 of the mutual
affection that existed between us; and I seemed on every account to have more
claim upon his protection than upon that of any other human being. I had always
believed that, had he been present in the crisis of my fortune, he would have
felt conviction of my innocence; and, convinced himself, would by means of the
venerableness and energy of his character have interposed so effectually, as to
have saved me the greater part of my subsequent misfortunes.
    There was yet another idea in my mind relative to this subject, which had
more weight with me, than even the substantial exertions of friendship I should
have expected from him. The greatest aggravation of my present lot, was, that I
was cut off from the friendship of mankind. I can safely affirm, that poverty
and hunger, that endless wanderings, that a blasted character and the curses
that clung to my name, were all of them slight misfortunes compared to this. I
endeavoured to sustain myself by the sense of my integrity, but the voice of no
man upon earth echoed to the voice of my conscience. »I called aloud; but there
was none to answer; there was none that regarded.« To me the whole world was as
unhearing as the tempest, and as cold as the torpedo. Sympathy, the magnetic
virtue, the hidden essence of our life, was extinct. Nor was this the sum of my
misery. This food, so essential to an intelligent existence, seemed perpetually
renewing before me in its fairest colours, only the more effectually to elude my
grasp, and to mock my hunger. From time to time I was prompted to unfold the
affections of my soul, only to be repelled with the greater anguish, and to be
baffled in a way the most intolerably mortifying.
    No sight therefore could give me a purer delight than that which now
presented itself to my eyes. It was some time however before either of us
recognised the person of the other. Ten years had elapsed since our last
interview. Mr. Collins looked much older than he had done at that period; in
addition to which he was in his present appearance pale, sickly and thin. These
unfavourable effects had been produced by the change of climate, particularly
trying to persons in an advanced period of life. Add to which, I supposed him to
be at that moment in the West Indies. I was probably as much altered in the
period that had elapsed as he had been. I was the first to recollect him. He was
on horseback; I on foot. I had suffered him to pass me
