Book: Wieland; or The Transformation, An American Tale

C >> Charles Brockden Brown >> Wieland; or The Transformation, An American Tale




"Suddenly you receded from the door. This deportment was
inexplicable, but the relief it afforded me was quickly gone.
You returned, and I once more was thrown into perplexity. The
expedient that suggested itself was precipitate and inartificial.
I exerted my organs and called upon you TO HOLD.

"That you should persist in spite of this admonition, was a
subject of astonishment. I again resisted your efforts; for the
first expedient having failed, I knew not what other to resort
to. In this state, how was my astonishment increased when I
heard your exclamations!

"It was now plain that you knew me to be within. Further
resistance was unavailing and useless. The door opened, and I
shrunk backward. Seldom have I felt deeper mortification, and
more painful perplexity. I did not consider that the truth
would be less injurious than any lie which I could hastily
frame. Conscious as I was of a certain degree of guilt, I
conceived that you would form the most odious suspicions. The
truth would be imperfect, unless I were likewise to explain the
mysterious admonition which had been given; but that explanation
was of too great moment, and involved too extensive consequences
to make me suddenly resolve to give it.
"I was aware that this discovery would associate itself in
your mind, with the dialogue formerly heard in this closet.
Thence would your suspicions be aggravated, and to escape from
these suspicions would be impossible. But the mere truth would
be sufficiently opprobrious, and deprive me for ever of your
good opinion.

"Thus was I rendered desperate, and my mind rapidly passed to
the contemplation of the use that might be made of previous
events. Some good genius would appear to you to have interposed
to save you from injury intended by me. Why, I said, since I
must sink in her opinion, should I not cherish this belief? Why
not personate an enemy, and pretend that celestial interference
has frustrated my schemes? I must fly, but let me leave wonder
and fear behind me. Elucidation of the mystery will always be
practicable. I shall do no injury, but merely talk of evil that
was designed, but is now past.

"Thus I extenuated my conduct to myself, but I scarcely
expect that this will be to you a sufficient explication of the
scene that followed. Those habits which I have imbibed, the
rooted passion which possesses me for scattering around me
amazement and fear, you enjoy no opportunities of knowing. That
a man should wantonly impute to himself the most flagitious
designs, will hardly be credited, even though you reflect that
my reputation was already, by my own folly, irretrievably
ruined; and that it was always in my power to communicate the
truth, and rectify the mistake.

"I left you to ponder on this scene. My mind was full of
rapid and incongruous ideas. Compunction, self-upbraiding,
hopelesness, satisfaction at the view of those effects likely to
flow from my new scheme, misgivings as to the beneficial result
of this scheme took possession of my mind, and seemed to
struggle for the mastery.

"I had gone too far to recede. I had painted myself to you
as an assassin and ravisher, withheld from guilt only by a voice
from heaven. I had thus reverted into the path of error, and
now, having gone thus far, my progress seemed to be irrevocable.
I said to myself, I must leave these precincts for ever. My
acts have blasted my fame in the eyes of the Wielands. For the
sake of creating a mysterious dread, I have made myself a
villain. I may complete this mysterious plan by some new
imposture, but I cannot aggravate my supposed guilt.

"My resolution was formed, and I was swiftly ruminating on
the means for executing it, when Pleyel appeared in sight. This
incident decided my conduct. It was plain that Pleyel was a
devoted lover, but he was, at the same time, a man of cold
resolves and exquisite sagacity. To deceive him would be the
sweetest triumph I had ever enjoyed. The deception would be
momentary, but it would likewise be complete. That his delusion
would so soon be rectified, was a recommendation to my scheme,
for I esteemed him too much to desire to entail upon him lasting
agonies.

"I had no time to reflect further, for he proceeded, with a
quick step, towards the house. I was hurried onward
involuntarily and by a mechanical impulse. I followed him as he
passed the recess in the bank, and shrowding myself in that
spot, I counterfeited sounds which I knew would arrest his
steps.

"He stopped, turned, listened, approached, and overheard a
dialogue whose purpose was to vanquish his belief in a point
where his belief was most difficult to vanquish. I exerted all
my powers to imitate your voice, your general sentiments, and
your language. Being master, by means of your journal, of your
personal history and most secret thoughts, my efforts were the
more successful. When I reviewed the tenor of this dialogue, I
cannot believe but that Pleyel was deluded. When I think of
your character, and of the inferences which this dialogue was
intended to suggest, it seems incredible that this delusion
should be produced.

"I spared not myself. I called myself murderer, thief,
guilty of innumerable perjuries and misdeeds: that you had
debased yourself to the level of such an one, no evidence,
methought, would suffice to convince him who knew you so
thoroughly as Pleyel; and yet the imposture amounted to proof
which the most jealous scrutiny would find to be
unexceptionable.

"He left his station precipitately and resumed his way to the
house. I saw that the detection of his error would be
instantaneous, since, not having gone to bed, an immediate
interview would take place between you. At first this
circumstance was considered with regret; but as time opened my
eyes to the possible consequences of this scene, I regarded it
with pleasure.

"In a short time the infatuation which had led me thus far
began to subside. The remembrance of former reasonings and
transactions was renewed. How often I had repented this kind of
exertion; how many evils were produced by it which I had not
foreseen; what occasions for the bitterest remorse it had
administered, now passed through my mind. The black catalogue
of stratagems was now increased. I had inspired you with the
most vehement terrors: I had filled your mind with faith in
shadows and confidence in dreams: I had depraved the
imagination of Pleyel: I had exhibited you to his understanding
as devoted to brutal gratifications and consummate in hypocrisy.
The evidence which accompanied this delusion would be
irresistible to one whose passion had perverted his judgment,
whose jealousy with regard to me had already been excited, and
who, therefore, would not fail to overrate the force of this
evidence. What fatal act of despair or of vengeance might not
this error produce?

"With regard to myself, I had acted with a phrenzy that
surpassed belief. I had warred against my peace and my fame:
I had banished myself from the fellowship of vigorous and pure
minds: I was self-expelled from a scene which the munificence
of nature had adorned with unrivalled beauties, and from haunts
in which all the muses and humanities had taken refuge.

"I was thus torn by conflicting fears and tumultuous regrets.
The night passed away in this state of confusion; and next
morning in the gazette left at my obscure lodging, I read a
description and an offer of reward for the apprehension of my
person. I was said to have escaped from an Irish prison, in
which I was confined as an offender convicted of enormous and
complicated crimes.

"This was the work of an enemy, who, by falsehood and
stratagem, had procured my condemnation. I was, indeed, a
prisoner, but escaped, by the exertion of my powers, the fate to
which I was doomed, but which I did not deserve. I had hoped
that the malice of my foe was exhausted; but I now perceived
that my precautions had been wise, for that the intervention of
an ocean was insufficient for my security.

"Let me not dwell on the sensations which this discovery
produced. I need not tell by what steps I was induced to seek
an interview with you, for the purpose of disclosing the truth,
and repairing, as far as possible, the effects of my misconduct.
It was unavoidable that this gazette would fall into your hands,
and that it would tend to confirm every erroneous impression.

"Having gained this interview, I purposed to seek some
retreat in the wilderness, inaccessible to your inquiry and to
the malice of my foe, where I might henceforth employ myself in
composing a faithful narrative of my actions. I designed it as
my vindication from the aspersions that had rested on my
character, and as a lesson to mankind on the evils of credulity
on the one hand, and of imposture on the other.

"I wrote you a billet, which was left at the house of your
friend, and which I knew would, by some means, speedily come to
your hands. I entertained a faint hope that my invitation would
be complied with. I knew not what use you would make of the
opportunity which this proposal afforded you of procuring the
seizure of my person; but this fate I was determined to avoid,
and I had no doubt but due circumspection, and the exercise of
the faculty which I possessed, would enable me to avoid it.

"I lurked, through the day, in the neighbourhood of
Mettingen: I approached your habitation at the appointed hour:
I entered it in silence, by a trap-door which led into the
cellar. This had formerly been bolted on the inside, but Judith
had, at an early period in our intercourse, removed this
impediment. I ascended to the first floor, but met with no one,
nor any thing that indicated the presence of an human being.

"I crept softly up stairs, and at length perceived your
chamber door to be opened, and a light to be within. It was of
moment to discover by whom this light was accompanied. I was
sensible of the inconveniencies to which my being discovered at
your chamber door by any one within would subject me; I
therefore called out in my own voice, but so modified that it
should appear to ascend from the court below, 'Who is in the
chamber? Is it Miss Wieland?"

"No answer was returned to this summons. I listened, but no
motion could be heard. After a pause I repeated my call, but no
less ineffectually.

"I now approached nearer the door, and adventured to look in.
A light stood on the table, but nothing human was discernible.
I entered cautiously, but all was solitude and stillness.

"I knew not what to conclude. If the house were inhabited,
my call would have been noticed; yet some suspicion insinuated
itself that silence was studiously kept by persons who intended
to surprize me. My approach had been wary, and the silence that
ensued my call had likewise preceded it; a circumstance that
tended to dissipate my fears.

"At length it occurred to me that Judith might possibly be in
her own room. I turned my steps thither; but she was not to be
found. I passed into other rooms, and was soon convinced that
the house was totally deserted. I returned to your chamber,
agitated by vain surmises and opposite conjectures. The
appointed hour had passed, and I dismissed the hope of an
interview.

"In this state of things I determined to leave a few lines on
your toilet, and prosecute my journey to the mountains.
Scarcely had I taken the pen when I laid it aside, uncertain in
what manner to address you. I rose from the table and walked
across the floor. A glance thrown upon the bed acquainted me
with a spectacle to which my conceptions of horror had not yet
reached.

"In the midst of shuddering and trepidation, the signal of
your presence in the court below recalled me to myself. The
deed was newly done: I only was in the house: what had lately
happened justified any suspicions, however enormous. It was
plain that this catastrophe was unknown to you: I thought upon
the wild commotion which the discovery would awaken in your
breast: I found the confusion of my own thoughts unconquerable,
and perceived that the end for which I sought an interview was
not now to be accomplished.

"In this state of things it was likewise expedient to conceal
my being within. I put out the light and hurried down stairs.
To my unspeakable surprize, notwithstanding every motive to
fear, you lighted a candle and proceeded to your chamber.

"I retired to that room below from which a door leads into
the cellar. This door concealed me from your view as you
passed. I thought upon the spectacle which was about to present
itself. In an exigence so abrupt and so little foreseen, I was
again subjected to the empire of mechanical and habitual
impulses. I dreaded the effects which this shocking exhibition,
bursting on your unprepared senses, might produce.

"Thus actuated, I stept swiftly to the door, and thrusting my
head forward, once more pronounced the mysterious interdiction.
At that moment, by some untoward fate, your eyes were cast back,
and you saw me in the very act of utterance. I fled through the
darksome avenue at which I entered, covered with the shame of
this detection.

"With diligence, stimulated by a thousand ineffable emotions,
I pursued my intended journey. I have a brother whose farm is
situated in the bosom of a fertile desert, near the sources of
the Leheigh, and thither I now repaired.



Chapter XXIV


"Deeply did I ruminate on the occurrences that had just
passed. Nothing excited my wonder so much as the means by which
you discovered my being in the closet. This discovery appeared
to be made at the moment when you attempted to open it. How
could you have otherwise remained so long in the chamber
apparently fearless and tranquil? And yet, having made this
discovery, how could you persist in dragging me forth: persist
in defiance of an interdiction so emphatical and solemn?

"But your sister's death was an event detestable and ominous.
She had been the victim of the most dreadful species of
assassination. How, in a state like yours, the murderous
intention could be generated, was wholly inconceivable.

"I did not relinquish my design of confessing to you the part
which I had sustained in your family, but I was willing to defer
it till the task which I had set myself was finished. That
being done, I resumed the resolution. The motives to incite me
to this continually acquired force. The more I revolved the
events happening at Mettingen, the more insupportable and
ominous my terrors became. My waking hours and my sleep were
vexed by dismal presages and frightful intimations.

"Catharine was dead by violence. Surely my malignant stars
had not made me the cause of her death; yet had I not rashly set
in motion a machine, over whose progress I had no controul, and
which experience had shewn me was infinite in power? Every day
might add to the catalogue of horrors of which this was the
source, and a seasonable disclosure of the truth might prevent
numberless ills.

"Fraught with this conception, I have turned my steps hither.
I find your brother's house desolate: the furniture removed,
and the walls stained with damps. Your own is in the same
situation. Your chamber is dismantled and dark, and you exhibit
an image of incurable grief, and of rapid decay.

"I have uttered the truth. This is the extent of my
offences. You tell me an horrid tale of Wieland being led to
the destruction of his wife and children, by some mysterious
agent. You charge me with the guilt of this agency; but I
repeat that the amount of my guilt has been truly stated. The
perpetrator of Catharine's death was unknown to me till now;
nay, it is still unknown to me."

At that moment, the closing of a door in the kitchen was
distinctly heard by us. Carwin started and paused. "There is
some one coming. I must not be found here by my enemies, and
need not, since my purpose is answered."

I had drunk in, with the most vehement attention, every word
that he had uttered. I had no breath to interrupt his tale by
interrogations or comments. The power that he spoke of was
hitherto unknown to me: its existence was incredible; it was
susceptible of no direct proof.

He owns that his were the voice and face which I heard and
saw. He attempts to give an human explanation of these
phantasms; but it is enough that he owns himself to be the
agent; his tale is a lie, and his nature devilish. As he
deceived me, he likewise deceived my brother, and now do I
behold the author of all our calamities!

Such were my thoughts when his pause allowed me to think. I
should have bad him begone if the silence had not been
interrupted; but now I feared no more for myself; and the
milkiness of my nature was curdled into hatred and rancour.
Some one was near, and this enemy of God and man might possibly
be brought to justice. I reflected not that the preternatural
power which he had hitherto exerted, would avail to rescue him
from any toils in which his feet might be entangled. Meanwhile,
looks, and not words of menace and abhorrence, were all that I
could bestow.

He did not depart. He seemed dubious, whether, by passing
out of the house, or by remaining somewhat longer where he was,
he should most endanger his safety. His confusion increased
when steps of one barefoot were heard upon the stairs. He threw
anxious glances sometimes at the closet, sometimes at the
window, and sometimes at the chamber door, yet he was detained
by some inexplicable fascination. He stood as if rooted to the
spot.

As to me, my soul was bursting with detestation and revenge.
I had no room for surmises and fears respecting him that
approached. It was doubtless a human being, and would befriend
me so far as to aid me in arresting this offender.

The stranger quickly entered the room. My eyes and the eyes
of Carwin were, at the same moment, darted upon him. A second
glance was not needed to inform us who he was. His locks were
tangled, and fell confusedly over his forehead and ears. His
shirt was of coarse stuff, and open at the neck and breast. His
coat was once of bright and fine texture, but now torn and
tarnished with dust. His feet, his legs, and his arms were
bare. His features were the seat of a wild and tranquil
solemnity, but his eyes bespoke inquietude and curiosity.

He advanced with firm step, and looking as in search of some
one. He saw me and stopped. He bent his sight on the floor,
and clenching his hands, appeared suddenly absorbed in
meditation. Such were the figure and deportment of Wieland!
Such, in his fallen state, were the aspect and guise of my
brother!

Carwin did not fail to recognize the visitant. Care for his
own safety was apparently swallowed up in the amazement which
this spectacle produced. His station was conspicuous, and he
could not have escaped the roving glances of Wieland; yet the
latter seemed totally unconscious of his presence.

Grief at this scene of ruin and blast was at first the only
sentiment of which I was conscious. A fearful stillness ensued.
At length Wieland, lifting his hands, which were locked in each
other, to his breast, exclaimed, "Father! I thank thee. This is
thy guidance. Hither thou hast led me, that I might perform thy
will: yet let me not err: let me hear again thy messenger!"

He stood for a minute as if listening; but recovering from
his attitude, he continued--"It is not needed. Dastardly
wretch! thus eternally questioning the behests of thy Maker!
weak in resolution! wayward in faith!"

He advanced to me, and, after another pause, resumed: "Poor
girl! a dismal fate has set its mark upon thee. Thy life is
demanded as a sacrifice. Prepare thee to die. Make not my
office difficult by fruitless opposition. Thy prayers might
subdue stones; but none but he who enjoined my purpose can shake
it."

These words were a sufficient explication of the scene. The
nature of his phrenzy, as described by my uncle, was remembered.
I who had sought death, was now thrilled with horror because it
was near. Death in this form, death from the hand of a brother,
was thought upon with undescribable repugnance.

In a state thus verging upon madness, my eye glanced upon
Carwin. His astonishment appeared to have struck him motionless
and dumb. My life was in danger, and my brother's hand was
about to be embrued in my blood. I firmly believed that
Carwin's was the instigation. I could rescue me from this
abhorred fate; I could dissipate this tremendous illusion; I
could save my brother from the perpetration of new horrors, by
pointing out the devil who seduced him; to hesitate a moment was
to perish. These thoughts gave strength to my limbs, and energy
to my accents: I started on my feet.
"O brother! spare me, spare thyself: There is thy betrayer.
He counterfeited the voice and face of an angel, for the purpose
of destroying thee and me. He has this moment confessed it. He
is able to speak where he is not. He is leagued with hell, but
will not avow it; yet he confesses that the agency was his."

My brother turned slowly his eyes, and fixed them upon
Carwin. Every joint in the frame of the latter trembled. His
complexion was paler than a ghost's. His eye dared not meet
that of Wieland, but wandered with an air of distraction from
one space to another.

"Man," said my brother, in a voice totally unlike that which
he had used to me, "what art thou? The charge has been made.
Answer it. The visage--the voice--at the bottom of these
stairs--at the hour of eleven--To whom did they belong? To
thee?"

Twice did Carwin attempt to speak, but his words died away
upon his lips. My brother resumed in a tone of greater
vehemence--

"Thou falterest; faltering is ominous; say yes or no: one
word will suffice; but beware of falsehood. Was it a stratagem
of hell to overthrow my family? Wast thou the agent?"

I now saw that the wrath which had been prepared for me was
to be heaped upon another. The tale that I heard from him, and
his present trepidations, were abundant testimonies of his
guilt. But what if Wieland should be undeceived! What if he
shall find his acts to have proceeded not from an heavenly
prompter, but from human treachery! Will not his rage mount
into whirlwind? Will not he tare limb from limb this devoted
wretch?

Instinctively I recoiled from this image, but it gave place
to another. Carwin may be innocent, but the impetuosity of his
judge may misconstrue his answers into a confession of guilt.
Wieland knows not that mysterious voices and appearances were
likewise witnessed by me. Carwin may be ignorant of those which
misled my brother. Thus may his answers unwarily betray himself
to ruin.

Such might be the consequences of my frantic precipitation,
and these, it was necessary, if possible, to prevent. I
attempted to speak, but Wieland, turning suddenly upon me,
commanded silence, in a tone furious and terrible. My lips
closed, and my tongue refused its office.

"What art thou?" he resumed, addressing himself to Carwin.
"Answer me; whose form--whose voice--was it thy contrivance?
Answer me."

The answer was now given, but confusedly and scarcely
articulated. "I meant nothing--I intended no ill--if I
understand--if I do not mistake you--it is too true--I did
appear--in the entry--did speak. The contrivance was mine,
but--"

These words were no sooner uttered, than my brother ceased to
wear the same aspect. His eyes were downcast: he was
motionless: his respiration became hoarse, like that of a man
in the agonies of death. Carwin seemed unable to say more. He
might have easily escaped, but the thought which occupied him
related to what was horrid and unintelligible in this scene, and
not to his own danger.

Presently the faculties of Wieland, which, for a time, were
chained up, were seized with restlessness and trembling. He
broke silence. The stoutest heart would have been appalled by
the tone in which he spoke. He addressed himself to Carwin.

"Why art thou here? Who detains thee? Go and learn better.
I will meet thee, but it must be at the bar of thy Maker. There
shall I bear witness against thee."

Perceiving that Carwin did not obey, he continued; "Dost thou
wish me to complete the catalogue by thy death? Thy life is a
worthless thing. Tempt me no more. I am but a man, and thy
presence may awaken a fury which may spurn my controul.
Begone!"

Carwin, irresolute, striving in vain for utterance, his
complexion pallid as death, his knees beating one against
another, slowly obeyed the mandate and withdrew.



Chapter XXV


A few words more and I lay aside the pen for ever. Yet why
should I not relinquish it now? All that I have said is
preparatory to this scene, and my fingers, tremulous and cold as
my heart, refuse any further exertion. This must not be. Let
my last energies support me in the finishing of this task. Then
will I lay down my head in the lap of death. Hushed will be all
my murmurs in the sleep of the grave.

Every sentiment has perished in my bosom. Even friendship is
extinct. Your love for me has prompted me to this task; but I
would not have complied if it had not been a luxury thus to
feast upon my woes. I have justly calculated upon my remnant of
strength. When I lay down the pen the taper of life will
expire: my existence will terminate with my tale.

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