At moments I did wish that his suspicions had been better founded. There were times when I would have given my right hand to possess the treasures he ascribed to me. He deserved condign punishment for his testy crotchets. I could have gloried in bringing home to him his worst apprehensions astoundingly realized. I could have exulted to burst on his vision, confront and confound his lunettes , one blaze of acquirements. Oh! why did nobody undertake to make me clever while I was young enough to learn, that I might, by one grand, sudden, inhuman revelation⁠—one cold, cruel, overwhelming triumph⁠—have for ever crushed the mocking spirit out of Paul Carl David Emanuel!

Alas! no such feat was in my power. Today, as usual, his quotations fell ineffectual: he soon shifted his ground.