Chapter Chapter 19 · London was our present point of rest; we determined to remain se

London was our present point of rest; we determined to remain several

months in this wonderful and celebrated 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

fellow men; 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 colonization 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 our visitor at Geneva. He mentioned the

beauties of his native country and asked us if those were not sufficient

allurements to induce us to prolong our journey as far north as Perth,

where he resided. Clerval eagerly desired to accept this invitation, and I,

although I abhorred society, wished to view again mountains and streams and

all the wondrous works with which Nature adorns her chosen dwelling-places.

We had arrived in England at the beginning of October, and it was now

February. We accordingly determined to commence our journey towards the

north at the expiration of another month. In this expedition we did not

intend to follow the great road to Edinburgh, but to visit Windsor, Oxford,

Matlock, and the Cumberland lakes, resolving to arrive at the completion of

this tour about the end of July. I packed up my chemical instruments and

the materials I had collected, resolving to finish my labours in some

obscure nook in the northern highlands of Scotland.

We quitted London on the 27th of March and remained a few days at

Windsor, rambling in its beautiful forest. This was a new scene to us

mountaineers; the majestic oaks, the quantity of game, and the herds of

stately deer were all novelties to us.

From thence we proceeded to Oxford. As we entered this city, our minds

were filled with the remembrance of the events that had been transacted

there more than a century and a half before. It was here that Charles