do the slightest act, not prompted by one thought, and by compulsion, that I notice anything alive, or dead, which is not associated with one universal idea. . .I have a single wish, and my whole being, and faculties are yearning to attain it. They have yearned towards it so long, and so unwaveringly, that I'm convinced it will be reached—and soon—because it has devoured my existence—I am swallowed in the anticipation of its fulfilment.
"My confessions have not relieved me—but, they may account for some, otherwise unaccountable phases of humour, which I show. O, God! It is a long fight, I wish it were over!"
He began to pace the room, muttering terrible things to himself; till I was inclined to believe, as he said Joseph did, that conscience had turned his heart to an earthly hell—I wondered greatly how it would end.
Though he seldom before had revealed this
