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It was very different when the masters of the science sought

immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand;

but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer

seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on

which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required

to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of

little worth.

Such were my reflections during the first two or three days of my

residence at Ingolstadt, which were chiefly spent in becoming

acquainted with the localities and the principal residents in my

new abode. But as the ensuing week commenced, I thought of the

information which M. Krempe had given me concerning the lectures.

And although I could not consent to go and hear that little

conceited fellow deliver sentences out of a pulpit, I recollected

what he had said of M. Waldman, whom I had never seen, as he had

hitherto been out of town.