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1Mr. Kirwin, on hearing this evidence, desired that I should be taken into the room where the body lay for interment,
2that it might be observed what effect the sight of it would produce upon me. This idea was probably suggested by the
3extreme agitation I had exhibited when the mode of the murder had been described. I was accordingly conducted, by the
4magistrate and several other persons, to the inn. I could not help being struck by the strange coincidences that had
5taken place during this eventful night; but, knowing that I had been conversing with several persons in the island I had
6inhabited about the time that the body had been found, I was perfectly tranquil as to the consequences of the affair. I
7entered the room where the corpse lay and was led up to the coffin. How can I describe my sensations on beholding it? I
8feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony. The examination,
9the presence of the magistrate and witnesses, passed like a dream from my memory when I saw the lifeless form of Henry
10Clerval stretched before me. I gasped for breath, and throwing myself on the body, I exclaimed, "Have my murderous
11machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have already destroyed; other victims await their
12destiny; but you, Clerval, my friend, my benefactor--" The human frame could no longer support the agonies that I
13endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions. A fever succeeded to this. I lay for two months on the
14point of death; my ravings, as I afterwards heard, were frightful; I called myself the murderer of William, of Justine,
15and of Clerval. Sometimes I entreated my attendants to assist me in the destruction of the fiend by whom I was
16tormented; and at others I felt the fingers of the monster already grasping my neck, and screamed aloud with agony and
17terror. Fortunately, as I spoke my native language, Mr. Kirwin alone understood me; but my gestures and bitter cries
18were sufficient to affright the other witnesses. Why did I not die? More miserable than man ever was before, why did I
19not sink into forgetfulness and rest? Death snatches away many blooming children, the only hopes of their doting
20parents; how many brides and youthful lovers have been one day in the bloom of health and hope, and the next a prey for
21worms and the decay of the tomb! Of what materials was I made that I could thus resist so many shocks, which, like the
22turning of the wheel, continually renewed the torture? But I was doomed to live and in two months found myself as
23awaking from a dream, in a prison, stretched on a wretched bed, surrounded by gaolers, turnkeys, bolts, and all the
24miserable apparatus of a dungeon. It was morning, I remember, when I thus awoke to understanding; I had forgotten the
25particulars of what had happened and only felt as if some great misfortune had suddenly overwhelmed me; but when I
26looked around and saw the barred windows and the squalidness of the room in which I was, all flashed across my memory
27and I groaned bitterly. This sound disturbed an old woman who was sleeping in a chair beside me. She was a hired nurse,
28the wife of one of the turnkeys, and her countenance expressed all those bad qualities which often characterise that
29class. The lines of her face were hard and rude, like that of persons accustomed to see without sympathising in sights
30of misery. Her tone expressed her entire indifference; she addressed me in English, and the voice struck me as one that
31I had heard during my sufferings. "Are you better now, sir?" said she. I replied in the same language, with a feeble
32voice, "I believe I am; but if it be all true, if indeed I did not dream, I am sorry that I am still alive to feel this
33misery and horror." "For that matter," replied the old woman, "if you mean about the gentleman you murdered, I believe
34that it were better for you if you were dead, for I fancy it will go hard with you! However, that's none of my business;
35I am sent to nurse you and get you well; I do my duty with a safe conscience; it were well if everybody did the same." I
36turned with loathing from the woman who could utter so unfeeling a speech to a person just saved, on the very edge of
37death; but I felt languid and unable to reflect on all that had passed. The whole series of my life appeared to me as a
38dream; I sometimes doubted if indeed it were all true, for it never presented itself to my mind with the force of
39reality. As the images that floated before me became more distinct, I grew feverish; a darkness pressed around me; no
40one was near me who soothed me with the gentle voice of love; no dear hand supported me. The physician came and
41prescribed medicines, and the old woman prepared them for me; but utter carelessness was visible in the first, and the
42expression of brutality was strongly marked in the visage of the second. Who could be interested in the fate of a
43murderer but the hangman who would gain his fee? These were my first reflections, but I soon learned that Mr. Kirwin had
44shown me extreme kindness. He had caused the best room in the prison to be prepared for me (wretched indeed was the
45best); and it was he who had provided a physician and a nurse. It is true, he seldom came to see me, for although he
46ardently desired to relieve the sufferings of every human creature, he did not wish to be present at the agonies and
47miserable ravings of a murderer. He came, therefore, sometimes to see that I was not neglected, but his visits were
48short and with long intervals. One day, while I was gradually recovering, I was seated in a chair, my eyes half open and
49my cheeks livid like those in death. I was overcome by gloom and misery and often reflected I had better seek death than
50desire to remain in a world which to me was replete with wretchedness. At one time I considered whether I should not
51declare myself guilty and suffer the penalty of the law, less innocent than poor Justine had been. Such were my thoughts
52when the door of my apartment was opened and Mr. Kirwin entered. His countenance expressed sympathy and compassion; he
53drew a chair close to mine and addressed me in French, "I fear that this place is very shocking to you; can I do
54anything to make you more comfortable?" "I thank you, but all that you mention is nothing to me; on the whole earth
55there is no comfort which I am capable of receiving." "I know that the sympathy of a stranger can be but of little
56relief to one borne down as you are by so strange a misfortune. But you will, I hope, soon quit this melancholy abode,
57for doubtless evidence can easily be brought to free you from the criminal charge." "That is my least concern; I am, by
58a course of strange events, become the most miserable of mortals. Persecuted and tortured as I am and have been, can
59death be any evil to me?" "Nothing indeed could be more unfortunate and agonising than the strange chances that have
60lately occurred. You were thrown, by some surprising accident, on this shore, renowned for its hospitality, seized
61immediately, and charged with murder. The first sight that was presented to your eyes was the body of your friend,
62murdered in so unaccountable a manner and placed, as it were, by some fiend across your path." As Mr. Kirwin said this,
63notwithstanding the agitation I endured on this retrospect of my sufferings, I also felt considerable surprise at the
64knowledge he seemed to possess concerning me. I suppose some astonishment was exhibited in my countenance, for Mr.
65Kirwin hastened to say, "Immediately upon your being taken ill, all the papers that were on your person were brought me,
66and I examined them that I might discover some trace by which I could send to your relations an account of your
67misfortune and illness. I found several letters, and, among others, one which I discovered from its commencement to be
68from your father. I instantly wrote to Geneva; nearly two months have elapsed since the departure of my letter. But you
69are ill; even now you tremble; you are unfit for agitation of any kind." "This suspense is a thousand times worse than
70the most horrible event; tell me what new scene of death has been acted, and whose murder I am now to lament?"
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