 city. Clerval desired the intercourse of the men
of genius and talent who flourished at this time; but this was with me a
secondary object; I was principally occupied with the means of obtaining the
information necessary for the completion of my promise, and quickly availed
myself of the letters of introduction that I had brought with me, addressed to
the most distinguished natural philosophers.
    If this journey had taken place during my days of study and happiness, it
would have afforded me inexpressible pleasure. But a blight had come over my
existence, and I only visited these people for the sake of the information they
might give me on the subject in which my interest was so terribly profound.
Company was irksome to me; when alone, I could fill my mind with the sights of
heaven and earth; the voice of Henry soothed me, and I could thus cheat myself
into a transitory peace. But busy uninteresting joyous faces brought back
despair to my heart. I saw an insurmountable barrier placed between me and my
fellowmen; this barrier was sealed with the blood of William and Justine; and to
reflect on the events connected with those names filled my soul with anguish.
    But in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he was inquisitive, and
anxious to gain experience and instruction. The difference of manners which he
observed was to him an inexhaustible source of instruction and amusement. He was
also pursuing an object he had long had in view. His design was to visit India,
in the belief that he had in his knowledge of its various languages, and in the
views he had taken of its society, the means of materially assisting the
progress of European colonisation and trade. In Britain only could he further
the execution of his plan. He was for ever busy; and the only check to his
enjoyments was my sorrowful and dejected mind. I tried to conceal this as much
as possible, that I might not debar him from the pleasures natural to one, who
was entering on a new scene of life, undisturbed by any care or bitter
recollection. I often refused to accompany him, alleging another engagement,
that I might remain alone. I now also began to collect the materials necessary
for my new creation, and this was to me like the torture of single drops of
water continually falling on the head. Every thought that was devoted to it was
an extreme anguish, and every word that I spoke in allusion to it caused my lips
to quiver, and my heart to palpitate.
    After passing some months in London, we received a letter from a person in
Scotland, who had formerly been
