A Farewell Letter From the Count of Monte Cristo

 

My Dear Maximilian，

 

There is a felucca1） for you at anchor2)．Jacopo will conduct you to Leghorn，where M．Noirtier waits his granddaughter，whom he wished to bless before you lead her to the altar．All that is in this grotto3)，my friend，my house in the Champs Elysées，and my chteau at Tréport，are the marriage gift bestowed by Edmond Dantes upon the son of his old master，Morrel．Mademoiselle de Villefort will share them with you；for I entreat4) her to give to the poor the immense fortune reverting5) to her from her father，now a madman，and her brother，who died last September with his mother．Tell the angel who will watch over your future destiny，Morrel，to pray sometimes for a man who，like Satan，thought himself，for an instant，equal to God；but who now acknowledges，with Christian humility，that God alone possesses supreme power and in finite wisdom．Perhaps those prayers may soften the remorse6) he feels in his heart．

 

As for you，Morrel，this is the secret of my conduct towards you．There is neither happiness nor misery in the world；there is only the comparison of one state with another，nothing more．He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness．We must have felt what it is to die，Morrel，that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life．

 

Live，then，and be happy，beloved children of my heart，and never forget，that until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man，all human wisdom is contained in these two words，――“wait and hope”．

 

Your friend，

 

Edmond Dantes，

 

Count of Monte Cristo