"I thank you, Walton," he said, "for your kind intentions
towards so miserable a wretch; but when you speak of new ties,
and fresh affections, think you that any can replace those who
are gone? Can any man be to me as Clerval was; or any woman
another Elizabeth? Even where the affections are not strongly
moved by any superior excellence, the companions of our
childhood always possess a certain power over our minds, which
hardly any later friend can obtain. They know our infantine
dispositions, which, however they may be afterwards modified,
are never eradicated; and they can judge of our actions with
more certain conclusions as to the integrity of our motives. A
sister or a brother can never, unless indeed such symptoms have
been shown early, suspect the other of fraud or false dealing,
when another friend, however strongly he may be attached, may,
in spite of himself, be contemplated with suspicion. But I
enjoyed friends, dear not only through habit and association,
but from their own merits; and, wherever I am, the soothing
voice of my Elizabeth, and the conversation of Clerval, will be
ever whispered in my ear. They are dead; and but one feeling in
such a solitude can persuade me to preserve my life. If I were
engaged in any high undertaking or design, fraught with
extensive utility to my fellow-creatures, then could I live to
fulfil it. But such is not my destiny; I must pursue and
destroy the being to whom I gave existence; then my lot on earth
will be fulfilled, and I may die."