TO THE EARL OF M--------
My Lord,
He who agonized on the bed of Procrostus reposed on a couch of down,compared to the sufferings of him who in the heart he has stabbed,beholds the pulse of generous affection still beating with an invariablethrob for the being who has inflicted the wound.
I shall offer you no thanks, my Lord, for the generosity of yourconduct, nor any extenuation for the errors of mine.
The gratitude the one has given birth to--the remorse which the otherhas awakened, bid equal defiance to expression. I have only (fearfully)to hope, that you will not deny my almost forfeited claim to the titleof your son.
H. M.