him, exclaimed,

"Let the head of this unhappy man be struck off."

The ten Viziers hastened to seize the sword of the executioner, in
order to dispute with him the execution of his office. This motion
gave Aladin time to speak.

"Behold, sire, the eagerness of your Viziers to bathe themselves in
the blood of innocence. Justice pursues the crime, but does not rush
upon the criminal. Zeal, like every other virtue, should be moderated.
Stop, eager and wicked men! I am here under the justice of the King,
not under yours. You have no power over my life. It is sacred with
respect to you, who are neither judges nor executioners. Speak! Show
yourselves openly as you really are. I have offended you by checking
your rapine. You are my enemies and base slanderers."

"You recriminate upon my Viziers," interrupted the King; "truth which
flows from their mouths confounds you."

"Nothing from them can confound me," replied Aladin; "not even the
blackness of their calumny. It is coeval with their existence. But for
these, who have reduced me to the necessity of this defence, I must
question them in my turn. They are all here, and let them answer. Does
not the law require that every accuser or deponent should have been a
witness of the crime? Their evidence is therefore objectionable in
this case; the law rejects it. It is only the effect of envy and
jealous rage by which they are devoured. Look at them, sire, and at
me. The sword is above my head, yet I dare raise it up, while their
eyes shun both yours and mine. Heaven supports me and condemns them;
our sentence is written on our countenance. O great King! deserving of
better ministers, beware of being drawn into the guilty plot they have
contrived for you. One may, but without passion, bear testimony
against the accused. If he is convicted, justice condemns him. But the
judge, in describing the crime and pronouncing sentence, never forgets
the duty due to the creature of God on whom the punishment is about to
fall. Here I see nothing but fury and jealous rage. They are devoured
by their thirst for blood, and equity is not the basis of their
judgments. All the injurious imputations which have been levelled
against me vanish. An invisible hand imprints on my forehead the
serenity of innocence. An inward sentiment tells me that, having lived
free from crimes, I shall not be confounded with the guilty. Unhappy
is the man whose conscience gives a contrary testimony. He endeavours