Litchfield enquirer., 1841-12-23
FoRTTTUDE AND AFFECTION.


 The following narrative is too h"nora- ble [" the female sex to be passed over in record of extraordinary facts, and adds an- other to the thousand instances of female fortiiudc and ;sflrcuion which were display ed during ,he French revolution.
 An English traveller of celebrity had let ters of introduction to Monsieur O-aA- :; he was at his country house, about nine miles from Paris, an invalid. Heavy loss es, a painful separation from his native country for lie preservation of his own aift, and the lives of his family, had under- sMined his health, and made sad inroads in a delicate constitution. Monsieur o. en- tered into d very interesting account of his country, of tle revolution, and of his fight. He still spoke of his lady with all the ten- der euIogium of a young lover, for their union proceeded entirely from attachment. He informed me that in the time of blood, as it was justly termed, this amiable wo- man, who is remark able for the delicacy of her mind, and for the beauty aud majesty of her person, displayed a coolness and cour- age which, in the field of battle, would have covered the hero with laurels.
 One evening, short period before the family left France, a party of those mur- derers, who were sent for by Robespierre from the frontiers which divide France from Italy, and who were employed by that arch fiend in all the butcheries and massa- cres of Pa,is, entered the peaceful village of La Reine in search of Monsieur o.. His Iadv saw them advancing, and anticipa- ting their errand, had just time to give her husband intelligence of their approach, who left his chateau by a back door, and secre- ted himself in the house of neighbour Madame O., with perfect comp"sure, went out to meet them, and received them in most gracious manner. They sterniy demanded Monsieur o.; she inform ed them tha. he had left the country ; after engaging them in conversation, she con- ducted them into her drawing-ro"m, and regaled them with her best wines, and made her servants attend upon them with un- usual deterence and ceremony. Their aP- pearsnce was altogether horrible; they wore leather aprons, which were sprinkled all over with blood they had large horse pistols in their belts, and a dirk and sabre by their sides. Their looks were full of ferocity, and they spoke harsh, dissonant patois language. Over their cups they talked about the bloody business of that days occupation, in the course of which they drew their dirks, and wiped from their handles cots of blood and hair.
 Madame o. sat with them, undis- mayed by their frigh,ful department. Ar ter drinking several bottles of champaign and burgundy, these savages began to grow good humored, and seemed to be completely fascinated by the amiable and une mbarrassed, and hospitable behaviour of their fair landlady.
 After earousiag tip midnight, they pres sed her to retire, observing that they I'aC been received SO handsomely that they were convinced HssSgFisaaff MssFisaaff @ n ci fad been misrepresented, and was no enemy to the good cause {; they added that they had found the wines excellent, and after drink ing two or three bottles more, they would leave the house without causing her any reason to regret their admission.
 Madame o., with all the appearance of perfect tranquility, and confidence in their promises, wished her unwelcome vis- i,ors good night, and after visiting her children in their rooms, she threw herself upon her bed, with a loaded pistol in each hand, and overwhelmed with suppressed agony and agitation, she soundly slept till she was called by her servants, two hours after these wretches had left tl.e house.
 Declivity of Rivers.-A very slight de- clivi,y will suffice to give the running mo- ton to water. Three inches descent per mile in smooth, straight channel gives the water a velocity of about three miles per hour. The Ganges. which gathers the waters of the Himaly mountains, the lotli- cs, in the world, is, at 1900 miles from its mouth, 800 feet above the level of the sea i; (I.E. about twice as high as the spire of St.. Paul's church, in London, or the height of Ar,hur's seat, near Edinburgh,) and 10 fall these 800 feet in its long course, the water requires more than month. The great river called Magdalena, in South America, running 1000 miles between two ridges of the Andes, falls 500 feet in all that distance. Above the comme ncement of tho thousand miles, it is seen descending in rapids and cataracts from the mountains. The gigan- tic Rio de la Plata has SD gentle a descent iron, the ocean,, that in Paraguay. 1900 miles from it's mouth, large ships are seen which Have sailed against this current all the way, by the force of the wind alone; that is to say, which, OH the beautifully in- cIined plane of the stream, have gradually been lifted by the soft wind, and against the current, to an elevation greater than that of our lofiest spires.-Arnot's Physics.