about nine o'clock
As a boy , high-flown , vague , and unsettled ideas of national liberty and independence had made me look to France as the emancipator of Europe . As a man , I knew that the lust of conquest had extinguished the love of freedom in Frenchmen ; that they who trusted to her did but exchange the dominion of their old masters for the tyranny of a new one ; while such as boldly stepped forward in defence of their liberties , found that there was neither mercy nor compassion for the conquered . I had seen the Austrian prisoners and the Russian led captive through the streets of Paris ; I had witnessed the great capital of Prussia in its day of mourning after Jena ; and all my idolatry for the General scarce balanced my horror of the Emperor , whose vengeance had smitten two nations thus heavily : and I said within my heart , `` May my countrymen , whatever be their day of need , never seek alliance with despotic France ! '' It was about nine o'clock of a calm summer evening as I entered Dublin , -- nearly the same hour at which , some ten years before , I had approached that city , poor , houseless , friendless ; and still was I the same . In that great capital of my country I had not one to welcome me ; not one who would rejoice at my coming , or feel any interest in my fortunes . This indeed was loneliness , -- utter solitude . Still , if there be something which weighs heavily on the heart in the isolation of one like me , there is a proportionate sense of independence of his fellow-man that sustains the courage and gives energy to the will .