gentleman holding a white handkerchief in his hand, to whom he was to address himself. Upon receipt of that anonymous communication, Mr. Hutchinson repaired to Sir Robert Wilson, who, having perused its contents, immediately gave it as his opinion that the suffering person alluded to, could be no other than Lavalette himself. Actuated by feelings of genuine philanthropy, he then immediately decided that the appointment proposed in the letter, should be attended to by Mr. Hutchinson, who repaired, accordingly, to the place of rendezvous, where he found the person designated, bearing a white handkerchief, whom he proceeded to address. The unknown immediately demanded whether, if an unfortunate gentleman was committed to his (Mr. Hutchinson's) care, he would use every possible effort to accomplish his preservation; when, upon receiving an affirmative assurance, the stranger, retiring for a few minutes, returned, accompanied by another individual, who was delivered over to him, with the emphatic word- Remember ! Mr. Hutchinson and his protégé then walked off, arm-in-arm, to the lodgings of the former, where he remained concealed, until the plan was carried out for passing the frontiers. The means of doing so were supplied by Sir R. Wilson and Messrs. Bruce and Hutchinson. Dressed as an English officer, he went to their quarters, and started at seven in the morning with Sir R. Wilson in the cabriolet. One of the postmasters examined his countenance, and recognized him through his disguise. A postilion was instantly sent off at full speed, when Lavalette urged his demand for horses; but the postmaster had just quitted the house, and given orders that none should be supplied. The travellers, therefore, thought themselves discovered, and saw no means of escaping, in a country with which they were unacquainted; and, in consequence, it was resolved that they should defend themselves, and sell their lives dearly. The postmaster, at length, returned unattended, and, addressing himself to Lavalette, said, "You have the appearance of honour; you are going to Brussels, where you will see M. de Lavalette ; deliver him these two hundred louis d'ors that I owe him, and of which he is no doubt in want;" then, without waiting an answer, he threw the money into the carriage, and withdrew, saying, "You will be drawn by my best horses; a postilion is gone on to provide relays, for the continuance of your journey." He, at length, arrived at Mons, where he obtained permission to settle at Munich. Five years after, a royal ordinance revoked the sentence of death, and permitted him to rejoin his family in France. On the escape of Lavalette being known, his wife, together with Dutoil, Sir Robert Wilson, Messrs. Hutchinson and Bruce, were tried before the Cour Royale. The latter were condemned to a short imprisonment; the two women were acquitted. Alas! the heroic wife never recovered the shock caused to her constitution by the risks to which her noble fidelity had exposed her. It is reported that even the king so far applauded her as to have said that she alone, of all the parties concerned, had "done her duty." But praise or censure had lost the power to charm or pain: a fixed mental alienation succeeded the efforts she had made; and when her husband returned, she, whose association had allayed every pang, and whose fortitude had confronted peril, now claimed his sympathy, in the helplessness of prostrated intellect. It was a sad eclipse of so bright a sun: the form he loved was there, but the spirit, which had clung to his through weal and woe, no longer swayed the impulses of that once beauteous being! 66 Every sense Had been o'erstrung by pangs intense, (As bow-strings when relax'd by rain, The erring arrow launch aside), Sent forth her thoughts all wild and wide." Elizabeth Fry. "This is true philanthropy, that buries not its gold in ostentatious charity, but builds its hospital in the human heart."-HARLEY. |