s now called upon for his
defence. He looked around him for some time in silence, and with a mild
countenance. At length he spoke:

"It is strange; I am known to my judges and my auditors. Who is there
present a stranger to the character of Wieland? who knows him not as an
husband--as a father--as a friend? yet here am I arraigned as criminal.
I am charged with diabolical malice; I am accused of the murder of my
wife and my children!

"It is true, they were slain by me; they all perished by my hand.
The task of vindication is ignoble. What is it that I am called to
vindicate? and before whom?

"You know that they are dead, and that they were killed by me. What more
would you have? Would you extort from me a statement of my motives? Have
you failed to discover them already? You charge me with malice; but your
eyes are not shut; your reason is still vigorous; your memory has not
forsaken you. You know whom it is that you thus charge. The habits of
his life are known to you; his treatment of his wife and his
offspring is known to you; the soundness of his integrity, and the
unchangeableness of his principles, are familiar to your apprehension;
yet you persist in this charge! You lead me hither manacled as a felon;
you deem me worthy of a vile and tormenting death!

"Who are they whom I have devoted to death? My wife--the little ones,
that drew their being from me--that creature who, as she surpassed
them in excellence, claimed a larger affection than those whom natural
affinities bound to my heart. Think ye that malice could have urged me
to this deed? Hide your audacious fronts from the scrutiny of heaven.
Take refuge in some cavern unvisited by human eyes. Ye may deplore your
wickedness or folly, but ye cannot expiate it.

"Think not that I speak for your sakes. Hug to your hearts this
detestable infatuation. Deem me still a murderer, and drag me to
untimely death. I make not an effort to dispel your illusion: I utter
not a word to cure you of your sanguinary folly: but there are probably
some in this assembly who have come from far: for their sakes, whose
distance has disabled them from knowing me, I will tell what I have
done, and why.

"It is needless to say that God is the object of my supreme passion.
I have cherished, in his presence, a single and upright heart. I have
thirsted for the knowledge of his will. I have burnt with ardour to
approve my faith and my obedience.

"My days have been spent in searchi