Berkeley and Jefferson intelligencer. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va.) 1802-1810, 1804-02-24

in her bosom the liysliest tenderness and
esteem and she determined not only To-
fpllow him to the copitol, but TO exert
every faculty she possessed to obtain the
reservation oi his life. =, -
s.. The dreadful epoch Of the Revolu-
ton had. already arrived, when the scaf-
foidwas daily reeking with the blood Of
those victims whom savage cruelty had
unjustly slain, and M. Lavergne hourly
expected his would augment the sangui-
nary stream The horrors of q prison,
and the danips Of . dungeon, soon pro.
dused the most alarming effects on his
he tlih yet his amiable vile. considered
i a. a fortunate circumstance, conceivs.
ing they would not bring him TO trial IN
SO aebiliated state. A perilous dis
ease, she imagined, would prove apre-
sent safeguard, and time and exertion
bring the Sished for r.lief Vain sxpec-
tation /; hi name appeared on the tst
from which no appeal could save him,
and the iIl-Ated sufferer was doomed to
attend! ~ 4 i
>" Madame Lavergne was no sooner
made acquainted with this decision, than
she presented herself before the Com
m;ttee Of general safety. With q eoun-
tenanee expressive Of the anguish Other
feelings, and her eyes streaming with
apprehensive tears she demanded that
her husbands trial should be delayed un-
til he had regained his faculties by
restoration Of health assuring them he
was not in a state TO confront his accus-
ers, rs disease had impaired his reason
as much as his strength. -, .ss..~.Z
" Imagine, Oh! citlzens," said the
agonizing wife Of Lavsrgne such an
unfortunate being as have described,
! dragged before tribunal that decides
a.. upon life and death !! whilst reason a.
bAndons him, can he understand the
charges alledged against him! Or can
he have power to declare his innocence,
whose bodily snHerings are now threa-
tening to terminate his life ! Win you
) Oh Ci.iseus Of France, call man 20
trial while in a phrenzy Of delirium !!
viii you summon him who, perhaps
at this moment is expiring on thcbed Of
pain, TO hear that irrevocable sentance
which admits no medium betweenliberty
! and the seaHold! And if you Unite hu-
| matitv and Justice can you suffer an old
| man"-.At these words every eye was
turnedupon Madame Lavergne, whose
youth s. beauty, contrasted with the idea
! of an aged and inhrm husband, gave rise
TO yery different emotions in the breast
of the members Of the committee, from
those which she so eloqnently endeavor-
ed to inspire and they interrupted her
speech with the most indecent jests, and
the. Goa, sest of raillery. One of the
members, with scornful smile, assur-
4 cd her, that young and handsome rs she
i was it would not be so difficult a. she APP
peared to imagine. to find means Of con-
ISOLATION for the Toss Of a husband, who in
the common course Of nature had COM
Ipieteiy lived his time-another Of them
epully brutal, & still more feFocious, add
4 ed, that the feryor with which she pleaded
| the cause Of her husband, was unnatural
excess, and therefore the Comnaittee
could not attend TO her petition. go s S
=" Horror, indignation and despair,
took possession.of the unfortunate Ma
dame Layergne's soul. She heard the
purest and most exalted affection Tor one
| Of the worthiest men. condemned and
vili6ed as a degrading appetite She had
been wantonly insulted, whilst demand
ing justice by the administrators Of the
law and she rushed in silence from
those huffman monsters, TO hide the a
| gony that almost hurst herheart.
zone ray Of hope still rose 70 chase
the gloom Of deep despondsncy away,
Dumas, one Of the Judges Of the trib1.
nal, she had known ia former times
hin, therefore. she resolved % seek
and in spite ofthe antipathy his present
actions had inspired. implore him to lel
the trial be delayed. In all the agouy
of increasing apprehension, she threw
herself az this inAexible monsters feel
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