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1"I thank you, Walton," he said, "for your kind intentions towards so miserable a wretch; but when you speak of new ties
2and fresh affections, think you that any can replace those who are gone? Can any man be to me as Clerval was, or any
3woman another Elizabeth? Even where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior excellence, the companions of
4our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain. They know our
5infantine dispositions, which, however they may be afterwards modified, are never eradicated; and they can judge of our
6actions with more certain conclusions as to the integrity of our motives. A sister or a brother can never, unless indeed
7such symptoms have been shown early, suspect the other of fraud or false dealing, when another friend, however strongly
8he may be attached, may, in spite of himself, be contemplated with suspicion. But I enjoyed friends, dear not only
9through habit and association, but from their own merits; and wherever I am, the soothing voice of my Elizabeth and the
10conversation of Clerval will be ever whispered in my ear. They are dead, and but one feeling in such a solitude can
11persuade me to preserve my life. If I were engaged in any high undertaking or design, fraught with extensive utility to
12my fellow creatures, then could I live to fulfil it. But such is not my destiny; I must pursue and destroy the being to
13whom I gave existence; then my lot on earth will be fulfilled and I may die." My beloved Sister, September 2d. I write
14to you, encompassed by peril and ignorant whether I am ever doomed to see again dear England and the dearer friends that
15inhabit it. I am surrounded by mountains of ice which admit of no escape and threaten every moment to crush my vessel.
16The brave fellows whom I have persuaded to be my companions look towards me for aid, but I have none to bestow. There is
17something terribly appalling in our situation, yet my courage and hopes do not desert me. Yet it is terrible to reflect
18that the lives of all these men are endangered through me. If we are lost, my mad schemes are the cause. And what,
19Margaret, will be the state of your mind? You will not hear of my destruction, and you will anxiously await my return.
20Years will pass, and you will have visitings of despair and yet be tortured by hope. Oh! My beloved sister, the
21sickening failing of your heart-felt expectations is, in prospect, more terrible to me than my own death. But you have a
22husband and lovely children; you may be happy. Heaven bless you and make you so! My unfortunate guest regards me with
23the tenderest compassion. He endeavours to fill me with hope and talks as if life were a possession which he valued. He
24reminds me how often the same accidents have happened to other navigators who have attempted this sea, and in spite of
25myself, he fills me with cheerful auguries. Even the sailors feel the power of his eloquence; when he speaks, they no
26longer despair; he rouses their energies, and while they hear his voice they believe these vast mountains of ice are
27mole-hills which will vanish before the resolutions of man. These feelings are transitory; each day of expectation
28delayed fills them with fear, and I almost dread a mutiny caused by this despair. September 5th. A scene has just passed
29of such uncommon interest that, although it is highly probable that these papers may never reach you, yet I cannot
30forbear recording it. We are still surrounded by mountains of ice, still in imminent danger of being crushed in their
31conflict. The cold is excessive, and many of my unfortunate comrades have already found a grave amidst this scene of
32desolation. Frankenstein has daily declined in health; a feverish fire still glimmers in his eyes, but he is exhausted,
33and when suddenly roused to any exertion, he speedily sinks again into apparent lifelessness. I mentioned in my last
34letter the fears I entertained of a mutiny. This morning, as I sat watching the wan countenance of my friend--his eyes
35half closed and his limbs hanging listlessly--I was roused by half a dozen of the sailors, who demanded admission into
36the cabin. They entered, and their leader addressed me. He told me that he and his companions had been chosen by the
37other sailors to come in deputation to me to make me a requisition which, in justice, I could not refuse. We were
38immured in ice and should probably never escape, but they feared that if, as was possible, the ice should dissipate and
39a free passage be opened, I should be rash enough to continue my voyage and lead them into fresh dangers, after they
40might happily have surmounted this. They insisted, therefore, that I should engage with a solemn promise that if the
41vessel should be freed I would instantly direct my course southwards. This speech troubled me. I had not despaired, nor
42had I yet conceived the idea of returning if set free. Yet could I, in justice, or even in possibility, refuse this
43demand? I hesitated before I answered, when Frankenstein, who had at first been silent, and indeed appeared hardly to
44have force enough to attend, now roused himself; his eyes sparkled, and his cheeks flushed with momentary vigour.
45Turning towards the men, he said, "What do you mean? What do you demand of your captain? Are you, then, so easily turned
46from your design? Did you not call this a glorious expedition? "And wherefore was it glorious? Not because the way was
47smooth and placid as a southern sea, but because it was full of dangers and terror, because at every new incident your
48fortitude was to be called forth and your courage exhibited, because danger and death surrounded it, and these you were
49to brave and overcome. For this was it a glorious, for this was it an honourable undertaking. You were hereafter to be
50hailed as the benefactors of your species, your names adored as belonging to brave men who encountered death for honour
51and the benefit of mankind. And now, behold, with the first imagination of danger, or, if you will, the first mighty and
52terrific trial of your courage, you shrink away and are content to be handed down as men who had not strength enough to
53endure cold and peril; and so, poor souls, they were chilly and returned to their warm firesides. Why, that requires not
54this preparation; ye need not have come thus far and dragged your captain to the shame of a defeat merely to prove
55yourselves cowards. Oh! Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock. This ice is not made
56of such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable and cannot withstand you if you say that it shall not. Do not return
57to your families with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows. Return as heroes who have fought and conquered and
58who know not what it is to turn their backs on the foe." He spoke this with a voice so modulated to the different
59feelings expressed in his speech, with an eye so full of lofty design and heroism, that can you wonder that these men
60were moved? They looked at one another and were unable to reply. I spoke; I told them to retire and consider of what had
61been said, that I would not lead them farther north if they strenuously desired the contrary, but that I hoped that,
62with reflection, their courage would return. They retired and I turned towards my friend, but he was sunk in languor and
63almost deprived of life. How all this will terminate, I know not, but I had rather die than return shamefully, my
64purpose unfulfilled. Yet I fear such will be my fate; the men, unsupported by ideas of glory and honour, can never
65willingly continue to endure their present hardships. September 7th. The die is cast; I have consented to return if we
66are not destroyed. Thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; I come back ignorant and disappointed. It
67requires more philosophy than I possess to bear this injustice with patience. September 12th. It is past; I am returning
68to England. I have lost my hopes of utility and glory; I have lost my friend. But I will endeavour to detail these
69bitter circumstances to you, my dear sister; and while I am wafted towards England and towards you, I will not despond.
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