318 GEOEGB JOHN EOMANBS i893 



in times like this Christians have the pull. Never- 

 theless, I have often thought of the words, ' I am not 

 in the least afraid to die,' ^ and wondered, when my 

 time should come, I would be able to say them. 

 But now I know that I can, and this even in the 

 bitterness of feeling that one's work is prematurely 

 cut short. . . . ' Somewhat too much of this,' how- 

 ever. What I want to tell you is that I managed to 

 get to London on Friday for the purpose of consult- 

 ing my doctors as to my prospects. They take a 

 more hopeful view than I expected, i.e. notwith- 

 standing that I have had three attacks in one year 

 (in both eyes and now in the brain), it is not inevit- 

 able that I should have another for years to come, 

 provided that I become a strict teetotaller, vege- 

 tarian, hermit, and abstainer from work. In short, 

 ' that my rule of life,' ' the exemplar ' for my ' imita- 

 tion,' is to be that of a tortoise. Hence it does not 

 appear that there is any immediate necessity for 

 saying farewell to my friends, and hence also I will 

 not bother you by falling in with your kind proposal 

 to come over from Cambridge to see me, much as I 

 should like to see you in any case. But if you would 

 care to pay a visit to Oxford any time between this 

 and to-morrow week (16th), when I shall start for the 

 vicinity of Nice, we should both be awfully glad to 

 put you up. I think Dyer will probably be with us 

 irom Saturday to Monday (14 to 16). 



"With our united very kind regards to all, 

 Yours ever sincerely, 



G. J. Romanes. 



^ See Life and Letters of G. Dwrwin, vol. iii. p. 358. 



