LAVATER. 



393 



Me afterwards served in the army of the Rhine and 

 that of Italy, with such distinction, that he rose 

 rapidly. Bonaparte made him his aid-de-camp, 

 intrusted him with his secret correspondence, and 

 gave him in marriage Mile. Beauharnais, the niece 

 of Josephine. He accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, 

 and, soon after the establishment of the consular 

 government, was made count, and a commander of 

 the legion of honour. In 1814, he was removed 

 from the post-office ; but when Louis quitted Paris, 

 in 1815, he repaired to the office, in company with 

 general Sebastiani, and summoned his successor, M. 

 I'Vrrand, to surrender his place, pnly allowing him a 

 lew minutes to collect his papers, but, at the same 

 time, treating him with great politeness. He then 

 took measures to accelerate the progress of Napoleon, 

 and conducted himself with extraordinary vigilance 

 and activity. For these services he was created a 

 peer of France (June 2), and continued in his office 

 till the return of the king. In the month of Novem- 

 ber following, lie was brought to trial, and con- 

 demned to death as an accomplice of Napoleon. 

 His appeal and application for pardon having failed, 

 preparations for his execution on Thursday, Decem- 

 ber 21, were making, when his wife, having obtained 

 permission to visit him, came, on the 20th, in a sedan 

 chair, and dined with him, attended by her daughter 

 and the governess. About seven in the evening, 

 the two latter appeared at the keeper's lodge, 

 apparently supporting Madame Lavalette, who was 

 closely muffled up, held a handkerchief before her 

 eyes, and exhibited every symptom of the profoundest 

 distress. After a few minutes, the keeper of the 

 prison repaired to Lavalette's apartment, where he 

 found Madame Lavalette in his place. He set his 

 turnkeys and keepers in motion, but, in spite of 

 their activity, nothing was found but the sedan 

 chair, in which the young daughter had taken the 

 place of her father, who had suddenly disappeared 

 at the Qtiai des Orfevres. The jailer was then 

 removed and confined, the barriers were closed, 

 and expresses were sent in every direction, with 

 the description of Lavalette's person, who contrived 

 to lie closely concealed for a fortnight, in spite of 

 the vigilance of the police, during which time he 

 meditated on the most effectual method of com- 

 pleting his escape. He had recourse, for that pur- 

 pose, to three Englishmen Messrs Bruce, Hutchin- 

 son, and Sir Robert Wilson, who were already known 

 for their zeal in support of the principles of liberty, 

 and for their hostility to the tyranny exercised by 

 the Bourbons. By means of these gentlemen, he 

 procured the uniform of a general officer in the 

 British service, and repaired, January 7, at half- 

 past nine at night, to the apartments of captain 

 Hutchirison. The next morning, at seven o'clock, 

 he got into a cabriolet with Sir Robert Wilson, 

 passed 4;he barriers without being recognised, and 

 arrived the following day at Mons, where his guide 

 took leave of him. He then took the road to 

 Munich, where he found an asylum among power- 

 ful friends and connexions. Irritated by his escape, 

 the government had the cruelty to retain his wife 

 for some time in prison, because she had been acces- 

 sary to the escape of her husband a treatment 

 which disordered her senses, and she has since 

 been a confirmed lunatic. Lavalette was pardoned, 

 and returned to France in 1821. 



LAVATER, JOHN GASPAR, was born in 1741, at 

 Zurich, in Switzerland, where his father enjoyed the 

 reputation of a skilful physician and good citizen. 

 The severity of his mother somewhat depressed 

 the mind of the boy, who was endowed with a 

 lively imagination, and he early gave himself up 

 lo solitary reveries. While yet at school, he was 



persuaded that he had received direct answers to 

 his prayers. His imagination, even at that early 

 period, appears to have been so actively employed, 

 that he never acquired much knowledge of philo- 

 logy or classical antiquity. In 1703, he travelled, 

 in company with Fuseli afterwards a distinguished 

 painter in London to Leipsic and Berlin, and 

 became acquainted with the scholars and theolo- 

 gians of Northern Germany. In 17b'4, he returned 

 to his native city, and, in 1767, appeared as a poet 

 in his Scfnveizerlieder, which, as well as his Aus- 

 sichten in die Ewigkcit (1768), gained him many 

 admirers. In 1769, he was appointed one of the 

 ministers at the orphan church at Zurich. His ser- 

 mons were rendered attractive by their pleasing 

 style, his enthusiastic zeal, and a certain mysticism 

 which always characterized him. They were printed 

 in 1772, and were admired even in foreign countries. 

 All his activity was, in fact, devoted to the service 

 of religion, until he undertook his work on physiog- 

 nomy. Lavater had become acquainted with a 

 great number of persons, and his lively imagina- 

 tion had led him to the conclusion that there exists 

 a much greater connexion between the internal man 

 and the external expression in the face than is 

 generally supposed. He reduced this external 

 expression of disposition and character to a system, 

 and considered the lines of the countenance as sure 

 indications of the temper. He had adopted this 

 idea in 1769, and collected the features of distin- 

 guished people from all parts of the world. His 

 great work (in four volumes 4to), under the modest 

 title Physiognomical Fragments (1775 et seq.), 

 made him known all over Europe. It was rendered 

 valuable by the many portraits it contained, mostly 

 well executed by some of the engravers of Germany. 

 Lavater had added explanations, in a poetical style, 

 full of enthusiastic exclamations. As may easily be 

 imagined, a theory so novel found warm admirers, 

 whose zeal often rendered it ridiculous, and Lichten- 

 berg satirized it in his Essay on Cues and Tails one 

 of his most successful compositions. Lichtenljerg's 

 exclamations on the contour of a pig's tail, or a 

 happily- adjusted cue, equal the raptures of Lavater 

 viewing the physiognomy of an Alexander. Ac- 

 cording to Las Cases, Napoleon declared himself 

 convinced, by long experience, that no reliance was 

 to be placed on the expression of the face an 

 opinion which is perhaps true to a greater extent 

 in respect to talents than disposition. Lavater 

 himself seems to have given up his theory in a 

 great degree. (See Physiognomy) He published 

 several other works, including poems and works of 

 religious instruction, and his reputation became so 

 great, that his journeys resembled triumphs. He 

 refused better appointments in foreign countries, 

 and became minister at St. Peter's church in 

 Zurich. During the revolution, he spoke with bold- 

 ness against the new order of things, the Swiss 

 directory, &c., and was finally transported to Bale, 

 in the year 1796. He was again set at liberty; 

 but, on the capture of Zurich (in September 26, 

 1799), by Massena, while occupied in the street, 

 assisting the distressed, and giving refreshment to 

 exhausted soldiers, he received a shot in his side.* 

 He lingered above a year, during which he wrote 

 several works, and died January 2, 1801. Lavater 

 was one of the most virtuous of men, so that a 



* According to Raoul-Rochette's ffistoire fie la Rfeoliit. 

 Helvelique (Paris, 1822), neither a Russian nor a French- 

 man was nig murderer : " Lc crime apparticut tout tntier 

 a la fiireur des partis ; et Lavater qtii connaissait son 

 assassin, cmporta dans la tombe cet horrible secret avee 

 tons Us autres secrets de sa belle ante ft de son ittfjiuisabU 

 t-hfrttt." 



