• I ardently desired

    The desire encapsulated in this phrase will be borne out linguistically when Victor
    begins his course of instruction in the next chapter. At that point various cognates
    of "ardor" will echo through the text (I:3:1) and note, also I:3:6). At this early
    point, however, it is sufficient for the reader to recognize that the very language
    Victor uses echoes Walton's in his review of the course of his self-education (I:L1:2).