concealment are in themselves timid acts—they arc effected by,
prudence and stratagem; he who dies, or who conceals himself,
has no wish to brave any one, but here the final escape was
conducted with arms: and both he who fled, and those who
accompanied him, were determined to employ force, if ne-
cessary. I pass over the circumstances of the led horses, in
order that the Hight might be more rapid in case of obstacles ---
this was in the nature oldie transaction, in the necessity of their
situation—but their pos,es►ioo of arms! and against whom
were they to be used ?—against the public agents of French au-
thority—against those who are charged w ith its orders-- against
all those indiscriminately to whom the soperintendence and rte-
fetter of public order have been intrusted. Here, then, the
offence partook of the inithitis e (Watt attack on the state ; and in
this point of siew, which it is impossible to disjoin, it acquire;
all the gray ity of which it k perceptible. It has, then, called
for the warmest reprobation, the strongest repression, and the
utmost extent of the punishment which the law provides for
similar offences."

After he had ended his speech, which made a great im-
pression on the auditory, the sitting was suspendsil for a
quarter of an hour. When it was resumed, M. ('last-au spoke
in defence of Eberle, and particularly insisted on the impossi-
bility of his recognizing Lavalette in a disguise which was so
complete than ever: nue WAS the dupe of it—even the gaoler
who gave his hand to the couvict, and the gendarme at this
outer gate through which lie passed. There was no reason
why an extraordinary perspicacity should he expected from
Eberle. The language lewd by Eberle to his comrade at the
moment when the chair set ott--" it is (boll, those three is
did not say a word to me"—was exclusive of all suspicion of a
partieipation ; for, if he had been an accomplice, he would
bare avoided any language which might have compromised ths
success of the. plot.
M. BLACQUE, the defender of Roquette de Kerguidec, en-
deavoured to dispose the jury in favour of his client, by the
recital of service's which his ancestors and himself have ren-
dered to government. His only recompence was an annual
pension of 50 francs, fur himself and every member of his
family who hail, like him, escaped the massacre of the colonies.
'lle learned counsel then dwelt on the scene between Madame
Lavelette dud his (divot; and observed, that the three or four
minutes during which the gaoler was detained by his wife, so
justly alarmed, were sufficient to secure the retreat of the
convict; for it Roquette had got away from her directly, he
would have found Lavalette, whoni the bsenee of the chair-
man kept nearly for that time at the gate of the prison.
After several other observations, the learned counsel
ob-
sers cd---1 arrive now at the lost charge against my client (at
the word /net, an oh! of satisfaction was heard among the
auditors who visit scenes of this sort me rely for amusement,
without reflecting on the importance of the functionary who
defends the accuseil)—l nu-an the charge of not taking away
the handlerchiel with which Lavalette covered his face. Ro-
quette ;. is a man; and, as the advocate-general has (drier% cil
with a boble accent, lie would not deserve the name of man
who could have been unmoved at such a scene.

M. 3l tent. IN, the counsel for Benoit, relied chiefly on his
being the smart of Lavatette, who might have erred horn
excess of devoted ditty. He paid a high tribute to Madame La-
valette, and mentioned as a subject of congratulation, that,
in the midst of crinws and misfortunes with which our vv es
were afflicted, they might repose with satisfaction on the noble
devotedness of conjugal allection. He referred in favour ut
11:s client to the deposition of Madame Lavalette, who had de-
clared that her boldness had done every thing. He compared
the conduct of his client with that of the widow Tinfoil, and
complained that their situation was ditfertrit—i The President
interrupted him, observing, that he must not criticise the sen-
tence of the chamber of accusation.)—" It is not to criticise
it," said M. Manguin. "but to invoke it for the sake of my
client that I speak of it."
The advocate then proceeded to appeal to the maxims of
morality whit h recommend to domestics chroledness and obedi-
ence—maxims which, said he, appear to be coutiary to the
regulations of positive law.
[Here again the counsel wns interrupted by the Pre‘ident
and tlie advocate-general, who observed that he must not
appeal to any authority in opposition to the law.)
M. MAI'GVIN protested as to the parity of his intentions, and
concludeal by referring to an expression of the ad % ocatc-genr.
rul, that his client had done mare than his duty : he lett hiai,
therefore, with full confidence to the jut y.
The sitting broke up at a grouter past five, and will be con-
tinued to-morrow, to hear the ether Advocate, and the summing
up of the President.
It was remarked with interest that M. the Chief President,
DEsei.t., pr er of France, was present to participate in the satis-
faction with which a 1111111te011s vet select auditory applaud-4
the talent and wise discretion ut the magistrate who duteted
this important trial.