"And yet, my dear friend, for so you must allow me to
call you, awful as these considerations are, which it
suggests, who are they that go down to the sea in ships
and occupy their business in great waters? The sordid
trader, and the armed and mercenary sailor: gold or blood
is their object, and the fear of God is not always in
them. Yet the sea shall give up its dead, as well as the
grave; and all shall--

"But it is not my intention to preach to you. To intrude
serious topics upon our friends at all times, has a
tendency to make both ourselves and our topics distasteful.
I mention these things to you, not that they are not
obvious to you and every other right-minded man, or that
I think I can clothe them in more attractive language,
or utter them with more effect than others; but merely
to account for my absence of mind and evident air of
abstraction. I know my days are numbered, and in the
nature of things, that those that are left, cannot be
many.

"Pardon me, therefore, I pray you, my friend; make
allowances for an old man, unaccustomed to leave home,
and uncertain whether he shall ever be permitted to return
to it. I feel deeply and sensibly your kindness in
soliciting my company on this tour, and will endeavour
so to regulate my feelings as not to make you regret your
invitation. I shall not again recur to these topics, or
trouble you with any further reflections 'on Home and
the Sea.'"