to Mr. G----, whom he liked very much, he said, "I hope that my parents
would rather see me die by this violent death than of some slow and
shameful disease. As for me, I am glad that I shall soon hear the hour
strike in which my death will satisfy those who hate me, and those wham,
according to my principles, I ought to hate."

Then he wrote to his family.
"MANNHEIM

"17th of the month of spring, 1820

"DEAR PARENTS, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS,--You should have received my last
letters through the grand-duke's commission; in them I answered yours,
and tried to console you for my position by describing the state of my
soul as it is, the contempt to which I have attained for everything
fragile and earthly, and by which one must necessarily be overcome when
such matters are weighed against the fulfilment of an idea, or that
intellectual liberty which alone can nourish the soul; in a word, I tried
to console you by the assurance that the feelings, principles, and
convictions of which I formerly spoke are faithfully preserved in me and
have remained exactly the same; but I am sure all this was an unnecessary
precaution on my part, for there was never a time when you asked anything
else of me than to have God before my eyes and in my heart; and you have
seen how, under your guidance, this precept so passed into my soul that
it became my sole object of happiness for this world and the next; no
doubt, as He was in and near me, God will be in and near you at the
moment when this letter brings you the news of my sentence. I die
willingly, and the Lord will give me strength to die as one ought to die.

"I write to you perfectly quiet and calm about all things, and I hope