guilty. This is all, and this is enough.


HOMERTON, 24th March 1839.

Madam,--I am not surprised at the contents of your letter of the
21st instant, nor am I surprised that your determination should have
been made known to me from your mother's house. I have no doubt
that she has done her best to inflame you against me. How she
contrives to reconcile with her religion her advice to her daughter
to break a divine law, I will not inquire. I am not going to
remonstrate with you; I will not humiliate myself by asking you to
reconsider your resolution. I will, however, remind you of one or
two facts, and point out to you the consequences of your action, so
that hereafter you may be unable to plead you were not forewarned.

You will please bear in mind that YOU have abandoned ME; I have not
abandoned you. You disappointed me: my house was not managed in
accordance with my wishes, but I was prepared to accept the
consequences of what I did deliberately and I desired to avoid open
rupture. I hoped that in time you would learn by experience that
the maxims which control my conduct rest on a solid basis; that I
was at least to be esteemed, and that we might live together in
harmony. I repeat, you have cast me off, though I was willing you
should stay.

You confess you have done me a wrong, but have you reflected how
great that wrong is? I have no legal grounds for divorce, and you
therefore prevent me from marrying again. You have damaged my
position in the Bank. Many of my colleagues, envious of my success,