ed to learn something of our fate, we were at first greatly mortified to find ourselves turned over to the criminal judge, to be tried for having forced the guard of a fortress, and in that situation we are at present, daily expecting to undergo our examination, and however severe the punishment the law inflicts upon our crime, (if I may call it by such a name,) there are so many circumstances in our favor, that we have just grounds to expect a mild sentence. Mr. Lafayette is, I hear, well, and his treatment not more severe than before this unsuccessful attempt to recover his liberty. It is some consolation that it failed from accidents which it was not possible to guard against. First, from our being separated, and from the horse on which Bollman and myself rode falling with us, and, in consequence, Mr. Lafayette mistook his way—he rode hard, however, had reached a town thirty miles hence, had passed himself for a merchant, and procured a fresh horse, when he was known by a clerk who had seen him when transported from Neisse, and secured with the assistance of the persons present. From this place he had only twenty miles to reach the frontier, which had he once gained, he would probably have escaped, as the pursuit took a different direction in following Bollman.
