that purpose in consideration 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 a 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
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 s