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"Yet I cannot ask you to renounce your country and friends to

fulfil this task; and now that you are returning to England, you

will have little chance of meeting with him. But the

consideration of these points, and the well balancing of what you

may esteem your duties, I leave to you; my judgment and ideas are

already disturbed by the near approach of death. I dare not ask

you to do what I think right, for I may still be misled by

passion.

"That he should live to be an instrument of mischief disturbs me;

in other respects, this hour, when I momentarily expect my

release, is the only happy one which I have enjoyed for several

years. The forms of the beloved dead flit before me, and I hasten

to their arms. Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquillity

and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent

one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries. Yet

why do I say this? I have myself been blasted in these hopes, yet

another may succeed."