a truce of fix months being agreed on by the contending powers, the Comte de Sabran obtained leave of abfence, and determined never to return till he had found out the spot which contained the treasure of his foul. With this view, he vifited every convent where he fuppofed fhe might be concealed; and, after incredible fatigues and anxiety, (during which he seldom tafted food, or suffered fleep to approach his eyelids) he at length traced her to Vienna, whither fhe had been invited by a boarding-fchool friend, whom alone fhe had made the confidante of her intentions, under the feigned title of her brother, he was firft allowed an audience at the grate; and he even obtained permiffion, under that fanction, to visit her within the inclosure. There he found fhe had already taken the veil, and even her laft vows; but love prevailed over all the dictates of religion; and a plan was concer. ted for her release, which he immediately put into execution. Night was the time fixed on for this defperate attempt, and every precaution was taken to prevent a discovery. The guard was fecured by an ample bribe; the Comte fcaled the walls as the clock ftruck twelve, and found Maria prepared to fecond his exertions. Many obftacles, however, retarded his defigns; nor were they accomplished before before the centinel was relieved on whose aid and fecrecy he had relied. The foldier now on duty obferving him and Maria defcend from the wall by a rope ladder the Comte had taken care to provide, immediately fired; when poor Maria fell at his feet. Not doubting that fhe was mortally wounded, he facrificed the guard: by whom he fuppofed he had been bafely betrayed, to the firft impulse of his resentment; and, in the distraction of his foul, was meditating the like vengeance on himself, when Maria (who by this time had recovered from her fwoon) arrived foon enough to prevent the fatal ftroke. Once more he clasped her in his arms; but the report of the centinel's mufquet having given a general alarm to the guards, he was conveyed, with Maria, to a place of fecurity. Murder and facrilege were the two crimes of which he stood clearly convicted; crimes which excluded the most distant hope of mercy: He was accordingly ordered to prepare for inevitable death; and the lovely Maria was condemned to fhare his fate. The day was come, the awful preparations were made, and the vile arm of an executioner was already raised to cut off two perfons in the bloom of health and youth, culpable in the eyes of erring man, but more than innocent in thofe of Heaven, when the old Maréchal de Sabran, doubtless con ducted ducted by Providence, arrived at the melancholy fpot, juft in time to prevent the dreadful catastrophe. His name and virtues were respected even by thofe enemies who had fo often shrunk before his valour; and no fooner had he claimed the two culprits, and declared his intentions of appealing to the feelings of the Emperor, than orders were given to defer the execution till the event of his fuit fhould be known. The Being admitted to the Imperial Prefence, what was his conduct? Did he rend his grey locks in token of affliction, or defcend to more abject acts of humiliation in order to excite pity? No; he appeared, he looked, he fpoke, with the confidence of a man who felt his claim to attention. words he made ufe of were few: Sire, faid he, 'I am a father, alas! I must foon cease to be fo, for my fon and daughter have offended you; I come not hither in the forlorn hope of defrauding the claims of justice, which I have ever respected; but of pleading for honour, which has been equally dear to me. If my children are guilty, let them perifh, but not by a vulgar hand: mine, Sire, fhall do the office of an executioner; and the fame fword that pierces their hearts, fhall foon find accefs to mine. I am a Maréchal of France; my name is Sabran and this requeft, I truft will not be refufed to the fame of my ancestors and to my own!' : The ( 159 ) The emperor heard him with aftonishment; nor was it till after a paufe of fome minutes, that he could make him this gracious reply. Go, it is impoffible that your children can have been guilty; or if they have been fo unfortunate, whatever be their crimes, I forgive them for your fake. This fentence was highly extolled by all but the biggotted clergy, ever enraged to fee victims fnatched from their vengeance; thefe complained that the interefts of Heaven were facrificed to thofe of humanity: but, in fpite of their influence, Sabran and his beloved Maria were restored to the arms of their now enraptured parent, and foon after united in the fofteft bands that Hymen ever entwined. The fovereign, to whose benevolence they owed these bleffings, was not long without his reward: in the very next campaign the young heir to his throne was refcued from his fate by the Comte de Sabran; who never failed to tread in the foofteps of his father, and feemed ftill more to inherit his god-like virtues, than his titles, his rank, and most ample fortune. 1 (160) ELEGY ON A YOUNG WOMAN WHO WAS FOUND Murdered in St. George's Fields, and carried to a neighbouring bone-house to be owned. NHAPPY daughter of diftrefs and woe, UNHA Whate'er thy forrows, and whoe'er thou art To thee the tear of charity fhall flow, Warm from the pureft fountain of the heart. Perhaps, though now neglected and forlorn, Or the lov'd darling of a mother's fight. For thee, perhaps, they watch'd, and toil'd, and pray'd, On thy fweet innocence with tranfport hung; When dawning reafon fhed her ray benign, For who, alas! can tell thy fecret worth? The bofom, laid defencelefs on the earth, The |