APPENDIX TO CHRONICLE. 



335 



which he mtroduced letters of 

 acknowledgment for his services 

 from the emperor Alexivnder, the 

 king of Prussia, and prince Met- 

 ternich. Coming to the principal 

 legal point of the case, he reduced 

 it to the two propositions, 1. 

 Tlieie was no act of complicihj be- 

 tween the accused peisons and 

 the principal culprit : 2. The fact 

 imputed to them cannot be con- 

 sidered as a crime, nor as an 

 offence. As the arguments em- 

 ployed to support them were 

 little more than legal sophisms, 

 it is unnecessary to recite tliem. 

 The pleading concluded with a 

 particular recommendation of the 

 accused to the court as strmigers 

 and Ertglishmen. 



The proceedings having closed, 

 Sir II. Wilson rose, and with 

 a diguitied confidence delisered 

 a speech, of which the conclusion 

 cannot be thought too long for 

 quotation. Having acknowledged 

 that he had been interested in the 

 fate of Lavalette on })olitical 

 grounds, he declared that such 

 considerations had a very inferior 

 iniluence on his determination. 

 " The appeal (said he) made to our 

 humanity, to our personal cha- 

 racter, and to our national gene- 

 rosity 5 the responsibility thrown 

 upon us of instantly deciding on 

 the life or death of an unfortu- 

 nate man, and above all, of an 

 unfortunate stranger — this ap- 

 peal was imperative, and did not 

 permit us to calculate his other 

 claims to our good will. At its 

 voice we should have done as 

 much for an obscure unknown 

 individual, or even for an enemy 

 who had fallen into misfortune. 

 Perhaps we were imprudent : but 

 we would rather incur that re- 



proach than the one we should 

 have merited by basely abandon- 

 ing him, who, full of confidence, 

 threw himself into our arms : 

 and these very men who have ca- 

 lumniated us, without knowing 

 either the motives or the details 

 of our conduct — these very men, 

 I say, would have been the first 

 to stigmatize us as heartless 

 cowards, if, by our refusal to 

 save M. Lavalette, we had aban- 

 doned him to certain death. We 

 resign ourselves with secuiity to 

 the decision of the juiy ; and if 

 you should condemn us for having 

 contravened your positive laws, 

 we shall not at least have to re- 

 proach ourselves for having vio- 

 lated the eternal laws of morality 

 and humanity." 



This address, we are told, pro- 

 duced a strong impression, and 

 the respect due to the majesty of 

 justice would scarcely prevent the 

 open expression of it. 



Mr. Bruce pronounced a speech 

 of the same general tenor in 

 animated language, and with a 

 firm and manly tone, " Gentle- 

 men (he concluded,) I have con- 

 fessed to you, with all frankness 

 and honour, the whole truth with 

 respect to the part which ] took 

 in the escape of M. Lavalette; 

 and notwithstanding the respect 

 which I entertain for the majesty 

 of the laws, notwithstanding the 

 respect 1 owe to this tribunal, I 

 cannot be wanting in the respect 

 I owe to myself so far as to affirm 

 that 1 feel not the least compunc- 

 tion for what! have done. I leave 

 you. Gentlemen, to decide upon 

 my fate, and 1 implore notiiing 

 bur justice." 



The president then concisely 

 summed up the evidence, and 



gave 



