The Sun.
London, England, 1816-04-29 00:00:00

Northumberland,- that vessel e.llich conveyed
litoomparte to St. Helena.
I now ask yen., Gentlemen, whether General
Wilson he an enemy of the good rause—whether
he -is a Buonapariist ? for that is the epithet with
-which it has been sought to-tarnish his character.
IMs performed signal services to all the
Sovereigns of Europe i helms had the happiness
in lie,also, in more'thao one instance, useful to
his Majesty Llls. XVlll.—to that Sovereign
whose memory is strong• enough to retain the
smallest services.
here M. Dupin read the five following letters
" General witmm, when I decorated you before the troops
with my military order. of St. (ieorge of tho 3d chtsar t thd
justice to the: indefatigahle zeal ,vhieb, daring the whole
campaign, constantlriNed you at the advanced po%t; ; to the
valour and devotedness of which I was winless at
the battle of Bautzen, and to su tautly other proofs
.of intre-
pidity attested by all the brave men ul the combined armies.
It is gratifying to tar now to repeat lupin in writing the tes-
timonies to whirls you have so marked a title, and to assure
you of thysentiments.
(Signed)
" Toeplitz, 9.7 th Sept. I 81:)."
" Senora' Wilson,—At,the moment when yon are about to
quit the armies, where I have had such
,frequelit opportunity
to justice to your zeal and most hrifllant vaionr, in order to
follow anothar deStinatioo, I have resolved to give you a new
proof of my satisfaction by decorating von with my order of
St, Ann of Abe fir*t class. Yon will find herewith enclosed
its tirtimitiolls, The brave then, by whose side you have so
often fought, Will regret you. For myself, I shall ahvays
recollect your courage and your indefathzaLle activity; and
should events again bring. you hack to your old brothers in
arms, I shall see you with pleasorti. pray GOrt, &c.
(Signed) ' ALEXANDER.
" Friburg, Dec. 44,1813."
" feel gratified by the sentiments which you ex-
press to me in your letter of the Ist Jan. In justice to thr z,nl
v 44 have displayed in the good ca.,se, and particularly
.to
your attachment to my person, I shall feel a pleasory in
proving to you, on every occasion, the interest which 1 Teri
for you.
(Signed) " FREDERICK WILLIAM.
Dar-sur-Sine, Feh.7, 1814."

" ALEXANDER'.

"Deneral,--Ther.roperor havina informed me that yon have
laid the cross of the order 1)01,014 Thercsa in consequeitec of a
conduct as brilliant as firse,which in itself would have uieriied
that distinction, his charged nut, elmacellur of the order, to
transmit Jo ynu treskdecoratiun, to which you nailY acquire
new claims. Conservator of this fine institution, I feet per.
sonally laterested in seeing worn, by men of ) our merit, a
mark of valour on which they do nut sited less lustre than
they receive., from it.
(Signed)
" Toeplitx, Sept. 24, 1813.7
" General,--1 feel particular satisfaction in being able to
anuouiace to you, that his Majesty the Eariperor, wishiug to
give you A special mark of the esteem with which yon have in-
spired him, both by the services you have performed ai a sol-
dier, and by the faithful conduct which has dtstiuguisheil yon
during yoUr residence at 'head-quarters. which his Imperial
Majesty sees you quit with regret, has resolved to grant you
the cross of commander of his order of Maria Theresa. •
My sentiments are shared by an army ,whicn has been.
witness to your brilliant Conduct, and by all my compatriots
who have been in tt sitnation which enabled theta to apprcei-
toe the yuglitirs of your heart.
(Signed)
• " Friburg. Jan. 4,-15142!
M. Dupla neat tletailed some.. traits of Sir 11.
Wit son's Iminanity.
" its NOS he found a great number of , French
prisoncrs in Spain ; the 900 of the Duke of Feltre,
and the nephew of Prince Tfilleyno'nd, owed to Nim
their safety the RiliSian campaign: it was Wil-
son, also, who saved the celebrated French phy-
"sician Desgenettes, and who gave him succours
for the French prisoners.
" Well ! distinguiAhed by so many,
traits of beneficence ; the nephew at the
celebrate(' traveller, and who' has travelled him-
self in order to enrich- science. with his 'observa-
tions ; and Hutchinson, still too young to enable'
me to speak to you of his life, but who came
among u! by the paths of honour—all three are',
deprived of their' liberty, and appear before you,
as prisoners, for an act of generosity, which the
very Arabs of the desert would have pfunotinced•
worthy of tie fittest recompense. •
" !laving now reached the principal point in
the case, I reduce it to two very Simple propo-
sitions : ht, There Was here no-ait of complicity
between the accused Englishmen and the principal
culprit : $l, the fact imputed to them cannot ite
conaidered as 0 crime; nor as an offence."

"Prince 114}ITI'ERNICII.

44 Prince bIETTERNICII.

'raking his ground on art. 60 of our cock, M.
Dapin.showed that complicity supposes direct and
necessary relations be►ween the ehief culprit au&
hint who is marked as accoinplice; and that, in
this ease, not. the least counexiou could be in,.
dicated between the ,Englislimen and any of the
. other persons occulted.
The, means furnished to Lavalette foritinitting
France mild not constitute complicity)tt the of-
fence of escape (evasion), because the eacape.was
then consummated. The very ieieaning► of the
word indicated tl►is for we found hi the Diction-
ary.of the Academy the following phrase, which
.appeared completely in point I—he slciltully got
out of prison, atul after his cadge (evusion)'be
retired to a phase of safety.
if,-on the 6th of 3t►uuarv, the (114) when Lava.'
lettg was executed in efiSgy, anyone had thought.
proper to demand a delay of that exectitiOn, ors
=ground that the escape was still not commit-
'aked, be. Would not,, have failed to have been
conaidered'aS a' Madman or a fool. .

Proceeding to the 2d proposition, M. Dupin
laid it down that there could be no concealment,
1111103 where there was an intention to secrete or
conceal ; but such intention could nut be stippos-
ed in this ease, since the stay fora few, hours of
;Ile convict Lavalette at Hutchinson's 3,otlgings
bad solely for its objeet to facilitAte his departure.
Hutchinson, in military
.quarters, could nut be-
sides give au asylum to any. one at his house.; he
might receive, every minute, air order to depart,
and in this
.view a eoncealment (recel) at his house
was impossible.
Besides, added be, the acknowledgment of
Mitchinson is the only proof existing on the trial
of the short stay which Lavalette made with !Inn;
this confession must, therefore, be taken simply
as it stands ; he has declared, however, that lie
was urged by an. anonymous letter to procure La,
valette fihe means of, departure from Paris, and
not to conceal him. The passports deintinded,
and the cabriolet furnished by Bruce,. sufficiently
indicated, also, that the object was the departure
of the convict, and not his concealment.

Our criminal laws forbid the 'proctoring of
betty to hint who is detained in prison, or in-
trusted to an escort but Lavalette had recovered
his state Of natural liberty when the three ling-
lent hint their aid.: They enabled hint to
get out of Paris of France—bur nut qut of
prifoon.
It was a 'pure beatiMent of humanity whiebi.in
thts affair, directed the cologne! of i3ruce and Was
4011': and Why were tt not to elJet t taut 0..411411

Height interest hit-ascii for another who was. un-
known to him? Towards a relative:a friend, aria
ntiment Irould he a duty towards a stranger,
it tins merely a noble
.movement cif the soul.
. At Athens, a young Inan was capitally condemn-
ed for. having killed a pidgeon, which bed taktn
a rctoge in 114 bosom, because it was tbooght
that he who Was ‘vitliout pity must lie always a
bad citizen ;. and among us, in the 19th century,
shall a man be condemned lot having saved um-
other man ? • •
My clients are Strangers, ore Englishmen ; and
thiSis precisely the reason why you owe to theist
sill your justice, us 1 owe to them all my zesal.—
Yon Will Otis verify that fine thought o‘f H eele-
lirated Chancellor of Fiance—Streingers are snereti
persons with us, when they invoke the justice of the
King.

This speech being closed,- the.Presidenk asked of
:Bruce whether he passed the night of the 7111 Jan•
at thitchinsmevapartments
liroce.—No„ Sir, I retired at midnight.,
The rresident.—tieneral however,
writes iw Isis letter, that, when at night !Imre was
a knocking at the dour, you exclaimed, we are
discovered.
Wilson.—l beg pardon of the President ; but.
the following are the words of my letter—" M.-
Lavalette then blinself exclaimed, we are dis-
covered."
The President.—Sir NVilson, did you nut write
that .yott were armed and prepared- to "Vend
yotialtelvelv ? •
Wilson.—Mr. President, as I am anxious that
my trio& and all those who are •present at this
trial shoidd believe nie incapable of altering the
truth. I will read to you the. passage from my
letter, relative to the fact as to which yon'inter-
rogAte nic
We were prepared for resistance ; but we
placed much-more dependence on otir presence of
mind."
The proceetlings baffling closed, Sir li.•Wilsou.

rose, and, with a dignified assurance, delivered a
speech, of which the following is the tonbstance‘:'
" Mr. President, yiit did me 'too ranch honour, tlie chi
before yesterday, 'in telling me that I. was perfectly familiar
With the lorene4 language ; on the contrary, I have need o 4
all your indolgence in endeavouring to express to you how
eery sensible I am of the liberty you have allowed to my de-
fence, as well:as to express our
.gratitude to the Advocate
who has afforded as hit services with as much talent as zeal.
" Notwithstanding the decision of the Chaniber of Accu-
sation, circumstances have bee'n reproduced here Which ought
to have renrained foreign to the discussion beforethe COurt.
I hare been overwhelmed •trefore you with the triOst Offensive
expressions; and yet all my crime consisted in writing as I
thought. Liberty the vivifying principle of our Govern-
ment; and that liberty AVM Always my idid.
" My political creed forbldsto mix ire foreign politics. Yes,
I would wish to see all men free and independent, and that is
. ,
not the wish ot a conspirator. . .
" The exercise of their duties :int/ Of therrrights is the pue.;'
rotative: of men truly flee; and you, Gentlemen, like us, will
be convinced of this, when you shall have longer enjoyed the
Constitutional
.Government of your I{ing. .

" It is from Intercepted letters that proofs of triminality
hare been endeavoured to be derived against me. The vio-
latiorr of eorrespondenci Is' mime thus it wilt have been by
the aid of a crime that it has been-Wished to prove ugliest me
a orreetionul offence. I do TOO Awe!, upon this point ; but I
thOught it my duty to paint oat 'this CiI'COrWAVOWC to the me,
dilation of the jury. Put who gave publicity to my thoughlar
• Wholaid hold of, and by what Itle!ant, a cOrrespOridence ad-
dressed solely to the eyes cif a bilittier, and 'of a lie:Sivas/pi
whose name alone conies with it the guarantee of alt that is
most illustriotis and loyal'irithei natiott.of which be hls eon.-
*tautly been one ,of the' todit zealous and enlightened sup.
porters ?

" Upon the accusation of 'haring conducted Layalette out
of Prance, 1 will nut detain yon lons. .:11). fat ij 4C know-
Itificet; f hare only iusistot on the tnotivec '

" it Is true that M. Lavatette, with. whom I had so Parti-
cular connection, had inspired me ' with aninterest *deb I
shared with all classes of society in France. :.'The painful sa.
crlfiees, the, interesting devotedness, the well-calculated au-
dacity of Madame Lavalette, badsingislarly increased that in-
terest and where is the man who Would have seen withuat
pain and regret the Isappiness of that virtuous and for. ever
illustrams woman close in misfortune and in despairs, It is
true, also, that I looked upon M. Leniene as a man Con-
demised at a period of revolution for an,effenee solely politi-
cd, mull/rho, having' freely given himself up, trusting to
innocence and the presumed faith of treaties, merited alt our
intotre,t. But Y declare that thusc.considerations, however
powerful, hada vary secondary influepee on my determination,
ti The 4ppvajomede tnaur humanity, to oar peraosm}
I .
raster, and to' our national generosity; the responsibility
thrown upon us of instantly deciding ou the life or death of
,an unfortunate man, and, above all, of an unfortunate.
stranger appeal was imperative, and did not permit us to
calculate. his other claims to onr, -good-will. At. its voice we
should hive, done as touch fur an obscure eaknown individual,
or even for an enemy who had fallen into misfortune.
" Perhaps we were imprudent ; but we would rather incur
tliat reproach than the one we should have merited, by basely
atiandouirsg bins who, full of confidence, threw himself into
our arms : and these very men who have calumniated us,
without knowing either the motives or the details of our eon-
dm-A
—these very men, I say, would here been the first to stig.
tssatise us at heartless cowards, if, by our refusal to save I.
Laralette,, we h..,,NA alandantYl bits to certain death.
" We resign ourselves with Security to the decision' of the
jury; and if yon should condemn us for having contravened
your positive laws, we shall not atUast have to reproach our-
selves lot baring violated the eternal laws of morality and'
humanity," ' •

This address prodnced n strong impression, and
the respect due to the Majesty of Justice could
saArcely prevent the expression of it,
Hutchinson declared that he bed nothing to
add to the speech of his Counsel.

M. the President kaviig asked Ar. Trace if be
had any thing to add.to Ills defence, Bruce spoke
asifolloWs

•
" i appear beferea court of justice, op an accusation of
having-coal ributed'ailhe escape of Laralctte :ifit is a crime
to hare saved the life of a man, I away:, that 1 am gitilty.
4, I do not Oisis to dcrive any rattily from what I hare been
able to do an appeal :vas made to my humanity, and my ho-
nintr imposed on pig the obligationed ansvrerinio. tithe
accusation hail besurountined to theittfair of Laealette. I
but few Words to foiLy to you; but I bare'ber.