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Pardon this gush of sorrow ; these ineffectual words are but a slight tribute to the unexampled worth of Henry , but they soothe my heart , overflowing with the anguish which his remembrance creates . I will proceed with my tale . Beyond Cologne we descended to the plains of Holland ; and we resolved to post the remainder of our way , for the wind was contrary and the stream of the river was too gentle to aid us . Our journey here lost the interest arising from beautiful scenery , but we arrived in a few days at Rotterdam , whence we proceeded by sea to England . It was on a clear morning , in the latter days of December , that I first saw the white cliffs of Britain . The banks of the Thames presented a new scene ; they were flat but fertile , and almost every town was marked by the remembrance of some story . We saw Tilbury Fort and remembered the Spanish Armada , Gravesend , Woolwich , and Greenwich — places which I had heard of even in my country . At length we saw the numerous steeples of London , St . Paul’s towering above all , and the Tower famed in English history . Chapter 19 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 .
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