, the insurmountable prejudices of society bring a
strong force to the support of the reluctance of the law. All serious
reflection on my part as to the foundations and mechanism of society, on
the duties of man, and vital questions of morality date from this period
of my life. Genius comprehends at first sight the connection between a
man's principles and the fate of the society of which he forms a part;
devout souls are inspired by religion with the sentiments necessary for
their happiness; but vehement and impulsive natures can only be schooled
by repentance. With repentance came new light for me; and I, who only
lived for my child, came through that child to think over great social
questions.

"I determined from the first that he should have all possible means of
success within himself, and that he should be thoroughly prepared to
take the high position for which I destined him. He learned English,
German, Italian, and Spanish in succession; and, that he might speak
these languages correctly, tutors belonging to each of these various
nationalities were successively placed about him from his earliest
childhood. His aptitude delighted me. I took advantage of it to give
him lessons in the guise of play. I wished to keep his mind free from
fallacies, and strove before all things to accustom him from childhood
to exert his intellectual powers, to make a rapid and accurate general
survey of a matter, and then, by a careful study of every least
particular, to master his subject in detail. Lastly, I taught him to
submit to discipline without murmuring. I never allowed an impure or
improper word to be spoken in his hearing. I was careful that all his
surroundings, and the men with whom he came in contact, should conduce
to one end--to ennoble his nature, to set lofty ideals before him, to
give him a love of truth and a horror of lies, to make him simple and
natural in manner, as in word and deed. His natural aptitude had made
his other studies easy to him, and his imagination made him quick to
grasp these lessons that lay outside the province of the schoolroom.
What a fair flower to tend! How great are the joys that mothers know!
In those days I began to understand how his own mother had been able to
live and to bear her sorrow. This, sir, was the great event of my life;
and now I am coming to the tragedy which drove me hither.

"It is the most ordinary commonplace story imaginable; but to me it
meant the most terrible pain