| 353 | 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 |
| 1 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 |
|
from Oxford to the continent, in a perfect agony of horror and of shame.
I fled in vain. My evil destiny pursued me as if in exultation, and
proved, indeed, that the exercise of its mysterious dominion had as yet
only begun. Scarcely had I set foot in Paris ere I had fresh evidence of
the detestable interest taken by this Wilson in my concerns. Years flew,
while I experienced no relief. Villain!--at Rome, with how untimely,
yet with how spectral an officiousness, stepped he in between me and my
ambition! At Vienna, too--at Berlin--and at Moscow! Where, in truth, had
I not bitter cause to curse him within my heart? From his inscrutable
tyranny did I at length flee, panic-stricken, as from a pestilence; and
to the very ends of the earth I fled in vain.
And again, and again, in secret communion with my own spirit, would
I demand the questions "Who is he?--whence came he?--and what are his
objects?" But no answer was there found. And then I scrutinized, with a
minute scrutiny, the forms, and the methods, and the leading traits of
his impertinent supervision. But even here there was very little upon
which to base a conjecture. It was noticeable, indeed, that, in no one
of the multiplied instances in which he had of late crossed my path, had
he so crossed it except to frustrate those schemes, or to disturb those
actions, which, if fully carried out, might have resulted in bitter
mischief. Poor justification this, in truth, for an authority so
imperiously assumed! Poor indemnity for natural rights of self-agency so
355
Page
Quick Jump
|