“One last word of affectionate warning, of paternal caution, and I tear myself from the charm of addressing you⁠—I close these fervent lines.

“Advance no farther than you have gone already, compromise no serious interests, threaten nobody. Do not, I implore you, force me into action⁠—

me

, the man of action⁠—when it is the cherished object of my ambition to be passive, to restrict the vast reach of my energies and my combinations for your sake. If you have rash friends, moderate their deplorable ardour. If