The Sun.
London, England, 1826-10-14 00:00:00

BEAUCHAMP AND HIS WIFE.

(From the Georgetown Metropolitan.)
A very long letter, dated Frankfort, the lath July, was
received by a gentleman in this to', who kindly permit-
ted us to make a short extract, as tonching a matter that
cannot fail to prove interesting to the public.
" Of the unhappy exit of Beauchamp and his wife, you
have doubtless heard ere this thimigh the medium of the
public prints. It is Still the topic of conversation here,
and, although there are few who do not admit the justice
of the destiny of the ill-fated pair, still I assure you there
is a very strong feeling of sympathy excited, and their me-
lancholy story not unfrequently receives the tribute of a
tear, even in the very spot where the unhallowed deed was
committed. Mrs. Beauchamp, I understand,. was origi-
nally from LOudoun county (Virginia), and came into our
State with her father, on whom ill fortune pressed with
heavy hand; the result of which was dissipation, and, lastly,
death, leaving a wife and this young lady, the only surviv-
ing child, in very dependent circumstances.
" Miss Cook was a young and lovely woman, with a
sylphlike figure, a countenance the most sweet and expres-
sive I ever beheld. She was liberally educated, and her
genius and mind towered far beyond her more wealthy as-
sociates. I-ler thoughts were as free as the air she
breathed, and those -whose souls never travelled beyond the
dull and ordinary pursuits of life, did not scruple to affirm,
that her free thoughts ruined her. It is said that Colonel
Sharp once addressed her—that,however, is not positively
known ; but it is .well known that he seduced her. When
a woman, like her, gives her heart, all else is but too apt to
follow. She had a child, and her seducer was soon after
married to another woman. This perfidy stung her to the
soul; her health became impaired for a time, and the gay
and lively girl, whose society most men courted and women
feared, drooped like a lily blighted by the storm.

' Anti this is woman's fate—
• All her affections arc called Into life
By winning flatteries, and then thrown back
Upon themselves, to perish ; and her heart,
Her trusting heart, filled with weak tenderness,
Is left to bleed or break.'
" It was for some time feared that her reason had lost

its empire , she gradually recovered, however, and her
hand was sued for by young Beauchamp, a very sprightly
and interesting youth, to whom she was united. Before
her marriage, she ingenuously told him of the calamity that
had befallen her, and he as generously buried it in oblivion;
and, when the recollection of her wrongs did not intrude
themselves upon her, she lived comparatively contented.
`With the politics of our State much personal acrimony is
blended, and the seduction of Miss Ct• was charged upon
Colonel S. to his prejudice. Mrs. Sharp and her mother
were very vindictive upon the subject; to quiet whom it
is said that Colonel S. exhibited certificates from the ac-

coucheur that the child of Miss Cook was a mulatto ; and'
those ladies very imprudently:talked of it, as having seen
the certificates to that effect. This information was con-
vqed to Beauchamp in a letter, which letter Mrs. Beau-
champ got and read,just as her husband was entering the
door. As soon as the damning intelligence met her
eye, she sunk in a chair for a minute or two, and, and-
denly recovering herself, she extended her arms upwards,.
her dark eyes flashing fire terrible as the lightning of Hea-.
veni—' Oh, my God! this demands vengeance! ven-
geance ! See I see !' said she, handing the letter to her,
husband—' Charlotte Corday struck a tyrant down, and
she is lauded in history ; if' I kill the villain I shall be
loaded with obloquy, and branded as a murderess.' Beau-
champ took the letter, and read it; then taking his wife's
. .

hand, and looking her full in the face, said, in—a
slow and
emphatic manner, My much injured, my much insulted
Ann, his doom is sealed!' With this declaration she seem-
ed appeased. Her whole heart was now fixed on revenge
so much so, that her countenance underwent a great change,
losing all its sweetness and placidity, and her husband said
at times he almost feared to look on it.

" After his return from accomplishing the deed, she
met him at the threshold, and throwing her:mins wildly
round his neck, vehemently asked, ' is it done ?'—then
putting both her hands before her face, she said, God
is just, and I am revenged !'—and, sitting on a chair,
she sobbed most piteously for half an hour. It did seem
as if she relented for a time, and she once expressed
her fears, that the vengeance Was too terrible and too
dearly bought.

" From the moment she went to the dungeoni with her
husband, all, thought of self was lost stopt at no
hpettiiinafduli,lobtitititnglietlopedhosptioee beguilefrom
mtile him
until
mency of the Governor. It was -then she endeavoured to
arm him with fortitude, to instil into his mind contempt
for death, and how much more it would become him, as
a man, to die by, ihwisiir
dnieh,avtiltdl,l ryaotlttie.r
sathidansbhy that, of
p had
sameu l
soared
a sr
ei(
the hangman.
generOusly shared my unhappy destiny in' life—l :Tit alyteo;
you how cheerfully I will unite mine with your's in death.
Do you not remember,' said she, ' how Aria, when her
was tteensed only of a conspiracyhg
husbandagainstc,l'vl
aireliolidafiliouisCl,oelir,tieandhnhialeedr
hneortaleir'exaaamdpil'eaVadDotou outlive
zgoelt.
too, how 'Cleopatra refused to
troecholirec,t,
fallen fortunes of the great Anthony ?
sr
t froma the
The mindiilei telniovfte l'lt ' Anneel.
Beauchamp is made up—and she, dtoisdinaboutveto
arguments of sophists and fools
purpose.' It was evident that Beaucharn
reli-
gious qualms, and was not satisfied that suicide was ju t.
'Kahle under any circumstances ; but her great so
far beyond such nice speculations.
" When they took the laudantun, she drank per's first;
and, handing him the phial, said, ' Recollect, my deal- ~
with what a determined spirit Socrates drank the hem..
lock I P
" After their reated efforts had failed, both of them
expressed some Impatience,' and much disappointment;
atlittediirto‘b7.T" found necessary, if they were to accomplish
resort to the knife. On the fatal morning
when the blood
and, sn,ilin (iody tragedy she took his hand,'
' Come, nji with a kind of Mournful composure, said—
was acted,
office after atlitltr husband, the knife must do tia the friendly
and, The guard was then requested to retire;
Ann, we will embracingdieee 5h other tenderly, he exclaimed, ' Yes,
mercy of our God I,_ and throw ourselves upon the
stabbed himSein , He then drew forth the knife, and
tine •
risk at the Sarno in seized his hand, as if anxious to pe-
Her wound was mortal--he a"
plunged it into her body !
whole scene was one of
she perished on the scaffold! The
such an agonizing character, that
tears fell from every eye:
forget it. A full accent It will be long, indeed, ere I
will shortly be 't
of these two ill-fated beings
published, When I will
first copies." il send you one of the