 my mind; and if I
was ever overcome by ennui, the sight of what is beautiful in nature, or the
study of what is excellent and sublime in the productions of man, could always
interest my heart, and communicate elasticity to my spirits. But I am a blasted
tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to
exhibit, what I shall soon cease to be - a miserable spectacle of wrecked
humanity, pitiable to others, and intolerable to myself.
    We passed a considerable period at Oxford, rambling among its environs, and
endeavouring to identify every spot which might relate to the most animating
epoch of English history. Our little voyages of discovery were often prolonged
by the successive objects that presented themselves. We visited the tomb of the
illustrious Hampden, and the field on which that patriot fell. For a moment my
soul was elevated from its debasing and miserable fears, to contemplate the
divine ideas of liberty and self-sacrifice, of which these sights were the
monuments and the remembrancers. For an instant I dared to shake off my chains,
and look around me with a free and lofty spirit; but the iron had eaten into my
flesh, and I sank again, trembling and hopeless, into my miserable self.
    We left Oxford with regret, and proceeded to Matlock, which was our next
place of rest. The country in the neighbourhood of this village resembled, to a
greater degree, the scenery of Switzerland; but every thing is on a lower scale,
and the green hills want the crown of distant white Alps, which always attend on
the piny mountains of my native country. We visited the wondrous cave, and the
little cabinets of natural history, where the curiosities are disposed in the
same manner as in the collections at Servox and Chamounix. The latter name made
me tremble, when pronounced by Henry; and I hastened to quit Matlock, with which
that terrible scene was thus associated.
    From Derby, still journeying northward, we passed two months in Cumberland
and Westmorland. I could now almost fancy myself among the Swiss mountains. The
little patches of snow which yet lingered on the northern sides of the
mountains, the lakes, and the dashing of the rocky streams, were all familiar
and dear sights to me. Here also we made some acquaintances, who almost
contrived to cheat me into happiness. The delight of Clerval was proportionably
greater than mine; his mind expanded in the company of men of talent, and he
found in his own nature greater capacities and resources than he could have
imagined himself to have possessed while he associated
